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Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. Mood tracking apps can be really important and useful, whether you want to be more mindful – or if you need to track it for your therapist. That said, lots of...

XChat, the standalone messaging app from X, is now available. X’s new iPhone and iPad app has officially arrived on the App Store. more…

As I’m spending more time outside this spring, I keep having the same thought: “I wonder what kind of bird I’m hearing sing?” Birdsong is the sound of the season for me, and a free iPhone app is adding more color to the mystery. more…

Around 3 million user photos from dating app OkCupid were used for AI training by a third-party company in direct contravention of the company’s own privacy policy … more…

A judge has ruled that the Trump administration should not have coerced Apple and Google into taking down apps which track the activity of ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). A preliminary injunction has been awarded, with the creators of ICE Sightings and Eyes Up told that they are likely to succeed in their argument that the government suppressed protected speech under the First...

Developers are arguing that Apple’s App Store ratings are fundamentally broken in at least a couple of different ways – including the fact that your 4-star rating could do more harm than good. They also highlight the conflict between users not wanting their app experience to be interrupted, while Apple effectively forces developers to nag you for a rating and review … more…

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. If you live in a earthquake-prone climate, you might be interested in a tool to help monitor them. QuakeInfo is a long-standing app on the App Store, and it’s recently been...

Netflix has once again made a controversial change to its Apple TV app. In recent weeks, the company has stopped using the native tvOS 26 video player in favor of a custom player similar to the one it uses on other TV platforms. In practice, this makes the most common interactions more cumbersome and blocks users from using platform-specific Apple TV features. more…

Federico Viticci at MacStories is out today with a major update to his Apple Frames shortcut that frames your screenshots with official Apple product bezels. Federico describes Apple Frames 4 as a “complete rethinking of the shortcut that is noticeably faster, updated to support all the latest Apple devices, and designed to support even more personalization options.” more…

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. Packing for trips can be stressful at times. PackGoat makes the process much easier, and utilizes Apple Intelligence to help make just the right list for your trip – even down...

Spotify Prompted Playlists were first launched in New Zealand late last year before rolling out to the US and Canada in January. The feature lets you use natural language to describe what you want to hear, and the streaming service will create an AI-powered music playlist to match. The company has now expanded the AI tool to podcasts, stating that it will use a...

Apple has updated its developer website this week to spotlight third-party apps using Liquid Glass to “create natural, responsive experiences across Apple platforms.” more…

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. Juggling loads of alarms in the Clock app can be annoying. VariAlarm aims to fix this, by dynamically adjusting your alarms based on your schedule, rather than having fixed times. more…

The United Airlines app has been updated with streamlined access to AirTag baggage tracking. The app now makes it easier for you to share the location of an AirTag with United’s customer service staff. Additionally, with a partial government shutdown leaving TSA checkpoints understaffed, the app will now provide you with estimates of the wait time for security at your departure airport – alongside...

Last week, Apple released iOS 26.4, which enabled support for voice-based AI apps to CarPlay for the first time. Just a few days later, OpenAI has updated the ChatGPT app for iPhone to take advantage of this change. Now, ChatGPT is fully accessible via a dedicated CarPlay app. more…

I have been an audiobook fan for decades. I have had an Audible subscription since 2008 (before they were owned by Amazon), and I have listened to hundreds, if not thousands, of books during that time. A few years ago, I wrote about my process of taking cheap CD audiobooks from Amazon and combining them into M4B files to host on my Plex server....

I’ve written before about why CardPointers is one of my favorite apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. A recent update to CardPointers has added integrations that can be used with ChatGPT, Claude, and any MCP-compatible AI platform. Plus, CardPointers is currently 50% off as part of the Big Spring Sale promotion, exclusively for 9to5Mac readers. more…

Hot on the heels of rolling out a major update last month, Carrot Weather is back with more. A new update today adds two new features to the versatile weather app: multi-model forecasts and analysis from the Storm Prediction Center. more…

A court ruling with potentially massive implications has found that social media apps are intentionally designed to be addictive, and are harmful to teenage mental health. A now 20-year-old woman sued Meta and YouTube owner Google for damaging her mental health as a child, with a jury awarding her $6 million in damages – and this is likely to be only the start …...

Apple today announced the “biggest update since its launch” for the Analytics platform inside App Store Connect. Apple touts that there are more than 100 new metrics, new cohort capabilities, new reports for subscriptions and benchmarks, and more. more…

Popular flight tracking app Flighty has launched a major new update today, adding a new ‘Airport Intelligence’ feature that’s even available on the web. Here are the details. more…

The Apple Health app on iPhone is a powerful way to track all facets of your health. Whether it’s recording data from your Apple Watch, importing records straight from your doctor, or integration with third-party apps, there’s something for everyone. Here’s how to get the most out of the Apple Health app. more…

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. Tasks, a very popular productivity app for the Apple ecosystem – just got a massive new update with support for loads of App Intents, an all new interface, as well as...

Mac users who prefer Gemini for their AI interactions might not have to wait much longer for a dedicated app. Bloomberg reports today that Google has quietly started beta testing an early version of a dedicated Gemini app for macOS with select users. more…

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. iPhone cameras have come a long way over the years, but if you find yourself yearning for more of a classy, filmic look versus the computational photography of today, Kiosk 27...

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. Weather mini is a nicely designed weather app for the entire Apple ecosystem that adds a couple key features that Apple Weather misses. You can plan out trips, chat with the...

TikTok is setting itself apart from most other online platforms that offer messaging by stating that it won’t be introducing end-to-end encryption to ensure the privacy of direct messages. This means that the company will be able to read messages sent between users, which is likely to cause concerns even after its US operations were separated from its Chinese owner … Update: Added comment...

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. If you’re someone who spends a lot of time on their Mac, you might often find yourself wanting to control one of your lights, thermostats, or just check on your camera....

Instagram has said that it will begin notifying parents if their teenage child “repeatedly” searches for content related to self-harm or suicide. The announcement follows Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying in court in response to claims that Instagram content had led to self-harm by children … more…

The 2026 F1 season begins next month, and it’s Apple’s first season with exclusive streaming rights in the United States on Apple TV. In celebration of the kickoff, Apple has added a gorgeous new Apple Maps experience for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 — with more to come. more…

Carrot Weather is one of the most robust and versatile weather apps for iPhone, and it’s getting even better. With a new update today, Carrot Weather is adding support for The Weather Channel as a data source, plus new discussions from the National Weather Service and a new dynamic interface. more…

Both Reddit and Discord have got themselves into trouble over the use of a controversial third-party age verification service. Reddit has been fined £14.5 ($19.5M) million for the unlawful use of children’s personal information, while Discord has experienced a user backlash … more…

The team behind Dark Sky is back with a new weather app for iPhone called “Acme Weather.” One of the primary goals of Acme Weather, according to the team, is to address “forecast uncertainty.” Rather than simply giving you a “single best guess” like other weather apps, Acme Weather acknowledges that it the forecast it’s showing might be wrong … and offers up some...

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. If you’re a heavy investor, you might find yourself having accounts across various brokerages. Or, perhaps, you only invest with one brokerage but you find their app interface very ugly. Summit...

Update 9:21pm ET: YouTube appears to be coming back online now for most users. If you’re still having problems, let us know down in the comments. If you’re having problems accessing YouTube this evening, you’re not alone. YouTube is experiencing a widespread outage, and there’s no estimate on when it will be fixed. more…

Apple Music and TikTok are teaming up two new features for the short-form video app. First, the companies are beta testing the ability to play a full song in the TikTok app using Apple Music. The two are also working on a Listening Party feature, allowing fans to listen to their favorite music together. more…

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. If you’re an Apple Watch user, the Apple Health app has loads of useful data based on what it can collect from the watch. However, it’s not always easy to analyze...

Last month, Spotify announced a new round of price increases for subscribers in the United States and other countries. As the price increases start to go into effect starting with February renewals, Apple Music is poking fun at Spotify’s drama on social media. Apple Music is also offering a free three-month trial right now. more…

Qobuz, a popular hi-res music streaming service, is out with an all-new CarPlay app this week. The company touts that new CarPlay app offers a “a more robust and streamlined listening experience.” more…

YouTube was one of the biggest apps missing from the Vision Pro platform at launch in February 2024. That changes today, however, with the launch of an official YouTube app for visionOS. more…

Anthropic has just launched significant new features to Claude’s free tier. Connecting to apps was previously a pro feature available only to paid subscribers, but this is now included in the free tier. Claude can connect to a wide range of apps, including Canva, Figma, Monday, Notion, Slack, Square, Wix, WordPress, and Google Workspace apps … more…

A number of major tech companies have agreed to submit to independent grading of the mental health impacts of using their apps. Platforms on board at the launch of the Safe Online Standards initiative include Discord, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Roblox, and Twitch … more…

Apple offers an Apple TV Remote app on iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch—but not the Mac. So one developer created his own solution: Itsytv, a new macOS app for controlling your Apple TV. more…

I’m a firm believer that Apple Music is the best music streaming service out there. Here are four features in Apple Music I’ve been loving lately that you should check out. more…

MrBeast, the king of YouTube, is now the new owner of a banking app called Step. It’s a big move meant to kickstart the popular creator’s new ‘MrBeast Financial’ business arm. more…

Spotify is about to allow premium subscribers in the US and UK to buy physical books through the app, in a move the company expects to drive revenue for both itself and indie bookstores. It’s an expansion of the company’s partnership with bookshop.org on audiobooks, but it’s hard to see how the move makes any kind of sense … more…

Spotify has announced three big updates rolling out to its lyrics feature. The company says that lyric translations are now available worldwide. It’s also rolling out support for offline lyrics, plus an updated design for previewing lyrics right on the Now Playing view in the Spotify app. more…

Apple is rolling out another update to its Apple Sports app for iPhone. This update adds support for Men’s and Women’s golf, as well as expanded support for soccer and tennis matches. more…

Apple Music Replay 2026 is now available, breaking down your top songs and artists of the year so far. Here’s how to find it and what data it includes. more…

Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman today announced the launch of Luffu (“loo-foo”), a new health app for families that will eventually expand to hardware devices too. Here are the details. more…