Following the news that the U.S. has paused an International Trade Commission ban on imports of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, the company has resumed sales of both through its retail stores, with its best Apple Watch models coming back to Apple.com later on Thursday.
Apple is currently battling an ITC ban on the import and sale of both devices, after it was ruled to have infringed on patents owned by a company named Masimo relating to the blood oxygen monitoring technology in the Apple Watch. The company preemptively paused sales of both in anticipation that President Biden would not veto the measure. However, it has since appealed the ruling, and the US Court of Appeals has temporarily halted the ban. As such, Apple has brought both models back to its retail stores and will add them to its online outlet later today.
Bloomberg reports that Apple returned both models to shelves in its brick-and-mortar stores Wednesday and “would also resume online sales beginning Thursday by noon Pacific time.”
A brief pause
In a statement, the company said “Apple’s teams have worked tirelessly over many years to develop technology that empowers users with industry-leading health, wellness and safety features and we are pleased the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the exclusion order while it considers our request to stay the order pending our full appeal.”
According to the report, retail store sales are already underway, but it’ll be Saturday before the watch is widely available across the U.S.
In the meantime, Apple is working on a possible software fix that could change the technology used to measure blood oxygen and deliver the readings to users. The ban also impacts owners of older Apple Watch models, with the company unable to offer hardware replacements for faulty Series 6, 7, 8, and Apple Watch Ultra models.
With the Court of Appeals now involved, it’s possible a lengthy legal battle could decide the case, unless Apple meantime decides to adapt its technology so that it doesn’t infringe on Masimo’s IP, or both companies arrive at a settlement, something Masimo’s CEO has previously said seems unlikely.
In the last several weeks, Apple has been either the target of governmental investigations, or the main focus of letters sent to various agencies within the government requesting that a legal probe begin immediately. Those legal actions have been mostly taking place in either Europe or the U.S..
But on Wednesday, there was news that Japan would be joining this club: It appears that the Japanese government could enact legislation to force both Apple and Google to allow alternatives to their respective app stores. According to NikkeiAsia, “the plan is to allow the Japan Fair Trade Commission to impose fines for violations…the penalties would generally amount to around 6% of revenue earned from the problematic activities.” The financial news outlet also noted that the laws are not targeting Japanese companies, only “multinational firms.”
It appears that the regulations are still a work in progress, to be finalized this spring. NikkeiAsia says that currently, the laws are focusing primarily on four areas: app stores and payments, search, browsers, and operating systems.
Does Apple have a strategy for dealing with international antitrust laws?
The news of Japan drafting such antitrust legislation follows months of other legal action against Apple that have been taking place in other parts of the globe earlier this year:
Apple appealed the decision made by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which banned imports of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Apple also filed emergency stay on ban of those two watches.
Last week, in the U.S., more than a dozen tech advocacy groups sent a letter to the department of justice calling for an antitrust probe of Apple.
In September, the European Commission deemed Apple a “gatekeeper,” a designation which Apple disputes, under the Digital Markets Act.
In September, a Wall Street Journal report said that China had banned the use of iPhone for government officials at work.
Apple has been spending a lot of time over the last several weeks attempting to set up various deals with a number of high profile publishers for access to their material. But the partnerships wouldn’t be about licensing and republishing the partners’ content itself. Instead, Apple is looking to use the partner content in order to model and train generative AI systems, which could then create original content, of sorts.
But Apple hasn’t just been spending time developing the deals. Apparently, the Cupertino, California-tech giant could be spending as much as $50 million to license those articles from various news organizations, according to a recent New York Times story. The news outlets that Apple has been in talks with include Condé Nast, NBC News, and IAC.
It appears to be one of the ways that Apple hopes to catch up to what some of its competitors have been doing with Generative AI, which according to many experts will take a lot of effort on Apple’s part. However, the New York Times story noted that “Apple has been reluctant to take information from the internet, partly because of its commitment to privacy.” Apple’s competitors may not have been as careful about such concerns.
But creating generative AI apps isn’t the only way Apple appears to have fallen behind in the AI race.
Take Siri: When Siri first shipped on iPhone 4s in 2011, it was the world’s first large-scale, voice-powered, commercially available virtual assistant that used some AI-like elements. However, it was never considered a full-fledged AI system. Fast forward to today, and it appears that Apple needs to give Siri a drastic upgrade.
Some news publishers appear to be hesitant about partnering with Apple for training AI
Meanwhile, other companies are empowering their hardware with powerful AI-enhanced features. For example, this past September, Qualcomm launched a new line of Snapdragon chips that make a number of claims, including being able to run generative AI models with over 13 billion parameters on-device. Plus, the chips “expand Qualcomm’s AI leadership with 4.5 times faster AI processing power than competitors.”
Qualcomm and others have not only been making strides in publishing text-based content using generative AI, but also in content that produces images. For instance, this past spring, Qualcomm gave a powerful demonstration of one of its AI-empowered apps, Stable Diffusion, which a “is a text-to-image generative AI model capable of creating photorealistic images given any text input within tens of seconds.”
The model has over 1 billion parameters. What’s startling is that Qualcomm was able to get this to run on an Android smartphone this past year. What’s more, it wasn’t wirelessly connected, so it didn’t utilize cloud storage to run the AI model. Instead, it ran completely on the device.
However, in most cases, generative AI still takes a tremendous amount of hardware to run. So, next year, Apple is spending quite a bit on hardware for AI: Next year, a recent report says Apple will spend “nearly $5 billion on AI servers next year.” That’s roughly about 20,000 servers.
However, that same report notes reveals that Meta (which owns Facebooks) plans on buying 40,000 servers and Microsoft will purchase anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 servers to use for AI.
But there still might be ways that Apple can gain ground on Microsoft, Google, Qualcomm, and others. For example, a recently published paper, “LLM in a flash, ” shows that new research reveals how ChatGPT-like large language models could run on iPhones. Such a model could be used “on devices with limited RAM (or DRAM), like iPhones.” That might allow Apple to be a more powerful player in the brave new world of AI and generative AI apps.
Your iPad is the perfect Apple device for entertainment. While your Mac is your workhorse for day-to-day tasks and your iPhone is always with you as your wallet, your camera, and your social media companion, your iPad tends to be for those moments when you’re kicking back and relaxing on the sofa, watching a movie, or playing a game.
In fact, over the holiday period, you’re probably going to be using your iPad more than your other devices, so it makes sense to make sure that it’s in tip-top shape for the festive season and beyond. Follow these nine tips, and you can make sure that your iPad won’t let you down.
We’re going to be using iPadOS 17 for these tips. Most of the tips will work on earlier versions of iPadOS, too, but the menu options might be slightly different. If you haven’t upgraded your iPad to iPadOS 17 yet, then the holiday season is probably the perfect time to do it.
1. Follow the recommendations
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Your iPad doesn’t tend to fill up its storage capacity as frequently as your iPhone does because it’s not normally your main camera or day-to-day device. Space is still an important consideration, though, because if you get down to less than 1GB of free space, your iPad will start slowing down. We tend to use our iPads for watching and downloading movies, or we install some large games that we then forget about and never play. And don’t forget that if you’ve purchased a movie from Apple, you don’t have to keep it on your iPad — you can download it again at any time, so it makes sense to remove old movies. Head to Settings > General > Storage and look in the Recommendations section to see what your iPad advises you to do. In my case, my iPad recommended turning on offloading apps – this keeps their settings and data on your iPad but moves them off to the cloud, freeing up space. My iPad estimated that this could save me a massive 1GB of space, so I did it.
2. Delete old podcasts or try an alternative to Apple Podcasts
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Old podcasts you’ve listened to but left on your iPad are always repeat offenders for taking up unnecessary space. Click Settings and find Podcasts in the list on the left-hand side of the screen. Here, you can turn off Sync Library, which syncs your saved shows across devices. You can also change Automatically Download, which is set to ‘5 latest episodes’ by default — we’d recommend turning it off completely. If you want to take things further to save space, then consider using a different podcast app entirely – Apple Podcasts isn’t particularly good at saving space, so consider alternatives for your iPad like Spotify or Overcast.
3. Check your network connections
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
A lot of apps require frequent connection to the Internet to work, so if they can’t connect, or the connection is sluggish, then it’s going to slow everything down. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and make sure that you are actually connected to the Wi-Fi network you think you should be. This might sound odd, but in my house I have a powerline network upstairs, connected by ethernet to my router, so I can get a better reception in our bedrooms. However, I find that occasionally, my iPad will connect to that network by mistake when I’m sitting downstairs, even if I’m sitting next to my router!
If everything looks good in your Wi-Fi settings, then run an Internet speed test. Just go to https://fiber.google.com/speedtest/ and hit Go. If you’re on super-fast fiber-optic broadband, you need to be looking for download speeds of at least over 60 Mbps. If it’s less than that, then contact your internet provider.
4. Reduce motion effects
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Apple makes a big deal about its parallax effect on wallpapers, apps, and alerts in iPadOS, not to mention that iPadOS is full of screen transition animations, Siri animations, and more. However, all these things interfere with the performance of your iPad, and if you want to put a new spring in its step for 2024, then turning them off is an easy way to do it. Even if you don’t notice an immediate speed increase, you’ll definitely be using less battery power. To turn motion effects off, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion. There are all sorts of things you can turn off here, but Reduce Motion at the top of the list is the main one you’ll want to turn off.
5. Update to iPadOS 17
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
If you haven’t upgraded to iPadOS 17 yet, then what are you waiting for? You get all sorts of great benefits like a Health app, widgets on the Home screen, and the ability to customize your Lock Screen. The process is pretty simple — just go to Settings > Software Update, and your iPad will start looking for an update that works on your iPad. Once it’s found, you’ll be asked to download it, and then you get the choice of updating straight away or later that night. Remember to leave your iPad plugged in if you go for the overnight option.
6. Master multitasking
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
One major advantage of iPadOS 17 is that it gives you Apple’s best implementation of multitasking on the iPad to date. If you adopt this new way of working, it’s one of the best ways that we can think of to improve your iPad performance. To start multitasking, just open an app and tap on the multitasking button (three horizontal dots) at the top of the screen. You can then tap the Split View or Slide Over buttons.
The current app will slide over, and your Home Screen will appear. Now, you can tap a second app on your Home screen. If you choose Split View, then that app will appear side by side with the first app. If you choose Slide Over, then the second app opens in full screen, and the first app slides over to a smaller window.
It takes a bit of practice to get used to multitasking, but it’s definitely worth investing some time into becoming familiar with it. You can also use your Dock to help you multitask. When an app is open, just drag upwards from the bottom of the screen to make the Dock appear, then hold and drag an app out of the Dock to your main screen.
7. Turn off Background App Refresh
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
With Background App Refresh turned on your apps will check to see if there’s an update available for them periodically. While that’s quite a good idea, since it means your apps will always be updated, you might not want the performance hit that it entails.
Go to Settings > General, and you can choose to turn off Background App Refresh for all apps or just for some of them.
8. Install a third-party browser for better browsing
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
We tend just to assume that Safari is your only choice for web browsing on an iPad, but there are other options available. One browser we really like is Opera because it comes with built-in ad-blocking features. In fact, the first time you run it, you’ll be asked if you’d like to block ads.
Browsing the web with ad blocking turned on is a very different experience, but it’s not the end of Opera’s tricks. It also comes with an AI assistant called Aria as standard. All you need to do to use it is sign up for a free Opera account. It’s also got a built-in VPN for added security. With features like these on tap, you’ll be wondering why you stuck with Safari for so long!
9. Unstick crashed apps
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Occasionally, an app will malfunction, and there’s nothing you can do to get it to work. In these cases, you need to close it completely and open it again. To do this on an iPad that has a Home Button, simply double-click the button, and all your open apps will appear in a grid. Locate the app you’re having a problem with and swipe it off the top of the screen to close it. Now, when you open it again, it will reset itself.
If your iPad doesn’t have a Home Button, then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get to all your running apps. If this doesn’t fix the problem, you could try completely restarting your iPad. On iPads with a Home Button, press and hold the top button and either volume button, and on iPads without a Home Button, you simply press and hold the top button until a Power Off slider appears.
If you’re anything like us, then you use your Mac every day, for up to 8 hours at a time, and even though this faithful warrior shows up for us without fail we rarely give it a second thought. That’s the brilliance of Apple products – they just work (until they don’t), but that doesn’t mean they don’t need a little attention to stay in tip-top shape.
The holiday season is the perfect time to show your Mac a bit of love. It doesn’t need much attention from you, but an hour tending to its needs now will reap rewards in the long run. Follow these 10 tips, and you’ll ensure that your Mac takes 2024 in its stride.
Disclaimer: We’re not going to assume you have the latest macOS 14 Sonoma on your system for this article, but you need at least the version before (macOS 13 Ventura) to follow all the steps exactly as described here. Of course, you can do most of the same things we recommend in previous versions of macOS, but some of the menus will be labeled differently. If you’re still running macOS 12 Monterey, or earlier, then perhaps it’s about time to get into the modern world and update your operating system (see step 4). If your Mac can’t be upgraded to a more modern version of macOS, then give yourself a pat on the back for getting enormous value for money out of an old Mac that’s running for longer than it has any right to, and perhaps make sure your backups are up to date, just in case the worst should happen.
1. Check your free storage situation
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
The first thing you need to do is find out how much free space you have available on your Mac. Once your Mac gets near capacity, performance will tank, so you need to ensure there’s enough free space available for everything to run smoothly. You can’t even update macOS without enough free space to download the update, which is usually a few chunky GB in size. So, let’s find out what state your hard drive is in.
Head to System Settings (the easiest way to get there is to click the Apple menu button in the top left corner of the menu bar at the top of the screen). Click System Settings… > General > Storage. There’s a bar graph at the top of the window that shows you what is taking up space on your drive and how much free space you have left. As a general rule of thumb, you want to make sure you’ve got at least a fifth of your hard drive free.
2. Optimize your storage
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
If your free space is a little tight, you need to free some up. You can get easy wins in the storage wars by clicking on the Optimize button next to ‘Optimise Storage,’ which will remove movies and TV shows from your Mac that you’ve already watched in the Apple TV app. There’s also an option to turn on automatically emptying the recycle Bin there, and for storing files in iCloud – this is a good idea because it means your space-hogging full-resolution photos and videos get uploaded to your iCloud account, while low-res previews stay on your Mac. However, the viability of this approach depends on how much storage space you are renting from Apple as part of your iCloud subscription. If you are using the free 5GB subscription, then it’s not a viable option for you, but if you’ve got a subscription of 200GB or 2TB and over, then it’s a great choice.
3. Delete your old podcasts and large files
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Old podcasts cluttering up your Mac are another easy win for getting storage space back. Scroll down the list of apps under the Recommendations section of the Storage settings until you see Podcasts. Click the “i” icon next to it, and you’ll see a list of all the podcasts stored on your Mac. Select all of them by clicking on the first one in the list and then hitting [command] + [A] on your keyboard. They’ll all turn blue, indicating that they are selected. Now click the Delete button to reclaim all that space.
The other thing that’s worth doing is clicking on the “i” next to Documents. This lists all the files on your Mac in sections like Downloads and Large Files in size order, which is really handy. You might see something like a massive .zip file that you don’t need anymore that’s just taking up space and is ripe for deletion. Obviously, you can also click on the “i” next to Applications and remove any apps you no longer need or use.
4. Update to the latest macOS
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Now that you’ve freed up some hard drive space using a few simple maneuvers, we can start thinking about updating your operating system to the latest macOS version. If you’ve already done this, then skip to the next step, but if not, then this is the sort of thing that you should probably have done a while ago, but maybe you’ve not found the time to do it. Well, now you have some time, so let’s get it done.
macOS Sonoma is the latest Mac Software – version 14.2 – at the time of writing, so if you’re running anything less than that it’s time to update. Click on Software Update in Settings, and your Mac will take a quick look to see if there’s an update available for you and, if so, give you the option of downloading and installing it.
It’s always a good idea to ensure your Mac is backed up before you continue, just in case, so make sure your backup (I use Time Machine on an external hard drive) is up to date. Next, click ‘Upgrade Now’ to start the download process. Once downloaded, the update will begin, which usually requires at least one restart. There’s always a scary moment when your screen goes completely black, and your heart stops for a few beats before the familiar Apple logo appears, but that’s completely normal. After the restart, you’ll be running the latest version of macOS Sonoma. Spend a few minutes exploring the new features if you have time.
5. Purge your Login Items
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Now your Mac is up to date, it’s time to take a look at what you’ve got running on it. You’ve probably noticed that some programs start up automatically when you restart your Mac when, quite often, you don’t really need or want them to. Let’s do something about that because having them running in the background is slowing things down.
In System Settings, click on General, then Login Items. Here you can see any application that will open automatically when you start your Mac. If there’s anything you don’t want running, then select it and click the ‘-’ button to remove it. Further down in the window, you can see the apps that you’ve allowed to run in the background. These applications can perform tasks, like checking for updates, when the app isn’t open. The more you have running, the more your Mac’s performance will be impacted, so turn off the ones you don’t care about.
6. Check programs with Activity Monitor
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Now, we’re going to dig a little deeper under the skin of your Mac and find out why it might not be performing at its best. Open up the Finder and go to your Applications folder. Scroll down to the bottom until you find the Utilities folder, and in there, you’ll find Activity Monitor at the top – open it. Activity Monitor is a useful tool for determining what is taking up most of your CPU’s resources. It shows each running app on your Mac and the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) percentage it uses.
As you can see from the screenshot above, we noticed that a process called www.bbcgoodfood.com was using up 13.8% of our CPU time! Double-clicking on it revealed that it was running inside Safari. We tracked down the tab, and it was simply an article about how much water you should drink in a day, so there was no excuse for it to be so resource-hungry, and we closed the tab. Another way to use Activity Monitor is to click on the Energy tab and sort the apps by ‘12h power’ – this is a great way to see what apps really hammer your battery usage. If an app you don’t really use is near the top of the list, then close it.
7. Clear desktop clutter
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Over time we tend to end up with a messy desktop. We drag files there and forget about them, or take screenshots and they just sit there making the place look untidy. Pretty soon the whole desktop can look unmanageable. So, if your Mac Desktop looks as messy as the one above, then don’t worry, because by selecting one simple option, you can turn it into a desktop that looks like this:
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Boom! (As Steve Jobs would say). In one click you have a clear desktop. All you need to do is right-click on the desktop and select Use Stacks from the menu that appears. All the cluttered icons are then neatly filed into Stacks on the desktop for you, which are a bit like stacks of cards that open when clicked on. Nothing is removed and all your files are still accessible using the Finder as normal, but now your desktop looks a lot neater and is more organized.
8. Reduce or turn off graphics/visual effects
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Another thing that can impact your performance, especially on old Macs, is macOS’s visual effects. These are the cool effects that macOS uses when you drag things around and drop them into folders. Sure, they’re nice, but they use up your processing power. To turn them off, head over to the System Settings and click on Accessibility > Display. In the list, you’ll see an option to ‘Reduce motion.’ Turn this on.
9. Clear browser cache
(Image credit: Future / Apple)
Clearing your browser cache is one of those things that gets suggested to you whenever something isn’t quite working correctly in your web browser on your Mac, but it’s not always obvious how to do it. You should also be aware that you may have to log into all your websites that remember your username and password automatically again if you do it, so we’d save this as a last resort.
In Safari, go to the Safari menu, then Clear History. From the drop-down menu, choose a time period. In Chrome, go to the Chrome menu and choose ‘Clear browsing data…’ Make sure everything is selected, and again, choose a time period from the drop-down list and click ‘Clear data.’
10. Reset the PRAM
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
Things still not running smoothly on your Mac? As a last resort, we’d suggest resetting the PRAM. Resetting the PRAM is one of those mysterious things that your IT help desk at work is going to recommend you do when they have no idea what the problem is, and they’d quite like you to go away quickly. It might sound as useful as praying to the gods of IT to fix your Mac, but it actually resets some of the deep, deep settings inside your Mac in one easy step that doesn’t take too long and might just fix whatever problem you’re having.
PRAM stands for Parameter Random Access Memory, and stores key system preferences like time and date, volume, and startup disk selection (that’s one reason why it’s worth resetting the PRAM if your Mac won’t boot up, for instance). PRAM is non-volatile, so it doesn’t get forgotten whenever you turn off your computer. To reset it simply shut down your Mac, then restart it by pressing the power button. Then, quickly, hold down the [option] + [command] + [P] + [R] keys together. Keep holding them down until you hear the startup sound chime for the second time. Some newer Macs actually have NVRAM instead of PRAM, but the process for resetting it is identical.
This past summer you might remember the very funny portmanteau, “Barbieheimer,” which was used endlessly in the media. (In case you don’t remember, it referred to the two films, Warner Bros. Pictures’s “Barbie” and Universal Pictures’s “Oppenheimer,” which were released at the same time last July.).
Well, we have a new a portnanteau for you, now that the year is coming to an end. It’s “Warnermount” and it refers to the possible merger of two huge providers of media, streaming, and entertainment services: Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount.
According to the story Axios broke this past Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav had a meeting with the CEO of Paramount Global, Bob Bakish, on Tuesday in New York, where they spoke for several hours about the possibility of a merger. Both companies are big–but WBD is bigger: “WBD’s market value was around $29 billion as of Wednesday,” says Axios, “while Paramount’s was just over $10 billion, so any merger would not be of equals.” But such a merger would position the new company to better compete with Netflix and Disney+.
Will this merger help produce better original content or simply raise prices?
Another driver of the deal is that Paramount is under pressure to find a partner or buyer, since it’s currently saddled with a lot of debt. Axios also pointed out that the merger could “trigger further industry consolidation.” Since each company has many entities, the effects of this merger could be felt in a number of industries.
But there would most likely be some synergy in the streaming services, since both companies offer streaming services that offer original programming. For example, WBD’s streaming service is Max Originals and Paramount’s streaming service that offers originals is Paramount+. If the two were combined in just the right way, the resulting streaming service might overtake Apple TV+ and become the dominant streaming services in the industry.
At the moment, though, Apple TV+ still holds on the top spot for streaming services (one out of seven providers that stream original movies), according to Parrot Analytics. But Paramount+’s streaming service is just behind Apple, in the number 2 spot, and Max is in the number 4 spot. The Axios article also stated that, “WBD could use its international distribution footprint to boost Paramount’s franchises, while Paramount’s children’s programming assets could be essential to WBD’s long-term streaming ambitions.” If the merger succeeds, and the stars align, Apple TV+ could face a lot of competition from a new service that combines the best of both Paramount+ and Max.
But what might they call the new service: ParaMax? Or MaxMount? I guess we’ll first have to see if the merger happens.
The world of streaming services has become hyper-competitive as of late, with so many services vying for the latest comedies, dramas, limited-series offerings, as well as documentaries, sci-fi features, animated movies, musicals, and more. Yet despite the competition, this past year appears to be shaping up to be a blockbuster year for Apple TV+. That’s because, for starters, it increased its total viewship by 42%, year over year, as well as doubling the hours consumed by viewers.
What’s more, is that according to Deadline, it appears that Apple TV+ has achieved a number of impressive personal-best records: For instance, last week, “The Family Plan,” starring Mark Wahlberg debuted as the most viewed movie in Apple TV+ history, and that “The Morning Show,” featuring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, broke the record for a series, in which it increased its audience by 20%.
Apple TV+ seems on track to produce more in-demand shows in 2024.
The Deadline story also mentioned other impressive achievements, including that Apple’s series “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” premiered as the top first-season drama and that “Lessons in Chemistry” has become Apple TV+’s top limited series thus far.
But perhaps this increase in viewers in a variety of genres isn’t all that surprising given that in late September, Apple TV+ was named the best streaming service for original movies, beating out some very prominent streaming platforms, most notably Netflix, but also Hulu, Paramount+, Disney+ and others. Parrot Analytics, which compiled the data and created the report, said that from January 1, 2023 through August 26, 2023, Apple TV+ had the most in-demand shows available, according to Techradar.
While the iPhone is undoubtedly the product that was the first many people owned with an Apple logo on the back, it’s far from the first iconic product to come out of Cupertino. There was of course the Macintosh and then the iMac, but it’s the iPod that captured the imagination of millions around the globe and arguably turned Apple into the company it is today. And while the iPhone didn’t turn out to be an iPod that could make phone calls, the two will forever be linked.
Now, owners of even the most modern of iPhones can get a little bit of that iPod nostalgia each and every time they look at their smartphone thanks to a new wallpaper pack. The wallpapers are perfect for iPhone Lock Screens and give the effect of an iPod on-screen, complete with the infamous click wheel.
The wallpapers are available in multiple colors to match some of the most iconic iPods around, and some also include classic stickers that will remind some iPhone owners of their much-loved iPods from yesteryear. And whether it’s the latest iPhone 15 or something a little older, these wallpapers are going to look great.
Picture perfect
The wallpapers themselves are all available as a single “iPod Wallpapers Pack” that can be had from the Oliur store. They’re part of a collaboration with designer Shane Levine, and they look awesome.
“A very unique style wallpaper pack designed for the iPhone. Make your lockscreen look like a classic iPod,” the description reads. “There’s 12 high definition wallpapers in the pack, in various different colors. Some of them also include some classic stickers. The perfect wallpaper pack for iPod lovers.”
The pack of 12 wallpapers will set you back $14, and they’re available now as a single 58MB zip file. Buying them is the easy part, choosing which one you’re going to use is where things get complicated.
The wallpapers are designed in such a way that your iPhone’s clock will appear as if on the iPod’s screen, while there is also space for iPhone widgets to also look like they’re part of the design, too.
A little bit of history
While the first iPhone arrived in 2007, the iPod dates back to October 2001 when the very first model arrived. As of 2022 the iPod had sold an estimated 450 million units across various different iterations and generations. The classic iPod is the one that springs to mind for most people, but the iPod mini, iPod Shuffle, and of course the iPod touch were also part of the lineup.
Apple finally called time on the iPod in May 2022 with the end of the iPod touch lineup. “Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said at the time.
“Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
Now, a year or so later, we can all relive some of the iPod magic on our iPhones, all while enjoying the latest technology Apple’s best iPhones have to offer.
The Apple Watch is excellent for many reasons, from fitness tracking to pinging your lost iPhone. Apple Pay on Apple Watch is hugely underrated too, and the Snoopy Watch Face that arrived with watchOS 10 would be enough on its own to keep it on our wrists every day.
The Apple Watch is an information powerhouse though, especially if you pack it with apps that actually do something. We’ve rounded up the best Apple Watch apps out there, whether you want to play Snake like the cool kids did in 1998, or you’re looking to keep your day on track. Here are our top 50 Apple Watch apps to download right now.
Best productivity Apple Watch apps
Things 3
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Things 3 Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Cultured Code)
Things 3 is a great task manager on the iPhone, and its Apple Watch app makes tracking your day-to-day tasks simple. The primary screen in Things 3 puts your tasks for the day in front of you, which you can check off as you complete them right on your wrist. You can also tap on each task to get a little more detail or to move that task to the next day.
In an excellent, if small, piece of visual feedback, a circle under Today shows how many tasks you’ve completed, and continues to fill as you finish more to-dos. Adding an item to your list is also very simple. Just tap the + button and speak to your watch. When that task is created, you can tap on it to add a start date or deadline.
Reminders
Reminders Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple)
Apple’s native Reminders app has really come into its own in the last couple of years and it’s now significantly more useful than it was in the past. You can scroll easily through the coloured blocks representing your lists, or tap on a specific list to bring up the individual tasks within that list.
The Apple Watch app makes it nice and simple to mark tasks as completed directly from your wrist and it’s very easy to add new tasks to your lists too — though we do recommend using dictation rather than the tiny keyboard. For any scheduled Reminders, swipe up from the bottom of your Apple Watch screen on watchOS 10 and you can view the widget easily.
Todoist
Todoist Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Doist)
Todoist on iPhone is one of the best productivity apps out there, and its Apple Watch counterpart doesn’t disappoint. Keeping things very clean and simple, Todoist makes it very easy to mark tasks as completed directly from your wrist, while the main menu screen allows you to see all tasks within your Inbox, upcoming tasks, or tasks for the day in hand.
You can also choose to see a list of tasks by filter so depending on how organised you are with your filters and labels in the main iPhone app, the Apple Watch companion app for Todoist can really help you organise your day. As you might expect, you can also add tasks, and there’s a lovely completion ring too.
Streaks
Streaks Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Crunchy Bagel)
Streaks is the perfect Apple Watch app to download if you’re someone who is always saying things like ‘I need to drink more water’, ‘I need to do more exercise’ or ‘I need to floss more’. It’s designed to help you form good habits, tracking up to 24 tasks to complete each day, from walking the dog to brushing your pearly whites — all of which you can tick off straight from your wrist.
The aim is to build a streak of consecutive days and let us tell you, when you’ve started that streak, you won’t want to break it. You can also create negative tasks for breaking those naughty habits and the Streaks Apple Watch app interface is just beautiful with plenty of theme options so it looks good too.
Fantastical
Fantastical Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Flexibits)
Apple’s native Calendar app has improved significantly of late, but Fantastical on Apple Watch offers a clean, simple interface while taking calendaring to the next level. You can create new events or tasks directly from your Apple Watch, giving you more flexibility and reducing the number of times you need to pull your phone out of your pocket, plus the interface is wonderful.
If you use Apple’s Reminders app regularly, Fantastical is also great for its built-in Reminders integration. You can view all of your reminder lists, and check off tasks as they’re performed, and there’s compatibility with Todoist and Google Tasks too.
Grocery
Grocery Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Conrad Stoll)
Apple added shopping list capabilities to Reminders with iOS 17, but the Grocery app takes food shopping to the next level. There are the basics, like the ability to share lists with a partner, and items on your list appearing on your Apple Watch Face. Where Grocery comes into its own however, is its ability to learn the order in which you tick items off your list each time you shop, sorting your list into the right order for next time.
It will also detect multiple or duplicated items, which is great in theory, though there might be a reason chocolate is on the list twice. You can never have too much of it after all.
Just Press Record
Just Press Record Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Open Planet Software)
Record something on the fly without needing to touch your iPhone with Just Press Record. Just open up the app and tap the big red button with the microphone on it to start your recording. You can browse your recent recordings and make new ones and you can even record when you’re not connected to your iPhone. When you reconnect, just tap Outbox and send your recordings over to your phone.
Once your recordings are on your iPhone, everything you recorded on your Apple Watch can be synced with iCloud so you can access them on your iPad and Mac as well. It’s also possible to use Just Press Record to transcribe once on iPhone and there’s support for over 30 languages no matter what language your device is set to.
Any.do
Any.do Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Any.DO)
We do love a productivity app and the Any.do app is one of those apps that does it all — it’s a calendar, a planner, a task list organiser and a reminder app in one. The iPhone app is extensive, but the Apple Watch app has plenty of features too. The simple but effective interface allows you to tick off tasks on your task list, as well as mark alerts as done when they appear on your wrist.
You can also open up a task from your Apple Watch and view any sub-tasks associated with that task, making it easy to see what you need to do and what you have coming up on your list of things to get done.
Best health and fitness Apple Watch apps
SmartGym
SmartGym Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Mateus Abras)
SmartGym is designed to offer simple tracking of your workouts and progress, whether that’s the exercises you choose for each workout, the weight you lift, the routines you follow, or the workouts you have done in the past.
The Apple Watch version of the SmartGym app is designed to work independently of your iPhone and it enables you to keep track of your heart rate, distance and calories burned, use your session data to count towards closing your rings, and modify exercises from your wrist. There are over 620 pre-installed exercises in the main app, and you can also select workouts based on the equipment you have.
Workout
Workout Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple)
While there are many third party Apple Watch apps for fitness and exercise available — some of which we have selected in this list – the native Apple Watch Workout app is excellent. It lacks a couple of things, like readiness for working out, but it is very simple to use, offers an extensive range of workout options and the data provided during workouts is easy to read and digestible.
Whether you want to track dance or cycling, the Workout app on Apple Watch has something for everyone, it’s free to use, and there are plenty of settings available too, as well as the ability to change goals.
StepsApp Pedometer
StepsApp Pedometer Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / StepsApp)
Rather than focusing on step count, Apple uses Move and Exercise Rings to present how much you’ve moved in a day. If you like to aim for that 10,000 steps a day figure though, Apple’s native Workout app doesn’t really lend itself very well to that. This is where StepsApp Pedometer comes into play.
There’s automatic step counting as you would expect, but there are also great charts and animations that bring the data offered to life. You’ll also find workouts with Map Tracking, Heart Rate Zones and Insights, alongside day, week and month views so you can see how you’re doing when it comes to reaching those step goals.
Strava
Strava Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Strava)
Strava is one of the best apps out there for tracking your workouts, helping you get on track to a healthy and active lifestyle. The Strava Apple Watch app is also a fantastic companion to have on-the-go. You can track your runs, cycling rides, swims, and more.
The Apple Watch app is standalone, so you don’t even need to have your iPhone with you to track your activity with it. Information like distance and live pacing is recorded directly on the watch and you’ll see it as you go. Saving a workout is done with one button press, and everything will sync with your iPhone and Apple Health once it’s close by.
Peloton
Peloton Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Peloton)
The Peloton iPhone app is excellent, packed with plenty of workouts across a range of sectors, and the Apple Watch companion app doesn’t disappoint. You’ll need to start a workout on the iPhone app, but once started, you can see all your metrics at a glance on your wrist, from calories burned or distance travelled to heart rate and heart rate zones.
If you have Peloton equipment, like the Bike or Tread, you can use your Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor through the Peloton Apple Watch app too, which means you’ll get more accurate stats at the end of a workout.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / MyFitnessPal)
MyFitnessPal is a brilliant app for keeping track of your eating habits with a goal of helping you make smarter food choices. Do you need the third cookie? Probably not, even if it does taste exceptional. The MyFitnessPal Apple Watch app gives you a breakdown of how many calories you have consumed for the day, and how many you have left within your allowance, as well as a breakdown of your macros.
It will also take into account exercise for the day when calculating your calories. You do have to manually enter all food in the iPhone app, but the Apple Watch app is great for keeping an eye on your progress — and stopping you having that extra biscuit.
CARROT Fit
CARROT Fit Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Carrot)
CARROT Fit tries to inject personality into your workouts — and by personality, we, of course, mean a hostile robot that yells at you and calls you a “meatbag.” It specializes in small workouts with “7 Minutes in Hell” that condenses multiple high-intensity exercises into just seven minutes.
Just tap the big red Start button to begin your seven-minute workout. CARROT Fit will threaten, insult, and, when it’s in a nicer mood, try to bribe you to get the results it wants to see. You can customize a bit of what 7 Minutes in Hell throws at you, determine how long each exercise lasts, as well as how long the rest period is. When you’ve successfully completed a workout, you’ll be treated to app upgrades and funny rewards.
Pedometer++
Pedometer++ Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Cross Forward Consulting)
For those more interested in hitting a specific step count over closing their Apple Watch Rings, Pedometer++ is a great app to download. It’s simple, but it will allow you to see your step progress each day, whilst also allowing you to keep track of your daily and weekly step counts.
To find a weekly step count on Apple without a third party app, you have to dig into the Health app and it’s not possible to add steps as a complication on a Watch Face either. The Pedometer++ app enables both of these features however, and it will also present walking distance, active calories and heart rate data too, along with some nice looking maps.
Best sleep and wellbeing Apple Watch apps
Athlytic
Athlytic Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / MyndArc)
Athlytic uses all the data your Apple Watch collects on you and turns it into insights that can help you meet your health and fitness goals. Whilst Apple offers plenty of data within its Health app, not all of it is translatable. For example, Apple doesn’t offer a feature like Garmin’s Body Battery where it will tell you if you should be resting or exercising on a particular day.
Athlytic does though, and its Apple Watch app is not only gorgeous to look at, but there are plenty of features on board from workout options, exercise intensity and heart rate zones, to your readiness to train.
AutoSleep
AutoSleep Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Tantsissa)
Apple Watch can track your sleep without a third party app when you wear it to bed, but the AutoSleep app gives you a different set of metrics, along with some great additional features. On a basic level, it does everything you would expect, such as tracking your sleep duration, heart rate, blood oxygen and respiration rate whilst sleeping.
On a more advanced level though — and the reasons to download it — AutoSleep recommends a bedtime for the following evening based on your previous night’s sleep, it measures the quality and efficiency of your sleep and it offers a Readiness function too, indicating physical and mental stress. There’s also a Smart Alarm function to help you wake up in a lighter sleep and it measures the time it takes you to fall asleep too. It’s excellent.
Calm
Calm Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Calm)
Apple offers its own Mindfulness app, which has a number of great features within it, including the ability to log a mood, but the Calm app has a huge library of guided meditations, breathing exercises and stretching options. There are topics spanning Deep Sleep and Calming Anxiety to Managing Stress and Breaking Habits, which you can sign up to help you on your journey.
The Calm Apple Watch app itself has a Daily Calm program, Breathing Exercises, Morning and Evening Stretch workouts and you can start a Mindful Walking exercise straight from your wrist too, choosing how long you’d like to walk for. There’s also an Emergency Calm option you can start from your Apple Watch too.
Gentler Streak
Gentler Streak Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Gentler Stories)
Gentler Streak is refreshingly different from traditional workout apps, putting your wellbeing ahead of anything else. It’s designed to help you find a balance between exercise and rest — because the latter is just as important in case you didn’t know. The Gentler Streak Apple Watch app offers personalized suggestions for daily workouts filtered by type, duration and intensity — don’t worry rest is also included within this guidance — and you can monitor intensity during a workout with heart rate zones so you know when to pick it up or slow it down.
If the app tells you to rest then take the advice because it’s using your health metrics to determine that, and rest days make up part of your streak so you don’t need to worry about losing it just because you took a day on the sofa.
WaterMinder
WaterMinder Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Funn Media)
While not as flashy as other workout-tracking apps, WaterMinder still fulfils an important fitness function: keeping track of your hydration. Getting in a nice long run is great right up until you collapse on the sidewalk because you forgot that humans need water to survive. WaterMinder keeps you on top of that, letting you easily log your water intake with a single button tap on your Apple Watch.
Using your existing health data, WaterMinder determines how much water you should be drinking on any given day. With each entry in the app, you’ll be able to watch your progress towards your goal. The app has pre-filled buttons for six, eight, 14, and 17 ounces per entry, while you can also set a custom smaller or larger amount.
Headspace
Headspace Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Headspace)
The Headspace app is all about helping you stress less, sleep better and ultimately be happier overall. It’s designed for everyday use in order to help you make mindfulness a habit and it uses a streak-based reward system to encourage you, as well as a range of meditations and breath work exercises.
The Apple Watch version of the Headspace app offers easy access to features like Everyday Headspace, meditation basics and short and manageable workouts, such as 10 minutes of walking or running. You’ll also find short 3-minute mindful mediation sessions designed to fit into busy schedules, along with SOS sessions for easing stress during moments of anxiety.
Flo Period & Cycles Tracker
Flo Period & Cycles Tracker Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Flo Health)
The Flo Period & Cycle Tracker is a fully fledged app on iPhone but the Apple Watch companion app is great for a quick glance at what’s happening in your cycle. There’s of course plenty more data within the iPhone app that you can sift through to get a better understanding, though the Apple Watch version is perfect for adding symptoms and moods, as well as weight and getting a summary of your feelings that day.
It’s worth mentioning Flo added Flo for Partners to the main app so you can link up your Flo account with your other half so they can see your cycle and pregnancy updates.
Best travel Apple Watch apps
Citymapper
Citymapper Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Citymapper)
Citymapper is an excellent app for getting you around cities with public transport, presenting the quickest way to get to your chosen destination, whether that’s on a train, bus, tram, car, walking, or a combination. The Citymapper Apple Watch app lets you see the nearest transit lines close to you, wherever you are. You can input a destination and the app will provide you with step-by-step directions on what buses and trains to take. You can save favorite destinations, or add your Home or Work addresses for quick access.
The app will also let you know when your stop is approaching, how often the bus or train comes, and give you an ETA of when you’ll get there. It’s an absolute must if you’re in a large city.
Flighty
Flighty Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Global Flight, Airport, & Airline Status Tracker)
If you’re someone that travels a lot, or you have a family member that does, you’ll want to make sure you’ve dowloaded Flighty. It’s an exceptional flight tracker, but there’s plenty of other features too, from useful information about your upcoming flight — whether it’s on time and what gate you need to head to for example — as well as a view of flights your family and friends are on too.
The Flighty Apple Watch app is compatible with complications on some Apple Watch faces as well so you can get a quick breakdown of the information you need at a glance, such as when baggage has arrived.
App in the Air
App in the Air Apple Watch app screens (Image credit: Future / Aita)
The Apple Watch app for App in the Air is another great one for the frequent flyers out there. It tracks your flights so you can see when you need to check-in and board, and it will monitor your travel time and when you’ll be landing too. If there are any changes to your flight, the app will notify you so you shouldn’t ever go to the wrong gate, or get to the gate top early if it is late.
It’s a useful app to have if you’re traveling often, and the subscription – albeit quite pricey – lets you subscribe your family in through SMS, so everyone will be in the loop about when you’ll be gone.
It would be great if we were all able to speak multiple languages, but sadly that’s not the case for many of us. Not to worry though as iTranslate Converse is a terrific speech translation app that will turn your Apple Watch into a two-way translation device.
Supporting 38 languages, iTranslate Converse has a super simple interface that lets you speak directly into your Apple Watch’s microphone after tapping the big orange button. To translate what you said into the language you have chosen, you simply release the orange button. Whether it’s ordering a drink in Spanish or asking for directions in French, this Apple Watch app will have you covered.
Overcast lets you control podcast playback on your iPhone from your Apple Watch. You can also go through your collection of available podcast episodes to play something new, with all of your playlists available to peruse. Controls for play/pause, skipping forward and backward, opening your playlists, and recommending an episode are all located on the same screen, but in a way that doesn’t feel busy.
For those who may not have a reliable data connection on the Apple Watch, Overcast allows you to download episodes directly on your watch too, and there are handy features like Voice Boost to make audio sound better and Smart Speed to save time when listening.
Spark
Spark Mail app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Readdle Technologies)
Spark is one of our favorite email apps for the iPhone, and it’s still great in its translation to Apple’s smallest screen. On Apple Watch, Spark keeps it simple in an effort to give you the best mail management experience on your watch. It takes advantage of its iPhone counterpart’s intelligent mail sorting, letting you see at a glance when you have emails waiting that are personal or newsletters.
You can open and read each email, decide if you want to reply to it, snooze, archive, or delete it, and you can opt to mark emails as seen too, as well as love, like or just acknowledge. You can also see your whole inbox, pinned emails, your archive, and your sent messages.
Shazam
Shazam app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple)
Ever find yourself bopping along to a great track when you’re out and about but you can’t think for the life of you who sings it or what it is called? That’s where Shazam comes into its own. Apple bought Shazam in 2018 and so it’s perhaps unsurprising the Apple Watch app works brilliantly, given it’s native and Apple has full control.
Shazam is lovely and simple, allowing you to just tap your Apple Watch screen to start listening when it’s open. Once Shazam has listened and found the song, it will appear on your Apple Watch with artwork and everything and you can start playing it directly from your wrist.
Spotify
Spotify app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Spotify)
Apple Music of course has its own Apple Watch app, which is great, but if you’re a Spotify subscriber, then you’ll want to get the Spotify app on your watch. The interface is nice and simple, making it easy to navigate with just three screens to move between.
You can swipe to see Albums, Artists or Playlists, while the Home screen shows you popular radio shows, great audiobooks and timely playlists, along with popular artists. There is also a now playing screen that will allow you to select device to play your music on, as well as like a particular track and choose to shuffle or repeat a track.
CARROT Weather is so much more than a weather app. Sure, it will give you a breakdown of current, hourly and daily forecasts as you would expect from a weather app, and that’s all lovely and simple to read on Apple Watch. It’s what it does with the forecasts that makes this app special though.
You can choose from five personalities for your CARROT Weather robot, from “Professional” to “Overkill”, and then just wait and see what brilliance it comes up with. If you use the iPhone app, you can also complete activities and follow clues to track down secret locations. Just trust us, this is a good one.
Cheatsheet
Cheatsheet app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Overdesigned)
Can’t remember the Wi-Fi password every time you need to give it to a guest? Or what hotel room you’re staying in? Or that security code to gain entry to a work building? Sometimes you just need a Cheatsheet for those small details. Cheatsheet is a simple widget type of app where you can make a tiny list of quick notes, and put those on your Apple Watch.
You can view your notes normally through the Apple Watch app, or have them available at all times through the Apple Watch complication. Each note can be customized with an icon (there are over 200) to make it easy to recognize quickly. Just make sure that you don’t use it for highly sensitive information, like account login passwords, since this app has no security.
Apple added a Calculator app to the Apple Watch with watchOS 6 in 2019, but we still think PCalc is a better option as it does so much more. On the Apple Watch, PCalc can help you do basic calculations, as you would expect, but it can also do some extras like calculate tips when it comes to paying the check for dinner, or split the bill up evenly, including tip.
There are plenty of other functions too, like converting units, constants, trig/log, and even functions. It’s an all-in-one calculator app on the iPhone and your Apple Watch so you can do many of these calculations directly from your wrist.
Deliveries
Deliveries app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Junecloud)
If you’re a keen online shopper, the Deliveries app is a must. On Apple Watch, Deliveries allows you to see a list of packages that are coming your way very soon. The list includes the number of days until delivery, and you can tap on an item to view it in more detail, such as the status, location, and a map of where it is.
Unfortunately, you need to use the iPhone app to add new deliveries but you can use your Apple Watch to archive completed ones and the Apple Watch version is great for a quick check of what you have coming up.
Authy
Authy app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Authy)
Authy is a brilliant app to have on your Apple Watch if you need to quickly generate a secure 2-step verification code for an account and you don’t have your iPhone or iPad close by. The app supports a huge range of multi-factor authentication accounts, from Facebook, Amazon and Gmail to Slack, Outlook and Dropbox and it supports 8-digit tokens too.
You’ll need to add your accounts to Authy in the iPhone app and enable multi-device, but then you can just open the Apple Watch app and get the code for the service you need, making it easy to protect your accounts.
Uptime is all about making you that little bit smarter, but only requiring five minutes of your day to do it. Called Hacks, the five-minute summaries cover a diverse range of topics and subjects and they are designed to be easy to understand and quick to digest.
You can choose to listen to your daily Hack, read it or tap through visual stories. Like many other apps, Uptime uses streaks to help you maintain the habit of opening the app and learning something new for the day, and there’s also the option to save your favourite quotes, insights and actions as “Sparks” that you can share later.
Authy
Night Sky app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / iCandi Apps)
For the stargazers out there, Night Sky is a must have app. It works across all Apple devices but the Apple Watch app offers plenty of features despite the smaller screen compared to an iPad, Mac or Apple TV. You can use Night Sky to identify stars, plants, constellations and satellites, and it also uses the built-in compass to give you an idea of what’s above you.
The Apple Watch app of Night Sky also offers guidance on what the stargazing conditions are like and when they might be at their best, as well as detail when satellites are passing by overhead.
Daily Random Facts
Daily Random Facts app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Monkey Taps)
There’s a classic saying “you learn something new everyday” and the Daily Random Facts app makes sure that’s the case. It offers up thousands of facts in a range of categories, comprising human body facts, history dates and facts about sports, but there are some fun ones too, like life hacks and riddles.
The Apple Watch version of the app keeps it clean and simple but you’ll still discover a new fact and you can select from a range of categories too. The Apple Watch version of Daily Random Facts also makes it nice and easy to share facts if you think they are worthy.
If you’ve ever felt like you use the same words a little too much and your vocabulary could do with a bit of expansion, then LookUp Dictionary is the perfect Apple Watch app for you. Powered by the Oxford English Dictionary, this Apple Watch app offers a Word of the Day with stunning illustrations to help you visually remember the word.
You of course get the meaning of the word alongside the word itself and if you come across a word you don’t know or haven’t heard, there is a search tool as well. The LookUp Dictionary Apple Watch app also has a daily quiz, adding a little more fun to the learning process.
Already a great password manager, 1Password offers an equally superb companion for its watch app on the Apple Watch. While not a full-featured password manager on your wrist, 1Password for Apple Watch shows you the one-time login key for accounts that use two-factor authentication.
If you do a lot of work with those types of accounts, 1Password is definitely an app you need to check out. The interface is great too, and everything is end-to-end encrypted.
If you’re not brilliant at keeping your money in check, budget apps can be very helpful for making you more aware about what you’re spending and where you’re spending it. You might still buy the extra coffee on your morning commute, but if you have to add it into your budget app, you also might think twice.
MoneyCoach Budget has a great Apple Watch app that makes tracking money nice and simple. It allows you to see your daily limit, how much you have left to spend on certain items like groceries, and you can enter a new purchase directly from your wrist too.
Instagram used to have an Apple Watch app but support was removed in 2018, which means the best way to view your Instagram feed on your Apple Watch is the Lens for Watch app. You can do pretty much everything you can do on the Instagram app, from viewing your feed and the explore tab to your seeing your activity, direct messages and stories.
You can’t upload new posts from Lens for Watch of course, but you can like posts, view comments, reply to comments, reply to direct messages and search for new users so there is plenty to keep you occupied.
Nano
Nano app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Will Bishop)
If you’re a regular Reddit user then you’ll want to make sure you have downloaded Nano on your Apple Watch. The Nano app brings the Reddit experience to your tiny Apple Watch screen, allowing you to browse Reddit, check your inbox, vote on posts and read the latest news.
There’s also inline Twitter support and GIF support, as well as an article reader so there’s plenty on offer here. You can even post a comment from your wrist if you feel you just can’t wait until you have your iPhone handy to say what you need to say, and you can check out your profile too.
There are a couple of glaring omissions from the Apple Watch apps offering and WhatsApp is one of those. While you get notifications on your wrist, and you can reply to them when they appear, the only way to see your WhatsApp chats like you can Messages, is through a third party app like WatchChat 2.
With WatchChat 2, you can’t see all your chats unless you sign up to a subscription but your recent ones will be visible in the Apple Watch app and you can open them up and reply directly from your wrist. It’s also possible to add a status to your WhatsApp and change settings like font size.
WristWeb
WristWeb app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / XAN Applications)
Meta doesn’t offer official Apple Watch apps for any of its services, including Facebook. Don’t worry though, WristWeb is available for Apple Watch so you can see your Facebook feed on your wrist. You can see your posts, with images, see your notifications and see comments and add comments.
It’s also possible to compose a new post, which you can do using the keyboard on your Apple Watch, Emojis, Scribble or Dictation. You’ll need to link your Facebook account through the website but after that, you’ll be able to scroll through your feed on your wrist as much as you like when you have a connection.
If you remember Snake on Nokia phones back in the day, you’ll very much appreciate the Snake.io Apple Watch app. It’s a very simple game — much like Snake used to be on phones — but it’s highly addictive and great fun to play, even on the smaller screen.
You can tap your Apple Watch screen to move your snake around but it moves much more fluidly with the Digital Crown to give you a better chance of a high score. Around 20 seconds into each game, a few extra snakes will appear so watch out for those as you’ll need to avoid them and the edges so you don’t die.
Invaders Mini
Invaders Mini app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Virtual GS)
If Space Invaders was a favourite arcade game of yours then you’ll want to make sure you have Invaders Mini downloaded on your Apple Watch. It uses the full screen of the Apple Watch Series 7 and newer and you can choose whether you swipe left and right to move or you use the Digital Crown.
As you progress, the aliens get faster and deadlier so you’ll need to make sure you tap your watch screen as quickly as you can. One of the best things about this game though is the sound effects and vibration, both of which really add to the experience.
Galaxia Watch Game
Galaxia Watch Game app screens (Image credit: Future / Apple / Virtual GS)
Galaxia: Watch Game is another take on arcade game Space Invaders and it is done brilliantly for Apple Watch. You will first need to defeat the aliens on the moon, after which you’ll be taking on those in space. All Apple Watch models from the Series 7 are supported and you can swipe or use the Digital Crown to move around.
Just remember some aliens need extra hits to be destroyed, while the spaceship can take two extra hits and it will also be temporarily invisible when you first hit it so watch out for that. Galaxia: Watch Game is bound to make you feel nostalgic though.
The Arcadia app has a collection of 22 retro 8-bit games that you can play across a range of Apple devices, including Apple Watch. Within the list of games, you’ll find Tap a Mole, Bounce, BrickOut and MineHound. There’s even RainBowling, where you have to hit all the pins like traditional bowling whilst avoiding the unexpected obstacles, while Indiana GP lets you race from your wrist.
Our favourite is probably Fruity Snake as it’s nice and simple to play but put it this way, if you like the sound of retro arcade games on a small screen, there is plenty in this app to keep you occupied.
How we’ve picked the best Apple Watch apps
The Apple Watch is a powerful device with a plethora of sensors and features built into it. There are also some superb native apps pre-installed on the best Apple Watch models that make use of all its attributes. The native apps can’t do it all though and that’s where third-party apps are brilliant.
The ones we have listed as our best Apple Watch apps are ones that take advantage of everything the Apple Watch has to offer and use it to deliver a great experience and bonus features in some cases. You might not download them all — 50 is a lot — but you should definitely download some because they will make your Apple Watch more useful.
Originally set to launch in iOS 17 but subsequently delayed, Journal has finally arrived on iPhone, giving you an easy way to jot down notes, write down feelings, and keep track of your life. It combines notes with a calendar and even allows you to have some privacy while you do it.
I have been testing out Journal on my own iPhone 15 Pro Max, the best iPhone out there, and I can’t wait to see how it fits into my life over the coming months. Here’s how to use the Journal app in iOS 17 and some tips to get the most out of it.
How to use the Journal app in iOS 17
(Image credit: Future / James Bentley)
Open Journal from your Home screen
Click the + button on the bottom of the screen, where you can choose from highlights, get exercise suggestions, or prompts to start writing
You can start from scratch or start from a highlight, the app will give you options after tapping +
When you are done with a Journal or want to create a new one, click Done, then click + again
Apple Journal tips
I’ve found that, like writing articles or music, the best thing you can do for creating a journal is just getting words on the page. No matter what it is you want to write about, start typing things in and see where you end up.
If you like the idea of writing but don’t want to tap on your phone on the go, put some time into it with a dedicated keyboard. Luckily, you can plug one straight into the bottom of your iPhone or connect it via Bluetooth, as Journal has support for external keyboards.
One more thing… Basic but brilliant
Initially, my Journal app didn’t look too similar to my standard Notes app. This feels almost by design. It is simplistic, just giving you space to write, and it’s laid out in chronological order so that you can browse through all your entries in a second. What makes Journal work better than other journaling apps is the way it combines data stored on your iPhone with it. Your iPhone uses the data from your last walk, nights you listened to songs, and days you took pictures and prompts you to write it all down.
Journaling is a good habit to develop for many, especially when you’re struggling with your mental health, as the moments spent reflecting can also bring balance to your life. Unfortunately, your phone is great at both remembering good memories and flashing bad ones. Your ability to control which one pops up is lacking initially, and you may run out of steam quickly as a result. If you know how to keep yourself motivated to journal every day, this will be a great help, but you may need other resources to keep up that motivation. The app is also not available on iPad yet, so you are pretty limited regarding your journaling options. However, in just a little time with Journal, I’ve still found myself impressed by how it manages to fit itself into every day. Like the Duolingo owl badgering me to finish a Japanese lesson at 11:30, I think I’ll feel grateful for that push.
If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to sort out your finances in 2024, then there are plenty of apps that can help you gain more clarity about what you’re earning and what you’re spending.
But I’ve found from personal experience that if finance apps aren’t incredibly straightforward to use, they make money management more confusing, not less. This is why I’ll be trying Buddy, a simple budgeting and expenses app that keeps you on top of your finances while having a minimal and easy-to-use design.
With Buddy, you can set up a budget plan and the app will help you stick to it. All you need to do is connect your bank account. Buddy will then get you crystal clear on the money you have coming into your account and all of your outgoings through detailed and nice-looking graphics that break down your spending, income, and savings.
More money, less problems
There are several features Buddy offers users that I think are worth shouting about because they reduce major headaches and finance admin.
One of my favorites is that you can invite people to the app to use the ‘Split’ feature. This allows you to set up a shared budget with your partner. Or use it to make sure expenses are divided up evenly while you’re away on holiday with friends. No more scrawling down sums on a napkin to make sure everyone paid enough.
I also like that you can group your spending into key categories, like ‘Food’ or ‘Entertainment’, which is then color-coded and displayed in a simple pie chart. This layout instantly gives you a gauge of how your spending is going throughout the month.
Buddy is free to use with basic features, but you’ll get the most from the Premium version, which costs $9.99/£9.99 monthly. Or, you can get a discount by signing up for $49.99/£49.99 yearly.
The press have gone hands-on once more with the Apple Vision Pro and can’t believe what they’re seeing. Exclaiming how it brought them to tears or analyzing how easy the setup is, reports have come in both positive and curious for the future of the device.
Though the Apple Vision Pro is set to launch in early 2024, there’s so much we don’t know about it yet. We do know it’s an AR headset designed to work around your own office space and life but not many nitty gritty details like the level of customization, the App storefront, and more. Recent reports haven’t illuminated too much in this regard but they do go over what it feels like and what you’ll do with it.
Apple has been slowly letting select press see their brand-new AR device over the last few months, since its announcement in June. This seems to be an effort to build up hype for the full release next year, whilst giving small details for people to look for. We are expecting even more teases over the coming months.
What does the press say?
Raymond Wong over at Inverse said the “Apple Vision Pro almost brought me to tears”. In his extended piece, he talked about seeing his mom in spatial video, having dim sum at a local restaurant. He shot a spatial video of the two of them beforehand and watched back in the Vision Pro, which was apparently quite an emotional experience. In the future, one could potentially do the same for a loved one who has passed away or moved overseas, being able to capture the look in their eye or the unique way they hold their hands.
Lance Ulanoff, on behalf of our friends at TechRadar, said spatial video is ‘an immersive trip’ that he highly recommends. He rather eloquently sums up where he thinks it will lie in the market. “I still don’t know if the Apple Vision Pro is for everyone, but the more I use it, and the more I learn about it, the more I’m convinced that Apple is set to trigger a seismic shift in our computing experience. Not everyone will end up buying Vision Pro, but most of us will feel its impact.”
CNET also tested it out and it was Scott Stein’s third time in the headset so far. He recalls shooting footage at his niece’s bat mitzvah and talks about the FOMO (fear of missing out) he feels by not shooting it in spatial video. If you own a Vision Pro, files will shoot in spatial video automatically on applicable iPhones but he suggests you may want to do it just in case you get one.
All of these short tests heavily talk about their time with spatial video, potentially suggesting this is what Apple wants people to pay attention to right now and, if you plan on getting the Apple Vision Pro, it feels like almost a reason to upgrade to the iPhone 15, the best iPhone, by itself.
We can’t wait to test it out for ourselves next year, but in the meantime, you can get ready for Vision Pro’s arrival by checking out the spatial video camera capabilities on iPhone 15, or even picking up a dedicated VR headset like the Meta Quest 3
It’s no great secret that Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy – Definitive Edition had a very poor launch back in November 2021. With a litany of bugs, poor performance, and unpopular changes made to in-game signs, visuals, and more, it was one of the most controversial releases RockStar has delivered. Now that the entire trilogy is available on iPhone via Netflix, it’s thankfully a significantly better experience.
If you’re looking for an easy way to play one of the most widely acclaimed sandbox titles of all time, you can now get it free in the shape of this new mobile port with your existing Netflix account, so long as you have an iPhone XS or later, or an iPad 8 or later. This is a wide range of supported devices, equalling over 30 total.
(Image credit: RockStar)
If you have somehow never played it, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an open-world action game where you play as CJ, returning to his old home after his mother has been murdered. He soon gets trapped in a cycle of gang violence, coercion, and blackmail, as he tries to figure out why his home is being taken over by another gang. It’s engrossing, iconic, and incredibly fun. The game coming to Netflix Games is a great win for the service and another reason to keep your streaming subscription alive. We’d imagine the Apple Arcade executives are kicking themselves for not bagging this collection.
Powered by Netflix?
(Image credit: RockStar)
Netflix, through excellent titles like Death’s Door, Before Your Eyes, Dead Cells, and more, has become surprisingly good for games. As long as you have an account of some kind, you can play the entire library without ads.
What makes this particularly good for the GTA Trilogy is that, unlike attempting to play the console ports via Xbox Game Pass mobile or PS Remote Play, you can fully download the game and play it offline. If you’ve got a long flight ahead of you, or, in my case, a poor internet connection, there’s no worry. Boot it up and get lost in San Andreas.
A different style
The Definitive Edition does look a bit different from the PS2 original, with a more cartoony, vibrant art style. The Definitive Edition is also much clearer, with less muddy colors and a larger render distance. There is no option in any of the three games to swap between graphical styles but The Definitive Edition looks pretty great on iPhone, still feeling like an older title in scope and mechanics but more modern in presentation. It’s nostalgic without being tedious.
As far as the graphics settings are concerned, there aren’t many, with the option to turn off a few features like Lens Flare and Bloom, but the most interesting addition is a resolution slider. If you pull it down, the game looks less textured and sharp, whereas pulling it to the top makes everything look crisp and fresh. This is a great addition, especially for older devices, even if I would have appreciated a few more specific graphical options. My iPhone 15 Pro Max saw very little performance difference between these modes, keeping a steady frame rate, but owners of older models will notice some slow down at higher resolutions, making that slider handy.
In Motion
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Definitive Edition works wonderfully on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, currently the best iPhone, at the highest resolution. The gameplay is super smooth even in the San Andreas’ more hectic moments and looks pretty great too. The sound is a tad tinny on my AirPods, especially when a gun is being fired or you clash against a wall but this seems like more a limitation of the game itself than the port. San Andreas’ soundtrack is killer but the actual sound effects can be a bit lacking.
(Image credit: RockStar)
Luckily, the game manages to play pretty well even using touch controls so it never feels too cumbersome. Button layouts are well organized and don’t take up too much of the screen, allowing you to drive away at high speed or mow down enemies. It runs natively with the best game controllers and plays even better here than with touch, which is admittedly not a high bar.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is one of the most popular sandbox games in the world for a reason. It looks great, the story is intriguing, and the gameplay is even better. I haven’t gone back to San Andreas for a few years now, mostly due to the creature comforts of new games like their graphical fidelity and ease of access but, curled up on the sofa with my iPhone, I’ve found the perfect excuse to take a trip back to the hood.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has today announced that Instagram’s text social media app Threads is coming to Europe.
In an Instagram post, Zuckerberg stated “Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welcome everyone.”
“Today, Mark Zuckerberg announced that we are expanding Threads to countries across Europe,” Meta stated. “We’re excited to give more people the opportunity to follow and join the conversations they care about. Since launching Threads in July, we’ve made significant improvements to the app, including a web experience, a Following Feed, the ability to edit a post, search with keywords, tag topics, and more.
Users in the EU can create a Threads profile linked to their Instagram account, or view content on Threads without a profile. Those users will also be able to search for accounts and share content, as well as report content they don’t like, they just won’t be able to post or interact with other content.
Threads
Threads has proven pretty popular since its launch, smashing 100 million users in just five days following its launch in July. Recently Apple revealed the most popular iPhone games and apps of 2023, with Threads the fourth most popular free iPhone app of the year ahead of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Naturally, this position reflects a significant number of downloads this year because the app is new, but it’s an impressive feat nonetheless.
Meta hasn’t specified which European countries the expansion today entails, but refers to “people in the EU” in its release, suggesting it could be 27 EU member states including France, Spain, Italy, and more.
An emerging alternative to the increasingly volatile X run by Elon Musk, Threads is a text-based social media platform that lets users write posts of up to 500 characters, including links, photos, and videos of up to five minutes. This week Threads also announced it was testing making posts from Threads accounts visible on Mastodon and other services that use the ActivityPub protocol.
With our workplaces ever more mobile, and our homes increasingly cramped thanks to their double duty as offices as well as living spaces, finding the perfect gear to get work done on the go or at home has become more important than ever. Choosing the best portable monitor for Mac is a key purchase for the nomadic Apple fan.
Looking to tempt you from your cash and take pride of place on your desk or at the coffee shop is the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor. Slim, sharp, and fast, it’s a great choice for those who need flexible, extra screen real estate — and it won’t break the bank, either.
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor: Price and Availability
The Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor is available now and usually sells for $199 — though it has been seen on sale cheaper than that, sometimes by as much as $50.
Even at full price, this is a great value buy, thanks to its reasonably high-resolution panel, fast refresh rate, and portable design.
Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor: What I Loved
Using an IPS screen, the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor hooks up to your device of choice over either one of two USB-C ports or (full-size) HDMI. It outputs at a max resolution of 2560 x 1600, with a refresh rate of 120Hz, complete with FreeSync support. That’s not quite up to the sharpness of modern Macs, but good for the price — and the 120Hz refresh rate option with FreeSync frame pacing will be excellent for gamers looking to hook up, say, an Xbox Series X to the display.
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
It’s a nice display to look at, too. Opinions on its matte finish will vary based on taste (I’m all for it), and the viewing angle (a quoted 178 degrees) is wide enough to place on a desk flexibly without fear of it appearing washed out in different positions. As such, it’ll happily work in vertical orientation with a Mac. Its 1200:1 contrast ratio isn’t OLED-deep, but that’s not the point here — it’s certainly rich enough for working with and catching up on your YouTube subscriptions.
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(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
The right-hand side of the display houses the HDMI and two USB-C ports, plus a headphone jack, while the left side has a micro USB port for providing power, along with a (somewhat confusing) row of five buttons for navigating the onscreen display. For the most part, it’s a plug-and-play experience — so long as your device can send 20W of power to the display (which a single power-and-video-providing USB-C connection can do from even a lowly MacBook Air), just one cable is all you need to get up and running. You won’t even need to set the input source — the monitor can intelligently activate it for you, based on what’s sending a video feed. If you’ve got two active sources you’ll need to flick between them though, of course.
The Hongo screen is supremely portable. At about 680g and less than half an inch thick, it’ll slip easily into the laptop slot of a backpack without much hassle. It comes with a smart magnetic cover too, both protecting the screen and working as a stand with two viewing angles to choose from. If you’d like something more permanent, VESA mounting holes are on the rear for attaching the Hongo monitor to a bracket or traditional stand.
Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor: What I Didn’t Love
There are a few issues that hold back the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor, but no deal breakers for the average user.
The one use case where we wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor is for use in creative professional workflows. For demanding video and photo editors, or digital artists, the screen lacks the high-level color accuracy they may require. This is fine in most use cases, whether working on documents or browsing the web, and isn’t immediately noticeable unless placed alongside high-end color-calibrated screens. But for those that rely on that accuracy, it’s not quite there, hitting only about 70% on the Adobe RGB and P3 standards. 100% sRGB coverage is achieved though — 1.06 million colors.
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
Likewise, HDR support is rudimentary, and not up to the task of video mastering in HDR, with brightness on the screen as a whole not suitable for use outdoors in direct sunlight. Such issues, however, are to be expected at this price point, and in day-to-day use it remains an attractive display.
The buttons and OSD are quite difficult to navigate, without intuitive reasoning behind their placement and uses. It shouldn’t take five buttons to navigate an onscreen menu, and it does, it’d be more helpful to print what each button does around the front of the display rather than the back, as unsightly as that would be.
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
Speakers may not be your main concern with a portable monitor, but given the HDMI port included here, there’s nothing stopping you from hooking up a streaming box or games console to the Hongo. The output sound is unlikely to impress though — there’s enough volume to hear what’s going on, but there’s not enough room in a display this slim to offer any cinematic depth.
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
It’s also worth noting that there’s no touchscreen support here. It’s a rarity to find in this price range, but worth pointing out if you’ve come to expect the feature based on the touch-enabled devices you could potentially be pairing it with.
Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor: Competition
Portable monitors are a booming cottage industry following the COVID-19 work-from-home drive, and you’ve got plenty of options to choose from. If you prefer a more familiar brand name, the Philips 16B1P3302D Portable monitor has great build quality and similar specs, with a particularly clever fold-away stand. It’s not much more expensive than the Hongo option here.
If you want something super-premium, your best option is the Espresso 17 Pro portable display — a 4K touchscreen with a great stand… that costs the same amount as an M2 MacBook Air. Its clever software allows for touch input even on apps that don’t natively support it, making it the best of the best — but five times the price of what’s reviewed here.
Should You Buy the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor?
Buy the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor if…
You don’t want to break the bank on a second screen
You want the flexibility to hook up to many different devices
You care about portability and retaining desk space
Don’t buy the Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor if…
You’re looking to do high-level creative work
You need touch support
Built-in speakers need to be top-notch
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)
Hongo 2K 16-inch Portable Monitor: Verdict
If you’ve been a good girl or boy all year round, you could do much worse than asking Santa to pick up the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights for you this Christmas. They offer a ton of customization options, won’t break the bank at a pricey time of year, and look great wherever you decide to hang them. An excellent addition to the best HomeKit lights out there, I’m in fact thinking of finding them a permanent place around my home, all year long.
Bottom line: A great portable monitor at an affordable price, the Hongo 2K 16-inch slips into a backpack unassumingly and is ready for action with just one cable.
