Amazon Music today expanded to the Apple TV, and a new Amazon Music app is now available for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models.

Amazon says that ‌Apple TV‌ owners can now download the Amazon Music app from the tvOS App Store to get access to millions of songs and thousands of playlists and stations.

Amazon Music listeners on the ‌Apple TV‌ are also able to browse and search for music from their favorite artists and access purchased and imported music from the “My Music” library. Scrolling lyrics are also available.

The Amazon Music app for ‌Apple TV‌ is available in the United States, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Japan, and India.

Earlier this week, the Amazon-owned Twitch service also introduced an ‌Apple TV‌ app, and Spotify also brought its app to the tvOS ‌App Store‌.

This article, “Amazon Music Launches on Apple TV” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today released the second betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.2 updates to developers, a week after seeding the first betas and two weeks after the release of iOS 13.1.

iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.2 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper developer profiles have been installed.

iOS 13.2 introduces Deep Fusion for the cameras in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models. Deep Fusion is a new image processing system that uses the A13 Bionic and the Neural Engine. Deep Fusion takes advantage of machine learning techniques to do pixel-by-pixel processing of photos, optimizing for texture, details, and noise in each part of the image.

The feature is aimed at improving indoor photos and photos taken in medium lighting, and it’s a feature that will automatically activate based on the lens being used and the light level in the room.

In both iOS 13.2 and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.2, Apple has reintroduced the Announce Messages with Siri feature, which lets ‌Siri‌ read incoming messages without having to unlock the iPhone. The feature works with the second-generation AirPods and the Beats Pro.

The betas include new privacy settings for Apple’s upcoming Research app, a new Transfer to HomePod toggle in the Settings app to turn on ‌HomePod‌ handoff, an updated volume bar in Control Center that displays ‌AirPods‌ and Beats icons, and an option to display multi-function HomeKit products as multiple tiles or a single tile.

Also discovered in the first beta of iOS 13.2 was an icon that divulges the design of Apple’s third-generation ‌AirPods‌, expected in 2020. The ‌AirPods‌ have a fresh look with a body that resembles the current ‌AirPods‌, but with rubber tips, likely for the rumored noise cancelation feature.

Additional details on what’s new in iOS 13.2 can be found in our iOS 13.2 tidbits article.

Update: Apple has also seeded the new iOS and ‌‌iPadOS‌‌ 13.2 betas to its public beta testing group.

This article, “Apple Seeds Second Betas of iOS 13.2 and iPadOS 13.2 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 13.2 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the first tvOS 13.2 beta and two weeks after releasing the tvOS 13 update.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 13.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌Apple TV‌ via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

tvOS updates (aside from major releases) have historically been minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes. Apple provides little to no information on what’s included in tvOS updates, so we may not discover anything new during the beta testing process.

Though we don’t often know what’s been added in tvOS updates, we let MacRumors readers know when new software is available so developers are able to download it upon release.

We didn’t find anything new in the first tvOS 13.2 beta, but will update this post should we find new features in the second tvOS 13.2 beta.

tvOS 13, released earlier in September, introduced multi-user support, a new Control Center, Apple Arcade and controller support, new screensavers and more.

This article, “Apple Seeds Second Beta of tvOS 13.2 Update to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.1 beta to developers, a week after seeding the second watchOS 6.1 beta and three weeks after releasing the watchOS 6 update with full App Store, new Apple Watch faces, and more.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌Apple Watch‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

To install the update, the ‌Apple Watch‌ needs to have over 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

There were no major changes found in the first two watchOS 6.1 betas, so it’s not entirely clear what’s included in the update, but we’ll update this article should new features be found in the third beta. The update may be focused on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.

watchOS 6.1 does work with the Series 1 and Series 2 ‌Apple Watch‌ models, which were excluded from the watchOS 6 release.

Apple said that ‌watchOS 6‌ would come to the older ‌Apple Watch‌ models at a later date, so it’s possible watchOS 6.1 will be the first version of ‌watchOS 6‌ to work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches.

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In June, Apple announced that all Developer ID-signed software distributed outside the Mac App Store must be submitted for notarization by Apple in order to run by default on macOS Catalina.

Following the release of ‌macOS Catalina‌ this week, however, some developers have found the notarization process to be very slow. Apple’s system status page reflects this, noting that some users may be experiencing performance issues with its Developer ID notary service since Wednesday afternoon.

Apple says it is working to resolve the problem, but in the meantime, some developers have turned to Twitter to voice their frustration:

It took Apple’s servers 10 hours to notarize my app for ‌macOS Catalina‌. 🧐

Hoping this delay is temporary—a few months ago it only took a hour.

— John Balestrieri (@johnbalestrieri) October 10, 2019

mood: angry. @Apple requires apps notarization for ‌macOS Catalina‌ but their servers can’t keep up with all submitted files and you have to wait for hours for successful notarization. What a shame.

— Vladislav Rassokhin (@Vlad_P53) October 10, 2019

I think Apple’s notarization server may have died under the Catalina induced load. I submitted a dmg 4+ hours ago. Still “in progress”.

— ross tulloch (@RossTulloch) October 10, 2019

Ok, so now that everybody is notarizing their apps at the same time.. it’s painfully slow. Who would have thought that Apple would build a required feature that does not scale?

— Frank Reiff (@frankreiff) October 10, 2019

Developers can submit their apps for notarization by Apple’s automated system using Xcode 10 or later.

This article, “Apple’s Mac App Notarization Service Experiencing Slowness Following Release of macOS Catalina” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has pulled an app from the App Store that Hong Kong protestors have been using to track police movements, saying it violates the company’s guidelines and local laws.

Apple approved HKmap Live last week after reviewing its decision to initially reject the app from the ‌App Store‌.

However, on Wednesday Apple was criticized by Chinese state media for its decision to make the app available. “Letting poisonous software have its way is a betrayal of the Chinese people’s feelings,” said the People’s Daily.

The app has since been delisted from the ‌App Store‌ and Apple has issued the following statement:

We created the ‌App Store‌ to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. We have learned that an app, HKmap.live, has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong. Many concerned customers in Hong Kong have contacted us about this app and we immediately began investigating it. The app displays police locations and we have verified with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau that the app has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement. This app violates our guidelines and local laws, and we have removed it from the ‌App Store‌.

In a series of tweets, the developers of HKmap Live said they disagreed with Apple’s claim that the app endangered law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong, and argued that “there is zero evidence to support CSTCB’s [the Hong Kong Police Force’s Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau] accusation that HKmap App has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement.”

1. We disagree @Apple and @hkpoliceforce ‘s claim that HKmap App endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong.#HKmap #HKmaplive #HK #Censorship

— HKmap.live 全港抗爭即時地圖 (@hkmaplive) October 10, 2019

Earlier on Thursday, Apple also removed the app of news outlet Quartz from China’s ‌App Store‌. The news organization told The Verge that Apple has removed its mobile app after complaints from the Chinese government, and said it had received a notice from Apple that the app “includes content that is illegal in China.”

Demonstrations in Hong Kong began in March in response to an unsigned legal bill that threatened to allow extradition to mainland China. Since then, the protests have to expanded to demand that the city state retains its broader democratic rights. The special administrative region maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of “one country, two systems”.

Update 12:30 p.m.: In an internal Apple memo, Tim Cook notes that the removal of HKmap Live was a difficult decision but argues that the app was being for illegal purposes and in violation of ‌App Store‌ rules.

It is no secret that technology can be used for good or ill. This case is no different. The app in question allowed for the crowdsourced reporting and mapping of police checkpoints, protest hotspots, and other information. On its own, this information is benign. However, over the past several days we received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property where no police are present. This use put the app in violation of Hong Kong law. Similarly, widespread abuse clearly violates our ‌App Store‌ guidelines barring personal harm.

Cook provided no details on specific incidents tied to HKmap Live.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

This article, “Apple Pulls Hong Kong Protest App From App Store Following Chinese Criticism [Updated]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple in July revived its classic Texas Hold’em game and released it on the iPhone, and as of today that game is also available on the iPad.

In the app’s release notes, Apple says that Texas Hold’em can be played on the  iPad , and Apple recommends playing it using Split View or Slide Over.

Texas Hold’em comes to iPad–enjoy it full screen, or play it while you do something else using Split View or Slide Over.

Apple originally released the Texas Hold’em app as part of the App Store‘s 10th anniversary, which Apple celebrated in 2018. The updated version has been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up with high-resolution graphics, new characters, and more challenging gameplay.

For those unfamiliar with Texas Hold’em, it’s a poker variation that lets players bet and bluff their way through 10 gameplay locations like Las Vegas, Paris, and Macau. The updated version of Texas Hold’em is free to play and it supports up to eight players through WiFi or offline playback against 24 computer opponents.

Apple first introduced Texas Hold’em on the iPod in September 2006 before adding it to the iPhone when the  App Store  launched on July 11, 2008. The game was pulled from the  App Store  in November 2011 and it was unavailable until its 2019 return.

Texas Hold’em can be downloaded from the  App Store  for free. [Direct Link]

This article, “Apple’s Reintroduced ‘Texas Hold’em’ Game Expands to iPad” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The Apple Card comes with a Disaster Relief Program, according to a MacRumors reader who lives in Houston and recently experienced some flooding from tropical storm Imelda.

Apple sent MacRumors reader Frequeniquity an email suggesting that he apply for the program after Apple detected that he “may have been affected by a natural disaster.”

Emails sent out by Apple, which were also received by another MacRumors reader, offer the following benefits:

• No interest for two months, starting with the month you enroll. After two months, your standard purchase APR will apply.
• You can skip the payment due in the month you enroll.
• If your account is in good standing, you will remain current while enrolled.
• If your account is past due, your account will not go further delinquent while enrolled. However, your account will remain paste due until you make all of your past due payments and your ability to make new purchases may continue to be restricted.

According to the email sent out to  Apple Card  users, those interested in applying for the Disaster Relief Program should contact an  Apple Card  Specialist after receiving an email.

Apple appears to be sending out these emails to customers who have addresses registered in areas where a natural disaster has occurred, and presumably this will be a benefit offered to all  Apple Card  users who are experiencing issues like floods, fires, earthquakes, and other issues.

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