The latest in a long line of high-profile third-party keyboards for iOS devices is Gboard from Google. The unique selling point of Gboard is that it combines a regular keyboard with built-in Google Search, which lets you search for photos, GIFs, and text-based results to paste into your conversation. Emoji search and swiping functional also make an appearance here.
Well, that was fast: just a day after rumours circulated that Apple would be looking at stopping iTunes Music downloads, Apple has issued a statement that is “not true”.
What is true is that Apple app review times are shortening, with downward trends on both the iOS and Mac App Stores. MacStories takes a look at the data, and wonders whether this is a temporary thing or whether 1-2 days for App Review will be the new norm.
A look at Apple’s R&D numbers from Neil Cybart says Apple is on track to spend almost $10 billion on R&D in 2016, up 30% from their R&D spending last year. While Apple’s R&D costs have risen with every year, a 30% jump is significant enough to suggest big changes are afoot. Cybart says Apple is going to pivot.
9to5Mac kicks off the speculation surrounding what kind of headphones will come with this year’s iPhone. It’s entirely possible Apple will roll out Lightning-enabled EarPods even if they aren’t removing the headphone jack, but feel wireless earbuds aren’t quite there yet to warrant an all-in move like that on the next iPhone.
A quick rundown of Apple News says that it’s not a full-blown replacement for those attached to their RSS readers (RIP, Google Reader), nor is it suitable for Flipboard magazine users, but for everyone else just looking for news articles in an easy-to-browse format, it’s not a bad alternative to the ad-filled interstitial web.
While Apple Music isn’t supposed to completely wipe your local library from your machine without your permission, it’s possible a bug in the latest version of iTunes is doing it, as explained by iMore.
Screenie is a screenshot manager for OS X that sits in your menu bar and lets you do things with the images you save, but it’s more designed to give you quick access, and doesn’t have the usual screenshot uploading features you might find in other apps.
IMore’s latest podcast is called Apple Talk, and it’s a good name for an in-depth industry analysis podcast.
Taylor Swift’s latest Apple Music ad is the one where she’s dancing on furniture to The Darkness.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/05/friday-morning-news130516/