Apple TV Remote for iOS has been updated with iPad support as expected. Apple TV users can use this app to control navigation and interact with Siri just like with the physical Siri Remote. Apple has also improved how Now Playing works with the latest update: What’s New in Version 1.1 • Support for iPad • Enhanced Now Playing experience with lyrics and playlists for music and chapters, audio tracks, and captions selection for movies and TV shows • General performance and stability improvements...

Over the past few months, we’ve started to see rumors of Apple releasing an updated version of the Apple TV hardware. I have one of the 4K models and four of the 1080p models around my house, so we are all in on the ecosystem at my home. While I wish it were less expensive, I do enjoy the Apple Music and iCloud Photos integration (along with the impressive screen savers)....

If you didn’t get a chance to buy a WWDC ticket in the lottery last week, you might just get another chance soon. Developers who won were given until April 14 to buy a slot at the conference, but not all of them took advantage of the opportunity. Now Apple is reportedly reaching out to developers who didn’t win the lottery and offering them a chance to buy unclaimed tickets. Some developers are starting to get phone calls from the company informing them that they have been randomly selected to buy one of the tickets that winners failed to claim before the 14th....

Apple iOS and tvOS 11.4 Messages in iCloud is a feature that was first introduced during last year’s WWDC. It allows you to keep track of your conversations across all your Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, Watch, and your Mac. You can now access your entire Messages history when you set up a new iOS device. Also, when you delete a message from one device, that change syncs to all your other Apple devices....

Apple has released iOS 12.1.1 for iPhone and iPad today with a handful of notable improvements. The latest software update includes improvements to FaceTime, Haptic Touch on iPhone XR, and more. tvOS 12.1.1, macOS Mojave 10.14.2, and HomePod 12.1.1 updates are also out today as Apple prepares the HomePod for its debut in China. For FaceTime users, iOS 12.1.1 includes an improved user interface that makes it much easier to switch between the front-facing and rear camera during calls....

Apple has released a new beta of iOS 13.5 today, containing the first version of its exposure notification API for COVID-19 contact tracing. The beta is available to developers now alongside the first beta release of Xcode 11.5. The Xcode release includes an updated version of the iOS SDK that incorporates the exposure notification API. Update: The second public beta of iOS 13.5 is also now available. In conjunction with this, Apple and Google representatives say that they are also releasing the first seeds of the exposure notification API to public health authority developers....

Apple has a new software update today just for Apple TV users. tvOS 14.0.2 is now rolling out with bug fixes and performance improvements, coming just under two weeks after tvOS 14.0.1 was released to the public. Notably, Apple does not publish detailed release notes for Apple TV software updates like it does for iOS, watchOS, and macOS. tvOS 14.0.1 was released almost two weeks ago, and Apple offered no details other than that the update made “general performance and stability improvements....

Apple is working on a new app that’s going to replace the Find My Friends and Find My iPhone apps. With codename “GreenTorch”, the app is currently being tested by engineers at the company. The new unified app includes an improved ability to find a user’s devices. Called “Find Network”, the feature allows devices to be tracked even when not connected to Wi-Fi or to a cellular network. Besides sharing their location with members of their family, users are also able to share their location with any friend....

[UPDATE: Apple’s Back To School program has now launched in China, as well.] Apple’s 2016 Back to School Beats kicked off in the United States at the beginning of the month and has today expanded internationally across Europe. Students in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands and more can now take advantage of the summer promotion at Apple Stores in their country as well as online. Like the US, eligible purchases of certain Macs come with free Beats Solo2 wireless headphones worth $299 at retail....

With Apple having confirmed analyst predictions by reporting a record quarter for both revenue and sales of iPhones, Macs and Watches, Six Colors has done its usual great job in pulling together a set of colorful charts that put the numbers into historical context … The set of 18 charts make it easy to see how all the numbers compare with previous years. Revenue, for example, is up $2.5B year-on-year after the far greater declines in each of the previous quarters (above)....

Following the release of the latest OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 build to developers earlier this week, Apple has released a new seed (build 13S4101b) of OS X Server 3.1 to developers today. Apple seeded the previous build earlier this month as it inches closer to public release. Your Mac needs: – OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 – At least 2 GB of RAM – At least 10 GB of available disk space (50 GB if you wish to use Caching Server)...

Earlier this month, Apple added videos to its “Shot on iPhone 6” website and today the company has added four new videos to the section. Today’s additions include videos from Australia, the United States, Norway, and the Netherlands. The videos, in addition to being added to Apple’s website, have also been uploaded to its YouTube videos. Much like the initial videos shared earlier this month, today’s videos highlight the iPhone’s unique camera features, such as its slow-motion, time-lapse, and macro recording capabilities....

After a bunch of new videos on its YouTube channel about the “Spring Loaded” event, Apple is sharing two new “Behind the Mac” ads about how Billie Eilish’s brother Finnneas creates songs using a Mac and students getting into college. It’s not the first ad Apple has released about college life. Early in April, the company shared a “New Beginnings” Mac ad that focused on newly admitted college students. In the 38-second ad called “Behind the Mac: Headed for College,” you can see a bunch of students with their MacBooks and iMacs receiving the college acceptance news....

Saturday, Apple will open its first Apple Store in the great state of Alaska which will be by far the most northernApple Store on the planet. It will be located on 320 West 5th Avenue (in the 5th Avenue Mall) in Anchorage, and doors open at 10 A.M. You’d think this would make for an Apple Store in every state, but there are still seven (Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming) without according to this map (thanks commenters)....

Apple reportedly acquired the rights to the movie Dolly after a “bidding war,” as revealed by Deadline. The Cupertino-based company disputed the film with four major studios and will now offer it to Apple TV+ subscribers. Although the company has acquired the rights to Dolly, the film is still a long way from its release. According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple hasn’t yet given the green light to start producing the project as it doesn’t yet have a director set and the script hasn’t yet been written....

Apple TV+ continues to grow. The Golden Globe-nominated Wolfwalkers animation has earned 10 Annie Award nominations, including Best Animated Feature. Stillwater, another Apple TV+ series, also landed a nomination for Best Preschool Series. Apple has also detailed some viewership numbers for its recent Billie Eilish documentary. According to Apple, in over a year, the company’s original series and films have won 74 awards and earned 287 nominations across its original programming....

iOS 13.3 for iPhone and iPadOS 13.3 for iPad The update for iPhone and iPad includes new Parental Controls features including Communication Limits in Screen Time. This lets you limit who and when and whom you’re kids can talk, text, and FaceTime with during certain hours. Parents have the option to block their kids from communicating with everyone except themselves after a set time of the day, for example. There are also improvements to the Apple News app which includes a new layout for Apple News+ stories from major newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal....

Op-chief Tim Cook recently in a conference call with Wall Street analysts re-iterrated Apple’s stance that the Apple TV box remains “a hobby” for the company. The comment jibes with Steve Jobs’s argument from the Wall Street Journal’s D8 conference last year when he said set-top box makers like Apple and Google faced a go-to market problem, calling the television market “balkanized” (full quote and video below the fold). Is it surprising then to find out that Google TVs are not selling very well, just like Apple TVs?...