iOS

Podcast

Apple and Content, Marzipan, and the Executive Shuffle, with Charlotte Henry - ACM 502

Bryan Chaffin · · 2 Comments

Where is Apple going with its content drive? Bryan Chaffin is joined by guest-host Charlotte Henry to dive deep into original shows, services, publishing, news, and Apple’s other content ambitions. They also talk about the promise (and potential drawbacks) of Marzipan, and what Apple’s recent executive shuffling might portend.

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Universal Apps Could Include macOS

Andrew Orr ·

An issue I see with this is pricing. People are used to cheap iOS apps, but if you applied the same pricing to macOS apps, that would be bad for developers. Would the price of universal apps fall somewhere in the middle? Or would everything be a subscription? Apple clearly wants the latter, but no one wants a bunch of subscriptions either.

By 2021, developers will be able to merge iPhone, iPad, and Mac applications into one app or what is known as a “single binary.” This means developers won’t have to submit their work to different Apple App Stores, allowing iOS apps to be downloaded directly from Mac computers — effectively combining the stores.

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Comparing Android Security Versus iOS Security

Andrew Orr ·

Keiran Dennie tweeted an interesting chart that compares the security of various smartphone operating systems.

Wondering about Android and Apple phone security? Here’s an objective chart to help you decide.

It’s a well known fact of Android that people have to rely on their carrier to push out security updates. This can take weeks, months, and sometimes they don’t get released at all.

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iOS Screen Recording App Revelations Led to User Privacy Win

Charlotte Henry ·

There was something of a public outcry following the revelation that some iOS apps recorded a user’s screen. They did this to learn what users do whilst in the app.  Apple responded, and told developers that they had to make sure users know that they are being recorded. My colleague Andrew Orr argued that such functionality is not a scandal or an abuse of iOS. He gave legitimate reasons why designers and developers need such functionality. Over on The Next Web, Ivan Mehta wrote that the revelation, and Apple’s subsequent actions, have been a privacy win for consumers.

Most people, including me, would be wary of giving permission to an app to record the on-screen activities unless they specifically tell us what they’re capturing. This’ll make apps be more upfront about their tracking activities. Also, Apple will be checking for screen recording code more often before the developers submit their apps to the App Store, to weed out the privacy-invading code.

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iOS 12.2 Will Remove 'Do Not Track' Option

Andrew Orr ·

In the next update of iOS and macOS Apple will remove the Do Not Track option from Safari. This is okay.

Removed support for the expired Do Not Track standard to prevent potential use as a fingerprinting variable.

Before I see a headline from Forbes titled “iOS 12.2 Has a Nasty Surprise” let me say that removing Do Not Track is good. It never did anything anyway because obeying it was completely voluntary. Which of course means that every website ignored it. And now it can be used to fingerprint your browser. Good riddance.

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iOS 12.1.4 Delayed Until Next Week, Apple Apologizes

Andrew Orr ·

Apple issued an apology to MacRumors, saying that a software update to fix the Group FaceTime bug won’t arrive until next week.

We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week. We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we complete this process.

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iOS 12.1.4 Could Fix FaceTime Bug and will Drop Soon

Andrew Orr ·

Apple should fix the group FaceTime bug in iOS 12.1.4 which the company says will appear later this week. If we don’t see it today then that means tomorrow (via Macrumors). [Apple Sued Over Group FaceTime Eavesdropping Bug] Group FaceTime Bug As was widely reported, the FaceTime bug was originally discovered by a teenager, whose…

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Users Reported iOS 12.1.3 WiFi Issues

Charlotte Henry ·

When it first launched, iOS 12.1.3 stopped some users accessing cellular data, something that had already happened with the rollout of iOS 12.1.2. The situation was so bad, provider Sprint put out a warning. This emerged after iOS 12.1.1 caused 4G issues. Now, it seems, the latest version of the operating system is also causing WiFi issues. Gordon Kelly rounded up the situation for Forbes.

Apple’s pledge with iOS 12 was to focus on performance and reliability. It actually fulfilled its promise on speed, which makes iOS 12 a very appealing upgrade, but its failure with reliability is twofold. Not only are major bugs still occurring, what’s worse (since bugs are inevitable), is they not being fixed as a priority from release to release.

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#10YearChallenge: How iOS Apps Have Changed

Andrew Orr ·

Here’s a 10 year challenge I can get behind. Valia Havryliuk demonstrates how iOS apps have changed.

Just last year App Store celebrated its 10th birthday. In 2008 it launched with 552 apps and some of them are still live inside your iPhones. Time has passed and design trends have changed dramatically. #10yearchallenge is a good opportunity to see how fast the evolution is and notice changes in the oldest iOS apps.

iOS 7 was definitely the biggest visual overhaul to iOS. iOS 11 introduced UI changes but it was more along the lines of refinement.

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Features Coming in iOS 12.2, Like Apple News in Canada

Andrew Orr ·

The first iOS 12.2 developer beta was released today, and we got a sneak peak into the features that will be coming.

Apple today released the first beta of iOS 12.2 for developers, and while it doesn’t bring as many new changes as we might have hoped for in a 12.x update, there are still quite a few minor tweaks to be aware of.

Some updates coming include Apple News for Canadian users, HomeKit TV Support, Safari search arrows, and more.

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How to Use Precise Times in iOS Calendar

Andrew Orr ·

David Murphy shared a cool tip that lets you set more precise times in iOS Calendar. Instead of times that increment by five minutes, go deeper.

Open the Calendar app and pull up an existing event or create a new event. Your pick. Once you’ve confirmed (or entered in) the title and/or location, tap on the start or end time. You’ll see the little section expand that allows you to scroll up and down to set the date, hour, and minute (in five-minute increments), as well as AM or PM. Double-tap anywhere in this section, and the minute increments will change from five minutes to one minute. It’s that easy.

It’s a handy tip, although I’ll never use it because my calendar events don’t need that much precision. But if you’d like yours to have it, then you’ll like this tip.

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Long Press Shortcuts for iOS Safari

Andrew Orr ·

I’ve covered iOS 12 tips and tricks that you might have forgotten. Now I’d like to resurface a tip from 2017 about shortcuts for iOS Safari.

You might not know it, but Safari has some hidden shortcuts tucked behind some of the icons. This will let you perform certain actions a little faster, like quickly access the desktop version of a website, add a bookmark, and even close multiple tabs at once.