iOS

Extensions continue to play a key part in adding third-party functionality to Safari. They’re often great ways to boost productivity, security, and privacy to a rather barebones browsing experience. But with the hundreds of Safari extensions available across different devices, it can feel overwhelming. Here’s a list of my top picks.

In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple was caught by surprise at the sudden swell of generative AI tools this year. But they are working hard to catch up with Apple SVPs Craig Federighi, John Giannandrea, and Eddy Cue all in charge of integrating AI-powered functionality into Apple’s products and services.

That will include various new AI features in iOS 18, such as smarter reply suggestions in Messages. Cue is pushing to include features like AI-generated playlists in Apple Music, and exploring how generative AI can be utilized in Apple’s productivity apps like Pages and Keynote. Giannandrea’s team is working on a new, smarter, version of Siri that should be ready to debut next year.

The competition between iPhone and Android continues and the latest study from CIRP looks at how Apple’s share of US smartphones compares to the last four years. While some reports put the iPhone market share above 50%, CIRP’s latest data says otherwise.

You know something’s bad when you’re about to write a feature request and then realise you already did do, more than a year go. Some 18 months after I asked Apple to fix the awful iPhone jiggle mode, nothing has changed, so consider this my renewed plea.

It was travel which brought it to mind last time, while this time around it was just doing a small rejig of my Home screen to remove a couple of apps I use less frequently, replacing them with ones I now use more often …

It’s not just the cost of groceries that has gone up. The market price for WhatsApp exploits are also on the rise, but inflation may not be to blame.

Three days after launching iOS 17, Apple has issued iOS 17.0.1 with three important security patches. Notably, Apple says it’s aware all of the fixed vulnerabilities were reported as being actively exploited.

The flame war between smartphone enthusiasts over iPhone and Android and which is superior has gone on for far too long.

iOS 17 beta 4 is now available through the developer beta program. The fourth beta versions of iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS Sonoma are also available for developer beta testers.

The Apple Card has been out since August 2019, meaning I have had this card for almost four years now. The Apple Card was one of the first credit cards that I was ever approved for. I remember really wanting it purely for the titanium and the cool Apple Wallet integration (which goes to show how much I knew about credit cards back then). But in those four years, I have used it in various settings for different categories and gotten some great value from it. But in 2023, the credit card scene has become extremely competitive, so how does the Apple Card hold up as a zero annual fee card compared to the competition? And is it still worth it to get?

After a rocky start, Apple has released a Rapid Security Response update to iOS 16.5.1 and macOS Ventura 13.4.1.

Apple released a critical security update to iPhone, iPad, and Mac on Monday that patches a known exploit. Unfortunately, the patch had a side effect of breaking how some websites load.

1 p.m. PT update: Public beta versions are also now available.

While all the action is happening around iOS 17 beta, Apple is continuing to prepare a more imminent iPhone software update for release. Apple has released the fifth iOS 16.6 beta for developer testing.

The popular fitness tracking app and Apple Editors’ Choice award-winner SmartGym for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch is out with a big update today. The release expands its database of exercises to almost 700, there’s a new Routine Progress feature, Apple Watch gets a number of upgrades, there’s a fresh history system, and more.

Hulu users are growing increasingly frustrated with a long-running bug affecting the ability to watch content in fullscreen on iPhone. Hulu says that it has been investigating this bug for over a month; a fix hasn’t been released, but there is a temporary workaround available.

Coming with the release iOS 16.5.1, macOS 13.4.1, and more today, Apple has shipped two important fixes for security flaws. The updates arrive for devices on the latest public software and those on older versions of its software. Notably, Apple has heard the flaws have been actively exploited.

Apple today announced it is officially rolling out a new ad format for the App Store. The new Today tab format is more compact than the previous full-height card design but is viewable immediately upon opening the tab on the iPhone. The previous design required the user to scroll down the page to see it.

A nonsponsored slot continues to take the first position, but the ad placement is now always above the fold. The new format also allows Apple to make it easier for advertisers to submit campaigns and get approved more quickly.

Zeera continues its streak of producing high-quality accessories for your Apple products. They stole the show earlier this year with the MagSafe Duo alternative, the 3 in 1 MegFold. The MegFold was less than half the price of the MagSafe Duo while also including a third charging pad for your headphones. See our review here.

Dark Mode on iPhone, iPad, and Mac is fairly flexible. You can toggle it on or off from Control Center or Settings, automatically switch based on time of day, or use local sunrise and sunset time to switch.

There’s one method for invoking dark mode that’s still missing, however, and watchOS 10 on the Apple Watch Ultra shows how it could work.

Since Apple released the AirTag, companies have been flying to create cases, lanyards, keychains, and so many other accessories. For the most part, these accessories work. I have one on my luggage, one on my dog’s collar, and another on my keychain, but there has been one solution missing: the wallet tracker. The biggest issue, at least for me, is that the AirTag is thick compared to credit cards, so when you put it in your wallet, there is a huge and ugly bulge.