Apple

Tip: adjusting how movies and TV shows are sorted in your Apple TV Wish Lists

Apple TV Siri Remote in hand

Aside from major new features in Apple's new tvOS 9.2 firmware for the fourth-generation Apple TV, which released to the public on Monday, March 21, there're plenty of under-the-hood improvements to be excited about.

Among them are handy sorting options for the movies in your Wish List and TV shows in your Favorites. In this tutorial, we'll demonstrate how you can tell your Apple TV to show recent TV episodes first and change sorting options for movies in your Wish List.

Siri stars in the new Apple TV ad, ‘The Kiss’

Apple's just aired a brand new television commercial to promote its fourth-generation Apple TV, and it's all about voice capabilities that are built into the new set-top box and activated by pressing a dedicated button on the Siri Remote that ships with the device.

The 60-second ad, titled 'The Kiss' and starring Alison Brie and Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), is really amusing and well worth watching, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Apple is making a TV show about app economy starring Will.i.am

Apple has recently been the subject of speculation that it's plunging into TV show production and today the company has confirmed that its first foray into original TV is a brand new series about app economy starring music artist Will.i.am.

In an interview with The New York Times, Apple's Vice President of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, said that its working with rap artist Will.i.am and TV executives Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens on the nonscripted series about apps.

Motorsport Manager is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Right on cue, the App Store was refreshed this morning with new apps and games, revealing Apple's new Free App of the Week: Motorsport Manager. Created by Christian West and originally released in August 2014, Motorsport Manager makes an immediately striking impression.

Arguably one of the best racing simulations available on the iPhone and iPad, Motorsport Manager is available free of charge until next Thursday, good for a cool $1.99 savings.

Infinite Skater, a gorgeous endless runner, has gone free in the App Store

Infinite Skater, a drop dead gorgeous endless runner has been slashed to zero bucks temporarily in the App Store. Regularly $2.99, this visually stunning game can now be yours at no charge. Available for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and—yes—the fourth-generation Apple TV, Infinite Skater is “a magic adventure like nothing you've ever seen” and that's not just marketing talk.

iTunes U gains support for Shared iPad feature, Spotlight Search integration and more

iTunes U, Apple's application that gives you access to its collection of free education content on iTunes and lets you create your own teaching material, was refreshed today in the App Store with half a dozen new features.

Among the biggest enhancements is integration with iOS 9's Spotlight Search as well as support for the Managed Apple IDs and the Shared iPad features, which are both part of Apple's new classroom experience in iOS 9.3.

Grab popular journaling software Day One 2 at no charge through the Apple Store shopping app

Bloom Built's journaling app, Day One 2, has gone temporarily free courtesy of the Apple Store shopping app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

A significant update to the original Day One app (now renamed Day One Classic), Day One 2 released as a brand new app in the App Store last month so you're looking at a cool $9.99 savings here.

Rebuilt from the ground up but staying true to Day One’s original simplicity, this app comes with two headlining features: multiple journals and multiple photos per entry.

PCalc gains new Apple Watch complication, eight-line mode on iPad Pro and lots more

PCalc, arguably the most powerful App Store calculator for scientists, engineers, students, programmers or anybody looking for a feature rich calculator, has received a fresh new icon and more features as part of today's update in the App Store.

For starters, the app's now fully compatible with iOS 9 and watchOS 2. If you own an Apple Watch, you can now quickly access PCalc via a complication.

On the iPad Pro, a new eight-line mode is now available and you now specify certain settings like RPN mode and number of decimal places separately for the app, watch and widget.

Google Maps for iOS now integrates with popular ride services, Spotlight Search and more

Google has pushed a refresh to its mapping application in the App Store. Bumped to version 4.17, Google Maps for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad now integrates with a total of six popular international ride services via a new tab in navigation mode.

In terms of other features, the updated application gives you the ability to save route options and integrates with iOS 9'2 enhanced Spotlight Search so you can find your saved places via the search field revealed after pulling down on any Home screen.

Apple’s recommended iPad Pro accessory: Microsoft Office 365 subscription

Apple this morning started accepting pre-orders for the new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro in thirteen territories total. Surprisingly enough, the Apple Online Store offers iPad Pro shoppers Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions as a recommended iPad accessory.

As first noted by The Verge, Microsoft Office 365 also appears as a recommended option when purchasing other iPad models, including the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 4.

The ultimate guide to protecting your private information in Notes from the prying eyes

According to Apple, Notes is one of the most popular and most-frequently used stock applications on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

People use Notes for everything from memorizing recipes to keeping track of errands, creating shopping lists, storing inspirational quotes and even passwords, codes and medical data.

Not all notes contain sensitive information, but many do. Beginning with iOS 9.3 and OS X El Capitan 10.11.4, you can protect your notes with a password or Touch ID.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to set up Notes protection, secure items on a note-by-note basis so no one can view their contents and more.