Matter gets upgraded with bug fixes, more new smart home devices are announced, and we test the new Eve Flare on this week's Homekit Insider podcast.HomeKit InsiderIt was an unusually busy week in the smart home space with several new products aiming to hit the market before WWDC announcements take over the news cycle. That also includes the release of an improved version of Matter, the platform that will allow users to mix and match devices between HomeKit and other smart home platforms. Read more...

Macworld Each year Apple releases a major update for iOS, the operating system on your iPhone. The current version, released last year, is iOS 16, and it doesn’t take a genius to predict that 2023 will see the launch of iOS 17. This free software update will bring a raft of interface tweaks, bug fixes, and new features. It’s like getting a new iPhone without paying a penny. In this article, we discuss everything you need to know about iOS 17. We cover its release schedule and when you can expect the beta and final versions to come out; how to get it when it does; the models of iPhone that are likely to be able to run iOS; and…

The Dynamic Island is a potentially good idea that’s waiting for the next step Apple pulled off some unexpected surprises with the iPhone 14 Pro: there had been lots of solid rumors about the company switching from putting the front-facing camera and Face ID system in a pill-shaped cutout instead of the familiar notch, but the new “Dynamic Island” alert system came out of nowhere. And while it was getting clearer that Apple would have to follow the industry in using bigger camera sensors eventually, Apple went even further and rebooted its entire computational photography system as the Photonic Engine. There’s a lot of that sort of thing in the iPhone 14 Pro, whose prices in the United States still…

After months of leaks, Apple subsidiary Beats by Dre has released the Beats Studio Buds+, which improves on ANC and Transparency modes and adds a transparent color option.Beats Studio Buds+Beats launched the first iteration of the Beats Studio Buds in June 2021. Almost two years later, the update to the model has arrived, and it has a few new tricks up its sleeve. Read more...

Eve today announced the launch of a second-generation Eve Flare light, which comes equipped with Thread support. Eve Flare is a portable, battery-powered lamp that can be used anywhere in the home or garden. The light features an IP65 water resistance rating and it includes a carrying handle so that it can be moved indoors and outdoors, and hung up if desired. The Eve Flare supports millions of colors and can be controlled through the Eve app, the Home app, or with Siri voice commands. Eve Flare is designed for ambiance rather than for use as a main lamp, and it comes with several pre-selected colors like scarlet and jade, or you can pick your own colors. Color and brightness…

Macworld After announcing its big yearly operating system update in its WWDC keynote on June 6, 2022, and following months of beta testing, Apple made iOS 16 available to be installed on iPhones on September 12, 2022, followed by iPadOS 16.1 on October 24. But while tons of new features arrived in September, and even more in the months that followed, there is still more to come as Apple continues to work on iOS 16. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about iOS 16 and how it’s going to affect your iPhone and iPad experience if you haven’t updated yet, including new features, design changes, and details of any issues and flaws people are encountering…