iOS

A startup called Pearl Automations is today launching preorders for a new accessory that adds a rearview backup camera to just about any car using an iPhone or other smartphone as a monitor. The company is notably made up of a large group of ex-Apple engineers and the accessory is just the first in a line of products it plans that will add various smartphone connectivity features to vehicles.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Popular Bluetooth speaker company Ultimate Ears announced today that it is adding Siri and Google Now integration to its lineup of speakers. With this feature, users can access their music directly from the speaker, making it even easier to change songs, artists, and more.

Expand
Expanding
Close

The same developer who found the original iOS 10 Dark Mode references in the Messages app, Andy Wiik, has found even more evidence that Apple was/is developing a black appearance for its iPhone and iPad operating system. The latest screenshots show the iOS 10 Simulator presenting the Settings app in a dark interface style, with black cell backgrounds and white text.

The screenshots are captured from the iOS 10 Simulator where it is easier to inject code and discover unfinished flags and behaviour, like this Dark Mode interface style …

Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS 10 makes it possible to view two Safari windows side-by-side on the iPad via a feature called Safari split-view. It’s similar to the standard Split View between separate apps, but there are some differences to consider as well. In the following video walkthrough, we’ll show you how to use Safari split-view, and highlight some of its notable features.
Expand
Expanding
Close

In this week’s top stories: iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS 3, and new features for Apple TV with the upcoming tvOS 10 release, our coverage of Apple’s WWDC 2016 announcements make up the majority of this week’s top stories.

Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS has long had a super useful tool called Markup that lets you draw and add text over images and documents, but the feature has been buried inside Mail until now. iOS 10 brings Markup to more places including Photos and Messages. Below we explore Markup in both apps on iOS 10 plus share how to put the new feature to work.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Just days after Apple announced major enhancements to iMessage, Facebook today revealed a significant update to its Messenger app. In a blog post, the company announced major changes coming to how users are able to start a conversation.

Expand
Expanding
Close

New in iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, Apple’s AirPrint is getting some welcomed improvements including ‘AirPrint Bluetooth Beacon’, the ability to create PDFs from the print panel in iOS, and support for multi-user and password-only printing.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Before now, Apple’s HomeKit platform required an Apple TV for remote access control of most accessories. If you had network-connected lightbulbs or other home automation accessories, you’d need to have a new Apple TV connected to that same network to control them with Siri when out of the house. With iOS 10, Apple is giving iPad that capability too, and it’s now using multiple remote access devices to make all of your iPads and Apple TVs work together to extend your HomeKit network.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Developer Andrew Wilk tweeted screengrabs of what appears to be an early version of Dark Mode in the first iOS 10 beta, running in Xcode.

Mac Aficionados responded with their own screengrabs, saying that they’d found it in iBooks, Safari, Alarm and iTunes, though it’s unclear whether the iBooks example differs from the existing app-specific dark mode introduced in iOS 9 …

Expand
Expanding
Close

On Monday Apple unveiled the highly-anticipated software update for the iPhone and iPad. As expected, it’s a huge release that brings a bevy of new and exciting features to the table.

In the following video walkthrough, we take a look at 75 of the features and changes found in iOS 10. Some of the features covered are obvious changes, and some are more surprising.
Expand
Expanding
Close

HomeKit, Apple’s smart home accessory framework, is gaining some much needed attention in iOS 10 and watchOS 3 thanks to a new built-in Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Apple previously relied on third-party apps from accessory makers to control the HomeKit experience, using Siri as the only first-party controller, and various apps like the third-party Home app and Hesperus filled in the void.

Apple’s new Home app comes with a modern look, relatively easy-to-use controls, and access to accessories and scenes from anywhere on iOS 10. Check out our hands-on below to see Apple’s Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch in action.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple briefly mentioned some accessibility enhancements during its press event this week — watchOS 3 is adding wheelchair specific optimizations to Apple Watch — but iOS 10, macOS Sierra, tvOS 10 and watchOS 3 also have many other improvements to assist users with motor, vision, hearing, and learning impairments. Here’s the rundown…

Expand
Expanding
Close

While Apple introduced its App Transport Security feature in iOS 9, which ensured that all connections between apps and servers must be encrypted, it wasn’t compulsory for developers to use it – and Google even helped them disable it.

All this will end on January 1st next year, reports TechCrunch, when Apple will require all apps to use HTTPS connections to servers to ensure that only encrypted data is transmitted …

Expand
Expanding
Close

A purported image of the front of an iPhone 7 has appeared on the Internet today, via mobipicker.com. Blurry cams and bad photography aside, the picture claims to a major new detail for the upcoming flagship iPhone 7 launch, which is expected to mostly resemble an iPhone 6s in appearance.

The image shows a tweaked Home Button that appears to be flat with the bezel, meaning Apple will drop the physical click in favor of a fully touch-sensitive capacitive Home Button. Noting that the image could quite easily be faked, it does appear to show a button that has no depth …

Expand
Expanding
Close

[UPDATE: Apple’s Back To School program has now launched in China, as well.]

Apple’s 2016 Back to School Beats kicked off in the United States at the beginning of the month and has today expanded internationally across Europe. Students in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands and more can now take advantage of the summer promotion at Apple Stores in their country as well as online.

Like the US, eligible purchases of certain Macs come with free Beats Solo2 wireless headphones worth $299 at retail. For iPad and iPhone, select iOS device purchases come with free Beats Powerbeats2 wireless headphones, worth $199 at retail.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Third party solutions like Automatic and various apps on the App Store can already do this, but iOS 10 builds finding where you parked your car right into the operating system. The new Parked Car feature proactively remembers where you left your vehicle and offers new features in Maps for adding more context.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Alongside various new features (Siri, Auto Unlock, Apple Pay) coming in macOS Sierra, Apple’s next major desktop operating system, it also ships with the brand new version of Safari, Safari 10. Safari 10 introduces a major change in the way the browser handles plugins. In short, proprietary plugins like Adobe Flash will be disabled by default when browsing the web.

This means that websites will serve modern HTML5 representations of content as often as possible as they will not be able to detect an installation of Flash at all. Safari is smart however — it will allow you to enable Flash temporarily on demand …

Expand
Expanding
Close