Apple is rumored to be removing the Dynamic Island cutout, replacing it with an under-display camera. In other words, Apple might be going with a clean, all-screen look for its display.
https://mashable.com/article/apple-kills-dymanic-island-under-display-camera?test_uuid=04wb5avZVbBe1OWK6996faM&test_variant=a
After Meta shut Spark at the start of the year and Adobe retired Aero this week, it seemed there was a space for a simple no-code app for creating augmented reality (AR) experiences and effects. Right on cue, along comes Trace looking to fill the gap. Described by its developers as the “Canva of AR”, the iPad and iPhone app is intended to allow people to create high-fidelity location-based AR experiences without code and without needing specialist knowledge.
https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/vr-ar/a-new-canva-of-ar-aims-to-let-anyone-design-ar-experiences
Nintendo has released an official Nintendo Store app, allowing more fans to access the eShop on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Five years after exclusively launching in Japan as the “My Nintendo” app, Nintendo has now expanded the iOS and Android experience under a new name to other regions, including the US, UK, Canada, and most of Europe.
https://www.theverge.com/news/814054/nintendo-store-app-ios-android-games-shop
After teasing its development last year, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley has now launched BeeBot: an AI-powered social app for iPhones that talks to you about what’s happening nearby. In his blog announcement, Crowley says BeeBot behaves like a “personalized radio DJ” that provides location-based audio updates through your headphones, telling you about what friends are up to, local news, and events occurring in the neighborhood as you walk around. “Audio updates are meant to be short and sweet (a few sentences here and there), tailored to your interests and your social graph, and designed to both inspire and inform you,” Crowley says in the announcement. “The vibe we’re going for is more ‘Waze meets Gossip Girl,’ and less ‘Wikipedia in your ears.’”
https://www.theverge.com/news/815328/beebot-app-foursquare-founder-ai-audio-updates
Amazon doesn’t want to be a part of Perplexity’s AI-powered shopping experience. In a post on Tuesday, the ecommerce giant says it has “repeatedly requested” that Perplexity stop allowing its Comet AI browser to buy products for customers, which Perplexity has responded to by accusing Amazon of “bullying.”
https://www.theverge.com/news/813755/amazon-perplexity-ai-shopping-agent-block
Following the ‘G’ and Gemini icons, Google is updating its logos for the AI era. Here’s a sneak peek at the new gradient icons for Google Photos and Maps. The gradient G also expanded beyond Search to represent “all of Google” (the brand and company). Additionally, the company said how it will “continue this update across more products, platforms and services over the coming months.”
https://9to5google.com/2025/11/02/google-photos-maps-gradient-icon/
When graphic design platform-provider Canva bought the Affinity image-editing and publishing apps early last year, we had some major questions about how the companies’ priorities and products would mesh. This week, Canva gave us definitive answers to all of those questions: a brand-new unified Affinity app that melds the Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps into a single piece of software called “Affinity by Canva” that is free to use with a Canva user account, but which gates generative AI features behind Canva’s existing paid subscription plans ($120 a year for individuals).
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/canvas-new-affinity-app-is-free-to-use-but-locks-ai-features-behind-a-subscription/