By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Developers of two media-centric apps say Apple is not playing fair with the App Store, especially when it comes to dealing with copyright law.TV Time and the App Store iconAs the controller of the App Store, Apple has a duty to keep the digital marketplace full of engaging apps that don’t break or infringe laws. However, the amount of control Apple has over apps, and its ability to easily dismiss apps over claims of copyright infringement, has irked some developers.For TV Time and Musi, Apple is seemingly too eager to wield the banhammer. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) You’ll all pay for this, just you wait and see, says a petulant Google as the US Department of Justice is rumored to make it sell off its Chrome browser.Google Chrome on an iPhoneChrome is the darling of the technology industry because technical people love its customizability. But that does come with the price of your battery life, plus what Google may or may not do with your data.Consequently, it’s common when you have a problem with a website to be told to switch to Chrome. For example, our own content management system works slightly better under Chrome than it does with Safari. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple is on its fourth round of developer betas for this generation, with new builds of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 joined by the third build of watchOS 11.2.Examples of Apple Intelligence at work. The fourth round arrives after the third, which was on November 11 for iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2. That date also saw the second developer betas of tvOS 18.2 and watchOS 11.2, with visionOS 2.2’s second build landing one day later on November 12.Apple brought out the third tvOS 18.2 and visionOS 2.2 builds on November 18. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (AppleInsider Staff) A new early Black Friday software deal allows Mac and PC owners to score up to 36% off a standalone license to Microsoft Office 2024.Microsoft Office 2024 – Image credit: MicrosoftMicrosoft Office 2024 includes all essential Microsoft apps, from Word for text editing, Excel for super-powered spreadsheets, PowerPoint for captivating presentations, OneNote to keep everything organized, and Outlook for email management (Outlook comes with the Home & Business version only).Normally, users would pay $149.99 for a Home license or $249.99 if they’d prefer the Home & Business license. However, this promotion allows users to take 20% off of a Home license, dropping the price to $119.97, or 36% off of a Home & Business license, bringing the price to $159.97. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Andrew Orr) Lightspeed Studios and Square Enix are bringing the critically acclaimed MMORPG “Final Fantasy XIV” to mobile, letting players embark on the epic Eorzean adventure on their iPhone.Final Fantasy XIVNaoki Yoshida, producer and director of Final Fantasy XIV Online, described the mobile adaptation as a “sister” game that aims to bring the core story and combat of the original to a smaller screen. Non-combat roles, like Disciples of the Land and Hand, will also be included.Final Fantasy XIV Mobile offers both longtime fans and new players a chance to explore Eorzea in a new way. Familiar characters like Thancred, Tataru, and Nanamo Ul Namo will appear, alongside features like fishing, Triple Triad, and chocobo racing. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Amber Neely) Shazam, the wildly popular song recognition app, has reached a major milestone by identifying more than 100 billion songs — up from 70 billion songs in 2022.Shazam Predictions 2022 playlist and new subscriber dealOn Wednesday, Apple took a moment to praise Shazam for reaching a major milestone. Since its inception in 2002, Shazam has been used to identify 100 billion songs worldwide.To put that in perspective, Apple points out that a person would need to use Shazam to identify a song every second for 3,168 years to reach 100 billion. It’s also equivalent to 12 songs identified for every person on Earth. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Apple will today present its case for why the Department of Justice’s mammoth lawsuit against the iPhone maker is entirely without merit — and prosecutors will repeat their accusations.The Department of Justice case will hang over Apple for yearsThe Department of Justice (DOJ), together with multiple states, is accusing Apple of monopolistic practices, over the iPhone, the App Store, and most of the company’s business. Following the start of that case in March 2024, Apple filed a motion to dismiss in August.Now according to Reuters, Apple will today ask US District Judge Julien Neals in Newark, New Jersey, to dismiss the case. Central to Apple’s case is its claim that being forced to share its technology with rivals would end innovation. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) China’s annual Singles Day shopping festival has again seen Apple’s iPhone sales decline year over year.iPhone 16 ProSingles dDay used to regularly see record-breaking sales for the iPhone, with one vendor selling 156 million of the iPhone 13 in the first two seconds of its sale in 2021. With increased competition from local brands, Apple had a disappointing 2023 with a 4% decline in sales year over year.Now according to Counterpoint Research, it’s fared even worse for the 2024 Singles Day festival. While not listing a specific figure, Counterpoint claims that Apple “declined YoY by double-digit percentages.” Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Analysts from Barclays bank claim to have confirmed that the iPhone SE 4 will in March 2025 as previously expected.An iPhone 14, the design of which the iPhone SE 4 could be based on. The prediction of a March date is far from new. However, this time Barclays is claiming that it has the date from the supply chain. The analysts even use the word “confirmed”.There does not, though, appear to be any specific basis for the claim other than that others have previously reported the same date. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Marko Zivkovic) Apple no longer offers free repairs for MacBook models with the infamous “butterfly” keyboard, as the repair program for these machines has officially ended.Apple no longer offers repairs for the butterfly keyboard.The program was available for a wide variety of MacBook models sold between 2015 and 2020, including different MacBook Air and MacBook Pro configurations. With the repair program’s end, however, it’s now no longer possible to get these machines repaired by Apple at no cost.This will ultimately cause frustration for some users, as they will now have to resort to third-party repair shops and have the machine repaired out of pocket. It’s widely known that the butterfly keyboard has significant durability problems, with notable flaws surfacing less than a year after its introduction. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
