Apple today stopped signing iOS 12.5, which is available for older iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad models. This comes after the company released iOS 12.5.1 for these devices last week with bug fixes for the COVID-19 exposure notification feature. Although iOS 12 was released over two years ago, Apple still offers security updates for devices such as the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 as they can’t run iOS 13 or iOS 14....

The App Store is promoting the Alexa app today, however, marking the closest thing to an announcement since we learned Apple Music was landing on Echo speakers. When you view the story from iOS, you can see screenshots of how to set Apple Music as your default music service for libraries and stations using Alexa, and Apple touts that Apple Music supports streaming “your iTunes libraries and the 50 million-plus songs in the Apple Music library through Echo devices....

Popular online media aggregation and discovery app for iOS, Matcha, suddenly disappeared from the App Store in late May without any explanation by the company or Apple. Tonight it became clear exactly what happened. According to Venture Beat, Apple has acquired Matcha.tv for an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million. Although, the final total could be higher once the deal is completed. Unsurprisingly, Matcha.tv CEO Guy Piekarz declined to comment on the potential acquisition and Apple served Venture Beat their typical canned response that “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans....

Update: Apple has launched a new vintage repair pilot program to fix aging iPhones including iPhone 5. Apple this week has updated its list of vintage and obsolete products to make a notable addition. As of October 30th, the iPhone 5 is now categorized as vintage in the United States and obsolete in the rest of the world. For those unfamiliar, Apple supports products with parts and repairs for at least five years after the end of production....

Apple today has officially stopped signing iOS 13.4 following the release of iOS 13.4.1 last week. What this means is that users can no longer downgrade from iOS 13.4.1 to iOS 13.4. Reverting to older iOS builds is common for those in the jailbreak community and can sometimes also be useful for users who experience significant bugs after updating to the latest version of iOS. Other than the effects on jailbreak hopefuls, Apple generally wants as many users as possible on the latest version of iOS for security reasons....

With new Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts in charge of operations, Apple is further blurring the lines between its online and physical retail store services. We reported earlier this year on Ahrendts’s plans to more seamlessly integrate both paths of Apple retail, and now the Cupertino-based company is rolling out a revamped Genius Bar and product support reservation system. The new system eliminates the pre-existing separation between getting support for Apple products online and in-store....

Update, 4:00 PM: Apple updated its system status page to reflect the ongoing iCloud outages as pictured above. After receiving several reports from readers experiencing issues with accessing the App Store, iCloud, and other online Apple services, Apple has finally updated its system status page and confirmed outages for the iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and App Store. It also confirmed some users were experiencing issues with iCloud calendars. While Apple’s status page shows outages between 9:40 a....

Apple has disabled the Walkie-Talkie service on Apple Watch this morning, due to an unknown exploit that could have allowed a stranger to eavesdrop the Apple Watch microphone without consent. Apple told TechCrunch it just became aware of the issue. The company says they do not believe any unscrupulous actor took advantage of the vulnerability. The exact nature of the bug has not been disclosed. Apple said it would require a specific sequence of events to take place so it sounds like the bug was intricate and not something that would be stumbled on by accident....

One of the key privacy features in iOS 14 is a new option that allows users to disable tracking between different applications. During its quarterly earnings call last month, Facebook pointed out that the new tracking setting could impact its advertising revenue, and a new report from The Information today goes into more detail. The report explains that Facebook representatives have been meeting with mobile game companies to discuss the iOS 14 privacy change....

Interbrand’s annual brand value report lists Apple as the world’s most valuable brand for the fourth year running, estimating the total worth of the brand at $178B, up 5% on the previous year. Apple first knocked Coca-Cola out of Interbrand’s top slot in 2013. The company says that Apple’s ecosystem is the biggest contributor to the value of the brand … Apple is a technology company that leads innovation with their products and software platforms, providing seamless experiences across devices, and empowering people with breakthrough services....

And if you thought Steve Jobs’ passing would make the company go down, think again: the only way seems to be up. The first-quarter figures Apple posted today have every reason to make Tim Cook one very happy CEO. He has made no secret of it in the press release. Here’s the big picture: for the quarter ending on December 31, last year, the revenue of $46.33 billion, profits of $13....

Who Can Download iOS 10.1? Customers running iPhone 5 or later, iPad 4th generation and later and iPod touch 6th generation and later can install the update. It won’t allow you to begin the install unless you have 50% or more battery life remaining. On my iPhone 6 Plus (yes, I’ve not yet upgraded to an iPhone 7 yet…), the download was a little over 200 megabytes. The download and install took exactly 17 minutes....

Apple has issued a response to the recently uncovered “Masque Attack” that allowed malicious applications to be installed in place of valid apps and access user data. In a statement provided to iMore, the company highlighted the security features built into iOS that informs users of any attempted app installations via an outside source like the Safari browser and said that it is not aware of any reported instances where a user was affected by this specific type of attack....

Apple removed Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil from the App Store last month shortly after it began offering the ability to AirPlay music from one iOS device to another, effectively making your old iPod touch an AirPlay speaker. Some thought the app removal was due to use of private APIs. Apple gave a statement on the matter: From a post today, it seems pretty clear that Apple just did not want that functionality in the app and that third-party hardware vendors were to “blame....

Yelp today has joined the long list of companies that have debuted apps for Apple Watch. In a blog post this evening, the popular ratings and reviews app shared the first screenshots of its Apple Watch app. The Yelp app for Apple Watch provides the majority of the information you’re used to seeing in the company’s other iOS apps, just on your wrist. On Apple Watch, Yelp shows nearby restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and other businesses alongside their ratings, reviews, price ranges, and distances from your current location....

Apple Music has announced an expansion of its “Up Next” editorial initiative. As first reported by Billboard, Apple Music is bringing a new “international local focus” to the artist spotlight program. Apple has also announced the artists that will be featured next… Apple Music Up Next was first launched in 2017 as a way to promote new emerging artists every month. Apple is now expanding the program to support emerging artists across different countries and regions....

Apple Music is rolling out a new discovery mix called the Friends Mix, which updates every Monday. It collates 25 songs that your Apple Music friends have been listening to. The mix is appearing for some users across Apple’s platforms and does not seem to be tied to iOS 12 or any other beta software release. The Friends Mix joins the Favorites mix, Chill mix and New Music mix algorithmic collections on the service....

Apple Music offers some “Mix” playlists that are updated weekly with new songs, including Friends Mix, Favorites Mix, and Chill Mix. This week Apple is updating the Mix playlists with redesigned art covers and more. The playlists are still nearly the same, but now they’re presented with more bright and colorful artworks instead of the soft-colored gradient used before. The company is now also referring to them as “Made For You” instead of just “For You....

Apple is launching a dedicated section in Apple News to cover the US midterm elections. US Apple users will be able to view the latest updates for the election inside the Apple News app through November. It will feature content from Fox News, Vox and other curated publications including some exclusives from the Washington Post, Axios and Politico. The News app will surface this section with a specially themed banner in the For You tab, as well as recurring features in the Top Stories and Spotlight tab....

Apple has opened up one of its rare replacement programs for the graphics card in some mid-2011 iMac configurations, according to a notice issued to Apple Support employees. The iMac in question is the model released in May 2011 with Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt ports. This iMac was sold between that month and October 2012 when Apple launched thinner models with new internals. Apple says that AMD Radeon HD 6970M cards (both 1GB and 2GB configurations) in select versions of these 2011 iMacs could fail:...