While iOS and Android have for the most part caught up to one another from a software feature perspective, lack of a handy back button is still one of the biggest sources of embarrassment for iOS devices. BoxWave’s new glass “ClearTouch SmartButtons” screen protector has built-in buttons that aim to solve some of the back button issue on iPhones, so I took it for a test drive…

Android has long had a system-wide physical or software “back” button, conveniently located in an easy-to-reach bottom corner that takes the user back to the last used screen. Apple, however, has a back button in the upper left corner that only works within apps and not system wide. Reaching Apple’s back button is enough of an issue that the company rolled out a software feature called Reachability with the larger iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to make reaching buttons at the top of the display easier. But that didn’t help much and in my use feels like a clunky solution to the problem.

Lack of a back button is still often one thing Android users hold over iPhone users. My last interaction with Android users at a social gathering ended in pointing and laughing as I attempted to tout the new contextual back button in iOS 9, a software button that appears in the upper left corner of the display that aims to make jumping back to the last used app easier. But the new feature is far from successful at solving the overall problem.

While the BoxWave screen protector with built-in buttons is a big improvement, it’s not perfect. It’s essentially just moving the buttons normally located in the upper right and left corners of your display to an easy to reach location on either side of the home button. And it worked flawlessly for me during my tests after taking a minute to get used to the amount of pressure required. It does take a tap much harder than a tap of a touchscreen or Apple’s MacBook trackpads for example, but once you get used to the amount of required pressure, taps were recognized just as consistently in my experience. 

So it solves the issue of reaching Apple’s contextual and in-app back buttons (and any buttons that appear in the upper right corner), but that doesn’t solve the issue of Apple not having a system-wide “back” function. In other words, you’ll be limited to whatever buttons are in those locations in the app or iOS screen you’re currently viewing.

My one complaint: The screen protector isn’t exactly a perfect fit or the iPhone 6 I tested it on. As you can see in the photos above and below, it stops just short of the rounded edge/bezel of the display, making the outer edge of the screen protector visible when the display is off. But it’s not an issue when the display is on as it lines up perfectly with where the screen meets the bezel.

The product comes with the tempered glass screen protector and a small lint-free cloth and alcohol pad to clean the device before applying the screen protector. You simply remove an adhesive backing on the screen protector, line it up with the device and press down to make sure it grips the entire screen. It’s a hard piece of tempered glass, not a flimsy film like other screen protectors, so there’s not much concern with air bubbles or damaging the product during installation. You’ll just need to make sure the device and your hands are as clean as possible so nothing gets trapped underneath. And I had no problems removing the screen protector, but the adhesive will eventually wear so reapplying is hit and miss.

At $20 or less, to me it makes a lot of sense to opt for the BoxWave ClearTouch over another screen protector that doesn’t offer any functionality beyond protection. The product is on par with other glass screen protectors I’ve tested from the well known brands, and so it’s worth the few extra dollars to get the addition of the invisible buttons built-in.

The BoxWave ClearTouch SmartButtons screen protector is available for the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus ($20.95), or the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus ($17.95) now.

Filed under: iOS, iOS Devices, Reviews Tagged: Android, Apple, back button, boxwave, cleartouch, Glass, review, screen protector, tempered glass

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Tapbots is out with Tweetbot 4.1 for iOS, bringing Tweetbot to the Apple Watch for the first time. The update follows the massive Tweetbot 4.0 launch at the start of October which included a redesigned iPad version plus iOS 9-specific features and more.  The new Tweetbot 4.1’s Apple Watch app is made for watchOS 2 and lets users compose new tweets, view recent activity, respond to mentions, and view profiles. Tweetbot for Apple Watch also enhances the way notifications look with a richer, custom appearance.

Tweetbot for Apple Watch works more like Twitterrific and less like Twitter’s own Apple Watch app. There’s no timeline for viewing recent tweets from people you follow and you can’t yet view direct messages after their alerts are dismissed.

What the app does offer is very similar to the new activity view added in Tweetbot 4.0. Launch Tweetbot for Apple Watch and you’ll see a scrolling view of Twitter mentions, your tweets as they’re favorited, new follows, and the like. Tap one of these alerts and you jump to a more detailed view where you can reply, favorite, retweet, follow back, and more based on the alert.

Tapping an avatar from the detailed view takes you to that user’s profile where you can see their profile picture, a peak at their cover photo, read their bio, and see their location. From here you’re also given the option to reply, direct message, or follow/unfollow.

Force Touching, or firmly pressing the display, from the main activity view lets you tweet from the app using dictation. After you compose a tweet, you’re able to confirm the tweet, edit and start over using either dictation or emoji, or cancel altogether.

And that’s about it for now. Tweetbot for Apple Watch doesn’t yet offer a watch face complication or include a glance, but what’s there does make following up with alerts easier for Apple Watch users. The recently added Stats page might make for a useful glance in a future version, but most people tend to agree that viewing recent tweets from your timeline is better done on the iPhone (although I do enjoy peeking at the official Twitter app for seeing what’s happening in the moment). The app also includes a neat set of sounds like Tweetbot on other devices if your Apple Watch is unmuted that I enjoy.

Tweetbot 4.1 for iOS, now with Apple Watch support, is available for $4.99 (reg. $9.99) on the App Store.

Filed under: Apple Watch, Apps Tagged: Apple watch, Apple Watch apps, Tapbots, Tweetbot, Twitter, watchos 2

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Just a few days after the retail launch of the fourth-generation Apple TV set-top-box, Apple has seeded the first beta of the device’s first software update to developers. The new version, labeled tvOS 9.1, is available for download via the developer center, much like iOS and OS X betas have been seeded. The release notes for tvOS 9.1 indicate improvements coming to WiFi network compatibility, in-app-purchases for App Store apps, and improved scrolling. This update needs to be downloaded to a computer and then installed to the set-top-box via a USB Type-C cable. Apple today also seeded the second betas of iOS 9.2 and OS X 10.11.2 to developers.

Filed under: AAPL Company

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Apple today released the second iOS 9.2 beta for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to registered developers. iOS 9.2 beta 2 follows the initial iOS 9.2 beta release just one week ago. The update is available over-the-air through the Settings app for developers already testing the release. The prior release contained few changes including extension support on Safari View Controller. The release notes only highlight bug fixes and improvements.

iOS 9.2 beta 2 continues to improve Safari View Controller, which lets you open web pages inside other apps using full-blown Safari. The second beta adds a swipe gesture for dismissing the window that was previously absent. Developers including Tapbots for Tweetbot previously had to create workarounds for this behavior.

The placement of the Done button has moved to reflect this (new left, old right).

Mac users also have a new beta available for testing today. The second OS X 10.11.2 beta is available for developers through the Mac App Store.

Over on the Mac, the latest El Capitan beta continues to focus on Graphics, Mail, Wi-Fi, Calendar, USB, Notes, Photos, and Spotlight.

Filed under: Developers, iOS Tagged: beta, developers, iOS, ios 9.2, iPad, iPhone, IPod Touch, Mac, OS X, OS X 10.11.2

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I don’t envy any vendor of legitimately premium audio accessories made for Apple’s devices. After established audio companies including Bose, Klipsch, and Bowers & Wilkins demonstrated that Apple device owners were willing to pay $300, then $400, then $600 for all-in-one speaker systems with increasingly better sound quality, Beats by Dre materialized, hooking people on expensive, stylish, and sonically underwhelming alternatives. Between Beats and the Bluetooth revolution, it seems clear that the speaker market is all about flash and convenience rather than audio quality… right?

Of course not. There have always been low-end, mid-range, high-end, and ultra-premium audio options; Beats has succeeded at capturing (a lot of) low- to mid-priced customers. By comparison, the respected British speaker maker Bowers & Wilkins focuses on the upper end of the scale. It literally established the high-end Apple speaker category with its original Zeppelin back in 2007, then refreshed it with AirPlay support as Zeppelin Air in 2011.

Now that another four years have passed, B&W has returned with another “even better” sequel: Zeppelin Wireless ($700). Having spent years touting its atypically upscale design and components as alternatives to low-fidelity speakers, the company is offering a compromise to broaden the new Zeppelin’s appeal. Despite packing speaker and amplifier hardware that’s in the same league as B&W’s $800 A7, Zeppelin Wireless includes a key feature — Bluetooth — only found in its entry-level $350 model T7. But the new Zeppelin still has AirPlay, for those who care, as well as Spotify Connect. So while the price tag may limit the number of people who can afford this new all-in-one speaker, its feature set has broad appeal…

Zeppelin Wireless’s industrial design continues the ellipsoid shape of the earlier Zeppelins, though like Apple, Bowers & Wilkins has continued to iteratively refine the initial concept. Despite the polarizing shape, this is actually the most neutral-looking Zeppelin that Bowers & Wilkins has ever made, thanks to a series of small and large tweaks that are mostly positive. Compared with its predecessors, I prefer the way Zeppelin Wireless looks both up close and from a distance, as its updated textures give it more of an ability to blend into a room.

To start with the small changes, Zeppelin Wireless is now around 26″ wide rather than just over 25″, 7.4″ rather than 6.8″ tall, and 7.2″ rather than 8.2″ deep, changes that accommodate the new model’s larger speakers. B&W has removed virtually all traces of glossy plastic from the chassis, and upgraded the front fabric from a slightly shiny material to a more sophisticated black and gray grid. The back is now matte-finished, and there’s no bass port on the rear, a surprise since prior Zeppelins had prominent rear vents.

Three large buttons are obvious near the top rear, ready to adjust volume and play/pause status, while aux-in and Bluetooth buttons are hidden on the left and right front sides of Zeppelin Wireless’s stumpy new base. A tiny multi-colored dot off to the right of the metallic Bowers & Wilkins logo is the only power and status indicator, changing from off to red to green, while a small blue-glowing Bluetooth logo on its side indicates active Bluetooth pairing. This is another set of welcome design improvements; the original Zeppelin hid one large status light behind its speaker grille, and the smaller new solutions are more subtle, enhancing a pinhole-sized lighting design found on B&W’s A7.

On the “highly noticeable” side, B&W has chopped off the chrome Dock Connector/Lightning dock that protruded from the Zeppelin and Zeppelin Air, eliminating Zeppelin Wireless’s ability to mount and charge a connected device. While the dock was a signature Zeppelin component back in 2007, it declined substantially in utility and desirability after Apple discontinued the 30-pin Dock Connector, making its omission in Zeppelin Wireless almost irrelevant. The 1″ savings in depth is primarily attributable to the missing dock.

Because it’s expected that you’ll hold your device while streaming audio to Zeppelin Wireless, B&W doesn’t include a remote control or any other frills in the package: all you get is a wall power cord and a collection of printed materials. The rear ports now are solely for wall power, optional Ethernet connectivity, 3.5mm analog aux-in, and a micro-USB service port. A tiny reset button is there if the system’s settings need to be erased.

Software, Wireless + Sonic Experiences

Setting up Zeppelin Wireless is easy. If you want to use it as a Bluetooth speaker, you just hold down the right-of-base Bluetooth button for a couple of seconds, select it from your iOS device’s Bluetooth menu, and start streaming. You can also use Bluetooth to automatically wake Zeppelin Wireless from sleep and begin playing a track, a great convenience. Alternately, if you prefer to use AirPlay, you download B&W’s free Control app (ab0ve), share your iOS device’s Wi-Fi settings with Zeppelin Wireless, select it from the AirPlay devices menu within Control Center, and press play. There’s a rear power button to turn the unit off, but it can be left on if you don’t mind the power drain. The system draws under 0.3W of power in standby mode, versus 0.8W in Zeppelin Air.

The part that’s no surprise but difficult to handle psychologically is that the Bluetooth experience is for the most part superior to AirPlay. Most audiophiles know that AirPlay offers higher bandwidth and the potential for lossless audio, thus the ability to take fuller advantage of Zeppelin Wireless’s 24-bit/192kHz DAC. AirPlay speakers can also be used — if controlled by a computer running iTunes — for simultaneous, synchronized audio, even across multiple rooms in a home.

Like Zeppelin Air, Zeppelin Wireless can do all of that. But the new model’s Bluetooth 4.1 chip is, despite its lower bandwidth, faster for pairing and more reliable for wireless streaming than AirPlay. During my testing, there was zero perceptible Bluetooth lag when changing volume, play/pause status, or tracks — something that can never be said for AirPlay streaming — and I was able to walk the entire length of a house without losing the Bluetooth wireless signal. By comparison, the AirPlay streaming (like virtually all AirPlay speakers I’ve tested) dropped out, most frequently when I went to change tracks or play/pause status; it’s unclear whether this is an iOS or speaker bug. I could switch effortlessly from an AirPlay to Bluetooth connection, but when I went in the other direction, there was an extended buffering pause. These sorts of issues with AirPlay are regrettably common, and the reason most people have stuck with Bluetooth.

What about differences in sound quality using Bluetooth or AirPlay? Most people under most circumstances would be hard-pressed to find any difference in quality between music played over Bluetooth versus AirPlay — I ran a bunch of comparisons with songs across various genres, and couldn’t find a case where the difference was even apparent at normal volumes. It’s nice that Zeppelin Wireless supports both standards, but there’s a lot of reason to prefer the way Bluetooth works as a daily driver for even a $699 speaker.

Sonically, Zeppelin Wireless continues the performance trend the Zeppelin family has been on for eight years, making meaningful under the hood technical improvements that are hidden behind the fabric facade, which notably has been radically reinforced for extra stability. In addition to using dual 1″ double-dome tweeters, the new model upgrades from twin 3″ to twin 3.5″ midrange drivers, and from a 5″ to a 6.5″ subwoofer. B&W’s web site currently lists the subwoofer as 6″, but the company’s representatives (and external pages) note that it’s actually larger.

Collectively, the changes mean that most of Zeppelin Wireless’s speakers are at least a little larger than the ones in B&W’s boxy $800 A7, which combine with the larger chassis to deliver even bigger, wider stereo sound. However, amplifier power remains the same at 150W total, a hint that the systems aren’t as different as might be guessed from the outside. It’s also worth noting that the new model’s lack of venting ports in the back means that bass won’t change as much based on this Zeppelin’s proximity to a wall.

In practice, all of the components combine to create a system with the ability to perform wonderfully at both soft and very loud volume levels, though the same was true of the prior Zeppelins and the A7 as well. B&W’s five-speaker array is, by design, able to replicate virtually every bit of the audio spectrum people are capable of hearing, lacking only in the deepest, sub-sonic bass levels one might get from a large, dedicated subwoofer. Regardless of the genres of music I tested with it, Zeppelin Wireless provided impressively balanced, detailed renditions of the original audio, letting me hear both the nuances and the flaws in my test tracks. Only at its very top volumes, namely enough to fill a medium-sized room, was a hint of distortion apparent.

When compared directly against the more expensive A7, Zeppelin Wireless offered ample but more controlled bass, a strong, detailed midrange, and roughly equivalent treble. Given that Zeppelin Wireless has a larger subwoofer, I was surprised that its low end wasn’t as forceful as A7’s, but either the lack of a bass port or otherwise deliberate restraint on B&W’s part give the new Zeppelin a more refined, less gravelly growl. I preferred Zeppelin’s balance, but bassheads may find A7’s more pronounced low end to be superior.

Overall, Zeppelin Wireless continues B&W’s legacy of delivering high-end Apple all-in-one systems that feel worthy of their asking prices. From my perspective, the addition of Bluetooth 4.1 is a legitimately game-changing new feature for this product, as its convenience and reliability are leagues ahead of AirPlay under most circumstances, with no perceptible sonic compromises. If you’ve considered a Zeppelin or A7 before but were holding back, Zeppelin Wireless provides real incentives to make the leap; regardless of the iOS device, Mac, or Apple TV you plan to use it with, it’ll look great while providing a ton of sonic horsepower. It’s the best Zeppelin yet, and dollar for dollar, the best overall speaker B&W has produced.

More From This Author

Check out more of my editorials, How-To guides, and reviews for 9to5Mac here! I’ve covered a lot of different topics of interest to Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and Apple Watch users. In addition to my popular guide to the best Apple Watch docks and stands, I’ve recently discussed how to safely prepare and wipe your iPhone for resale or trade-in, and how to get the best iPhone trade-in price to help buy an iPhone 6s, amongst many other topics.

Filed under: Reviews

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Pad & Quill’s Classic Band (review), an attractive third-party Apple Watch band

Since the Apple Watch debuted earlier this year, Wristly has been tracking interesting user data around customer activity, satisfaction, and much more. The latest survey taken focuses primarily on Apple Watch bands by asking volunteer participants which band came with their Apple Watch at purchase, if they’ve already bought additional bands or plan to buy more, and even a question about the new Apple TV…

The most popular band acquired during initial Apple Watch purchase for Wristly’s participants is rather unsurprising: Sport. The $49 band comes in multiple colors across the Sport, Watch, and Edition collections, and has the lowest purchase price for any Apple Watch.

But how popular is Sport band as the first option according to Wristly’s survey? Three out of four participants opted for Sport to start. The same survey found that while 61% of participants own one Sport band, 25% surveyed own multiple Sport bands.

Runners-up include the $149 Milanese Loop at 11%, followed by 6% Link Bracelet, 4% Leather Loop, 3% Classic Buckle, and about 1% Modern Buckle. The Milanese Loop ranking next in popularity is likely due to its affordable price for a metal option relative to the $449 Link Bracelet.

Looking forward, Wristly asked how many participants plan to buy additional bands in the future. 23% surveyed say they expect to buy one or more bands from Apple while 20% will shop third-party vendors for options; 13% expect to buy from both. And while many plan to buy more bands from Apple or others, 19% surveyed have no plans for more bands and 32% are undecided. Wristly notes that it’s interest in third-party bands that has notably climbed here.

And when it comes to kicking the habit of wearing Apple Watch, 46% surveyed say it would be very hard to stop wearing their purchase while 39% responded that it would be somewhat hard, making up a plurality of 85%. Groups in single digits individually responded that it would be neither hard nor easy, somewhat easy, very easy, or already stopped wearing.

Finally, when it comes to buying an Apple Watch and planning to buy the new Apple TV, there’s overlap from brand loyalty just as you would expect. 56% surveyed plan to buy their first or add a new Apple TV with a whopping majority of responders being upgraders.

If there’s one key takeaway from this data for me, it’s that Apple knew what it was doing when it refreshed the Apple Watch lineup with new bands, mostly new Sport colors, going into the holiday season rather than doing nothing or delivering a totally new Apple Watch.

You can read the full report and see more charts at Wristly.

Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: Apple watch, Apple Watch bands, Wristly

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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Pebble Time Smartwatch for iOS and Android (multiple colors): $150 shipped (Reg. $200)

This 802.11n pocket wireless router from TP-LINK is a must-have for avid travelers: $10 shipped (Orig. $40)

Targus Ultra Twill Vuscape Case for iPad Air (Black): $7 Prime shipped (83% off list)

Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi: 16GB $399 (Reg. $499), 64GB $479 (Reg. $599), 128GB $559 (Reg. $699)

Apple iPad Mini 2, space gray or silver: $199 shipped ($70 off)

eBay calls on Black Friday shoppers to decide which products will get discounted this year

Amazon’s Black Friday Deals store is now open for business

Everything we know so far about this year’s best Black Friday deals and promotions

More new gear from today:

Fashion: 20% off at Amazon – Kenneth Cole Down Jacket $90 (Reg. $113), shoes, accessories, more

• Sling TV is giving away a 2nd gen Chromecast when you pre-pay three months ($35 value)
• Games/Apps: Skylanders SuperChargers for iPad (pre-order) $50 (Reg. $75), more
• Acer 13-inch Chromebook 2.1GHz/2GB/16GB SSD: $209 shipped (Reg. $249)
• Daily Deals: Two Foscam Indoor IP Cameras $100, JBL Pulse Bluetooth Speaker $90, more

More deals still alive:

Buy a pair of PowerBeats 2 Wireless In-Ear Headphones, get a $50 Target gift card: $144 shipped (Orig. $200)

Beats by Dr. Dre Pill 2.0 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (multiple colors) $120 shipped (Orig. $200)

• Kindle First Books for November: Christmas in Good Hope, more
• Freebies: Gratitude Journal for iOS + Grateful Dead music + More!
• Freebies: Mighty Mac App Bundle + Brad Paisley album + More!
• Media: Breaking Bad Complete Series on Blu-ray $70 (Orig. $161), $3 DVDs, more
• Kindle savings (Prime only): Paperwhite $90 (Reg. $120), Voyage $170 (Reg. $200)
• JBL Voyager Portable Bluetooth Speaker $90 shipped (Reg. $119)
• Free PS Plus Games for November: The Walking Dead Season 2, more
• Free Xbox Live Gold Games for November: Pneuma Breath of Life, more
• App Store Free App of the Week: rop mind-bending puzzle game ($1 value)
• Headphones: Audio-Technica Over-Ears $100 (Orig. $250),  more
• Power Bank Deals: Aukey 20,000mAh Dual USB $22 Prime shipped (Reg. $30), more
• Target 25% off Toys: Razor E200 Electric Scooter $117 (Reg. $144), more
• The best accessories for the new Apple TV: MFi game controllers, cables, more
• PSA: Best Buy and others launch new Apple TV pre-orders, offer potential savings
• One year Sam’s Club membership + food coupons: $25 w/ email delivery (Reg. $45+)
• The MyKee Titanium Multi-Tool Key fits 18 tools on your keyring: $22 shipped
• 9to5Toys Specials: MiFi 500 plus 1 year of LTE $149.99, more

New products & more:

Mogees iPhone-connected sensor turns any object into a playable instrument

• Panasonic has a new line of solar powered products designed for those in need
• Amazon to offer midnight deliveries for Call of Duty: Black Ops III via Prime Now
• The LEGO Power Functions Idea Book teaches you how to build cars, contraptions and more
• This life-size R2-D2 refrigerator carries your beer to you…for a price
• GE’s new smart LED lightbulbs tell your brain when it’s time for bed
• The Altwork Station cures the standing desk blues with its reclining design
• Gibson’s Neat podcasting microphones mix fun and color

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 9to5Toys, Amazon Gold Box, Amazon Prime, Black Friday, coupon codes, Cyber Monday, eBay Daily Deals, free, free apps, free shipping, Freebies, Lunch Break, New Toy of the Day, pebble time, playstation 4, Targus, TP-LINK, xbox one

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Google’s Inbox by Gmail app for iPhone is one of the best things to happen to personal email management since email was invented (at least, it is for Gmail users). Using Google Now’s power, it can automatically create calendar events, sort out your junk and priority emails and suggest reminders. Now it’s about to get a whole lot smarter.

Making use of the company’s deep neural network tech (commonly known as AI) Inbox by Gmail will soon start giving suggested responses whenever you receive an email. That means that, instead of typing out entire sentences, it’ll offer three suggestions it thinks you’re most likely to use based on the email you received. The update will hit the app later this week and joins a whole host of other AI-powered moves made by Google recently, including YouTube thumbnails, better voice search and nightmarish picture editing, among others.

In its blog post about the update, Google explains how the technology works, stating that as the email comes in, one network encodes the email by consuming the words one at a time and then produces a vector, or list of numbers. This vector essentially captures the message of what the email means. A second network then uses this ‘thought vector’ and creates a grammatically correct reply one word at a time. To the user, it should feel fast, intuitive and natural. But the process of building this capability wasn’t without its challenges:

One challenge of working with emails is that the inputs and outputs of the model can be hundreds of words long. This is where the particular choice of recurrent neural network type really matters. We used a variant of a “long short-term-memory” network (or LSTM for short), which is particularly good at preserving long-term dependencies, and can home in on the part of the incoming email that is most useful in predicting a response, without being distracted by less relevant sentences before and after.

Of course, there’s another very important factor in working with email, which is privacy. In developing Smart Reply we adhered to the same rigorous user privacy standards we’ve always held — in other words, no humans reading your email. This means researchers have to get machine learning to work on a data set that they themselves cannot read, which is a little like trying to solve a puzzle while blindfolded — but a challenge makes it more interesting!

Since testing, Google’s engineers have been surprised by how good the neural network-powered Smart Reply system is at getting it right. If you have the Inbox app installed on your iPhone, you’ll be able to download the AI-infused update from next week. If you haven’t used it yet, you can grab it from the App Store for free.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: AI, Apps, deep neural networks, email, Gmail, Google, Inbox by Gmail, neural networks, Updates

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With Apple Pay over a year old now in the United States, we’re still seeing Apple add new partner banks and credit unions across the country to support its mobile payment service. In the latest expansion, over 50 additional participating partners have been added to now work with Apple Pay on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Still waiting for your bank to make the jump? These are the latest to join:

Alternatives Federal Credit Union
Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union
Artisans’ Bank
Bank of Eastman
Bank of Rantoul
Bridgeview Bank Group
Carson Bank
Calumet Bank
Catholic & Community Credit Union
Central State Bank
Charter Oak Federal Credit Union
Cincinnati Police Federal Credit Union
Citizens First Ban
Cornerstone Bank
Cornerstone National Bank
Credit Union of America
Drummond Community Bank
Education Employees Credit Union
First Community Credit Union (MO)
First Federal Bank of the Midwest
First Piedmont Federal Savings and Loan Association
Genisys Credit Union
German American
Gorham Savings Bank
Greenwood Credit Union
Houston Texas Fire Fighters Federal Credit Union
Hudson River Community Credit Union
InTouch Credit Union
KV Federal Credit Union
Lexington Postal Credit Union
Macatawa Bank
Maine Family Federal Credit Union
Marion State Bank
Missouri Bank
Missouri Credit Union
Mocse Credit Union
Municipal Employees Credit Union of Oklahoma City
Mutual Bank
Newaygo County Service Employees Credit Union
Oak Trust Credit Union
Peoples Bank
Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union
PyraMax Bank
Settlers Federal Credit Union
The Bank
The Provident Bank
Tri City National Bank
TwinStar Credit Union
UMassFive College Federal Credit Union
United Equity Credit Union
United Savings Credit Union
University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union
Upper Peninsula State Bank
Weokie Credit Union

In addition to these 54 new partners, Apple turned on support for over 70 more partners at the end of last month. Since then we’ve also seen Kohl’s become the first retailer to let customers use their store credit card with Apple Pay as Kohl’s Charge card was recently added.

Apple also announced that Apple Pay would expand outside of the US and UK by the end of this year into Canada and Australia for American Express cardholders while Spain, Singapore, and Hong Kong are planned for next year under the same partnership.

And if you’re looking for more places to use Apple Pay, it was recently announced that Starbucks will be bringing support to its stores starting this year (it’s already an option within the app but not in stores) as KFC and Chili’s have signed on for 2016.

Filed under: Apple Pay Tagged: Apple pay

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Fitbit CEO James Park says that the company’s sales have been unaffected by the Apple Watch, as the company announced Q3 revenue up 168% year-on-year, reports the Guardian.

On a conference call with investors, Park said that the rollout of other smart watches, which often come with a step-tracker similar to Fitbit’s main function, did not have impact on the company’s growth. When asked about Apple’s new watch specifically, he said it had “no material impact”. He added that Apple and Fitbit cater to “two very different segments in the market” in terms of price point and use and that “there’s room for more than one dominant player.”

While there is no current overlap in pricing – Fitbit devices start from just $60 and top out at $250 – the statement may look a little optimistic in years to come. Apple is likely to add functionality to future Watches while maintaining its premium pricing, but it’s not impossible it could follow its iPhone strategy of keeping previous-generation devices on sale at a reduced price when new ones launch.

That could see the two companies competing at least at the $250 level – and in the meantime, there are already discounted Apple Watches out there, from Apple and others.

Via The Verge

Filed under: Apple Watch, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple watch, Fitbit, fitness, Health, sales, Wearables

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