Apps

EU antitrust legislation forced Apple to allow third-party app stores for iPhone within the bloc, with MacPaw’s Setapp Mobile one of the first to take advantage of this.

The company has now announced that it is closing its iOS store, citing “still-evolving and complex terms.” Apple would likely argue that the EU is responsible for constantly moving goalposts without clearly specifying how it wants the company to respond …

The US was one of a number of countries to escape recent Spotify price increases, but that is now coming to an end.

The streaming music service increased the price of its premium plans in a large number of other countries late last year, while US pricing remained unchanged. Predictably, that was only a temporary respite …

It’s been close to a decade since I first started being grumpy about subscription apps. I did acknowledge the benefits right from the start, including giving many developers a more sustainable income, but expressed my unease about where we were headed.

A few years later, I voiced doubts as to whether it was a sustainable business model. But the trend has continued to grow, with Apple Creator Studio the latest example …

At this point, I kind of have to feel sorry for Roblox. The company came under increasing criticism for failing to adequately protect children, and then courted even greater controversy when it started requiring children as young as nine years old to submit a video selfie for age verification.

The latest development in the saga is that the age verification process appears to be failing badly, with the company saying that you can’t expect everything to work on day one …

Today Apple unveiled Pixelmator Pro for iPad alongside its new Apple Creator Studio subscription. And in a new page on Apple’s website, the company has revealed the fate of its existing Pixelmator and Photomator apps for iOS.

Apple acquired the app-making team at Pixelmator in late 2024, with the acquisition closing nearly one year ago. Now, in the first major change since the acquisition, Pixelmator Pro is coming to iPad alongside the launch of Apple Creator Studio.

Apple has announced Apple Creator Studio, which it describes as a “groundbreaking collection of powerful creative apps designed to put studio-grade power into the hands of everyone.”

Apple Creator Studio will launch on the App Store on Wednesday, January 28, and will cost $12.99 per month or $129 per year. There will also be a one-month free trial offer. College students and educators can subscribe for $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year.

It may sound morbid, but China’s new top paid App Store app—Are You Dead?—is spiking in popularity among iPhone users who live alone. Here are the details.

If you’ve received an Instagram password reset email, claiming that you requested it, you should ignore it.

Malwarebytes reports that cybercriminals stole Instagram account details for 17.5 million users, but the social network claims that there was no security breach …

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

If you’ve ever found yourself looking into the sky and wondered “huh, that plane looks a little interesting’ – Zephy is a fun plane tracking tool that uses your iPhone’s gyroscope to show you what exactly is around you. It’s rather nifty.

Your iPhone uses preinstalled Apple apps by default for system actions like opening links, making phone calls, and more. But iOS lets you set new default apps in a variety of categories, and the available options expanded in iOS 26. Here are the details.

Consumer reviews used to be one of the most reliable ways of assessing the quality of an app or a physical product. If you didn’t know any friends who’d tried it, the number of reviews and the average rating was a pretty good guide.

Sadly, however, that is no longer the case. Companies have become very adept at gaming the system, meaning that reviews are worth way less than they used to be. There are now six reasons you shouldn’t necessarily trust them, including one I only learned about today …

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

In this vast world of streaming, finding something you want to watch can be a challenge. Backlot simplifies that, and puts discovery, watchlists, and ‘where to watch’ in one singular ad-free experience, making it easy to find what you want to watch when you need to.

Happy New Year! Here’s my list, in no specific order, of macOS apps that I keep installed on my Mac.

Update December 29, 2025: Last chance! 9to5Mac readers can exclusively save 50% on CardPointers for holiday shopping. Plus, you’ll receive a $100 $200 Savings Card as a sign up bonus.

CardPointers is a powerful app for iPhone that helps you maximize your credit card points and rewards. The app has recently been updated to take full advantage of iOS 26, including a new Liquid Glass design, integration with new Apple Intelligence Foundation Models, and much more.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

In iOS 26.2, Apple introduced the ability for you to attach full screen alarms to your reminders. Cannot Ignore is a new app that takes that a step further, allowing you to sync calendar events and have full screen alarms for them, ensuring you can’t forget anything important.

Instagram long-form videos have previously been a possibility the company has ruled out, but its head Adam Mosseri now says that it might be that the platform needs it.

One thing he is promising is a way to allow users to “proactively shape content in their feeds,” although you shouldn’t hold your breath for this …

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

AnywAIr, which is a play on the word “anywhere”, is a nifty little iOS app that lets you play with AI models – regardless of if you have an internet connection. It offers custom themes, a plethora of tools and games, and all of the local AI models you could want to mess with.

Last year, X (formerly known as Twitter) killed its dedicated Mac app and removed it from the Mac App Store. At the time, the company pointed users to the iPad version of the app, which remained available on the Mac App Store for Apple Silicon users to install.

Now, however, X is blocking users from installing the iPad version of the app on macOS. The essentially means the company has ditched the Mac entirely.