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Apple Music For Android Gets Crossfade Feature Before iOS

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple Music for Android got an update Monday with the arrival of version 3.4 of the app. Amongst other things, AppleInsider noted that the latest version includes Crossfade, a feature not yet available to iOS users.

The Autoplay feature also makes the transition to Android, with users able to let Apple Music select the next songs to play once a playlist has been exhausted. When enabled, Apple Music will analyze the playlist and select songs that seem to be similar, such as the same artist or genre. Social media users will be able to share their current listening selection with others, by using the Share Song option in the menu to post to Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. One unusual option that Android has is Crossfade, a feature that has Apple Music overlapping the end of one song with the beginning of another for a few seconds, fading between the two for a semi-seamless and continuous listening experience. While the option is available on Mac, it has yet to be made available on the iOS or iPadOS versions of the app.

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Zoom Rolls Out End-to-End Encryption for Video Calls

Andrew Orr ·

Starting next week, video conferencing app Zoom is finally adding end-to-end encryption to its platform.

Zoom’s E2EE offering uses public key cryptography. In short, the keys for each Zoom meeting are generated by participants’ machines, not by Zoom’s servers. Encrypted data relayed through Zoom’s servers is indecipherable by Zoom, since Zoom’s servers do not have the necessary decryption key. This key management strategy is similar to that used by most end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms today.

Good to see Zoom doing this; they’ve certainly had misses in the past. Update: The new version is now available for most users.

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Link Previews in Chat Apps Could Leak Your IP Address

Andrew Orr ·

Security researchers found that link previews in chat apps could expose data like IP addresses if not implemented properly. Or they could be downloading as much as gigabytes of data in the background. They tested a variety of different messaging apps, and iPhone users will be relieved to know that iMessage didn’t experience any of these security leaks.

We think there’s one big takeaway here for developers: Whenever you’re building a new feature, always keep in mind what sort of privacy and security implications it may have, especially if this feature is going to be used by thousands or even millions of people around the world.

Podcast

Archaeologist and Author Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes - BGM Interview

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes is an archaeologist, writer and creative professional. She earned her Ph.D. in Archaeology from the University of Sheffield (UK) in 2010. She is the author of the just published book Kindred which is about Neanderthal life, love, death and art.

Dr. Sykes attributes her interest in Archaeology to “mucking around in the dirt in the backyard” as a child. But also her parents took her to historic sites on holidays. Then she started devouring books about the ancient Egyptians. By and by, she became keenly interested in the reality of life in the past. Rebecca humorously explained how “Archaeology is like Anthropology but for dead people.” In segment two, we explored her new book about the Neanderthals, and it was mesmerizing. For example, new findings have proven that there was interbreeding with Homo sapiens. There is much more in this delightful show.

Notability’s Email App “Twobird” Gets Calendar Integration
Cool Stuff Found

Notability’s Email App “Twobird” Gets Calendar Integration

Andrew Orr ·

Ginger Labs, creators of popular productivity apps Notability and Twobird, announced Monday that Twobird received calendar integration. But that’s not the only part of the update. Key features include Interactive Notes, Embedded collaboration tools, Clean interface for distraction-free work, and a brand-new feature launched today: calendar. Other features include: Organize your schedule in Twobird with a clean built-in Calendar, designed to keep you on track with less distractions; Scroll through your Calendar to get an overview of your upcoming events and reminders for the week; Connect multiple Gmail accounts and choose which to display; All your reminders (for notes or emails) appear in your calendar so that you never miss a task; Attach a Twobird note to any calendar event to add context for you and your attendees; No need to switch gears, preview your nearest events and reminders at the top of your inbox.

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Changing its Tune, Spotify Lets You Transfer Songs Again

Andrew Orr ·

Two weeks ago SongShift wrote that Spotify wouldn’t let the app’s users transfer music out of Spotify anymore; they could only bring music into Spotify from other platforms. But now Spotify has changed its mind and it’s good to see.

With the release of SongShift v5.1.3, you will again be able to transfer playlists from Spotify to another service. The only caveat is, you have to have created the playlist yourself, or the playlist must be collaborative and followed by you.

Podcast

Managing Your Drives, Big Sur Tips, Ransomware, and More — Mac Geek Gab 840

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

These days most of us are using external drives at some level. Even if we’re not, our internal drives are always in need of some attention, pruning, or some other operation. Listen as your two favorite geeks answer all your drive-related questions. That’s not all, of course, we’ve got more Big Sur tips, ideas for mitigating ransomware, Cool Stuff Found, and much more! Press play and enjoy an hour-or-so with John and Dave!

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Missing iPhone 12 Charging Plug to Provide Sales Boost in Key Area

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple framed the decision to remove a wall adapter and headphones from the iPhone 12 box as an environmental decision. I noted that it was probably something they would do anyway to encourage customers to buy more accessories. Well, according to a note from Deutsche Bank seen by CNBC, that’s exactly the case.

Deutsche Bank analysts picked up on that potential growth in a research note earlier this week. “While [Apple] claims that they are not shipping earphones and a charging cube with the iPhone to save the environment (they are including a charging cord), the reality is that such a decision could drive a financial benefit for the company as well,” the Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. Looking beyond the near-term sales of the iPhone 12, Apple’s new magnetic charging system, MagSafe, is laying the groundwork for even more accessories for the iPhone. There have long been rumors that Apple’s ultimate goal is to remove the charging port in the iPhone, like it did for the standard headphone jack, which will in turn drive iPhone owners to buy even more extras for their devices.

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Google Removes Three Major Android Kids Apps Over Data Collection Violations

Charlotte Henry ·

Google has removed three popular apps that were aimed at children from its Android Play Store. It came after researchers found that Princess Salon​, Number Coloring and ​Cats & Cosplay violated data collection rules.

Researchers at the International Digital Accountability Council (IDAC), a nonprofit watchdog based out of Boston, found that a trio of popular and seemingly innocent-looking apps aimed at younger users were recently found to be violating Google’s data collection policies, potentially accessing users’ Android ID and AAID (Android Advertising ID) numbers, with the data leakage potentially connected to the apps being built using SDKs from Unity, Umeng and Appodeal. Collectively, the apps had more than 20 million downloads between them.

Charge Anything, Anywhere With the Omni Off-Grid
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Charge Anything, Anywhere With the Omni Off-Grid

Andrew Orr ·

A new product on Indiegogo I was recently made aware of is the Omni Off Grid charger. It’s a portable power station great for camping and emergency situations. It features an LED display, four USB-C ports, 12V/12A cart port, dimmable light with an SOS alert, four USB-A ports, XT60 and Anderson 400W int put port, Aviation 300W input/output port, and four AC outlets at 1500W output with 3000W surge. You can power it with an optional solar panel (US$299). The Off Grid charger starts at US$1,649 and the team has already surpassed their financial goal.