Epic Games Setting Up Webshops for iOS Developers to Offer Users Out-of-App Purchases

image via macrumors.com
image via macrumors.com

Epic Games today announced plans for ‌Epic Games‌ Store Webshops, a feature that will allow developers to launch digital storefronts that are hosted by the ‌Epic Games‌ Store. With Apple's mandated App Store rule changes in the United States, developers will soon be able to direct customers to web shops to make out-of-app purchases, bypassing the in-app purchase flow.

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/01/epic-games-webshops-ios-developers/

Millions of Apple Airplay-enabled devices can be hacked via Wi-Fi

image via arstechnica.com
image via arstechnica.com

Apple’s AirPlay feature enables iPhones and MacBooks to seamlessly play music or show photos and videos on other Apple devices or third-party speakers and TVs that integrate the protocol. Now newly uncovered security flaws in AirPlay mean that those same wireless connections could allow hackers to move within a network just as easily, spreading malicious code from one infected device to another. Apple products are known for regularly receiving fixes, but given how rarely some smart-home devices are patched, it’s likely that these wirelessly enabled footholds for malware, across many of the hundreds of models of AirPlay-enabled devices, will persist for years to come.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/millions-of-apple-airplay-enabled-devices-can-be-hacked-via-wi-fi/

Apple is turning its AirPods into the Babel fish from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

image via qz.com
image via qz.com

Apple (AAPL) is designing a new AirPods feature that would allow users to listen and respond to live translations of in-person conversations, according to a Bloomberg report that cites unnamed sources. The feature will reportedly work in tandem with an iPhone, which will translate speech for the user and relay it to a pair of AirPods. When the user responds, the iPhone will play a translation out loud, enabling a two-way conversation.

https://qz.com/apple-airpods-translate-ios-19-1851770018

TikTok influencers are wearing Apple Watches on their ankles

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

A report from The New York Times over the weekend highlights the small — but apparently growing — trend of users wearing their Apple Watches on their ankles. What’s becoming something of a viral sensation on social platforms like TikTok is the result of a pragmatic decision. Some Apple Watch owners’ wrists are simply too small to get a proper read with on-board sensors like heart-rate monitoring.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/10/tiktok-influencers-are-wearing-apple-watches-on-their-ankles/

Apple Joins the Event Planner Game With Apple Invites

image c/o pcmag.com
image c/o pcmag.com

"With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," says Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple’s senior director of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apps and iCloud. "Apple Invites brings together capabilities our users already know and love across iPhone, iCloud, and Apple Music, making it easy to plan special events."

https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-joins-the-event-planner-game-with-apple-invites

First porn app ‘approved’ for the iPhone in Europe. Apple isn’t happy.

image via mashable.com
image via mashable.com

"We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids. This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world. Contrary to the false statements made by the marketplace developer, we certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed by marketplace operators like AltStore and Epic who may not share our concerns for user safety," Apple said in a statement to The Verge.

https://mashable.com/article/first-porn-app-apple-app-store

Apple’s foldable iPad could be like ‘two iPad Pros side-by-side’

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

Gurman says a foldable iPhone is still in the works, though he doesn’t expect that “before 2026 at the earliest,” as other rumors have said. He also says information from his sources lines up with an alleged Apple internal display roadmap that made the rounds recently, tipping the 18.8-inch foldable iPad and Apple’s plans to release OLED MacBook Pros in 2026, followed by a MacBook Air OLED update in 2027.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/15/24321659/apple-foldable-18-8-inch-ipad-invisible-crease-rumor