List of Macs Compatible With macOS Sierra

Apple today announced macOS Sierra, the latest version of its Mac software platform and renamed successor to OS X El Capitan. The first beta of the update was seeded to developers earlier today, while a public beta will be released in July.

macOS Sierra will be available as a free software update for compatible MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models in the fall. Many 2007 to 2009 Macs that are compatible with OS X El Capitan will not be upgradeable to macOS Sierra, as the cutoff is now at least Late 2009.

The official list of Macs compatible with macOS Sierra:

Late 2009 or Later

• MacBook
• iMac

2010 or Later

• MacBook Air
• MacBook Pro
• Mac mini
• Mac Pro

Apple has shared the full video of its WWDC 2016 keynote, where it also introduced iOS 10 alongside new versions of watchOS and tvOS.

Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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Xbox Project Scorpio is the most powerful games console ever, coming Christmas 2017

Not content with unveiling the Xbox One S, a slimmer, better Xbox One, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced Project Scorpio during the Microsoft E3 media briefing. It’s the next games machine from Xbox and will be “the most powrerful console ever”.

Although we’re light on specs at present, the 6 teraflop GPU will be the best in a console to date when it arrives in the Holiday season of 2017.

It’s unlikely that it will keep the name Project Scorpio on its release, but considering there were few leaks about it prior to the event, that’ll no doubt be well bandied around for a while.

The console will have 4K HDR gaming on launch, but all games will work across all Xbox One machines, from the original and the Xbox One S to Scorpio.

In addition, it is geared for virtual reality, with Xbox claiming that it will be capable of high resolution VR – a slight dig at PlayStation and the PS VR.

Pricing, etc, is naturally yet to be revealed, but with the Xbox One S starting at $299, we suspect it’ll come in a lot higher.

Still, it’s very exciting stuff.

We’re at E3 all this week and if we can find out more about the new machine we’ll bring it to you. And there we were impressed by the Xbox One S.

Apple Music update brings new look, lyrics, and hidden Connect section

Apple’s music-streaming service is getting a major update that brings an all-new look while significantly diminishing a previously-major feature.

Apple Music has a new design that not only rearranges the tabs along the bottom of the app (in the menu bar) but also brings a new interface for each one to make them easier to use. The tabs are now for the following screen: Library, For You, Browse, Radio, and Search. Notice there is no more “Connect” tab by default. Instead, it’s been tucked away into For You. Here’s what you need to know…

Apple Music update: All-new look

Navigation

The first tab in the new Apple Music is Library, and it has an entirely new section for downloaded music (this is all the music on your iPhone). It also has a Recently-added section, so you can see all the songs and playlists recently added to your library.

The second tab in the menu bar is For You – and at the top of this area there is a new Discovery mix section. You can go here to see all the songs that have been picked just for you. You will also see daily-curated playlists on this tab. Connect is now bundled in this tab, too, suggesting the music social network-like idea never really took off. And that just reminds us of Apple’s failed Ping attempt.

The next tab in the menu bar is called Browse. It has the most recent and most important music of today, including top charts. Apple has once again curated this whole spot. During a demo on stage, we saw music from Drake, Dre, and a Jonas brother here.

The Fourth tab is Radio. It lets you listen to 24/7 radio via Beats 1. From this section, you will also find genre-based stations. And the fifth and final tab is all about search, so you can find whatever song, artist, playlist, album, or video you may want to hear.

Lyrics

Apple has announced you can now see lyrics beneath album art. To access lyrics, just swipe down when listening to a song.

Apple Music update: Number of users

Apple’s music-streaming service launched at WWDC last year. So, during today’s keynote, Apple revealed Apple Music has amassed 15 million paying subscribers in a year.

Apple Music update: Release date

Apple didn’t specify when the new Apple Music will roll out, but we can assume it’ll release alongside iOS 10 this autumn.

TPO, the US carrier that gives 10 per cent of your phone bill to charity

Hey do-gooder, here’s a chance for you to do even more do-gooding. By making sure every month 10 per cent of your monthly phone bill costs go to charity.

TPO, aka the The People’s Operator, is a mobile network provider that gives back the more you spend. The idea, is that not only can you save money each month on your mobile phone bill with the carrier’s great Pay Monthly SIM Only deals or Pay As You Go SIMs, but that you can make a difference by directing 10 per cent of your spend to any charity or cause of your choice – at no cost to you.

TPO has teamed up with Pocket-lint to offer readers 20 per cent off the first month of the 3GB Caring and 5GB Hero plans by using the code BEST20. Both plans offer unlimited talk and unlimited texts.

It’s more than just a cheap mobile phone deal – it’s totally feel-good.

You get to choose from TPO’s national partners like WWF or Feeding America right down to your local school or animal shelter.

But don’t just expect the prices to be 10 per cent higher to cover the donation costs. TPOs plans for both GSM and CDMA phones are as competitive as other carriers and there’s always someone in the US on the phone to answer any queries you have. No international call centres here. 

And remember by signing up you’ll be part of a network that is helping raise money for thousands of amazing causes in the US every month. 

Get the deal now!

Apple Swift Playgrounds app: Here’s how it teaches kids to code on iPad

Apple wants to get kids coding as soon as possible, so it’s launching a new iPad app to do just that.

The app is called Swift Playgrounds. Swift is Apple’s programming language created for iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS, and Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app is basically a new environment to teach beginner programmers how to code in Swift. Here’s everything you need to know about the app, including how it works and when it’ll be available.

Apple Swift Playgrounds: How does it work?

Apple

Swift Playgrounds is a free app for iPad. When you first open it, you will see several basic coding lessons and challenges. It’s all very reminiscent to Codecademy, but it’s much more visually-friendly with loads of graphics and playful features. In fact, with this app, Apple seems to be targeting children. During a demo on stage, we saw examples of games and animations designed to keep young coders motivated.

The app features a special keyboard with specific shortcuts, with the purpose of making it easier to enter code. Swift is open-source, and Apple wants to get people comfortable with it and using it regularly. By providing an app that includes lessons and the ability to do projects, people can approach Swift at an early age and ultimately take steps toward becoming an experienced programmer.

In an on-stage demo, Apple said it wanted the new app to “engage and motivate learners”. Children will learn the basics of Swift programming by moving an onscreen character with code, solving puzzles, and achieving goals via a game-like scenario. Commands appear at the bottom, code appears on the left, and a preview is on the right. It’s all pretty straightforward, but that’s the point – right?

Advanced coding capabilities will also be available in Swift Playgrounds.

Apple Swift Playgrounds: When will it be available?

Swift Playgrounds will ship this autumn (alongside iOS 10). It will be available in the iOS App Store. The free app is already available to test today, however, in developer beta. The public beta will launch in July.

Apple Swift Playgrounds: Want to know more?

Check out Apple’s Swift Playgrounds page for more details. You can also see a trailer for the app above.

What’s new in Apple TV? Siri YouTube search, gameplay support, single sign-in and more

Apple has announced the latest update to its Apple tvOS that will see huge live TV access, smarter Siri and more.

Now over 100 live channels will be coming to the platform as of next month. Apple will make jumping between subscription services easier than ever thank to a new single sign-on feature. There’s also a brand new remote app and plenty more coming.

Check below for everything you can expect to find in the latest version of Apple tvOS.

Apple TV: New remote features

The Apple TV Siri Remote uses touch, motion and voice but now all those features have arrived on the iPhone app too.

Ideal for taking advantage of the iPhone’s motion sensors, this app will allow it to control games and more. You will be able to search by entering text using the keyboard.

Now if you get a new app on iPhone or iPad, like the Baseball league app say, it’ll be automatically downloaded to the Apple TV ready for you to use it when you turn it on next.

Apple TV: Updated Siri search

Siri has not only made it onto Mac OS but has also had an upgrade on Apple TV.

Now you can search using Siri for categories like “eighties comedy” and it’ll search the 650,000 shows and movies library and let you watch with just one tap. From later this month you can also search YouTube specifically by asking it to “Search YouTube for…”.

A new feature is called Live Tune In. You simple say “Watch ESPN”, for example and it’ll turn you over to the live channel.

Siri will even give lots of control over Apple HomeKit connected gadgets. So turning down the lights for a movie is as easy as telling Siri to do it.

Apple TV: Single sign-on access

Single sign-on is a new feature that should mean all subscriptions are in one place.

That means you sign in once and then you have access to all your apps without the need to input logins again. Ideal for pay per view TV subscriptions – US ones at least, for now.

Apple

Apple TV: Apps on tvOS

The 6,000 apps already available for Apple TV have had some great upgrades to make them even more TV focused.

Gaming on titles like NBA 2K16, Minecraft and Sketch Party are all more TV friendly. Now you can draw on an iPad or iPhone for Sketch Party and sit around TV to guess. Or browse potential new holidays using Airbnb or TripAdvisor so everyone can see the options on the big screen.

Support for more game controllers has also been announced.

Apple has updated the APIs so that more options are available like ReplayKit to record live TV, PhotoKit for third-party access to iCloud content, HomeKit access and more.

Apple TV: Extras

Apple Music has had a design update and that’s reflected in the tvOS app to give more clarity and ease of search.

Photos now supports Memories making navigating one’s photo library more easy on the big screen.

There is also a new dark mode that gives the menus and movies a cinema feel, ideal for when searching through your evening’s movie selection.

READ: How to watch Apple WWDC 2016 live-stream: iOS 10, macOS, and more expected

What is Project Scorpio? The future of Xbox explained

When the Xbox One S was announced at E3 2016, it was easy to get excited and look forward to some HDR gaming. The new console adds 4K support, as well as introducing HDR gaming, which all sounds very nice.

However, the Xbox One S is something of an interim measure. No one was really expecting the reveal of Project Scorpio, the device that will take the Xbox crown.

Here’s everything you need to know about Project Scorpio, the Xbox of the future. 

What is Project Scorpio?

Project Scorpio is the codename for Microsoft’s next Xbox console. In an uncommon move, the 2017 device was teased at E3 2016. Normally future plans are closely guarded secrets, but in this instance, the future Xbox is being announced.

Phil Spencer said at the E3 reveal: “we’re announcing Project Scorpio today to give our developers and partners the ability to take advantage of that capability now.”

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of Project Scorpio, however. Those who follow games industry news will know that the Scorpio name was being bandied around alongside leaking news of the new slimmer Xbox One S – and many of the leaked details appear to be have now been confirmed by Microsoft.

Microsoft

Project Scorpio hardware and specs

The Xbox team doesn’t talk in too much detail about the innards of devices and we suspect that things are a long way from final for Project Scorpio.

The focus has been the 6 teraflops of GPU power so far, mentioned a number of times on stage at E3 2016, along with the “most powerful console” positioning.

The main crux of Project Scorpio is delivering uncompromised 4K gaming. That’s a different position to the Xbox One S, which is pitched in to support 4K Ultra HD sources like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, and Ultra HD Blu-ray. While Xbox One S will support HDR (high dynamic range), it’s not about increasing the resolution of gaming output.

So that’s where Project Scorpio will really have to leverage its hardware, with talk about fully uncompressed pixels and 60Hz frame rates, for incredibly smooth, but very detailed, visuals. There’s talk of 8 CPU cores and over 320GBps memory bandwidth, too, although that’s about it for the official line so far.

Project Scorpio and virtual reality

In the announcement of Project Scorpio, there was also a fair talk of VR. With Bethesda already showing off plans for Fallout in VR – which we’ve had a chance to demo – another aim of Project Scorpio is to deliver high-fidelity VR gaming.

Where the official announcement ends, the rumours continue, with sources talking to Kotaku saying that Scorpio will be “technically capable of supporting Oculus.” Partnering with an established name in VR (at least as established as you can get in a brand new sector) would be something of a coup for Xbox, bringing that hardware to the console and reducing the need for a PC. However, there’s nothing official to suggest this has happened.

Still, VR is certainly on the roadmap and the Xbox team is sending out the message that Project Scorpio is going to offer an uncompromised VR experience for gaming.

Microsoft

Project Scorpio games: Does Project Scorpio replace the Xbox One?

At this stage it’s too early to know what gaming plans there are for Project Scorpio.

While all the talk has been about enhancing the experience, there’s the strong message that Scorpio is part of the Xbox family and those games and accessories for the Xbox One and Xbox One S will work with Project Scorpio too.

The message is that “no one gets left behind”, so as Scorpio pushes things forwards, Team Xbox is keen to ensure that the humble Xbox One gamer doesn’t feel they have to go out an buy a new console to keep up. Equally, those who do get Scorpio will still be using the same services as they do now and be part of the same Xbox Live community.

Project Scorpio release date

It’s perhaps exciting to be able to put a date on a future release. Project Scorpio is slated for a December 2017 launch, right in time for “the holiday season”.

Of course that’s some way off – so you can go and buy that Xbox One S you secretly still want – and enjoy it for many months before Scorpio becomes a tangible product. Of course, there’s no price yet, and with over a year of development, we’re sure there’s going to be a lot more to learn about the future of Xbox.

These are exciting times.

Apple HomeKit and Home app: What are they and how do they work?

Apple wants to streamline home automation.

In other words: it wants to make it easier for smart accessories to communicate, and for you to connect and manage all the smart accessories in your home from various manufacturers (such as Philips Hue lights, Wink lights, and other speakers, thermostats, detectors, plugs, blinds, locks, sensors, etc). HomeKit is basically Apple’s framework for home automation.

Manufacturers can implement HomeKit into their smart accessories. It was first announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in 2014. The name is a combination of “home” for home automation and “kit” for software developer kit. HomeKit-enabled accessories are secure, easy to use, and work with several Apple devices (including iPhone and Apple TV).

You’ll use the new Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, for instance, to set up and ultimately control all your HomeKit-enabled accessories. If you’d like to know more about HomeKit and the new Home app in iOS 10, Pocket-lint has explained everything you need to know, including what they are and how they work together.

HomeKit: What’s the point of HomeKit?

Apple

So, you’re probably wondering to yourself: I’ve longed own smart lights and controlled them with their own easy-to-use iOS app – why is HomeKit necessary now? Well, imagine that you also own smart blinds.

Without HomeKit, your smart lights can’t communicate with your smart blinds, meaning you can’t hook them up together, control them with a single interface, nor set them to perform actions together at certain times. (Like, make your lights automatically to turn off and window blinds simultaneously close at 9 pm EST every night.) Instead, you must manually control each accessory with their individual, third-party apps and set every one to do a specific task at a certain time. That’s all rather tedious, to be honest.

HomeKit-enabled smart accessories however can speak to each other, and best of all, you can control them using voice commands through Siri. You can use Siri on your iPhone/iPad by saying things like “turn on the lights in the garage” – or even “good morning” to unleash a bunch of commands that’ll cause many smart accessories to turn on and do their thing (maybe your coffee will brew while your blinds open).

Every HomeKit-enabled accessory automatically works with Siri once you set it up via its HomeKit-compatible app. Siri is just the unified interface you use to issue voice commands to those smart accessories. You still need the individual apps that come with those smart accessories to gain full access to touch controls and whatnot. So, it’s not completely streamlined just yet.

Now, the last thing you need to know about HomeKit is that it can enforce end-to-end encryption between all smart accessories and iOS devices. That means third parties can’t steal your data, hack their way into your communications, or take control of your home automation.

HomeKit: Is it available yet?

Yep. Manufacturers can add support for it now, then get approved by Apple, and their devices will work with Siri after pairing. We’re just waiting on more HomeKit-enabled accessories to hit store shelves.

HomeKit: Which Apple devices work with HomeKit?

Apple

HomeKit works with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running run iOS 8.1 or later. Also, with watchOS 2, you can now control all your HomeKit accessories with the Apple Watch (more on that later). And if you have an Apple TV (third generation or later), you can control your accessories with Siri commands when you’re away from home (more on that later).

HomeKit: Which smart accessories are out now?

Apple

Any manufacturer that wants to develop HomeKit-enabled accessories has to not only add support for HomeKit into their accessories and companion apps but also join Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFI) certification program and submit its plans, prototypes, etc.

Apple will check the application programming interfaces (APIs), then ensure the third-party app meets the App Store’s requirements, and finally, approve or deny the accessory for production. Apple provides MFI logos on any certified device’s packaging, which tells you the accessory is an official MFI-certified product. These products are secure and compatible with iPhone and iPad.

When Apple showed off HomeKit in 2014, it announced HomeKit partnerships with many manufacturers, including as iHome, Haier, Withings, Philips, iDevices, Belkin, Honeywell, and Kwikset. The first batch of HomeKit-enabled, MFI-certified accessories include:

• Elgato: Elgato and it’s Eve sensors went on sale in the Apple Online Store in July 2015. The first four sensors are the Eve Room (£69.95), Eve Weather (£44.95), Eve Door & Window (£34.95), and Eve Energy (£44.95). Additional Eve products are coming. The Eve app is now out as a free download from the App Store.
• Ecobee: Ecobee in the US is offering an intelligent thermostat with HomeKit integration. It launched in June 2015 and costs $249 (£163).
• Lutron: If you’re looking to control your lights Lutron will be releasing the Caseta Wireless system that allows you to bark orders like “lights off”. The Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit, with HomeKit-enabled Smart Bridge, is available for $229.95 at Apple Stores. The kit includes one Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge, two Caséta Wireless dimmers (compatible with dimmable LED, halogen, and incandescent bulbs), two remotes and two pedestals. To add more lights, you can purchase the Caséta Wireless dimmer/remote kits, also available at Apple Stores, for $59.95.
• iHome: The iHome iSP5 Smartplug fits into your standard wall sockets and will mean you can turn off connected devices via Siri.
• Insteon: The Insteon Hub will let you control a whole manner of things like cameras, switches, sensors and more either via an app, Siri, or schedules like configuring a single device to turn on and off at dusk and dawn or create customized groups of devices that turn on and off at various times throughout the day.

Go here to see a full list of accessories. You can also shop from here.

HomeKit-enabled accessories are marked with a “Works with Apple HomeKit” badge on their product packaging and have only been available since June 2015. If you previously owned one of the above-listed products, they won’t work with HomeKit going forward. You need to buy the new versions. But there is a workaround for old smart accessories: you could get the Insteon Hub or iHome SmartPlug and use the HomeKit support within those device to leverage Siri and control anything connected to them, such as Phillips Hue lights.

HomeKit: How do you get started?

Apple

Until the new Home app in iOS 10 arrives this autumn, here’s how you can setup HomeKit-enabled accessories:

Pairing

• To use HomeKit, you need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 8.1 or later. You also need one or more HomeKit-enabled accessories (see a list of devices from here).
• On your iOS device, go to the App Store, then download the HomeKit-compatible app for your HomeKit-enabled accessory, and pair that accessory with your iOS device. Your accessory will come with a HomeKit setup code. Open the app for your accessory, and then point your device’s camera at the setup code to scan it.

Siri

• Once your iOS device and accessory have been paired, you can control the accessory with these Siri commands, which includes phrases like “turn off the lights” or “set the temperature to 68 degrees F”. If you set up homes, rooms, zones, or scenes (more on that later), you can use commands like “movie time”, for instance, to simultaneously control your TV, audio equipment, lights, or whatever.
• You’ll also be able to use Siri via your Apple Watch to issue voice commands. But that’s not all: your watch can still control HomeKit accessories when you aren’t carrying your phone. Let’s say, for instance, you go for a run with your watch but leave your iPhone at home, you can unlock your HomeKit-enabled door when near it using BT proximity detection or a companion Watch app.
• If you have an Apple TV (third-generation or later), sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on your iOS device and Apple TV. This will allow you to control your accessories with Siri commands when you’re away.

HomeKit: How does grouping work?

Apple

Until the new Home app in iOS 10 arrives this autumn, here’s how you can control HomeKit-enabled accessories:

Some smart accessories have individual apps that let you group your accessories in homes, rooms, or scenes. This lets you control a group of accessories with a single Siri command. Keep in mind you’ll need to set up these groups within the apps of the accessories.

With HomeKit, everything – a home, room, accessory, function, setting – must have its own name and be stored in a common database accessible by Siri. That’s because Siri has to recognise what to control when you speak a command. For example, if you own a house and a condo, each home must have a different name (such as “House” and “Condo”).

Every single room in your homes must have different names as well. Take note that you can have a “Kitchen” in both homes, but you can’t have two “Kitchens” in one home. Also, all HomeKit accessories in your home need their own names too. And every function or service that the device is capable of providing will need a distinct name in HomeKit.

Luckily, HomeKit-compatible apps take care of must of this stuff for you. That means, if you want a cup of coffee, the app should seamlessly let you name your machine “Coffee pot” and the function as ”Brew”. Siri will only be able to control your home, rooms, and HomeKit-enabled accessories by voice if it can recognise pre-programmed names across your apps.

Those of you who are tech-savvy could conceivably have hundreds of names between all your rooms, accessories, and functions. To make it easier for you to control multiple smart accessories at once, Apple offers a grouping feature with HomeKit. Grouping allows you to, for instance, turn off all the lights in your house with a single spoken command.

That means you won’t have to ask Siri to shut off every light in every room in every house you own. Grouping also includes sub-features called rooms or scenes, so you can control multiple accessories in an area or for a specific reason. Imagine you’ve assigned a scene called “Goodnight”, and various accessories and actions are connected to that scene, such as locking your doors, turning off lights, and setting alarms.

When you tell Siri “Goodnight”, HomeKit’s grouping feature will alert your doors, lights, and clock to do their respective tasks (in no particular order). After you group your accessories in a home, you can also invite other people to share control of these accessories. They just need to sign in to iCloud to accept the invitation. If you create the home, you’re the admin, and people you invite are shared users (learn more from here).

HomeKit: Will HomeKit respond to other triggers?

Apple

If you don’t want to use Siri voice commands all the time, you can set up your accessories to respond to other triggers, such as your location, the time, or another accessory. So, for location, you can set your garage door to open when you pull up. With time, you can have your coffee pot come on at 6 am PST, and with the accessory, you could use a motion sensor to detect when you walk into a dark hallway and turn on the lights.

HomeKit: What about the Home app?

Apple

Apple on 13 June while at WWDC 2016 announced something that all fans of HomeKit have been waiting for: Home. It’s a new app that serves as a single destination for controlling all your smarthome accessories.

Announced by Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering, Home offers an interface with just about every control function you need for accessories like lights, locks, and other connected gadgets. Previously, you had to manage your HomeKit-enabled hardware using the several individuals apps that came with your devices, and to actually control those devices, you had to use Siri commands.

The new Home app lets you use touch to trigger accessories individually or as a group (called scenes). You’ll see your scenes in the app’s main view. One scene for “I’m home” might turn on your lights and unlock the front door. A scene for “Good night” might turn off your lights and lock all the doors. The app also has a Favourite Access menu for controlling individual devices by room or choosing automation schedules.

The Home app isn’t revolutionary, but it does the job. It’s built into Control Center, which should make it quicker to manage smarthome accessories with your iPhone, and it works with Apple TV, allowing it to double as a smarthome hub and feed commands to HomeKit accessories. And finally, Home has Lock Screen integration for viewing alerts and device status without having to unlock an iPhone.

Home will launch for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, alongside iOS 10 this autumn. We will update this piece over time as more details emerge about how the app works.

HomeKit: Are there any HomeKit alternatives?

Apple’s HomeKit is unique in that it doesn’t have much stiff competition. Sure – Samsung offers a home automation platform called Samsung Smart Home, but it just debuted earlier this year and is still new. There’s also a nifty platform and app called SmartThings, which turns your smartphone into a remote to control for smart accessories in your home. Samsung acquired SmartThings last year. You can read about that here.

Apart from Samsung and SmartThings, Apple should keep on eye on Google. The Mountain View-based company already has the potential to both topple HomeKit and dominate home automation, thanks to a company called Nest Labs. Google acquired Nest Labs – the makers of the Nest smart learning thermostat – for $3.2 billion in January 2014. The high price tag of the acquisition (coupled with Google’s newcomer status to the smarthome market) made headlines and confirmed Google’s interest in home automation.

Then, in 2014, Google announced a new developer program for the Nest division. Called “Works with Nest”, the program provides a set of APIs that manufacturers can include in their smart accessories to let you link and remote control them as well as integrate them with Nest and other Google products. The thing is you won’t hear anything about Google or Android. Google is keeping the Nest brand separate, letting Nest spearhead home automation for the company (which will eventually include rivaling HomeKit).

Want to know more?

Check out Apple’s HomeKit support page for more details.

iOS 10 Messages explained: What’s new and how you’ll use it

As part of its major iOS 10 unveiling at the WWDC opening keynote, Apple showed off a brand new Messages app. While previous years have seen the app slowly evolving to be more capable, this year’s revolution brings with it a huge change in focus. Instead of an ageing, but necessary communication tool, Messages now wants to be a cool, interactive and fun application.

READ: Apple iOS 10 release date and everything you need to know

Although they didn’t say so during the announcement, it seems very much like Messages is trying to compete head on with the likes of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. But that doesn’t mean it’s going all form and no function. In fact, this is probably the biggest update we’ve seen on a default text messaging app on any platform in a very long time, and probably since BBM ruled the roos on Blackberry. And it’s not just more colourful and interactive, it’s more personal too.

Apple

Scribbles, quick responses and heartbeats

A key part of the update is a change in the ways you can communicate. You can – as always – text someone by tapping away at the physical keyboard, the same way you have been ever since the first iPhone came out 9 years ago. If you want to, that is. Or you can make use of some of the features Apple has brought across from the Apple Watch.

First off, you can now hand-scribble a message, and whoever receives it will see the doodle animate on screen, just like it would if you wrote it with a pen. Second, in group messages, you can react directly to individual messages by tapping a specific message and choosing one of six quick responses. Third, just like the Apple Watch, you can send your heartbeat, or sketches, or videos with your own scribbles on them.

Apple

Bubbles, balloons and invisible ink

While iOS 10 will bring multiple new methods of inputting your message, the Messages update also lets you customise how the receiver will see them on screen. As an example, you’ll be able to change how the bubble containing your message animates. Whether you want to appear more excited, or a little quieter, you’ll be able to choose from a number of preset animations to get your feelings across.

For certain specific messages like “Happy Birthday” or “Congrats” (just two examples of many) you can have an animation take over the entire conversation screen. For the birthday greeting, for instance, you can have balloons animate and fill the display.

Invisible ink is another new effect, which allows the sender to conceal their message in a shimmery, glittery overlay until the reader taps it to reveal what’s behind. This is beneficial for more personal messages.

Apple

More, better emoji

If you love chatting with emoji instead of real words, the next version of Messages will be a dream come true. Not only do emoji show up three times larger than they did before, but also show up in the predicted words bar at the top of the keyboard. As well as predictive emoji, you can also select individual words in a created message to swap them out for emoji.

Bringing up the emoji keyboard turns applicable words orange/yellow to denote which ones can be used. Tap the one(s) you’d like to change and it’s an emoji, just like magic.

Apple

Stickers and iMessage apps

Alongside the main text input field in the new Messages app, there’s an ‘Apps’ icon. To begin with – similar to Facebook Messenger – this will be primarily used for stickers. But Apple is opening it up to third party developers so that they will be able to build apps specifically for Messages. While you’ll be able to send animations, or create content to send to your friends and loved ones, you’ll also be able to share music from the Apple Music app, or make personal payments, all without leaving the app.

Conclusion

It’s hard not to like the updates to Messages. In many ways, it’s the modernisation the app sorely needed. In other ways, it almost seems as though Apple wants to make the app a central part of your digital life. By having multiple apps tie into Messages, and putting effort into how conversations are presented, it’s clear the company – at the very least – wants you to spend more time there.