Apple's App Store, iTunes Store, and Apple TV service are experiencing an outage at the current time, according to Apple's System Status page. Apple says that some users may be experiencing issues with the ‌App Store‌ and iTunes Store. Apple also says some users may be seeing intermittent issues with ‌Apple TV‌. The ‌Apple TV‌ Channels feature is down too, and users may be unable to access some services or make purchases. The services have been having issues since 6:48 p.m. Eastern Time. We'll update this article when the outage resolves. Update 8:15 p.m. ET: iWork for iCloud, Xcode Cloud, and Apple Maps Traffic are also experiencing issues. This article, "App Store and Apple TV Experiencing Outage" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

A judge in Paris today decided not to suspend Apple's App Tracking Transparency privacy feature in France, according to the French newspaper La Tribune. In a statement shared with the publication, Apple said it welcomed the court's decision and will continue to support strong privacy protections for users. Last year, Apple was fined €150 million by France's competition regulator, after it determined that the company's decision to implement App Tracking Transparency was an abuse of market dominance. Specifically, the regulator said the feature unfairly disadvantaged both third-party app developers and advertisers. Since the release of iOS 14.5 in April 2021, Apple has required apps to ask for permission before tracking a user's activity across other apps and websites for personalized advertising. If a user selects the "Ask App Not to Track" option, the app is unable to access the device's advertising identifier. The feature enhances user privacy, but some advertisers have complained that it has significantly impacted revenue. Last year, Apple warned that it may be forced to stop offering App Tracking Transparency in the EU due to regulatory pressures in countries such as France, Italy, Germany, and Poland, and from the overarching European Commission. But, it appears that the feature will live on in France for now following Apple's victory today.Tag: App Tracking TransparencyThis article, "Apple Can Still Offer a Key iPhone Privacy Feature in France, Says Judge" first […]

Apple Fitness+ is now available in Japan, according to Japanese site Mac Otakara. Apple users who open the Fitness app on the iPhone will see the Apple Fitness+ tab available starting today. Apple is providing users with a 1-month free trial, and after that, the service is priced at 980 yen per month or 7,800 yen per year. Japanese users do not have access to an Apple One plan that includes Apple Fitness+, as Apple does not provide a Premier plan in the country. Apple said back in December that Apple Fitness+ would expand to Japan in early 2026. The service also recently became available in 28 new markets, including Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Taiwan. Fitness+ workouts and meditations are digitally dubbed with a generated voice in Japanese, with more dubbed episodes added on a weekly basis. Apple also provides workouts in English or with Spanish and German dubbing. Digital dubbing requires iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and tvOS 26.1. With the addition of Japan, users in 49 countries and regions around the world are able to access the Apple Fitness+ service. There are 12 different workout types available, such as strength, yoga, HIIT, pilates, dance, cycling, kickboxing, and meditation. Workouts can be done using the ‌iPhone‌, iPad, and Apple TV. When Fitness+ is used with an Apple Watch or AirPods Pro 3, personalized metrics like heart rate, calories burned, and activity progress are displayed on the ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, or ‌Apple TV‌ […]