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Andrew Orr

Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.

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Articles by Andrew Orr

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Examining the Feud Between Apple and Facebook

Andrew Orr ·

James Titcomb has a op-ed in The Sydney Morning Herald where he pieces together the Apple-Facebook feud.

Over the past six months Facebook has become Apple’s chief antagonist, airing its gripes with investors, the media, its own employees and even the regulators writing the rules that will govern digital services for the next decade.

That is despite the companies not being traditional rivals: Apple sells hardware and runs subscription services; Facebook gets 98 per cent of its income through advertising.

I think the fundamental difference is that Facebook is doing everything in its power to become a mediator for reality. But so far it’s a mediator on platforms that it can’t control, and Apple is chipping away at some of the tools Facebook relies on, like targeted advertising.

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Thousands of Law Enforcement Agencies Use Phone Cracking Tools

Andrew Orr ·

Upturn, a non-profit focused on the use of technology by police, used over 110 public records filed with law enforcement departments across the country to figure out how many of them use phone cracking tools, or mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs).

Based on 110 public records requests to state and local law enforcement agencies across the country, our research documents more than 2,000 agencies that have purchased these tools, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We found that state and local law enforcement agencies have performed hundreds of thousands of cellphone extractions since 2015, often without a warrant.

Kelly and I will definitely share our thoughts in this week’s Security Friday.

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Xfinity Mobile Expands its 5G Network Across the Nation

Andrew Orr ·

Xfinity Mobile has expanded its 5G network nationwide, and offers 5G data plans. One is a By-the-Gig shared data starting at 1GB for US$15, 3GB for US$30 and 10GB for US$60, or Unlimited for US$45 per month per line.

Xfinity Mobile customers already have access to the fastest Internet at home with Xfinity Internet, and now they can access a fast nationwide 5G network when they are on the go.

Video Stabilizer App ‘Emulsio’ Gets iOS 14 Update
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Video Stabilizer App ‘Emulsio’ Gets iOS 14 Update

Andrew Orr ·

Emulsio is a video stabilizer app from Creaceed and recently got an update. Version 3.5 offers a fully exposed video encoder that provides several important features: user-adjustable output file format, custom bitrate/quality setting, video and audio codec choices, and output resolution adjustment. The new Transcode extension now allows re-encoding existing videos at a desired quality/size level. Further enhancements include a better video import handling using the new & more capable iOS 14 photo/video picker to easily browse and search through the video library.

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Antitrust Lawsuit Reveals Apple-Google Search Relationship

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. government has sued Google, saying the company is a monopoly that uses its power to crush competition in search. Mark Gurman writes about the money that Google pays Apple for it to be the default search engine. I’ve been disappointed in this, because a lawsuit from previous years alleges Google pays Apple around US$12 billion to be the default. Apple can do better.

The details, many of which have not been disclosed before, may support the U. S. government’s allegation that Google uses these agreements to block out search rivals and give consumers less choice. Google called the government’s case “deeply flawed” and said it would hurt consumers because it would “artificially prop up” lower-quality search options.

Artificially prop up lower-quality search options. Wouldn’t paying Apple be artificially propping up Google? I spent a day drinking beer and eating potato chips watching Bill Gates’ deposition for fun. I’m sure the one with Sundar Pichai will be equally entertaining.

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Apple Removed a Third Party Google Stadia App

Andrew Orr ·

StApple recently removed Stadium, an app that let people use Google Stadia’s game streaming service on iOS.

Specifically, Knox says Apple objects to how his app is “extending WebKit with native APIs to connect with Bluetooth.” This is what allowed the app to connect Bluetooth controllers to Stadia. Apple’s ruling appears to refer to section 4.7 of Apple’s App Store guidelines, which governs web-based games on the platform.

At first I thought it was removed because some random non-Google party created a Google service workaround. But it sounds like it’s more because of API specifics, or at least that’s the official Apple statement.

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Address Bar Spoofing Bugs Surface on Mobile Browsers

Andrew Orr ·

A number of address bar spoofing vulnerabilities have surface on mobile browsers, and Rafay Baloch wrote about them. There was one found in Safari but Apple patched it in September with iOS 13.6. The other bugs mostly concern Opera.

With ever growing sophistication of spear phishing attacks, exploitation of browser-based vulnerabilities such as address bar spoofing may exacerbate the success of spear phishing attacks and hence prove to be very lethal. First and foremost, it is easy to persuade the victim into stealing credentials or distributing malware when the address bar points to a trusted website and giving no indicators forgery, secondly since the vulnerability exploits a specific feature in a browser, it can evade several anti-phishing schemes and solutions.

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Is Apple’s iPhone 12 Decision Really Better for the Environment?

Andrew Orr ·

Imad Khan writes how switching to a USB-C port would be more environmental than Apple’s decision not to include a charger in the box.

And let’s not forget that Apple will still need to ship tiny Type-C power adapters across the world to accommodate the new cable included with the iPhone 12. While these new adapters will have a long shelf life, it will cut back on the emissions savings that Apple so proudly publicizes.

This is the part I agree with. What are the environmental logistics of shipping multiple lighter packages versus one heavier one?

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How Homeland Security Caught Suspect in R. Kelly Case

Andrew Orr ·

A recently revealed warrant in the R. Kelly case revealed how U.S. Homeland Security used a Google search warrant.

Homeland Security special agent Sylvette Reynoso testified that her team began by asking Google to produce a list of public IP addresses used to google the home of the victim in the run-up to the arson. The Chocolate Factory complied with the warrant, and gave the investigators the list.

As we discussed on Security Friday today, it’s cool that law enforcement was able to do this, yet simultaneously scary since it involved a dragnet of Google users.

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How Apple Added LiDAR to iPhone 12 models

Andrew Orr ·

Timothy B. Lee wrote a fascinating write-up of the iPhone 12 LiDAR sensor for Ars Technica. It’s a technology that used to be US$75,000.

Two of the companies working on high-end VCSEL-based lidar—Ouster and Ibeo—have already gotten more traction than most companies in the crowded lidar business. Apple’s decision to adopt the technology—and the possibility that other smartphone vendors could follow Apple’s lead—will provide them with a nice tailwind in the coming years.

A great explainer, and I wrote about the other iPhone 12 camera features here.