Apple Insider – Page 119

Posted on March 19, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Everything new in iOS 12.2 beta 6: AirPower support & AppleCare+

Video

By Andrew O’Hara
Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 12:56 pm PT (03:56 pm ET)

Release of iOS 12.2 appears imminent as the sixth beta was recently released to developers with a number of new changes and polish. AppleInsider goes through everything that is new in the latest —and possibly last —iOS 12.2 beta.

iPhone XS Max updated to iOS 12.2

One of the first changes we come across in the sixth beta of iOS 12.2, is the ability to view AppleCare status. If you head to Settings > General > About you will see a new option for AppleCare. It will show you your current warranty status, whether or not you have AppleCare+.

iOS 12.2 beta 6 AppleCare plans

Tapping into it you get additional details such as when it expires or renews if billing monthly. If you don’t currently have AppleCare+ and are elligble, Apple gives you the option to purchase it. You choose your preference —in our case AppleCare+ or AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss —and then choose how you’d prefer to pay. You can pay each month, or you can pay it off in full.

Most interesting to us, was the official support for AirPower included in the code of iOS 12.2. AirPower has special integrations with iOS such as the flashy animation that appears on your iPhone display with the charging status of your Apple Watch and AirPods. With this support finally added in the latest beta, it appears the release of AirPower is imminent.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P42ZRZN4d4&w=560&h=315]

The forthcoming iOS 12.2 update is looking to be a massive one with new icons, support for HomeKit TVs, a redesigned remote widget in Control Center, updated Wallet transactions, Apple News launching in Canada, keyboard color picker, and much more.

Apple is likely going to release iOS 12.2 to the masses around the time of its March 25th press event at the Steve Jobs Theater, where it is expected to debut the new video and News subscription services.

Be sure to check out what changed last time in iOS 12.2 beta 4>, beta 3, beta 2, and beta 1.

Find any changes or features we didn’t mention? Shoot me an email at [email protected] or reach out to me on Twitter at @Andrew_OSU.

Posted on March 18, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple’s 2019 iPad Air, iPad mini support Logitech’s Crayon stylus

By Roger Fingas
Monday, March 18, 2019, 01:53 pm PT (04:53 pm ET)

2019 iPad Air and mini models do support the Crayon, Logitech’s cheaper alternative to the Apple Pencil, according to Apple.

A product page for the Crayon lists the stylus as working with the new iPads, as well as 2018’s “budget” iPad. It’s incompatible with 2018 iPad Pros, however.

The Crayon shares some features of the Pencil, such as automatic connection, palm rejection, and pressure sensitivity. Its main feature though is its price: $69.95, almost $30 less than the first-generation Pencil, and over $59 less than the second-gen model. The latter is intended for iPad Pros only.

Missing from the Crayon are tilt functions or the ability to tap its side for selecting different modes.

The Crayon was originally launched a year ago as an education-only product. It took several months for sales to open up to the public.

The updated Air and mini models are largely performance upgrades, with few feature or cosmetic changes. Enhancements include a larger 10.5-inch display on the Air, A12 processors, True Tone displays, up to 256 gigabytes of storage, and first-generation Apple Pencil support.

Posted on March 17, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple’s March Event: a big new move into subscription software

It’s almost “show time.” That’s the phrasing used in media invitations to Apple’s March 25 event, where the company is expected to unveil its subscription packages for video, news, magazines, and games. It appears Apple is continuing to “pull the thread” to see where the future of television leads, and it sure looks like that future is tight integration between iOS, Apple TV and HomePod.

A new expansion of the Walled Garden

When Apple launches new products and services, it rarely focuses much attention on all the work required behind the scenes. This creates the illusion that such product launches are easy, just something that a corporation threw together based on a checklist of necessary features.

Most of the criticism directed at Apple niggles with what those features are, without much thought to what would be involved with “adding” something as “simple” as, say, native Spotify integration with HomePod, some legacy ports, or some other massive effort that’s easy to dream up as a “missing feature.”

Apple’s launches also create the illusion that any other company could just throw money at the same problem and get the same results. That clearly didn’t occur with Samsung’s Milk or Galaxy Gear; Microsoft’s PlaysForSure, its purchase of Nokia or its Surface hardware; Google’s various TV box offerings, its acquisition of Motorola, its attempts at building tablets or notebooks; or the entire industry’s consortium to develop digital video distribution services such as UltraViolet downloads or Miracast streaming. Doing anything big is actually extremely hard.

Looking back on Apple’s recent history in television, it’s clear that a lot of invisible efforts are required to build attractive and sustainable solutions. There are few initiatives that Apple has worked on that have fizzled, such as iTunes LP and Extra, its digital answers to DVD bonus content and the “enhanced CD” with video clips which never really took off.

However, the threads that Apple keeps pulling in television are overall establishing a very successful expansion of the Walled Garden that Apple first created to make iTunes’ commercial music and movies available as “audio-visual software” for Macs and then iPods, and then the App Store market that launched native software titles for iPhones and later iPad.

Services are a subscription to sell hardware

While pundits keep forwarding the idea that Apple is giving up hardware to simply become a Netflix, the reality is that Apple’s expanding efforts to make AirPlay 2, Apple Music streaming and iTunes movie downloads available on partner hardware from Samsung TVs to Alexa WiFi microphones is part of a strategy where Apple TV, HomePod and iPads all get a greatly expanded ecosystem to thrive in. Subscription software is a killer app that keeps killing.

Rather than giving up hardware for Services—as the dumbest hot takes suggest—Apple is reducing its dependence on unit sales of digital downloads and increasingly moving to a subscription model for audio, video, applications, and games—specifically with the intent to sell more hardware.

Apple clearly thinks people will use AirPlay 2 and subscription content on a variety of devices once they get a taste

Apple has already largely migrated iTunes from download sales to Apple Music’s subscription streaming. Those efforts to shift the company’s legacy iTunes downloads into a subscription model is seldom appreciated as an example of astute adaption to change. However, Apple has rapidly turned around its huge ship in same the way that Microsoft had to scramble to attach a web browser to Windows to keep control of the PC desktop in the 1990s. It was pivot or die, and Apple has survived stronger than ever.

Spotify, a company that was claiming the most music streaming subscribers globally and crowing that it does business on platforms the tech media likes to describe as “dominant,” is suddenly crying that Apple Music and the Apple Store is a “monopoly” and that it needs governments to intervene on its behalf to force Apple to serve its interests for free.

That speaks volumes about the success Apple is seeing in making its shift from downloads to subscriptions. It also says something really unflattering about Spotify’s ability to find customers on its own and the supposed “dominance” of Android and Windows as computing platforms.

Oddly enough, the same pundits who squawk about Apple Music being the end of HomePod are hopeful that Spotify will soon learn how to navigate the consumer electronics hardware market and figure out how to sell a new device that helps to sell Spotify as a service. It’s like they don’t even read their own work.

Subscriptions better support software development

While subscription streaming royalties don’t deliver nearly the same revenues as music downloads or CDs for artists, subscription software appears to be working out really well for developers.

Adobe and Microsoft have both shifted their massive software business to subscription models, and the result has been dramatically successful. It has created reoccurring revenues that support ongoing development in a model that’s far more healthy—and sane—compared to big, expensive marketing releases every couple years that have to focus on fancy features to woo software suite purchases.

Microsoft’s Office 365 is now an App Store subscription

Rather than Adobe trying to hype up the Healing Brush as the reason to pay for an all-new Photoshop, or Microsoft having to refresh the UI of Office with the Ribbon just to push more boxes out the door, both software houses can focus on what they know to be actual, incremental improvements and deliver these as soon as they’re ready.

It’s also working out well for small developers, who can work on new titles and app functionality rather than focusing on sales and marketing—or running into the situation where their customers expect perpetual free app upgrades without ever paying for any of that work.

Subscription software is effectively the best way to pay for software because it keeps subscribers up-to-date on the latest tools without needing to regularly sell them on buying each new iteration. You just have to sell users on an ongoing subscription once and then keep them happy with it.

Apple and the Subscription OS

While Microsoft convinced the world back in the 1990s that the best way to sell software was to monopolize the market and sell big monolithic packages, its business was really created and sustained by Windows’ invisible tax that was slapped on PC boxes. When people bought new PCs, they effectively got Windows “for free” because it was being paid for by the PC licensee. That effectively blocked any competition for alternative PC operating systems like OS/2, NeXT, BeOS or Linux.

Everyone in the tech media could only see that Microsoft was also selling standalone Windows retail boxes, and implored Apple to follow the same model of charging money for its Mac system software. That was dumb advice that didn’t work out well at all.

With the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, Apple made iOS free and promised regular updates to deliver features that wouldn’t cost extra down the line. In 2009 Apple slashed the price of macOS upgrades from $129 to just $29 for Snow Leopard, then later to $19 on Mountain Lion, and finally began shipping new updates for free starting with 2013’s Mavericks. As with Windows PCs, the price of the OS was now hidden in the development costs of Macs.

With Mavericks, Apple turned macOS into, effectively, a free software subscription

Mac and iOS buyers effectively get a subscription to several years of OS updates by paying a premium for Apple hardware. So Apple effectively pioneered the “healthy and sane” approach to subscription software upgrades with macOS, iOS and its other OS platforms. It also began bundling significant software packages with new hardware, and these are also updated for free: Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, GarageBand and so on.

Apple has also seen success in selling online services under the iCloud brand, which provides cloud storage, backup, cloud sync and a variety of other services all bundled into an ongoing fee. Services is now Apple’s fastest-growing segment in revenues, outpacing the growth of both Macs and iPads. Yet Services aren’t coming at the cost of hardware sales; they are clearly driving new hardware sales.

In fact, the hardware that gains value from paid or free Services subscriptions (Apple Music, iCloud, OS updates, iWork) is what Apple is selling best. Hardware that doesn’t really benefit from content or OS subscriptions have largely been discontinued (AirPort routers, printers, displays, webcams).

One of the biggest potential hardware beneficiaries of these subscription models is Apple TV, iPad, and HomePod, all of which become more useful when you have subscription content to play on them. And once you are getting subscription content, you have more reason to buy additional Apple hardware to use with it, as the next segment will examine tomorrow.

Posted on March 16, 2019 by — Leave a comment

How to get your Mac or iPhone ready before you take it to Apple’s Genius Bar

Depending on the problem your device has, you may have to leave it with the Genius Bar —and they may have to send it off to Apple. Make the process easier for yourself and for them plus protect your sensitive data by taking a few steps in advance.

Apple is still unrivalled at how easily you can bring devices in to a Genius Bar and have them repaired. Yet it’s hard enough getting one Genius Bar appointment so make sure you cut down the risk of having to book a second. Prepare your devices and take a few steps before you head into the Apple Store and you’ll make the whole process go as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Nothing will prepare you if the answer to your issue turns out to be an expensive repair. However, at least you will be able to hand over your device and know that you have all of your data safe. You’ll be able to know that even if Apple ends up completely replacing the device, you’ll be back up and working quickly.

You do have to go through a lot of steps before you can book a Genius Bar appointment.

Plus you may have a serious problem but the poor Apple Genius has been dealing with hundreds of them. Make their job easier, too.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL93ku6iuPw&w=560&h=315]

Devices

Some of what you should do varies depending on whether it’s a Mac, an iOS device or an Apple Watch that you’re having trouble with. However, several steps are the same.

Regardless of what device you have, make sure you know your Apple ID before you head to the store. That does mean knowing the password but also the email address. This sounds obvious but if you’re a longtime Apple user then you are likely to have several Apple IDs and we have spent a confused few minutes entering the right password for the wrong ID before.

Plus your Mac will have a different login password to your Apple ID and your iOS device will have a passcode. So get all of these ready. You may not know until you talk to the Genius whether the problem is something they can fix right in front of you or whether it’s going to take some time. If you have to leave the device with them, they will absolutely require the passwords to log in to it.

If it’s an iOS device that they’re going to send away or take apart, they’ll also need to know the passcode in order to disable the Find My iPhone security so that they can wipe the phone if needed.

It’s called Find My iPhone but it actually locates all of your Apple devices

Apple also asks that you bring a sales receipt with you. We wouldn’t be bothered if we know the device is out of AppleCare or even if we just bought it at an Apple Store. If you got your device from anywhere else, though, bring the receipt just in case.

Next, you have to back up your data and the way you do that is slightly different depending on your device.

Mac specific

Don’t wait for a problem before you backup your Mac. If you haven’t already done so, though, cross your fingers that your Mac will work enough to let you back it up now.

You’re probably using a cloud service such as iCloud or Dropbox and that will mean some of your data is saved off the machine, but it won’t be anywhere near everything. So use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone copy of your hard drive.

It’s possible that the Mac you get back from an Apple repair won’t be the same Mac. If the problem wasn’t quite so serious, it’s still quite possible that the drive in the Mac won’t be the same one. And even if it still is, part of the repair process may have meant Apple had to wipe the drive.

Do create a clone backup of your drive using something like Carbon Copy Cloner but do it before you have problems

So if you have a clone copy on an external drive, you can plug that into your Mac when you get it back. You could be up and running again in no longer time than it takes to boot the Mac. Or you could use the same backup software to clone that external drive back on to the Mac’s own internal one.

Apple Watch and iOS

If you have an Apple Watch then whether the problem is with that or your iOS device, unpair them.

As well as making it easier for both you and Apple when your Watch or your iOS device is replaced, there’s an extra benefit. Unpairing your Apple Watch automatically backs it up. You can’t backup your Apple Watch data as easily as you can your Mac or iOS device but if you unpair one, that starts backing it up automatically.

Unpair your Apple Watch whether the problem is with that or with your iPhone

It’s not as if you store a lot of data on your Apple Watch, and it’s not as if changing to a new one means losing even all that activity information you’ve accrued. It does mean that swapping to a new one is faster, and with a few taps you’ll end up back with the same Faces and complications you like.

In comparison, your iOS device is already far more backed up than your Watch is. While you’re using that device, it’s being regularly backed up to iCloud. It’s still the case that an iCloud backup doesn’t save absolutely everything, but it’s no longer the case that you have to back it up to iTunes to get the rest.

Both iCloud and iTunes backups now do pretty much the same thing. What you could do, though, is make an extra copy of the data by backing up the iOS device to an external drive.

The real benefit of that, though, is to save space on your Mac’s internal hard drive. So if you’re not backing up to your Mac, this is an unnecessary extra step. Just make sure that you do backups to iCloud or iTunes.

Data is key

Some of your data is irreplaceable. Some of it is a royal pain to reinstall or redownload. And the some of it is sensitive.

We’re not paranoid about Apple service centers, we don’t remove 1Password or other password managers before we send something in for repair. Yet we will remove company documents, financial statements, and medical information.

Not only do we trust Apple’s service people, we also know they’re swamped and the last thing they care about is digging into your holiday snaps. However, we also know that drives get replaced and when they are, the old one has to go somewhere. Rather than examining the entire chain of companies that may be involved in disposing or repurposing drives, we remove sensitive data first.

That’s easy to do if you can start up your Mac or iOS device. Just copy the files off to somewhere else safe and erase the device.

If your Mac or iOS device is in such a bad state that you can’t even start it, though, you can look as if you’re stuck. However, there is still something you can do. You can wipe the entire device —and you can do it remotely.

This is a little bit of overkill if you’ve only taken your iPhone in to the Genius Bar because you couldn’t get it to set the clock to the right time zone. For more serious issues, though, go to iCloud.com, sign in with your Apple ID and wipe the whole device.

Use iCloud.com and you can remote-wipe your Macs and iOS devices

Whether it’s a Mac or an iOS device, you do it in the same way. On iCloud.com, you click on Find My iPhone. Despite the name, this actually finds all your Apple devices of any kind. You need to have turned on the Find My iPhone (or Mac or iPad) feature before but as long as you have, you will now see a map with the devices shown on it.

If the device is powered on and connected to the internet right now then you’ll see a dot for it with a description saying the location was updated “Less than a minute ago.”

When your device is in such need of repair that it can’t even switch on, you’ll still see it shown on Find My iPhone, just with the date it was last seen.

Whatever that date is, there will always be an I for Information button. Click on that and you can choose to erase the device.

Again, if the device is on and connected to the internet then this will happen right away. If it isn’t, then the next time the device powers up and gets online, it will be wiped.

Genius

You’re hopefully only going into the Store with one problem and the Geniuses are dealing with hundreds or even thousands. They know all of these steps, they know why you need to do it —and they also know that most people won’t have done any of them.

Consequently they will ask you whether you’ve got backups, whether you have your Apple ID details, whether you’ve unpaired the Watch and so on. All the way through they are hoping you’ll say yes because otherwise this is going to take a long time.

Be the person who has done everything. As well as making their job easier, you’ll get out of there faster. You’ll get out of there knowing that no matter what happens, your data is both safe and is going to be immediately available for you to get back to work.

Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.

Posted on March 15, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Maxell sues Apple over navigation, camera & data tech patents

By Roger Fingas
Friday, March 15, 2019, 01:36 pm PT (04:36 pm ET)

Long-time magnetic storage and electronics maker Maxell on Friday launched a lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of violating 10 U.S. patents, some of them inherited from Hitachi.

Three of the patents — dubbed ‘317, ‘999, and ‘498 — are connected to walking navigation, and Maxell cites features like Find My Friends and pedestrian routes in Apple Maps as infringements. A third patent, ‘493, involves Apple camera design, while a fourth (‘438) relates to wireless communication and AirDrop file transfers.

Also cited are Maxell’s ‘193 covering cellphone technology, ‘306 for ring alerts, ‘794 for controlling power consumption, ‘586 for unlocking one device with another, and ‘991, which the company says is violated by FaceTime video calls and iTunes video.

A wide range of Apple devices are listed as infringing, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs up to 2018 models. The iPhone XS is repeatedly cited as an example in Maxell’s complaint, filed through a U.S. District Court in Texarkana, Tex.

The company is seeking a jury trial, compensatory damages, and both preliminary and permanent injunctions.

“Since at least June 2013, Apple has been aware of Maxell’s patents and has had
numerous meetings and interactions regarding its infringement of these patents,” the complaint charges. “These meetings included Apple’s representatives being provided with detailed information regarding Maxell’s patents, the developed technology, and Apple’s ongoing use of this patented technology. Through this process, Apple’s representatives requested and received detailed explanations regarding Maxell’s patents and allegations. Maxell believed that the parties could reach a mutually beneficial solution and to that end considered a potential business transaction and continued to answer multiple inquiries from Apple over the course of several years, including communicating with Apple as recently as late 2018.”

Based on its track record Apple will mostly likely try to get the case dismissed or settled out of court, given the potential cost of losing a trial. This often succeeds, but Maxell is more prominent than most plaintiffs, and the company isn’t immune — earlier today a judge ruled against it a Qualcomm patent suit, awarding the latter $31 million in damages.

Posted on March 14, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Artists claim Apple pays in goods instead of cash for Today at Apple sessions

Apple has come under fire for failing to pay artists taking part in the Apple Store’s Today at Apple sessions in San Francisco, after it was discovered participants were offered a free Apple product instead of receiving an appearance fee from the retail outlet.

The Today at Apple sessions provide a way for visitors to the Apple Store to see performances and discussions by artists and creative individuals. While potentially offering a number of benefits to those taking part, some artists are dissatisfied at their treatment by the iPhone maker, especially concerning how they are compensated for their appearance.

Artists taking part in the in-store events are not paid, according to a report from KQED, with eleven artists confirming no monetary compensation is offered by Apple at all for events in San Francisco. Compensation was provided, but in the form of goods, with the choice of AirPods, an Apple TV, or an Apple Watch Series 3 on offer.

It is thought that the practice has been occurring for quite some time, as Counter Culture Group founder Victor Valle advised of two artists who performed at the Union Square store in 2017, in exchange for an Apple Watch. At the same time, Valle believes the opportunity is good for artists at first glance. “This may feel like it’s going to be the break for you, like, ‘Oh man, we’re doings something with Apple!” suggests the creative agency founder.

Valle declined further offers from Apple to book clients, noting there is “no return” for artists spending time and money making a show in that situation. “You take a hit financially trying to get a band together, pay your members, pay your way out to the store or even park in the ares,” he adds.

The relative lack of promotion of an artist’s event by Apple itself is also considered a problem for those taking part. The lack of official Today at Apple social media accounts and the simple listing of upcoming events on the Apple Store’s page offers little marketing, but while Apple does provide digital assets in the form of “Instagram-ready flyers” the artists could post to their own social media accounts, the flyers also reuse the artists’ existing promotional images.

A lack of a photographer to document one poetry reading was also seen as a misstep by playwright Ayodele Nzinga, who suggests the addition would have made working for trade a more worthwhile prospect for the event.

Vanessa Nguyen, a visual artist and producer known as Besame, enquired with Apple about potential monetary compensation, but was informed “all they could do was give product out.” In that event, her creative collective Le Vanguard received a number of Apple TVs and an iPad.

Most of the artists contacted for the report believe Apple should pay for artistic labor if it truly values it, or to provide a sufficient level of promotion for the artists.

Apple was recently criticized for seemingly taking advantage of creative work, in its “Shot on iPhone” challenge. The original terms of the competition had Apple using winning images on billboards and in stores, but only offered exposure as the prize, a mistake Apple rectified quickly by offering to pay a licensing fee to winners.

Posted on March 13, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple confirms buyout of machine learning startup Laserlike

By Roger Fingas
Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 12:57 pm PT (03:57 pm ET)

Apple on Wednesday confirmed its recent takeover of Laserlike, a Silicon Valley startup that applied machine learning to content discovery.

The firm was actually absorbed sometime last year, The Information said. It’s not clear what the terms of the deal were, or why exactly Apple would want the business.

Laserlike was active for four years and concentrated on an “interest search engine” that could fetch news, video, and general Web content relative to each user. A key assumption was that people may want to know about things that don’t necessarily pop up in their usual sources, such as a car recall or an upcoming music festival. The app for the engine is no longer available.

A possibility is that Apple will use Laserlike’s technology and/or staff to boost its own machine learning efforts. Siri, for instance, has been criticized as weaker than rival AI assistants from Amazon and Google, which have the advantage of being hooked into massive amounts of cloud data. Apple’s privacy stance has siloed Siri in many cases, and wherever possible it relies on on-device processing.

The technology could also be applied to services like Apple News. A paid subscription option, Apple News Magazines, should be announced at a March 25 press event alongside a video streaming service, which itself will need recommendations to spur viewing.

The Laserlike crew has reportedly joined Apple’s AI division, led by John Giannandrea, who was hired away from Google in 2018. His unit oversees the strategy for AI and Machine Learning across all Apple products, as well as the development of Core ML and Siri.

More recently Giannandrea kicked Bill Stasior out of Siri development, allegedly to steer work towards research and away from evolutionary upgrades. It’s unknown if Stasior has been replaced.

Posted on March 12, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple offers four more iPhone tip videos covering Apple Pay Cash, Find my iPhone, Dual SIM

By Malcolm Owen
Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 01:14 pm PT (04:14 pm ET)

Apple has published four more videos to its official YouTube channel in its “iPhone Can Do What?” series, promoting the processing performance, Find my iPhone, Apple Pay Cash, and Dual SIM functionality of the company’s smartphones.

The quartet of videos were released on Tuesday afternoon, following the same style as other iPhone videos published to the channel over the last two weeks. Each video lasts just 15 seconds, but provides a quick illustration of how each feature functions.

The four videos are titled “A chip that lets you work and play faster,” “Find your missing devices,” Send and receive money through iMessage with Apple Pay on iPhone,” and “Have two phone numbers on the same phone with Dual SIM for iPhone.”

Apple frequently places video guides to functions and features of its hardware on its YouTube channels. Recently the Apple website launched a new features page that aims to provide quick overviews of key features, which is similar in concept to the recent videos.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnxixGiWcjM&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOx4PDX055c&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4BLH6QcwQQ&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwa08Ez6vIA&w=560&h=315]

Posted on March 11, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple’s ‘It’s show time’ video and Apple News event is on March 25 at Steve Jobs Theater

By William Gallagher
Monday, March 11, 2019, 12:28 pm PT (03:28 pm ET)

Apple has invited members of the press to an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on March 25, expected to include the unveiling of Apple’s news and video services.

The March 25 event will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater

The invitations for the March 25 event confirm long standing rumors of the date and also that the event will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, Cupertino. While the invitation includes no more details than the time and venue, it does say that “it’s show time” and the animation included in the video has a distinct film leader countdown indicative of the Apple’s video service.

Apple previously used the “it’s showtime” —notably without the space between “show” and “time” —tagline in September 2006 when it debuted the Apple TV.

As ever, Apple has not announced anything that it plans to announce at the event, but it is expected to center on services rather than hardware. Specifically, Apple’s updating of its news offering into a subscription service is believed to be central to the event.

Similarly, the forthcoming streaming video service from Apple is at least expected to be revealed even if its actual launch may not be until later in the year.

Last year’s March event concentrated on education but did also include hardware releases, including an updated iPad.

Based on evidence from the supply chain, and usually reliable analysts such as Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to release many new products across the whole of 2019. However, the only ones even occasionally being mentioned as possible for the March 25 event are more updated iPads the long-awaited AirPower charging pad, and the possibility of a new iPod touch.

AppleInsider will be at the March event where we expect Apple’s news and video services to dominate. Keep up with our coverage by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.

Posted on March 10, 2019 by — Leave a comment

How to download prior versions of apps onto an older iPhone or iPad that can’t run iOS 12

Apple hasn’t totally left old iPad owners behind. In addition to still signing the last iOS releases for those devices, you can still download software for them —assuming you know where to look.

Getting this dialog to appear is what takes the time

Maybe you’re hanging on to an older iOS device or maybe you just got a great secondhand bargain. Either way, you can’t update the device to the latest iOS and so you also can’t download the latest versions of your apps. Since the App Store only ever shows you the latest versions, it looks as if you’re stuck unable to get your old apps back. Yet you can do it, and you can do it easily —if you know where to look.

Watch an AppleInsider two-minute tip video on this or read on for extra detail.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1cmTfJq-M&w=560&h=315]

Certified pre-owned

Open the App Store on this older device of yours and then tap on the Purchased button. As great as older iOS devices are, they are older and they are usually slower so this won’t be quick. Especially not as you need to wait until the complete list of your previously purchased apps is displayed.

Once the list is complete —and all the icons have displayed too —search for the app you want.

It will be there with an iCloud download icon next to it.

This is too easy

Just tap on that iCloud download icon and you’re done —or very nearly. The trick here is to wait. And maybe wait for a considerable time, too. Don’t tap away, don’t leave the App Store, just wait.

After some amount of time, the App Store will display a notification saying that no, you can’t have this app because it doesn’t work with the version of iOS that your device has. However, it will also offer to let you download a previous version.

This is a really smart feature from Apple because it offers you this compatible version but it also makes sure that you’re getting the newest that you can. If an app has been updated five times a year, you’d struggle to know which was the very latest you could use but Apple knows and Apple tells you.

Simply tap the Download button and soon that app will be on your older device.

There are limits, though

Apps get updated for a reason. You’re not going to have the same experience with an older version of an app on an older device than you will with a newer setup.

Speaking of newer setups, though, it looks as if you can only use this download trick with apps that you have previously bought. If this older device is your sole iOS one then that’s true, but if you have a newer one as well, you can do something more.

On the newer iOS device, find and buy an app you want —that you know has a previous version which will work on your older machine. That’s the hard part. There’s no surefire way of knowing for certain and the best you can do is take an educated guess. If you can find references online to the app being updated around the date of your older device, you’re probably in luck.

If the app is regularly updated then the App Store’s Version History simply won’t go back far enough to be of use

Buy it on the newer device and then it’s in your Purchased history on all your iOS devices. And that means also on your older one. Give it a few minutes for the information to propagate through the App Store but thereafter you should be able to do this download trick and get the previous version that works with your older device.

If for some reason there wasn’t a version that ever worked on your older device then there’s nothing you can do. However, you’ve at least got that app on your new iOS device and can use it there.