Bloomberg WWDC Leak Highlights: Updated Maps, Health, Apple Watch Audio Books, Reminders, More

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman got the goods on Apple’s WWDC software plans. Highlights include several improvements to Maps that I’m looking forward to. Apple is also improving the Health app, Reminders, adding audio book support to Apple Watch, a standalone app for the Apple Watch App Store on the watch itself, new Watch complications and faces, improved share sheet in iOS, combined Find my Friends and Find My iPhone, improved iMessage, an updated Books app with a reward system, and much more. There’s a ton of information in this piece, and it’s a good read.

News+ How the Upcoming USB4 Tech Could Affect iOS Products

In the latest issue of Macworld, Jason Cross writes how USB4 could affect iOS products like the iPad.

Simply put, it makes it easier for its iOS devices, Apple TV, and every other product without an Intel chip inside to support all the features of Thunderbolt 3…a future iPad Pro’s USB-C port could be USB4-compatible and hook up to all sorts of monitors, including the Thunderbolt 3 monitor you may have.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

iOS Mouse Support Could Come This Year

Federico Vittici and Steve Troughton-Smith are saying that iOS mouse support could be coming this year as an accessibility feature of iOS 13. Mr. Vittici mentioned it on the Connected podcast, while Mr. Smith confirmed the rumor via Twitter.


I personally don’t see the need for a mouse on a touch-oriented device. But I’m glad it will be optional, instead of a required component of iOS. Edit: 20190425: I take that back.  I didn’t think of the scenario where many people can hook up an external monitor to their iPad. In that case, mouse support is perfect.

500M iOS Users Affected by Cyberattack via Chrome Bug

Roughly 500 million iOS users have been affected by a cyberattack that takes advantage of an iOS Chrome bug.

The attacks are the work of the eGobbler gang, researchers said, which has a track record of mounting large-scale malvertising attacks ahead of major holiday weekends. Easter is coming up, and the crooks are banking on consumers spending a lot more time than usual browsing the web on their phones.

Another research firm says this attack can also affect Safari users. Be careful this weekend.

This Concept Video Reimagines the macOS Desktop

German video editor Thomas Weinreich created a concept video that gets rid of the desktop metaphor on macOS. Replacing it is a user interface similar to what we get with the iPad. Windowed apps are replaced by full screen apps that can be displayed into multi-window Split Views. Like Ben Lovejoy said,  it seems like maybe it could be similar to what Apple is thinking of. However, I personally don’t believe the rumors of a macOS/iOS hybrid. Additionally, this concept paradigm doesn’t make sense on Macs that don’t have touchscreens. The macOS desktop metaphor might be aged, but I think it makes sense for devices that use a mouse or trackpad. What do you think?

News+: What Kind of an iPad Homescreen Redesign Will iOS 13 Bring?

Writing for the Macworld magazine, Jason Snell shares some ideas for a rumored iPad homescreen redesign in iOS 13.

After more than a decade using more or less the same old app-launching interface Apple introduced with the original iPhone, it takes some effort to imagine how Apple could reinvent the concept of a home screen for the iPad. But reader, I’ve managed to make that effort. Here’s a look at some directions I hope Apple will go, assuming Gurman’s sources are right, when we first see this feature this summer.

One: I cannot wait for WWDC this year to see what iOS 13 brings. I hope the rumors are true that it will be an iPad-heavy release like iOS 11.

Two: This is the first of an occasional magazine article I’ll share as one of our Linked Teasers. Just a way to help people find cool content in Apple News+.