Apple has today announced the most popular podcasts of 2025 through a comprehensive set of charts, which include the most popular episodes and most shared shows.
The iPhone maker’s editorial team has also put together its own curated selection of what it considers to be the best shows of the year …
more…Roblox, one of the most popular kids’ apps in the world, is now requiring children as young as nine years old to submit a video selfie for age verification.
While the developer is doing this for good reasons, it adds further weight to the argument that Apple and Google, rather than individual app developers, should be responsible for age verification …
more…A new market intelligence report suggests that the iPhone 17 lineup is selling incredibly well in China, despite this being a somewhat tricky market for Apple.
It reveals that one in every four smartphones sold in China during October was an iPhone, and that total sales beat the previous record set back in 2021 …
more…It’s not just the Twitter brand name that is no more – direct messages are also being replaced by X Chat. The new private messaging feature finally brings end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to the platform – though with one question-mark …
more…Way back in 2009, Apple added a very handy feature to iMacs, allowing them to be used as a monitor for another Mac – typically a MacBook. Known as Target Display Mode, the company unfortunately dropped the feature from the model launched in late 2014 and it has never returned.
If you want to do the same with later iMacs, there is an app for that, as we outlined last year. But Quinn Nelson at Snazzy Labs opted instead for the ultimate conversion …
more…There’s been a whole flurry of rumors about a 2nd-gen iPhone Air lately. It’s getting a second camera; it’s been delayed to allow time to add this; it’s been indefinitely delayed due to the original model proving unpopular; it probably won’t be getting a second camera but will be getting an updated chip.
Whenever there are this many conflicting reports, the smart money is on nobody outside Apple really knowing what’s going on. But if the second camera report is true, that leaves another question to be answered …
more…There’s long been speculation about when Apple CEO Tim Cook might retire and who is likely to replace him. That intensified earlier this month when he turned 65.
Cook himself has made only two on-the-record statements, but a new report over the weekend suggests that the company is now ramping up preparations to replace him “as soon as next year” …
more…The iPhone’s Portrait mode uses computational photography to simulate the shallow depth of field of a digital SLR or mirrorless camera with a larger sensor. It’s evolved from a very crude tool into something which is now pretty convincing, but it’s still no substitute for the real thing.
There are some circumstances in which you can get genuine shallow-ish depth of field with an iPhone shot, but these are very limited as we’ll discuss. The Sandmarc 2x telephoto lens is a much more practical way to get true optical blurring when shooting portraits …
more…Some 2 billion email addresses and 1.3 billion passwords have been compromised in a series of data breaches highlighted by a cybersecurity company.
Microsoft regional director Troy Hunt, who runs the site Have I Been Pwned, says the stolen data is more extensive than anything the site has ever processed …
more…The leaker who first revealed the name of the iPhone 16e is now saying that demand for the device has been very low. However, they say that despite this setback, Apple is for now still planning to proceed with plans for the iPhone 17e.
They also say that production of the iPhone Air has now ceased completely, following an earlier report that output levels had been slashed …
more…Update 9:34am PT: There is no direct deal between Apple and Tencent for the 15% commission rate on WeChat mini games and apps. Instead, Tencent is taking advantage of Apple’s new App Store Mini Apps Partner Program, which launched for all developers today. Tencent, like all developers, will first have to apply to the program.
Members of the program earn 85% of qualifying In‑App Purchase sales within qualifying mini apps.
The original story via Bloomberg is below.
Apple’s App Store commission might be under threat in multiple countries around the world, but the company has just gained a huge new source of commission thanks to a WeChat deal struck in China.
The situation arises because the way most Chinese iPhone users buy apps is very different to anywhere else in the world …
more…Apple was today denied permission to appeal the result of a billion-dollar lawsuit filed by UK app developers accusing the company of abusive commission levels.
The company last month lost the case and a hearing today is deciding how the damages are calculated. If the ruling stands, it is expected to end up costing Apple anywhere between £1B and £2B ($1.3B to $2.6B) – but Apple is expected to counter this with four arguments …
more…Apple’s opposition to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation took a turn back in September when the company started arguing that the law should be repealed. It also suggested that more new features would be delayed for EU customers, and perhaps even new hardware.
The company is now claiming a new study proves that the DMA fails to live up to one of its core promises: reducing app prices …
more…Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was infamous for his harsh critiques of the work of his team. Hardware or software, if Steve wasn’t 100% happy, you would certainly know about it.
Chris Espinosa, who wrote the first Macintosh calculator app and still works at Apple as its longest-serving employee, found a creative way around Steve’s never-ending critiques in what must be one of the best ever examples of managing upwards …
more…Apple has updated its website to say that Apple Intelligence on a Mac requires a model with an M2 chip or later. That’s a change to the original compatibility requirement of an M1 chip or later.
However, while the change may be worrying for anyone with an M1 Mac, it seems near-certain that this is an error rather than a change of requirements …
more…
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