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In the first high-profile iMessage App Store rejection we’ve seen, the developer of the Phoneys sticker pack says Apple has reached out with bad news: the company will pull the app in a week if it is not significantly changed. Phoneys (currently) features stickers that look like iMessage bubbles, effectively allowing users to replace messages from their friends with some funny alternative text. The app hit #1 Top Paid in the iMessage App Store....

Apple has released the first watchOS 3.2.3 beta for Apple Watch. The update is currently only available to registered developers for testing. watchOS 3.2.3 follows ones day after the release of watchOS 3.2.2 for all users which was previously only available in beta. 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....

After releasing iTunes 12.1 in January adding a Notification Center widget for OS X Yosemite users on the Mac, Apple has released a minor update to iTunes 12.1 specifically for Windows users. According to the release notes, iTunes 12.1.1 addresses an issue that caused audio playback to glitch while also improving syncing between Outlook and iPhones and iPads. Apple also says the update “improves compatibility with screen readers.” The latest version is rolling out now so iTunes users on Windows should be able to update soon....

Apple has released the second public beta version of iOS 10.2 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Previously only available to registered developers for testing, iOS 10.2 beta includes several upcoming features like a preview of the new TV app, Unicode 9.0 emoji, iPhone 7 wallpapers, and new camera features. Apple’s public beta program is free to participate in unlike its paid developer program. iOS 10.2 will be released to everyone likely next month, and the public beta allows more users to test pre-release versions of the software update before it’s finalized....

According to a new report from the Financial Times, Apple is expected to bundle the Beats Music streaming service with an upcoming version of iOS next year. The report comes amid rumors that Apple is planning to rebrand the Beats Music subscription service for a potential relaunch around February, although FT has added that the bundling is expected “as early as March.” Apple, of course, acquired the Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre-founded subscription music service alongside the Beats headphones and speaker line earlier this year as part of a $3 billion acquisition....

Apple Pay continues to pick up new banks and credit unions every few weeks — and most recently new countries with Poland and Norway. These are the latest new banks and credit unions added in the US, Japan, and Spain that let you pay with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac… In the United States: 4Front Credit Union Carolina Foothills Federal Credit Union Crossroads Bank Dacotah Bank Downriver Community Federal Credit Union Emery Federal Credit Union Farmers and Merchants Bank First State Bank First State Bank (NE) Gallup Federal Credit Union Houston Metropolitan Federal Credit Union Howard Bank Iowa State Bank Luso Federal Credit Union Prairie State Bank & Trust PS Bank The City National Bank of Taylor TLC Community Credit Union Tri Counties Bank In Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos is no longer limited to just MUFG Visa and Mastercard and UFJ JCB cards....

Update (7/10 9:00am): Looks like the store got pretty popular this week. It has been updated with the following message: “More inventory coming in on Friday – We are currently replenishing our inventory for our Factory Certified store, please check back soon!” In late 2012 we uncovered an eBay store that was selling Apple certified refurbished products (iPad, MacBook, iPod, more). Though never officially confirmed by Apple itself, this storefront had all the makings of being officially tied to Apple in some capacity....

Apple is releasing the third developer beta of iOS 14.3 today, which includes new features such as Apple ProRAW for iPhone 12 Pro users. Today’s release of iOS 14.3 beta 3 comes two weeks after iOS 14.3 beta 2 was released to developers. Update: Public beta now available too. iOS 14.3 beta 3 is available to developers via an over-the-air update in the Settings app. As usual, if the update does not immediately appear for download, keep checking as it sometimes takes a few minutes to roll out to all registered developers....

Apple today has released the fourth public beta of macOS Catalina to testers. This update comes following the release of the fifth developer beta yesterday. Apple has also today released a supplemental update for macOS 10.14.6. macOS Catalina public beta 4 is now available via System Preferences, if you’re already running the public beta. If not, you can sign up to do so on Apple’s website. Apple released the fourth public beta of iOS 13 to testers on Tuesday....

Update: iOS 10 Public Beta 1 is now live. It features the same build version (14A5297c) as iOS 10 Developer Beta 2. Following the latest iOS 10 beta for registered developers, Apple is releasing the very first iOS 10 public beta for non-developers to test on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch today. Back in mid-June at WWDC 2016, Apple first promised iOS 10 would hit public beta status sometime in July....

Apple rebranded its reuse and recycling trade-in program earlier this year as “Apple GiveBack.” Now, customers buying new devices on Apple’s website or the Apple Store app can use a trade-in to instantly offset the cost. Previously, using Apple’s trade-in program online meant shipping off your device and waiting for an Apple gift card or debit card with the corresponding value. To receive a credit that could be applied against the new purchases immediately meant visiting an Apple Store....

US iTunes users can purchase HBO shows including, “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Deadwood” and “Rome”, “Flight of the Concords” and “The Wire.” What’s interesting is the price: “Sex and the City,” “The Wire” and “Flight of the Conchords” cost $1.99 per episode, while “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” cost $2.99 per episode. Until now, Apple has only been prepared to offer TV shows at $1.99 each. It’s thought HBO has been able to achieve a slight liberalisation of Apple’s price controls, though as yet we don’t know if other studios plan to emulate HBO with introduction of $2....

In addition to iOS 11.3 public beta 1, Apple has released the first tvOS 11.3 public beta for Apple TV (fourth gen) and Apple TV 4K. The new public beta follows two days after the release of tvOS 11.2.5 for all customers. When used with iOS 11.2.5 on iPhone and iPad, content playing on tvOS 11.2.5 appears as a Now Playing option in Control Center. Here’s what’s new in tvOS 11....

Apple has released the second 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....

Update: iOS 12.1.4 is now available. Last week was a tough one for Apple and privacy. First, a huge bug in Group FaceTime would allow someone to eavesdrop on another FaceTime user just by calling them and adding themselves to a group call before the contact answered. Then, a project from Facebook was revealed to be spying on users, violating Apple’s Enterprise Developer Program policies. The latter was dealt with by revoking Facebook’s enterprise certificate, rendering their internal apps unusable....

Today, Apple has made available the open-source components of OS X Mavericks’ code to the public. Apple regularly does this for both iOS and OS X as prescribed by the license agreements of the open source code Apple uses. Under the license terms of these components, Apple can use the open source code but must share its own contributions and improvements with the community, so that others can benefit. Therefore, as Mavericks was released to the public on Tuesday, Apple was due to post the open-source code shortly after....

Yesterday Apple quietly pushed an update to Final Cut Pro X, the first update since its big 10.4.4 update back in November. Final Cut Pro X 10.4.5 doesn’t add any new features, but includes several stability improvements. Here’s the full change log for Final Cut Pro X 10.4.5: Improved performance when generating waveforms for clips with no audio channels Improves stability when sending a project to Compressor using the keyboard shortcut Shift-Command-E Improves stability when pasting Arabic or Hebrew text into a title Improves stability when switching tabs in the Timeline Index There are no exciting new changes in this update, but given how critical an app Final Cut Pro X is, stability and performance enhancements are music to my ears....

Apple has released macOS 10.12.2 beta 4 for Mac. The new update follows the initial macOS 10.12.2 beta at the end of October and multiple additional builds since. Today’s build comes in at version 16C53a, up from 16C48b, and is available from the Mac App Store. macOS 10.12.2 includes Unicode 9.0 emoji support, which matches compatibility in beta versions of iOS 10.2 and watchOS 3.1.1. macOS 10.12.2 will be released to everyone in the future (likely December), and the beta allows developers to test pre-release versions of the software update before it’s released....

Following the release of the first iOS 14.3 developer beta last Thursday, Apple has just released iOS 14.3 and iPadOS 14.3 beta 2 to developers. The update comes with some minor tweaks in addition to the Apple ProRAW mode for iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The most notable change in iOS 14.3 is related to the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Users with these two iPhone models can now enable Apple ProRAW mode, which captures RAW images directly on the Camera app....

Apple has quietly released the latest versions of its video and motion effects software. Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Motion, and Compressor all have new versions available for Mac users with some new features along with stability and performance improvements. Notably, Final Cut Pro now has native support for RED RAW decoding and playback. Spotted first by Aaron Zollo, the latest builds of Apple’s video suite are showing as updated yesterday but appear to have started showing up widely for users today....