Ipad & Iphone User 112 - 2016 UK PDF

ISSUE 112
FROM IDG
ne 7
iPho FI RS T L O O K
EW
N +
Super Mario
coming to
iOS
AirPods Apple Watch

Apples wireless wonders Your perfect training partner
Contents
3 Welcome
News
4 Apple unveils iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
7 Apple pushes new EarPods and AirPods
9 Water-resistant Apple Watch 2 unveiled
12 Pokmon GO is coming to the Apple Watch
14 Super Mario coming to the iPhone and iPad
16 Apple must pay Ireland 11bn in taxes
19 Cook calls tax ruling political crap
Hands-on
21 iPhone 7
27 Apple Watch Series 2
31 AirPods
Features
37 Guide to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
44 How the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus give you more
49 Why Apple killed the headphone port
54 24 iOS 10 tricks
64 Guide to the Apple Watch Series 2
69 Get smart with these home control apps
73 Learn another language with these apps
80 Learn to code with Swift Playgrounds
89 Why you should avoid iOS battery apps
91 Ask the iTunes Guy
How To
95 Downgrade from iOS 10 to iOS 9
97 Verify your Twitter account
2 iPAD & iPHONE USER ISSUE 111

Welcome...
W

elcome to the latest issue of iPad
&iPhone user. The rumours were
true: Apples next-generation iPhones,
the 7 and 7 Plus, traded the headphone jack for
Lightning EarPods. Now theres one port instead
of two. Unsurprisinglythis has divided opinion,
though somebelieve it gives us an indication of
the direction the company is moving in (page 112).
Wetake a rst look at the iPhone 7 on page 21.
To cater for the lack of a headphone port, Apple
used the event to unveil its rst wireless earphones.
At 159 the AirPods arent cheap, but as our
reviewer says on page 31, they rocked our world.
Apple also unveiled the latest addition to its
smartwatch line-up: the Apple Watch Series 2
(see page 27). Although it doesnt look drastically
diferent to the original Watch, its now waterproof,
so you can wearit swimming. Apple has also
partneredwithNike to produce the Apple Watch
Nike+, which can be used as an activity tracker.
The big surprise of the night was the
announcement that Nintendo is bringing Super
Mario to iOS. No release date has been set, but
wecant wait to start playing.
100 Be a considerate late-night iPad/iPhone user
Opinion
105 Why Nintendo is making the right moves
112 What AirPods tell us about Apples future
ISSUE 111 iPAD & iPHONE USER 3

News: Apple unveils
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
After all the rumours and speculation Apples new
phones are nally here. Caitlin McGarry reports
T
he rumours were true: Apples
next-generation iPhones, the 7 and 7 Plus,
traded the headphone jack for Lightning
EarPods. Now theres one port instead of two.
The company is including Lightning-connected
EarPods with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Apple
is also including a Lightning to 3.5mm
adaptor in the box to avoid causing too
much outrage over supporting
non-Lightning headphones, or you
can buy oneseparately for 9.
So why that lack of a jack?
Its been with us for a really
long time, Apple marketing
VP Phil Schiller said during
Apples iPhone presentation
at the launchevent. It comes
down to courage courage to
move on,do something new
thatbettersall of us.
That something new is a
wireless standard, debuting in
another headset product called
Apple AirPods (sold separately
for 159). The W1 chip inside the
AirPod ofers one-tap pairing

to ease the pain of poor Bluetooth connection,
plus the pods ofers consistent playback that only
start when you insert them in your ears. You can
double-tap a pod to access Siri.
Both iPhone 7 models are water-resistant up to
1m for 30 minutes with an IP67 rating. Both pack
new stereo speakers at the top and bottom into
thesame slim body as the 6s.
Aside from being splash-proof, the iPhone
7s marquee feature is a dramatically improved
camera. Both the 4.7in iPhone 7 and 5.5in 7 Plus
have a wider f/1.8 aperture to capture more light,
a 6-element lens, high-speed 12Mp sensors,
quad-LED True Tone ash, a new sensor to
compensate for ickering lights, wide colour
capture, and optical image stabilization. The 7 Plus,
as long rumoured, has two cameras, both 12Mp,
with two lenses. One is wide-angle, and the other is
a 56mm telephoto lens. Both cameras have zoom.
The new phones have an A10 Fusion chip with
a four-core CPU: Two are high-performance cores
that are 40 percent faster than the A9 chip in
the 6sand 6s Plus, and two are high-eiciency,
runningat 20 percent of the power as the
high-performing cores. Its all about balance.
Shallow depth of eld is something you can
usually only achieve with a DSLRs full frame
sensoror a giant lens. The 7 Plus camera
accomplishes it easily just tap the new Portrait
option in the iOS Camera app coming in a free iOS
update later this year to preview it automatically.
The 7, which now comes in black and jet-black
(matte and glossy, respectively) in addition to silver,
gold, and rose gold, is moving from a mechanical

Home button to a solid-state Force Touch button,
with a Taptic Engine so youll feel vibrations when
you press it. Apple is opening the Taptic Engine to
third-party developers with an API.
The iPhone 7s water resistance and overhauled
camera are its marquee features, but the
headphone jack removal is sure to be Apples most
controversial move since the switch from 30-pin
toLightning connectors back in 2012 (probably
more so). Apple sold adaptors separately for 29
back then, but this time around the company is
including an adaptor in the box.
If youre upset about the headphone jack and
dont like the adaptor option, Apple is dangling the
promise of more battery life: The 7 and 7 Plus have
the longest battery life of any iPhone, Schiller said,
with the 7 lasting two hours longer than the iPhone
6s on average and the 7 Plus promising an average
of 1 hour more life than the 6s Plus.
The iPhone 7 starts at 599, the same price as
a 16GB iPhone 6s, for a 32GB base model. Thats
right, Apple is ditching 16GB for all but the iPhone
SE. The 7 Plus starts at 719 with 32-, 128- and
256GB congurations. The new jet black
option is reserved for 128- and
256GB models only, so youll
have to pay more for Jony
Ives masterpiece.
Read our hands-on
review of the iPhone
7 on page 21.

News: Apple pushes
new EarPods and AirPods
Apple removes headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and ships
Lightning EarPods and an adaptor, writes Jared Newman
A
pple will try to ease the pain of killing the
headphone jack in the iPhone 7, shipping
the new smartphone with Lightning-enabled
EarPods and an analogue adaptor.
The reason to move on... it really comes down
to one word: Courage, Apple Senior Vice President
of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller said during the
companys September news event.
Schiller explained that abandoning the analogue
headphone jack allows Apple to make room for
various other technological improvements, such as
brighter displays, faster processors, and the iPhone
7s stereo speakers. The Lightning connection

also allows for new headphone features, he said,
including adaptive noise cancellation and higher-
quality audio without an external power source.
Actually Bluetooth Buds

While Apple made no explicit mention of Bluetooth
when announcing its new AirPods, or any sort of
compatibility with non-Apple Bluetooth devices,
the companys store page notes that Bluetooth
connectivity is supported.
Still, Apple claims that its AirPods, and their
new W1 chip in particular, go well beyond the
capabilities of traditional wireless chips. The
new chip can wirelessly transmit high-quality AAC
audio (the ne print mentions testing 256kb/s AAC
tracks), and instead of an often-complex Bluetooth
pairing process, AirPods will recognise when an
iPhone is nearby for one-tap pairing. Theyll also
simultaneously connect with an Apple Watch,
andcan pair to an iPad or Mac over iCloud.
AirPods are packed with some additional
sensorsas well. Infrared allows them to only
start playing when theyre in your ear, while an
accelerometer recognises speech and uses
dual beam-forming microphones to lter out
backgroundnoise. Double-tapping on either
AirPodcalls up Siri for voice commands.
As for battery life, each AirPod will run for ve
hours on a charge, and they come with a wireless
charging case that brings back a few hours of
runtime after 15 minutes inside. In total, the case
provides up to 24 hours of battery life.
Apple plans to ship the AirPods in late October
for159. See page 31 for our hands-on review.

News: Water-resistant
Apple Watch 2 unveiled
Apples smartwatch debuts with water-resistant capabilities,
built-in GPS and a new Nike edition. Oscar Raymundo reports
A
lmost two years after the Apple Watch
wasrst unveiled in 2014, Apple has
nallypulled the curtain back on its
second-generation smartwatch.
The Apple Watch Series 2 with dual-core, a
brighter display, swim-proof capabilities and built-in
GPS was unveiled during Apples event. This
new model has a redesigned speaker to make it

water-resistant down to 50m. Other than that, this
updated smartwatch looks near-identical to the rst
Apple Watch, now known as Apple Watch Series 1,
which was only splash-proof.
Even though the Apple Watch Series 2 boasts
a built-in GPS, it lacks cellular connectivity. This
means that you will still need an iPhone nearby for
your Series 2 to perform data-heavy operations.
The Apple Watch Series 2 comes in conjunction
with watchOS 3, which Apple rst unveiled this
summer at WWDC and is available now. The latest
iteration of watchOS 3 makes apps launch seven
times faster, lets you write with your ngertip to
create messages, and activity-sharing so you can
compete with your friends.
Apple Watch Nike+ for runners

Apple has also partnered with Nike to create a
special edition of Apple Watch. The Apple Watch
Nike+ is designed specically for runners with
lightweight aluminium and perforated band. With
this running-focused Watch you can simply tell
Siri to start a run. When youre out on your run,
you canget a distraction-free display with just the
distance and pace, or enable an advanced mode
with more details about your workout.
Motivation is a main component of the Apple
Watch Nike+. You will get Are We Running Today?
notications, such as when was the last time you
went on a run, if the weather is perfect to go
outside, or information from your friends to keep
you motivated. In addition, Apple Watch Nike+
has a Just Do It Sundays to get users running
on the last day of the week. Purchasing an Apple

Watch Nike+ will also get you a membership to the
Nike+ Run Club, which will personalised coaching
sessions, gear recommendations, and access to
live runs around the world.
The Apple Watch Nike+ comes in four colours
and will be available in late October for 369.
As forthe Apple Watch Series 2, there is a new
ceramic body thats actually harder than stainless
steel. Apple has also created two new Herms
bands andnew colours. Prices start at 1,149
The Apple Watch Series 2 will also start at 369.
The original Apple Watch Series 1 is now 269.
Read our hands-on review on page 27.

News: Pokmon GO is
coming to the Apple Watch
A new egg-hatching monitor will be added to help spur you
on in your Pokmon hunting, writes Mark Hachman
A
new version of Pokmon GO is coming
to the Apple Watch, together with a new
feature that better tracks how far you need
to walk before your Pokmon eggs hatch within
the game. It will ship before the end of the year,
John Hanke, the chief executive of Pokmon GO
developer Niantic Labs, said at Apples iPhone 7
launch event in San Francisco.
Thit mobile game for iOS and Android, has been
downloaded over 500 million times worldwide,
Hanke said. The game uses augmented reality
to help players discover Pokmon in the wild,

allowingusers to see Pokmon superimposed
over real-world objects.
According to the chief executive of Niantic Labs,
Pokmon GO is coming to the Apples smartwatch,
along with a new feature: better egg tracking.
One of the features of the game involves hatching
virtual eggs, which require you to walk a certain
distance to hatch. The new Apple Watch feature
will allow you to track the progress of your eggs as
youre out for a run or a stroll, and also alert you to
the presence of nearby Pokmon.
Were really excited to bring you this new way
to experience Pokmon GO, and to give you a little
more motivation to get outside, get some exercise,
and have fun with your friends, Hanke said.
Nintendo is already working on Pokmon GO+,
a new wearable peripheral that will buzz your
wristwhen youre near a Pokmon in the wild. It
works in conjunction with your iPhone, and will be
available in September, Hanke said.

News: Super Mario coming
to the iPhone and iPad
Super Mario Run to let you play one-handed against other
players around the world. Gordon Mah Ung reports
O
ne of the rst big announcements to come
out of Apples September product reveal
was the news that Nintendo will release
itsrst smartphone game on the iPhone.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the game,
Super Mario Run, before being joined by Mario
creator Shigeru Miyamoto who provided details
about the game.
The gameplay has Mario always running to the
right and jumping when the screen is pressed.
A longer press causes Mario to jump higher.
Miyamoto said the game can easily be played with
one hand, allowing gameplay while simultaneously
riding the subway, say, or eating a hamburger.
A multiplayer mode called Toad Rally lets you
play against others in a time trial mode, where
the other player is represented by a ghosted
image while you collect coins and jump over
enemy turtles. Winning in the Toad Rally allows
you to collect toad people, which you can use to
customise your mushroom kingdom.
Nintendo has never made a smartphone game
before, so its selection of iOS for this debut gives
Apples app store a signicant advantage over
the competition, at least while the game remains
exclusive to that platform.

Image: European Commission
News: Apple must pay
Ireland 11bn in taxes
Two Irish tax rulings constituted illegal state aid,
rules the European Commission. Peter Sayer reports
A
pples tax benets in Ireland are illegal,
and the company will have to pay up to
13 billion (11 billion) in back taxes, plus
interest. Thats the verdict European Commissioner
Margrethe Vestager delivered recently, wrapping
up a two-year investigation of the companys tax
afairs stretching back to 2003.

The investigation found that Apples efective
taxrate on prot reported in Ireland was just
500per million euros in prot, falling to 50
per million in 2014. I would have a feeling if my
efective tax rate were 0.05 percent, falling to
0.005 percent. I wouldfeel that maybe I should
have another lookatmy tax bill, said.
The Commission looked into tax rulings granted
by the Irish government to two Apple subsidiaries,
Apple Operations Europe, which makes some
Apple computers, and Apple Sales International,
which resells the companys products throughout
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India.
The latter accounts for almost all the unpaid
taxes Ireland now needs to recover, Vestager said.
Vestager said that the Irish tax authorities
had allowed Apple to split prot from the two
companies, which were subject to normal taxes,
with head oice companies that were subject to
no taxes, either in Ireland or elsewhere.
Splitting the prots did not have any factual
or economic justication. The so-called head
oice had no employees, no premises, no real
activities,Vestager added. Those head-oice
companies were allocated almost all the prots.
This selective tax treatment in Ireland is
illegal under European Union state aid rules,
sheargued, and distorts competition. To restore
faircompetition, Ireland must recover up to 13
billion in back taxes from Apple for the period
from2003 to 2014.
It is for the Irish authorities to determine the
exact amount and the modalities of payment,
Vestager said. Apple will have to pay up even if

theruling is appealed, with the money going into
an escrow account.
Should the US government decide to change
itstax rules so that Apple owes more tax in the
US on its EU prots, then the sum to be repaid
in Ireland could be reduced by a corresponding
amount, Vestager added.
Apple is not the only company in the
Commissions sights. It has also issued tax rulings
against Starbucks and Fiat, and is still investigating
Amazon and McDonalds in Luxembourg.
All companies, big or small, should pay taxes
where they make their prots. We need changes
in corporate philosophies, and we need changes
in legislation to address loopholes and to ensure
transparency, concluded Vestager.
Apple CEO Tim Cook responded with an
open letter dedicated to the Apple community
in Europe, explaining how Apples operations in
Cork, Ireland have boosted the local economy
andcreated roughly 1.5 million jobs across Europe.
The company claims to have always complied
with the law, and has never asked for, nor did we
receive, any special deals.
Over the years, we received guidance from Irish
tax authorities on how to comply correctly with Irish
tax law the same kind of guidance available to
any company doing business there. In Ireland and
in every country where we operate, Apple follows
the law and we pay all the taxes we owe.
Both Ireland and Apple are planning on
appealing the Commissions decision, and
Cookiscondent that the Commissions order
willbe reversed.

News: Cook calls tax
ruling total political crap
Apples CEO says that both Apple and the Irish government
have played by the rules, writes Katherine Noyes
T
he European Commissions decision to
force Apple to pay Ireland billions of dollars
in back taxes is total political crap and a
reection of anti-US sentiment, company CEO Tim
Cook told the Irish Independent in an interview. No

one did anything wrong here, Cook said. Ireland
is being picked on, and this is unacceptable.
As we report on page 16, the EC has ruled
that Ireland gave Apple illegal tax benets by not
collecting 13 billion ($14.5 billion) in taxes owed
to it over a 10-year period. It was the culmination
of a two-year investigation into the companys tax
afairs that found Apples efective tax rate on prot
reported in Ireland was just 500 per million euros
in prot, falling to 50 per million in 2014.
The Commissions charges have no basis in
factor in law, Cook wrote in an open letter to
Apple customers. The Irish tax authority has also
disputed the ruling.
The EC is essentially trying to reallocate taxes
that should be paid in the US to the EU, Cook told
the publication, and may be using the case as part
of a play to harmonise tax rates across the EU, as
well. The fact that Apple was targeted is also in part
a reection of anti-US sentiment, he said.

Hands-on: iPhone 7
From 599 inc VAT apple.com/uk
T
he iPhone weve been hearing rumours
about for months is real, so let the anguish
over its conrmed lack of a headphone jack
begin. (Since this might have been the worst-kept
secret in Apple history, hopefully youve worked
through a few stages of grief already.)
Its true. Apple used the space freed
up by removing the headphone
port to add a Taptic Engine
under the hood, as well as
a second speaker to the
bottom of the device. The
company says this will give
you stereo sound, and the
speakers did sound louder,
but the busy demo area was
just too crowded and noisy to
properly evaluate how much
of a diference the second
speaker makes. In fact, during
my limited hands-on time
after Apples September 7
event, I found the iPhone 7
okay its faster and its got
a better camera, but a lot of
the changes (the new Home
button, the dual speakers) are
too subtle to make much of a
rst impression.

Changes to the Home button
About that Taptic Engine, for example, its there
to enable a completely ush, motionless Home
button.One of the rumours about 2017s iPhone is
that Apple may ditch the Home button, embedding
it in the screen instead. For the iPhone 7, Apple
kept the chin at the bottom of the device, with
the Home button and its shiny Touch ID ring in
theirfamiliar place. But the button no longer
physically moves up and down. Instead, you
pressit and get a little vibration of haptic feedback
so it feels like its going down.

This is similar to the Force Touch trackpad in the
12in MacBook, which doesnt physically click but
still mimics what a click should feel like. As on the
Mac side, iOS developers will get access to the
Taptic Engine for building more subtle vibration
efects into their apps, reacting to your touch. In my
hands-on time at the event, the new Home button
felt pretty odd to click, with a split-second lag
before I felt anything. Two of Apples demonstrators
mentioned that it takes a little adjustment before
it feels normal. Luckily, theres a setting where you
can customise the haptic feedback somewhat.
Physically, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are the same
size as their predecessors, the iPhone 6s and 6s
Plus. But dont expect any iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s
cases to t an iPhone 7, because the camera lens
on the back is a lot bigger than it used to be, and
so is the TrueTone ash. Similarly, iPhone 6 Plus
and 6s Plus cases almost denitely wouldnt t an
iPhone 7 Plus, since that device has a dual-camera
setup Ill explain a bit later. New cases all around.
If you can stomach slapping a case on your
new phone in the rst place, that is. The iPhone 7
comes in silver, gold, and rose gold nishes, but the
space grey colour has been replaced by not one
but two versions of black. The matte version is just
called black, and its lovely, with an almost brushed
aluminium efect that does pick up ngerprints, but
more on its shiny black Apple logo than on the rest
of the device. The highly glossy jet black version
has a shinier nish, like a grand piano, and its a
magnet for ngerprints and maybe tiny scratches
too. Apple even has a disclaimer on the iPhone 7
pre-order page: Its surface is equally as hard as

other anodized Apple products; however, its high
shine may show fine micro-abrasions with use.
The company suggests you use a case if youre
concerned, but then no one can appreciate your
glossy phone. Its subjective, but I like the matte
version better anyway.
New cameras and water resistance

The iPhone 7s camera still bulges out from the
back of the phone, but the bulge rises directly
out of the iPhones rear panel. In the iPhone 6s,
the camera bulge has an aluminium ring around
it that makes it look kind of stuck on after the

fact, while the iPhone 7 camera bump looks a
little morelikeitbelongs. I prefer the iPhone SEs
designin which the camera is completely ush,
butits not a deal breaker.
The 7 Plus has a dual-lens setup: two 12Mp
cameras side by side on the back. One is the same
wide angle as in the iPhone 7, and the second
is a telephoto lens. Tapping the 1x button above
the shutter in the Camera app switches to the
2x view of the telephoto lens instantly its so
fast its like youre using the same camera, not
switching between two. Holding the button down
lets you push past the 2x optical zoom, up to 10x
of digital zoom (in photos; 5.8x when shooting
video), although digital zoom enlarges the pixels
and thus degrades the image quality. The Portrait
mode with its bokeh efect demonstrated on stage
wont be ready until a software update later in the
year, for iPhone 7 Plus owners only. None of the
demonstration units in the hands-on area had it yet.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have 25 percent
brighter screens with a wider colour gamut,
although the sizes and pixel dimensions remain the
same. Every iPhone screen looks great to me, and
these were no exception. But the diference wasnt
so noticeable that it would sway me to upgrade just
for the extra brightness. Maybe when we get to test
the phones outdoors, well see a bigger diference.
Ready for one more thing? This is the rst
oicially water resistant iPhone! Last years iPhone
6s had some under-the-hood water resistance, but
Apple didnt advertise it. Instead of shoving ugly
rubber plugs into the various ports to keep liquid
out, the company added gaskets inside the case

and waterproofed individual connections between
internal cables and the logic board. Think of that
as a beta test of sorts, because now Apple is
proudly calling the iPhone 7 splash, dust, and water
resistant, with a rating of IP67. That means it should
withstand powerful streams of water right on it,
as well as dunks in up to a metre of water for 30
minutes. Unfortunately, Apple didnt provide a dunk
tank in the demo area, so thats another thing well
have to test for the full review.
iPad & iPhone Users buying advice

So, Apple gave us water resistance and a more
powerful camera, even as it takes away our faithful
friend the 3.5mm headphone jack. The iPhone
lineup still lacks built-in wireless charging, Apple
Pencil support, and an OLED screen, but the iPhone
7 is no slouch. (Apple bragged that the 64-bit A10
Fusion chip makes this the most powerful iPhone
in history, but thats a progression that we expect
obviously Apple wouldnt want the new phone to
be slower than the older models.)
Photographers and the accident-prone have
the most reasons to rejoice, but personally, Im
not excited enough about the new cameras or the
waterproong to preorder a new iPhone for launch.
As much as I like the AirPods (which wont be
ready for the iPhone 7s launch), the inconvenience
of plugging headphones into the Lightning port
until then is keeping me in wait-and-see territory,
until I nd out if the brighter screen and the better
camera are really enough to make me screw
up mycourage and bid the headphone jack a
permanent goodbye. Susie Ochs

Hands-on:
Apple Watch Series 2
From 369 inc VAT apple.com/uk
I
ts really hard to tell the diference between
the new Apple Watch Series 2 models and the
originals the aluminium and steel versions
anyway until you place them side by side. The
Series 2 models are ever so slightly thicker than
their predecessors. Just a hair, not enough to
even complain about, really, and its certainly not
a deal-breaker. But from Apple, a company with a
track record of sacricing ports and redesigning
keyboards in order to make its products thinner and
thinner and thinner, the Apple Watchs extra bulk
is a sign that the company is still adding hardware
features to nd the best mix. In this case, GPS.
What remains to be seen and isnt a one-size-
ts-all answer anyhow is whether GPS will be
worth the extra cost for the Series 2. After all, GPS

and 50m waterproong are the only diferences
between the Series 2 watches and the Series 1,
which is still on sale. Aluminium Series 1 models,
formerly called Apple Watch Sport, are 269 for
38mm and 299 for 42mm, and those Series 1
watches even have the same S2 chips that Apple
put in the aluminium Series 2 models, which are
100 more. Since my hands-on time after Apples
September 7 event didnt include a chance to
swim laps or go for a run, the Series 2s exclusive
features didnt have the opportunity to impress me.
Still, one Series 2 watch called out to me from
the crowded table of demo units: the ceramic
model. Shiny and pristinely white, it looks like it was
carved from solid block of unicorn horn. Im a little
surprised it only comes in white, but its a pleasant
throwback to when Apple ofered a whole range of
glossy white products, from iPods to MacBooks.
The ceramic Apple Watch Edition, which Apple
says is four times harder than stainless steel, was
the biggest surprise in Apples keynote, both for
what it is and what it isnt: gold. While it starts
at a jaw-dropping 1,249 for the 38mm version,
the ceramic Apple Watch Edition replaces the
solid-gold Apple Watch Edition models. Funnily
enough,that gorgeous ceramic watch is only
soldwith an of-white (sorry, Cloud) Sport
Band,a49 strap that matches the look perfectly
but didnt seem luxeenough to me considering
thefour-gure package price.
The Apple Watch Herms models, on the other
hand, have the opposite problem. For 1,149 and
up, you get a stainless steel Apple Watch Series 2
with exclusive Herms watch faces and a high-end

leather band. I tried on the 38mm size with an
Etoupe Swift Leather Double Buckle Cuf (pictured
below), which felt like butter even if it did take
twiceas long to put on as a watch with, well, a
single buckle. But it retails for 1,549, and that
doesnt come close to adding up: a stainless steel
Series 2 watch with a Sport Band is 549, which
means that stepping up to the Herms is paying
1,000 more to get the fancier cuf and the Herms
watch faces. Well, the exact same cuf can be had
on its own for 699. That just leaves the faces,
based on classic Herms watches called Clipper,
Cape Cod, and Espace, but honestly, I dont think
theyre good-looking. I wouldnt pay 5 for one in
the App Store even if I could.
Finally, the Apple Watch Nike Plus is a aluminium
Apple Watch Series 2 in space gray or silver, with
a special Nike Sport Band and exclusive Nike
watch face. The bands are vented all
the way around and stand out
thanks to Nikes eye-catching
neon-yellow Volt colour.
(Plainer black/grey and
silver/white colours
are available too, but if
youre going to go Nike,
go neon, I say.)
Aimed at runners,
the Nike watch face
will even nudge you
to pound the pavement
more often, by reminding
you how long its been
since you last ran, how nice the weather is, or

how hardyour friends are smoking you on the
leaderboards. Keeping in mind that any Apple
Watch running watchOS 3 will let you share
Activityrings for a littlefriendly competition, but
Nikes implementation seems like a lot of fun.
Andthe prices are the same as the rest of the
aluminium Series 2 models, so whether you go
Nike or not issimply a personal preference.
Macworlds buying advice

Im eager to test the GPS and lap-counting Swim
workouts in the new Apple Watch Series 2, once
they ship, and see how long the battery lasts
compared to my trusty rst-generation Apple
Watch. Until then, I think the ceramic watch is the
best looking if youre willing to shell out for it, the
Herms Edition isnt worth the money (but the la
carte bands might be), and the aluminium Series 2
watches continue to be a pretty good deal.
If you already have an Apple Watch, theres no
need to upgrade, but if youve been waiting to
jumponboard, nows a great time, and if you dont
mind forgoing GPS, the Series 1 option saves you
money without sacricing speed. Susie Ochs

Hands-on: AirPods
159 inc VAT apple.com/uk
I
didnt want to like the AirPods, I really didnt. But
in the hands-on area after Apples iPhone 7 event
I found myself dancing along in spite of myself
and they stayed put, feeling surprisingly secure.
With convenient features on both the hardware and
software sides, I have to admit that Apples totally-
wireless AirPods kind of rocked my world.

When theyre in your ears, they look similar
to an old pair of wired EarPods that someone
has snipped the wires of. The earbud part lls
your earjust as before, and a plastic stem hangs
down a bit below your earlobe. Theyre the same
generalshape as the EarPods and made from the
same hard white plastic.
Now, that plastic has been a deal-breaker for me
for years I hate how normal EarPods feel in my
ears. They dont seem like theyre going to stay put,
and they fall out if I move my head too much. Even
if they do stay in, after about a half hour, my ears
starts to ache, although I dont experience the same
pain when using earbuds with silicone or foam tips.
Since the AirPods look so similar, I expected them
to feel the same too and Im surprised and happy
to report that I was dead wrong.
Not only did I dance, I headbanged. I shook
my head side to side, I tossed my hair, I jogged in
place, and I looked silly doing all of it. The AirPods
stayed put, and they stayed loud. The music (more
Sia, naturally) sounded full and lush and I couldnt
hear a single word anyone around me was saying,
as if I was completely sealed of in a bubble of rock
and roll. Pretty impressive.
For Apple devices only

The AirPods special features are pretty impressive
too, even though they only work with Apple
devices. You dont need a brand-new iPhone or
Apple Watch to use them, but they only support
Apple devices running the latest operating systems:
iOS 10, macOS Sierra, and watchOS 3. The AirPods
use Bluetooth, so you would think maybe thered

be a way to pair them to an Android phone or an
iOS 8 device since those have Bluetooth too, but
theres no button on the AirPods to put them into
pairing mode. Well test to conrm when we get
review units, but it seems like the AirPods will only
be seen by Apple devices.
When you rst ip open the glossy white carrying
box which looks like the most high-tech pack of
TicTacs ever youll see a screen on your nearby
iPhone ofering to pair. (Thats just the rst time;
you wont have to do this every time you want to
use the AirPods.) Once youve paired them to your
iPhone, you can also use them the Apple Watch
thats paired to your iPhone, as well as with any
iPad and Mac thats signed in to the same iCloud
account. I didnt get to test how seamless it is
to switch between devices, but the idea is, you
can pause music on your iPhone, start playing
songsstored on your Apple Watch, and the
AirPodswill just switch.

Each AirPod has infrared sensors, so they
know when theyre in your ears or not, and an
accelerometer so you can double-tap either AirPod
to invoke Siri. They dont have any traditional
buttons, unlike some Bluetooth headphones: No
on/of switch, no pairing button, no play/pause or
call-answering buttons, and no volume controls.
Instead, you can double-tap to get Siri this
pauses your music, but you can at least say turn
up the volume without shing out your iPhone to
turn it up on that device. Its a lot more awkward
than just having volume controls built in.
Removing one AirPod from your ear while music
is playing will automatically pause it, perfect for
interacting with a cashier, barista, or nosy passerby
who has questions about your AirPods. The auto-
pausing efect is incredibly cool I wish all my
headphones did this. Just dont remove both
AirPods, or the audio playback will automatically
switch back to your iPhones speakers, leaving
youscrambling to pause it.
Power to go
The charging case is pretty neat on its own, too.
Its got a Lightning port in the back, and you can
charge just the case on its own or the AirPods
inside the case. Thats right while the AirPods
themselves get about ve hours of playback
per charge, according to Apple, the case has a
battery, so you can top of on the go. The case
has enough juice for about 24 hours of playback,
Apple says, which means you could recharge
the AirPods nearly ve times before you have to
plug the case into a power adaptor or USB port

to recharge. Apple says that popping the AirPods
into the charging case for 15 minutes will get you
another three hours of music a tiny green LED
inside the case lets you know the AirPods are
charging. Keeping wireless headphones charged
can be a major pain point running out of battery
mid-workout or mid-commute is the worst, so this
couldbe a good solution.
The AirPods have a W1 chip inside to enable all
this intelligence, and Apple built the same chip into
a new lineup of Beats headphones too. The Beats
Solo3 Wireless are over-the-ear headphones that
have a more complete set of on-ear controls and
40 hours of battery life, available now for 249.
As for the AirPods themselves, sadly, they
wont launch with the iPhone 7. Theyre due later
in October, sold separately for 159. Thats steep
compared to other Apple-branded earbuds

the companys most high-end wired earbuds
topped out at 79, but much more reasonable
compared towireless Beats or other high-end
wireless models. iPhone 7 early adopters can
use any Bluetooth headphones, of course, and
Apple is also including two more solutions in
the box: a wired pair of EarPods that connect to
the iPhonesLightning port, and a Lightning-to
3.5mmadaptor that lets you plug any standard
wired headphones into the Lightning port.

Feature: Guide to the
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
Unsure whether to splash the cash on one of Apples latest
handsets? Caitlin McGarrys guide will help you decide
A
pples annual iPhone event was jam-
packed with information, but between the
lingering look at the new jet black nish
and all the business about AirPods, you may have
missed some important details about the iPhone
7 and 7 Plus. But weve got you covered. Heres
everything you may have missed during
Apple marketing VP Phil Schillers
presentation, plus some facts
hedidnt mention, in case
yourethinking of upgradingto
a7 but cant quite decide.
The basics
Price
Prices for the iPhone 7 starts at
599 for a 32GB base model and
the 7 Plus starts at 719. Apple
has phased out the 16GB storage
option for all but the iPhone SE.
Both models ofer 32GB, 128GB,
and 256GB of storage.
Apples iPhone Upgrade
Program (tinyurl.com/jucybp9)
gives you the option to buy an
unlocked iPhone 7 or 7 Plus

with AppleCare+ through your carrier of choice
for 33.45 per month and up. (Prices vary based
on country, iPhone model, and storage size.)
The upgrade program also lets you trade in your
iPhonenext year for the latest model.
Colours
The new iPhones come in silver, gold, and rose
gold, plus two brand new colours: black and jet
black. The former is an anodized matte nish, while
the jet version is a high-gloss, inky black. Apple
showed of the jet black models engineering
process in a Jony Ive-narrated video during the
iPhone launch event. The new nish was crafted
from bead-blasted aluminium that then goes
through a nine-step anodization and polishing
process. The nished product is so glossy that
youcant tell the diference between the glass
display and the aluminium body. The down side:
The jet black is also more prone to ngerprint

smudges and scratches, so you might want to
snaga case forthat model.
The big changes

From a distance, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus dont
lookall that diferent from the 6 or 6s models
same design, same shape, same size. But
up closeand under the hood, the 7 and 7 Plus
are radically diferent from their 4.7- and 5.5in
predecessors. Lets start with the most talked
aboutfeature (or thelack thereof).
Apple kills the 3.5mm headphone jack

Yes. The audio jack, a staple of consumer
electronics devices for decades, is no more
at least when it comes to iPhones. Apple
sacriced the port to free up space for a larger
camera system, bigger battery, and Taptic
Engine for providing feedback in response to
theredesignedForce Touch Home button.
How to listen to audio

Apple is including a pair of Lightning EarPods
with every new iPhone, so you can still plug into
an iPhone port for private listening sessions
just not the port you were used to. You wont
be able to listen to the new Lightning EarPods
and chargeyour phone with a Lightning cable
simultaneously, if thats a problem you run into
regularly. Third-party adaptors will appear to ll
thegap Belkin has announced a 34 Lightning
Audio + Charge RockStar that splits the iPhones
Lightning port into two, one for charging and
onefor your Lightning EarPods.

Apple must have anticipated outraged
responses to the eliminated audio jack, because
its also bundling a Lightning-to-headphone
jack adaptor with every iPhone. (You can buy
an adaptor separately for 9.) Your expensive
wiredheadphones will still work, now youll just
need an extra dongle.
Lightning EarPods and adaptors are just interim
solutions, though. Apple envisions a world in
which all audio is enjoyed wirelessly, which is
why the company created a new set of Bluetooth
headphones called AirPods. Those will retail for
159 when they debut in October.
Cameras
Every year, Apple makes the iPhones camera a
little bit better. This year, both iPhone models are
getting a huge camera overhaul. The A10 Fusion
chip built into both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus features
a new image signal processor that uses machine
learning to make your photos look amazing.
Both new iPhones have 12Mp rear-facing
iSight cameras and 7Mp front-facing FaceTime
HD cameras (a bump up from the 5Mp FaceTime
camera in the 6s models). The 4.7in model gains
optical image stabilization, a huge improvement
over the digital image stabilization in the 6s. Last
year, only the 6s Plus ofered OIS. The new sensor
corrects any shakiness and reduces blur for up to
three times longer exposure from the 6s.
Both the 7 and 7 Plus have an /1.8 aperture
that allows up to 50 percent more light than the
6s, and a six-element lens that will shoot better
low light images. A quad-LED True Tone ash

is 50 percent brighter than the 6s, and a new
sensor compensates for ickering lights. Both
thefront-facing and iSight cameras use wide
colourcapture for brighter, more detailed shots.
The 5.5in model has the same wide-angle
lensthat the 4.7in phone does, but right next to
itis a 12Mp telephoto lens with /2.8 aperture
that cancapture zoomed-in details without
losingimagequality. The telephoto lens gives
you2x optical zoom, and 10x digital zoom for
photos (6x for video).
In a software update coming later this year, the 7
Plus will gain a depth-of-eld feature called Portrait,
which uses both cameras to sharpen the subject
of your image while softening the background
(an efect called bokeh). The new feature will be
accessible in the iOS Camera app just tap the
new Portrait option and you can see the efect as
a live preview in the app before you start shooting.

Waterproof
Not waterproof, exactly, but water-resistant. Thats
partly why Apple took out the headphone jack
and to make room for things like the supersized
camera system, the stereo speaker on the bottom,
and the new Taptic Engine, which Ill get to in a
minute. The iPhone 7 is rated IP67, which means it
can withstand about 1 metre of water for up to 30
minutes. That means an accidental bath in the toilet
or swimming pool no longer requires an emergency
time-out in a bag of rice (oh, come on, you know
youve tried it). Its also resistant to dust, which
should please desert-dwellers and outdoors types.
Speaker
You know when youre watching a video in
landscape mode but sound is only coming from
one side of your phone? Apple xed that. Now
youll get a stereo efect thanks to speakers at the
bottom and top of the phone. Apple says the sound
experience is 2x louder than the iPhone 6s, with an
increased dynamic range.
Force Touch
The iPhone 7 Home button redesign may turn out
to be the new models sleeper hit feature. Why? Its
now a solid state, pressure-sensitive button instead
of a mechanical one. That could mean fewer Home
button failures, which means fewer repairs.
The Home button belies an internal feature, the
new Taptic Engine, which responds with physical
feedback vibration at varying levels of intensity
that you can customise when you perform a
function on your phone. Apple is opening up

the Taptic Engine to developers with an API,
so imaginewhat the possibilities could be for
gamesand other apps.
Battery life
One of the benets in removing the headphone
jack is a bigger battery. Apple says the iPhone 7
lasts up to two hours longer than the 6s and the 7
Plus lasts up to one more longer than the 6s Plus.
Some of the gains could be from the more eicient
four-core A10 Fusion processor rather than just
a higher-capacity battery, but as long as we can
squeeze out more time between charges, thats
what really matters.
Cases
Unfortunately, the 7 Pluss dual lenses make 6s Plus
cases incompatible. And while the 4.7in iPhone 7 is
the same size as last years 6s, the camera is much
larger, so the chances of your old case tting this
phone arent great. Its possible a bumper-style
case would t, but for the most part youll want a
new case for your new iPhone 7.

Feature: How the iPhone 7
and 7 Plus give you more
Apple is doubling up on components to maximize
performance and extend battery life, writes Dan Moren
W

ere all used to technology getting better
every year: faster processors, better
cameras, improved graphics, and so on.
But with this years updates, Apples continuing
a trend that its increasingly embraced over the
pastfew years, taking advantage of technology
getting smaller and more powerful to take more
ofa holistic approach. Why use one widget when
two will do?

Nowhere is this approach of parallelism more
apparent than in the new iPhone Apple. Realizing
that you cant always have one piece of technology
that does it all, theyve instead decided to combine
multiple elements to yield something thats greater
than the sum of its parts.
Two cameras are better than one

Though the iPhone camera has consistently
improved year over year, to the point where the
images it can take are breathtaking, its still lacked
one feature that seemed to consign it to the
DSLR-wannabe category: a telephoto lens.
The thing is, its tricky to build a telephoto lens
into the existing iPhone camera, for reasons of
physics. In a traditional camera that has telephoto
capability, you can extend the barrel to increase
the focal length thats a lot harder when youre
building it into a smartphone.
Fortunately, smartphone cameras have gotten
pretty small as theyve gained power. So Apple
tookthe, in hindsight, obvious choice of simply
adding a second, dedicated telephoto camera
to the iPhone 7 Plus, and then unifying the zoom
capabilities in software. On top of that, the second
camera opens up some fascinating possibilities,
since it allows the 7 Plus to capture much more
information about a scene. For example, Apple
showed of the bokeh-like abilities, coming to 7
Plus users in a software update later this year,
thatallow it to provide a blurry background with a
sharp, in-focus subject for portraits.
Obviously, the 2x zoom that the lens in the 7 Plus
provides isnt going to compete with a professional-

level camera. But Apples shown time and time
again that the bigger virtue is having a camera
thats with you all the times this just makes the
pictures youre already taking even better. And with
two cameras as its disposal, those pictures may
well be twice as nice.
More cores, less power

Cameras arent the only place where upping the
number comes in handy. Multicore processors have
been a xture of Apples products since the Intel
transition a decade ago. In that time, the philosophy
has remained more or less the same: many cores
make light work, so lets have a bunch of powerful
cores within the processor to share the load.
But with the iPhone 7 family, Apple took a
slightly diferent approach, because the concern in
smartphones isnt just about performance ramp
up the performance too much and you start burning

through power. Even more so than with a laptop,
a smartphones battery life is, in the end, all that
matters. You can have the most powerful phone
inthe world, but if it can only pump out those
amazing graphics for ve minutes before it dies,
well, thats a nonstarter.
So once again, Apple thinks around the
problemby going the parallel route. Instead
of fourequal-power cores, the iPhone 7 lines
A10 Fusion chip includes two high-performance
cores for the most intensive tasks and two high-
eiciencycores for everyday tasks like checking
email, along with a system that can gure out
whichcores are best suited to the task at hand.
Apple likes showing of performance-gain
graphs during its keynotes, and how much the
processors have improved since the original
iPhone. But the truth is, for many tasks, the iPhone
has performance to spare the processor isnt the
bottleneck. In those cases, a higher-eiciency core
can accomplish the same task in probably about
the same amount of time, with a lower drain on
battery. Its simply a better tool for the job.
Living a double life

If something about this approach sounds familiar,
its because Apples been using it for a while now
in the MacBook Pro. Since 2010, many models of
Apples workhorse laptop have shipped both with
integrated graphics and a discrete GPU, which
the OS can switch between depending on what
the currently running applications need. As with
the iPhone, the MacBook Pro doesnt need its
high-power GPU for most mundane tasks, and the

integrated graphics chip has much better power
eiciency, extending the amount of work you can
get done on a single charge.
On the face of it, this approach lies in stark
contrast with many of the products outward-facing
features, where Apple has tried to vastly reduce
thenumber of things, from buttons to ports. But
thatmakes sense, because Apples always been
about providing the most technology, but shielding
users from the nitty-gritty details of what that
technology is doing.
So, dual graphics, multicore processors, two
cameras whats next? Two displays, built on
diferent technologies, that let you switch to
something like an electronic ink screen thats
easierto read in sunlight? Maybe dual SIM cards
tomake it easier to switch networks? At least
theres one thing we can all agree on: it probably
wont be two headphone jacks.

Feature: Why Apple killed
the headphone port
We knew the iPhone 7 wouldnt have a headphone
jack, but could Apple sell it? Jason Snell thinks it did
W

e knew for a while that, based on reliable
reports, the iPhone 7 would not have a
traditional headphone jack. The question
I had going into Apples media event was not if the
company would kill the headphone jack, but how it
would explain the act. I got my answer and it was
actually a whole lot more than I expected.
Reason 1: Lightning
The versatility of the Lightning port it can transfer
data and power in both directions was at the

top of Apples list. Apples Phil Schiller described
several good reasons why you might prefer a
Lightning port on headphones, including the ability
to power noise-cancelling headphones without
needing batteries.
Nobodys ever said that Lightning isnt a
perfectlyne way to connect headphones
many Lightning-based headphones already
exist. So Apples argument is essentially that you
dont needtwo methods of connecting wired
headphones on one small phone. Lightning is
more versatile (since its also used for charging
andaccessories), so it wins out.
I could complain here about how the headphone
jack is one of the most ubiquitous bits of
technology in the world, but Apples inclusion of a
Lightning-to-3.5mm adaptor in the box seems to
bean acknowledgement of that reality.
A subset of this argument is that Apples own
EarPods are, as Schiller put it, the most popular
headphones in the world. Most iPhone users really
do just use the headphones that come in the box, if
they use headphones at all. On the iPhone 7, these
headphones will have a diferent plug at the end of
it. Most people wont care, at least most of the time.
Reason 2: Its cramped inside

Im sympathetic to Apples argument that on a tiny
device like the iPhone, every millimetre of space
counts, and a big analog headphone jack gets in
the way. Of course, every change Apple makes to
the insides of an iPhone is a trade-of, and some
features are considered inviolable. So why did the
headphone jack suddenly become expendable?

BuzzFeeds John Paczkowski has written the
denitive answer to this question, from people
at Apple who were involved in the decision. As
he wrote, Its hard to imagine Apples hardware
design team hamstrung by a diminutive legacy port.
But when youre dealing with a computing device
with extraordinarily tightdimensional tolerances,
there are bound to bechallenges.
In this case, the new camera module (with optical
image stabilization) took up a lot more room on
the iPhone 7. A circuit board had to be moved
to accommodate the new camera module. That
led to a cascade of complexity which, in turn, led
to engineers seeing what happened when they
removed the headphone jack in general.
The argument doesnt convince me that Apple
had to remove the headphone jack. But it does
convince me that, with the headphone jack
alreadybeing considered an optional feature that

would be removed eventually this was enough to
push things over the edge.
Reason 3: Wireless is the future

Heres the biggest reason that Apple removed the
headphone jack: it had a vision. Or more precisely,
it had an alternative product ready to go, and it
shows of everything thats good about wireless
and bad about wired headphones.
I have to say, the AirPods are impressive. Like
Susie Ochs, I got to try a pair on and I came away
impressed. Because Apple controls the hardware
and the software on its platforms, the AirPods pair
with your iPhone when you open the lid of their
case, with a single tap, and then that pairing syncs
automatically with your other devices so theyll
work seamlessly on Macs and iPads. The built-
in sensors understand when theyre in your ears
andchange their behaviour accordingly. A couple
oftaps ushers in Siri.
Most other headphones are
assembled by manufacturers
from a base set of generic
features. The AirPods push
the usability of wireless
headphones forward on
several diferent fronts, all
because Apple is one of
a fewcompanies that has
the skilland wherewithal to
createsuch a product.
Could the AirPods exist
on an iPhone that still head a
headphone jack? They sure

could. But theyre a useful object for Apple to point
to as a reason why the headphone jack doesnt
deserve tostick around.
Courage
Thirty years ago this very week, Dan Rather
spent a week signing of his national newscast by
exclaiming, Courage! People didnt know why
hedid it or what it meant, and he very quickly
stopped the practice.
I was thinking about Dan Rather a little bit when
Phil Schiller said that Apples choice in removing
the headphone jack came down to one word.
You guessed it: courage. This statement has
engendered a lot of eye-rolling, but I understand
what Schiller was trying to express here: That
Apple has, throughoutits history, made bold moves
to break away from technology that everyone knew
was doomed but that nobody was willing to kill
of themselves. And there was a time when Apple
wasa scrappy underdog who made decisions
likethat in order to survive.
The iPhones the worlds biggest tech product,
though. Apple is one of the most valuable
companies on Earth. This abandonment of the
headphone jack will, in all likelihood, signal to
Apples competitors that its safe for them to dump
the headphone jack, too. Sure, Apple has to deal
with thousands of think-pieces (like this one)
regarding its decision, but its unlikely to afect
iPhone sales, and in the long run it will likely be a
decision that shapes the future. Thats probably
true of just about every decision Apple makes
regarding the iPhone these days.

Feature: 24 iOS 10 tricks
Packed with new features and hidden functionalities, iOS
10has plenty to explore. Here are Oscar Raymundos top tips
W

ere all used to technology getting
better every year: faster processors,
improved graphics, and so on. But with
this years updates, Apples continuing a trend that
its increasingly embraced over the pastfew years,
taking advantage of technology getting smaller and
more powerful to take more ofa holistic approach.
Why use one widget when two will do?
1. Facial recognition thats not creepy

In iOS 10, you can search your Photos for specic
friends to nd the perfect seles. The Albums tab

also has a new People section so you can easily
see get all those mugshots in one place.
Dont be disturbed by being able to search for
familiar faces on your iPhone. Apple has made
surethat the iPhone analyses only the photos
thatare stored locally on your device.
2. Customisable widgets
Now you can check the weather or the Warriors
score without unlocking your iPhone. The latest
iOS brings handy-dandy widgets to the iPhone. You
will be able to access all your widgets by simply
swiping right from the new lock screen.
These widgets are animated, expandable, and
can even play videos and other multimedia, like a
sports clip. To add a widget, simply use 3D Touch
on your favorite app icon like Weather or ESPN and
then tap Add Widget.
3. Easier to emojify your messages

Apple spent a lot of resources making iMessage
and the Messages app way more visual in iOS 10.
For starters, emoji sent by themselves are now
three times bigger. And for emoji diehards, iOS 10
can now suggest which words in your text you can
substitute for a corresponding emoji.
After writing your message, tap on the emoji
button and every instance where a word can be
replaced by an emoji will be highlighted. Simply tap
to replace and send your emojied message.
4. Visual link-sharing in Messages

In iOS 10, Apple has also visualizes links sent
in Messages. When you send a URL, Messages

automatically turns it into a visual preview with
a headline and image pulled from the website.
Similarly, you can send a link to YouTube or Vimeo
and have the recipients watch the video in-line.
You can also send tracks from Apple Music that
the recipient can play without leaving Messages.
Theres even an iMessage app to make it easier
to nd and share songs from Apple Music (more
on iMessage apps later). Every URL we tested in
iOS 10 Messages showed up as a visual link, even
Spotify tracks, although much to no ones surprise,
youre not able to play those in-line.
5. Siris now integrated

with third-party services
Siri in iOS 10 has nally been opened to
developers, so you can use voice commands to
request a Lyft, send a message via LinkedIn or
WhatsApp, or nd photos on Pinterest.
Launch Siri as per usual and make sure you say
the name of the third-party app in your command.
Initially, Siri in iOS 10 has only been intended to
function with six types of apps, but were certain
Apple will expand the options over time.
6. Apple Music gets personalised playlists

Apple touted a brand-new personalised playlist
forApple Music users during WWDC, but weve
yet to test out this Discovery Mix playlist in iOS
10public beta.
Apple Music does have two other personalised
playlists currently on rotation, though: My New
Music Mix and My Favourites Mix. The former
surfaces new songs from artists in your library

andMy Favorite brings up songs that youve liked
or listened to on repeat.
7. Song lyrics in Apple Music

Apple has integrated song lyrics in iOS 10, so now
you know can karaoke to Bohemian Rhapsody
without leaving Apple Music. When listening to a
specic song, simply pull up to reveal the lyrics
module. Here you can expand or hide the full
lyrics.Unfortunately, Apple hasnt the rights to
display song lyrics from all the music publishers,

sowe still dont know what Rihanna issinging
about in her recent hit, Work.
8. Voicemail transcription
and spam-detection (beta)
Never listen to another voicemail again. With iOS
10we get the launch of voicemail transcription,
which translates your audio voicemails into
text. Apple seems determined to keep making
voicemails better. The latest iOS also brings a
CallKit so that developers can create extensions
todetect voicemail spam.
9. Phone support for VoIP services

Apple knows that we now use diferent services for
making voice calls, from Facebook Messenger to
Slack to Skype to WhatsApp. So in order to create
a more seamless user experience, all those third-
party VoIP calls will resemble native Phone calls
in iOS 10. Furthermore, these calls will be saved in
your Recents and Favourites. And your Contacts
will be updated so that you can call your friends via
each ones go-to third-party VoIP service.
10. More reasons to use 3D Touch

When 3D Touch was rst introduced last year
withthe iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, it seemed more
ofanovelty than a real feature. With iOS 10,
however, you can use 3D Touch in new, useful
ways, from creating widgets by deep-pressing
onapp icons tointeracting with dynamic
notications from the lock screen.
Use 3D Touch in your Notications to reply
to a Message, accept a Calendar invite, or even

see where your Uber is on a map. And from the
Notications screen, you can also use 3D Touch
toclear all your notications at once.
11. Bye, bye native apps

With iOS 10, you wont ever have to
see Stocks on your home screen
ever again. Apples latest release
gives you the option to remove
native app icons. Youre not fully
uninstalling the app, however,
just removing the Home screen
launcher and any user data.
Apple has pointed out that a
native apps main functionalities
(and storage size) remain even
if it has been removed from the
Home screen, so that the rest of
iOS doesnt crash. You can now
reinstall these native apps from
the App Store if you want to launch
them again from your Home screen.
12. Intelligent suggestions in QuickType

QuickType is also getting a boost in iOS 10. For
example, if someone texts you asking where you
are, QuickType will suggest to drop a pin of your
current location. When someone asks for a friends
phone number or email, QuickType will surface
thecorrect contact info stored in your Contacts.
And if someone asks if youre available at a
certain time, QuickType will check your Calendar
and let you know your availability or tap into
intelligent scheduling to create a new event

basedon contextual information from the entire
message thread.
13. Intelligent suggestions in QuickType

QuickType is also getting a boost in iOS 10. For
example, if someone texts you asking where you
are, QuickType will suggest to drop a pin of your
current location. When someone asks for a friends
phone number or email, QuickType will surface
the correct contact info stored in your Contacts.
And if someone asks if youre available at a certain
time, QuickType will check your Calendar and let
you know your availability or tap into intelligent
scheduling to create an event based on contextual
information from the entire message thread.
14. Apple Pay

on the (mobile) web
No more fetching for your credit
card ever again to make that
impulse buy. Just make your online
purchase using Apple Pay. In iOS
10, Apple Pay becomes a payment
option in supported sites in mobile
Safari. If you have Apple Pay set
up on your device, all youll need
to do is tap on the Buy with Apple
Pay button and use Touch ID to
authenticatethe purchase.
15. New Home app for

controlling HomeKit devices
Apple has released a brand-new app as part of iOS
10, and its simply called Home. This new iOS app

(also available for watchOS) is designed to control
all your HomeKit-enabled accessories in the house.
In addition to tapping devices on or of, you
canalso create and create Scenes that group
multiple devices together. And these Scenes
can also be activated via Siri voice commands.
Just tellSiri goodnight, for example, and Home
will close the shades, adjust the thermostat, and
lockthe front door.
16. Live Photos editing and stabilization

Apple is also giving iPhone users a way to edit Live
Photos in iOS 10. You can trim the clip, add a lter,
and select the still frame. Live Photos now also
have digital video image stabilization, so they are
buttery smooth.
17. Proactive navigation in Maps

Have you ever been on the road and tried to
searchfor something on the way while using
turn-by-turn Navigation? Most likely it was the
nearest In-N-Out, and chances are that Maps
willnd the one that you just passed. In iOS 10,
navigating in Maps gets more proactive, so you will
be able to better assess the traic conditions and
nd important pit stops, from gas stations to cofee
shops, on the way to your nal destination. Maps
will even give you an updated estimate of how
each stop will impact the length of your trip.
18. Third-party extensions in Maps

In iOS 10, Maps becomes your one-stop-shop,
thanks to Apple opening it up to third-party
appdevelopers to create custom extensions.

Forexample, you can nd a restaurant on the
map,make a reservation using OpenTable, and
request an Uber to take you there, all without
leaving the Maps app.
19. Safari gets Split View (iPad only)

Apples new iOS 10 brings Split View to Safari on
iPad. This means that you can view and interact
with two Safari windows side-by-side. Previously,
you could only use Split View with one Safari
window and another app, but it proves very useful
to have two browser windows side-by-side.
20. Optimize music storage

This one is a big life-changer for Apple Music
subscribers who own a 16GB iPhone. If you
enablethis new optimised storage feature, iOS 10
will detect which downloaded songs you havent
listened to in a while and that are taking way too
much space on your device. It will automatically
then remove these downloads whenever you
startgetting low on storage.
Go to Settings > Music > Optimize Storage to
enable this feature. Here youll also be able to
choose the minimum storage you want allocated
to music downloads, from 4GB (or 800 songs) to
32GB (about 6,400 songs).
21. New Bedtime feature in the Clock app

If you have trouble getting up in the morning,
Bedtime is a new tab in the Clock app that will
encourage you to get a better nights sleep.
Youcan choose at what time you want to wake
up and pick how many hours of sleep you need

to get a bedtime reminder. The
feature then keeps track of your
sleep activity so that you can be
consistent and develop a fullling
sleep schedule.
22. Launching the

Camera wont stop the music
It may sound silly, but before iOS
10 it was impossible to take photos
during a dance party because
launching the Camera would
automatically pause whatever
audio was playing. So now, the
music wont abruptly stop when
you want to take a picture or video.
Party seles and recording lip sync
battles has never been this easy.
23. Change flashlight

intensity in Control Center
No more blinding lights. In iOS 10, you can
changethe intensity of the ashlight: Pick
betweenlow, medium, and high. Simply pull up
the Control Center and use 3D Touch to tap on
theashlight icon.
24. Unsubscribe link at the top in Mail

Apple didnt completely revamp Mail in iOS 10,
but it did include a much-needed feature. Now,
every time you get an email from a mailing list,
you wonthave to scroll all the way down to tap
unsubscribe. Mail will automatically generate
anunsubscribe link at the very top.

Feature: Guide to the
Apple Watch Series 2
Oscra Raymundo looks at Apples latest smartwatch
A
pples second-generation smartwatch is
nally here. The Apple Watch Series 2 is
not a drastically diferent device to the
original Watch that debuted almost two years ago,
with 38mm and 42mm models. But there are still
some notable improvements, upgrades, and cool
new collaborations. Heres everything you need to
know about the new Apple Watch Series 2.
Waterproof
Whereas the original Watch was merely splash-
proof, the Apple Watch Series 2 is being called
swim-proof. Most ingeniously, Apple has
redesigned the speaker, which needs air to make
sound, to help keep water from getting inside the
device. Technically, the Apple Watch Series 2 meets
the water resistance certication for 50m.
You cant go diving with it, though. The 50m
certication is somewhat of a misnomer. It just
means that you can go swimming with your Apple
Watch Series 2, either in a pool or the ocean.
So dont even think about going scuba diving
wearingyour Watch.
Cellular capabilities
Original rumours suggested that Apple was hoping
to make its second-generation smartwatch fully

cellular, but it turns out thats not the case. You
will still need to have your iPhone nearby for
yourApple Watch Series 2 to perform most data-
heavy operations. But that doesnt mean that
the new Watch is useless without being tethered
to your iPhone. The Apple Watch Series 2 does
havebuilt-in GPS.
Built-in GPS
During the September event, Apple showcased
the built-in GPS on the Apple Watch Series 2, both
by mapping a running route in the Workout app,
and with a third-party app too. Using ViewRanger,
a hiking app, you can pick from nearby hikes, get
notications about scenic points while en-route,
make sure you dont go of the trail, and record
your activity tracking, all using the Watchs GPS.
Other diferences
Yes, during our hands-on after the event (see page
27), we noticed that the Apple Watch Series 2
was slightly thicker than the original Series 1. The
WatchSeries 2 has a dual-core processor making it
faster, as well, and the display is twice as bright.
In addition to the stainless steel and the
aluminium models, Apple has added a glossy
white ceramic body that Susie Ochs (our reviewer)
says, looks like it was carved from solid block
of unicorn horn. Apple claims that the ceramic
used is four times harder than stainless steel. The
ceramic Apple Watch Edition is going to cost you,
though, as this model is now the priciest on the
lot, startingat 1,249 for the 38mm version with a
cloud-coloured Sport Band.

Herms collection
Apple has teamed up with French luxury goods
manufacturer Herms to produce what it calls
nely crafted leather straps. There are two new
bands to choose from, with prices starting at 1,149.
Nike Apple Watch

Another big reveal during the September event
was a collaboration with Nike. The Apple Watch
Nike+ is designed specically for runners, with a
lightweight aluminium body, a special active watch
face, and a perforated Sports band for better
ventilation. With this special Watch, youll be able
toask Siri to start a run. While running, you can
geta distraction-free display of the distance and
your pace or an advanced mode with more details
about your workout.
Activity tracker
The Apple/Nike collaboration has also put
motivation on the forefront. The Apple Watch
Nike+will prompt you with a question:
Are We Running Today? These
notications pull up specic
details like when was the
last time you went on a run,
if the weather is perfect to
runoutside, or information
from your friends to keep
youmotivated.
In addition, Apple Watch
Nike+ has a Just Do It
Sundays to get users running
on the rst day of the week.

Purchasing an Apple Watch Nike+
will also get you a membership
to the Nike+ Run Club,
which will personalized
coaching sessions, gear
recommendations, and
access to live runs
aroundthe world.
WatchOS 3
WatchOS 3 was
introduced earlier this
year during WWDC and
is available now. According
to Apple, the new operating
system means apps launch
seven times faster than before.
You will also be ableto share
your Activity circles with your
friends to keep each other motivated,
and use a new Breathe app for helping with deep-
breathing exercises. The latest watchOS also
bringsupdatedfeatures to Messages, so you
canscribble and send animated stickers.
Prices
The Watch Series 2 starts at 369 in gold, rose
gold, silver or space grey aluminium, and 549 for
silver or space black stainless steel Apple is also
selling the original Watch Series 1 (aluminium only).
The Apple Watch Nike+ comes in four colours
and will be available in late October, also starting
at 369. The Herms collection is available to buy
now, with prices starting at 1,149.

Feature: Get smart with
these home control apps
Michael Ansaldo reveals the Apple Watch apps
that will let you control your home from your wrist
P
lenty has been said about how the Apple
Watch changes the way we do everything
from working out to making purchases.
Whats been glossed over is that its also ideal
for interacting with our homes. Tapping, pressing,
swiping and glancing make for a uid way to access
and control smart-home products. And its always
on your wrist, so you dont have to dig for it in your
pockets when you need to dim the lights or take
a peek at the security cameras. Appsaboundfor
connecting with and controlling smart-home
appliances. Here areour favourites.

Huemote
Price: Free
A must for Philips Hue users, this third-party
app gives you complete remote control of
the energy-eicient lighting system. Huemote
goes beyond the basic functions of Philips
oicial Hue app, enabling you to control up to
16 lights simultaneously, save your favourite
light settings as scenes, and sync your
settings across devices via iCloud.
WeTap! for Belkin WeMo

Price: 1.49
Belkins WeMo technology powers a range
of smart-home products, from cameras to
cofee makers. The companys oicial app
doesnt yet support all its devices, but it does
allow you to easily manage your WeMo lights
and switches. The only requirements are that
you have at least one switch installed and all
devices are on the same Wi-Fi network.
Drip for Dropcam

Price: 2.29
The Nest Cam (formerly Dropcam) is the
granddaddy of home security cameras.
Owners of either model would do well to
download this app. While it doesnt show live
camera feeds, it does display a live image
every three seconds, so you can keep an
eye on the homestead. It supports multiple
cameras, and you can turn each of them on
and of from the app. Future versions will let
you enable/disable night vision.

Withings Home
Price: Free
This app connects to the Withings Home, a
DIY security camera with night vision, two-way
audio, and a 135-degree viewing angle. It
streams the cameras live feed and sends
motion- and sound-detection alerts right to
your wrist. You can even access the cameras
Homelapse feature, which condenses the
days events into a few seconds of video for
digest-sized viewing.
Alarm.com
Price: Free
Alarm.com is a smart home as a service
provider with more than two million
subscribers. If youre one of them, this
app allows you to remotely arm or disarm
your security panel, control lights, lock
and unlock doors, watch live and recorded
videos from your security cameras, and
receive Glances on your home status. You
can also get alerts about specic events, such
aswhenyourchildrenarrive home from school.
SmartThings Mobile
Price: Free
Samsungs SmartThings Hub lets you to
wirelessly integrate hundreds of compatible
smart devices. This app doesnt support
all of them, but it lets you control lights,
thermostats, and security devices via
pre-congured settings for mornings,
nights,and times when youre away.

Simple Control
Price: 7.99 for the app, plus subscription fee
Run your home entertainment system from
your wrist, and youll never have to worry
about misplacing your remotes. Thats the
idea behind this app, a universal control for
TVs, Blu-ray players, cable and streaming
boxes, receivers, lighting, cameras, and
thermostats. Its compatible with many of
thebiggest brands in home automation and
home entertainment system.
Ecobee
Price: Free
Ecobee introduced the rst Wi-Fi-connected
smart thermostat in 2009. Its agship product,
the ecobee3, uses multiple remote sensors to
help deliver the right temperature based on
where you are in your home. This app lets you
remotely manage temperature and humidity
settings; change fan modes; and view system
status, sensor data, and local forecasts so you
can create the optimum environment.
Insteon for Hub

Price: Free
Users of the Insteon DIY smart home system
should download this app. Once you pair your
Apple Watch with your Insteon Hub, you can
remotely control your thermostats, lights, and
other appliances; view camera feeds; receive
alerts from motion and water leak sensors;
and more. You can also create scenes to
activate multiple appliances at once.

Feature: Learn another
language with these apps
Learning a second language can be fun with an app
that gamies the process, reveals Samus Bellamy
T
wo months ago, I promised myself that I
would learn another language. So, I spent
hours researching diferent iOS apps, both
free and paid, before deciding on three to take for
a spin: Duolingo, which is free to use, plus Babbel
and Rosetta Stone, both of which come with a brief
trial period, but require a monthly subscription

thereafter. I dedicated myself to using each app for
20 minutes a day, on my iPhone or iPad, for two
months, with the intention of uncovering which one
I liked the most or at the very least, which one
ticked me of the least.
Honourable Mention: Babbel

Price: 7.99 for one-month subscription
Initially, Babbel (babbel.com/mobile) sounded
great: a language-learning app that teaches you
between 2,000 to 3,000 words for each language
it ofers, audio clips from native language speakers,
and a constantly evolving database of words to
review that grows as you progress through each
stage. But the app has enough frustrating quirks
that, after two months of use, I cant recommend it.
Babbel doesnt do anything terribly wrong. Rather,
its faults can be found in 1,000 little irritants spread
throughout the app.
Instead of using mission-specic illustrations or
photos that speak to the lesson being taught like
Duolingo or Rosetta Stone do, Babbel seems to
rely on stock photos that sometimes, sort of, have
something to do with the word or phrase the app is
trying to drive into your skull. One will be in black
and white, the next in colour or even run through a
lter that smacks of Instagram. It makes for a jarring
visual experience. The disjointed feel of Babbels
user interface carries on throughout the app. While
each learning module is introduced by a slick
splash screen, the educational components within
lack the sort of design quality I would expect from
an app that demands a monthly subscription. To be
blunt, Babbel feels unpolished.

Babbels confusing and disjointed
visuals make it a hard app to love
Beyond this, I found that the Babbel was

occasionally slow to respond to my answers,
no matter the speed of my Internet connection
or thefact that lesson modules need to be
downloaded to your iOS device. And frustratingly,
audio would frequently cut out half way through
a new word or phrase being conveyed to me.
Worstof all, I found that phrases I intentionally
fudged to test the apps ability to judge my verbal
skills would be accepted as correctly pronounced.
If I wasnt bound by the two-month test period
Id set for myself to vet the app, I wouldnt have
continued on with using Babbel beyond, maybe,
afew weeks.

Runner-up: Duolingo
Price: Free (in-app purchases from 2.29)
Duolingos (duolingo.com) greatest assets are
its colourful design, charm, and the gentle way
that the app reintroduces you to new words,
phrases, and grammar that have caused you
diiculty in past lessons. Unlike Babbel, it ofers
a consistent user interface that makes learning
mostly easy throughout the apps various
modules.A respectable variety of diferent
quizzesand learning games proved adequate to
keep me interested and happy to open the app
on a daily basis. However, over the course of my
two monthswith Duolingo, I found that there was
onething about it that made me a little mental: its
lack of instructions.
Duolingo creates
a friendly learning
environment, but
can be short on
instructions and
visual prompts

On more than one occasion, I stumbled
across features that the app didnt tell me about.
For example, a few weeks into using it, I was
surprisedto nd that tapping a word in a sentence
sometimes provided a drop-down menu with
cluesto its meaning. At other times a tap lets you
hear what the word sounds like when spoken by
a native speaker. Having that pointed out to me
early on, or having a substantial visual prompt
to encourage touching the words I was working
with on my iPads display could have made for a
smoother learning experience.
Another example of the apps lack of instructions
came up when I was asked to speak a Spanish
word or phrase to vet my pronunciation. There was
no prompt detailing how to start or stop recording.
So, I had to gure it out on my own, which took me
a couple of minutes. Not cool.
Its also worth mentioning that, overall, Duolingo
lacks the depth of features that our rst-place
winner provides. But hey, its a free app. When you
weigh its non-existent cost and the large amount
of educational value it provides against the few
problems I had with it, Duolingo is still pretty great.
If youre on a tight budget or only looking to pick up
some new words or phrases before a trip abroad, I
recommend checking it out.
Winner: Rosetta Stone

Price: Free (in-app purchases from 99.99)
With its excellent user interface, clear instructions,
wide variety of games and challenges, and the
ability to call upon a native speaker for a little
one-on-one tutoring if you get stuck during your

education, Rosetta Stone has got it going on.
Simply put, it has a feature set that neither Duolingo
nor Babbel can match.
In a departure from what I experienced with
Babbel, Rosetta Stone used photos to teach a new
word or phrase that are mission-specific and speak
to the situation at hand. Not having to struggle with
a vague connection between a photo and the word
associated with it was like a breath of fresh air. That
said, Rosetta Stone doesnt always make it easy.
You might, for example, be asked where a woman
in a photo is going. The only way to figure out the
answer is to look at what shes holding or wearing.
In this case, she was standing in the street with a
plane ticket in her hand. Boom: airport. In another
scenario, a lost traveller looks at a sign in a city with
a puzzled expression on her face. I had to guess

Rosetta Stone lets you
scale its difficulty to match
your verbal abilities
that she needed a map. By providing a context and

then forcing me to gure out a response, Rosetta
Stone had me earn my education, making it all the
more rewarding when I got a correct answer.
I also liked that, with its adjustable speech-
recognition engine, I was able to tweak the
app to reect the level of pronunciation that
my mouth was capable of expressing. Cant roll
an R to save your life? No problem Rosetta
Stone will forgive your untalented tongue. This
combination of a well-thought-out UI, diicult but
surmountable challenges, and an understanding
that not everyone will be able to blather away like
a nativespeaker of the language theyre learning
kept me coming back for more.
While its price is steep, if you want to learn a
language, Rosetta Stone is worth your money.

Feature: Learn to code
with Swift Playgrounds
Susie Ochs reveals why Apples teaching app is a triumph
L
earning to code isnt supposed to be this
fun. Apples new Swift Playgrounds app for
iPads running iOS 10 is aimed at teaching the
Swift programming language to middle-school-
age children and adults, no coding experience
necessary. But it feels like a puzzle game one
that just happens to be solved with commands
andfunctions and For loops, instead of with a
catapult full of birds.

And Im totally hooked. In fact, Swift Playgrounds
is my favourite thing to come out of this years
WWDC by far, and I think its going to be one of the
highlights of iOS 10 when its released.
You can try out the free Swift Playgrounds
app today by putting the iOS 10 public beta on a
compatible iPad (fourth-generation or later). The
app is automatically added to your home screen
when you join the beta, but when iOS 10 launches
this fall, Swift Playgrounds will be a free download
from the App Store.
Finding lessons
When you re it up, youll see a Featured section
with lesson packs named Learn to Code 1:
Fundamentals of Swift, and then Learn to Code 2:
Beyond the Basics. Below that are the Challenges,
starting with Drawing Sounds and Blink. More
lesson packs and challenges will be added over
time, and the lessons are RSS-based, so Apple can
add new content without having to update the app.
Downloading a lesson pack or challenge adds
it to the My Playgrounds tab, which looks like the
shelf in iBooks. You can create new playgrounds
too, or download them from other sources. For
example, Apple made a Sphero playground to
demo at WWDC, showing how Swift Playgrounds
can use all of the iPads hardware and software
features, in this case connecting via Bluetooth
and issuing commands to a Sphero robotic ball.
Sphero could actually make its own playground
and distribute it on its own site, explained
Wiley Hodges, Apples director of tools and
technologiesproduct marketing.

Swift Playgrounds takes advantage
of the iPads touchscreen interface.
You can tap commands from the
list along the bottom, pull up to get
a full keyboard, or tap individual
items in your code (like the For loop
highlighted in red) for contextual items
From this shelf, you can also duplicate a

playground or reset it. Say your child is halfway
through a lesson her little sister wants to try,
too. You can duplicate the playground to make
a copy,then reset the copy to its original
state. (SwiftPlaygrounds will also work with
the classroom-management features Apple
addedforteachers in iOS 9.3,)
Learning to code
Since I had no Swift experience, I plunged right
in to Learn to Code 1, which assumes no prior
knowledge. A friendly cut-scene introduces each
new topic and explains it in a way anyone can
understand. The rst group of lessons, for example,

covers basic commands, so the cut-scene makes
the analogy that these are like following a recipe
or set of instructions. Later, when introducing For
loops, the analogy is breaking down a task, such
as planting a ower garden, into small steps youll
repeat over and over.
But once the concepts are introduced, the
lessons use the real terms for everything:
call a function, loop commands, if statement,
conditionalcode. All the jargon in the instructions
iscoloured red all you have to do is tap a red
word for a denition.
The interface is split into two panels. The left
side is text: Your challenge is explained at the
top, with a space below for you to compose your
program. The right side of the screen shows the
results, with a big red Play button you can tap,
labelled Run My Code. For the Learn to Code
1 lesson, Im giving commands to Byte, a goofy
cartoonish mascot whos moving around a game
board collecting gems and ipping switches.
(Easter egg: Tap on Byte to change the character
model; there are three to choose from.)
Youre given some commands to get started:
You can tell Byte, for example, to moveForward
and turnLeft, which are both examples of how
Swift commands really appear. But theres no
turnRight command out of the gate, so one of my
rst challenges was writing a turnRight function
that combined three turnLeft commands. You can
run the program after entering each command, or
try to write the whole thing out at once by tapping
the commands in the QuickType row or expanding
thewhole keyboard. The preview pane supports

The preview pane is interactive: you can
zoom around to get a look at things, and
tap on Byte to change the character
Multi-Touch, so I was able to scroll around the game

world and zoom in and out to count, for example,
how many squares Byte needed to move forward
before he turned left.
Learn to Code 2, which will launch with the nal
version of Swift Playgrounds this fall, has a diferent
world than the gem-collecting, switch-ipping realm
of Byte, which is meant to show that Swifts tools
can be used for tons of diferent applications, as
well as to cut down on repetition.
Thinking like a coder

Swift Playgrounds encourages creative problem-
solving there isnt one single solution, or even

one best solution. You arent graded on how few
lines you can use or how many functions you come
up with. But the app does teach good coding habits
like looking for patterns that repeat, and using
descriptive names for functions so you can more
easily remember what they do. If you break out
ahead, say, adding a loop to your code before you
are formally taught loops, the app gives you props
for your advanced skills.
The whole experience is heavy on praise, which
made me want to keep going lesson after lesson.
And a progressive Hint button cuts down the
frustration factor if you do hit a wall. At rst, the Hint
pop-up ofers ways to think about the challenge. If
you need more help, it will supply clues about how
to break down the challenge into parts, and nally
just shows you thecorrect code if youre really
stumped. But you cant copy and paste from the
Hint bubble into the code editor you have to type
it out manually, which will help you learn.
Its a lot of fun to tinker Swift Playgrounds,
learning the concepts behind making good code
as well as the syntax, but your code isnt trapped
there. You can record and share movies of your
code, even give them voice-overs bragging about
your skills, or even share entire playgrounds via
AirDrop, Messages, and Mail. The iPad isnt a full
development platform just yet, but you can also
export code from your playgrounds back into
Xcode on the Mac.
Why its so unique

Apple introduced Swift at WWDC in 2014, and
made it open source this past December. Its

already being used in more than 100,000 apps
in the App Store, including heavy-hitters like Lyft,
Slack, and Strava. Weve gotten a great response,
said Hodges, adding that Swift is the fastest-
growing programming language.
The benefits of Swift is that its fast and powerful
like compiled languages such as Objective-C,
while also being more friendly and easy to read,
like a scripting language. Commands and functions
are built with human-readable words. My first
encounter with writing code was back in the 80s,
when I learned BASIC at a summer day camp for
nerdy children, and I loved how I could tell what
it was going to do before I actually ran it, just by
reading the code. Swift reminds me of that, and
Swift Playgrounds split-screen view makes that

visualization even easier, the code listed on the left,
next to the virtual world where itll run.
In fact, Swift Playgrounds is (naturally) written in
Swift, and the code you create in the code editor
is inserted directly into the program running on the
right side of the screen. Once I accidentally deleted
a bracket and broke the code. It wasnt a problem
of the on-screen Byte character not reaching his
goal because Id given him the wrong commands
and sent him in the wrong direction. He wouldnt
move at all until I xed the syntax, an in-my-face
reminder that every keystroke matters. The game
world uses SceneKit, Metal, and 3D acceleration,
the same technologies used all over iOS.
Apple developed the curriculum for Swift
Playgrounds itself, based on what its own
softwareengineers think is the best way to
learn software engineering. This isnt a purely
academic exercise: Swift Playgrounds is designed
to get you thinking like a coder, decomposing
problems and applying logic. Its made by Apple,
by the people who write the real software, said
Tim Triemstra, who handles product marketing
for Apples developer tools, so were teaching
programminghow its actually done.
But Apple also brought in professional
educators, and of course kid testers, to tweak
things like the levelling and the motivating
language. We worked with educators to hit the
important notes of how to teach computer science,
explained Cheryl Thomas, Apples vice president
ofsoftware engineering operations. We wanted
tobe egalitarian, with a wide appeal to both boys
and girls, she said.

All the lessons are available right away, so you
dont have to unlock them one by one or play
them in a certain order. The goal was to create
excitement, so a lot of thinking went into how to
keep users engaged and it really shows. Swift
Playgrounds feels more like a game than an
academic exercise, with a just one more lesson
addictiveness that made me want to keep building
on the skills Id just learned.
Swift Playgrounds is available with the iOS 10
public beta, including Learn to Code 1 and two
Challenges. More lessons will come later with
thenal shipping version of the app, launching
withiOS 10 this autumn.

Feature: Why you should
avoid iOS battery apps
iOS already has everything you need, writes Glenn Fleishman
A
reader recently wrote in suspecting that
malware had inltrated his iPhone: While
running a battery app on my iPhone 6, it
showed an invisible Chinese program running.
After some back and forth and a bit of research,
I found that the free app hes using, Battery
Doctor, doesnt have a useful purpose and doesnt
ofer accurate information. The app claims that

it can help with battery management and usage,
including providing per-app details about power
consumption, and helping prevent an overcharge of
an iOS devices lithium-ion battery. All nonsense.
As one of the many techniques it employs
to reduce spying and malware, Apple doesnt
exposemuch information to third-party apps about
whats going on in iOS. Im unclear why Battery
Doctors makers released this app and apparently
continue to update it.
The app in the list that Frederick was worried
about translates (with the help of Google) to School
Party Love News. He doesnt have such an app
installed, and its either the battery software purely
inventing it or its showing the wrong name for an
app that is running. This non-existent app appeared
at least three years ago, based on forum postings.
The company has three other apps listed: one
ostensibly rates GPU performance, not really an
issue for iOS devices, and the other two more
consumer oriented. One translates as Daily Free
Gifts application only recommended limit free
software and games gifts; the other ofers free
videos, and was also updated in August.
To get useful battery information, tap Settings >
Battery, where after a moment of cogitation, iOS
shows you the percentage of battery consumed
by apps in the last 24 hours or seven days. Tap
the clock icon to get more details about the split
in time between on screen/background usage. I
just discovered the Fitbit app ate 7 percent of my
overall battery consumption in the last 24 hours
due to 5.4 hours of background activity.
I advised the reader to remove the battery app.

Feature: Ask
the iTunes Guy
Kirk McElhearn answers your iTunes questions
T
his month, I look at a question about
bookmarking audiobook les, help solve a
problem with iTunes media on an external
hard drive and an issue with app updates in iTunes,
and then discuss Apples cloud oferings for music.
Dont forget
Q: Is there any way to set the Remember Playback
Position option so it is on by default for all new
tracks? I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I have
to manually set that option each time I add new
books to my iTunes library. If iTunes could do that
automatically for all new loaded files, it would
make life easier.
A: This is an essential setting for listening to

audiobooks. When you check this option (to access
it, select a group of tracks, press Command-I, click
the Options tab, then check Remember Playback
Position), iTunes and iOS devices remember
where you stop listening to a track. This is useful
for audiobooks, so you dont have to rewind and
fast forward to remember where you left of. In
addition, this position syncs between iTunes and
iOS devices, so you can listen to part of a book
withiTunes, then pick it up from the exact same
location on your iOS device.

Use this option to make your
audiobooks bookmarkable
As to it being possible to have it on by default,

this would only make sense for those people
whose libraries are mostly or entirely made up of
audiobooks. You wouldnt want your music tagged
like this; if you stopped listening to a song, the next
time it comes up, it would start up in the middle.
I recommend you create a playlist in iTunes (File
> New > Playlist), and add all new audiobooks to
this playlist. You can then select all the tracks, make
the change and delete the books from this playlist.
This way, you wont have to search your iTunes
library to find your new audiobooks.
Funny updates
Q: The iTunes app has recently started telling me
that the update to the Podcasts app for iOS is
only available on iOS. If I follow the instructions

To get Podcasts, search for it on the App Store
for your iOS device, I dont find it. Ditto for Find
My Friends, another Apple app that now can only
be updated on an iOS device. Whats going on?
A: Yes, this happened to me as well, right after

Apple released the first beta versions of iOS 10.
Heres whats going on.
With iOS 10, youll be able to remove apps from
your iOS device. (Actually, they wont be removed,
just hidden.) To get them back, youll have to go to
the iTunes Store, and download them again. (You
wont actually download anything, but the iTunes
Store will flip a switch to show the app anew.)
As a result of this, a couple of apps Podcasts
and Find My Friends that were originally available
separately from iOS, now show as having updates
available. We are seeing this because we originally
downloaded those apps when they were first
available, and still have versions of them in our
iTunes libraries. Other users, who didnt download
the apps, but have only used them since they were
bundled with iOS, wont see this.
Just delete the apps from your iTunes library, and
they wont show as having updates any more.
Cant save, wont save

Q: I recently moved my iTunes library from my
MacBook to an external hard drive. Everything
looked fine until I went to import a CD and iTunes
told me it couldnt save the files. The same thing
happened when I tried adding some MP3 files.
And I cant even download music Ive purchased
from the iTunes Store. Whats going on?

A: It sounds like a permissions issue
on the external drive. Select that
drive in the Finder, press Command-I,
and then click the padlock at the
bottom of the window and enter your
password. Check Ignore Ownership
on this Volume.
I dont know why this happens,
butIve seen it of and on over the
years. Ive long used an external drive
to store my media, and even if my
user has read and write permissions
(as in the image on the left), it
sometimes gets stuck. I also nd
that, from time to time, the box gets
unchecked, and I have to go back
and change the setting.
Which cloud is best for me?

Q: Can I use iCloud Music Library with my iMac
and iOS devices without subscribing to Apple
Music or iTunes Match? Id like to store my
iTunesmusic in the cloud and then be able to
stream it from any Apple device.
A: No, iCloud Music Library is part of each of those

subscription services; you cant use the cloud
without paying for it. If you want to have your music
in the cloud, but not stream anything from Apple
Music, then iTunes Match is the better deal, at only
21.99 per year. While there have been changes
announced to iTunes Match and Apple Music,
theywont afect the availability of iTunes Match
inthe immediate future.

How To: Downgrade
from iOS 10 to iOS 9
If youre unhappy with Apples latest iOS and want to
revertback to iOS 9, Roman Loyola reveals what to do
T
here are a lot of reasons as to why you want
to revert back to iOS 9 after installing iOS 10.
Its not diicult, but you need to do it sooner
than later. Each version of iOS is signed (approved)
by Apple. When iOS updates are released, the
previous version remains signed for a short period
of time. Eventually, Apple stops signing the old
version, which prevents you from installing it.
.ipsw file
First, you need to nd a le called [iOS device].ipsw.
If you are downgrading an iPhone,the le will have

a name such as, iPhone8,2_9.3.5_13G36_Restore.
ipsw. Heres how to nd it.
In the Finder, hold down the Option key and

select Go > Library
Open the iTunes folder
Look for a Software Updates folder that
corresponds to your device. So for iPhone, look
for iPhone Software Updates and open it
Look for a le called [yourdevice]_9.3.5_
[rmwarenumber]_Restore.ipsw or something
similar. This is the le that will allow you to
revertback to iOS 9
Drag that le to the Desktop
Dont see such a le? Search the internet for

ipsw download. A few websites (such as IPSW
Downloads, ipsw.me) will have the old iOS software
available. Download the appropriate .ipsw le
([yourdevice]_9.3.5_[rmwarenumber]_Restore.
ipsw) and save it to your Desktop.
Install iOS 9
Connect your iOS device to your Mac
Launch iTunes and click on the device icon
Click on the Summary tab in the left column.
In the main window, click on the Restore iPhone
button while holding down the Option key.
You may get an alert that says you need to turn
of Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod.
A navigation window appears. Go to the .ipsw le
on your Desktop, select it and click Open
Youll be asked to conrm. Click the Restore
button to continue

How To: Verify
your Twitter account
You can nally get that coveted blue veried Twitter
badgethat has eluded you. Matt Kapko shows how
T
he equally vaunted and ridiculed blue
checkmarks on Twitter are no longer
exclusive to elites or those with connections
who have an in at Twitter. The company has
opened the veried account designation up to all
users and put some rules in place for consideration.
Many of Twitters 310 million monthly active users
dont qualify for verication, but the rm is opening
the secretive and invite-only process up to anyone.

Accounts of public interest, particularly those
maintained by individuals and organisations in
music, acting, fashion, government, politics,
religion, journalism, media, sports, business,
and other key interest areas are all up for
consideration, according to Twitter. We hope
opening up this application process results
in more people nding great, high-quality
accounts to follow, and for these creators and
inuencers toconnect with a broader audience,
Tina Bhatnager, Twitters vice president of user
services,said in a prepared statement.
Why you should get verified on Twitter

Twitter originally introduced account verication in
2009 and has veried almost 187,000 accounts to
date, according to the company. The designation
is largely symbolic, but also a defensive move
against the untold number of impersonators,
satirists, trolls, and hatemongers who roam freely
on Twitter. Oftentimes the dynamic between fans
and celebrities or public gures on Twitter is only
rewarding if the authenticity of the user being
followed is endorsed.
Trust matters on Twitter and thats exactly why
anyone who wants to be veried should take steps
to do so. If you carry any impact in your community,
eld of work or areas of heightened awareness and
visibility, a veried account will let your followers
know youre the real deal.
Get verified on Twitter

Follow these steps to give yourself the best chance
of getting veried:

Open your Twitter account settings and make
sure you have a verified phone number,
confirmed email address, a bio, profile photo,
header photo, a website, and a birthday (required
for personal accounts only). Your tweets must
also be set to Public in your privacy settings
Improve your chances of approval by having
a username that reflects the real name of the
person or company. The accounts profile or
header photo should also reflect the person or
companys branding, according to Twitter
Fill out and submit the form to request account
verification (verification.twitter.com/welcome).
Explain why Twitter should verify your account
and provide examples to help the company
understand your impact. Provide at least two
URLs to showcase your newsworthiness or
relevancy in your field. Finally, Twitter may also
request a scan or photo of a government-issued
ID to confirm your identity
Twitter says it will respond to all requests via

email, and users who get denied can submit
another request 30 days later.

How To: Be a considerate
late-night iPad/iPhone user
Ben Patterson explains how to beep your iOS device dark
and quiet by switching to dark mode in Safari, and more
T
heres nothing like a late-night chapter of a
Kindle book to put me right to sleep, but the
glow of my iPhones screen tends to keep my
wife awake and if a jarring iOS notication sounds
or buzzes, well, that doesnt help her sleep.
While the new Night Shift mode (which nally
works even when iOSs low-power mode is
enabled) will supposedly help you sleep by ltering
out the brightest colours from your iPhone or iPads

display, it wont do much good for a bedfellow who
sleeps best in total darkness and silence.
Ive collected a quartet of tips thatll take Night
Shift one step further by dimming your iPhone or
iPad screen as much as possible while you read, as
well as silencing any intrusive alerts or buzzes.
Browse the web in dark mode

Even with Night Shift mode turned on, your iPhone
or iPad display will still throw of an impressive
amount of light during a late-night web-browsing
sessions. If you want to wade into an epic feature
story on the Safari web browser without keeping
your signicant other awake, heres a handy trick.
First, activate Safaris Reader mode by tapping
the three-line button at the left end of the address
bar. Reader mode strips out extraneous page
elements while keeping the text intact, although
it wont do much to dim the screen well, not yet,
anyway. Next, with Reader mode activated, tap
the font button in the right side of the address
bar (its the aA one), then tap the dark, right-most
circle inthe pop-up window. Thats it. Your reader-
friendlyweb page will have switched to white text
on a dark background, slashing the brightness of
your screen in the process.
Turn on dark mode in iBooks,

Kindle and other dedicated reader apps
If curling up with a good digital book is your favorite
way to fall asleep, theres an easy way to do it
without lighting up the bedroom late at night.
If youre cracking open an iBook, tap the font
button in the top corner of the screen (the same

aA button as in Safari) and tap the darkest circle
for white text on a black background. Theres also
an Auto-Night Theme setting that automatically
turns on night mode if the iPhone or iPads
ambientlight sensor thinks its dark enough.
Got the Kindle app? Tap the aA button in
the bottom corner of the screen and tap the big
Blackbutton for white text on a dark background.
The Kindle app also has its own screen
brightnessslider that works independently of the
main iOS brightness setting, perfect for making
thescreen ultra-dim.
Many other popular iOS readers have their
ownnight modes, too. For example, you can
tap theaA button in Instapaper to change the
background setting; same thing in Reeder (the
excellent iOS RSS reader). For Pocker, tap the
three-dot button in the bottom corner of the
screen,then tap Display Settings.
Unfortunately, not all reading apps have a
night mode, including some of the most popular
newspaper and magazine apps. Youll also strike
out if youre looking for a night-mode setting in the
Mail app, meaning youll be lighting up the whole
room while checking your inbox.
Reverse the colours on the screen

There is a way, however, to be a considerate
late-night iPhone or iPad reader even when theres
no dark-mode feature in sight.
Tap Settings > General > Accessibility, then
toggle on the Invert Colours setting. When you
do, all the colours on your iOS display will reverse
themselves, resulting in some interesting visuals

iOSs Invert Colours setting
results in interesting-looking
images, but it also makes for
a handy, de facto dark mode
on the home screen and in your photos albums.

Thats great, but beyond its novelty value, the Invert
Colours setting also acts as a de facto night mode.
Jump to your Mail inbox, an app, or any web page
in Safari that doesnt support Reader mode, and
youll see what I mean; yes, were talking white
letters on a dark background.
You dont need to jump through three iOS
settings screens to get to the Invert Colours
toggle. Instead, just set up a shortcut. Tap Settings
> General > Accessibility, scroll all the way down
and tap Accessibility Shortcut, then select Invert
Colours. Now, just triple-press the Home key to
turn the Invert Colours setting on and of.
Turn of silence-shattering notications

Its late at night, youre reading your iPhone with a
dark-mode setting on and your partner is dozing
contentedly beside you.

All is well with the world, and then, without
warning, your iPhone buzzes to remind you of a
friends birthday tomorrow, and now your bedmate
is stirring. But wait, you have Do Not Disturb mode
enabled. How did that happen?
Even when its active, iOSs Do Not Disturb mode
will still allow notications and alerts to re when
your iPhone or iPad is unlocked. Thats handy if
youre expecting an important call or iMessage,
butnot when youre trying to read without making
apeep. Tap Settings > Do Not Disturb, scroll down
to the Silence setting, then check the Always
option. Once thats done, Do Not Disturb mode
willmuzzle all iOS notications even when your
iPhone or iPad is unlocked.
Under certain circumstances, Do Not Disturb
mode may let a call through even with Always
selected under the Silence setting. Tap Settings >
Do Not Disturb, then check your Allow Calls From
and Repeated Calls settings. If you dont want any
calls getting through, change the Allow Calls From
setting to No One and turn of Repeated Calls.

Opinion: Why Nintendo is
making the right moves
The gaming icon nearly stole Apples thunder at the iPhone 7
event with Super Mario Run, argues Andrew Hayward
D
id you catch Nintendos press conference
on at the iPhone 7 event? It was easily the
companys best showing in ages and it
wasnt even at a Nintendo event. It was Apples, of

course, and the much-anticipated conference also
brought us the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2.
But Mario nearly stole the show, as the iconic
plumber protagonist was shown in his very rst
mobile adventure, Super Mario Run. Gamings
mostlegendary creative mind, Mario designer
Shigeru Miyamoto, appeared onstage and
charmedwith his demonstration, not to mention
hismoves mimicking the act of playing one-handed
while eating a hamburger.
Soon thereafter, Pokmon GO appeared onstage
to debut upcoming Apple Watch support for the
blockbuster free-to-play game, which has racked
up more than 500 million downloads worldwide
in just two months. Pokmon Go might have been
developed by Niantic and handled by Nintendo
subsidiary The Pokmon Company, but Nintendo
has benetted immensely from its success
perhaps in reputation even more than nancially.
Super Mario Run will surely springboard of
of some of that prosperity when it debuts in
December, but it doesnt need any help. Not only
is Mario the most recognisable face in gaming,
but from what was shown onstage, Super Mario
Run looks like a clever translation of the classic
formulainto something better suited for mobile.
Heres how Nintendo has set Super Mario Run
upfor potentially incredible success.
1. Adapting rather than porting

Lets be honest: turning the Super Mario series
into a side-scrolling runner was totally expected
move. Runners are just automated platform-action
games, and Super Mario is both the original and

still arguably best example of that classic gaming
template. Super Mario Run isnt innovative, but that
doesnt mean its a bad idea at all.
Nintendo said from the start that its mobile
games wouldnt be direct ports of classic games,
which meant we wouldnt have to weather ify
virtual buttons for precision-based experiences.
Ruining a classic experience would be a very bad
idea. Rening a classic approach into something
new and still fun makes a lot more sense.

And thats what were seeing with Super Mario
Run. Automating Marios movement refocuses the
gameplay around jumping and interacting with
the environments, and Nintendo has used that
opportunity to drop in things like direction-changing
blocks and ceiling grips that youll hang from as you
navigate over lava and other hazards. Everything
else in between is familiar in look and interaction,
but now its all smartly streamlined for touch.
You might have already played something
like this. Ubisofts Rayman Fiesta Run (and the
almost-as-strong Jungle Run before it) is one
of the absolute best examples of how to take a
brilliant console game and make it just as strong
of a mobile experience. And just as the core
Rayman games learned their tricks from Mario,
Nintendo seems to be taking cues from that
kindofexperience now in turn.
2. Making it premium is crucial

Actually, the mobile Rayman series did have a
recent misstep: last years Rayman Adventures
tookthe Fiesta Run formula, cut of the price tag,
and loaded it with a lot of freemium tedium. The
core game experience sufered because of the
power-ups and peripheral annoyances, and the
resulting game just wasnt as strong overall.
Thankfully, Nintendo seems to be avoiding that
with Super Mario Run. The game will be a free
download, which will help it land on many, many
more devices than a paid app, but youll only get
a taste of the full game for free. Unlocking levels
wont require watching video ads or waiting on
timers. Instead, youll just pay once to get access

to the entire game. We dont know the price yet,
buteven if its higher than the average mobile
game, itll probably be worth it.
Thats an absolutely essential step and a
surprising one, too. Partnering with mobile giant
DeNA for iOS and Android games seemingly
ensured that wed see only free-to-play stuf, but
the idea of muddling a classic Mario experience
with in-app purchases, timers, and other freemium
shenanigans seems like sacrilege. Putting a price

tag on the experience was the only way to satisfy
core Mario fans by keeping the console feel of the
game intact. And I imagine parents will be pretty
happy to just pay once and be done, as well.
3. Its good for both

Nintendo and mobile gaming
Unsurprisingly, there have been plenty of hot
takes on Super Mario Run over the last couple
days. For instance, Engadget writer Sean Buckley
says Nintendo is [losing] a bit of its identity with
the game because its not particularly innovative.
However, neither were the previous New Super
Mario Bros games from which Super Mario Run
borrows its visual style.
On the other hand, John Davison writes over at
Rolling Stone that Super Mario Run is Nintendos
ultimate Trojan horse to get mobile players into
not only console games, but maybe even console
hardware too especially with the NX looming.
He also notes that Pokmon GOs success
spurred sales of Pokmon console games and
merchandise, and suggests the same could happen
with Mario and Nintendos own platforms.
Even if Nintendo doesnt ultimately attribute
an uptick in console game sales to Super Mario
Run, putting a massive icon like this on mobile is
incredibly smart for the company, bringing a likely-
large boost to its bottom line during a very quiet
period for its Wii U. It also shows that Nintendo
is serious about diversifying, and that it wont
simply bring strange social apps and lesser-known
franchises to mobile. Sure, well have to wait for
those promised Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem

games until Q1 next year, but in the meantime, we
get Super Mario on iPhone.
Thats great for the App Store, as well. It shows
that a major console franchise can be shown
respect in the transition to mobile, and that
seemingly refined, quality games deserve to be
paid for yes, even on your phone. And if Super
Mario Run captures the essence of Nintendos
brilliant and beloved franchise and deliver a must-
play mobile experience, then itll be a big win for
everyone: Nintendo, Apple, and players alike.

Opinion: What AirPods
tellus about Apples future
Michael Simon explains how Apple could apply the lessons
of its wireless AirPods to the next iPhone or Apple Watch
T
he most innovative product Apple released
this week isnt the one people are going
to rush out to buy. Sure, the iPhone 7 has
snazzy new cameras and Apple Watch has learned
a whole new tness regimen, but the biggest new
product unveiled this week is actually the one small
enough to get lost in your pocket.

Despite the quirky design that makes it look
like your ears are smoking mini e-cigs, AirPods
are unmistakably an Apple product. It may look
like Jony Ive merely severed the cord on a pair
of EarPods, but the tiny buds are packed with
cutting-edge features. From how they pair to the
smart way they handle your tunes, Apples rst
crack at wireless headphones are as much about
showcasing new tech as it is about replacing a
century-old standard.
Theyre not simply there to ll a void where
a pairof wired headphones used to be weve
already got several pairs of wireless Beats for that.
AirPods represent a platform for the future that
extends far beyond our ears.
Pair of aces
Apple has said that its new wireless earbuds
will work with non-Apple devices, but make no
mistake:AirPods are made for Apple devices.
As Bluetooth buds theyre somewhat humdrum,
but when you set them next to an Apple product
running one of the latest operating systems, they
are smart enough to seamlessly connect and play
with barely any direction.
Thats no small task for a Bluetooth device.
Anyone who has used wireless headphones or
speakers know all too well the struggles with
connection. Whether its pairing with multiple
devices or just simply setting them up for rst-
timelistening, Bluetooth pairing can be as
frustrating as a tangled headphone wire. Apples
new W1 chip takes virtually all of the friction out
of the process, with no need to deal with the

Bluetooth settings or hold down any buttons to
pairwith your iPhone.
Its a system that is sure to make its way to
Apples other peripheral devices, but it would
be particularly impressive on the Apple Watch.
PairingApples wearable with an iPhone isnt
a terrible process, but its still not as easy and
instantaneous as the new AirPods. A watch
thatautomatically recognises and pairs with
theiPhoneits near would give Series 3 a bit
oftheApple magic its missing.
Charging ahead
All of this talk about the wireless future for the
iPhone leaves out one important point: You still
need to plug it in at least once a day to charge
it. Wireless charging is surely high on Apples list
forthe next iPhone, but it remains the last major
hurdle to clear.
But there are clues to Apples plan. Apple
Watch uses magnetic induction to eliminate cable
fumbling. The Smart Battery Case ofers a clever
way to monitor and charge your iPhone on the
go, and Apple Pencil features ultra-fast charging
that supplies a half hour of use after plugging it in
for a mere 15 seconds. AirPods take these steps
a bit further, incorporating both the portability of
the case and the quick charging capabilities of the
pencil into a simple, svelte, package.
True wireless charging that is, solar, kinetic
or radio waves that allow for continuous usage
is a way of, but Apple is clearly moving toward
a mechanism that allows the iPhone to charge
without physically inserting a Lightning cable. And

an AirPods-like system that uses a portable quick-
charging station to beams power to the iPhone
throughout the day would be the next best thing.
The road ahead

But while the iPhone and Apple Watch are certainly
poised to take advantage of AirPods innovations,
the potential impact on the products Apple is still
developing is even more intriguing.
Along with music and phone calls, AirPods also
put Siri in your ear, inching Apples smart servant
closer to being your everywhere assistant. Its
another piece of the larger audio plan: with Hey
Siri, Apple Watch, Apple TV and now
AirPods, Siri is no longer an iPhone
feature, its the centrepiece of the
larger ecosystem. The next step is
bringing it to an always-on home
device like Amazon did with Alexa
on the Echo (pictured).
But the golden goose here
is the Apple Car. Not only are
there intriguing implications for
the charging and connection
capabilities, but AirPods sensor-
based smarts ofer a peek into the
level of integration Apple could
provide. If youre listening to a song
on your iPhone or Apple TV, the car
could instantly continue the music
uninterrupted, or automatically lower
the volume if the person sitting in
the passenger seat strikes up a
conversation. Or if you tend to call

your signicant other at a certain point on your way
home from work, it could ofer to dial for you when
you get there. There are small features for sure, but
theyre the kind of details that will set an Apple Car
apart from the Teslas and Leafs of the world.
Something in the air

The removal of the headphone jack gave Apple
a reason to introduce them, but AirPods are not
going to be an iPhone accessory for long. The
prospect of full in-ear independence is likely years
away, but some of Apple Watchs tness functions
could make their way to the AirPods in the second
or third generation. Add a cellular chip to Apple
Watch and suddenly the iPhone is no longer
AirPods best companion.
Apples AirPods dont need to be big sellers
to make an enormous impact. As Jony Ive said in
the introductory video, We are just at
the beginning of a truly wireless
future, and Apples rst move
is a bold new push into audio.
The AirPods will evolve,
but the core concepts
efortlesspairing, seamless
integration and smart
controls representa new
platform for Apples devices.
For the rst time, wireless
isnt so much about the
ugliness of cords. Its about
what can be accomplished
when you eliminate the things
that are keeping us tied down.

WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER A REFURBISHED MAC
THE WORLDS BEST-SELLING APPLE MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 2016
FROM IDG
BACK TO SCHOOL
Best Macs Best accessories
How to get Apple education discounts
HIDDEN FEATURES: Tim Cooks

macOS Sierra rst ve
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Ipad & Iphone User 112 - 2016 UK PDF

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ISSUE 112

AirPods Apple Watch

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100 Be a considerate late-night iPad/iPhone user

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Actually Bluetooth Buds

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Apple Watch Nike+ for runners

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New cameras and water resistance

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iPad & iPhone Users buying advice

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Macworlds buying advice

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For Apple devices only

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The big changes

Apple kills the 3.5mm headphone jack

How to listen to audio

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Two cameras are better than one

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More cores, less power

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Living a double life

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Reason 2: Its cramped inside