Apple Watch Gaining New ‘Walkie-Talkie’ App in watchOS 5 so You Can Quickly Talk to Friends

Apple showed off a major new app coming to watchOS 5 later this year, called “Walkie-Talkie.” Using the app, Apple Watch wearers will be able to send quick voice messages to friends and family members by speaking into their Apple Watch, similar to real Walkie-Talkies.

To start using the feature, users will have to allow a connection to one another in the app. After, it will show a scrolling list of connected friends, which you can tap, speak your message, and send to their Apple Watch. Apple said the main purpose of Walkie-Talkie is to act as a middle point between sending a text message and calling someone on Apple Watch.

Additionally, a watch-to-watch connection will work over cellular and Wi-Fi.

Tag: WWDC 2018
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Apple Unveils Activity Competition Challenges Between Friends and Workout Auto-Detection Coming in watchOS 5

Apple today previewed watchOS 5 for Apple Watch at its WWD keynote, revealing new Activity app features including competition challenges between friends, new workout types, and workout auto-detection.

The new competitions feature works between friends who share activity information, and offers motivation to compete through progress updates, tables, badges and awards.

Elsewhere, a New Yoga workout type is being added to help assess posture, there’s a new Hiking workout that records pace, elevation gain, and heart rate.

Elsewhere, an enhanced Outdoor Run workout type that can track rolling mile pice (how fast you ran the last mile) and cadence (steps per minute), with optional pace alerts also available.

Apple also said the Activity app will also automatically detect workouts as they commence, and offer retroactive credit for workouts that are manually started late.

More to follow.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tags: watchOS 5, ActivityBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Apple Launches New 2018 Pride Band for Apple Watch, Available to Buy Today

Following the launch of a Pride Band for Apple Watch last summer, Apple today has revealed an all-new Pride Band for Apple Watch, which will be available to purchase today on Apple.com. The band has the colorful hues of the rainbow, with white stripes between each color.

In addition, users will be able to set a new Pride Apple Watch face on their devices at the end of the keynote.

Tag: WWDC 2018
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Apple Announces Student ID Card Support Coming to Wallet App in iOS 12

Apple today announced that student ID card support will feature as part of its Wallet app in iOS 12, making it easier for students to access everything on campus.

The support means students will be able to add their ID card to iPhone and Apple Watch, and use contactless functions and check-in features associated with dorms, dining halls, class attendance, gyms and libraries, campus events, institutional retail and bookstores, and even laundry and vending.

At launch, the new Wallet integration will support student ID cards issued by Duke University, Temple University, John Hopkins University, University of Oklahoma, Santa Clara University, and the University of Alabama.

More to follow…

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: watchOS 5Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Apple’s Mac App Store Updating With All-New Design Inspired by iOS

Apple says that in 2018 it is “turning its attention” to the Mac App Store, bringing the desktop-based storefront more in line with the one found on iOS devices. The Mac App Store has been redesigned from the ground up for macOS Mojave, the company says, with a new sidebar that has Discover, Create, Work, Play, and Develop tabs.

Like on iPhone and iPad, the Mac App Store will have articles written by Apple editors to showcase useful apps and games currently popular on the App Store. This will be found in the Discover tab and include stories, interviews, tips, app collections, and more.

“Since its launch in 2011, the Mac App Store has become the single largest catalog of Mac apps and today remains the safest and best place to get Mac apps for users around the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We are excited to usher in a new era for the Mac App Store with a beautiful new look, unique editorial content and emphasis on human curation that complements the ways people are using their Macs today.”

Users can still browse by Categories on a dedicated tab, and app pages now have more useful information like video previews and large screenshots. Ratings and reviews have also been made front and center.

The company also mentioned that later this year, apps like Office from Microsoft, Lightroom CC from Adobe, BBEdit from Bare Bones, Transmit from Panic, Live Studio from Snap Inc. and Houseparty, among others, will be made available on the Mac App Store.

On the topic of Office coming to the Mac App Store, Microsoft corporate vice president Kirk Koenigsbauer said, “We’re excited to provide our joint customers with easy access to downloads and updates by bringing Office to the newly redesigned Mac App Store.”

Tag: WWDC 2018
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Safari Browser in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave to Feature Enhanced Privacy Tools

Apple revealed today at WWDC that its latest version of Safari browser in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave will include some interesting new privacy tools.

When viewing sites in Safari, for example, “like” and “share” social media buttons that appear will be prevented from automatically tracking users when they’re clicked on.

When users do interact with these buttons, they’ll be shown an alert warning them that they may be tracked, at which point they can decide to keep their information private.

The upcoming version of Safari will also implement new security measures to prevent digital fingerprinting, flagging websites that digitally mine browsers for information in order to learn about users and how they browse the internet.

Safari will also prevent websites from harvesting form fields to capture information.

More to follow.

Related Roundup: iOS 12Tags: WWDC 2018, macOS Mojave
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First Beta of iOS 12 Now Available for Registered Developers

Following the conclusion of today’s keynote event, where Apple introduced new versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, Apple has made the first beta of iOS 12 available for developers for testing purposes and to build new iOS 12 features into apps ahead of the software’s public release.

Registered developers can download the first iOS 12 beta from Apple’s Developer Center or over-the-air after installing the proper certificate.

iOS 12 is a major overhaul to the iOS operating system that introduces tantalizing new features like Group FaceTime, local multiplayer shared AR experiences, new Animoji, and a Memoji feature that’s designed to let you create a personalized Animoji that looks just like you.

Animoji, stickers, text, and more can be used in FaceTime and the Messages app, and there’s a new Screen Time feature to help customers understand and manage the amount of time they’re spending on their iOS devices.

Siri has been improved in iOS 12 with Siri Shortcuts, which is designed to allow Siri to work with any app.

Under-the-hood improvements to iOS 12 will make everyday tasks on the iPhone and iPad faster and more responsive, with the camera launching up to 70 percent faster and the keyboard showing up up to 50 percent faster.

Only registered developers are able to download the iOS 12 beta at this time. As Apple has done in the past, a public beta for public beta testers will be provided later this summer after the software has gone through a couple rounds of developer testing.

iOS 12 will be available as a beta for several months as Apple works out all of the kinks and bugs. The update will see a public launch in the fall alongside new iPhones. iOS 12 will be available on all devices able to run iOS 11.

Related Roundup: iOS 12
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Apple Seeds First Beta of macOS Mojave to Developers

Apple this morning introduced the latest version of macOS, macOS Mojave, and the new software is now available for developers to download for testing purposes.

The new macOS Mojave beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center, and once installed, subsequent betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

As this is brand new, early release software, it should not be installed on a primary machine.

macOS Mojave brings multiple new features to Apple’s Mac lineup, including a new system-wide Dark Mode, an entirely revamped Mac App Store, and a Stacks feature for organizing files on the desktop.

Several iOS apps are coming to macOS Mojave, including Apple News, Stocks, Voice Memos, and Home, which will let you control your HomeKit devices on the Mac. As with iOS, Group FaceTime is available on the Mac with Mojave.

macOS Mojave is limited to registered developers at this time, but latter in the summer, Apple plans to make a public macOS High Sierra beta available, giving public beta testers a chance to try the software before it sees a public launch in the fall.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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Apple Releases First Beta of New watchOS 5 Operating System to Developers

Apple this morning announced watchOS 5, a new version of the software that runs on the Apple Watch. The first developer beta of watchOS 5 has now been released to developers for testing purposes.

To install the beta, you’ll need the proper configuration profile, which can be obtained through the Apple Developer Center. Once the profile is in place, the watchOS 5 beta can be downloaded using the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General –> Software Update.

To install the beta, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone. It would be wise to install the beta on a secondary device instead of a primary device given that this is an early version of the watchOS 5 software that still has bugs to be worked out.

watchOS 5 is a huge update that brings Activity Competitions so you can compete on workouts with friends, Walkie-Talkie with push-to-talk functionality for quickly communicating with the people you talk to most, and auto workout detection to make it easier than ever to start and stop workouts.

Other new features include an improved Siri watch face with support for third-party apps, a dedicated Apple Podcasts app, new Workout types that include Yoga and Hiking, new features for runners, and enhanced notifications, which will make notifications on the Apple Watch interactive.

watchOS 5 is only available to developers and will not be provided to public beta testers (because there’s no way to downgrade Apple Watch software), so non-developers will need to wait until the software is officially released in the fall to try it out.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Apple Provides First Beta of tvOS 12 to Developers

Following today’s WWDC keynote event that saw the introduction of iOS 12, macOS 10.14, and watchOS 5, and tvOS 12, Apple has seeded the first beta of the new tvOS 12 operating system to developers for testing purposes.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV, the new tvOS 12 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

tvOS 12 brings support for Dolby Atmos, a feature that Apple TV users have been wanting since the Apple TV 4K first launched. Starting this fall, iTunes will be home to the largest collection of Dolby Atmos-supported movies, and all purchased iTunes movies will be upgraded for free.

There are new aerial screensavers on Apple TV that were captured from the International Space Station, starting later this year, Apple is introducing a new No Sign On feature for Charter Spectrum users that will let them watch live channels and on-demand programs when connected to their Charter Spectrum broadband with no need to sign in.

Charter Spectrum users are also going to be able to place their traditional cable boxes with the Apple TV through an upcoming Spectrum TV app. These features will come to other providers in the future.

Other tvOS 12 features include autofill passwords from the iPhone to sign into Apple TV apps more quickly, and support for Home Control systems like Crestron and Savant, which will be able to be used to control the Apple TV. Apple also plans to make the Apple TV Remote a default option in Control Center on iOS devices.

The tvOS 12 update is limited to developers right now, but Apple will provide a public beta of the software to public beta testers later this summer. tvOS 12 will see a fall launch alongside iOS 12, macOS 10.14, and watchOS 5.

Related Roundup: Apple TVBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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