iOS 10 Tidbits: Individual Read Receipts, Wake Alarm, Music Storage Optimization, and More

Apple today announced iOS 10, the next major version of its iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch software platform. The update is available in beta for Apple developers starting today, allowing early adopters to update and take a closer look at what’s new. A public beta will be available in July, followed by an official launch in the fall.

iOS 10 includes a number of changes that Apple neglected to mention in greater detail on stage during its WWDC 2016 keynote, including a new Wake Alarm in the Clock app, individualized read receipts, a new option in the Music app to optimize storage, and many other features outlined below.

Remove Stock Apps

iOS 10 enables users to remove the following built-in apps from the Home screen on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

• Calendar
• Compass
• Contacts
• FaceTime
• Find My Friends
• Home
• iBooks
• iCloud Drive
• iTunes Store
• Mail
• Maps
• Music
• News
• Notes
• Podcasts
• Reminders
• Stocks
• Tips
• Videos
• Voice Memos
• Watch app
• Weather
The apps are now available as standalone downloads on the App Store, meaning that Apple can issue updates for each app independent of iOS updates.

If you have an Apple Watch paired with your iPhone, removing an app from your Home screen also removes that app from your Apple Watch.

Removing apps can unsurprisingly impact related functionalities such as CarPlay and Notification Center widgets.

Wake Alarm

A new Bedtime tab has been added to the Clock app with a Wake Alarm function that can help you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. When enabled, the recurring wake-up alarm will remind you when it is time to sleep, track how many hours you slept, and provide detailed sleep analysis.

Individual Read Receipts

Read receipts can be toggled on a per-person or per-conversation basis on iOS 10, rather than be simply turned on or off entirely.

Music Storage Optimization

New Keyboard Sound

New iOS keyboard sound is weeeirdhttps://t.co/c4HxZDZfuQ

— Owen Williams ⚡️ (@ow) June 13, 2016

Other Tidbits

• New wallpaper
• Game Center has been removed
• “Avoid Tolls” toggle in Apple Maps
• Control Center now supports 3D Touch
• Settings has new 3D Touch shortcut for Cellular Data
• Tweaked “back to” icon in Status Bar

Related Roundup: iOS 10
Discuss this article in our forums

2016 Apple Design Award Winners Announced: Lara Croft Go, djay Pro, Ulysses Mobile and More

Following its WWDC keynote address, Apple held an event to announce the winners of its prestigious Apple Design Awards. The company hands out its design awards every year during WWDC, highlighting a section of the best apps and games across Apple’s various operating systems.

The design awards were created to recognize high-quality apps that used savvy design to create inventive, compelling new apps and games. Winners of the design awards receive significant recognition, a trophy and receive a selection of Apple products directly from the company.

This year’s winners include popular game Lara Croft Go, 3D4Medical’s Complete Anatomy, music creation tool Auxy, desktop-class writing app Ulysses Mobile and more.

iOS and watchOS

– Lara Croft Go [iOS]
– Frame.io [iOS]
– Chameleon Run [iOS]
– Auxy Music Creation [iOS]
– Streaks [iOS]
– Complete Anatomy [iOS]
– INKS [iOS]
– Zova – Personal Trainer [iOS]
– Ulysses Mobile [iOS]
– djay Pro [iOS]

Student Winners

– Linum – Free Puzzle Game [iOS]
– Dividr [iOS]

2015 winners include Fantastical 2, Crossy Road, Shadowmatic and Workflow. 2014 winners include Threes!, Leo’s Fortune, Blek and Monument Valley.

Related Roundup: WWDC 2016
Tag: Apple Design Awards
Discuss this article in our forums

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
Discuss this article in our forums

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.