The new Major League Soccer season kicks off tonight, with LAFC vs Minnesota as the first game starting now. You can watch the entire league’s games through MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, live and on-demand.

MLS Season Pass costs $99 for the full season, or at a discounted $79 price for Apple TV+ subscribers. Watch all of the regular season and playoff games with no blackouts or regional restrictions, and share one subscription with up to six people using Apple Family Sharing.

The first iOS 18.4 beta dropped yesterday, and includes an exciting smart home addition that previously went under the radar. As tested by Jonathan at Smart Home Centre, the Home app now supports robot vacuums and maps that integrate with the Matter protocol.

Right now, the only compatible model on the market is the , but many other manufacturers have pledged support for Matter with forthcoming software updates.

Apple is removing the option to enable Advanced Data Protection for iCloud users in the United Kingdom. This feature let users fully protect their data stored in iCloud with end-to-end encryption. However, a recent UK government order forces companies like Apple to put backdoors in its encryption systems.

Rather than comply and compromise Advanced Data Protection, Apple is left with no choice but to remove the feature altogether. In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple said that current users of ADP in the UK will eventually need to disable the security feature in order to keep using their iCloud account. Full statement after the break …

Apple is now streaming Onside: Major League Soccer, a new docuseries from the makers of Drive to Survive. It covers the drama of the 2024 MLS season, with behind the scenes access to players and managers from across the league.

The entire eight episode season is now available to watch on Apple TV+, Apple’s streaming service. MLS Season Pass subscribers also get access to the first episode for free, giving them a taster of the tone of the series.

The latest Nielsen charts showed that Severance was performing well with audiences, and now we have official confirmation from Apple itself.

Via Deadline, Apple TV+ says that Severance has become its most popular show ever, even overtaking its hit comedy Ted Lasso. The service recorded more unique viewers for Severance than any other title in its history, based on viewership in the first month after season two premiered.

After releasing a video on their expected iPhone 17 Pro design, Jon Prosser at FrontPageTech returns with another video depicting what they believe the upcoming ‘iPhone 17 Air’ will look like, the radically new addition to the iPhone family.

The Air is expected to replace the in the lineup, a mid-range model with an all-new ultra-thin chassis design. Many publications have indicated that one of the compromises will be the fact that the phone features a single rear camera. However, these renders suggest that single lens will still be housed inside a full-width protruding bar shape.

Update: Unfortunately, it seems someone jumped the gun and this rollout has been cancelled at this time.

Apple and Netflix have seemingly managed to find some common ground and strike a partnership for integration in the Apple TV app. Some users in the US are starting to be prompted to connect their Netflix account to the Apple TV app on their devices.

After doing so, Netflix originals are then able to be added to their Watchlist inside the TV app, and appear in Continue Watching. However, the integration does not seem to be complete just yet, so it’s probably still in the process of rolling out.

Apple today launches its next original film, The Gorge, streaming now exclusively on Apple TV+.

The Gorge stars Anya-Taylor Joy and Miles Teller as operatives tasked with guarding a vast chasm, protecting the world from the evil within. The pair communicate via message boards and strike up a bond. As this film is debuting on Valentines Day, it is probably not a spoiler to suggest there is a romantic relationship underpinning this action film.

Severance might just have had Apple’s best viewership performance for a drama, according to the just-released Nielsen streaming charts which covers the week commencing Jan 13th. This is the first time Nielsen has published data covering the period in which the second season of Severance started airing.

Despite only premiering on the Friday of the week covered by the stats, Severance managed to hit number four on the top 10 original series chart, with almost 600 million minutes viewed.

Apple Maps has quietly expanded its support for cycling in the United Kingdom and Ireland this week. Users are discovering they can now route cycling journeys across the length and the breadth of the country.

Apple first launched cycling directions in Maps in late 2020, although at first it was U.S only in a smattering of cities. Support for cycling navigation in the UK has been available for a while, but coverage was patchy … until now.

The Apple TV app is finally making its way to Android users. The app is now available in the Google Play Store for Android phones and tablets. This means Android users can sign up to Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass directly on their phone for the first time.

The app lets users can log in with their existing Apple Account, or create a new account through the app and subscribe using Google Play billing. The app is rolling out now, supporting Android 10 or newer devices …

Apple Music has today officially announced a special promotional offer for new subscribers. For a limited time, new subscribers can get six months of Apple Music for just $2.99. That’s a big saving compared to the regular price of $10.99 per month.

Apple says the offer is available to new and eligible subscribers only. It’s unclear if it is exclusive to the United States, or also available in other regions.

The new Replay playlist is now available on Apple Music. Users are noticing today that the Replay 2025 playlist is now showing up in their libraries.

Apple Music Replay continuously aggregates your top songs, albums, and artists. The playlist updates throughout the year, culminating in a full-year-in-review feature in December.

In perhaps yet another sign of the growing reach of Apple TV+ content, the sci-fi series Silo has ranked on the Nielsen U.S. streaming originals chart for the first time ever. The show ranked 9th with 417 million minutes viewed, for the week of December 30 through January 5.

This is one in just a handful of appearances of an Apple TV+ title on this chart. Typically, Apple shows are not popular enough to make it onto the Top 10 list of streaming originals, according to Nielsen’s numbers anyway.

Apple today unveiled its plans for the upcoming 2025 Major League Soccer season, through its MLS Season Pass service. The subscription provides worldwide unrestricted access to all MLS games, with no blackouts. The 2025 season officially kicks off on February 22, but you can subscribe now to see preseason games including LAFC vs Liga MX on February 11, and Inter Miami vs Orlando City on February 14.

This season, there’s a new featured game fixture on Sunday nights branded as ‘Sunday Night Soccer’. Sunday Night Soccer games will also be available to stream for free for all Apple TV+ subscribers.

Video game studio comedy Mythic Quest returns today for season four on Apple TV+. The comedy features Rob McElhenney as Ian, a maverick game producer, and his surrounding team as they struggle to stay relevant in the modern gaming market.

Mythic Quest first premiered in February 2020, making it Apple’s longest-running comedy. Although there is no confirmation yet of a season five renewal, the service is about to launch a spin-off series — and has begun running trailers.

As of now, the Chinese-based TikTok app remains unavailable in the United States App Store on iPhone, as the company failed to sell itself to a US owner, before last week’s ban came into effect.

However, there is apparently ongoing negotiations to get TikTok under new ownership, which would give it a path back to the App Store. No deal is close to being finalized, yet, though.

Apple has officially agreed to content quota obligations as set out in a 2021 France decree, via Deadline, which means it must invest 20% of Apple TV+ revenues in France to create French and European content.

This effectively commits Apple to create French originals for Apple TV+ on an ongoing basis. Recent French-language releases on the service include La Maison and Drops of God; the latter of which was a hit for TV+ and is returning for a second season.

The UK government today announced that the Competition and Markets Authority has launched strategic market status investigations into mobile ecosystems, specifically the App Store models of iPhone and Android.

The report says it will assess Apple’s market power, and potential exploitative conduct. This includes options for app distribution to customers, and the terms app developers must agree to to be listed in the App Store in the first place.

Following government regulatory changes, Apple has officially confirmed it will launch the new hearing aid features in the UK, for customers.

In a statement to The Telegraph, Apple said it will bring the hearing aid features to UK AirPods Pro users in the coming weeks, following changes to government policy.