Facebook made the controversial decision back in 2014 to remove private messaging from the main app, moving it instead into Facebook Messenger. It now seems the company may have similar plans for Instagram.

From today, Instagram is testing a new app called Direct. For those who choose to install it, the inbox disappears from the main app …

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While I personally find the iPhone X notch almost unnoticeable much of the time, and cute when it’s visible, others have been more critical. There have been complaints that it’s asymmetrical and un-Apple-like in its design, and even that it ‘ruins’ the display.

But Apple VP Greg Joswiak has defended it as one of the company’s most impressive technical achievements …

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If you use the Activity or Health app on your iPhone to keep track of the number of steps you walk each day, you’re probably doing better than you think. A study by the University of British Columbia found that the iPhone underestimates the number of steps people take by up to 21.5% …

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Apple has announced its Best of 2017 apps and games, this year utilizing the Today cards in the iOS 11 App Store to feature the winners. Apple says its app of the year for iPhone is Calm, a meditation and sleep app, and Splitter Critters is 2017’s iPhone game of the year. Apple says the title ‘radiates imagination and originality’.

For iPad, Apple has chosen Affinity Photo, the desktop-class photo editor, and the game The Witness. It has also announced most popular apps, music, movies and more …

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Apple has quietly updated its Apple Store app for iOS this evening. The update bring the app to version 4.4 and includes new checkout features, a new iPhone purchasing option, and iOS 11 enhancements…

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Last month, Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities indicated that Apple would unveil a new 6.1-inch iPhone next year with the iPhone X design, but a traditional LCD display instead of OLED. A new report from Nikkei this evening offers more color on that device, saying it will feature a metal back similar to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus…

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Year-end rankings are starting to come in as we head into 2018, and as you would expect, Apple has appeared on a few so far. Recode this evening shared its Recode 100 list, ranking the top 100 executives in tech, media, and business for 2017. Coming in at the fifth spot is none other than Tim Cook…

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This week Benjamin and Zac talk about the unfortunate date bug that affected iPhones over the weekend and resulted in the early delivery of iOS 11.2, the official launch of Apple Pay Cash in the U.S., updates to our Mac setups and a new app that makes AirPlaying to Sonos easier, a potential half marathon challenge that may or may not happen, the latest on Apple’s Heart Study with Apple Watch, a tease of an upcoming Apple Watch story, Amazon Prime Video finally coming to Apple TV, changes in tvOS 11.2 and what’s missing, new App Store search ads, and more.

9to5Mac’s Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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As we reported earlier this morning, Tim Cook was in attendance at the Fortune Forum in China this week, defending some of Apple’s actions in the country. Also in attendance was Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who shared the above picture of Tim Cook showing off the iPhone X.

We have to ask: What do you think Tim Cook is showing off to Trudeau in this picture?

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Streaming music service Tidal has today been updated with a pair of notable features: support for Apple’s CarPlay and iPhone X optimization. Tidal joins the likes of Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify in offering a dedicated app for CarPlay.

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