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.

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.

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.

We’re expecting Apple to debut a new Apple Watch SE model later this year, marking the first refresh in three years. The cheapest Apple Watch might not sound too exciting, but this year might be a little different.

This morning, Apple announced a new feature for USB-C AirPods Max. Starting with iOS 18.4, they’ll now be capable of lossless audio playback, enabling ultra-low latency listening over a wired connection.

AirPods Max with USB-C are now going to be capable of wired audio playback for the first time, a feature that was initially missing when the headphones debuted last September.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook had “lost confidence” in SVP of AI John Giannandrea. In turn, he’ll no longer be in charge of Siri product development, and now Vision Pro head Mike Rockwell will be taking the lead.

While pretty much any news for Siri would be good news at this point, I’m optimistic in Mike Rockwell’s ability to turn Siri around. I’ll explain.

Today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman corroborated that Apple will launch a foldable iPhone in 2026. Many outlets had previously reported that Apple was working on such a launch. According to Gurman, the product will be similar in design to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, rather than a clamshell folding device.

In a move to position the Apple Watch as more of an AI wearable, Apple is working on multiple versions of future Apple Watch models that include cameras. This will help the device “see the outside world,” per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

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.

Queue aims to be the simplest podcasts app out there. It offers a clean interface, and all of your podcasts are kept in one neat vertical list. From that list, you can play, archive, and reorder from all of your subscribed podcasts. Despite the simple design, Queue is also rich in features.

According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s A20 chip should adopt TSMC’s 2nm process for the very first time. This means that next year’s iPhone 18 models should all take the leap to a next-generation chip architecture. Previously, it was unclear whether or not all iPhone 18 models would adopt 2nm tech.

Apple introduced Apple One in 2020, providing an easy way for avid Apple users to subscribe to multiple services at once, and get a nice bundle discount for doing so. It offers three tiers, and its remained that way since it launched. However, I think Apple would benefit greatly from offering a fourth tier, capturing a key demographic.

Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was planning “one of the most dramatic software overhauls” in its history. The company is currently planning a redesign for iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 – all in the name of consistency. Gurman even said that this would be the “biggest revamp since iOS 7” for iPhone and iPad, and the “most significant upgrade to the Mac since macOS Big Sur.

Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple executives are “confident” that users will love this visionOS-inspired design.

Thanks to Apple leaker Sonny Dickson, we now have our first look at some dummy models for the iPhone 17 lineup. These dummy models highlight a number of things: new camera bump designs across the Air and Pro models, MagSafe support across the whole lineup, varying thicknesses, and more.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, iPhone 17 Air will feature a number of features from the iPhone 16 Pro, including Camera Control and ProMotion. Rumors have long suggested that the entire iPhone 17 lineup would feature ProMotion, but it wasn’t quite clear whether or not iPhone 17 Air would feature Camera Control. Despite the thinness though, it now seems likely the phone will feature Camera Control.

Apple had also considered making the iPhone 17 Air its first “port-free” iPhone, and going all in on wireless charging. The company ultimately decided against this.