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The 2020 iPhone Should Include a USB-C Port

Andrew Orr ·

Dieter Bohn writes that the 2020 iPhone should have a USB-C port, instead of a port coming to the 2019 iPhone.

I think it’s easier to get people to accept port changes when they go along with some other kind of dramatic change to a product line. And not to put too fine a point on it: if the rumors are correct, this year’s iPhone 11 doesn’t look like a very dramatic change.

The main reason I want a USB-C iPhone is flash drives. I’d love a USB-C flash drive that I could plug into both my iPad Pro and my iPhone. I have a wireless one that works with both, but it requires a separate app to use. One that “just works” natively with the Files app is ideal to me.

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Meet the Never-Googlers Who Shun the Mountain View Company

Andrew Orr ·

The Never-Googlers are people who avoid using Google services and try to convince family and friends to give them up as well.

These intrepid Web users say they’d rather deal with daily inconveniences than give up more of their data. That means setting up permanent vacation responders on Gmail and telling friends to resend files or video links that don’t require Google software. More than that, it takes a lot of discipline.

Wouldn’t you know it, I wrote a list of Google alternatives.

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Facebook Plans Don't Include End-to-End Encryption

Andrew Orr ·

Unsurprisingly, Facebook’s messaging apps won’t have true end-to-end encryption, with messages scanned before being encrypted.

In Facebook’s vision, the actual end-to-end encryption client itself such as WhatsApp will include embedded content moderation and blacklist filtering algorithms. These algorithms will be continually updated from a central cloud service, but will run locally on the user’s device, scanning each cleartext message before it is sent and each encrypted message after it is decrypted.

The company even noted that when it detects violations it will need to quietly stream a copy of the formerly encrypted content back to its central servers to analyze further, even if the user objects, acting as true wiretapping service.

Unlike Forbes‘ clickbait headline, the “encryption debate” certainly isn’t over or dead. Now it’s about trying to convince the government that encryption backdoors don’t work. There are also plenty of Facebook alternatives.