Michael Burkhardt

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.

Sofa is an easy-to-use app that helps keep you organized when you don’t have something to do. Everyone has some level of downtime, but often don’t plan things out. Social media doomscrolling is often an option, but Sofa helps you plan out other leisure activities. In its new update, it also added a built-in podcast player.

Last month, Apple introduced a number of new products, including a new iPad Air with M3 chip for $599. While that iPad wasn’t exactly remarkable, it did bring something new to the table – another variant of Magic Keyboard.

This new Magic Keyboard brings function keys to the iPad Air for the first time, which is a pretty big win, but it also includes a number of head-scratching compromises. Let’s discuss.

Apple is reportedly implementing vapor chamber cooling on some iPhone 17 models. That may sound like a rather insignificant upgrade, but with Apple wanting to squeeze more and more performance out of its iPhone chips in the era of Apple Intelligence, vapor chamber cooling will be meaningful.

According to a report from The New York Times, Amazon has just submitted an offer to acquire TikTok. TikTok will potentially face another U.S. ban as soon as April 5th, if ByteDance does not divest the platform to an American entity by then.

Apple introduced the Pro Display XDR in 2019 with its $4999 price tag, no included stand, and an optional Pro Stand for $999. Since then, despite all of the advancements in display technology, Apple has left it untouched. While there isn’t a ton to go off of, there are a couple of rumors going around for Apple’s next generation high-end monitor, which might not necessarily be a Pro Display XDR 2.

Apple is reportedly working on a new M5 MacBook Pro refresh, which is set to debut ‘later this year.’ While this update will just be a small chip upgrade, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reaffirms that we’ll see a larger MacBook Pro overhaul in 2026.

Apple is cooking up a fully revamped Health app, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. This project, codenamed Mulberry, will feature a new health coach. It’s set to debut next spring in iOS 19.4.

According to the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Apple is in “late testing” phases for the new M5 iPad Pro. The M5 iPad Pro will reportedly be one of the first devices powered by Apple’s new M5 silicon.

Apple initially introduced the HomePod mini in 2020 alongside the iPhone 12 lineup, and since then, the product has remained mostly untouched. Apple added some new color options in 2021, including blue, orange, and yellow. The company also replaced Space Gray with Midnight last year, which looks the same – except its now 100% recycled mesh fabric. It also updated the packaging early this year.

However, for the first time in half a decade, Apple will finally be updating the HomePod mini, with a couple of enhancements.

Apple announced WWDC25 earlier this week, taking place on June 9th. That means we’re just around the corner from seeing all of Apple’s annual software upgrades, including iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, visionOS 3, tvOS 19, watchOS 12, and possibly even more.

iOS 19 is anticipated to receive a massive overhaul this year, bringing a fresh coat of paint to the operating system. However, here we’ll be focusing on Apple’s second round of AI features coming to iPhone.

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.

Yumbox is an easy to use app that allows you to keep track of your favorite restaurants in your area. You can easily log all of your favorites, categorize them as you see fit, and then once you’re done – you’ll easily be able to filter all of your top picks.

In the past year, Apple has had an interesting trend across its new hardware releases: a bigger focus on thermal performance. It kicked off with the M4 iPad Pro last year, and then continued with the iPhone 16 lineup. However, the MacBook Air unfortunately never received such thermal upgrades, despite being one of the products that might need it the most.

Apple acquired Beats back in 2014, and it’s certainly been interesting to watch Apple’s varying decisions over the years. For the most part, the Beats brand has stayed completely intact. Beats Music was replaced with Apple Music, and the Beats 1 radio station on Apple Music was subsequently rebranded.

Obviously, Apple has continued to release new Beats headphones over the years. More recently, though, Apple has begun to do something very fascinating. It’s now positioning Beats as an accessory brand.

In iOS 18.4, Apple added a new ambient music feature to Control Center. It does exactly what it sounds like, and provides a variety of options to play some ambient background music with the tap of a button. It’s a great start, and I’d love to see Apple expand this feature in the future.

iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, but Apple just released the RC earlier this week – so it’ll likely release to the public in the very near future.

Last night, Apple lowered the interest rate of the Apple Card Savings Account to a new 3.75% APY. While this is down from its highest point at 4.5% APY, Apple’s rate still holds quite strong to the rest of the banking industry.

Tonight, Apple has once again lowered the interest rate for its Apple Card Savings Account. It now earns just 3.75% APY, down from the 3.9% APY that it offered prior.

In a statement today, Apple announced that it would be integrating the Apple Music catalog with a number of popular tools, allowing for DJs to create mixes with Apple’s robust catalog. Users will also be able to explore a new DJ with Apple Music page starting today.