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Apple will offer free Watch repairs if software update doesn't fix charging woes
Apple has released a new watchOS update today that aims to avoid an issue that causes the Watch Series 5 and SE to stop charging. According to an Apple support document, a small number of customers have encountered a situation where the aforementioned watches refuse to charge after entering Power Reserve mode (otherwise known as a low-power mode). If it still won’t charge, then Apple recommends contacting Apple Support so that it can arrange a mail-in repair for you, absolutely free of charge.
Spotify now works on the Apple Watch, no phone required
The company's rolling out the option to stream music and podcasts without an iPhone.
Mophie's latest portable battery pack has a flip-out Apple Watch charger
It revealed three new wireless charging stations designed for Apple devices.
AppleCare+ now covers two incidents of accidental damage per year
Replacing an iPhone under theft or loss coverage could be cheaper too.
Facebook releases an experimental messaging app for Apple Watch
Facebook's latest experimental app is designed to help you keep in touch with family and close friends.
Pandora's Apple Watch app will soon stream music without an iPhone
Next time you go for a run or to the gym, you might be able to leave your phone behind but still listen to whatever music you want on the fly if you're a Pandora premium subscriber. The Apple Watch app is being updated so that it no longer needs to be tethered to an iPhone to stream music or podcasts. As long as you've got a WiFi or cellular data connection, you can do just that. Engadget has tried this out and verified it works, but we've also learned that the app update is happening in stages, so not everyone will have this feature yet.
Peloton's Apple Watch app will offer detailed metrics for indoor runs
If you're a Peloton fan, you might be pleased to learn the company has released an Apple Watch app. Though you would have already been able to view exercise data via Watch's native workout tracker, the Watch app should offer more options and detailed metrics.
Apple debuts Research app with new iPhone and Watch health studies
Apple has released its Research app and opened up its latest iPhone and Watch health studies, just after the results of its heart-rate project with Stanford emerged. This time around, it's hoping to uncover insights about women's health, heart and movement and hearing.
Apple Watch Series 5 review: The best smartwatch gets (slightly) better
Unboxing the Apple Watch Series 5 last week was an anticlimactic experience. The day the device arrived for review, I unfastened last year's Series 4, with its 40mm gold aluminum case and pale pink sports band. I put on the new watch, also with a 40mm gold case and pink silicone strap. The new Series 5 ($399 and up) looks identical to the model it replaces -- so much so that it wasn't until I turned the device on that I felt I had a new toy in hand. This is a minor product update, one that should leave recent Apple Watch buyers feeling secure in their decision to purchase when they did. But this review isn't for people who already own a watch. Roughly 75 percent of people who buy an Apple Watch are doing so for the first time, according to Apple. For those of you who were already thinking about buying your first smartwatch, you can take some comfort knowing the Series 5 is just as good as the Series 4 you've been reading about, if not a little better.
Apple Watch bands may one day identify you by skin pattern
The United States Patent and Trademark Office just granted a trio of patents to Apple for Apple Watch smart bands. While bands with the features detailed in the filings might never reach retail shelves, they give an intriguing look at what Apple may have in store.
Apple is selling Mophie's new AirPower knock-off
Apple wasn't quite able to make its promised AirPower wireless charging pad work. It canceled the project 18 months after announcing it. Its goal was to let you charge several devices at once using a single pad. However, where Apple failed, Mophie may have succeeded.
Apple disables its walkie-talkie Watch app due to vulnerability
Apple has disabled its Walkie Talkie Watch app due to a vulnerability that could've allowed someone to listen in on other iPhones, the company told Techcrunch. In a statement, Apple said that the vulnerability -- which requires specific conditions and actions to exploit -- hasn't been used against anyone as far as it knows. It apologized to users and said it would restore the app once a fix is found.
Stanford study finds Apple Watch can detect irregular heart rhythms
Stanford has released the results of its Apple Watch-based heart study more than a year after it began, and it appears to have been a success, with a few caveats. Only 0.5 percent of the more than 400,000 volunteers received warnings of irregular heart rhythms, but physicians later verified that 84 percent of those notifications were atrial fibrillation episodes and thus potential signs of trouble. To put it another way, the technology both avoided a glut of false positives (a major concern going into the study) and was reliable enough that it was worth a follow-up with doctors.
Apple will add 1,200 jobs in Qualcomm's hometown
Tim Apple may have a new way to challenge Qualcomm outside of the courtroom: by luring some of the rival company's employees. The company has unveiled plans to add 1,200 jobs in Qualcomm's hometown of San Diego over the next three years, a 20 percent increase over previously mentioned numbers. The city will become a "principle engineering hub" for the company, with people focusing on "specialty" hardware and software projects.
One in six American adults now wear a computer on their wrist
The days of smartwatches as niche devices might be over, at least in the US. The NPD Group estimated that smartwatch sales jumped 61 percent in the 12-month span ending in November 2018. That's no mean feat when some companies scaled back their efforts or quit the field entirely. The analyst firm also determined that 16 percent of American adults, or about a sixth of the group, now own smartwatches. There's a good possibility that you'll see someone with a smartwatch if you walk down the street, to put it differently.
Our readers review the Apple Watch Series 4
Two months after our review of the Apple Watch Series 4 was published, we asked our readers to leave their critique of the device on its product page in our buyer's guide. Almost 30 readers participated, detailing their long-term experiences with Apple's latest wearable. Big thanks to everyone who chimed in! If you'd like to join, feel free to submit your own review for this or any other gadget on its related product page over on the buyer's guide section of our site.
Apple and Aetna team up for personalized health-tracking app
Apple and insurance giant Aetna are working together on an iPhone and Apple Watch health-tracking app that provides users with personalized activity goals and suggests healthy behaviors, such as sleeping or eating better. The app, called Attain, can also prompt you to get your flu shot or take medication. Those who complete Attain's suggested actions can earn rewards, including an Apple Watch.
Apple fixes a host of bugs for iOS, Apple Watch and HomePod
Don't look now, but you'll have a lot of updating to do if you live deep in the Apple ecosystem. Apple has released updates that tackle a host of issues for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS and HomePod. For iPhone and iPad users, iOS 12.1.3 mostly addresses specific but annoying bugs. It'll prevent photos from displaying artifacts when you send them from a share sheet, prevent some CarPlay systems from disconnecting from newer iPhones and solve audio distortion if you use external audio input devices with the latest iPad Pro. It likewise addresses a problem scrolling through images in Messages while looking at the Details view.
Swiss watchmaker's latest jab at the Apple Watch has no hands
Swiss watchmaker H. Moser & Cie is no stranger to taking digs at the Apple Watch. Its latest form of social commentary, however, is rather unique. The company has unveiled the Swiss Alp Watch Concept Black, a mechanical watch that once more riffs on Apple's design but doesn't even have hands or a dial -- the only thing on the front is a flying tourbillon mechanism to counteract the effects of gravity. Instead of looking at the watch to check the time, you're suppose to sound a minute repeater whose chimes will tell you if you're running late. This is supposed to be a callback to a time when you needed a repeater to tell the time in the dark, but it also happens to resemble an Apple Watch with the screen turned off.
Aura squeezes its fitness band into an Apple Watch 'Smart Strap'
In May Aura closed a relatively modest $109,000 Kickstarter for its Band, a fitness tracker that it says uses biompedance analysis to monitor "fat, muscle mass, minerals, and body water." We spoke to the people behind the Band, who said it is available for sale now and starting to ship to backers -- it was scheduled to ship in August, but comments on the page suggest few, if any have received one yet.
