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Latest iOS Beta Brings Google Stadia to Apple Devices

Charlotte Henry ·

Google Stadia is heading to iOS a year after it launched, according to The Verge, meaning users can finally access their games on Apple devices. It’s coming via the latest mobile web beta for the iPhone and iPad.

Google, like other competing cloud services, is using mobile Safari due to Apple’s restrictions on cloud gaming apps that mean platforms like Stadia can’t exist in their current form on the App Store. You can access Stadia through its website on Safari or by creating a home screen icon that will turn the service into a progressive web app, so it acts almost identically to a native one. Unlike Nvidia’s GeForce Now or the planned mobile web version of Microsoft’s xCloud, however, Google Stadia has a free tier without restrictions and now offers two free-to-play games available (Destiny 2 and Super Bomberman R), with more to come. That means anyone with a Gmail account looking to try Stadia can give it a shot on an iPhone or iPad with minimal effort.

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Private Messenger ‘Signal’ Adds Encrypted Group Video Calls

Andrew Orr ·

Good news for users of Signal. The app now supports group video calls, and they are end-to-end encrypted like the rest of the app’s communications.

Now when you open a group chat in Signal, you’ll see a video call button at the top. When you start a call, the group will receive a notification letting them know a call has started.

When you start or join a group call, Signal will display the participants in a grid view. You can also swipe up to switch to a view that automatically focuses the screen on who is speaking, and it will update in real time as the active speaker changes.

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VSCO Shares its 2020 Year in Review With Top Trends

Andrew Orr ·

VSCO has shared its 2020 Year in Review, exploring the top trends it saw throughout the year like popular hashtags and photo presets. For example, the top third preset of 2020 was B1, aka B&W Classic. That’s my favorite VSCO preset for black and white photography and I have a feeling I was partially responsible for pushing it to the top.

Without the pressure of public likes and comments on VSCO, we saw our community share their most raw and true moments, and how creativity helped them to get through this year’s ups and downs.

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Jetstream Routers Get Firmware Update to Fix Backdoor

Andrew Orr ·

In November, security researchers found a Walmart-branded router called Jetstream contained a way for a third party to remotely control the router and devices connected to it. Walmart responded and said it stopped selling these routers. The manufacturer, Wavlink, also responded. A firmware update includes the following:

Removed unnecessary diagnostic pages; Deleted tcpdump tool; Added codes to block CSRF attack; Improved Web authentication routine.

The researchers haven’t yet tested the update to see if it has been effective.

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Siri on iOS 14.3 Can Mimic Sounds Like Animals

Andrew Orr ·

When you download iOS 14.3 released on Monday, ask Siri if she can quack like a duck. CNBC says she will play a short audio clip of a quacking duck. However, when I asked her she played me an album from Apple Music called “Quack Like a Duck.” But I don’t think I worded it correctly. Ask “What does <blank> sound like?”

If you ask “what does the fox say?”, Siri may simply quote the song that became a YouTube hit in 2013. But asking “what does a fox sound like” brings up an actual call from an arctic fox, which sounds like someone whooping.

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Russian ‘Cozy Bear’ Hacking Team Hits US Government Networks

Andrew Orr ·

A group of Russian hackers known as Cozy Bear has hacked several U.S. government agencies like the Treasury and Commerce departments.

On Sunday night, FireEye said the attackers were infecting targets using Orion, a widely used business software app from SolarWinds. After taking control of the Orion update mechanism, the attackers were using it to install a backdoor that FireEye researchers are calling Sunburst.

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Apple Will Ban ‘X-Mode’ Data Broker From its Platforms

Andrew Orr ·

A report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Apple and Google are banning a data broker called X-Mode from collecting location data from their platforms. (Non-paywalled version here). This is due to X-Mode links to selling data to government contractors involved in national security as Vice reported.

Both Apple and Google disclosed their decision to ban X-Mode to investigators working for Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), who has been conducting an investigation into the sale of location data to government entities.

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How to Safely See Your Top 9 Instagram Photos of 2020

Andrew Orr ·

Your Top 9 Instagram posts of each year is a trend that has been going on for several years now. You probably don’t want to give websites access to your Instagram account just to see these photos. Or, maybe you don’t care. In any case, CNN has a short guide to safely do it with apps called Top Nine and Best Nine.

When you give your email to Top Nine, the service uses it to send you your yearly roundup, but may also contact you in the future for marketing, the company’s privacy policy says. The emails may come from Top Nine and its affiliate companies, but each one will contain instructions on how to “opt-out” of these messages.

If it doesn’t automatically use your email from Instagram, you could try a disposable email service like TempMail.

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iPhone 12 Mini Sales May Be Less Than Other New iPhones

Andrew Orr ·

Numbers from Wave7 Research suggest that of the new iPhone 12 models, sales of the iPhone 12 mini only account for 4%-5% of sales from the major carriers.

Wave7 interviews sales reps at carrier stores to get a picture of sales. The 12 mini had the “softest demand,” and some people chose the iPhone 12 Pro Max because of its camera, according to the report […] Spending $100 more for the iPhone Pro 12 fetches a 24% larger screen and a better battery life than the iPhone 12 mini.

I was impressed with the iPhone 12 mini because even though it’s the most affordable of the lineup, it still has many of the same features like an OLED display. I don’t know about the iPhone 12 but I thought I saw news in the past couple of months saying that the iPhone 12 Pro was the most popular.

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Spotify Resets User Passwords Over Data Leak

Andrew Orr ·

Spotify has reset an unknown number of user passwords after a bug in its system exposed private data to business partners.

In a data breach notification filed with the California attorney general’s office, the music streaming giant said the data exposed “may have included email address, your preferred display name, password, gender, and date of birth only to certain business partners of Spotify.” The company did not name the business partners, but added that Spotify “did not make this information publicly accessible.”

Fortunately, those like me who created a Spotify account using Sign In with Apple shouldn’t have too much information leaked.

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EyeQue Unveils its VisionCheck 2 Smartphone Vision Test

Andrew Orr ·

EyeQue has a smartphone vision test you can do at home, and the company has a Kickstarter to fund the second-gen product called VisionCheck 2.

Some claim to have online or app-based refraction tests, but they are merely prescription verification services based on visual acuity estimates. EyeQue users are actually performing a self-refraction test while proprietary algorithms process, personalize, and store results.

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Jailbreak Store ‘Cydia’ Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple

Andrew Orr ·

The creator of the old Cydia app store is suing Apple, claiming it used anti-competitive means to squash it.

“Were it not for Apple’s anticompetitive acquisition and maintenance of an illegal monopoly over iOS app distribution, users today would actually be able to choose how and where to locate and obtain iOS apps, and developers would be able to use the iOS app distributor of their choice,” the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Northern California and Cydia is represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan.

I don’t see where the anti-competitive part comes in. Cydia was before the App Store, so Apple created that to compete, not “anti-compete.”

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Ahead of Apple’s ATT, WhatsApp Explains its Privacy Labels

Andrew Orr ·

Ahead of the upcoming iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency feature, Facebook-owned WhatsApp explains the privacy labels people will see on its App Store page. The app will collect contact information like your phone number, your (optional) email address, contacts, financial information to use certain features, shopping activity like product browsing and purchasing data, your IP address, general location, usage data, and diagnostics.

With end-to-end encryption, messages are not stored on our servers after they’re delivered, and in the normal course of operating our services we do not retain a record of the people you may message.

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Apple Has Been Working on AirPods Max Since 2016

Charlotte Henry ·

While it’s hardly a revelation that new products do not appear overnight, Apple has apparently been working on the recently unveiled AirPods Max since the first generation of AirPods shipped in 2016. That’s according to a now-deleted tweet from an ex-Apple designer, caught by Cult of Mac.

This interesting tidbit comes from a (now deleted) tweet from Dinesh Dave, currently a product designer at Facebook, but previously a Senior Interactive Designer at Apple. While no-one expects hit products to be created overnight, it gives a sense of how far out Apple’s working in its product roadmap. In a tweet Wednesday, Dave posted a picture of the AirPods Max. He noted that this was the last (previously unreleased) product he worked on at Apple covered by an NDA (non-disclosure agreement.) These standard issue forms effectively stop him from talking about products being worked on. Since the tweet was deleted, it may be safe to say that talking about them after they’ve been released is also questionable terrain.

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Hackers Hide Credit Card Web Skimmer Inside Image Metadata

Andrew Orr ·

MalwareBytes reports that hackers are using a new trick to skim credit card data form websites using a skimmer hidden inside image metadata.

We found skimming code hidden within the metadata of an image file (a form of steganography) and surreptitiously loaded by compromised online stores. This scheme would not be complete without yet another interesting variation to exfiltrate stolen credit card data. Once again, criminals used the disguise of an image file to collect their loot.

A devious, clever hack.

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A Son Designed an Apple Watch App To Help His Dad With PTSD Nightmares

Charlotte Henry ·

Iraq veteran Patrick Skluzacek had seen his life ruined by PTSD nightmares so bad that he feared closing his eyes. NPR has the tale of how his son, Tyler, developed an Apple Watch app to help break this cycle. Called NightWare, it was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Tyler was a senior at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minn., in 2015 when he heard about a computer hackathon being held in Washington, D.C. Developers come together over an intense few days to build prototypes to tackle a specific problem. This particular hackathon focused on developing mobile applications to help people with PTSD. Tyler scraped together his on-campus job earnings and bought a ticket to Washington. During the hackathon, he put together a team to program a smartwatch to detect the onset of night terrors based on the wearer’s heart rate and movement.. The idea, Tyler says, was to use technology to imitate something service dogs were already doing — recognizing a traumatic nightmare and then nudging or licking the person to disrupt the bad dream. He thought the smartwatch could do this with a gentle vibration.

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Will Apple’s Crackdown on Data Tracking Hurt Small Businesses?

Andrew Orr ·

Ben Thompson publishes good analysis on Stratechery, but I don’t agree with his latest piece. It’s about Apple’s privacy campaign and the new iOS 14 privacy “nutrition labels.” If I understand them correctly, he seems to have two main points: We should feel bad for small businesses because they won’t be able to collect our data in the same capacity as before, and that Apple’s attempts are futile because the internet is a giant shopping mall and “personal data wants to be free.” My summary is an oversimplification but I believe we should be combining Apple’s privacy with regulation like GDPR. In my opinion you can still have ads that don’t invade your privacy.

While transparency for customers is definitely a good thing, Apple’s simultaneous appeals to analog analogies and simplistic presentation of privacy trade-offs risks a similar path when it comes to the GDP of the Internet and to what extent power is disbursed versus centralized.

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Why Does Apple Price Products Like This?

Andrew Orr ·

Jason Snell shares three things for Apple users to expect when they’re expecting a new product. Sometimes the price isn’t right and Apple doesn’t sell as many units as it hoped. But reports are saying the AirPods Max are already backordered until March, so it’s a good start.

Today’s Apple seems to be executing a different strategy, pricing their products a bit higher in order to provide some room for sales, deals, and other marketing efforts.

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Adobe Lightroom Adds Support for M1 Macs, ProRAW

Andrew Orr ·

Adobe Lightroom is now a native app for M1 Macs and supports Apple’s ProRAW photo format it will release in iOS 14.3 for iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max.

As we’re getting started on desktop Arm / Apple M1, we’ll continue to optimize for Arm and M1 in subsequent releases. And if you’re on an Intel based computer, don’t worry…we’ll continue to invest in and improve Lightroom for you too.

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EU Lays Out New Search Ranking Guidelines For Google And Other Tech Firms

Charlotte Henry ·

Google, Microsoft, and other tech firms will have to provide more transparency about how they rank online search results. Reuters reported on new EU guidelines forcing the change that were released on Monday.

The guidelines, which take immediate effect, will be followed up next week by the publication of draft rules that could eventually impose further restrictions on the tech sector… The Commission said the guidelines require online platforms to identify the algorithmic parameters that determine ranking and to share them with companies. “These guidelines set the standard for algorithmic ranking transparency and will increase fairness in the online platform economy, which drives innovation and welfare for millions of Europeans,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

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Will We See an Apple Hardware Plus Software Subscription?

Andrew Orr ·

Analysts at Loup Ventures wrote a wish list of an Apple hardware + software bundle they call a 360° bundle. I call it a wish list because there are no rumors or evidence suggesting this is Apple’s plan, and the article tries to align shareholder wishes with consumer wishes. However, my opinion is that this sort of bundle is in the realm of possibility. The iPhone Upgrade Program is already a subscription, the only thing missing is the software.

For hardware subscriptions and ultimately a 360° bundle to gain wide adoption, the product family must work seamlessly together, the infrastructure to service and maintain those products must exist, and the products must hold their value over time. Apple is the only company that can bring all three of those together.

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45 Years After Apple, Steve Wozniak Starts Another Company

Andrew Orr ·

Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple 45 years ago and now he’s starting another company. It’s called Efforce, and according to CNBC it will reside “business in the green tech and blockchain space.”

According to Efforce, “investors can participate in energy efficiency projects buy [sic] acquiring tokenized future savings,” while companies benefit from such improvements “at no cost.” Using blockchain, “a smart contract redistributes the resulting savings to token holders and the companies without intermediaries based on exact consumption/savings data.”

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How Apple Brings HDR to Non-HDR Displays

Andrew Orr ·

Stu Maschwitz wrote an interesting article on Extended Dynamic Range, or how Apple brings High Dynamic Range to non-HDR displays. This doesn’t just refer to its Pro Display XDR; it’s how iPhone OLED displays can be defined as HDR.

So Apple has a method of showing HDR and SDR content together on the same screen. It works on every display Apple bills as “HDR,” even though the phones are performing the stunt using a different underlying technology than the 30″ Mac display. The XDR uses “local dimming” to light up an array of LEDs brighter behind the HDR pixels, as needed. The OLED displays drive each pixel to the desired brightness individually.

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How the U.S. Used the Patriot Act to Track Web Browsing

Andrew Orr ·

Government entities have been using Section 215 of the Patriot Act as justification to collect logs of web browsing activity.

In fact, “one of those 61 orders resulted in the production of information that could be characterized as information regarding browsing,” Mr. Ratcliffe wrote in the second letter. Specifically, one order had approved collection of logs revealing which computers “in a specified foreign country” had visited “a single, identified U. S. web page.”