Apple today is expanding its Search Ads program to handful of new countries. As reported by TechCrunch, Search Ads is now available to developers in six new countries across Europe and Asia… The Search Ads functionality is today rolling out to developers in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Spain. With today’s additions, the Search Ads platform is now available in 13 countries around the world. The previous seven countries included the United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the U....

Apple has started sending notices to developers who offer apps in China with CallKit integration. The notice explains that apps cannot offer CallKit functionality in China due to government regulations. In order for developers to make their application available on the China App Store, they must remove that CallKit integration. Alternatively, they can remove the application from China altogether. This crack down appears to have been a long time coming. Popular communication app WeChat briefly supported CallKit integration, though the feature was later removed....

Apple today debuted a new Arabic version of Apple.com, bringing the language to its website and online store for the first time alongside a new font right-to-left text. The new Arabic website can be viewed on Apple’s United Arab Emirates website, although most of Apple’s own links to the UAE site still point to the English version that was live for that market previously. While Apple hasn’t made an official announcement about the new site, talk on Twitter points to the Tarek Atrissi Design agency as the designer of the new Arabic font being used on Apple....

Ahead of CES back in January, Apple debuted new billboard advertisements highlighting its focus on user privacy. Apple is now continuing that campaign with two new billboards in Canada. As spotted by Matt Elliot and Josh McConnell on Twitter, Apple has recently debuted two billboards in Canada promoting its privacy focus. The first billboard is located right outside of Sidewalk Labs’ headquarters in Toronto – and says “We’re in the business of staying out of your business....

A new study today from Analysis Group, supported by Apple, aims to defend the 30% cut Apple takes from App Store transactions. According to the research, Apple’s App Store commission rate is similar to those of other app stores and digital content marketplaces. “Support for this study was provided by Apple,” the study discloses on the first page. “The conclusions and opinions expressed are exclusively those of the authors.” The study analyzed commission rates used by 38 different digital marketplaces, including apps and software, video game platforms, and other digital content such as videos and ebooks....

In a post on its iTunes Connect blog this evening, Apple today explained new server notifications from the App Store that are available for developers. The notifications and receipt enhancements center around subscriptions and come on the heels of a new ‘customer support’ role Apple announced last night for iTunes Connect. The new notifications make it easier for both developers and customers to keep track of things such as auto-renew subscription status preferences, price consent changes, renewal failures, and more....

Thats the streaming video truck! Media Alert Apple to Provide Live Video Streaming of Today’s Event What: Live video stream of Apple’s October 20 event When: Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 10:00 a.m. PDT Where: www.apple.com Live Video Streaming will be here folks: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/october-2010/ Apple® will broadcast its October 20 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac® running Safari® on Mac OS® X version 10....

Apple today denied a recent report that the company is in the process of testing out its own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services, a sign it could be laying the groundwork to offer its own wireless services for its devices. Apple has officially issued a statement on the story from Business Insider, saying it’s not planning or discussing an MVNO cellular service: “We have not discussed nor do we have any plans to launch an MVNO,” said an Apple spokeswoman in a statement on Tuesday....

As Apple often does when natural disasters strike, the company is donating $1 million to the American Red Cross to help those affected by Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. Shared in a tweet by Tim Cook this morning, the CEO mentioned the donation along with a heartfelt message. Apple often donates to various charities, including the Red Cross in the wake of natural disasters. Last year the company gave $5 million for Hurricane Harvey/Irma relief, and $1 million to aid with the California wildfires and also matched employee donations....

Apple has announced the first Apple event of the year for April 20, and it will be completely virtual. At this event, Apple is likely to announce new iPad Pro models, AirTags, and more. The event will be streamed live from Apple Park starting at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. The news of this event was first revealed via Siri this morning. April Apple event details After holding three special events in three months last fall (September, October, and November), the April event will mark Apple’s first event of 2021....

An Apple antitrust investigation in South Korea may be settled with a face-saving deal which would allow the iPhone maker to change its practices and offer compensation without admitting to any wrong-doing. Apple has agreed to end unfair practices, and is offering a total of 100 billion won ($84M) in compensation, to be split between consumers, developers and manufacturers … Background Apple was accused back in 2016 of using its dominant position to force local carriers to agree to unfair terms, in exchange for being allowed to sell iPhones....

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has today published a patent application from Apple for a fuel cell system designed to allow a MacBook to operate without external power “for days or even weeks.” The patent was published shortly after a British company rumored to be working with Apple managed to fit a fuel cell battery into an iPhone 6, powering it for a week at a time. We first reported on that project last summer....

Apple is continuing to promote the iPhone X’s camera capabilities with a new short film, Three Minutes, posted today on the company’s Singapore YouTube channel. An accompanying behind-the-scenes tutorial page has been launched on Apple’s Chinese website. Apple describes the seven-minute film as follows: Similar to Détour, a shot on iPhone short film also produced with Apple in 2017, Three Minutes was created to showcase how creative professionals can take advantage of the camera hardware and powerful software Apple offers....

Following controversy in China with state-controlled media outlets going after Apple over its warranty policies, Apple CEO Tim Cook today addressed the issue in a letter published to the company’s website in China. Within the letter (translation below), Cook apologized to customers and announced the company would implement a number of changes to “improve the level of service” for Chinese customers. The controversy originally started after a report from state-controlled media outlets such as China Central Television criticized the company for treating consumers unfairly with its warranty and repair procedures compared to other countries....

According to documentation by Chinese battery website ChargerLAB, Apple is planning on shipping the necessary Lightning components required to assemble USB-C to Lightning cables to hardware manufactures in as soon as six weeks. This news is in contrast to a previous report which said these cables wouldn’t be launching until mid-2019. ChargerLAB’s documentation, shared with MacRumors, further states that the component will sell at $2.88 a piece, corroborating previous rumors of a higher cost than past USB-A connectors....

Apple this week introduced a new “Ethics and Compliance” webpage on its official website that highlights some of the company’s policies created to ensure that its business conduct complies with the law. On the webpage, which was quietly launched within Apple’s main website, the company details how it ensures compliance at Apple, the conduct of company business policies, and how they conduct independent assessments to guarantee that these policies are effective among employees....

Ahead of the device’s availability on Wednesday, Apple today has shared the first video advertisement for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. In a video entitled “A Great Big Universe” shared on its YouTube channel, Apple shows of the benefits of the device’s larger form factor, as well as apps that are optimized for it. The ad is heavily focused on the galaxy and using the iPad Pro to explore it with apps like Sky Guide Pro and Star Walk....

New York City’s Fifth Avenue Apple store is a landmark attraction in Manhattan. Its iconic glass cube entrance has drawn tourists from all over the world since opening in 2006. It was even ranked among the most photographed attractions in the city. Yet the subterranean store and its popular plaza have been closed to the public for almost two years as a new and improved space is prepared. The high-profile location will certainly benefit from an expansion and redesign, but the extended duration of the closure has left excited residents and readers wondering when we can expect to see the highly anticipated store finally reopen....

Update January 19, 2021: Apple has reverted this server-side change, and it is once again possible to side-load unsupported iPhone and iPad apps on an M1 Mac. We don’t expect this to last long, so if there are any iPhone or iPad apps you want on your Mac, download them sooner rather than later using iMazing. This means that it is no longer possible to use an app such as iMazing to side load unsupported applications from your iPhone or iPad to your M1 Mac....

Apple CEO Tim Cook, an MBA graduate and devoted booster of Duke University, has been appointed to the school’s Board of Trustees for a six-year term. Cook and seven other people joined the Board on July 1, bringing it to a total of 37 members — a size that suggests Cook will not be unduly distracted from his work at Apple. The Board is the University’s governing body, responsible for its “educational mission and fiscal policies....