Skip to main content

Apple Finally Allows Giving the Gift of App

When flowers are too cliché and a gift card just screams apathy, nothing says “last-minute but thoughtful” like an iPhone app. And at long last, now you can give them to friends just like movies and music.

Apple quietly slipped the new ability into the app store on Monday, before bloggers picked up the subtle change in the terms of service and trumpeted it. The function appears when clicking the dropdown menu beside “Buy App.” Apparently, it works store-wide, and applies to all apps except official Apple OS updates.

As with most digital stores, all gifts are considered final, so you’re out of luck if that zombie shooter doesn’t go over too well with the parents, and you can’t give away apps you own, even if Oregon Trail has gotten a little stale after the third dysentery outbreak. Apple has also cut out regifting by preventing gift cards from being used to give apps: Cash only, please.

Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
You’ve never seen an iPhone like this before
The Apple logo on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Your Apple iPhone has a camera, my iPhone has a camera, so everyone’s iPhone must have a camera right? Wrong, as an image posted to Reddit shows.

Originally uploaded to the “Mildly Interesting” subreddit (somewhat ironically, given it's actually very interesting), it’s a photo of an aging and somewhat battered Apple iPhone. But before you think you are looking at the startup logo on the screen, it’s actually the back of the phone, and it’s missing the camera entirely.

Read more
iOS 18 has a hidden feature you’ll only see when your iPhone battery dies
Close-up view of remaining battery life on an iPhone 14 Pro Max.

It's been just a few days since Apple released the first developer preview of iOS 18. Since then, developers and everyday users have discovered features in the first iOS 18 beta that Apple didn't mention in its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024) keynote. The most recent discovery concerns what happens when your iPhone's battery becomes exhausted.

Apple iPhones have a power reserve feature that conserves a small amount of battery life to support essential functions like Find My and NFC unlocking when the battery is nearly depleted. In iOS 18, the feature appears to be extended.

Read more
iOS 18 makes an 11-year-old iPhone feature exciting again
Someone holding an iPhone 14, showing the Lock Screen.

Following the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024) keynote, developers are starting to dig into the first iOS 18 developer beta. Though this beta lacks Apple Intelligence and many of the other features demoed on Monday, it offers a surprising new take on an old iOS feature: the flashlight.

The built-in flashlight feature has been available on the iPhone since iOS 7, which was released in 2013. It hasn't changed much at all since then, which makes sense, given its basic function. Interestingly, it has received a significant update in iOS 18.

Read more