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Apple WWDC 2021: iOS 15, new MacBook Pros, and what else to expect

Apple’s annual developer extravaganza, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), is coming up fast, kicking off with the keynote presentation on June 7th at 1PM ET. Like last year, WWDC will be an entirely digital and online-only event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the keynote, that means we can likely expect another tightly produced video highlighting everything Apple has in store.

While we aren’t expecting any announcements on the level of Apple’s shift to custom silicon in its computers, which was WWDC 2020’s big news, Apple presumably has some notable changes in the works for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and its other operating systems. And if the current rumors pan out, we could also see brand-new MacBook Pros with the return of some long-missed features, such as MagSafe charging.

Read on to learn everything we expect from the big show. And don’t be surprised if Apple has a few surprises in store, too.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

iOS 15 may bring improvements to notifications and iMessage

We haven’t heard much about what may be coming to Apple’s next version of its mobile operating system, which will presumably be called iOS 15, but we could see big changes to notifications and possibly iMessage, according to Bloomberg.

For notifications, you may be able to have different notification settings for situations like driving, working, sleeping, or even a custom category, and you’ll be able to flip those on as you need to. You might also be able to set automatic replies based on which notification setting you’re currently using, like what you can do now with Do Not Disturb while driving mode. Personally, I’m hoping iOS 15 will let me allow notifications from a select few people while silencing just about everything else.

As for iMessages, Apple is apparently working on features to make it act like “more of a social network” to compete with Facebook’s WhatsApp, Bloomberg said, but those features are still “early in development” and could be announced at a later date.

Apple also plans to add a feature that shows you apps that are silently collecting data about you, continuing the company’s trend of adding privacy-focused updates to its operating systems.

For iPadOS 15, you can apparently expect a major update to the homescreen, including the ability to put widgets anywhere you want. And with Apple just introducing the new M1-powered iPad Pros, here’s hoping we see some new upgrades to take advantage of the new chip.

In May, Apple also announced a lot of new accessibility features coming to Apple’s operating systems, such as improvements in iOS to VoiceOver, support for bidirectional hearing aids, a built-in background sounds player, and new Memoji customizations like cochlear implants. Apple said these features would arrive “later this year,” which suggests they’ll be included in iOS 15.

We don’t know much about macOS, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 — but we could see a new “homeOS”

We haven’t heard all that much about upcoming software updates for the Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Apple is cooking up. One tidbit: macOS could be a “more minor” update, Bloomberg says. That wouldn’t be too much of a surprise, given that the macOS operating system got a big overhaul with Big Sur last year.

However, we could see the introduction of a brand-new operating system called “homeOS,” which was recently mentioned in and later removed from an Apple job listing. While it’s unclear exactly which devices this OS is for, perhaps it will work on Apple’s home-focused products like the Apple TV and HomePod Mini.

Photo by Alexander Kramer for The Verge

New, redesigned MacBook Pros and a new Apple CPU could be announced

Apple doesn’t always introduce new hardware at WWDC, but this year, new MacBook Pros seem like a possibility. In a May 18th report, Bloomberg said that new MacBook Pros might arrive “as soon as early this summer,” which could indicate an announcement at WWDC.

These new laptops would have new Apple-designed processors that would “greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips,” according to Bloomberg. The M1 is already pretty dang good, so it sounds like these new chips could be even more impressive.

Apple is apparently planning on releasing two chips for the new Pros. Both should have eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient cores, while leaving you with the option of either 16 or 32 graphics cores. (By comparison, the M1’s CPU has four high-performance and four energy-efficient cores, while its GPU is offered with either seven or eight cores.) You’ll probably also be able to spec the laptops with as much as 64GB of memory, up from a max of 16GB on M1-equipped computers.

The new laptops should be offered with either 14-inch or 16-inch screens and those screens could have “brighter, higher contrast” displays, according to a Bloomberg report from January. The laptops may also have a new design with flat edges as in the iPhone 12, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in January. I’m curious to see what that design might look like in practice — I worry that the hard edges could be uncomfortable if you have the laptop on your lap.

The best rumor is that the new design may also mark the return of some of the ports and features that were taken away with the now-infamous 2016 MacBook Pro redesign, including a MagSafe charger, an HDMI port, and an SD card slot, Bloomberg said in its May report. And, according to Kuo, the OLED Touch Bar currently found on Intel-based MacBook Pros will apparently be removed in favor of physical function keys.

We could see at least one other new Mac

While it seems like MacBook Pros are the only new hardware we’ll be seeing at WWDC this year, that hasn’t stopped some other Mac rumors from swirling lately, and there’s always the chance Apple could announce more at its big event. According to Bloomberg, Apple also has “a revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro, and an all-new Mac Pro workstation” in the works as well as a “higher-end Mac Mini desktop and larger iMac,” all of which would be powered by Apple’s custom silicon.

The new Mac Mini may have the same chip as the new MacBook Pros. The new Mac Pro could be a beast, with processors that are “either twice or four times as powerful as the new high-end MacBook Pro chip.”

And the redesigned “higher-end” MacBook Air could arrive as early as the end of this year. Frankly, I hope that refreshed Air arrives even later. I just bought the M1-equipped Air and it’s one of the best computers I’ve ever used, but I have a bad feeling I’ll be first in line to buy a redesigned and more capable Air anyway. (Especially if it gets the MagSafe charger that’s rumored for the new Pros.)

Apple might have dropped a hint about its AR / VR headset

Apple has long been rumored to have a mixed reality headset in the works, and recently, we’ve learned a few more potential details about it. The headset might be very expensive — approximately $3,000, according to one report — though it could be packed with 8K displays, more than a dozen cameras to track hand movements and capture footage, and might weigh less than an iPhone, too.

While the headset could be a ways out, as it’s not expected to ship until 2022 at the earliest, a few suspicious details in Apple’s WWDC promotional images may be hinting toward some kind of reveal of Apple’s upcoming headset or the software on which it runs.

Check out this image below (that I also used at the top of this post), which Apple released alongside the announcement of WWDC in March. Notice the way the app icons are reflected in the glasses — I could imagine some sort of mixed reality headset showing icons in front of your eyes in a similar way.

Those icons sure are reflected in an interesting spot.

Image: Apple

Apple continued that reflections motif with new images released in May — you can see things from the laptop screens reflected in all of the eyes of the Memojis.

Look at those reflections.

Image: Apple

Now, these reflections may just be Apple’s artists flexing their design chops. And if I had to guess, given how far out a rumored mixed reality headset is, I don’t think we’re going to see anything about it at WWDC this year.

But Apple has surprised us in the past, and maybe these images are an indication of one more thing Apple has in store for WWDC.

Xgimi Halo

Our Verdict

The specs and feature highlights are appealing but the Halo falls short when it comes to subtlety

For

Excellent black depth
Bright for the money
Handy portable features

Against

Blunt contrast control
Poor speaker placement

If you’ve ever had to pull an all-nighter for work, then you’ll know the taste of the 4am cup of coffee – strong and effective, much like the Xgimi Halo portable projector. Subtlety is not its strongest suit, but it most certainly gets the job done.

Chinese brand Xgimi has been making smart projectors and laser TVs since 2013. Now armed with an impressive array of seven portable projectors, ranging from standard-definition up to 4K, it’s here to take on Epson, BenQ and, most notably, Anker Nebula as the go-to brand for your all-in-one big screen needs.

The Xgimi Halo is just about the midpoint of the series. With its wireless speaker-sized frame, built-in battery, 800 ANSI-lumens LED light source and 1080p HDR output, it could be the home and away portable projector that meets all your needs.

Build

(Image credit: Future)

Squint and you could be forgiven for mistaking the Xgimi Halo for an aluminium Sonos One, though the Halo is a little larger at 11cm tall and 15cm wide, and it weighs 1.6kg. It’s about as large as you’d want a portable projector to be before it becomes a hassle to carry around.

Xgimi Halo tech specs

(Image credit: Future)

Resolution 1080p, HDR, 4K input support

Internal storage 16GB

Brightness 800 ANSI Lumens

Throw ratio 1.2:1

Battery life 2-4 hours

Dimensions (hwd) 11 x 15 x 17cm

Weight 1.6kg

Inside is a 2x 5W Harman Kardon sound system and a DLP projector set-up with a 0.33in DMD (digital micromirror device) at its core. The LED light source is rated to last for 30,000 hours of viewing which translates as eight hours of use per day for the next 10 years – hopefully enough for almost everybody’s needs.

The light is focused by a fixed lens with a 1.2:1 throw ratio that can produce a picture of between 30 and 300in, with a 100in image possible at a distance of 2.67m.

On the outside, there is a single HDMI port (ARC-enabled), a USB and a 3.5mm headphones socket. You can plug in most games consoles, disc players and external speakers, and play files on USB sticks, hard drives, and even from the 16GB of internal storage space. Two-way Bluetooth is available, too, so you can play music through the Halo sound system from your phone or output the projector’s audio signal to a bigger external wireless speaker.

Control of all this and more is through the rather tasteful voice remote control. It includes buttons for direct access to the settings menu and input selection as well as the usual navigation, volume and focus controls too.

There are two other helpful items included. The first is a built-in battery that offers two to four hours of video use, depending on brightness settings, and eight hours of audio playback. Also, tucked underneath is a little kickstand that is useful for angling the Halo up to the right position. The weight of the machine feels quite a lot for a little flap like this and, though it’s fine during our testing, we’re not convinced it would hold up in the longer term.

Features

(Image credit: Future)

Like many portable smart projectors, the Halo uses Google’s Android TV 9.0 OS to take care of the apps and menus. Google Assistant provides an effective voice search, and there is also the Chromecast screen sharing technology to fill in most app gaps.

There are a fair few of those, with Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Apple TV, ITV Player, All 4, Now, Apple Music and BBC Sounds all missing. Chromecast can’t stream the Apple services but there are other, free Android TV apps available to help mirror content from iOS.

Setting up the picture projection itself couldn’t be easier. The Halo is fitted with autofocus and auto-keystone. Each time you turn it on, or when its internal gyroscopes detect that you’ve moved it, the 10,000-point AF system springs into life and produces something close to the best possible image, with an impressive keystone correction of up to +/-40 degrees vertically and horizontally.

Like most portables, the Halo runs far quieter than a traditional home cinema projector. It’s rated at less than 30dB and we’re never once distracted by the sound during testing. It’s also 3D-enabled. All you need is some content and a pair of active shutter glasses.

Picture

(Image credit: Future)

The minute you switch on the Halo, you get a good idea of just how bright this projector can go. There’s certainly less luminance on the table than with traditional home cinema projectors, but the Halo is a clear step ahead of the entry-level portables, such as the Anker Nebula Mars 2, and pretty much on a par with the more expensive Epson EF-12.

The big, white Xgimi logo is quite blinding with the lights off. We don’t struggle to see what’s going on when we add some ambient lighting and that bodes well for outdoor cinema use, as well as watching sports with friends.

Popping Bumblebee on 4K Blu-ray into our player, that translates to a good, strong picture with plenty of colour saturation. The early scene at the boardwalk funfair is a real treat. The sky is a beautiful sapphire blue, the candyfloss a brilliant synthetic pink and the paintwork of the 1980s cars is a line-up of some wonderful teals, burnt oranges and assorted metallics. At its best, the Halo even has enough skill with colour handling to have skin tones not look out of place either.

However, when the light levels drop, the Halo comes unstuck. Black depth itself is decent, but the detail within those dark zones is scant. The Standard preset gets the most out of the shadows, but even so, we struggle to find much in the way of individual hair strands on Charlie’s head as she rides her scooter off to the scrapyard.

There are similar problems in other areas of this tonally mixed scene. The brightness in the sky behind her is quite blown-out for whites and the shadows in the foreground are strong patches rather than careful shades. There just isn’t enough care in handling the contrast on offer.

The contrast problem is particularly hard going with a film that has any kind of added aesthetic such as Fury in Full HD. The grainy WWII drama is a hard watch on the Halo and there aren’t enough adjustments available to get a picture that’s consistently bright and detailed.

One moment, we have the external scene of the ruined German town square exactly where we want it – some texture to the masonry, a sense of daytime – and the next we’re plunged into a chequerboard of jarring light levels in the apartments where the dead Nazi officers are slumped in their chairs.

It’s even more problematic with standard-def content. We watch Up In The Air on DVD and the upscaling is handled relatively well. Any noise is easily reduced by taking the sharpness setting down and applying a light touch to the Noise Filter, but that heavy contrast is tough to take, with detail even thinner on the ground than before.

The Halo struggles to produce any difference in the blocks of black or navy blue in the suits of the business people in this film. The moment the characters sit on any dark furniture, everything bleeds together and half of each frame can be lost. As impressive as this projector can be at times, at the first sign of a difficult frame the Halo’s big, punchy strengths turn out to also be its most significant weaknesses.

Sound

(Image credit: Future)

Sound is a genuine consideration when buying a portable projector. While we’d always recommend upping the ante with a soundbar, headphones or wireless speaker, the 2x 5W Harman Kardon sound system in the Xgimi Halo is largely well appointed and makes an acceptable stopgap for AV and music listening needs.

The Bumblebee soundtrack is a pleasure to listen to through the projector alone. Steve Winwood’s Higher Love provides a real moment of joy as Charlie drives away in her first car, thanks to the decent dynamic ability of the system. There’s plenty of weight and a clear tonal balance that never threatens to get too bright even when we push the volume towards its limits.

Unfortunately, Xgimi has chosen to have the drivers facing forwards on the Halo and that seems an odd choice. The throw distance means you’ll most likely be sitting behind this projector and so the sound will be going the wrong direction. It makes the audio more muffled than it should be but, even in front of the Halo, it is still a touch soft and lacking a little precision compared with the Epson EF-12.

The clicks and whirrs aren’t quite as crisp as they could be when Bumblebee transforms from car to robot in the garage. There is some good spatial sense to the sound as the yellow bot’s metal parts unfold. Details might be placed more clearly in the soundscape if the Halo had a little more organisational know-how.

For this price, it’s the dynamic ability we’re most pleased with. Listening to Know Your Enemy by Rage Against The Machine, there are plenty of dramatic ups and downs and appropriate attacks and crescendos to make the song exciting.

Verdict

The Xgimi Halo makes a good stab at a serious step-up device from entry-level portable projectors, but it doesn’t quite reach a rich and complex level of performance.

Its brightness, battery, storage, speakers and connectivity options mean that, at first glance, it looks the part of a punchy and convenient travel projector. It’s still small enough to throw into your bag, but big enough to give some impact around the house or even in the garden.

But, while it is a decent option for social watching situations, its picture quality just isn’t up to the same standards as those around it. Spend a bit more on the Epson EF-12 and you get a far more sophisticated portable projector. If you need something with a built-in battery, then the Anker Nebula range seems to provide more image subtlety and at a lower price too.

SCORES

Picture 3
Sound 3
Features 4

MORE:

Read our guide to the best projectors

Read our Epson EF-12 review

Read our Epson EH-TW650 review

Google Pixel Buds A-Series review: price is everything

The new Pixel Buds A are available in a dark green color

The $99 Pixel Buds are a better buy than their pricier predecessors

With the new, awkwardly named Pixel Buds A-Series, Google is trying to do more than merely introduce a much cheaper set of true wireless earbuds: the company wants to get it right this time — and get it right for under $100. Google’s second-generation Pixel Buds were certainly an improvement over the company’s original wireless earbuds; let us never forget the most overly intricate carrying case of all time. But the 2020 earbuds came with issues of their own. At the top of that list were concerns with stability. Google never managed to get the two Pixel Buds connected as reliably as many competitors, and some owners still complain of audio dropouts even after numerous firmware updates.

In several ways, Google has succeeded at its goal. The $99 Pixel Buds A-Series are more comfortable to wear over longer stretches of time than the pricier earbuds. They retain the same enjoyable sound quality, and hands-free “Hey Google” access to Google Assistant and features like real-time language translation are still useful tricks to have at your disposal. The carrying case is just as fun to fidget with as before (though it lost wireless charging) and has the same satisfying thunk when you close it. Google promises the same five hours of continuous battery life, with a total of 24 hours when you include case recharges.

The bad news is that Google didn’t fully overcome the connectivity issues, though it made some improvement. I recently talked with Google’s Sandeep Waraich, who went over some of the changes made to the A-Series buds that were meant to enhance wireless reliability. Each earbud connects individually to the source device. Both the antenna and chipset architectures were optimized for stronger transmission power and increased range to avoid cross-body audio dropouts. There’s even an all-new chipset inside, though Google declined to tell me who manufactures it.

But in my experience so far, the Pixel Buds A-Series still have more occasional blips and audio interruptions than those from many competitors. It’s not as much of a glaring problem as before, and I really only encountered it on the move (and on busy streets with plenty of wireless interference), but it’s still something you’ll run into at times. But I find that it’s easier to tolerate things like this for $99 than the $179 that Google still asks for the 2020 Pixel Buds.

Google also told me about some subtle improvements it made to the physical design. The A-Series earbuds look nearly identical to the 2020 Pixel Buds, but according to Waraich, the nonremovable “stabilizer arc” — a source of discomfort last time after prolonged listening — has been made softer and smaller than before. I’ve got large ears, and it seems like the hook never settles into the folds of my ear the way it’s meant to, but the Pixel Buds A-Series sit snug and stable regardless.

The Pixel Buds A-Series look just like the regular Pixel Buds.

Google also shaved off a few milligrams of weight from each earbud. The Pixel Buds A-Series come in either white or olive green, and the inside of the carrying case is now color matched to whichever earbuds you get. In the ear, the Pixel Buds continue to have a very discreet, flush style and can be hard to spot when looking at someone head-on.

They still have a discreet design that sits flush against your ear and doesn’t stick out far.

The acoustic architecture is unchanged, so the sound signature between the Pixel Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series is very consistent. That’s a good thing. Google aims for full, natural audio reproduction, and that’s what you get from these earbuds and their 12-millimeter drivers. You can still enable the “bass boost” option in settings to give the low end some added oomph. Even with bass boost active, the Pixel Buds don’t match the boominess of something like the Jabra Elite 75ts or Sony’s WF-XB700s. Still, there’s a level of clarity that outshines many earbuds that sell at the $100 mark. Waraich told me that Google increased overall volume levels across the board after some customers found the 2020 Pixel Buds couldn’t crank as high as they’d hoped.

The carrying case is also similar, though this one lacks wireless charging.

But although the Pixel Buds A-Series can get louder, they still have to contend with a lot of the outside world. Like the previous model, these A-Series earbuds just aren’t very good at noise isolation. While working from the outdoor seating area at my local coffee shop, I could hear an annoying level of traffic at all times. I think it partially comes down to their vented, airy design, but Google seems to struggle with this more than other companies.

Google says it actually tweaked the spatial vents to allow less outside noise in, but it’s still a noticeable downside of these earbuds. I think it’s inherently got something to do with the fit and “gentle” in-ear seal that Google had in mind with the design. What’s become clear to me is that the next flagship Pixel Buds really need some form of active noise cancellation to counteract this. I know there are people who prefer some awareness of what’s happening around them, but you get a little too much of that with the Pixel Buds.

I already mentioned the loss of wireless charging, but other sacrifices that Google made to hit the $99 price aren’t as obvious. The swipe forward / back gestures that let you easily control volume on the Pixel Buds are gone; now you’re limited to just taps for track controls. The A-Series earbuds also ditch the “experimental” attention alerts feature that could detect specific sounds like sirens, dog barks, or a baby crying. And the LED that was on the inside of the Pixel Buds case (to indicate charge status of the buds) is also history. These omissions make sense to me, and Google has at least preserved other important vitals like IPX4 water and sweat resistance. Voice calls also remain a Pixel Buds strength on the A-Series, with dual beamforming mics that do a good job of plucking your voice out of noisy environments and maintaining clarity during phone chats or work conference calls. Voice commands to Google Assistant were also recognized loud and clear.

The “adaptive sound” feature, which automatically adjusts volume based on your surroundings, is also carried over from the 2020 Pixel Buds. It works reasonably well and only activates when there are sustained changes in ambient noise as you move between different locations, but I’m old-school and prefer controlling volume myself rather than letting algorithms do it. The Pixel Buds A-Series still support Android’s Fast Pair feature for quick setup. On Pixel smartphones, the companion app is built in, but you can also grab it from the Play Store on other Android phones. With it, you can locate your earbuds, toggle settings like bass boost and in-ear detection (another thing Google didn’t skimp on), or check battery levels for the earbuds and case. No such app exists for iOS, however.

By holding onto a lot of what worked best on the 2020 Pixel Buds — namely sound quality and hands-free voice controls — and improving other parts that didn’t, Google has ended up with an appealing set of $99 earbuds. The Pixel Buds A-Series haven’t fully stamped out the biggest issue that dragged down their pricier older sibling, and the level of outside noise your tunes compete against will turn some people away. But even with some of the things Google left out, you’re getting a better overall product for less money.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

Google is making it harder for Android apps to track you once you’ve opted out

It’s going to get harder for Android apps to track users who’ve opted out of receiving personalized ads, the Financial Times reports, after Google announced changes to how it’ll handle the unique device identifiers that allow marketers to track them between apps. Starting later this year, Google is cutting off access to these “Advertising IDs” after a user opts out, and will show developers a “string of zeros” in its place.

The news was announced in an email to Play Store developers, and Google has also updated its support page for Advertising IDs with the announcement. Google told developers the changes will “provide users with more control over their data, and help bolster security and privacy,” the Financial Times reports.

The change comes a few short months after Apple overhauled how advertising IDs work on iOS in an apparent attempt to compete with the new policy. Recently, Google also announced that it’s adding privacy info to its Play Store listings, mirroring a similar feature Apple added to its App Store last year, and is also limiting which apps can see what you have installed on your phone.

Users have long been able to opt out of personalized ads on Android (you can do so by heading into the Settings app, going into the Google menu, and selecting “Ads”), but it seems this doesn’t currently stop developers from being able to access your device’s advertising ID entirely. AdExchanger reports that apps have previously been able to use the identifier for non-advertising purposes like analytics and fraud prevention, and Google’s support page says it will announce an “alternate solution” for these use cases next month.

Google’s support page says that the rollout of the new policy will happen in phases. Android 12 devices will start seeing the change in “late 2021,” before it rolls out to all devices with Google Play early next year. XDA Developers reports that Google Play Services will also notify existing apps with access to your advertising ID and related data, so that this can be deleted where appropriate.

Although Google’s announcement follows hot on the heels of Apple’s own ad tracking changes, it’s not yet clear how similar the two approaches will be. Google’s support page still refers to the decision to stop ad tracking as an “opt out” process, while Apple’s changes effectively make tracking an opt-in decision. But regardless of how Google eventually handles the process, it’s another potentially huge shake-up for the digital advertising industry.

Spotify ‘Only You’ and ‘Blend’ features now live

(Image credit: Spotify)

Building on the success of its yearly ‘Wrapped’ feature, which gives subscribers a visualisation of their listening data, Spotify has launched ‘Only You’ – an in-app experience with listening statistics and personalised playlists.

‘Only You’ includes information such as ‘Your artist pairs’, highlighting a user’s diverse tastes; ‘Your Song Year’, showing favoured musical time periods and ‘Your Time of Day,’ which hones in on the artists are preferred at particular times of the day.

As well as individual stats, ‘Only You’ has some quirkier personalisation features including ‘Your dream dinner party,’ which prompts users to pick three artists they’d invite to a dinner party with Spotify then creating a mix for each artist. There’s also ‘Your Audio Birth Chart,’ showing users their ‘Sun artist’ (the person they listened to the most over the past six months), their ‘Moon artist’ (the artist that shows off their emotional side), and their ‘Rising artist’ (a recent discovery). Once created, both the ‘Audio Birth Chart’ and ‘Dream Dinner Party’ playlists will update daily.

While this kind of individual curation is the type of thing that we already expect from Spotify, by letting users share their statistics the streaming service could help bolster waning subscription numbers as the rate of new sign-ups slows with the end of the lockdown entertainment boom. According to Bloomberg, during the 2020 ‘Wrapped’ season Spotify’s stock rose by 16 per cent, so it stands to reason the company would hope to replicate some of that buzz year-round.

To try ‘Only You’, head to Spotify.com/OnlyYou or open the app where the experience will autoplay.

Alongside ‘Only You’, Spotify is also rolling out a feature called ‘Blend’, which lets two people merge their musical tastes into one shared playlist that gets updated daily.

To use ‘Blend’, just select ‘Create Blend’ in the ‘Made For You’ hub and then tap ‘Invite’ to generate an invitation that can be shared with another user with any tier of Spotify subscription.

‘Blend’ is currently in beta and only available on iOS and Android mobile.

MORE

Read our Spotify review

Spotify HiFi is missing something – but will it matter?

Which is the best music streaming service?

WhatsApp says accounts will soon be usable across up to four devices

WhatsApp has confirmed that its long-rumored multi-device support will be entering public beta in the coming months, allowing users to access their accounts from up to four linked devices. New “view once” and “disappearing mode” features were also officially announced. The news came in an interview between WABetaInfo and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp head Will Cathcart.

Cathcart stopped short of confirming reports that WhatsApp has an iPad app in development, but said that multi-device support will make WhatsApp on iPad a possibility.

As well as multi-device support, Zuckerberg also confirmed that WhatsApp is adding a new “view once” feature, which will allow users to send content that disappears after it’s been viewed. The service is also expanding its disappearing messages feature, which currently allows messages to be deleted after a set period of time. In the future, a new “disappearing mode” will let you turn on disappearing messages across all chat threads.

Facebook’s CEO confirmed that the multi-device feature will not compromise the end-to-end encryption that WhatsApp offers for messages sent between individuals. “It’ll still be end-to-end encrypted,” Zuckerberg wrote. “It’s been a big technical challenge to get all your messages and content to sync properly across devices even when your phone battery dies, but we’ve solved this and we’re looking forward to getting it out soon!”

WhatsApp did not confirm when the “view once” and “disappearing mode” features are expected to launch, but Cathcart said that multi-device support will be entering public beta “in the next month or two.”

Alongside multi-device support, WABetaInfo has also reported that WhatsApp is working on a new password-protected encrypted chat backups feature which could finally allow users to transfer their chat histories between iOS and Android devices. WABetaInfo has previously discovered numerous features before their official release, including adding contacts via QR codes and WhatsApp’s disappearing messages feature.

Philips Hue gets a sleeker new app rebuilt ‘from the ground up’

The Philips Hue app is getting a big update on Thursday. The team at Signify, which makes Hue lights, has rebuilt the app “from the ground up” to make it easier to use. The new version looks mostly the same as the existing app, but it has tweaks around the edges to make it quicker to access different controls.

One of the bigger changes is faster access to room controls. Now, when you tap on a room or zone, the app will present a grid of all the available lights and pre-set scenes so you can find them right away. In the prior version, you had to switch back and forth across different tabs that were easy to get lost in.

You’ll also now be able to add new lights from within the Room tab — not just the Settings menu — and if you’re a power user with multiple Hue bridges, the app will let you switch between them from a button on the main screen.

When you open a room, you’ll now see a grid of scene and light options.

Image: Signify

Signify is replacing the “routines” feature with a new “automations” tab, which is supposed to offer more advanced options for triggering your lights on and off. The app can also now take into consideration whether another person is already home when triggering “coming home” or “leaving home” automations, so the lights won’t all turn off just because the Hue app’s controller stepped out of the house.

The new app launches Thursday for iOS and Android. Signify says that later this summer, it’ll follow up with an update introducing “dynamic scenes” that allow lights to cycle through different colors over time.

An ongoing Apple Card outage may keep you from making payments or managing your card

The Apple Card is experiencing an outage today that may affect your ability to make payments, manage your card, and see recent transactions, according to Apple’s status page. Interruption in service appears to have started at 6:17AM PT today and is still ongoing over two hours later.

Apple’s credit card solution is managed almost entirely through the built-in wallet app in iOS, where users can pay off their credit card bill, see recent transactions, and make payments through Apple Pay. Apple says that all users are affected by today’s outage, though it’s not clear if every user will experience all of the possible issues the company has reported.

We’ve reached out to Apple for more information and will update if we learn more or the outage ends.

Huawei Watch 3 vs Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro: What’s changed?

(Pocket-lint) – Huawei’s latest watch has been announced, and is the first to launch officially running HarmonyOS, the new cross-category operating system designed to make multiple devices seamlessly connect with each other.

The manufacturer has built some great fitness tracking watches of late, including the previous flagship watch: the Watch GT 2 Pro. So, what’s changed between the last watch and the Watch 3? Let’s dive in.

Design

GT 2 Pro: 46.7 x 46.7 x 11.4mm – 52g
Watch 3: 46.2 x 46.2 x 12.15mm – 54g
Watch 3 Pro: 48 mm x 49.6 x 14mm – 63g
GT 2 Pro: Titanium, Sapphire glass and ceramic
Watch 3: Stainless steel, hardened glass and ceramic
Watch 3 Pro: Titanium, Sapphire glass and ceramic
All: Waterproof to 50m

All of Huawei’s watches are fully round and in basic terms they do look similar. They share similarities like having the same ceramic underside, with the same design for the optical sensors for reading your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation.

Where they differ is in the glass, metal and shape of the lens. For instance, both the GT 2 Pro and Watch 3 Pro have completely flat Sapphire crystal glass screens and titanium cases. The standard Watch 3 has curved hardened glass on top of stainless steel.

While all three have two buttons on the side, only the new Watch 3 and Watch 3 Pro feature a rotating crown which functions similarly to the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown. You can turn it or press it to control various functions and interface elements.

All of them are waterproof to a high level (up to 50m) and all three charge wirelessly using the same magnetic plastic cradle.

The one other thing worth noting is that the Watch 3 is the more compact of the three, but not by a huge amount. With a 46mm case, it’s hardly tiny. At 14mm, the Watch 3 Pro is clearly the thickest as well as being the largest.

Display

GT 2 Pro: 1.39-inch AMOLED screen
Watch 3 and 3 Pro: 1.43-inch AMOLED screen
GT 2 Pro: 454 x 454 resolution – 326ppi
Watch 3 and 3 Pro: 466 x 466 resolution – 326ppi

As mentioned, all three watches have completely round screens and they’re all AMOLED and have the same pixel density. There’s a difference in size though, with both the new Watch 3 models featuring a 1.43-inch panel versus 1.39-inches on the older one. That means skinnier bezels, not a bigger watch.

More importantly, however, they have refresh rates up to 60Hz, which means you’ll get smoother and more graphic rich images and animations on it compared to the GT 2 Pro. That – of course – also means it eats more battery (more on that later).

With a peak brightness of 1000nits, that means the watches will be easier to see in daylight too. From a hardware perspective, this is the biggest – or at least most noticeable – upgrade over the Watch GT 2 Pro.

Software and Fitness tracking

GT 2 Pro: LiteOS
Watch 3/3 Pro: HarmonyOS
All: GPS, Heart Rate, spO2, steps, sleep and stress tracking
Watch 3/3 Pro: Temperature sensor
Watch 3 Pro: Precise dual-GPS location
All: Compatible with iOS and Android through Huawei health

The Watch 3 and 3 Pro are the first watches to run HarmonyOS, that means a few things have changed when it comes to the interface and software, but key elements have remained the same.

Controls are similar, although you can now view apps in a grid and even use AppGallery to install them directly from your wrist. The other addition is a fall detection feature which can be set up to call an emergency contact when you fall and don’t respond within a certain time frame.

From a fitness and health perspective, the three watches are largely similar and capable of all-day tracking for things like heart-rate, spO2, stress, sleep and steps. The new sensor on the Watch 3 series also allows skin temperature sensing.

As for the Pro, that one has a dual-GPS mode which allows for much more precise tracking during runs and outdoor sessions to give you a more accurate distance reading and mapped route.

All three are compatible with Android, iOS and HarmonyOS devices using the Huawei Health app.

Performance and battery

GT 2 Pro: 14 days battery life
Watch 3: 3 days in smart mode, 14 days in ‘Ultra-long’
Watch 3 Pro: 5 days in smart mode, 21 days in ‘Ultra-long’
GT 2 Pro: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Watch 3/3 Pro: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and eSIM/4G

What’s interesting about the Watch 3 series’ is that it has – essentially – two modes of running. You can use it as a regular smartwatch and get either three or five days of battery, or kick it into ‘ultra-long’ mode and get either two or three weeks of battery life.

What this does, sort-of, is switch the software and capabilities so that it’s very much like the Lite OS software running on the Watch GT 2 Pro. Due to its lightweight software, Watch GT 2 Pro can get up to two weeks on a full battery.

Watch 3 – as well as having Wi-Fi and Bluetooth like the GT 2 Pro – has eSIM support. This enables 4G connection on networks that support it, allowing you to stream music, answer calls and see notifications. The only downside to this is that it’s only supported by a couple of Chinese networks currently with no news on planned expansion worldwide.

Price

GT 2 Pro: £249
Watch 3: £349
Watch 3 Pro: £499

With its higher-end internal hardware, revamped software, higher refresh screen and eSIM support it’s no surprise that the Watch 3 starts at a higher price than its predecessor.

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In the UK, the standard Watch 3 starts at £100 more than the GT 2 Pro’s original price at £349. Because it’s no longer new, you can now find the GT 2 Pro even cheaper without too much trouble. The Watch 3 Pro is a pound short of £500.

Conclusion

When it comes to fitness and health tracking, there’s little reason to go for the Watch 3 over the Watch GT 2 Pro. It does mostly the same stuff which is then display in the same way on the watch and in your smartphone app.

Where the Watch 3 comes into its own is when it comes to the display and the richer graphics and interactions on that screen. It’s starting to feel much more like a proper smartwatch and less like a rebadged fitness tracker. With a built-in eSIM and potential to stream music and answer calls away from your phone, that’s freedom you don’t get from the Watch GT 2 Pro. Sadly though, that’s not yet available outside China.

Writing by Cam Bunton.

Huawei announces HarmonyOS update for its smartphones

Huawei has announced that its HarmonyOS operating system is coming to its smartphones via a forthcoming update. Huawei’s consumer business CEO Richard Yu says the company is updating around 100 of its devices globally to the new operating system, which also includes tablets like the MatePad Pro. In theory, it’s a big change from its previous phones, which have run the open-source version of Android with Huawei’s own services replacing the Google software it’s been unable to include on new devices as a result of US sanctions.

HarmonyOS will initially come to recent flagships like the Mate 40, P40, and Mate 30 series, before releasing on more devices later in the year. Older phones like the Mate 9, Mate 10, P20, and P10 will receive the update in the first half of next year, the company says.

The company advertises that HarmonyOS allows its phones to offer more seamless connectivity across different devices, including easier pairing with compatible headphones and speakers via a drag-and-drop interface. There’s also improved support for homescreen widgets, Huawei says, which have a similar look to what we saw with Apple’s iOS 14 last year. The operating system is also said to be better at returning to previously opened apps without losing your place.

The Chinese tech giant first announced HarmonyOS in 2019, and the first device announced with the operating system was the Vision TV from its then-sub brand Honor (it later sold off the brand due to the pressures created by ongoing US sanctions). However, at last year’s Huawei developer conference, its consumer business CEO Richard Yu hinted that the operating system could appear on smartphones in 2021.

Despite being marketed as a brand-new operating system, reports have suggested that HarmonyOS shares a lot of code with the open-source version of Android that it’s replacing. Earlier this year, Ars Technica did a deep dive into HarmonyOS, and reported that it “is essentially an Android fork.” Huawei did not respond to our requests for comment on the report.

As well as phones, Huawei has also announced new MatePad tablets running HarmonyOS, as well as the new HarmonyOS-powered Huawei Watch 3 smartwatch.

Some Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless content is already showing up on the service

(Image credit: 0gniRincha, Twitter)

With Apple Music CD-quality, Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless streaming announced at no extra charge to Apple Music users (and at an unspecified date in June) certain users have reported actual lossless and hi-res icons appearing on the streaming service ahead of its official the launch.

With Apple’s annual (coronavirus permitting) Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicking off in just five days on 7th June, Apple may well be readying hi-res content for the big reveal and leaving a few early treats for its loyal users.

As first reported by Apple Insider, keyed up users hoping to spot a few early-access Easter eggs have allegedly discovered albums showing labels for Lossless or Dolby Atmos, and others are apparently being prompted to re-download albums for new formats.

What Hi-Fi? tried to follow suit but is unable to replicate any of these experiences. A user in Japan was apparently able to see a video EP with the labels for Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Lossless, and Apple Digital Master (main image, thank you @0gniRincha) while another subscriber in the Netherlands was prompted to download an album to experience it with Dolby Atmos with Lossless audio, although they claim that when they tried to do this, it didn’t actually download.

So what’s up with Apple Music? For a moment I got a popup saying I need to redownload an album to get Dolby Atmos. After doing so the music type went to HLS media. Now it’s back at streaming AACJune 1, 2021

Apple Music空間オーディオやロスレス、デジタルマスターはまだMVだけの模様 pic.twitter.com/sftu8kIUuMMay 31, 2021

The new features will require iOS 14.6 or later to work. Apple will actually offer three tiers of higher resolution audio: CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz), Apple Music Lossless (24-bit/48kHz), and Hi-Res Lossless (up to 24-bit/192kHz). You will be able to choose your quality through the Settings > Music > Audio Quality section of Apple Music.

At launch, all of Apple Music’s 75-million-strong music catalogue will be available in CD quality or Apple Music Lossless. Also on the day Apple officially releases the upgrade, 20 million tracks will be accessible in the highest quality Hi-Res Lossless format, with the whole catalogue following “by the end of 2021”.

With thousands of tracks arriving in Dolby Atmos too, could a few have slipped through the net and been leaked to some users early doors?

Apple Insider has also reported a fresh new discovery: all music videos in Apple Music now signify that they are playing with Apple’s proprietary Spatial Audio enabled within the Apple Music app – and the label for Dolby Atmos or Spatial Audio doesn’t have to appear for it to work. To try it out, when wearing your AirPods Max or AirPods Pro, listen to a music video and check the Spatial Audio setting in Control Center. If Spatial Audio is playing, the icon will be animating.

To see this icon, swipe down on the top right corner to reach Control Center, and long-press on the volume slider. The icon should appear in the bottom right of the display.

Apple has told What Hi-Fi? that post-launch, Apple Music Dolby Atmos will also work with third-party headphones – as long as you manually enable it. To do this, go into Settings on your iPhone or iPad and then to Music. A new Dolby Atmos option will be available. This is set to Automatic by default (which means Dolby Atmos tracks will play correctly when you’re listening via any W1- or H1-enabled pair of Apple or Beats headphones such as the AirPods Max, AirPods Pro or standard AirPods), but not when you’re using third-party headphones. However, if you switch this option to Always On, even these non-Apple headphones will play back the Dolby Atmos tracks correctly.

iOS 14.6 adds support for Apple Digital Master 24-bit files in Apple Music. This means that the majority of Gaga’s catalogue is now available in that format & labelled accordingly. The Fame Monster Video EP supports also Hi-Res Lossless & Dolby Atmos which enables Spatial Audio. pic.twitter.com/NJYQJr1jOmMay 25, 2021

Still no official date on the Apple Music Lossless launch, but Apple Music subscribers should mark the 7th-11th June in their diaries – and keep checking for those icons in albums from big-hitters such as Lady Gaga, Lil Nas X or Drake.

MORE:

Further good news: HomePod and HomePod Mini will support Apple Music Lossless

Check out 30 Apple Music tips, tricks and features

See also 10 Apple Music playlists to listen to right now

Twitter’s Fleets are getting Stories-like ads

Twitter said Tuesday it will start adding full-screen ads to Fleets, its disappearing tweets that sit in a row at the top of users’ mobile Twitter interface. Introduced last November, the Fleet format — a clone of Instagram and Snap’s Stories — has apparently been successful enough that Twitter now wants to try to make money from it.

“Fleet ads are full-screen billboards for advertisers,” Twitter senior product manager Justin Hoang and global product marketing manager Austin Evers wrote in a post announcing the ads. It’s partnering with a “handful” of advertisers in what it calls an “experiment,” making the Fleet ads visible to a limited group of US users on iOS and Android.

The ads support images and video in 9:16, and videos can be up to 30 seconds long. Brands can choose to add a “swipe up” call-to-action and will be able to access standard Twitter ad metrics, including impressions, profile visits, clicks, website visits, and other information.

Example of a Fleet ad from Wendy’s.

Image: Twitter

In April, Twitter reported that its ad revenue grew 32 percent year over year to $899 million, and total ad engagement rose 11 percent. Expanding its ads beyond users’ timelines, where people can easily scroll past without engaging, seems like the logical next step. Instagram, after all, has had ads in its Stories since 2017 and started putting ads in its TikTok clone Reels last month.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said during April’s Q1 earnings call with analysts that the company was still learning about who uses Fleets. “We started this product not to build a storage product within Twitter, but to solve the problem of people not wanting to tweet because they appear to be staying around too long,” he said, adding “we certainly have seen a different audience than we normally see, but we still have much to learn and a lot to figure out in terms of like, where it goes from here.”

Twitter is planning to closely study how vertical full-screen ads perform, not just for Fleet ads but possible future iterations of other full-screen formats, according to Hoang and Evers.

“We also believe that ads should be non-intrusive and bring value to people, so we’re focused on learning more about how people feel about and engage with this new placement,” the blog post states, adding that the company is planning to launch more Fleet updates soon to stickers and backgrounds.

Twitter has been on a tear announcing new features this spring, updating its warnings for potentially offensive tweets, improving its photo cropping algorithm to allow “taller” images, adding the ability for Android users to search their direct messages, and rolling out a Tip Jar feature for donations.

Twitter also acquired Scroll, the $5-per-month subscription service that removes ads from participating websites. And its long-awaited paid subscription service Twitter Blue may be coming soon as well.

X by Kygo Xellence review: Do these in-ears really excel?

(Pocket-lint) – It can be a little difficult to stand out from the crowd in the wireless earbuds world at the moment, whether you’re an established presence or a newcomer.

Best true wireless earbuds rated: Wire-free Bluetooth audio

Having a big name attached to your ‘buds could be a help though, and music producer Kygo has been making some waves with his headphones brand over the last couple of years.

The earbuds, called Xellence, are a creditable addition to his oeuvre. But in this bustling market are they particularly memorable?

Design

Plastic case and build
60g weight (including case)
Touch-sensitive controls

Unlike other audio brands named for or endorsed by celebrities, these earbuds from Kygo really don’t look too glaringly brash. Yes, there’s a repeated ‘X’ blazoned on both the case and each earbud, but it’s a logo subtle enough to blend in nicely, and aside from that these ‘buds look pretty normal – in a good way!

The best Lightning headphones 2021 for your iPhone or iPad

By Dan Grabham
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1 June 2021

The case is small and lightweight, built from plastic, and easy to pocket. It’s got indicator lights to let you know its charge level, and the earbuds clip in easily with the help of magnets. The case charges by USB Type-C – we’d have liked to see wireless charging, too, but that’s life.

One slight worry on our end is that the case’s lid, while sturdily hinged, is pretty thin – if there’s a potential point for breakages, this could be it. However, it’s satisfying to open and shut, so doesn’t feel fragile in the hands.

Moving to the earbuds, each has a round exterior that corkscrews in toward a silicone tip (with multiple sizes included). A twist gets each into your ear canal and we found them comfortable enough to wear for long periods. That said, those with smaller outer ears could find them a little chafey.

In terms of controls, the whole flat outside surface of each ‘bud is touch-sensitive. A tap on the left or right earbud will alter the volume of playback, while double-taps can pause (and unpause), while triple-taps can change noise-cancellation mode (or ‘ANC’ as it’s often called).

Each earbud also has a small button to its rear so that can activate your chosen voice assistant, but this is so awkwardly placed and hard to press when the ‘buds are in your ears that you’ll doubtless almost never use it.

That ‘X’ on each Kygo ‘bud has a backlit LED which looks fairly classy, but you can turn the lighting off easily if it doesn’t suit your style.

Overall this is a solid showing in design terms – there’s nothing here to redraw the lines for all wireless earbuds, but Xellence looks nice and feels good to use.

Sound quality

10mm drivers
Personalised sound with Mimi

When it comes to actually listening to music, Kygo’s Xellence ‘buds offer a fairly similar picture: it’s a solid performance, not that it rehapes the mould of sound potential. The sound stage here is entirely decent, with a richness that makes plenty of different genres sound warm and natural.

If you use the optional Bass Boost setting, you’ll get a welcome added oomph on the low-end, and while we didn’t find that highs got particularly defined, it’s still more than capable of punching through whatever playlist you throw at these ‘buds.

One nice twist on this is that the earbuds use sound personalisation in partnership with audio engineers Mimi. In the companion app, you can take a hearing test that takes a couple of minutes. It assesses how each of your ears receives different frequencies, then creates a custom EQ (equaliser) to make music as natural sounding as possible. It works nicely and you can really hear the difference if you toggle it on and off.

That’s further enhanced by decent ANC. There are three settings for Xellence – noise cancellation, ambient mode, and no cancellation. With cancellation on you’ll unsurprisingly get a more isolated sound, and we found that it did a very decent job of drowning out external sound without impacting our music.

Ambient mode boosts the volume of sounds around you using the included microphones. As is often the case, it works fine but is eerie and too distracting for prolonged use. With both turned off, meanwhile, the in-ear shape still gives solid passive isolation and you’ll save some battery life.

Best noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones for blocking out noise when you’re working from home

Earbuds aren’t just for music in modern life, though. Call quality is a key factor, and Kygo’s Xellence doesn’t excel here. Your voice will come through slightly muffled and echoey, sadly, meaning these aren’t a great pick for conference calls or long catch-ups.

Software and battery

10-hour battery life, 20 further hours in case
X by Kygo companion app
Bluetooth pairing

The aforementioned X by Kygo app is where you’ll get a bit of added control over these earbuds, and it’s a fairly slick affair. It’s easy to pair new earbuds through it (although this is also straightforward in your phone’s settings) and you can toggle between a bunch of settings.

This includes the Mimi sound personalisation test, changing the earbuds’ lights, turning the Bass Booster on, and adjusting ANC. You won’t necessarily find yourself opening it up all too often, but it’s a useful hub.

We found our connections over Bluetooth to be pretty strong and reliable, meanwhile, although leaving the room that your phone’s in can still be a risky affair.

On the battery front, meanwhile, you get a stated 10 hours of battery life that shrinks to 8 hours if you’re using ANC. The case adds 20 more hours to make for 30 total before you need to plug it in again – and those numbers line-up with our testing. That makes for battery life that isn’t the best in the industry but is solid enough to see you through most working days or journeys.

Verdict

Xellence delivers good sound quality, the sound personalisation is a bonus for those who use it, while active noise-cancellation does well enough in blocking out ambient sounds. The design is equally fine without standing out to excess – except maybe for those lights.

X by Kygo’s Xellence is a dead solid pair of wireless in-ears, then, but you’re unlikely to be blown away by any one particular element. Which isn’t deep criticism, but it does feel like something ‘X-tra’ would be needed for these ‘buds to really stand out in what’s a hugely crowded market.

Also consider

Apple AirPods Pro

If you don’t mind spending a bit more, and especially if you’re on iOS, Apple’s own in-ears are simply superb, offering all the software conveniences you could want, alongside extremely impressive sound and some of the best active noise-cancelling (ANC) you can find.

Read our full review

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Klipsch T5 II True Wireless

Alternatively, to keep the cost down, a slightly better-priced pair of earbuds can be found here from Klipsch. These don’t have active noise-cancellation (ANC), but they don’t really need it too badly. That feature absence explains their simply superb sound quality for the price.

Read our full review

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Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe.

Apple delays Podcasts subscriptions to June

Apple is delaying the launch of its upcoming Podcasts subscriptions until June, the company announced in an email sent to creators Friday (via 9to5Mac). The service was previously set to launch this month.

Apple’s Podcasts subscriptions will allow people to subscribe to participating podcasts to get extra perks like ad-free listening or early access to episodes. In April, Apple said the subscriptions would launch in 170 countries, and that initial partners include Pushkin Industries and NPR.

The shifted launch comes as some creators using Apple Podcasts have recently run into some issues, such as being unable to log in to Apple’s Podcast Connect portal or seeing a delay in the availability of new episodes. In its email sent Friday, Apple said it has fixed the “disruptions” that presented problems.

You can read Apple’s full email to creators below, which the company shared with The Verge.

We’re writing to provide an update on the availability of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels. We’ve been delighted by the response to last month’s announcement and it’s exciting to see the hundreds of new subscriptions and channels submitted from creators across the globe every day.

To ensure we are delivering the best experience for creators and listeners, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels will now launch in June. We will communicate further updates on availability, and best practices to help you prepare your subscriptions and channels, through this newsletter.

Over the last few weeks, some creators have experienced delays in the availability of their content and access to Apple Podcasts Connect. We’ve addressed these disruptions and encourage creators experiencing any issues to contact us.

We’ve also heard from listeners and made adjustments based on their feedback with iOS 14.6, which was released on Monday. We will introduce additional enhancements to Library in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your understanding. We can’t wait to see your new subscriptions and channels and we are looking forward to launching them to listeners around the world soon.

Sony launches motion-sensing music effects controller on Indiegogo

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a brand-new Sony product launching first on Indiegogo. Motion Sonic is, in the words of Sony’s campaign, “effects gear to control sound in sync with your motion for playing music.”

The Motion Sonic device itself is a small capsule that can slot into differently shaped rubber wristbands, sort of like a Fitbit. There’s a band that attaches to your wrist for use cases like playing guitar, and another wraps around the back of your hand and is better suited to playing keys.

What it actually does is allow you to link hand motions to specific musical effects. For example, you could set it to add a delay effect when you move fingers from left to right, or to bend pitch as you roll your wrist. These effects are all created and saved on an iOS app, then you need to connect your iPhone to your instrument with an audio interface. (It’s not compatible with Android.)

Here are some demonstrations:

Sony has actually had this project kicking around for quite a while — we tried out an early version at SXSW in 2017. Shortly after, Sony posted this interview with a designer and art director on the project, who attributed the initial idea to an engineer called Heesoon Kim. The Motion Sonic Indiegogo campaign now lists Kim as project lead, quoting him as saying “I believe we can create new entertainment never seen before with Motion Sonic and I’m so excited to create a new culture with you!”

Sony isn’t new to crowdfunding, but most of its projects to date — like the Reon Pocket wearable air conditioner — have been limited to its own First Flight site in Japan. Now that Motion Sonic is on Indiegogo, Sony will ship it to the US as well as its home market. The first 400 units will sell for 23,900 yen or $218, and the retail price is 27,200 yen or $248. The product is scheduled to ship in March next year.