Macworld When Apple unveiled its first-ever smartwatch back in 2014, it’s fair to say that the world wasn’t exactly sure what it was for… and neither was Apple. In those early days, along with the fitness elements which would remain an enduring part of the product’s appeal, the company talked enthusiastically about sharing taps, sketches, and heartbeats with friends, which would not. It took time for users and third-party developers to teach Apple what they wanted from a smartwatch, and for the company to take that on board. Today, the Apple Watch is a mature and versatile product. It’s so versatile, indeed, that you may not be aware of some of its most useful capabilities. In this article, we’re going…

Macworld Near-field communications (NFC) allow very short-range transmission of data from a device that can be battery-free. The field generator by the NFC reader produces the tiny amount of power required to trigger a signal. Starting with AirTag support in the iPhone 6s in 2015, all iPhone models have had some kind of ability to activate and read NFC tags. (Starting with ever earlier iPhones, all Watch models, and many iPads, NFC transmission or encoding is used for Apple Pay.) You might have received certain kinds of NFC tag notifications. The most common are: AirTag: Tapping an AirTag after receiving an alert that one is near you. AirTags that aren’t registered to you will be identified by your iPhone. When brought…

Apple today provided the third beta of the upcoming iOS 17 software release to developers for testing purposes, and as with all betas, there are small refinements and tweaks to various features and interface elements in the update. This guide highlights everything new in the third beta of ‌iOS 17‌. Deleted Photos In the Recently Deleted album, Apple has made tweaks to the interface. Rather than separate Delete and Recover buttons, there's now a small three-dot menu icon at the bottom of the display that can be tapped to bring up the recover and delete options. With no images selected, options include Delete All and Recover All, but with images selected, there is an option to recover or delete specific…

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming two weeks after the release of the second betas. Registered developers are able to opt into the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 16 Developer Beta. Note that an Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta. ‌iOS 17‌ is a major update that introduces a customized look for each person that calls, with the person who places the call able to customize their look. Live voicemails let you see a transcript…

Macworld Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. The only way is upsell One of the quirkier stories we covered last week centered on a simple Velcro strap. Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset, you see, is rather heavy, and the company seems to have addressed possible issues with comfort by adding on an extra strap that goes over the top of the user’s head. But this strap is…

The Vision Pro almost had a dedicated controller. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple’s new Vision Pro headset, which is coming later this year, will use hand-tracking and eye-tracking for control, but at one time, Apple considered a finger-worn input device, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. Gurman said that early in the Vision Pro’s development cycle, Apple tested third-party virtual reality controllers from companies like HTC. Later, it looked into the finger-worn device — indeed, in 2015 a smart ring patent from the company emerged, though at the time seemed more intended as a general wearable device, not something specific to a mixed reality headset. Apple Vision Pro first look. In the end,…