After sharing its latest Environmental Responsibility report this morning, Apple this evening has added a new Earth Day 2015 section to the App Store. The section highlights content that contribute to environmental awareness, as well as apps that promote green living and going paperless. Further, Apple’s Earth Day 2015 section aggregates books, movies, iTunes U content, podcasts, and TV shows that relate to the Earth. Selections include the TV show “Planet Earth,” the movie “March of the Penguins,” the book “Environmental Debt,” the apps Evernote Scannable and Green Living, and various National Geographic magazines....

While this release didn’t seem to see any stage time during the WWDC keynote today, Apple has just opened up its Health Records API to developers. In a press release, Apple detailed the new API that’s available today. Aimed at health researchers along with developers, the Health Records API should spur all-new apps that will give end-users even better experiences with various doctors and hospitals. Apple says this change will now make it possible for patients to “share medical records from multiple hospitals with their favorite trusted apps, helping them improve their overall health....

Right about a year ago, Apple began enforcing its enterprise certificate policy for developers more strictly. It all started with Facebook who was abusing its certificate but it didn’t end there. Google’s account was pulled temporarily among a wave of others. Now another developer who was found to be abusing Apple’s policies has seen its account disabled. BuzzFeed recently discovered that Clearview AI was breaking Apple’s enterprise certificate policy with its distribution of apps....

At long last, Apple today has started rolling out web links and iTunes web previews for tvOS apps, similar to how links to iOS/Mac apps and iTunes content has worked for years now. As reported by MacStories, users will now be able to easily share links to fourth-gen Apple TV apps on their computer and subsequently be able to view app details, as well. Prior to this rollout, there was no first-party way to view tvOS apps and descriptions on the web, which meant that it was hard for discovery and sharing to occur on social media networks and even Apple’s own website....

Apple’s next media event is expected to happen on March 25, with a star-studded lineup of Hollywood guests expected to fill the Steve Jobs Theater as the company unveils its long rumored video streaming service. A report from Variety today, however, claims that sources close to the matter are warning that while Apple will in fact show off video clips from its original television content it’s been preparing, the full streaming service might not launch until as late as fall 2019....

Digitimes is reporting Apple has turned to manufacturers other than LG Display (specifically Samsung and Chimei Innolux) due to issues with the 9.7-inch panel they’ve been producing for the iPad 2. Apparently LGD was not only unable to meet its July orders by approximately 1 million units, but also failed to meet Apple’s requirements in impact tests. Due to the manufacturing issues with LGD, Digitimes reports they have now turned to alternate supplier (and rivals in the tablet market) Samsung....

Apple has inked a new overall deal with Skydance Animation today that will bring feature films and TV shows to Apple TV+. As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, the new deal comes after reports surfaced suggesting Apple’s talks with Skydance Animation last year. The multi-year agreement will see Apple Original Films debut the animated movies Luck and Spellbound. These two movies were first set up at Paramount through a deal that allowed Skydance to “move the films around” at its discretion....

Several banks have between them announced that Apple Pay is coming to seven more European countries ‘soon.’ Bizarrely, Mobile bank N26 deleted the Facebook post in which it named five of the countries, but its Twitter accounts confirmed one of them and announced another, with those posts still up … The countries are: Austria Estonia Greece Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia A MacRumors reader first drew attention to the N26 announcement....

Apple Pay is reportedly coming to Austria within the next few months. Negotiations with Apple are being undertaken on behalf of all Austrian banks by Payment Service Austria (PSA) … derStandard cites two sources stating that negotiations are expected to successfully conclude within ‘the coming months.’ PSA confirmed to the site that it is negotiating with Apple, but declined to say when the service would launch. Apple declined to comment....

We’ve been hearing rumors about AirPods 3 for a while now, and there’s strong evidence that Apple will introduce the next generation of its entry-level wireless earbuds next week. Meanwhile, ahead of all these rumors, Apple has just shared a new advertisement highlighting AirPods Pro. Titled “Jump,” the new video shows an AirPods Pro user running and jumping as he listens to a song with Apple’s wireless earphones. At the same time, the ad highlights the Active Cancellation Mode, which reduces noise from the external environment....

Along with iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4, Apple has released ARKit 3.5 to let developers take advantage of the new LiDAR Scanner in the new iPad Pro. The latest ARKit release features Scene Geometry, Instant AR, and improved Motion Capture and People Occlusion. Apple announced the update in a post on its developer site today: Here’s how Apple describes the three major changes that come with ARKit 3.5: Apple has shared some examples for how the LiDAR Scanner on the iPad Pro will improve some of the existing AR experiences out there but we’ll have to wait until this summer or fall to hear more about all-new AR tools and apps that could be enabled by the new hardware....

Apple has begun seeding the fourth watchOS 3.2.3 beta for Apple Watch. The update is only available to registered developers for testing. watchOS 3.2.3 beta follows the release of watchOS 3.2.2 for all users. Both updates focus on bug fixes and performance improvements. watchOS 3.2.3 is only available to registered developers. Apple features a public beta program for iOS and macOS while watchOS and tvOS are developer only. We’ll update if any changes or release notes are discovered or shared....

iOS 13.2.3 for iPhone and iPadOS 13.2.3 for iPad Apple continues to work out the kinks in iOS 13, which was released back in September. Today’s update fixes odd issues related to the Spotlight system search feature with Mail, Files, and Note apps. Mail is also being updated to resolve a problem in getting new messages. And this update fixes a problem with apps not downloading content in the background. To download and install today’s latest update on your iPhone or iPad, head to Settings > General > Software Update....

In a small change to their online checkout system, Apple has removed the support for bank transfer payments (also known as prepayment) from their online store in Germany. It’s unclear if any other countries are currently affected in the online store change but the change today leaves German buyers with the choice of using a credit card, PayPal, or financing as payment options. The prepayment option previously offered to German Apple online store customers allowed buyers to complete a bank wire transfer instead of using a credit card or PayPal to purchase their products....

Update: When reached for clarification, Apple said “This is not a new guideline. We have never allowed apps on the App Store that are designed to interfere with the performance or capabilities of other apps.” It also said it would remove other apps that offer features that block advertising in third-party apps if they “may have snuck on to the App Store.” Apple added, “We have always supported advertising as one of the many ways that developers can make money with apps....

The goal of Worlds AIDS Day, recognized on December 1st in the UK, US and many other countries, is to raise awareness for the AIDS pandemic with a number of charities and organizations showing support and throwing events during the first week of December. One of those organizations is Product(RED), a charity that that Apple has long contributed to by selling red versions of its products. In September, the official (Product)RED Twitter account revealed that Apple’s contributions to the charity had reached $65 million, making it the largest contributor to the charity out of all participating companies....

Fortune reports that Apple’s stock repurchase scheme – buying back some of its own shares – is proceeding more than three times faster than scheduled. If Fortune‘s numbers are correct, then Apple has already spent almost all of the $17B it borrowed back in April. Accelerating the planned repurchase program makes sense if you expect the stock to cost less now than it will later. In other words, if you’re expecting the stock price to climb … If you’re wondering why a company awash with cash (now standing at $146B) would need to borrow money, the reason is tax....

Apple’s new iCloud Web apps are built using the same SproutCore Javascript engine that was used throughout MobileMe. If the favicon above doesn’t prove it, looking at the underlying code below seems to offer undeniable evidence. SproutCore describes itself as an open-source framework for building blazingly fast, innovative user experiences on the web. Here’s a nice interview with Charles Jolley, one of the founders of SproutCore and previous MobileMe Javascript Frameworks Manager....

As promised, Apple has begun pre-orders for the anticipated iPhone 4S. Pre-ordering is now available in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom through Apple’s website. Additionally, carriers in these countries are offering pre-orders through their individual websites. In the US, the iPhone 4S is available for order right now through AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and for the first time, Sprint. Pre-orders placed in time through Apple will be delivered on the October 14 release date....

The annual study reveals the top companies in terms of investment in research & development, as well as how that money is spent, or which industry spends more in said field. It’s a pretty interesting read, and you can check out the PDF here. A part of the study involves determining the world’s most innovative companies. These are decided by survey participants which include executives from 700 companies. For the third year in a row, Apple has topped the most innovative company chart, followed by Google, and 3M came in third place....