The Next Web reported on the eve of the October 4 unveiling that iPhone 4S would have “more definitive GPS features”, leaving many watchers scratching their head. The cryptic hint has now been deciphered by Russian-language iPhones.ru which first spotted a mention of GLONASS on Apple’s iPhone 4S specs page, apparently added recently (see the screenshot below). Another report by iGuides.ru went on to speculate that the quiet addition of GLONASS could be related to the fact that the Russian government threatened to ban the importation of cell phones that do not support this technology....

The redesigned Apple Maps interface came to the United Kingdom earlier this month, offering Look Around, improved cartography, and much more. Now, Apple appears to be in the early stages of rolling out this redesigned Apple Maps experience to users in Canada. Once the new Apple Maps interface has fully rolled out in Canada, it will be the “largest yet” expansion of the new Apple Maps data. In January of this year, Apple officially completed the rollout of the rebuilt Apple Maps in the United States....

Update: Apple tells Business Insider that “apps won’t be denied on the grounds that they work with Pebble.” With the Apple Watch debuting tomorrow with well over 1,000 WatchKit apps already on the App Store, Apple may now be rejecting app submissions and updates that mention support for the competing Pebble smartwatch. The developer of SeaNav US for iPhone shared on Pebble’s developer discussions forum that a recent update has been rejected by Apple as the app and description “declare support for thePebble Smartwatch....

Apple has announced to developers that it will be dropping support for SSL 3.0 on its push notification service on October 29th in order to mitigate a vulnerability discovered in the software recently. Developers who currently support both TLS and SSL 3.0 on their push servers will not be impacted by the change, but those using SSL 3.0 exclusively will need to switch to TLS before next Wednesday to ensure there is no disruption in their service....

Today we’re going to be comparing Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4. I realized that there are a limited range of “comparisons” that can happen between these two devices, but we’re going to touch on some of the most important factors between the two such as design, software, features, and cameras. I’m not going to make this a battle between iOS and Android as many people have their own preferences which lead them to one platform or another....

Following Wall Street Journal’s report last night that AT&T and Verizon will carry the LTE iPad 3, the publication is reporting that Apple is now testing an 8-inch iPad in its labs. While WSJis not exactly sure the version will launch, it does claim the iPad is being tested. WSJ’s sources said the 8-inch iPad’s screen would pack a 1,024-by- 768 display similar to the current iPad. The smaller version will apparently also pack a LTE chip inside, as WSJ said the iPad 3 would....

Apple has today announced updates to the entire iMac family. Most notably, the company has brought Retina to the 21.5 inch iMac range, with 4K resolution displays. Apple has also dropped the non-Retina 27 inch iMacs, so they feature 5K displays across the board. The new iMac displays include faster processors, upgraded graphics, improved wider color gamut and two Thunderbolt 2 ports. The new iMacs have launched alongside updates to the Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse and keyboard....

TechCrunch spotted an interesting security hire by Apple: the developer behind Edward Snowden’s recommended secure chat app is joining Apple as an intern. As the site notes, Signal passed every security test when put through its paces by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and you can’t really get a better endorsement than the fact that Snowden trusts it. Frederic Jacobs, a Switzerland-based developer who worked to develop secure messaging app Signal […] announced today that he is joining the Cupertino-based company this summer to work in its CoreOS security team....

The Apple Maps Connect service, which allows small businesses to add their listings to the Apple Maps database, has been expanded to Canada, France and Germany. The service has also gained two new language options, French and German, to correspond with the regional expansion. Apple first launched Maps Connect in the U.S. last October, enabling businesses to edit or add listings, as well as set up indoor mapping within selected areas....

Apple has been slowly rolling out Apple Maps features to various locations around the world. Today, the company is introducing public transportation to Switzerland and indoor maps to its Zurich airport, as reported by MacPrime (via Google Translate). You’ll now be able to select public transport on Apple Maps for iOS and macOS and look at wait times for buses, trains, boats, and select mountain and cable cars, as well as get indoor maps at the airport....

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is set to release an open letter to artists later today. Most significantly, the letter says that Apple Music pays one cent per stream. That is roughly twice what Spotify pays, according to estimates. Streaming services are trying to show that they are friendly to artists, especially as revenue from concerts and tours cratered during the pandemic. In the same vein, Apple recently invested in an independent music artist platform called UnitedMasters....

Apple doesn’t offer an official Apple Music web player, but it does offer web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which allow other people to create their own. The first one we’ve seen was Play Apple Music, which hit the web last month. That one had a design rather reminiscent of Google’s Material Design … But a new one now available, Musish, has a really clean white-background that almost looks like it could have been created by Apple....

Apple is rolling out some iterative improvements to Apple News for publishers taking advantage of its Apple News Format to post articles. Apple is adding Map and Place components, to let authors pictographically display relevant locations — complete with pins to highlight POI. Moreover, all publishers can now choose custom artwork for their channel cover image. This is the thumbnail iconography that appears in the Favorites grid (as well as elsewhere)....

Apple has offered to spend $9.7 million on transportation initiatives in its hometown of Cupertino. As detailed by The Mercury News, Apple’s funding would go towards five transportation projects focused on bikers and pedestrians. Apple’s offer of $9.7 million in funding comes following a proposal from Cupertino that would have changed the city’s business tax from being based on square footage to being based on total number of employees. The new system, referred to as a head tax, would have generated $10 million annually for the city of Cupertino, much of which would come from Apple:...

Apple dropped to only the 16th best tech company to work for, and 35th overall, in Glassdoor’s annual ranking of the 50 Best Palaces to Work – down from 3rd in tech and 10th overall last year. Based on over half a million reviews written by employees, Apple took 35th place, with fifteen tech companies ahead of it in the list, with Twitter taking the top tech slot, and LinkedIn and Facebook completing the top three....

Apple has already ported over popular Mac apps like Photo Booth, iWork, and Garageband to the iPad’s touch interface and now it looks like Apple is working on a new app: iWeb for iPad. Patently Apple discovered the patent, which details iWeb for iPad as an application “designed to work with gestures.” We picture gestures like those found in iWork: pinch to resize, swiping, etc. Details are scarce at this point but to us iWeb for iPad makes perfect sense....

Apollo for Reddit is one of the most powerful and popular third-party Reddit apps for iOS, and a new update this weekend takes makes further improvements. The update brings improvements to media viewing, new app icons, iPadOS cursor support, and more. Version 1.8 of Apollo for Reddit makes numerous improvements to the media viewing experience. For instance, videos now play inline in the feed, while you can also now pause GIFs and much more:...

Apple today has confirmed that it is now charging sales tax on TV, movie, music, and audiobook iTunes purchases in Canada. The change first went into effect last week, and now Apple is confirming the new policy. In a statement to Rene Ritchie, Apple explained that due to changes in Canadian legislation, it is now required to collect sales tax on TV, movies, music, and audiobooks. This includes Apple Music subscriptions, as well....

Expanding upon its previously announced programs to return cash to investors, Apple today announced that it will use a total of $200 billion of cash by the end of March 2017 to fund the repurchase of Apple stock and the payment of dividends. The enhanced capital return program authorizes the purchase of an additional $50 billion of Apple shares, now totaling $140 billion, settles vesting restricted stock units, and increases Apple’s stock dividend by 11% to $0....

With Hyundai now out of the picture, analysts have been turning their attention to other candidates for the position of Apple Car manufacturer. Many large automotive manufacturers may not be interested, for the same reasons Hyundai was said to have been nervous … It was reported last month that Hyundai was unsure whether it wanted to see its role relegated to that of a contract manufacturer, while Apple made all the decisions and got all the credit....