Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

If you’re a beloved cat owner, you might often have your cat running across your Mac’s keyboard, causing loads of unnecessary keyboard input, and sometimes even unwanted communications. Cats Lock has a solution for it, and soon your cat will be able to roam your MacBook keyboard freely.

As is the case every year, this September – Apple will be unveiling its next-generation Apple Watch model. Apple Watch Series 12 will likely carry on the same design language as the Apple Watch Series 11, but with a few changes. Let’s dive in.

Data brokers make a living by selling your personal information for profit. Your phone number, email, home address, and Social Security number could be packaged and sold to spammers, scammers, and identity thieves right now. Your privacy loss is their gain.

Apple’s privacy protections can help block some but not all tracking as data harvesting efforts become increasingly sophisticated. If you want to proactively and continuously remove your personal data from broker databases, Incogni makes it easier than ever to fight back and regain control of your privacy.

Later this year, Apple is set to debut its first MacBook Pro redesign since 2021. With that redesign, we’re expecting OLED, touch displays, M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, a Dynamic Island cutout, and much more.

There’s another big detail about these new MacBook Pro models, and I’m much more excited for that change.

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For much of my IT career, cybersecurity training has looked exactly the same. Once a year, IT forces everyone to watch a few videos and take a multiple-choice quiz. This training does check a box, but it rarely changes actual user behavior or provides a ton of new insights. However, AI will begin to completely flip how training is done. A new integration announced recently by Dashlane and KnowBe4 gives us a clear view of how AI and real-time automation will change cybersecurity training for the good.

Update: Apple now lists the issue as resolved. The original story follows below.

If you’ve been unable to use Apple Cash over the last few hours, you’re not alone, as the service is currently experiencing an outage affecting some users in the U.S. Here are the details.

Anyone who has ever used a properly designed ergonomic chair will know the difference it can make to comfort, especially when working longer hours. Taller and larger-framed professionals, however, can find it challenging to enjoy the same benefits. That’s the problem the LiberNovo Maxis set out to solve — bringing the core innovations of the award-winning LiberNovo Omni, positioned as the world’s first dynamic ergonomic chair, into a design tailored for bigger and taller users. Key features including the Bionic FlexFit Backrest, Dynamic Support System, and Motorized Massage Mode have all been retained in the Maxis series, alongside the premium engineering that helped the Omni earn Red Dot: Product Design 2026 and iF Design Award 2026.

As it has done since at least 2021, Apple is discounting the iPhone in China as part of the country’s 618 shopping festival. Here are the details.

Eugene Whang, a former Apple hardware designer who spent 22 years at the company before following Jony Ive to LoveFrom, has shared new details about the development of AirPods Max in an interview with Highsnobiety. Here are the details.

After months of very limited testing, WhatsApp is finally bringing the first stage of its Liquid Glass redesign to more users. Here are the details.

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, has been added as a document custodian in xAI’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI. Here’s what that means.

Apple TV is about to kick off its best summer lineup ever, but the streamer is already on a roll with recent premieres. Here are three recent new series in Apple TV’s hot streak, and upcoming shows that seem poised to keep it going.

Apple has a packed lineup of new products coming this fall. Here’s every new Apple product rumored to arrive later this year.

If you’re serious about wired audio, there’s now a MagSafe headphone amp and digital-to-analog convertor for iPhone.

Apple has been pushing to expand Mac gaming in recent years, and a new high-profile title was recently announced: Age of Empires II is coming to macOS this month.

Rumors about the iPhone Ultra are readily available and offer a strong consensus on what’s coming in Apple’s foldable model. But as I’ve been weighing my own upgrade decision this year, there’s one big question that likely won’t be resolved until September: will the new form factor make the trade-offs of the Ultra worth it?

According to a new report from Forbes, the Department of Justice is demanding Apple, Amazon, and Google hand over “identities, addresses, and purchase histories” of more than 100,000 users of a “car tinkering app” called EZ Lynk.

OpenAI is catching up with some competitors and offering new personal finance features inside ChatGPT. The new personal finance experience is rolling out starting today for some subscribers.

All’s well that ends well in App Store review controversies. Back in March, a major agentic coding company made news when Apple reportedly pushed back on new versions of its iPhone app.

Two months later, the head of the company says they “worked things out with Apple,” and they have a big new app update to show for it.

Apple is planning a huge Apple Card sign-up bonus for new customers as soon as next week. If you sign up for a new Apple Card, you’ll basically get a new pair of AirPods Pro 3 for free. Here’s how it’ll work.

Amazon’s 2026 Memorial Day sale is now in full swing and today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by Apple’s 20-Core 2TB M5 Pro MacBook Pro hitting the Amazon all-time low at nearly $200 off alongside the most affordable M5 model back at the $1,499 Amazon low ($300 off launch price). Today is also your last chance on these 15-inch M5 MacBook Air deals at $170 off (as well as this 13-inch model), which is now joined by Apple’s mid-range 512GB 13-inch M5 iPad Pro at the Amazon low ($150 off), or up to $300 off open-box units. Head below for a closer look at the details.

Apple TV has a slate of big-budget, star-packed movies coming later this year, including a new spy thriller called Mayday that stars Ryan Reynolds. Here are the details.

CarPlay has gotten a lot of new features in iOS 26, but Apple also now lets you customize your in-car setup more than ever with new settings. Here are five ways iOS 26 lets you customize CarPlay.

Mactracker has long been a terrific Mac app for keeping track of pretty much every Apple hardware and software release ever. Exactly how long? 25 years, in fact.

To help celebrate the big anniversary, Mactracker for iPhone and iPad has a big new release out this week that includes useful new features.

Today, SwitchBot has announced the new SwitchBot Lock Vision and Lock Vision Pro. For Apple Home users, these new locks support Matter over Wi-Fi out of the box, so you do not need to buy one of these SwitchBot hubs to connect them, but you only need an Apple TV or HomePod. Let’s take a closer look at what these new smart locks offer and don’t

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Bitwarden: Make your life easier with Bitwarden, featuring a secure, open source password manager with end-to-end encryption and seamless autofill across all your devices.

Reactive backlighting is one of the best ways to enhance your Apple TV setup. It can also be an expensive endeavor. Lepro is stepping up with a more affordable solution: the Lepro STV1. The new product launches today.

A to-do list feels like one of those things that almost everyone on the planet has, be it an old school one handwritten in a paper notebook or some kind of app.

Personally, however, I don’t have any kind of conventional to-do list. Instead, for decades now, I’ve been in the habit of using a calendar as my to-do list, and here are the reasons you too might want to give this a try …

The team behind the first public macOS kernel memory corruption exploit on M5 silicon has shared fresh details on how Mythos Preview helped bypass a five-year Apple security effort in five days.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Bitwarden: Make your life easier with Bitwarden, featuring a secure, open source password manager with end-to-end encryption and seamless autofill across all your devices.

Apple has published the enterprise release notes for macOS 26.5, detailing several fixes for issues affecting managed Macs. Here are the details.

Apple Card is officially moving to Chase, with Apple’s current partner Goldman Sachs transitioning out over the next year or two. Apple has published details on what to expect during the transition, here’s everything the company says won’t change once Chase takes over—and a few things that might.

OpenAI has released a new way to interact with its Codex app from your smartphone. An update to ChatGPT’s mobile app brings remote access to Codex for Mac to the iPhone, iPad, and Android.

Apple has commissioned a few short creative pieces that show how Creator Studio can be used across different kinds of creative work, including cooking videos, poetry, and music creation. You can watch them below.

Benjamin and Chance discuss changes to the Apple education store, the cool new Apple Developer icon, rumors about some design changes for iOS 27 and macOS 27, and whether we can think of anything compelling AirPods with cameras could be used for. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, we discuss the state of iOS keyboard autocorrect and dictation accuracy.. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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For years, I have said that the Apple Wallet app is one of Apple’s most underrated services. Most people think of Apple Pay when they hear about Apple Wallet, but it is so much more. It stores everything from my credit cards and transit cards, has replaced my keys, helps me send money, and has honestly replaced the need to carry both a physical wallet and keys. Most of these features have been quietly added over the years, and most people just are not aware of them. Here are five Apple Wallet features I use all the time that most people don’t know about.

Last week The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple and Intel had struck a deal to produce chips, and now a new report from Ming-Chi Kuo says Intel has already kicked off initial production on iPhone processors and more.

Apple Wallet’s car key feature has expanded to several notable vehicle brands recently, with the latest being Porsche. Here are the details.

Apple and OpenAI inked a deal to integrate ChatGPT with Siri as part of iOS 18 in 2024. According to a new report today, however, OpenAI is displeased with how the partnership has played out and is considering taking legal action against Apple.

Anthropic’s Mythos AI model has famously been kept fairly secret due to its apparent risk to software systems around the world. And today a new report says Mythos was used to expose macOS security vulnerabilities that Apple is investigating now.

iPhone 18 Pro is coming this fall, and three new features could be among the top upgrade motivators for Apple’s latest flagship model.

While Amazon is shipping MacBook Neo from $590 as early as tomorrow, today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by the most affordable M5 MacBook Pro you can buy back at $1,499 Amazon low ($300 off launch price), alongside the base model 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro at $249 off and Apple’s 48GB M5 Pro MacBook Pro at $300 off. You can also land rare deals on iPhone 16e down as low as $449 at Amazon today and Apple’s 13-inch M4/M5 iPad Pro Magic Keyboard at 25% off. Just be sure to scope out the now live ecobee 2026 Memorial Day sale at up to $120 off and even more down below.

CarPlay continues to improve in two ways. iOS 26 gives the in-car experience new features like widgets and upgraded Music and Messages apps.

Meanwhile, new third-party CarPlay apps are regularly added that enhance the platform. This week, two new audio apps arrive on CarPlay in time for your next summer road trip.

Apple was just recognized with a prestigious award for its Liquid Glass design in iOS 26. Here are the details.

Of 33 current smartphones tested, the iPhone 17 Pro offered the fastest overall charging speed, when wired and wireless charging times are averaged.

Apple also took four out of the five top places when it came to wireless charging speeds specifically, with manufacturing precision the likely reason …

The top three wireless service providers in the US are teaming up to eliminate coverage dead zones. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are forming a joint venture that will involve satellites, though the announcement is light on specifics.

Shrinking concluded its third season just last month, but thanks to a new update from star Harrison Ford, it sounds like the wait for season 4 could be surprisingly short.

If you use the ChatGPT desktop app on Mac, you’ll be forced to update it sometime between now and June 12. That’s due to a security breach involving two OpenAI employee devices …

There’s been an epidemic in the past few years of iPhone thieves using scooters and electric bikes to snatch devices from the hands of their owners while they’re walking down the street.

The reason this is the method of choice for thieves is because it enables them to grab an unlocked iPhone, which can be worth $800 more to them than a locked one …

A sketchy supply chain report out of Korea claims that the bezel-free display destined for the iPhone 20 is an early iteration of the technology and there is “a possibility of screen distortion.”

The report was updated from an earlier version, which said that Apple was willing to accept a “compromise” on the 2027 model, with a better version planned for 2028 …

Spotify is making two video podcast announcements today, including one related to Apple’s big video podcast enhancement.

Following a strong first season with critics and viewers alike, Apple has confirmed that ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ will return for season two. Here are the details.

Apple has published the full list of security fixes for Safari 26.5, including a WebKit vulnerability that could let maliciously crafted web content disclose sensitive user information. Here are the details.

According to Counterpoint Research, Apple outperformed the broader US smartphone market in Q1, helped by continued iPhone 17 demand amid weakening Android sales. Here are the details.

I’ve been using a robot vacuum and mop from Matic Robots for several months now. It’s a solid product with Apple-level build quality that’s built on privacy and intelligence. While Apple Home integration wasn’t always a feature, I was pleased to see support arrive recently.

Apple submitted a filing to the European Commission today criticizing proposed measures that would force Google to open parts of Android to rival AI services. Here are the details.

Members of a newly formed Emerging Team are reaching out to developers as Apple looks to increase Apple Ads spending. Here are the details.

WhatsApp and the Meta AI app now let users turn on incognito mode when having sensitive conversations with Meta AI. Here’s what that means and how to use it.

Apple’s first foldable iPhone is coming this fall, and rumors say it will be called iPhone Ultra. Here are six features to expect from Apple’s new high-end iPhone Ultra.

Netflix keeps getting more expensive, and that’s pushing more users to its ad tier. Today alongside touting booming ad-tier subscriptions, Netflix also announced that ads will be expanding to more places in its app.

Just weeks after Oliver Jones left Apple TV for Amazon, another executive focused on international content is leaving the company. Here are the details.

Starting today, Strava users can now log workouts and tap into the latest AirPods Pro 3 workout feature. Strava says it works as a standalone AirPods experience or alongside Apple Watch.

If you run a small business from your Mac, you’ll want to pay attention to Anthropic’s latest Claude release.

Yesterday Mark Gurman at Bloomberg published an extensive report covering design changes for iOS 27 overall, with lots of specifics on the new Siri and upgraded Camera app. One of my favorite details could be good news for the Liquid Glass change I’ve been wanting most.

Apple’s major Siri overhaul will be unveiled on June 8, and the company is reportedly already working with developers to get apps integrated, but it’s facing concerns over a key point: money.

Apple’s big developer conference, WWDC, is only weeks away. And a new report indicates that an announcement might be coming regarding Apple’s efforts to better incorporate AI agents into the App Store.

Meta just launched a brand new iPhone app called Instants. Built around ephemeral photo sharing, the new social media app is also the latest Instagram feature. Here’s what it does.

Amazon is now delivering all MacBook Neo models by Friday (if not sooner) and we are still tracking the best deal ever on official Apple iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, but today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by this 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro hitting its best price ever at a giant $400 off. We also have M5 MacBook Air 16GB/1TB at $150 off and the return of one of the best Apple Watch Series 11 deals – the 46mm cell at $130 off. We also have the new 2026 Apple Studio Displays at up to $200 off and all-time low pricing on Anker’s Prime 3-in-1 25W Qi2 Charging Station at 30% off. Everything awaits below.

iOS 26.5 arrived this week and brought an Apple Maps popup notifying users that ads are coming soon. Here’s what to expect when they formally launch this summer.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Bitwarden: Make your life easier with Bitwarden, featuring a secure, open source password manager with end-to-end encryption and seamless autofill across all your devices.

Back in March, OpenAI abruptly pulled the plug on its Sora video app. Two months later, a pair of AI video generation apps is competing for the top of the App Store.

Earlier this year, Apple launched its newest iPhone privacy feature—Limit Precise Location—but only a few carriers supported it initially. Following iOS 26.5’s launch this week, Apple now says that the feature is available for many more users.

Ahead of WWDC 2026, which kicks off next month, Apple has updated its Apple Developer website to spotlight members of the developer community.

As I mentioned a few days ago, breakthroughs in battery tech always seem to be two years away, but there have been some modest but worthwhile developments.

One of these, silicon-carbon batteries, is already found in some Android brands, and battery-test results clearly illustrate the benefits. But experts say it will be a little while before Apple adopts the new battery chemistry in future iPhones …

Apple TV’s hit series Ted Lasso inspired viewers to “Believe,” and it seems that message resonated strongly with the show’s actors too. Dani Rojas actor Cristo Fernández has just signed a contract to become a professional soccer player.

Apple confirmed back in January that Google’s Gemini AI model will power new Siri features. That not only frees us from the need to wait for Apple’s own AI models to catch up, but also means we have a pretty good idea of what’s in store for us.

Gemini Personal Intelligence provided our first glimpse of what we can expect from the new Siri, and a Google event has pointed to a number of additional features …

Apple’s stock Camera app started out with a very straightforward goal: it was intended to allow anyone to pick it up, press a button and get a decent result. It essentially made an iPhone the ultimate point-and-shoot camera.

Over the years, however, the app has grown increasingly sophisticated. While that may be a good thing, it has been accompanied by growing complexity. Finding the setting you want can involve a lot of guesswork about where it is found in the ever-expanding UI. Fortunately, it seems that iOS 27 may solve this problem …

Price alone is likely to make the iPhone Fold (or iPhone Ultra) a somewhat niche product in Apple’s lineup, but a new survey suggests there could be more interest than one might expect.

While the majority of US smartphone owners unsurprisingly care most about two vital but uninteresting things, interest in new form factors like foldables was surprisingly high …

WIRED reports that Foxconn acknowledged that some of its North American factories “suffered a cyberattack” in recent days, after the ransomware group Nitrogen claimed to have stolen 8TB of data from the company. Here are the details.

With the iOS 26.5 update, Apple has added a new Pride Luminance wallpaper to your iPhone. The wallpaper features strips of colors that transition as you swipe up from the lock screen to the home screen. By default, the wallpaper uses a rich, vibrant color palette that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.

But it’s actually super customizable, and it allows you to pick your own personal color palette for your iPhone’s lock screen. Here’s how to add the new colorful wallpaper and make it your own.

After agreeing to a $250 million settlement in the U.S. over claims that it misled customers about delayed Apple Intelligence and Siri features, Apple is now facing similar scrutiny in Brazil. Here are the details.

As spotted by Aaron Perris, Apple will soon start using AI-generated presenters in its Apple Sales Coach app. Here are the details.

With just a few weeks left until WWDC, Bloomberg has shared multiple details on what Apple has in store for the revamped, Google Gemini-powered Siri on iOS 27. Here are the details.

We’re less than a month away from Apple announcing iOS 27 at WWDC. A new report today offers a closer look at what to expect from design changes and new features for key apps, including Camera, Safari, Weather, and more.

iOS 27 has big changes coming for Apple’s Camera app, with a new report saying it will be “fully customizable.” Here are the details.

Alongside macOS 26.5 and its counterparts, Apple yesterday released Xcode 26.5, with several bug fixes and improvements. Two of these improvements make agentic coding workflows even smarter. Here are the details.

iRacing on Apple Vision Pro brings a “level of immersion and fidelity never before seen in sim racing,” says iRacing president Tony Gardner. The new app landed on the App Store this week after first being announced in March.

If you’re having problems using Spotify today, you’re not alone. The music streaming company has confirmed an ongoing outage and says it’s working on a fix.

Update, 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET: Spotify is still down and the company hasn’t provided any additional updates on when the outage will be fixed.

Update, 1:59 p.m. PT/4:59 p.m. ET: Spotify says the outage has been resolved.

Last month, Meta relaunched its AI efforts with Muse Spark, replacing its Llama models. As of today, Muse Spark is powering new experiences inside the Meta AI app.

Apple TV’s hit sci-fi show Severance had a three-year gap between seasons 1 and 2, but star Adam Scott now says season 3 will arrive “much sooner” than that. Here’s what he said, and what it means for release timing.

MacBook Neo shipping estimates are starting to improve for the first time since Apple’s $599 laptop launched. The shorter wait times line up with a recent report claiming Apple ordered more A18 Pro chips due to higher-than-expected demand.

Apple today announced that Apple Music subscribers will be able to stream a brand new Lady Gaga filmed live performance this Thursday, in which the artist performed tracks from her MAYHEM album.

In fact, at 8 AM Pacific Time on May 14, anyone can tune in for free (no subscription required) to watch the live stream premiere. After the fact, it will be available to watch on demand for Apple Music subscribers.

I have recently been reviewing high-powered, multifunctional desk chargers, and I think they are great for providing reliable power to your devices while keeping your space decluttered. Most of the chargers I have tested usually have a wattage cap of 140, like the Nomos charger, or 200W, like Anker’s charging station. But as we get more and more tech that constantly needs to be charged, getting something with higher wattage becomes essential, especially for power users. That is where CUKTECH’s new 30 Ultra Charging Station really stood out. It delivers up to 300W of output, features CUKTECH’s signature display, and offers something I have not seen in any other charger. Here is what you need to know.

Apple Maps is one of several apps with new features in iOS 26.5, the latest iPhone update. Here’s what’s new for Maps users.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Bitwarden: Make your life easier with Bitwarden, featuring a secure, open source password manager with end-to-end encryption and seamless autofill across all your devices.

Apple announced last month that a new option was coming to App Store apps: monthly subscriptions with a 12-month commitment. Now alongside iOS 26.5, these subscriptions have officially launched and a new support document explains exactly how they work.

Alongside the ongoing all-time low on the official Apple iPhone Air MagSafe Battery at 40% off, today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by a new Amazon all-time low hitting the 32GB/1TB M5 MacBook Pro at $300 off alongside the 48GB M5 Pro MacBook Pro also at $300 off the list price. You can save up to $300 on these M3 iPad Air clearance deals before they are gone for good, and scoop up a mid-range 13-inch M5 iPad Pro sitting down at the Amazon low – $149 off new or $245 off open-box. Just be sure to check out this rare discount on the latest Philips Hue Bridge Pro as stock appears to be quite low. Head below for a closer look.

Apple Journal is a wonderful solution for writing and reflecting in a private environment on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Day One is the go-to pick for users looking for richer features than what the built-in, free app offers. Now there’s an easier way to upgrade without starting over.

Bartender got even more useful today with the release of Bartender Pro and a new feature called Top Shelf, which turns the Mac’s notch into a space for widgets, file storage, clipboard management, Live Activities, and more. Here are the details.

Apple values secrecy, so the majority of its acquisitions are never officially revealed by the company. But thanks to the latest European Union update, we now know about a previously undisclosed recent acquisition—and it further confirms a new priority for the company.