Plenty of Apple, iPhone, and iPad news gets released each week – but we know you’re busy, so we’ve got your back. Here, we’ve picked out some of the most notable things you should know from the past few days and summarized them for easy digestion. Not just straightforward Apple news, but interesting iPhone-adjacent tidbits, too. You’re welcome.
So please dig into this week’s Apple news bites, freshly sourced from all around the web. As ever, click through to read the full stories if you want to know more!
Apple bringing its media apps to Windows
Apple has posted a job listing for engineers to help build “the next generation of media apps for Windows,” meaning PC users might soon have easy access to a bunch of Apple software. With the recent macOS Catalina, iTunes was disbanded and replaced by three separate apps for Music, TV, and Podcasts. Although Apple doesn’t specify which apps it’s bringing to Windows in the listing, we think it’s fairly safe to assume these three are the prime candidates. After all, PC users need an easy way to access Apple TV+ if the new streaming service is going to seriously compete with its rivals!
‘Billions’ spent on ambitious Apple Maps revamp
Apple has been chasing Google’s coattails for years when it comes to mapping software. Apple Maps was ridiculed at launch but has improved a lot since – and as we’ve previously reported, a gigantic revamp with far more accurate and detailed maps is already underway. Just check out iOS 13’s Look Around feature for proof. In an ongoing antitrust conversation between several tech giants and the House of Representatives, Apple revealed just how ambitious its Maps overhaul is, stating that it has already spent “billions” on its development.
Tim Cook says ‘Think Different’ philosophy is still important
Apple CEO Tim Cook took part in an interview at the Salesforce Dreamforce conference in San Francisco this week, in which he spoke about the prevalence of iPhones, iPads, and Macs in enterprise environments. But he also spoke on a number of other topics, including his friendship with Steve Jobs and how the old “Think Different” mantra is still at the core of everything Apple does today. He also explains how Apple’s desire to be the best, rather than the first, underpins its core strategies and enables it to ignore things like chasing market share.
Podcast app Castro updated with improved Apple Watch support
Good news for podcast fans with Apple Watches: one of the best third-party podcast apps, Castro, has released a significant update that makes listening to your favorite audio easier than ever. The app now perfectly syncs between devices, auto-syncing your listening queue with Apple Watch. It can now stream episodes over cellular or Wi-Fi, and you can control playback speed from Apple Watch. If you’re not sure what makes Castro (or any other third-party app) better than the default Podcasts app, see our guide to the best podcast clients.