The older Python language, version 2.7, is being deprecated in macOS 10.15 Catalina and won’t be included in macOS 10.16. The same goes for other UNIX scripting languages.
Sign in With Apple Should Be Above Other Options, Say Guidelines
Apple wants developers to make its new Sign In with Apple feature more prominent that rival sign-in options. MacRumors reported on the change to the company’s Human Interface Guidelines.
One detail in Apple’s updated Human Interface Guidelines is raising eyebrows – Apple is asking developers to position its Sign In With Apple button more prominently by putting it above all other rival sign-in options. The guidelines are regarded as suggestions about how developers should build their apps, rather than mandatory requirements. Even so, many developers believe that following the guidelines give their apps the best chance of passing Apple’s approval process. Curiously, Apple is also asking developers to place its Sign In with Apple button above other options on websites, an area over which it wields no review power.
Mac Pro's $1000 Monitor Stand is Ridiculous
There were many standout moments during the WWDC 2019 keynote. Not least when Tim Cook unveiled a new Mac Pro. However, it was not just the machine that drew gasps. Apple asking nearly $1000 for the Pro Stand for the computer’s new monitor certainly attracted attention too. At Wired, Sophie Chara argued the Pro Stand’s price is indefensible.
We could try to mount a defence. An Apple Watch Series 4 costs $399 (we’re sticking with dollars, as there’s no UK price for the stand, display or Mac Pro yet)) and the new Pride Watch strap is $49: that’s 12 per cent. The new iPad Air is $499, the 2nd gen Apple Pencil is $129 and the Smart Keyboard is $159: that’s 25 per cent and 31 per cent respectively for the iPad accessories. Suddenly, $999 – or ten/twenty per cent – isn’t so outrageous. Only it very much is. Apple itself is known for commanding high prices, but even compared to its own kit, the Pro Stand seems to have created a class of its own in terms of the Cupertino excellence mark-up.
Maine is Close to Stopping ISP Pay For Privacy Schemes
The Act to Protect the Privacy of Online Customer Information has been approved by Maine’s state House of Representatives and Senate. Now it only needs the governor’s signature. It would put a stop to ISP pay-for-privacy schemes by limited access to data.
If signed, the bill would provide some of the strongest data privacy protections in the United States, putting a latch on emails, online chats, browser history, IP addresses, and geolocation data collected and stored by ISPs like Verizon, Comcast, and Spectrum. The bill goes further: Unlike a data privacy proposal in the US and a new data privacy law in California, the Maine bill explicitly shuts down any pay-for-privacy schemes.
Two Thirds of iOS Apps Disable App Transport Security
Security firm Wandera scanned over 30,000 iOS apps and found that 67.7% of them disable App Transport Security on purpose.
Nervously Sweating, Astro HQ Compares Luna Display and Sidecar
Astro recently wrote a blog post comparing its Luna Display product against Sidecar. But they left out an important detail.
The Clever Cryptography Behind iOS 13 ‘Find My’
iOS 13 ‘Find My’ combines Find My Friends and Find My iPhone. Apple says it uses Bluetooth signals from Apple devices even if they’re offline. And the encryption scheme it uses means that third party attackers can’t track Apple devices, and Apple can’t track them either.
In a background phone call with WIRED following that keynote, Apple broke down that privacy element, explaining how its “encrypted and anonymous” system avoids leaking your location data willy nilly, even as your devices broadcast a Bluetooth signal explicitly designed to let you track your device. The solution to that paradox, it turns out, is a trick that requires you to own at least two Apple devices. Each one emits a constantly changing key that nearby Apple devices use to encrypt and upload your geolocation data, such that only the other Apple device you own possesses the key to decrypt those locations.
AT&T Launches Free iPhone 8 Offer With 30-Month Installment
AT&T is launching a free iPhone 8 offer when you sign up for AT&T Next with an eligible AT&T unlimited plan under certain conditions.
App Developers Angry at App Store Costs Sue Apple
iOS app developers filed a lawsuit against Apple in California, claiming the company abuses its dominant position of the App Store.
Stabilize Your Phone, Switch Shooting Positions and More with This Innovative Gimbal: $99
Check out our deal on the VILTA-SE (Special Edition) 3-Axis Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer. As the name says, it’s a 3-axis, handheld gimbal for stabilizing your iPhone (and Android device) videos. This model allows you to seamlessly switch your phone between landscape and portrait modes, adjust your shot’s focus manually via the built-in focus wheel, and stow/transport it with a magnetic locking mechanism. It’s $99 through our deal. The promo video below shows the device in action.
