Mobile

Apple introduced the second developer beta of iOS 14.3 yesterday, and it includes a major change to Shortcuts. With iOS 14.3 beta 2, the Shortcuts app no longer opens when you launch a shortcut from the home screen, which in turn has major benefits for those using the Shortcuts app to set custom app icons. Alongside the release of iOS 14 in September, the ability to set custom app icons using the…

One of the biggest differentiators between the new M1 Macs and their Intel predecessors is that any M1 Mac can run iPhone and iPad applications. Through the Mac App Store, you can now download M1 versions of popular iOS and iPadOS applications, though developers do have the ability to opt out. Here’s what the experience of running iPhone and iPad apps on the Mac is like in the real world.

Google is rolling out a new experience for Google Pay, but it comes with a major disadvantage. Google Pay is now locked to only one smartphone at a time. If you sign up for the new Google Pay experience today — it’s invite-only right now — you’ll have to get things set up on your device in a pretty standard setup. What that first setup won’t tell you, though, is that the system only…

Like Assistant this morning, Google Fi is adding a trio of family features aimed at managing phone usage and safety. The first lets parents block strangers from calling and texting a child’s phone. Available on Android, only saved and recent contacts will be able to reach these managed devices. The latter exception allows for return calls after intentional contact. Those not on Unlimited…