Apple, Let Us Tune into Those FM Radio Channels

Your iPhone has an FM radio chip that you’ve never been able to use. FCC chairman Ajit Pai thinks that’s a shame, and so does Jeff Butts. While the FCC chairman isn’t going to try forcing Cupertino to turn on the chip, he’s certainly turning up the heat about it. Let’s see what the good chairman has to say, and what impact that might have on streaming music services.

Pokémon GO Adding 80 New Monsters to Catch

Get ready for Pokémon GO Gen 2 and 80 new monsters because Niantic plans to give us more characters we gotta catch by this weekend. The new monsters come from the Pokémon Silver and Pokémon Gold video games, so if you’re tired of the gobs of characters already available you’ll have plenty more to keep you roaming around your neighborhood. Niantic also rolled in new evolutions and Evolution items to collect, new berries, new avatars, and more. The updates are free, unlike the time we’ll all spend hunting for Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile.

iOS 10: How to Make Home Button Touch ID Work Like it Used to

iOS 10 brought a big change to the way the Home Button worked by requiring users to press it, even after your fingerprint has been recognized. But, there’s a feature tucked away under Settings > General > Accessibility that allows you to make your Home Button work like it used to. When this option is turned on, your iPhone or iPad with Touch ID will unlock with just a touch from the lock screen. Here’s how to do it.

LEGO Batman has the Siri Easter Eggs We Deserve

The LEGO Batman movie is out, and it shows us just how important Siri is: She’s the computer system of choice for Gotham’s elite vigilante crime fighters. Luckily, we don’t have to live in Gotham, become emotionally scarred orphans watching our parents die, or spend gobs of money on devices named bat…something. We can get Siri to treat us like the bat heroes we want to be right on our iPhones. Just press and hold your iPhone’s Home button to activate Siri, and get your Batman on by saying, “Hey, computer,” or “Hey, ‘puter.” Siri will respond with bat-appropriate comments, first try.

Who's More Intelligent, Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa?

In the battle of virtual personal assistants, Apple and Amazon have strong contenders. Which one is “smarter,” though, Siri or Alexa? Perhaps it’s too early to really call the race, since both personal assistants keep growing and evolving. Be that as it may, Jeff Butts has put both through their paces, and shares his thoughts.

Photon Strike is a Fun Arcade Scroller for iOS

You may known of my penchant for tower defense games, but I also have a not-so-secret love for arcade scrollers. The good news for your time-sucking pleasure is that I found a new one called Photon Strike. It’s a solid vertical scroller for iPhone an iPad (I played on iPad) with good graphics and fast action. In fact, it’s very fast. It’s similar to others in the genre. You have to steer your ship (with your fingers), firing as long as your finger is on the screen. Waves of enemies fly around the screen, and you have to shoot/avoid them. Powerups are available throughout each level, and you get credits for each enemy you destroy for buying upgrades. It’s free to download, but for real-world cash, you can get yourself a whole heap of credits. You can also watch videos for free credits. Every five waves there’s a boss at the end. It’s ad-supported, but the ads go away with any purchase (the ads are not obnoxious).  That said, this is the kind of game where I’m happy to pay to unlock ads to directly support the developer.

Apple in a Standoff with Australia's Banks Over Apple Pay

Don’t count on Apple Pay coming to most of Australia any time soon because the ongoing fight between Apple and the banks is only getting worse. Apple is calling Australia’s banks a cartel looking to squeeze more money out of customers, and the banks say Apple is trying to kill competition. Both sides are digging in their heels, and it doesn’t look like they’re interested in finding a compromise.

32-bit iPhone and iPad Apps Are on Death Row

Apple’s look-forward philosophy means 64-bit iPhone and iPad apps are the future and 32-bit apps are fading into the past. That means the day is coming where 32-bit apps that haven’t been updated to 64-bit will stop working, and if you don’t have a replacement app ready to go you’ll be out of luck.

The iPhone's Future, Prince and Streaming Music - TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-01

Apple made truck loads of money during its first fiscal quarter for 2017, but that wasn’t the only news from yesterday’s earning report. John Martellaro and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on Tim Cook saying the iPhone hasn’t reached maturity yet, plus they look at the news that Prince’s music is coming to Apple Music.

Goodbye iPhone Activation Lock Checker, Presidential Immigration Ban and Apple - TMO Daily Observations 2017-01-30

Apple shut down its iPhone Activation Lock Status checker without any explanation, which raises a few questions. Bryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at what may be behind Apple’s decision, plus they look at what impact the presidentail executive order banning immigration from certain countries could have on Silicon Valley companies such as Apple.

HBO Go Gets TV App, Single Sign On Support

HBO is finally going all in with Apple’s TV app thanks to a just released update for its HBO Go app. The new version adds TV support, just like the HBO Now app already had, so you can search for HBO content and keep track of what you’re watching in Apple’s app.

Peter Dinklage From Game of Thrones Fears His iPhone

What does the actor who plays a character who faces dragons, monsters, magic, and even his very own father fear in real life? If it’s Peter Dinklage—Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones, we’re talking about, it’s his iPhone 7. Mr. Dinklage gave an interview to CNET to promote Rememory, a SciFi film debuting this week at the Sundance Film Festival. In that interview, he said, “I just got an iPhone about six months ago, friends made fun of me. I’m afraid of it.” There’s a reason, though, and that’s concern over how tech is changing the way humans interact. To wit, when people approach him, the interaction has become solely about the selfie-with-Peter. He said, “We’re not even allowing a memory to sink in. They’ll have proof of meeting me, but […] there wasn’t anything to remember, because all you did was just take a picture.” It’s an interesting perspective on this particular concern.

How To Fix The iPhone Rainbow Emoji Message Crash

Another messaging crash for iOS devices is making the rounds. This time, it involves the colorful rainbow emoji. The bug affects both iPhones and iPads running iOS 10.1 or below, but a variant of the crash can affect devices running iOS 10.2. Luckily the fix is very easy, and we’ll show you how.

iOS Tip: Create Your Own Live Wallpaper with LivePapers

When Apple announced the iPhone 6s, they debuted a new way to interact with your iPhone, called 3D Touch. 3D Touch lets you “peek” and “pop” your way around apps. The company also introduced Live Photos—animated pictures that you capture and bring to life by 3D touching the photo. Apple provided a handful of Live wallpapers to use, but many people wondered if it was possible to make your own. That is what we’ll explore in this tip.