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When Apple Music first launched in 2015, playing it on anything other than an Apple device was impossible. Thankfully though, over the years Apple has made its streaming service available to access through third-party devices and speakers, including Amazon Echo and Google-owned speakers. This article focuses on Google devices. If you have a Google Home mini or a newer Nest-branded smart...

Google includes a Live Captions transcription feature in version 89 of its Chrome browser for desktop. Live Captions uses machine learning to create a real-time transcription for videos or audio played through the browser, which can make online media more accessible for members of the Deaf community and other people with hearing loss. Once enabled, Live Captions appear in a box in the bottom ...

If you buy a new iPhone to replace your existing one and you use the Google Authenticator app to access online accounts protected by two-factor authentication (2FA), you should transfer those accounts to your new phone as soon as possible, because without the 2FA codes close at hand, you could find yourself locked out of your online accounts. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your...

Google Lens can now recognize over a billion items in the world around us, the search engine giant announced this week. That's four times as many things that the AI-powered feature could identify when it was first launched last year, thanks partly to a huge number of Google Shopping products which have been added to its knowledge base. While its optical character recognition engine has...

In Chrome 66, rolling out now for Mac and iOS, Google has added a password export option to the web browser so that you can easily migrate your login details to another browser via a third-party password manager app. In this article, we'll show you how to export your passwords from Chrome on Mac and iOS. At the end of the process, you'll be left with a CSV file containing all your login...

Google parent company Alphabet has agreed to pay $700 million and update the Google Play app in order to settle a 2021 U.S. antitrust lawsuit over the Play Store, reports Reuters. The United States Department of Justice and all 50 states accused Google of charging unnecessary fees for in-app purchases and restricting the distribution of apps on Android devices, resulting in higher fees for...

Google, Meta, Qualcomm, Nothing, Lenovo, Opera and several other tech companies have announced a collaborative effort to push for "open digital ecosystems" in what appears to be a pointed move against Apple (via Reuters). The group, calling itself the Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE), seeks to encourage more open platforms and systems in Europe. Other members include Motorola,...

After Apple shut down the mechanism that Android app Beeper Mini was using to bring iMessage to Android users, Beeper Mini's developers today said that they have found a way to bring the app back, albeit with some major changes. The new version of the app requires users to sign in with an Apple ID, which was not needed with the prior version. All iMessages are also now sent and received...

After years of persuading from Google, Apple plans to adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard. An Apple spokesperson told TechRadar and 9to5Mac that support for ‌RCS‌ will be coming next year. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. ...

As Google battles an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, secrets about its search deals with Apple have been leaking out. We previously learned that Google is paying Apple billions of dollars to be the primary search engine on Apple devices, and now, Bloomberg has shared the total percentage of Google's revenue that Apple earns. Google pays Apple 36 percent of the total...

Google Chrome users on the iPhone can now opt to move the Chrome address bar to the bottom of the ‌iPhone‌'s display, mirroring a design change that Apple implemented in Safari last year. Chrome for iOS can be customized to have the URL bar at the top or the bottom of the interface depending on where the user prefers it to be. Google says this is a feature that Chrome users have been...

Back in 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to ship iPhones with the Google Search app pre-installed, but Cook did not ultimately go for the idea. The information comes from the ongoing antitrust lawsuit that Google is facing from the U.S. Department of Justice, and it was shared by The Verge. Pichai proposed the idea to Cook after Cook said that he wanted Apple to be...

Both Apple and Google came out with new high-end flagship smartphones this autumn, debuting the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Pixel 8 Pro, respectively. As with any expensive smartphone, the cameras in both produce amazing images, but there are some notable differences that can be seen in our comparison video and article. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The ‌iPhone 15...

It's widely known that Apple and Google have a considerable monetary agreement that ensures Google's position as the default search engine on Apple's iOS devices, but neither company reveals the amounts involved. In 2021, financial advisor Bernstein suggested Google was paying Apple as much as $10 billion a year to maintain the status quo. However, in a new investor note, the analyst claims...

Samsung today joined Google in attempting to convince Apple to adopt the Rich Communication Services or RCS messaging standard that Google has been pushing. In a short ad that's a riff on Romeo and Juliet, Samsung features two smartphone interfaces texting each other. "Juliet" is the iPhone in the metaphor and her parents (aka Apple) won't allow for the adoption of ‌RCS‌. "What did green...

Back in 2018, Apple held talks with DuckDuckGo to replace Google as the default search engine in private browsing mode, but ultimately rejected the idea, according to transcripts unsealed by the judge overseeing the US government's antitrust trial against Google in Washington. Testifying in closed sessions, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said that his company had about 20 meetings and phone ...

Google today refreshed its product lineup with new Pixel smartphones, a new Pixel watch, and updated Pixel earbuds, all of which will compete with Apple devices. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are Google's latest smartphones, and the Pixel 8 Pro is the high-end model that has all of Google's most recent technological advancements. It features a 6.7-inch 1 to 120Hz display, similar to the iPhone ...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today said that he believes the search engine deal between Apple and Google has made it impossible for other search engines like Bing to compete (via The Wall Street Journal). With Google as the default search engine on Safari on all Apple devices, people become accustomed to using it, Nadella explained in testimony he gave during the ongoing Google vs. U.S. Department ...

Back in 2020, Microsoft considered selling its Bing search engine to Apple, reports Bloomberg. Had the acquisition happened, Bing would have replaced Google as the default search engine on Apple devices. Microsoft executives met up with Apple services chief Eddy Cue to discuss a potential deal, but the talks were just exploratory and did not progress. According to Bloomberg, Apple did not...

Apple's services chief Eddy Cue today testified in the antitrust trial between the U.S. Department of Justice and Google, answering questions about a deal that sees Google set as the default search engine on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. According to a report from The Verge today, Google pays Apple billions of dollars per year in order for Google to be set as the default search engine on Apple...

Google is continuing on with its relentless #GetTheMessage marketing campaign in an attempt to get Apple to adopt the RCS messaging protocol. In its latest ad, Google shows off the "iPager," which Google describes as a device that "uses outdated messaging tech" like Apple uses "when texting with Android." ‌RCS‌, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol designed by and...

Google currently offers no official repair procedure for the Pixel Watch, meaning that broken devices simply become e-waste (via The Verge). This information was recently confirmed by Google spokesperson Bridget Starkey to The Verge. Starkey stated, "At this moment, we don't have any repair option for the Google Pixel Watch. If your watch is damaged, you can contact the Google Pixel Watch...

The latest version of the Google Maps app for the iPhone includes hidden code-level references to Live Activities, according to MacRumors contributor Steve Moser. The feature remains in development and it is not yet functional in the app. Live Activities will allow Google Maps users to view turn-by-turn directions and the ETA in a single live-updating Lock Screen notification, and in the...

Google today announced a new Chrome downloads experience for its desktop browser, with the update aimed at making it easier to interact with recently downloaded files. Chrome's updated download tray is located to the right of the address bar, and it replaces the interface at the bottom of the display. The new look is closer to the Safari download window, which is also at the top of the...

Back in May, Google announced plans to introduce a new safety feature that would alert Android users about nearby unknown Bluetooth trackers, including AirTags, preventing people from being stalked with tracking accessories. The tracking alert functionality is rolling out starting today. Android smartphones will provide automatic alerts if an unknown Bluetooth tracker is separated from its...