Apple

Apple shifting some of its iCloud services to Google’s Cloud Platform

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple has signed a deal with Google to use the search giant's Cloud Platform for some of its iCloud services, reports CRN. The site says that the two firms inked the deal late last year, and it's believed to be worth somewhere between $400-$600 million.

This is a major coup for Google’s enterprise cloud business, and its newly appointed chief Diane Greene. Although Apple has not publicly discussed its cloud backends, it's been reported that the iPhone maker spends $1 billion per year on Amazon's AWS.

How to name Touch ID fingerprints on Mac and iOS to identify them

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 13, 2025

Have you ever wondered which thumbs or fingers you have added to Touch ID on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook? In this quick tutorial, we’ll show you how to rename your fingerprints so they’re easy to identify when needed.

What you need to know about the AceDeceiver trojan that’s affecting some iOS devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 16, 2016

Stock, non-jailbroken iOS devices appear to be vulnerable to a new security threat; a trojan known as AceDeceiver, which can be installed on an iOS device without the user's knowledge and without the help of an enterprise certificate. Once installed, it will spread malware and unwanted software to the user's device.

AceDeceiver only seems to be affecting those located in China at this point in time, but because that could change on the fly, you need to know how to protect yourself so similar threats don't affect users across the globe in the future.

As Apple News Format opens to all publishers, Apple launches ad campaign for News app

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

The native Apple News Format is now open to all independent publishers of all sizes as Apple has kicked off a brand new advertising campaign meant to persuade more people to use iOS 9's News app, Vanity Fair reported yesterday. Currently, the News app, which is basically an aggregator, has about forty million readers.

Last September's iOS 9 release brought out the News app with support from more than a hundred major publishers as launch partners.

Now everyone, bloggers included, can take advantage of the rich-media Apple News Format to deliver their content to iOS users in immersive ways, with interactive graphics, video, auto-resizing layouts, crisp typography and smooth animations.

Will iPhone 7 bring a new 256GB model to the mix?

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

MyDrivers, a Chinese-language outlet, recently posted a sketchy rumor claiming that Apple's next smartphone refresh includes an all-new 256GB model as an iPhone 7 Plus exclusive.

Today, Italian-language HDblog posted a picture of a 256GB NAND flash memory produced by US-based SanDisk Corporation which could give Apple the option of introducing a 256GB iPhone model.

Deezer Music launches Apple Watch app

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

Deezer, a cross-platform music streaming service, is now available on your Apple Watch as a native app.

The new watchOS 2 app lets you access your favorite music, use Deezer's Flow feature, see the latest hits and access Deezer's personalized mixes, all with the flick of your wrist.

On iOS devices, Deezer now provides lots of new recommendations to your Flow feed and lets users unlink devices connected to their Deezer account using the mobile app.

iPhone 8 might run a cutting-edge 7nm processor

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world's top semiconductor foundry, and ARM holdings plc, a British multinational fabless semiconductor designer, have joined forces to make an upcoming 7-nanometer FinFET process a reality in time for volume production in early-2017.

TSMC currently manufactures the iPhone 6s's A9 chip on its 16-nanometer process, while Samsung-made A9 chips are fabbed on a smaller 14-nanometer process.

The timing of TSMC's seven-nanometer FinFET process suggests it might be used to fabricate Apple-designed 'A11' processors for the iPhone 8 in 2017. By comparison, Intel has said it will produce 10nm node processors in the second half of 2017.

Waze for iOS picks up ‘Planned Drives’ feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

Waze, a Google-owned community-based traffic and navigation app, today rolled out a new feature called Planned Drives which lets you schedule a drive and get a reminder to leave on time, based on live traffic conditions.

In addition, the traffic bar in Waze 4.3 for iOS now shows the reason for a jam, like an accident or object on the road, and the app now mutes automatically during an incoming or outgoing phone call.

WSJ: Apple working to strengthen iCloud encryption without inconveniencing users

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

In the wake of the high-stake fight between Apple and the United States government over encryption and the right to create products with nearly unbreakable security measures, Apple is now working hard to make it impossible for law enforcement to gain access to data inside device backups on iCloud.

As reported today by The Wall Street Journal, Apple executives are “wrestling with how to strengthen iCloud encryption without inconveniencing users.”

Apple is offering several movie bundles at deep discounts in iTunes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Heads up cinephiles! Apple is currently offering several movie bundles at deep discounts in its iTunes Store. Of course, iTunes has long featured digital box and franchise sets priced cheaper than the total of each individual film, but this promotion takes even more off the price. Included in the deals are The Dark Knight Trilogy, Jurassic Park Collection and the Ice Age Family Pack.

Plausible renderings imagine iPhone 7 without antenna bands

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2016

Modified Russian accessory vendor Feld & Volk, known for customizing iPhones with luxury parts like solid gold volume buttons, has posted a set of renderings based on multiple rumors that call for an iPhone 7 without visible band seams on the back.

Relayed by MacRumors, these high-quality renderings depict what the iPhone 7 would look like assuming the clean back rumor is accurate.

Apple to accept native ads on News platform that display inline with regular articles

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2016

Apple yesterday shared new information regarding upcoming ad formats on News, its iOS 9 app and content-aggregating platform.

A developer document, titled “Ad Specifications for iAd” (PDF download), highlights several new ad formats that content creators and publishers can deploy in the News format, including so-called native ads which are basically sponsored posts that resemble normal articles and appear directly in users' feeds inline with regular articles.