WhatsApp has announced four improvements to the app, including making it faster and easier for you to react to messages with your most-used emoji.

Parent company Meta says it wanted to start the new year by making the app more fun and easier to use, with a set of four enhancements …

Apple recently made a donation to assist with LA wildfire recovery efforts, and is now inviting customers to do the same.

Those based in the US can make a donation to the American Red Cross’s Southern California Wildfires Relief fund though the App Store or Apple Music apps …

TikTok may shut down totally in the US on Sunday, with the app no longer opening at all, according to a new report. This would go well beyond the legal requirement of the ban, which would only prevent new downloads.

However, Congress may be about to throw the company a lifeline, through a proposed new law granting it another 270 days before the ban comes into effect …

A fun piece of Apple history has been revealed thanks to a look at how Sonos started and where it is headed. It turns out that ‘father of the iPod‘ Tony Fadell wanted Apple to buy the premium audio company.

Fadell tried to persuade Steve Jobs to do so, but Apple’s co-founder refused, saying that he instead wanted to sue the company …

We know from previous Apple patents that the company is hard at work figuring out ways of embedding Face ID in the display of future iPhones.

The biggest barrier here is that the infrared light needed for Face ID doesn’t travel well through a display – but a newly-granted Apple patent suggests that the company may have figured out a solution …

Apple is facing tougher export checks by Chinese authorities as part of a claimed crack-down on technology with potential military applications.

While the increased scrutiny is said to be for security reasons, many believe the real reasons are both economic and political …

The European Union has denied a report that it has paused action against Apple and other US tech giants in the light of anticipated pressure from the incoming US president.

The report claims that the EU is “reassessing” antitrust investigations of Apple, Meta, and Google and that all decisions and fines will be paused until this process is complete …

A security vulnerability has been discovered in the USB-C port controller fitted to the iPhone 15 and 16. However, exploiting it would be so complex that both Apple and the security researcher who discovered it concluded that it is not a real-world threat.

However, a security concern that does pose a threat to iPhone users is a tactic scammers are using to bypass one of Apple’s built-in protections …

The first US plant to make A-series chips for Apple devices is expected to begin mass production as early as this quarter, says a new report.

It implies that test production by TSMC has already begun, with Apple said to be in the final stage of verifying the chips produced in Arizona …

It’s always been clear that Vision Pro was simply Apple’s first step into the AR/VR headset world, and that a lower-priced Apple Vision product would follow, but there have so far been mixed reports on when we might expect to see it.

We’ve so far seen reports variously suggesting that the non-Pro Apple Vision headset would launch in 2025, 2026, and 2027 – with the latest of these saying the company is “ramping up” development work …

Apple was already facing a $1B lawsuit on behalf of British developers, but is now up against an even larger one on behalf of app buyers in the UK.

Both antitrust lawsuits have the same basis – that Apple is abusing its monopolistic control over the sale of iPhone apps to charge excessive commissions …

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence has been replaced in his role and is leaving the company. Its interim CEO says this is because the company “let far too many people down.”

Customers have been calling for Spence to be sacked ever since the disastrous launch of a new app left many of them struggling with connectivity problems and broken features …

The upcoming change in the presidency has seen a number of companies make changes to long-standing policies, in fields spanning content moderation to DEI policies.

As we reported on Friday, however, Apple is holding firm on its own Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, urging shareholders to reject a resolution to abandon them …

Apple Arcade is welcoming the new year with ten new games, seven of them launching today. The remainder – which includes PGA TOUR Pro Golf – will be available from February 6 …

If you have an iPhone 14 or later, you can send text messages via satellite where cellular service is unavailable. This can be particularly valuable in emergency situations like the Los Angeles wildfires, where cellphone masts have been damaged or destroyed.

T-Mobile and Starlink have now teamed up to offer the same capability to owners of phones without this feature …

Apple likes to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a specially-commissioned Shot on iPhone video, and an unofficial copy of this year’s short film has been posted ahead of the official reveal expected later today. The lunar new year begins on January 29.

The 12-minute short musical film entitled I Want to Listen to You is directed by Michael Gracey, who previously directed the Hollywood musical film The Greatest Showman …

The greatest attraction for me about Vision Pro is being able to have huge virtual monitors for both work and entertainment, but the downside is the discomfort of wearing one for an extended time. The Brelyon Ultra Reality Extend is a funky new monitor tech that aims to solve this problem.

You don’t have to wear anything – just sit in front of a monitor, which can project a virtual display as wide as 122 inches from a much smaller physical display …

A leaker with a good track record on iPhone camera improvements has lent their support to a report that the 12MP front-facing camera in current iPhones will be upgraded to 24MP in the iPhone 17 line-up. They also endorse the suggestion that all three rear cameras in the iPhone 17 Pro Max will have 48MP sensors.

The latest report goes a little further, however, and suggests that this year’s upgrade to the 5x telephoto camera sensor will apply to the iPhone 17 Pro as well as the Pro Max …

Apple CEO Tim Cook has described the Los Angeles wildfires as “heartbreaking,” and said that the company will be making a donation to assist the recovery effort.

Multiple fires across parts of LA have so far led to at least five deaths, and forced more than 130,000 people to abandon their homes, and it’s feared there is more to come …

I’m a great fan of robot cleaners, and they’ve grown more capable over the years. They started with vacuuming, then added mopping, then auto-emptying.

But this year’s CES announcements go further, and I can’t help feeling like companies are now just adding capabilities purely to have something to talk about …