Have you updated to WatchOS 4 yet? Are you planning NOT to? If so, why or why not.

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Files – Files was a new app that was added to iOS to give you access to the files you keep in your iCloud drive. But wait there’s more!!! You can also add other file sharing apps such as Dropbox, G-Drive, Box, Onedrive and so on. This gives you the opportunity to access your files regardless of the sharing service they are located on.

Screen Shots – I tend to take a lot of screenshots for demonstration purposes and so forth, and this new feature allows me to not only take a screenshot, but I can also mark it up and send it off without using multiple applications.
Apple Pay – In iOS 11 you will be able to use Apple pay through messenger to send money to anyone with an iPhone. (Note: This was not available at launch, but the website says coming this fall)

Photos – The live photos you take have just gotten more fun. In addition to being able to skim through the live photo to find the exact shot you want, there are also filters that can be applied real-time as well as some fun effects such as Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure. I have my favorites, but I’m not going to try to influence you. You’ll have to explore these on your own.

App Store –  This might sound unimportant, but it is a big deal. The redesigned app store is much cleaner and easier to navigate. In addition to being curated and new app/game selections posted daily.

Siri – Siri is now using even deeper machine learning to anticipate what you want and make suggestions before you ask. Any information that is not stored on the devices is encrypted “in flight” keeping your information private. For example, Siri will learn what you are interested in and can make suggestions in the News app.

Control Center – Control Center is one of the most hyped features of iOS 11 and it should be. Control Center is now a single page. No more swiping to get to the music app. You can also configure what buttons are available to you.

Do Not Disturb – This has been around for a while, but this has a twist. It is Do Not Disturb While Driving. This can be configured so that when your phone detects that you are connected to your cars Bluetooth it will enable it. If your car doesn’t have Bluetooth your phone can use wi-fi doppler effect to detect you are riding in a car and enable Do Not Disturb. If you are a passenger in a car you can simply click the button that says, “I’m not driving” and you will be able to use your phone.

This is in no way a complete list of features. As I stated before this is a huge update and there is even more great features in iPad. Put your favorite new feature in the comments.

Apple Music: Worth it or swerve it? (Image credit: www.cdn.idigitaltimes.com)

Apple are definitely not unknown in the music world, having largely dominated the portable music device scene for years, but their first foray into music streaming has come during the peak of Spotify’s popularity. The main question is; is it worth it, or should you swerve it?

Music streaming services are certainly having their moment right now; with Spotify dominating, and Deezer slowly moving up alongside it. So the questions is whether Apple have made a wise move in releasing Apple Music amongst the Spotify hype?

Streaming is certainly overtaking music ownership and is quickly becoming the way in which people tend to listen to their music, which is great. Since there’s only ever going to be room for a few services offering a similar sort of content at any one time, let’s take a look at what Apple Music has to offer.

Apple Music

Apple Music launched on 30th June on Apple devices, following up with an Android app (albeit with fewer features) on November 11th 2015. Apple devices have the choice of single plans, or family plans, with a slight price discrepancy. However, Android devices do not yet have the option to choose a family plan.

Apple Music is currently priced at $9.99/£9.99 a month for a single package, and $14.99/£14.99 for a family package, which is good for six users across dfiferent devices. Similarly to Spotify, this one monthly payment gets you unlimited streaming of all the content that Apple has to offer.

On Apple Music, you’ll find a range of music to stream (although it’s worthwhile noting that the big name artists who have withdrawn their music from Spotify have done the same thing with Apple Music, so don’t expect to find all Taylor Swift, Adele or Beyonce albums on there), and radio stations. Like other music streaming services, you can create your own playlists for convenience of listening.

With Apple Music, there is a strong focus on discovering new artists and listening to music that you might not have heard before, but will likely enjoy. Of course, this feature isn’t exclusive to Apple Music, and you could get the same experience from Spotify or Google Music, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.

Up to this point, it’s seeming like Apple Music has nothing particular to offer us that we’re not getting from other music streaming services, so let’s take a look at some of the benefits that we’re only really getting from Apple.

• A three month free trial, as opposed to the standard one month, is available with Apple Music; this is a good length of time to figure out if you’re getting on with the service and want to keep it.
• For those of us with fully up to date Apple devices, Apple Music is there, ready and waiting for us. There’s no need to download anything else onto the device; just sign up and get streaming. This is a benefit to those of us who don’t fancy downloading any extra apps.
• Integration with the songs already in your iTunes. Unfortunately, this is something other streaming services just can’t do. Apple Music integrates with the music already on your device, making the whole experience seamless. This means that those missing artists won’t be an issue if you’re planning to buy their music, since it’ll all appear in the same place anyway.
• The opportunity to get a family plan. Paying only an extra $5/£5 for 5 extra users is pretty good. Although you can make as many playlists as you like on Spotify, only one person can listen “online” at once, meaning any other users on the account must set their device to offline to listen without interruption.

With all that being said, it’s hard to say whether Apple Music is completely worth it or not, since it doesn’t offer anything overly innovative that we can’t find elsewhere. However, with the three month free trial, it’s well worth giving that a go at least, and deciding from there. Those of us that are already die hard Spotify fans may find making the switch awkward, but why not try?

The latest generation of Apple TV & Siri remote (image credit: www.apple.com)

Apple TV is a service that’s been hinted at since way back before the first iPhone in 2006. Originally referred to as iTV, the concept behind Apple TV has evolved and adapted significantly since we first heard about the idea. The first incarnation of Apple TV was released in 2010, and the latest generation which arrived in September of this year couldn’t be more different.

It seems that, of late, Apple are trying incredibly hard to catch up with the myriad of streaming services and online availability that has swept past them in recent years. Of course, their products have always been very widely available through iTunes and their store, but since it’s now streaming rather than content ownership that’s the way forward, it’s time they took steps to catch up with what everyone else is doing.

Apple TV: A step forwards to catch up

It seems strange to say that Apple are “behind” in anything, but with regards to streaming services, they really are. They made their first step towards catching up with the crowd with the introduction of Apple Music in June, and the release of Apple TV is a second step towards catching up.

So, what is Apple TV?

Apple TV in its current incarnation (which is the fourth generation) is basically a set top box containing access to all the usual suspects when it comes to streaming services (with Amazon Prime in the works within the next few weeks, apparently) and more services to come as the product develops.

The Apple TV box has its very own OS, dubbed TV OS and benefits from touch control in some areas, voice control (including “asking” Siri who is in a movie), as well as physical controls which allows users to skip forwards and backwards, albeit with pretty strict time constraints. Both the box and the remote control are fairly small, compact and will be easy to store. Of course, their design is sleek and attractive, but that’s pretty much a given for any Apple product these days!

The services currently available on the Apple TV box are iTunes, Netflix, HBO, Showtime and Hulu; with additional services such as YouTube and CrunchyRoll also being available. There are a few different options when it comes to streaming material (as well as syncing with iTunes, of course), and again the possibility of Amazon Prime availability coming to the box in a couple of weeks.

The Apple TV box is something that Apple are touting as “The future of television”. Of course, whether the fourth generation Apple TV box is the success that they’re hoping for remains to be seen, since it’s a relatively recent release, but that’s certainly a big claim! The Apple TV box puts a big emphasis on applications as a method of watching television, but this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before from the Amazon Fire stick, or indeed any of the other devices we can use to stream television such as the Sony Playstation 3 and 4.

With that being said, for Apple fans the Apple TV box will likely go down really well, and there’s definitely scope for further development and improvement which might bring in more users that are currently using other devices to watch television.

iOS 8 vs iOS 9 (Image credit: www.macworld.co.uk)

We’ve learned not to expect too much from Apple’s iOS updates of late; not much has changed since the huge leap between iOS 6 and 7. However, with the fairly recent release of iOS 9, there are a few things of note that are well worth looking into. If you’re a user of iOS 9 and are wondering what’s new on your iPhone or iPad, then just keep on reading.

New features included on iOS 9

Improved security with six digit pass codes: Before the release of iOS9, the standard four digit pass code has been the Apple go to for security. With the iOS9 release, however, the mandatory length for pass codes has been increased to six digits. Yes, it’s two more numbers to remember, but it’s a whole lot more secure!

Draw feature on ‘Notes’

A feature that, oddly, we all seemed to want before we had it. Now, not only can you type away on your ‘Notes’, but you can also draw into them and “hand write” should you so desire. Perhaps not the most functional feature ever, but it’s there all the same!

Alarm quick delete

Remember Apple’s annoying habit of making you go right into an alarm before allowing you to delete it? Well, now you can swipe left and hit delete to get rid of any outdated alarms that you don’t want. Oh, simplicity.

Adjusting your screen sensitivity

Not everyone gets on with their touchscreen the same way, and this can be a bit of a nuisance for some of us. However, with iOS9, you can adjust your screen sensitivity in your “Accessibility” settings, giving you the opportunity to play around with how your phone responds to your touch and make it suit you better.

iPad only features

Apple have introduced some iPad only features into iOS9, so if you have an iPad running this OS, you’ve got some new things to play around with. The features introduced for iPad include a split screen feature, and the ability to watch a video whilst working on other things – good for those of us who like to procrastinate while we work!

Some fun features… Selfie folder! 

Hands up if you’re guilty of the occasional selfie? I see your hands, no hiding! Well, iOS 9 has implemented a folder strictly for selfies which contains only pictures taken with the forward facing camera. No need to go trawling through all those photos of your lunch for your latest selfie now, eh?

New emojis

If there’s one thing we all love about our iPhones, it’s those emojis! A glance at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or your texts will show you just how much everyone else loves them, too, and with the latest OS update, we have a whole host of new icons to play with, including a unicorn. How did we ever get by before?

Well, that’s a round up of a few of the new features introduced when Apple implemented iOS9, including a few of the fun ones! For a more comprehensive list of iOS9’s new features, why not take a look Tech Radar’s round up of the new OS tweaks? 

What are your favourite features from the latest release of Apple’s OS?

Apple products through the ages. (Image credit: http://assets.inhabitat.com)

You’d be forgiven for thinking that, given the recent surge in popularity, Apple are a fairly new brand. However, having been formed in 1976, the company is almost forty years old – that’s a long life time for a technology company! Throughout the company’s life, Apple Inc. have released some of the most iconic pieces of technology and the world goes mad for it each and every time. With people clamouring for the latest iPhone upon every release, and updating other pieces of their tech every couple of years, Apple are showing no signs of going anywhere any time soon, so let’s take a look at Apple through the Ages.

The first release through to today

The Apple I, originally known as the Apple Computer 1, was Apple’s very first release, and barely resembles a computer as we know it today. It lacked many basic features, and the photos you can find of Apple I today are often of modified devices. If there’s anything that highlights the progress the company have made, it’s highlighting the differences between the Apple I and the latest iMac!

Their first taste of success

The first real success Apple Inc. enjoyed was with the very first Macintosh (now known as the Mac) released in 1986; a full ten years after the company’s inception. The initial Macintosh would later lead to an incredibly popular device that’s everywhere now.

Becoming a household name

After a few years of turmoil within the company, it appeared that Apple would never make it to becoming the household name we know it as today. Upon the release of their iPod in 2001, improvements started being seen. A few models later, and Apple became the prominent household name we’re all familiar with, but with a strong emphasis on their musical devices other anything else.

Going mobile

Despite initially starting as a computer technology company, Apple made a name for themselves in the mass market primarily with their mobile devices. Their first iPhone was released in 2007, proving almost instantly popular, and the first iPad came later on in 2010. Between them, though particularly the iPhone, they propelled Apple into the huge company they are today, generating millions of sales every year and proving that the previously failing company was certainly not history.

The first Apple Watch was released in 2015, bringing Apple directly into view of many, many people. Although sales of the Apple Watch were not as high as originally thought, it has still sold reasonably well and sales are thought to increase with later iterations.

Extra services

With such a strong emphasis placed on their mobile devices, Apple had to follow up with extra services that would work primarily with their devices and bring them even more into the public eye. Services such as Apple Pay (allowing users to make credit and debit card payments on their mobile phones or Apple Watch) and Apple Music (released with the intent to rival Spotify and other music streaming services) have been rolled out across a large number of Apple devices.

Just from this quick run down, you can see how much Apple Inc. have grown as a company in quite a short period of time. The real growth isn’t seen until the release of the iPhone in 2010, although the reputation of the company certainly sees an increase in 2007 with the release of the iPod. One thing is for sure, though, Apple aren’t going anywhere just yet and we’re sure to see even more exciting releases from the technology giant in the near future.

It’s that time again! Time for another iPad release from Apple; and it’s a good one. We’ve seen a huge range of iPads since their initial release in 2010, from the regular iPad, to the Mini (and everything in between), and now we have the Pro. A larger sized tablet with some impressive features and specifications, the iPad Pro is sure to prove a hit amongst those with a love for the Apple tablet.

The iPad perfect for professionals? Image credit: http://www.agemobile.com

iPad Pro Features
One of the things to look for whenever Apple release a new version of the iPad is the updated features. In the past we’ve moved from a regular display to a retina display, had a camera upgrade and such; but what new features does the iPad Pro have?

• 9 inch display, with a 2,732 x 2,048 resolution capable of showing 5.9 million pixels
• A9X chip
• Increased memory capacity. The iPad Pro has options up to 128GB allowing you plenty of space for all the apps, music and movies you could need
• Wi-Fi and 4G models
• 10 hour battery life
• 8MP iSight sensor & 1.2MP forward facing camera, capable of recording HD video up to 1080p

The iPad Pro releases November of 2015 (out now!) and is looking promising for the iPad lovers amongst us for sure. It has a host of improved hardware and software, and with Apple consistent firmware updates, it’s only going to get better. The Pro is ideal for professionals, and there is some question as to whether it could be used entirely in place of a desktop or laptop due to the range of accessories available.

What are your thoughts on the new Apple iPad Pro? I think it’s going to be a hit, but only time will tell!