With its rich customization features, iOS 16 isn’t nearly as boring as nay-sayers would have you believe. In this video, we discuss why iOS 16 is such a great update.

• Contrary to what you read online, iOS 16 isn’t boring. It’s a big, exciting update that brings many user-requested features, including rich customization.
• iOS 16 is packed to the gills with visual customization on the lock screen. Remember the times when everybody’s lock screen looked the same?
• In this video by our Michale Billig (@michael_billig), we make the case why iOS 16 is actually such a great update. You might want to give it a quick look so that next time someone says iOS 16 is boring, you can hit them with counter-arguments.

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Video: Reasons why iOS 16 is great

Who says iOS 16 is boring? Some folks are indeed pushing such a narrative. Only short-sighted people are incapable of seeing beyond the thrills of heavily-advertised tentpole features. In reality, both iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 are awesome updates that offer many new features. What’s more important, Apple appears to be listening to its customers more than ever before—iOS 16 is packed with the little things and under-the-hood improvements, many of which are features people have been asking for for years now (such as the ability to recall a message or edit a message).

If you like this video, consider watching our previous ones:

• Every new Apple Watch face and feature in watchOS 9
• Lesser-known features in iOS 16
• iPhone features powered by iOS 16 intelligence
• iOS 16 tidbits
• Our first look at iOS 16

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to iDownloadBlog on YouTube, and please do so with post notification turned on (hit the little bell icon). Doing so will not only ensure you’ll receive a notification every time we publish new content to the channel but also help influence the algorithm to promote our work to more people.

Customization is the name of the game

As if that wasn’t enough, iOS 16 continues Android-like customization that began with custom keyboards in iOS 10. That trend has continued with home screen widgets in recent releases so here we are today, with a heavily customizable lock screen in iOS 16 and a bunch of other customization options that you’ll find peppered throughout the operating system if you just scratch under the surface.

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2022/06/30/ios-16-customization-overview-video/

Apple wants you to pay for fuel through your vehicle’s CarPlay dashboard, and US gas pumps are now preparing to support this feature when it launches this fall.

• This will require entering your payment credentials into official fuel companies’ apps, which will let you activate a pump and pay for gas.
• The new feature will be supported across hundreds of vehicle models that already work with CarPlay when iOS 16 releases this fall.

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Fueling apps are coming to CarPlay

One of the changes for CarPlay in iOS 16 includes support for fueling apps. Apple is hoping that this will enable drivers to start purchasing gas directly from their vehicle’s dashboard as soon as the updated CarPlay software rolls out this fall. You’ll be able to navigate to a gas station and buy fuel straight from CarPlay. And now, gas stations are laying the groundwork on their end to be prepared for the feature. Additionally, several oil companies are reportedly interested to make their apps work with CarPlay. But won’t this feature put Apple at odds with automakers? Read: How to stop getting Messages, WhatsApp and other app notifications in CarPlay

Next-generation CarPlay puts commerce in the car

Reuters reports:

Vehicle makers have tried—and failed—to popularize gasoline purchasing from the car before. General Motors rolled out a system for doing so in 2017, but shuttered it earlier this year “due to a supplier exiting the business,” GM told Reuters in a statement.

The report adds that several gas pump chains in the US are already preparing for the new CarPlay feature, including Dallas-based HF which operates 1,600 gas stations across the country. The report doesn’t make it clear how or if revenue from fueling apps will be shared. Apple typically takes between 15-30 percent proceeds on app sales, but some app categories are exempt from that rule. Somehow it doesn’t feel like super-rich oil companies or gas pump chains will want to share proceeds with one of the richest corporations in the world. Another thing the report suggests is that fueling apps will come with their own payment systems (because you’ll be required to enter your payment details) that may or may not work with the Apple Pay feature.

CarPlay gains support for fueling and driving task apps

iOS 16’s CarPlay adds support for fueling apps (it already supports specialized apps for parking, electric vehicle charging and ordering food). Aside from fueling apps, CarPlay in iOS 16 also brings support for driving task software such as apps for logging mileage on business trips. “Your favorite apps that help you fill your tank and provide you with road information, toll support, towing help and more can find a home in CarPlay,” according to the official iOS 16 preview webpage.

CarPlay in iOS 16 represents a complete rethinking of the feature as we’ve come to know it so far. CarPlay in iOS 16 expands to all the screens in your car and is optimized for the vast majority of cars sold today. Not only can CarPlay now access speed and fuel gauge data from the car’s sensors but also lets you customize your dashboard with widgets, choose your gauge cluster design (including brand‑specific options), control the radio, HVAC and much more.

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2022/06/30/carplay-fueling-apps-preparations/

As far as credit card cash back deals are concerned, Apple’s offering is par for the course for the most part. But, to help stand out a little bit, Apple is boosting the cash back offerings for select retailers through some of the summer months. But the deal will only last for so long.

Starting now, Apple Card customers can get up to 4% cash back at select retailers. That’s up from the traditional 2% that the credit card offers when using Apple Pay. And, as you can guess, you’ll still need to use Apple Pay to finalize a purchase to get the boosted cash back deal.

Here are the businesses that are supported with this limited time promotion:

• StubHub
• Yeti
• J.Crew
• Ray-Ban
• HotelTonight
• Crocs
• Petco
• Fandango

Apple says, via the official promotions page, that the deal is present until July 31, 2022. Here is the fine print, though, because there is always fine print:

1. Offer valid on qualifying purchases directly at participating merchants (stubhub.com, jcrew.com, yeti.com, crocs.com, petco.com, ray-ban.com, hoteltonight.com, fandango.com) up to a cumulative maximum spend total of $3000 per person when using Apple Card with Apple Pay online or in app (where available) from June 28, 2022, to July 31, 2022. Excludes purchase of gift cards at StubHub, J.Crew, Fandango, Crocs, and Petco. Product shipments from Yeti are limited to the 50 U.S. states and D.C. New Apple Card accounts subject to credit approval. An Apple Cash card is required to use Daily Cash, except if you do not have an Apple Cash card, in which case you can only apply your Daily Cash as a credit on your statement balance. The Apple Cash card is issued by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC. See apple.com/apple-pay for more information. Daily Cash is earned on purchases after the transaction posts to your account. Actual posting times vary by merchant. Daily Cash is subject to exclusions, and additional details apply. See the Apple Card Customer Agreement for more details.

A pretty good deal, albeit a brief one, for Apple Card customers. Apple isn’t offering a double cash back deal for its own products, though, so don’t expect to get 6% back when buying an Apple device with the Apple Card via Apple Pay. At least, not right now.

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2022/06/29/apple-card-double-cash-back-2022/

See started out as one of the more “out there” ideas for Apple TV+, giving the streaming service a big dose of sci-fi apocalyptic storytelling, with a lot of hand-to-hand combat that was actually pretty great to watch. The first season started out a bit rough, but by the time the final episode aired it was easily one of the best shows not only one Apple’s video streaming service, but just in general.

Unfortunately for the show itself, it doesn’t pick up a lot of attention. It certainly doesn’t garner the same conversation as Ted Lasso (but not much does, to be fair). So no one could blame you if you missed that See actually had a whole second season — and a third season is just about ready to make its debut.

And the third season will be the show’s last. So if you’ve just been waiting to binge the whole series, you’ll be able to do that soon enough.

The third season starts just about a year after the second season ended. The main character, Baba Voss (played by Jason Momoa), has retreated into the forest after defeating his arch nemesis, his brother, Edo (played by Dave Bautista). However, a new threat has emerged and Baba Voss is tasked with protecting his tribe once again.

Here’s the official description:

In season three, almost a year has passed since Baba Voss defeated his nemesis brother Edo and bid farewell to his family to live remotely in the forest. But when a Trivantian scientist develops a new and devastating form of sighted weaponry that threatens the future of humanity, Baba returns to Paya in order to protect his tribe once more.

The series will see stars Sylvia Hoeks, Hera Hilmar, Christian Camargo, Archie Madekwe, Tom Mison, Olivia Cheng, Nesta Cooper, and Michael Raymond-James returning, along with other familiar faces.

The first teaser measures in at just over a minute in length. That’s just a taste of what’s to come in the third season, and we’ll see more in the first official trailer that Apple TV+ shares in the future. We’ll probably get to see that sometime in late July or early August, and we’ll be sure to pass it along.

The third, and final, season of See will premiere on Friday, August 26, 2022. Will you be checking it out?

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2022/06/29/apple-tv-plus-see-s3-teaser/

When your iPhone is connected to CarPlay, you see iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, and other notification banners from supported apps on your car’s display. If you don’t like this, here are two ways to block text and app notifications in CarPlay.

CarPlay text notifications

At times, if you’re driving with your family or friends, some texts coming in may be embarrassing. For example, in my case, it used to feel a bit uneasy to get several quick texts or WhatsApp notifications from my fiancé on the CarPlay screen with the family (parents or siblings) sitting in the back seat.

Similarly, when I’m driving, I like to focus on the road and not let Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, or other CarPlay notifications disturb me.

Thankfully, disabling these notifications from appearing on your car’s screen is easy.

How to turn off app notifications on your car’s screen

There are two ways to do that.

1. Stop text notifications from showing in CarPlay

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Select Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, or the desired app.
4. Switch off Show in CarPlay.

From now on, when you’re using CarPlay and someone texts you via these apps, the incoming notifications won’t appear on your car’s screen.

Note: You’ll see the option for Show in CarPlay in notification settings only if you have connected your iPhone to CarPlay previously.

Must see: How to hide, show, and move apps in Apple CarPlay

2. Enable Driving Focus

The above steps turn off text notifications for all future CarPlay instances. However, let’s say you don’t want to go that extreme, and, on some drives, you want these app notifications on your car’s screen, and in some, you don’t.

To achieve this, you can manually enable Driving Focus (earlier called Do Not Disturb while Driving) during drives when you don’t want notifications.

Additionally, you can set up an automatic reply that will be sent out to the message sender when you’re driving!

Here are two easy tutorials to help:

• What is Driving Focus and how to enable it on your iPhone
• How to customize the auto-reply response of your Driving Focus mode on iPhone

No text or WhatsApp notifications during CarPlay

Use one of the above methods to avoid app notifications when your iPhone is connected to CarPlay. You can choose to permanently turn off Messages notifications or have them hidden only for a particular drive by using Driving Focus. Have a safe and pleasant drive.

CarPlay news:

• Apple CarPlay gets new features in iOS 16, including support for gauge clusters
• Electric vehicle manufacturer Polestar now supports Apple CarPlay
• Apple CarPlay gains more EV charging information with ChargePoint integration

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2022/06/29/how-to-stop-text-notifications-in-carplay/