Apple is currently expected to hold an event in March to announce a slew of new products, notably including a new addition to the iPhone lineup. The 4-inch iPhone is expected to be released by April, and MIC Gadget claims to have a hands-on with new unreleased iPhone straight from the Foxconn factory. Boring yet unsurprising, the purported new iPhone looks just like an iPhone 6s, but smaller. The latest rumors indicate it will also have similar internals, featuring Apple A9 SoC and NFC for Apple Pay.

The validity of the video cannot be confirmed. The ratios of the speaker holes is very similar to the 4.7 inch phone so it’s not 100% that this phone is actually smaller (perhaps the camera guy has big hands). The video also does not include a comparison with other iPhones to confirm the relative size, but they claim it is legit and MIC Gadget has a reasonable history of obtaining device hands-on ahead of time. Watch the 40 second clip and decide for yourself, after the break …

Naming for the new 4-inch iPhone is unclear. Most sites are referring to the device as the iPhone 6c, given its smaller size and natural lower-tier place in the lineup. It also shares a lot of its design and performance from the iPhone 6 series. That being said, there has also been some speculation it may be called the iPhone 7c, so it aligns with Apple’s newest-generation phone lineup coming in the fall. (There was also a really-sketchy rumor that Apple was considering a ‘5e’ name.)

Sadly, the video doesn’t reveal much. It’s pretty boring … if this is legit, everyone will quickly be able to grasp the concept of the new iPhone addition coming in a couple of months. Take a 4.7 inch iPhone 6s and shrink it down. Expect the leaks to continue in the coming weeks as Apple ramps production of this new model. For those unexcited by this, you’ll likely have to wait until late 2016 for Apple to unveil its ‘real’ new iPhone for 2017, the iPhone 7, which is expected to feature significant internal upgrades and external design changes.

Filed under: iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: 2016 iPhone, 4-inch iPhone, iPhone, iPhone 6c, iPhone 7, iPhone 7c, new iPhone

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With iOS 9 being out for nearly five months now, you would’ve expected all the top video apps to already be including picture-in-picture for the iPad. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case with YouTube and a few others. If you’re feeling the hurt from not being able to catch up on your favorite YouTuber’s latest videos while multitasking around your iPad, then check out CornerTube, a new YouTube utility app focused on PIP. CornerTube lets users quickly jump into videos on YouTube, all the while enabling that missing PIP feature. It gets even better once you start utilizing the included Today widget in Notification Center and Action extension in other apps.

With no word in sight on when it will be enabled in the official app, multiple others have offered up their own solutions on a YouTube and PIP feature. CornerTube’s lightweight app has taken that a step further, all the while looking to make the video watching experience faster. The app focuses on getting the user into watching the video they want, without trying to be a full-blown YouTube replacement app. The Today Widget captures any copied YouTube link from the clipboard and places it into your Notification Center, and the Action extension allows you to launch directly into a video from a YouTube link. These are really great when browsing through your Twitter feed when you want to hop right into watching the latest discovered video without leaving the app you’re already using.

The app itself is extremely clean with a focused simplicity on search and finding the content you want immediately. Type in a search term, and you’re presented with a thumbnail grid of all the results. This quickly removes some of the annoyances I have whenever I launch YouTube to watch a single video. I don’t need to see all the recommended channels or videos load before my desired video loads.

CornerTube’s Today widget is a nice addition for those times that I want to watch a video soon, but not far enough out that I would try to add it to my ‘Watch Later’ playlist. The most recent copied YouTube link gets placed into the Today Widget, where you can tap and launch directly into watching it. I really see myself using this whenever I find that latest movie trailer, but can’t quite pull myself away just this second. It also lets you quickly jump between YouTube’s app and CornerTube’s app with PIP ready to go.

CornerTube also includes a really nice Action extension. Personally, I feel this is the most powerful part of the app. Being able to launch directly into a YouTube video using this Action extension is perfect when skimming through Tweetbot. Just tap and hold on a link and launch directly into CornerTube using the ‘Send To CornerTube’ option. The result is the ability to view the YouTube video with picture-in-picture, while going right back to browsing Tweetbot in this example.

CornerTube is available on iOS 9 for iPad via the App Store for $1.99. Picture-in-Picture is available on the iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro, and iPad mini 2 or later models. Give CornerTube a try and let us know what you think about the utility, and why you think YouTube is taking its time to support this feature.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Apple, extensions, Google, iOS, iOS 9, iPad, iPad Pro, Notification Center, Picture in Picture, PIP, video, widgets, YouTube

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Apple this morning has announced its first iOS App Development Center for Europe. The facility will be located in Naples, Italy and offer a place for students to learn  who to develop iOS apps. The App Development Center will feature on-site teachers and a curriculum to facilitate a strong and diverse development community.

In a press release, the company said that it hopes the App Development Center will create even more jobs in the iOS community, which has already created more than 1.2 million jobs in Europe alone In Italy, there are already 75,000 jobs attributable to the App Store. European developers have earned more than €10.2 billion from selling their apps on the App Store. Apple plans to partner with other development communities in Italy to build upon its own curriculum and ensure that the most students as possible are taking advantage of the opportunities.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had the following to say about the opening of the Naples App Development Center:

“Europe is home to some of the most creative developers in the world and we’re thrilled to be helping the next generation of entrepreneurs in Italy get the skills they need for success,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The phenomenal success of the App Store is one of the driving forces behind the more than 1.4 million jobs Apple has created in Europe and presents unlimited opportunities for people of all ages and businesses of all sizes across the continent.”

Apple says that it hopes to expand its App Development Center initiative to more countries as time progresses. A specific opening date for the Naples App Development Center is unclear at this time. Apple’s first press release can be read below:

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: App Development Center, Apple, Europe, Italy

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According to a new report out of app analytics company App Annie, Apple’s trend of bringing in more revenue via its App Store than Google does via the Play Store continued in 2015. Google, however, continued to see far more app downloads than Apple…

The report claims that Google saw twice as many apps downloaded from the Play Store as Apple saw downloaded from the App Store. This, however, is reversed when it comes to earnings from each respective app store. The iOS App Store now earns 75 percent more revenue than the Google Play Store. This is an increase over the 70 percent difference recorded during 2014.

App Annie tracks data from “more than 1 million apps,” including 94 of the top 100 app publishers across both platforms. For iOS, however, it is unable to track apps made by Apple, such as GarageBand, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and iTunes U. This means that the number of apps downloaded from the iOS App Store is presumably higher than what App Annie reports, suggesting that there’s not quite a 2x difference between iOS and Android app downloads.

Another discrepancy in data reporting comes in China. App Annie is able to track iOS app downloads in China, but not Google. With that in mind, App Annie claims that China is now the App Store’s third largest market in terms of revenue and is “within striking distance” of passing Japan for second place. In terms of downloads, China has surpassed the U.S. to move into first place.

Last week, a report claimed that games in the App Store brought in $1 billion in revenue during December, an 18 percent increase of the $847 million brought in during December of 2014. The morale of the story here? Apple continues to bring in far more revenue via the App Store than Google does via the Play Store, despite Google seeing far more downloads overall.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Android, App Store, Apps, iOS, Play Store

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With the introduction of the first beta of iOS 9.3, Apple introduced a new feature called Night Shift that adjusts the color temperature of your device’s display at night as to make it easier to fall asleep. One qualm many have had with the feature, however, is that you have to go into the Settings app to turn it on and off. Apple’s iOS 9.3 Canadian preview page, however, hints that it make become easier to enable the feature with future iOS 9.3 updates…

If you head to the iOS 9.3 preview page on Apple Canada’s website, you can see that there’s an option to enable Night Shift from Control Center on the iPad. The Control Center toggle brings up two options: “Turn On For Now” and “Turn On Until Tomorrow.” This toggle is noticeably missing from the American version of the 9.3 preview page, so it’s unclear what exactly Apple has planned for it (via Reddit)

One possibility is that we’ll see the Control Center Night Shift option appear in a future iOS 9.3 beta, the next of which could come as early as next week. It’s unclear as to whether this will be an iPad only feature or if it will come to the iPhone, as well.

If you’re unfamiliar, Night Shift uses your iOS device’s location and clock to automatically adjust the colors in your display, making them warmer and easier on the eyes at nighttime. In the end, Apple says this should make it easier to fall asleep as the bright blue light normally emitted from a display has been found to disrupt your circadian rhythms.

If a new beta of iOS 9.3 should come out next week, we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the Night Shift Control Center toggle.

Filed under: iOS Tagged: Apple, control center, iOS, iOS 9.3, iPad, iPhone, Night Shift

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Following its onslaught of music updates this morning, Apple this evening has rolled out updates to two more of its Mac audio apps. First is Logic Pro X, which has been bumped to version 10.2.1 with this evening’s update. Next is MainStage 3, which is now at version 3.2.3 thanks to its most recent update. Both apps have received a handful of new features, under-the-hood changes, and performance improvements with their respective updates.

Logic Pro X now supports a new multithreading threading feature that significantly improves performance when processing multiple live channels. Previewing Apple Loops and performing region edits is also much quicker. 30 plug-ins have also been updated and redesigned to support Retina displays and improve usability. There are a variety of other performance and usability enhancements, as well, which can all be seen in the changelog below:

Filed under: Mac Tagged: Apple, Apps, Logic Pro X, Mac, MainStage 3, Music, Updates

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Is this really one of Apple’s official spokespeople for GarageBand? That’s what The Verge says in this T-Painful tutorial that teaches us next to nothing about today’s Garageband update. An update that by the way actually introduces some interesting new features for users of the audio production suite Apple bundles with its iOS devices and Macs.

T-Pain says he’s using GarageBand for his latest recordings, which is notable considering the app is known as an amateur version of Apple’s professional Logic Pro audio suite. As for sharing his tips on the new Live Loops feature, T-Pain explains, “this makes when dealing with the loop sounds, it makes it easier… if you’re feeling a little bit randy and want to add some help… let’s say you can, uh, let’s say anyone of these randomly, and that’s already recording into GarageBand. And boom.”

And on the new Drummer feature, “…what I like to do… bam… basically, Drummer is effortless… didn’t have to do anything… he made the whole thing for me.” Helpful.

The headline feature for the app update today was the new support for Apple’s larger iPad Pro— it previewed a new UI that takes advantage of the increased screen real estate on the 12.9-inch tablet, but hadn’t until today made it available. And the update also introduced support for 3D Touch features on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But the features that T-Pain does a pretty horrible job of demoing in the video below are the new Live Loops and Drummer features.

Live Loops is a sampler with a familiar drumpad-like UI that allows for on-the-fly, live sampling and it comes with a library of stock Apple samples to start you off. While Drummer, a feature it previously introduced for GarageBand and Logic users on the Mac, is a feature that analyzes your song and intelligently adds drum tracks using a number of built-in and customizable presets. You’ll see both features briefly in T-Pain’s walkthrough above, which I can only imagine Apple had absolutely nothing to do with. 

Today’s Garageband update came alongside a brand new app release from Apple, a voice memos-like app called “Music Memos” that adds in features specifically for songwriters. 

Filed under: Apps Tagged: GarageBand, iPad, iPhone, live loops, T-Pain, tutorial, update

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This week Zac and Benjamin talk about the new versions of iOS and OS X along with some changes for iAds and iTunes Radio plus how Beats 1 can be improved. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

New episodes of Happy Hour are available every Wednesday. As mentioned, you can download this podcast via iTunes or plug in our RSS feed link into your favorite podcasting app. Send an email to listenermail@9to5mac.com (or click here) and your question/comment may be featured in an upcoming episode of Happy Hour.

Note: iTunes (web interface and app) may still be propagating the new episode which could take up to 24 hours. Subscribing to the podcast feed will guarantee the latest episode is downloaded.

Hosts:

• Benjamin Mayo
• Zac Hall

Here’s what we discussed in this episode:

• OS X 10.11.3 hits the Mac App Store for all users
• Apple releases iOS 9.2.1 with bug fixes, security improvements, & MDM server resolution
• iOS 9.3 public beta + 9.3 dev beta 1.1 w/ Night Shift, Touch ID Notes, more now available
• OS X 10.11.4 beta adds support for viewing and sharing Live Photos in Messages
• watchOS 2.2 adds Nearby search to Maps for Apple Watch
• Report: Apple says it sucks at selling ads, will soon let publishers do the hard work but keep all the revenue
• Apple announces it will discontinue iAd App Network for developers on June 30th
• Apple announces free ad-supported iTunes Radio stations going away on January 29th, will require Apple Music subscription
• Do you listen to Beats 1? Here’s what Apple can do to improve its radio station & encourage more people to tune in
• Former Chomp co-founder and Apple TV designer Ben Keighran leaving company

If you missed our 49th episode last week, you can subscribe and find every episode or start off from the previous episode here.

Remember: Subscribe on iTunes to catch all of the episodes as they go live and send in your questions/comments to listenermail@9to5mac.com.

Filed under: Happy Hour Tagged: Apple, Beats 1, Happy Hour, iOS, itunes radio, OS X, Podcast

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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:

Apple’s biggest tablet is now on sale: iPad Pro 32GB Wi-Fi $700 (Reg. $799), 128GB Cellular $1,000 (Reg. $1,079)

Apple iPad Air Wi-Fi 16GB in Silver or Space Gray: $299 shipped (Reg. $399)

1Password for Mac keeps your accounts and information safe, now $25 (Reg. $50)

Apple 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro w/ Force Touch (newest) 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB $1,250 shipped (Reg. $1,499)

Apple 12″ Retina MacBook 1.2Ghz/8GB/512GB: $1,290 shipped (Reg. $1,599)

iTunes Gift Cards 20% off w/ free shipping: $100 for $80, $50 for $40 — Save on apps, music, movies, more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Games/Apps: Things task manager for iOS from $5 (Reg. up to $20), Clear for iOS from $2, amiibo from $7, freebies, more

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App Store Free App of the Week: Lifeline text-adventure game goes free for the first time (Reg. $3)

The Trace Murder Mystery Game for iOS hits its lowest price yet: $1 (Reg. $4)

A Dark Room for iOS goes free as IGN’s Game of the Month (Reg. $1)

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• Kingston V300 240GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $62 shipped (Reg. $80+)
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• Speck CandyShell iPhone 6/6s Case: $12 or two for $14 Prime shipped (Reg. $35 each)
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• PSA: Xbox Live Gold Members can enjoy a free trial for EA Access this week
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• 2nd gen. Moto X (unlocked) $243 shipped, 2nd gen. Moto G w/ dock $100 shipped
• Mackie CR4 speakers (pair) + Audio-Technica headphones $170 ($249 value)
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Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members – Final Fantasy XV, more: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

The first Amazon Dash Replenishment devices are now available for order

Grovemade’s new entryway collection brings handcrafted charm to your home

• Blipcast uses your Wi-Fi to beam HDTV audio to multiple iOS or Android devices
• This Nintendo-inspired Bluetooth speaker is just about perfect in every way
• Netflix Announces Premiere Dates for 10 Original Shows including House of Cards, more
• The new ‘Where to Eat Pizza’ coffee table book takes a look at the best slices worldwide
• Phāz takes note of iPhone 7 rumors with new Lightning-connected headphones
• Review: EasyACC 3 USB-port/2 AC-port surge protector is perfect for bedside, desk or travel

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 1Password, 9to5Toys, Amazon, app deals, Best Buy, Daily Deals, free apps, Gold Box, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, video games

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Apple’s hooking up music creators on iOS with lots of new software updates and features today. In addition to releasing a new Music Memos app and enhancing GarageBand for iPad Pro and iPhone 6s, Apple’s Logic Remote app which works with both GarageBand, Logic Pro X, and MainStage on the Mac has been updated with full iPad Pro support and an iPhone version for the first time.

Logic Remote is a companion app for Apple’s audio programs on OS X that lets you use multi-touch on the iPad and now the iPhone to control the desktop apps. Previously only available on the iPad, version 1.3 includes an iPhone version for the first time, but note that the iPhone version only works with Logic Pro X and not GarageBand. It’s also limited to “transport control, dual channel strip faders, automation recording, and access to key commands,” according to Apple.

Additionally, the update supports native iPad Pro resolution which makes the app appear sharper on the larger iPad display. Version 1.3 also lets you use Logic Remote from more than one iPhone or iPad at the same time, and includes “fixes and enhancements to improve connectivity” according to the release notes.

For iPad Pro users, Logic Remote “extends the usable range of mixer faders, the keyboard and other Touch Instruments” and “allows you to access key commands alongside Smart Controls and Touch Instruments” on the larger tablet. And if you’re looking for an iPad Pro deal, 9to5Toys has you covered today.

Logic Remote 1.3 for iPad and iPhone is rolling out now on the App Store.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Logic Remote

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Apple turns its store logo red every year for World AIDS Day

Bono’s Product RED campaign to fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa has partnered with Apple for so long that you could easily mistake it as an Apple-created initiative, and this year the effort turns 10 years old with more than $350 million raised according to the Financial Times. In marking the decade-long effort to raise awareness and eliminate the virus/disease, FT highlighted Apple’s roots in the campaign:

The late Steve Jobs was involved with Red, designing and selling a Red-branded iPod. Apple has maintained its connection since Jobs’ death in 2011. Two years ago, Sir Jonathan Ive, Apple’s chief design officer, and his colleague Marc Newson, ran an auction of specially designed products, including a Leica Digital Rangefinder camera the pair customised, which sold for $1.8m. The auction raised $13m for Red, matched by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Apple’s design chief Jony Ive shared his take in the piece on how Product RED has had a humanitarian reach, challenging the idea of any corporate effect.

Does Sir Jonathan think Red affected how companies think of corporate social responsibility? He demurs. “I’m much more interested in how a mother feels whose daughter is still alive than whether Red has had an impact on other companies.”

He adds: “The thing that first struck me was that the magnitude and ugliness of the problem would normally be cause for people to turn away. I loved the way Bono saw it as a problem to be solved.”

You can read the full piece on a decade of Bono’s Product RED campaign here.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AIDS, Bono, HIV, Jony Ive, Product Red, red

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Apple today released a brand new app for iOS devices called Music Memos that allows songwriters to quickly and easily record audio and develop song ideas.

Apple’s press release for the new app notes that Music Memos was inspired by the fact that many musicians have long used the iOS Voice Memos app as a way of quickly capturing ideas in audio on their iPhones and iPads:

Musicians and songwriters around the world have used the Voice Memos app on their iPhone to quickly record ideas, and many hit songs first started as Voice Memos. The new Music Memos app is inspired by Voice Memos and takes the functionality even further by adding musician-friendly features designed specifically for songwriting and developing musical ideas. With Music Memos, you can record any musical instrument through the iPhone’s built-in microphone in a high-quality, uncompressed format, then name, tag and rate it to start building a library of your ideas.

So like Apple’s old Voice Memos app, you can quickly start recording snippets of audio, but the Music Memos app adds in features for musicians including automatic notation so you can see the chords you’re playing. And much like features it has in GarageBand and Logic Pro, the app will build a song by analyzing what you’re playing and automatically adding in, for example, drum and bass parts. Additionally, you’ll find a built-in tuner tucked under the icon in the upper right hand corner of the app.

Once you’re ready to take the Music Memo and start an actual composition, you’ll be able to access the recordings from within Garageband or Logic Pro across all your devices. You can also email your Music Memos to share your ideas with collaborators, or for those that distribute music on Apple Music, share directly to your Apple Music Connect artist profile page.

Here’s a look at the app’s features in action on the iPhone:

And the iPad:

The new app comes alongside an update to Apple’s GarageBand iOS apps that enhances the app for iPad Pro users and adds 3D Touch functionality.

You can download the new Music Memos app for free on the App Store now.

And The Verge has a video walkthrough of the new app:

Filed under: Apps Tagged: App Store, Apple, audio, iPad, iPhone, music memos, Musicians, songwriters

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Apple today is releasing a new update to GarageBand for iOS that includes enhancements to take advantage of the iPad Pro’s 12.9-inch Retina display. The new version, previously only shown in iPad Pro marketing material, shows more of instruments and tracks in a single view than on smaller iPads and iPhones. New 3D Touch features are also being included for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users. Separately, Apple is releasing a new music app called Music Memos, and adding a new Live Loops feature to GarageBand for iOS. 

From Apple’s press release on the new software:

“Musicians around the world, from the biggest artists to aspiring students, use Apple devices to create amazing music; the innovative new Music Memos app will help them quickly capture their ideas on iPhone and iPad whenever inspiration strikes,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “GarageBand is the most popular music creation app in the world, and this update helps everyone easily tap into their musical talent with the powerful new Live Loops and Drummer features, and adds support for the larger iPad Pro screen and 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.”

GarageBand was notably among the list of Apple’s own apps that weren’t updated for the bigger display in time for the iPad Pro’s release. Rather than reflecting the version shown on the iPad Pro’s marketing site, GarageBand scaled the version on iPad minis and iPad Airs up to present a bigger version without more context. Today’s release shows what Apple has been working on during this time and should be a significant update for GarageBand users.

Other apps like iMovie were ready in time for iPad Pro’s release in early November and included features that take advantage of the more powerful iPad. iMovie on iPad Pro can edit multiple 4K video streams, use shortcuts with Smart Keyboard, view a full-height Media Browser, plus pixel-for-pixel 1080p video.

More details on what’s new in GarageBand from today:

GarageBand for iOS is the world’s most popular mobile music creation app, and the new GarageBand 2.1 update introduces Live Loops, an entirely new and intuitive way to create amazing music. Inspired by DJ hardware controllers and drum machines, Live Loops makes it easy for anyone to create music by simply tapping cells and columns in a highly visual grid to trigger different looped instruments and samples. The loops can be performed, arranged and remixed live, and GarageBand automatically keeps all the beats in sync with perfect time and pitch. To get you started, Live Loops comes with a library of Apple-designed loop templates in a variety of genres including EDM, Hip Hop, Dubstep and Rock, or you can create your own loops from scratch.

GarageBand 2.1 for iOS also includes the new Drummer feature with nine EDM and acoustic virtual session drummers that provide their own signature sound, as well as an expanded selection of amps for bass players. Advanced GarageBand users can now create even more dynamic and polished sounding songs using new automation features, controls recording and a new simple EQ. GarageBand 2.1 looks stunning on the expansive 12.9-inch Retina® display on the new iPad Pro™ and gives you access to even more controls and room to play. And on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the app now supports 3D Touch, allowing you to play with more expression. For more information about the new GarageBand for iOS, visit, http://ift.tt/17Hmt6m.

The new version of GarageBand for iOS is rolling out on the App Store today. Here are the full release notes for version 2.1:

What’s New in Version 2.1

• Use Live Loops to create music by triggering instrument loops and DJ-style effects in real time using Multi-Touch gestures*
• Add a virtual Drummer to your song who takes direction and performs realistic acoustic & electronic drum grooves
• Record adjustments of any Touch Instrument control knob in real time
• Create and edit automation curves to control the volume of any track
• Shape the sound of a Touch Instrument or audio recording using Simple EQ and Compressor
• Plug in a bass guitar and play through vintage and modern bass amp rigs
• Adds over 1,200 new Apple Loops and sounds
• Record up to 32 tracks simultaneously**
• Use third-party instrument apps in your song with Audio Unit Extensions***
• Directly import or export GarageBand projects using iCloud Drive
• Use 3D Touch to play keyboard sounds with polyphonic aftertouch****

* Live Loops is available on iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPad (4th generation), or later devices.
** 32 tracks is available on iPhone 5s, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, or later devices. Multi-track recording requires compatible third party audio interface.
*** Requires compatible third-party Audio Unit Extension instruments apps from the App Store.
**** Polyphonic aftertouch is available on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

And just in time for today’s release, our friends at 9to5Toys are featuring a giant iPad Pro deal for new customers looking to save on Apple’s biggest tablet.

Filed under: Apps, iOS Devices Tagged: GarageBand, iPad Pro

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Siri percolated throughout all of Apple’s platforms in 2015. It started with iPhone in 2011, iPad in 2012, debuted on Apple Watch in early 2015 and Apple TV with the new model a few months ago. It’s quickly becoming a premier feature on these platforms, with live-as-you-speak transcription and radically new features like ‘Remind me about this’ contextual tasks when inside apps. Except for one platform of course. Mac OS X has been ignored and left abandoned with regards to true voice searching and Siri. It’s 2016, and I want Apple to bring Siri to the Mac.

Especially with Apple Watch, it’s just become natural for me to ask for stuff with my voice. For little things like timers or messages, I like to speak. Siri voice recognition has got significantly better for me in the last year, I have come to rely on it. And not having it available when I’m working on my Mac is a huge pain.

There is the potential for Apple to make Siri on Mac even more powerful than a straight iOS port too. You could create more complicated actions for Siri to execute, in a world with multiple apps. ‘Open apple.com and a text editor side by side’ would be a cool command to quickly set up a workspace desktop, for example. Opportunities to integrate with the Mac features of Spotlight also exist, such as finding files using natural language queries as introduced with OS X El Capitan.

The Mac may also be a nice testbed for third-party app integrations with Siri, given the more flexible environment. I’m not hoping or expecting for this more advanced stuff. Simply reproducing the Siri from my iPhone on my MacBook would satisfy me.

In terms of user interface, it seems like a simple problem. Just like the iPad, present a full screen overlay with the Siri conversation in the middle of the screen. 9to5Mac reported Apple was developing Siri for Mac in this manner for early internal versions of OS X Mavericks, but obviously it didn’t get released. On iOS, Siri is activated with a long press of the Home Button. The Mac doesn’t have an obvious primary button, but it could implement an activation by a long-press of the fn key or similar. Apple could even expose an app wrapper for it, so avid users could drag a Siri icon into their dock.

When thinking about why Apple hasn’t done something, it’s worth considering their motivations for intentionally not doing so. It is possible that talking to your computer is a weird concept to grasp. It’s true that talking to a phone is a lot more natural as the microphone is close to your face. Even on Watch, it’s easier with a quick raise of the arm.

Moreover, the Mac microphone is potentially further away from your mouth when you speak. Unless you use a headset, it will be more difficult for Siri to be able to hear you which could impact performance and recognition. However, Apple has opted to include a Dictation feature across the system. Press the fn key twice in any text box and it will dutifully transcribe your speech into text. The accuracy is pretty good too. I believe newer Macs include directed miss for better input too, to further combat this issue.

Initially, you could argue that Siri was a hallmark feature of the iPhone and that Apple wanted to keep it exclusive to encourage people to buy iPhones. This line of thinking would be somewhat reasonable in late 2011 but now its pervasive everywhere on the iOS side. It doesn’t feel exclusive anymore. In fact it feels like a necessity, a voice assistant is practically a core feature of modern operating systems these days. And OS X is worse by not having it.

At least from my perspective, the reason Siri on the Mac hasn’t happened is because Apple hasn’t gotten around to finishing it for a public release. There have been other priorities for engineering resources to tackle. Siri is one of the few big features (Control Center is another, but even that is more recent) that the Mac still misses out in comparison to its iOS/tvOS/watchOS siblings. Perhaps 2016 is the year Apple will find the development resources to bring Siri to OS X, as the platform seems to have reached a level of system stability and feature maturity.

What do you think? Are you itching to see Siri on the Mac? Let us know in the comments below.

Filed under: Feature Request, iOS, iOS Devices, Mac, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple, Apple TV, Apple watch, iPad, iPhone, Mac, OS X, Siri, tvOS, watchOS

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The iRig Keys Mini is an electronic MIDI music keyboard that connects to iPhone and iPad with a Lightning cable. Although it isn’t regularly advertised, iPhones and iPads have had great support for MIDI input instruments and other devices for a long time. Since iOS 4 in fact, Apple gave the developers the ability to interact with MIDI peripherals. Simultaneously, the App Store has bloomed a wide ecosystem of sophisticated music creation and audio production apps. This makes for a perfect storm of capability and functionality: not only are MIDI accessories possible, they can really be used to make music on iPhone and iPad.

Read on for my full review of the iRig Keys Mini piano keyboard for iOS ($79.99).

First off, it’s important to note that the iRig product is made to work with iPhone and iPad, it’s an official MFI accessory. Often, musicians connect MIDI devices to iPad by using a kind of hack — plugging in a USB MIDI device with the iPad USB Camera Connector. This works surprisingly well for a number of accessories but it isn’t official or as elegant as a true MFI MIDI keyboard.

The iRig is not an unofficial oddity. It has a MFI sticker on the packaging. Setting up the iRig with an iOS device is extremely simple — you just plug it in. The iRig itself is compatible with multiple computing accessories, so the I/O connector on the hardware is actually a mini-USB port. There’s a mini-USB to Lightning adapter bundled in the box, as well as a normal USB and mini-USB connector for using the iRig with a laptop.

For iPhone and iPad connectivity, it’s as simple as plug and play. There’s no setup at all once you put the cable in both ends. The iRig is powered by the source device, which is very convenient for people like me who don’t want to manage yet another accessory with a rechargeable battery. The octave buttons illuminate with a red glow to confirm the device is getting power.

Although this review is focused on using MIDI with iOS, I did briefly test Mac compatibility. Plugging in the keyboard with the USB adapter automatically brought up a ‘Device Installing’ notification on OS X. After a few seconds, the iRig keyboard was ready to use.

iPad Pro and iRig Keys Mini are the perfect match, size-wise.

As a piece of hardware, the accessory is well-built. It’s made of plastic but feels sturdy; you can sling it into a bag without much worry. It’s almost identical in width to the iPad Pro, so symmetry of the size is nice to look at on a desk. The accessory houses 15 white and 10 black piano keys, obviously setup in their normal pairings. Above the row of keys is a header bar containing volume options, octave switches and the iRig logo. My biggest complaint with the way this thing looks is the size of logo: it dominates the fascia and screams too much. I would greatly prefer if iRig scaled the logo way smaller or, even better, removed it completely. The product would be very elegant with a pure white faceplate.

Standalone, just plugging the keyboard into an iOS device is useless of course. You can change octave and see the red indicator lights flash, that’s about it. (By the way, the keyboard will alert you when you are reaching the ends of the sound spectrum and should consider adjusting the current octave in use through the illumination.) Crucially, the keyboard makes no sound without the brains of an app powering it: you need MIDI-aware software to actually do something with it.

iRig has made its own apps to use with the keyboard; iGrandPiano and SampleTank. These can be used with the touchscreen only of course but come into their own in collaboration with the physical accessory. The Grand Piano really does sound like a piano, with high quality effects and reverb. I’m not a real musician but I have a lot of fun playing the piano through the iRig.

You can adjust octave and volume settings straight from the keyboard, so your hands don’t have to rejuggle between the iPad screen and the piano keys. The app also features a recorder and metronome to keep in time with the beat. After creating a masterpiece, the app can save out the file as an audio clip or MIDI file. This means you can import the raw MIDI notes into another app, perhaps on the Mac, for more serious editing or stitching into a larger composition.

SampleTank uses a piano input interface to abstract over a myriad of different instruments from drum kits to organs to woodwind instruments. It also supports an autoplay feature, so you can let the app play a constant repeating rhythm whilst you jam out using the iRig. The volume and octave settings of the app are independent to the keyboard, enabling some simple compositions.

The recommended apps aren’t perfect and have some minor niggles throughout: adjusting the knobs in iGrandPiano is a frustrating affair. The real beauty of the iRig hardware, however, is that it isn’t limited to the apps IK Multimedia have created. You can use it with any MIDI app. There’s a lot on the App Store but arguably the best comes for free from Apple: GarageBand. The iRig works flawlessly with Apple’s music app. As well as interoperating with the keyboards, you can play the drums, sample and strings, as well as control the plethora of smart instruments GarageBand includes.

GarageBand also allows true music composition to take place, due to the ability to edit and compose tracks together. It’s a lot more comfortable using a physical hardware instead of the touchscreen to make tunes, in the same way that a physical typing keyboard is better to write documents than a soft on-screen keyboard. The biggest feature GarageBand has to enhance the iRig, though, is the ability to use GarageBand in the background. This works with MIDI instruments too. I have started casually playing tunes whilst watching Twitter or reading Safari on the iPad Pro. You can see the red ‘Recording’ banner in the screenshot above. To enable this feature, switch on the ‘Run in Background’ option in the GarageBand settings. It even works with the iPad ‘asleep’ and locked! The app receives the input from the keyboard and the notes keeps playing.

Sadly, a problem that plagues all three apps is the lack of iPad Pro support. All of the apps are upscaled from their 9.7 inch iPad counterparts, so look ugly and don’t take advantage of the additional screen real estate. Apple has demoed an iPad Pro optimized version of GarageBand at its events, but the app has yet to surface in the App Store. Hopefully, iRig also has software updates in the pipeline for its software.

In terms of issues, I have very few complaints. The shortcut function keys inscribed into the keyboard are nonsensical to me; without looking at the manual you wouldn’t know how to activate the VEL, KNOB or RESET functions.

Very occasionally, the keyboard would just stop working … inexplicably. Pressing keys did nothing. I couldn’t work out if this was a problem with the accessory, the app I was using or the iOS system. When this happened, I unplugged it from the iPad and replugged and the issue went away immediately. Still, it happened so infrequently, it isn’t really a problem. My guess is it software related, so perhaps future iOS versions will nail the stability for good. In general, I would also suggest that the product is slightly too expensive for what it is. Once you start hitting the $100 mark I would start to expect a more premium finish of the product.

I can’t say how much fun this product is. I don’t have any real instruments at home and having something reasonably portable to bash music on is hilarious. I’m now on the search for a good soundboard app that works with MIDI keyboards. For more professional use, it works great although maybe you should consider spending a bit more on the full-size version. Also, I really wish that iPad Pro GarageBand update would come out though with editing panes and instruments visible on screen at the same time. That will take this product to the next level.

The iRig Keys Mini costs $79. Its big brother sibling, the full size 37-key version, is available for $149. Find out more information on the IK Multimedia website.

Filed under: Apple Music, iOS, iOS Devices, Mac, Reviews, Tech Industry Tagged: GarageBand, iPad Pro, irig mid, keys, MFi, MIDI keyboard, Music

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