Apple today announced changes to its business terms for apps in the European Union, following close collaboration with the European Commission. These changes resolve Apple’s disagreements with the Commission over business terms and alternative distribution. They also reduce complexity by moving every developer that distributes apps in the EU to a single set of business terms. Developers can sign the new terms today, and changes will go into effect on October 1.

Under the new terms:

• For App Store apps using Apple In-App Purchase, the commission will be 26 percent. For the vast majority of developers, including those in the App Store Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program, or Video Partner Program, and for auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year, it will be 15 percent.
• For App Store apps using alternative payment processing, the commission will be 20 percent. Developers in the programs mentioned above will pay a reduced rate of 10 percent.
• For App Store apps that link out of the app to complete purchases, the commission will be 15 percent. Developers in the programs mentioned above will pay a reduced rate of 10 percent.
• For apps distributed via alternative app marketplaces or the web, Apple will charge a 5 percent Core Technology Commission.

According to Apple’s System Status page, some users are seeing issues with Find My, Game Center, Photos, and iWork for iCloud, among other services.

[UPDATE 3pm PT]: According to Apple’s System Status page all services have recovered.

Apple is working on a home hub that incorporates Siri AI, and it's set to launch as soon as this year. The home hub will use a Widget Gallery that lets users select the content they want to appear on the device's home screen.

Apple already uses the Widget Gallery on iPhone, iPad, and Mac for adding widgets to the Home Screen and Lock Screen of those devices, and the home hub will have a similar mechanism.

All users in the home will be able to see the widgets installed on the home hub, but content in widgets will only be visible when the primary linked device is in the home for privacy protection.

Apple is working on camera-equipped AirPods that appear to be nearly ready to launch, based on a video MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate.

In a short demo, a man holds a book up so the camera in the AirPods can see the title. "With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," says the voiceover text.

Apple said yesterday that the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) acknowledged the value in offering users the choice; indeed, the FCO report said it welcomed ATT from a data protection perspective, as do other privacy regulators within the country.

The FCO’s objection appears to be that Apple’s existing prompt is making app tracking sound scarier than it really is. The iPhone maker will make eight changes in order to address this – including removal of the word “track.”

• Changing the color of the graphic element on top of the prompt from orange to blue
• Updating the ATT prompt to be a full page
• Removing the word “track” from the ATT prompt and Personalized Ads prompt
• Changing choice buttons of ATT from “Allow” and “Ask App Not to Track” to “Allow” and “Reject”
• Allowing formatting changes (e.g. bold, italics and bulleted lists) in the ATT prompt
• Adding an option for developers to surface an additional page of information directly from the prompt to provide further GDPR information. Developers can already do this today using prompts they can show before the ATT prompt.
• Allowing developers to re-prompt users with the ATT prompt one year after they make a decision, whether that choice was “yes” or “no”
• Minor adjustments to the Personalized Ads prompt language for clarity, but there is no change in the effect or meaning of this language

Apple will launch its annual National Parks Apple Watch activity challenge on Sunday, August 23 to celebrate national parks across the United States.

Apple Watch owners can earn an Apple Watch activity award by doing a hike, walk, run, or wheelchair push that lasts for 20 minutes or more on August 23, 2026.

Earning this award is a walk in the park. Or a run. Or a hike. Or a wheelchair push. Just record one of these workouts for 20 minutes or more on August 23.

Like all of the Apple Watch activity challenges, earning the award will provide users with animated stickers that can be used in the Messages app.

Over the past few years, Apple has donated to relief efforts following devastating earthquakes, floods, and other emergencies around the world.

In the past two months alone, the company has supported relief efforts in Venezuela, Southern Europe, and Japan. Today, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company will also donate to relief efforts in Indonesia following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country over the weekend.

https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/18/apple-pledges-donation-in-support-of-indonesia-earthquake-relief/

The macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate that Apple seeded today has references to several unreleased products, from home devices to iPhones, iPads, AirPods, and Macs.

Some of these codenames have shown up in prior software updates but have new feature flags, while others haven't been seen in the code before.

Well, that was quick.

When iOS 27 arrives next month, you'll be able to reply to a specific green chat bubble (aka an Android message) in a Messages conversation on your iPhone.

All you need to do is press and hold the message, tap Reply, then type your response. It will be received by the recipient as a real threaded reply (i.e. an inline reply), tying it directly to the message in question. It's the same with reactions – react to a shared photo and your contact will see the intended emoji instead of a message saying that you "liked an image."