Severance season two is back on track, according to Apple, after strike delays halted production last year.
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Zac Hall is 9to5Mac Editor-at-Large with a focus on technology news, product reviews, and analysis. Zac previously served as 9to5Mac Editor-in-Chief, hosted over 400 weekly episodes of the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and has been a member of the 9to5Mac family since 2013. Zac has over a decade of experience in technology journalism, including as a tech columnist for the Clarion-Ledger newspaper, part of the USA Today network.
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Apple Music SharePlay control expands from CarPlay to HomePod and Apple TV
iOS 17.4 is taking the Apple Music SharePlay experience from CarPlay and bringing it to the house. Apple is expanding the SharePlay music control feature to work with both HomePod and Apple TV.
Expand Expanding CloseRouters secured by HomeKit are not dead
Routers secured by HomeKit may not be the first accessories that come to mind when thinking about smart home gadgets. Nevertheless, routers are still alive and well as an accessory category in the world of HomeKit. That’s despite a thread on Reddit this week that suggested HomeKit was no longer open for business as far as routers were concerned.
Expand Expanding ClosePestle cooking app puts recipe discovery on your Home Screen
Pestle, the handy recipe app for iPhone and iPad, is adding new widgets that put recipe discovery right on your iPhone’s Home Screen.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Vision Pro delay hits pre-order customers with February 2 ship dates [Update]
Update: Customers who received delay emails yesterday are now being told that the update was made in error. Original ship dates are still being honored.
Apple Vision Pro inventory has been a mystery since pre-orders started almost a week ago. Earlier this week we saw a highly uncommon second wave of in-store pickup options for launch day. Now some Vision Pro pre-order customers are reporting a disappointing update on their delivery dates.
Expand Expanding CloseMeta Quest headsets might soon be able to play spatial videos shot on iPhone without workarounds
Apple recently introduced spatial video capture to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The feature lets you start saving memories now to relive on Apple Vision Pro when it arrives. Or when you buy one. Or when the more consumer-priced version comes out. Or maybe on an existing Meta Quest headset without requiring the current workarounds!
Expand Expanding CloseWeather Up 3 packs a whole lot of app into a single super widget
While interactive widgets are a headlining feature of iOS 17, you might not realize just how interactive new widgets can be. Weather Up 3 is here to change that.
The all-new version packs weather data for days – plus all the weather info you need to know right now – into a single super widget.
Expand Expanding CloseApple and iOS 17.4 reaffirm this is the year next-gen CarPlay takes over select cars
CarPlay is a few weeks away from turning 10 … depending on when you celebrate its birthday. Apple has already promised a whole new generation of CarPlay will start taking over cars in 2024. Now assets in iOS 17.4 beta show that CarPlay 2.0 really is getting closer to rolling off the new car lot.
Expand Expanding CloseYour Live Activities order is finally ready for pickup at Starbucks
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, the company showed off a Starbucks order in progress as one concept for Live Activities and the always-on display. Fast-forward to today and the Live Activities feature for Starbucks is finally available for everyone.
Expand Expanding CloseiOS 17.4 lets Siri read messages in additional languages, not just the primary language
iOS 17.4 introduces the ability to assign languages to Siri specifically for when it reads your messages to you. Languages can be different than the assigned language used for Siri for all other tasks. This is useful for when you primarily use Siri in one language, but you chat with people using other languages.
Expand Expanding CloseThese new emoji are coming in iOS 17.4
Update: These new emoji unveiled last year are now available in iOS 17.4 beta. These are the finalized designs:
Original story follows:
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Apple explains why it will not make major iOS policy changes outside of the EU
Apple is introducing a wave of changes to iPhone and iPad software with iOS 17.4, but these changes are only impacting customers in the 27 countries that make up the European Union? So what gives?
Expand Expanding CloseApple will prompt users to set default browsers and allow third-party web engines on iPhone in the EU
Apple is making major changes to how web browsers can operate on iPhone for customers in the EU. iOS 17.4 will introduce the option to set your preferred default browser when you initially launch Safari, and browser makers will be able to use other browser engines.
Expand Expanding CloseSoundCloud available on CarPlay, but only with a paid subscription for now
Apple Musical Classical teased the world with an accidental CarPlay app this week, but SoundCloud has the real deal. At least for paid members of SoundCloud’s subscription service.
SoundCloud apparently isn’t just a place for uploading your mixtape. Still, if you land a viral tweet and need something to promote, SoundCloud is the go-to choice (unless you don’t have one).
Expand Expanding CloseApple adds pronoun fields with privacy focus to Contacts app on iOS 17
iOS 17 and watchOS 10 introduce a new way to easily swap contact information between iPhones, Apple Watches, or both. NameDrop lets you control what information you share over AirDrop without having to create a separate contact card. NameDrop isn’t the only update to the contact card experience in iOS 17, however. iOS 17 introduces a widely requested feature to the Contacts app in the form of a new pronouns field.
Expand Expanding CloseApple canceled Jon Stewart just in time for surprise return to ‘Daily Show’ ahead of presidential election
Apple recently canceled Jon Stewart’s commentary series on TV+. That’s either because Apple disliked season three topics or ratings were too low (or both but probably the former). That depends on who you ask. A few months later, it appears the political commentator is returning to familiar place just in time for the US presidential election. Stewart will return to The Daily Show on Comedy Central as producer and host (on Mondays) for the first time since 2015.
Expand Expanding CloseWatch the first Apple Vision Pro accessory unboxing
The first third-party Vision Pro accessory sold by Apple basically looks like an iPhone case. That’s because it’s the Belkin Battery Holder for Vision Pro, and the Vision Pro battery basically looks like, well, an iPhone.
Expand Expanding CloseSteve Jobs Archive wants your Mac memories as it marks 40 years of the Macintosh
What better way to mark the 40th anniversary of the Macintosh introduction than by sharing your Mac memories with the Steve Jobs Archive? The Archive is asking Mac users to answer one question: What did the Mac make possible for you?
Expand Expanding CloseApple wins early battle against NSO after suing spyware mercenaries for attacking iPhone users
Apple has won an early battle against the NSO Group in court today. Apple sued the Pegasus spyware maker in November 2021, but the Israel-based firm has been trying to export Apple’s lawsuit to its home turf.
Apple’s early victory comes in the form of Judge Donato denying NSO Group’s request to dismiss the lawsuit from Apple altogether.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Vision Pro already has a software update
It looks like Apple Vision Pro will have a software update ready to go on day one. That’s assuming Vision Pro ships with visionOS 1.0.
Expand Expanding CloseNetflix will pull cheapest ad-free plan after latest price increases
Netflix raised the ceiling on how much you could spend on a monthly subscription in October. The new high? $23. Now it plans to raise the floor on how much an ad-free plan will cost you.
Expand Expanding CloseApple TV+ shrinks Kids division with rare layoffs: ‘a fraction of the overall staff’
It’s not common to see Apple and layoffs in the same headline, but Deadline exclusively reports that Apple has shrunk its Kids division.
Expand Expanding CloseApple’s car project has been four years away for nearly nine years
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on a flight bound for San Francisco, preparing to attend a Sonos summit in San Jose, with bad plane wifi. The date was September 21, 2015. CNBC was on-air discussing an accelerated release date for the Apple Car: 2019.
Expand Expanding CloseApple Vision Pro AR preview and in-store pickup options
Can’t wait to get your hands on Apple Vision Pro? You can get closer than ever while you count the days ’till launch with Apple’s AR hardware preview. Apple is also saying more about launch day inventory at Apple retail stores in the US.
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