Latest news with #EmojiGame
The Verge
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Apple turns up the speed on Podcasts and adds a new emoji game to News
Apple's next major software updates are getting a huge new feature for playback speed sickos like me: you'll be able to listen to shows on the Podcasts app at as much as 3x speed, Apple notes in a press release about new services features. Previously, the maximum was 2x. You can move to super speed from the podcast play screen in the Podcast app, but you'll have to do a little bit of work to get there, based on my testing in the first iOS 26 developer beta. When you tap the playback speed button, a small popup appears that shows buttons for a few different speeds: 0.8, 1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.8, and 2. To more finely adjust playback speeds or access ones faster than 2x, you need to swipe on the buttons to get to a dial. The popup also includes a new 'Enhance Dialogue' option that you can tap on or off. 'Using real-time audio processing and machine learning, users can turn on Enhance Dialogue to hear speech more clearly over background sounds,' according to Apple's press release. With Apple's new suite of updates, Apple News Plus subscribers will get access to a new daily puzzle game called Emoji Game. ' Emoji Game brings to life one of users' favorite ways to communicate in a fun and engaging way, with players challenged to use emoji to complete three phrases, with the goal of solving the puzzle in as few moves as possible,' Apple says. I'm not an Apple News Plus subscriber, but I do love emoji and puzzle games, so I might have to check this out. In the press release, Apple also highlights some features that appeared in Monday's WWDC 2025 keynote, including updated boarding passes with Live Activities and the ability to make a 'Digital ID' in your Apple Wallet with a US passport.
Engadget
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Apple News+ subscribers are getting an emoji game with iOS 26
Apple is bundling its News+ subscriptions with a new game that users will be able to access when they get iOS 26. MacRumors has reported that Apple is calling it the "Emoji Game," because, well, it's all about using emoji to fill blanked-out letters in incomplete words and phrases. For the word "Disappear," for instance, you can use the "pear" emoji to complete it if the puzzle only shows its first five letters. For the phrase "rubbing elbows," you can use the "pink bows" emoji if the blank spaces correspond to "bows." The same emoji could have several meanings, as well: "Pear" can also be used to correspond to "fruit" in the word "fruitful," as an example. It's a neat little game that people can play to pass the time, but it can only be accessed by those paying $13 a month for Apple News+. The subscription will give you access to magazines and newspapers, audio stories and regional publications, along with daily puzzles like the Emoji Game. It's pretty pricey, though like Apple's other services, users can share their subscription with up to six family members. At the moment, only developers who already have iOS 26 beta will be able to play the Emoji Game. Apple's new mobile OS, which the company announced at WWDC, will be released to the public this fall. It will be compatible with all iPhones announced in 2019 or later, which means iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max owners won't be able to install it anymore. In addition to adopting a new naming convention that's based on the year it's released, the upcoming version of iOS has undergone a major visual overhaul, with translucent user interfaces inspired by the look of visionOS.
