Apple surprised everyone earlier this month with a change to the App Store guidelines that now allows retro game console emulator apps for its platforms, including iOS and tvOS. Following the success of Delta, the developers behind Provenance have now confirmed that they will soon release it on the App Store, bringing PlayStation emulation to iPhone and iPad users.

Air purifiers are fantastic products to have in your home to ensure that your air is clean, and having them in HomeKit makes them even better. There are several HomeKit-enabled air purifiers on the market today, but WELOVE (part of the AiDot family) has just released the first Matter enabled Air Purifier so you can add it to the smart home platform of your choice.

The EU commission is set to approve Apple’s previously-announced policy changes regarding access to the NFC chip on the iPhone, with the view of increasing competition in the contactless payments market. The commission’s decision will be officially announced in the coming weeks, via Reuters.

With these changes, apps will be allowed to become the default wallet app that appears when users double-click the side button or hold their phone near a payment terminal. However, the relaxation of policy only applies to apps available inside the European Union, not worldwide.

Friday’s best deals come headlined by Apple’s new 24-inch M3 iMac, which starts from $1,199. It comes joined by the 9to5-favorite Anker MagGo Cube 15W MagSafe Charger at $112 and Satechi’s new USB-C Dual Dock Stand for MacBooks at $120. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Update: Both Signal and Telegram have been removed at China’s insistence as well. Apple statement in story.

Apple has removed two Meta apps from the App Store in China at the request of the Chinese government. Both WhatsApp and Threads have been made unavailable in the App Store, preventing new installs for the messaging and social apps.

Apple delivered a solid update to its best wireless earbuds with the launch of AirPods Pro 2. Apple has since turned it up to 11 with five more features added to gen-two AirPods Pro.

Police officers were allowed to force a suspect to use his thumbprint to unlock his phone, according to a federal court ruling.

However, it said the issue was a finely-judged one, and its ruling should not be interpreted to mean that this is lawful in all circumstances …

A new Best Buy Vision Pro app uses augmented reality to let you see how things like big-screen TVs, furniture, kitchen appliances, and more would look in your home.

Once you find something you like, you can also buy it from within Vision Pro by opening the product page in Safari and completing the purchase there …

Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships” and that this is “just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market.”

Warren uses the to-camera piece to voice her support for the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, but has chosen a rather peculiar argument to do so …

Apple is rumored to be working on a new HomePod with a touchscreen LCD display on top, and we’ve already seen some images of this unreleased device floating around the web. Now Apple product collector Kosutami is back with a new image showing another part of one of these HomePod prototypes with a display.

Adobe on Thursday officially launched its new Adobe Express app with Firefly AI for iOS and Android. This version of the app has been available to beta testers for some time, and can now be downloaded by anyone. Read on as we detail everything that’s new with the Adobe Express update.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Kolide by 1Password: The device trust solution that ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. Close the Zero Trust access gap for Okta. Watch the demo.

Last year Astropad launched its impressive Rock Paper Pencil kit for iPad that delivers a reusable/removable matte screen protector plus a ballpoint-style Apple Pencil tip for a real pen-on-paper experience. This year the company delivered Rock Paper Pencil v2 with a NanoCling border, flat profile, improved Apple Pencil tip, and more. Here’s what I think after testing out the improved version.

Game Room is one of the best experiences on Apple Vision Pro, especially with newly introduced spatial Personas. The latest update to the Apple Arcade game introduces one of the most popular classics: checkers.

Apple Watch is a must-have accessory for every cyclist. That’s become time and again it has proven critical for helping cyclists after a crash. Eric Zollinger from New York is the latest Apple Watch wearer to know firsthand.

Have you noticed your iPhone jump onto a WiFi network when you’re away from home without asking first? Or maybe you want to check what networks your iPhone is auto-joining? Follow along for how to turn off iPhone WiFi auto-join for public and carrier networks.

Today I learned two things. First, apparently Meta Quest headsets don’t work on planes? I guess Apple knew to prioritize that feature for Vision Pro. And second, support is reportedly on the way. Add this to the list of ways competition from Vision Pro is making Meta Quest 3 a better product.

A spring refresh may be around the corner, but in the meantime, you can save on Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pros from $1,029. It comes joined by a chance to save $265 on a stainless steel Apple Watch Series 9 and the first discount on Anker’s new 15W MagGo Qi2 10,000mAh Power Bank at $67. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Ross Young of DSCC has great news for potential 12.9-inch iPad Air buyers. According to Young, the newly introduced larger iPad Air will use the same display technology as the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

A smart MagSafe wallet could alert you if you leave a card behind after using it in a store, thanks to a simple approach described in a new Apple patent application.

The wallet could also better protect you against accidentally losing cards when carrying only one or two cards …