Apple changes its App Store review guidelines to include ”loot box clause”.

Loot boxes made big headlines in 2017 when EA released Star Wars Battlefront II and received a huge amount of backlash for including a very robust loot box system that made player progression painfully slow for gamers who didn’t spend money. There was a big uproar in the gaming community, EA’s stocks took a hit, and an international conversation started about the morality and implications of loot boxes in games.

Now it seems that Apple has jumped into the fire by updating its App Store review guidelines that will affect developers that want to make free-to-play games with a loot box system.

Apple’s new stance

The App Store Review Guidelines are set by Apple to ensure the apps that are making it on to the App Store are up to their standards, and these rules get updated over time.

In the most recent update, Apple included this provision:

”Apps offering ’loot boxes’ or other mechanisms that provide rand…

Amazon is shuttering its music storage service, with new sign-ups coming to an end in January.

Amazon is shutting down its music storage subscription service, which has allowed users to upload their existing music library’s to their Amazon Music library. Effective January 15, 2018, customers will no longer be able to sign up for a paid subscription to the service, while the free tier, which allowed for 250 songs to be uploaded, has already been discontinued.

These changes were detailed in a support document from Amazon. Here’s what paid subscribers to the service can expect:

While you remain a paid member, you retain the ability to upload music and renew your subscription.
You can view and manage your Amazon Music storage subscription from Your Amazon Music Settings.
If your current storage plan expires without being renewed, you won’t have the option to re-start your subscription.
Once expired, your Amazon music purchases will remain securely stored for free, but you wil…

The 27-inch 5K Retina Display iMac is the best iMac you can buy right now. It’s got everything the average user needs with power-up capabilities for the pro.

Best overall

27-inch 5K Retina Display iMac

See at Apple

The 27-inch 5K Retina Display iMac starts with a 3.4GHz quad-core Kaby Lake processor, 8GB of RAM, Radeon Pro 570 graphics (with 4GB video memory), and 1TB of Fusion Drive storage. It’s the perfect iMac for the average user — powerful enough to get the job done, but not so powerful that you’re wasting its features. At the same time, it’s so versatile that you can power-up the 27-inch 5K Retina Display iMac to a 3.8GHz quad-core Kaby Lake processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz, 64GB of RAM, Radeon Pro 580 graphics (with 8GB video memory, and a 2TB solid state drive (SSD). All variations come with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an SDXC card reader, 4 USB-A ports, and an Ethernet port. Plus, included in the package is a Magic Mouse 2 and Magic K…

Apple has amended the guidelines on template-based apps, making it easier for small businesses to get their app published.

First spotted by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch, Apple has officially revised its strict policy that banned all template-based apps from being published in the App Store. Initially, the company introduced the policy in order to cut down on the amount of low-quality and spam apps floating around. However, it wasn’t just spammers who were impacted. The policy change negatively affected small businesses owners, nonprofits, and other organizations and groups who don’t have the resources to craft an app independently.

Before the switch, the guidelines stated the following:

4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.

Now, however, Apple’s revised reviewing guidelines say this:

4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the pro…

Traveling for the holidays? Here’s some tech you need to pack for that long holiday road trip!

If you’ve got a long road trip ahead of you this holiday season, you’re going to want to hit the road prepared. Make sure you have all the tech you’ll need on the road and once you settle in at your destination.

Here’s a list of some of the most important tech you need for the long trip ahead!

Mophie Powerstation XXL

First thing’s first: Go ahead and get your charging solution figured out.

Because there’s no such thing as too much power when it comes to keeping your road trip gadgets up and running, Mophie’s $90 Powerstation XXL had to make the list.

This behemoth is a whopping 20,000 mAh battery pack with three USB ports for charging multiple devices.

If your passengers’ iPads are running low on charge, they can link up to this monstrous power pack and keep the entertainment flowing!

Because let’s be real: No one wants to spend hours in a car with a dead device. ”Are we there y…

Stock up. Charge up.

This Syncwire 3-foot Lightning cable is down to $6.99 with code Y2EHGGXC on Amazon. This cable sells for $10 and it is never discounted except through similar coupon code deals. This code doesn’t work on the other colors.

At this price, it’s worth stocking up a bit. If you’ve noticed the cable in your car is starting to fray a bit or maybe you want to add a cable to your bedroom, you could buy a couple at a discount now and save yourself some money down the road.

Features include:

Unparalleled Durable Apple Charger – Holds over 30,000 cycles of 90-degree bend tests and hold up to 275 Pounds / 125kg in lab which is 30 times stronger than original device cables.
Certified Safe Lightning Cable – Approved for MFi, UL-FCC-CE certification and strict quality control ensure that your Apple devices are loaded safely at maximum speed.
Compatible with dozens of Apple devices
Extremely Flexible iPhone Charger – All of its interior wires are wrapped to prevent friction o…

For years I swore Apple wasn’t deliberately slowing old iPhones. I was wrong. This is dumb and could’ve easily been avoided.

Every fall, right around the time that Apple pushes out a major new iOS version and ramps up marketing for the year’s new iPhone, I would go through my yearly ritual: fulfilling my duty as my friends’ and family’s go-to tech expert by explaining that ”No, Apple doesn’t slow down old iPhones to get you to buy the new one.”

Except that as was recently brought to light, they do.

Egg on my face, courtesy of Cupertino.

Let’s talk charge cycles

Of course, it is nowhere near that simple or diabolical. Apple is indeed slowing old iPhones. To be more accurate, they’re slowing iPhones with worn out batteries, and they’re doing it to preserve as much battery life as possible. If the phone’s processor doesn’t have to work as hard, then you’ll be able to squeeze more life out of the battery.

It’s actually pretty simple and understandable. The problem was that it was a…

How high can you go? Check your altitude on your Apple Watch with these great altimeter apps!

Your Apple Watch is already a fantastic fitness companion for running, cycling, hiking, and a plethora of other activities. Most fitness apps for the Apple Watch are great for giving you a ton of stats on your distance, pace, and other metrics; however, knowing your elevation isn’t always included in those apps.

If you want the most accurate data for your altitude when you’re out and about enjoying some fresh air, you’re going to want a dedicated altimeter app. Here are our favorite altimeter apps for your Apple Watch.

NOTE: The Apple Watch Series 3 is the only Apple Watch that has a built-in Altimeter, meaning the older models require a connection to your iPhone to read elevation properly.

GPS Altitude Meter +
Altimeter+
My Altitude

GPS Altitude Meter +

Probably the most simple and straightforward approach to an altimeter app on the Apple Watch, GPS Altitude Meter + doesn’t beat ar…

Of course, nothing’s stopping you from buying a few for just yourself.

Nerf is a huge part of Amazon’s one-day sale covering tons of toy ideas from a variety of brands. We’ve pulled out all the best Nerf gear, and most of these are going for all-time new lows or at least matching the lowest prices they’ve ever been before. Some of these can even still arrive before Christmas if you’re quick!

Here’s all the Nerf blasters, bows, and darts on sale:

N-Strike Elite Triad EX-3 Blaster for $3.80 (from $10)
Rival Flashlight Grip for $4.45 (from $11)
N-Strike Elite Series Vision Gear for $4.54 (from $8)
Sports Aero Howler Green Football for $7.47 (from $15)
Sports Dude Perfect Arrow Refill for $8.44 (from $13)
Zombie Strike Crosscut Blaster for $8.50 (from $15)
Star Wars Poe Dameron Blaster for $9.14 (from $14)
Star Wars Imperial Death Trooper Deluxe Blaster for $11.38 (from $23)
Fire Vision Ignite Football for $11.69 (from $16)
N-Strike Elite Series 100-Dart Refill for $11.69 (from $30)
R…

1TB, 2TB, or 4TB — how much storage should you add to your iMac Pro?

When considering a new iMac Pro for your desk, you have several factors worth weighing as you configure it: number of processor cores, RAM, video cards, and whether you should get all the space gray accessories, of course.

But there’s one more feature worth considering when building your iMac Pro: your internal storage space.

All iMac Pro options come with NVMe-based SSD (solid-state drive) storage — there’s no Fusion Drive model to be found here. SSD storage is both faster and sturdier than a traditional spinning-disc hard drive, and allows you to access your projects faster, boot up more quickly, and run through massive number-crunching at full speed.

Like its fellow upgrades, your SSD isn’t user accessible on the iMac Pro: What you buy at launch is what you get forever.

That said, it’s a lot easier to augment your storage space than your internal processor or RAM: The iMac Pro comes wit…