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Microsoft's redesigned Office apps for iOS are faster and simpler
Microsoft is acting on its promise to give its mobile Office apps a makeover. It just released new iOS (and iPadOS) versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Word that all tout a "simpler, faster and more beautiful" redesign. Really, that's another way of saying they have a more consistent look with an interface that helps you quickly edit documents when you're away from your desk.
Apple will give the option to buy iOS and Mac apps as a bundle
The latest beta of Apple's Xcode development tool adds a small but nifty feature that will make it easier in some situations to buy apps you want to use across iOS and macOS. Developers who decide to take advantage of the feature will be able to bundle together different versions of an app into a single "Universal Purchase." If you buy one version, you'll then get access to the other automatically. As part of the same change, developers will also have the option to sell unified in-app purchases.
Apple iOS update offers more control over iPhone 11 location tracking
Apple is quickly acting on plans to curb location tracking on iPhone 11 models. It just released an iOS 13.3.1 update (plus a corresponding iPadOS update) that, most notably, adds a toggle to control the U1 Ultra Wideband chip's use of location services. The iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max all use location checks to verify that they're in areas where ultra wideband is legally allowed, but the switch turns those checks off if you're concerned about privacy.
Brydge unveils Surface keyboards and iPad trackpad
Brydge has developed a solid reputation for tablet keyboards over the years, and it's clearly taking advantage of that as 2020 gets underway. The company has unveiled a slew of accessories, starting with a slew of Surface keyboards. The Brydge 12.3 Pro (above) and Brydge 10.0 Go will respectively offer alternatives to the Type Cover for Surface Pro models and the Surface Go when they arrive in the second quarter of 2020, while a Brydge Pro X keyboard will be ready for Surface Pro X owners in the second half of the year. And if you're just looking for Windows desktop peripherals, the W-Type keyboard and W-Touch trackpad will appear in the second quarter.
iOS 13.3 arrives with improved parental controls
That inadvertent confirmation of iOS 13.3's imminent release was on the mark. Apple has released the new software (plus iPadOS 13.3), whose centerpiece is an improvement to Screen Time parental controls. You can set limits on who your kids can call, text or FaceTime, including managing contacts and setting time-specific limits. If you don't want your kids starting video chats with friends after 9PM, for instance, you can. This won't help if your kids use third-party apps, but it's a start.
Apple offers three-month News+ trials through Black Friday weekend
Apple Music has long had three-month free trials, but what if you want to give News+ a similar dry run? You can -- but only if you act quickly. Apple is offering a three-month trial to News+ to American and Canadian users who sign up through Black Friday weekend. That's much longer than the usual one month, and should give you a considerably better feel for what it's like to read magazines and newspapers on your Apple devices.
Apple will take a 'deeper look' at disputed borders in Maps
Apple might just rethink its approach to disputed borders following its change to Crimea for Russian users. A spokeswoman told the BBC in a statement that Apple would have a "deeper look" at how it handles contested borders in Maps in the wake of the controversy, and that there might be more changes as a result of the review. You shouldn't expect it to reverse its Crimea changes, however. The company stressed that it was only labeling Crimea as Russian to obey that country's law, and that the territory would still be listed as Ukranian for everyone else.
Walmart's early Black Friday deal: 512GB 10.5-inch iPad Pro for $599
Black Friday is still a couple of weeks away but retailers are doing everything they can to get and keep your attention right now. For Walmart, that means releasing its ad now to tease Black Friday offers like a $129 Apple Watch Series 3, $99 Samsung Chromebook Series 3 or a 1080p 40-inch Roku Smart TV from its house brand onn. for $98. Deals you can jump on starting today include a 512GB 10.5-inch iPad Pro for $599 -- the lowest price we've seen. This is the 2017-era second generation model, so while it doesn't come with newer features like FaceID, A12X Bionic CPU or a USB-C connector, it still packs impressive power to multitask with Apple's new iPad OS, and at this price -- a comparable third-gen Pro costs $1,149 -- its performance is hard to beat. At the time we originally reviewed it, two problems were that it was expensive and iOS 11 wasn't out yet -- those have now been addressed. Buy 10.5-inch 512GB iPad Pro on Walmart - $599 If you have milder tablet aspirations, there's also a 7-inch 8GB Samsung Galaxy Tab A available now for $78. Walmart has more pre-Black Friday deals planned for next Friday too, so stay tuned. Buy Samsung Galaxy Tab A on Walmart - $78
Adobe Lightroom for iPad and iOS will directly import photos
It's been a long time coming, but you can finally import photos directly from your SD card or USB drive into the iOS version of Lightroom. Previously, users had to import images to their camera roll, then copy them over into Lightroom's library. This doubled the amount of storage that the photos occupied, so taking the additional step of going back to your camera roll and deleting the files was an arguably necessary step. The new workflow, revealed today on Adobe's YouTube channel, will let you get to work touching up and recoloring your compositions faster.
Apple releases another iOS 13 update to fix background app issues
You didn't have to wait too long for Apple to fix iOS 13.2's over-eagerness to kill background apps. The company has released an iOS 13.2.2 update (along with a corresponding iPadOS update) that, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman noted, stops apps from closing quite so quickly. In other words, it should behave much like it did before 13.2 arrived. Suffice it to say this will be very helpful if you're a multitasker who'd rather not lose game progress or a social status post by switching away for a brief moment.
Adobe brings its enormous font library to iPhone and iPad
Adobe's Creative Cloud service comes with about 20 apps, as well as bonuses like video tutorials and a huge font library. Those fonts -- all 17,000 of them -- are now available for subscribers to use in compatible iPhone and iPad apps, as long as you're running iOS 13.1 or later. The previously desktop-exclusive typefaces are designed by well known foundries and cover plenty of styles, so you'll be able to get creative instead of sticking with the same handful of overused fonts.
Apple confirms 50 percent of iPhones have upgraded to iOS 13
Despite a slightly staggered rollout, half of iPhone users have updated their devices to Apple's iOS 13 in the month since its release. With features like Apple Arcade and system-wide dark mode, users are upgrading to the new OS despite some frustrating quirks.
Safari in iOS sends some Safe Browsing data to Tencent (updated)
Apple's Safari browser has long sent data to Google Safe Browsing to help protect against phishing scams using its Fraudulent Website Warning feature, but it now appears Chinese tech giant Tencent gets some information as well. Users have discovered that iOS 13 (and possibly versions starting from iOS 12.2) sends some data to Tencent Safe Browsing in addition to Google's system. It's not clear at this stage whether Tencent collects any information outside of China -- you'll see mention of the collection in the US disclaimer, but that doesn't mean it's scooping up info from American web surfers.
Apple adds five new Arcade games as its free trial draws to a close
Not sure what to make of Apple Arcade, the company's $5 a month gaming service? It didn't really matter, as the service landed in September (or earlier if you were on the beta) with a free month trial on iOS and iPadOS and MacOS. But it's a few weeks on, and in a bid to keep you playing (and start paying), Apple Arcade's latest update lands today, adding to the 75 games already on board.
Apple is selling Microsoft's Xbox controller in its online store
Now that Apple's mobile and living room devices support console game controllers, the company is doing something that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago -- it's selling the Xbox Wireless Controller through its online store. Spend $60 and you can use Microsoft's official gamepad to play supporting titles on your Apple TV, iPad or iPhone. While Apple is certainly no stranger to selling Microsoft products (Office has been available for years), it's still an odd sight when the company is positioning the Apple TV as a pseudo-competitor to the Xbox One.
Apple iPad review (10.2-inch, 2019): Bigger, slightly better, still great
Apple is dead set on making sure there's an iPad for everyone. Want something fast and future proof? Try an iPad Pro. Prefer a smaller device? There's the updated iPad mini. Need a spacious screen and excellent performance without paying Pro prices? The iPad Air is probably for you. And now with the $329 iPad 10.2 (or the 2019 iPad or whatever you want to call it), Apple is making sure people who just need the essentials are getting them. Again. Chiefly, it offers a solid screen, great software and the sort of good battery life we've come to expect from Apple. With that said, the new iPad isn't a massive improvement over the model it replaces, and that's OK. When you consider how few companies are making good tablets, the 2019 iPad gets enough right that it's still the best reasonably priced tablet out there right now.
Apple's Sidecar feature only works on newer Macs
On Monday, Apple released macOS Catalina, the latest major update to its desktop operating system. Going into the update, a lot of Mac owners were excited for a feature called Sidecar. If you haven't following the development of Catalina, Sidecar allows you to use a newer iPad as a secondary display with your Mac. It's a feature that's been available on macOS through a variety of third-party apps for a couple of years now, but, as usual, Apple's ability to deeply integrate Sidecar into macOS made the feature all the more compelling. There's just one issue with Sidecar: you'll need a relatively new Mac and iPad.
Apple iPadOS review: More like a laptop than ever
For the first few years of the iPad's life, Apple basically treated it like an overgrown iPhone. Yes, its bigger screen meant people would want to use it differently, and third-party developers did a fine job retooling their software to make full use of that extra screen space. It wasn't until iOS 9 when Apple really invested in tablet-specific features like Split View and Slide Over, and it was that subtle shift in priorities led us directly to the present -- and to iPadOS. Don't be fooled by the name, though: iOS and iPadOS are still mostly the same thing. Nearly every feature I've discussed in our iOS 13.1 review is present here, along with a series of changes that are helping to slowly close the gap between iPads and more traditional computers. To get a sense of iPadOS's progress, I vowed to put as much of this review together on an iPad Pro, and honestly, I'm pretty pleased with the results. I couldn't do everything, but the fact that I could write the copy, edit and watermark my photos, address fixes in Google Docs and lay out almost everything for the site speaks to how much more capable iPads can be after an update. We're still not at the point where iPadOS turns iPads into full-blown computer replacements for most people, but the update is a big step down that path.
Apple's 7th-gen iPad gets bigger but keeps the same size battery
In case you forgot, the iPhone 11 and Apple Watch weren't the only new hardware Apple showed off at its big event a couple of weeks ago, it also upgraded the base iPad line. Now in its seventh generation, the "most popular" iPad that Apple sells has grown from 9.7- to 10.2-inches, ships with iPadOS and added a connector to support the company's still-pricey keyboard add-on. The folks at iFixit attacked the new model with their assortment of tools, and found that despite the new size, inside it's still very similar to the previous model. Unlike the iPhone 11 Pro Max, for example, which made room for a larger battery than ever before, this new iPad has a unit that's the same size as its predecessor at 8,827mAh or 32.9 watt hours, and presumably relies on other tweaks to the hardware and software to achieve its extra hour of estimated battery life.
Apple releases fix for iOS 13's battery drain and Siri issues
Apple is still racing to fix iOS bugs days after the release of its latest iPhones. The tech giant has released an iOS 13.1.1 update (plus a corresponding iPadOS 13.1.1 version) that tackles a number of glaring problems. The most notable is a fix for a battery drain issue plaguing users across the board, but there's also a solution for Siri's problems recognizing requests on the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. This addresses issues with restoring your device from a backup, too, so you won't want to skip this if you're interested in safeguarding your data.
