Some Companies Don't Like iOS 13 Location Privacy Feature

App developers wrote a letter to Apple saying how much they don’t like iOS 13 location privacy rules, accusing the company of anti-competitive behavior.

We understand that there were certain developers, specifically messaging apps, that were using this as a backdoor to collect user data. While we agree loopholes like this should be closed, the current Apple plan to remove [access to the internet voice feature] will have unintended consequences: it will effectively shut down apps that have a valid need for real-time location.

The letter was signed by Tile CEO CJ Prober; Arity (Allstate) president Gary Hallgren; CEO of Life360, Chris Hullsan; CEO of dating app Happn, Didier Rappaport; CEO of Zenly (Snap), Antoine Martin; CEO of Zendrive, Jonathan Matus; and chief strategy officer of social networking app Twenty, Jared Allgood.

A helpful list of all the apps I’ll never download. I hope Apple does more when it comes to privacy.

iOS 13 Has an Important Bluetooth Privacy Feature

Jared Newman writes about the iOS 13 Bluetooth privacy feature. When an app needs to access Bluetooth, iOS displays an alert so you can allow or deny the request. Bluetooth can be used to track you, which is why Apple added the feature. I’ve seen these alerts a couple of times running the iOS 13 public beta. I disagree with Mr. Newman though; I don’t think it’s too confusing. Just think about the app and whether it legitimately needs Bluetooth. For example, if you need to connect a device to your iPhone, you’ll need Bluetooth. But apps like Google Maps and YouTube don’t need Bluetooth (and I’ve seen alerts and denied them both).

Prior to iOS 13, apps could use Bluetooth to collect detailed location data from users without explicit permission, using tracking beacons in retail stores and other public locations. Even if users had denied an app access their location data, Bluetooth could have provided a workaround.

iOS 13 Will Prevent Location Tracking via SSID, BSSID

During Apple’s WWDC 2019 developer session 713 titled, “Advances in Networking” revealed that iOS 13 will stop location tracking using your device’s SSID/BSSID using the CNCopyCurrentNetworkInfo API. Developers have reported getting an email from Apple that says:

Starting with iOS 13, the CNCopyCurrentNetworkInfo API will no longer return valid Wi-Fi SSID and BSSID information. Instead, the information returned by default will be:

SSID: “Wi-Fi” or “WLAN” (“WLAN” will be returned for the China SKU) BSSID: “00:00:00:00:00:00”

StubHub Apple Pay Rolls Out to iOS Browsers

Starting today, StubHub Apple Pay will be available on the web for iOS devices so that fans can buy tickets easily and safely.

Fans will begin to see Apple Pay as an available payment option for MLB mobile web transactions on the iPhone this week. For more on how to use Apple Pay and connect it with your StubHub account, visit StubHub’s customer help center.

Good to see Apple Pay being offered in more places.

Detailed Look at Apple Maps in iOS 13

Check out this detailed look at Apple Maps in iOS 13 at MacStories. New features, a new look, and an aggressive move to make Apple Maps rival or beat Google Maps, make this a significant upgrade, and MacStories lay it all out.

Timed with the spread of its first-party mapping data, Apple is giving the Maps app a big upgrade in iOS 13 that represents the company’s biggest push yet to overtake Google Maps as the world’s most trusted, go-to mapping service. Apple Maps in iOS 13 represents – if you’re in the US at least – Apple’s purest vision to date for a modern mapping service. Here’s everything that it brings.

File Apple Feedback Using Shortcuts

Matthew Cassinellli shared a shortcut to let people file Apple feedback using the Shortcuts app. He says it’s for iOS 13 beta users.

…this shortcut has you describe the problem first, asks you to list the steps to reproduce it, has you enter your expected results versus what actually happened, and copied it all to the clipboard.

Then, it uses Open App to go into Feedback, you fill out the menial parts of the form, and paste in your completed description.

Some People Experiencing App Gifting 'Bug' in iOS 12.3.1

Some people have noticed that the app gifting ability seems to have disappeared in iOS 12.3.1. It sounds like it’s a bug, rather than an official decision on Apple’s part. App Gifting As of July 7, 2019, it appears there is no longer an option to “Gift” an app through the App Store (i.e. the…

iOS 13 Password Bug Gives Unauthenticated Access in Settings

An iOS 13 password bug was discovered in the latest betas that give unauthenticated access to Website & App Passwords in Settings.

As detailed by iDeviceHelp on YouTube, you can access all of the saved usernames and passwords in Settings by repeatedly tapping the “Website & App Passwords” menu and avoiding the Face ID or Touch ID prompt. After several tries, iOS 13 will show all of your passwords and logins, even if you never successfully authenticated with Face ID or Touch ID.

I haven’t been able to replicate the issue, but I’ll keep trying to see.