Apple's Beats brand is officially introducing the Powerbeats Pro 2 today, bringing significant updates to the wireless earphones aimed at active users. Among the upgrades for Powerbeats Pro 2 are Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) with Transparency mode, Personalized Spatial Audio, an H2 chip for improved power efficiency and Apple ecosystem integration, and for the first time in an Apple audio product, Heart Rate Monitoring.
Beats has partnered with seven apps: Nike Run Club, Runna, Ladder, Slopes, Open, Peloton, and YaoYao. If you have iOS and use those apps, you don’t have to do a single thing to enable heart rate monitoring. It just shows up in the app. Afterward, you can view the historical data within the Apple Health app. It’s a bit hard to find and unwieldy to view, as you can see in this screenshot.
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You’re limited to the partner apps available at launch, and a lot are missing. Apple spokesperson Erin Manago confirmed even Apple’s Fitness Plus isn’t compatible yet, though she said they’re working on building out compatible apps. Android users have more options. You should be able to use any app that can pair with a Bluetooth heart rate monitor.
The updated firmware can be installed on the Powerbeats Pro 2 by connecting them to power and ensuring that they are in Bluetooth range of an iPhone, iPad, or Mac that's connected to Wi-Fi.
If you have two Apple Accounts with multiple digital purchases between them, Apple now has a way for you to consolidate the accounts by migrating content from one account to another.
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Apps, music, books, TV shows, and movies that have been purchased on a secondary account can be migrated to a main account, which is useful for people who have separate accounts for iCloud and for making media purchases.
Affected users say that they will set their Apple Watch to max volume and can still barely hear what’s coming from the built-in speaker.
In some cases, the issue seems to have come on gradually—their Series 10 speaker started off fine, but degraded over time. Others, however, seem to have had issues right from the start.
Pixelmator last year announced that it was being acquired by Apple, and today the company confirmed that the acquisition has been completed after Apple received regulatory approval. The Pixelmator for iOS, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator apps were today updated with a new splash screen announcing the deal.
Beyond its daily stories, DailyArt also functions as a comprehensive database. The app features more than 4,000 artworks, 1,200 artist biographies, and information about 600 museums, all accessible through an advanced search engine.
Qianer Liu and Jing Yang have published a new report for The Information that outlines Apple’s solution to bringing Apple Intelligence to China.
The US tech giant has partnered with a China-based giant, Alibaba, to bring Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac in China.
If Beats can make good products for Android, is Apple leaving money on the table with AirPods only working on Apple devices?
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