A Russian copyright designed to force companies like Apple and Google to remove apps related to privacy is being tested by music labels.
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.
Articles by Andrew Orr
iPhone Health Records Available in Canada, UK
Over 500 institutions in the U.S. support iPhone Health Records and customers in Canada and the U.K. can now make use of this feature, too.
Brydge and Otter Partner on Mobile Accessories
Brydge has partnered with Otter Products to combine their expertise of creating high quality Apple products in a new venture.
Apple Orders Fashion Documentary ‘The Supermodels’
Apple has ordered documentary series “The Supermodels” with interviews from Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington.
CleverFiles Releases Disk Drill 4 Mac Data Recovery Software
CleverFiles released Disk Drill 4 on Tuesday, which Andrew will be reviewing in the next few weeks. It’s data recovery software
More Details on the Mac T2 Security Chip Jailbreak
Catalin Cimpanu shares more details of the T2 chip jailbreak I wrote about last week.
The attack requires combining two other exploits that were initially designed for jailbreaking iOS devices — namely Checkm8 and Blackbird. This works because of some shared hardware and software features between T2 chips and iPhones and their underlying hardware.
Unfortunately, since this is a hardware-related issue, all T2 chips are to be considered unpatchable. The only way users can deal with the aftermath of an attack is to reinstall BridgeOS, the operating system that runs on T2 chips.
John McAfee Arrested for Tax Evasion
John McAfee, founder of the McAfee antivirus company, has been arrested in Spain, facing extradition to the U.S. over tax evasion and fraud.
The DOJ’s charges against McAfee are a bit dry but detail 10 counts against the entrepreneur. McAfee faced 5 counts of tax evasion, which each carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, as well as 5 counts of “willful failure to file a tax return,” each carrying a maximum penalty of 1 year in prison.
And here I thought he was already in prison.
Watch a Preview of Bruce Springsteen’s “Letter To You’
Apple announced on Friday a Bruce Springsteen documentary, and you can see a preview of it that will be released Friday, October 23. It captures Mr. Springsteen recording live with The E Street Band for the first time in 35 years. Both the album and companion documentary include recently written Springsteen songs side by side with legendary but previously unreleased compositions from the 1970s. Throughout the documentary, Springsteen shares his thoughts and feelings behind “Letter To You,” and puts the new music into the context of his entire body of work. In that way, it’s the next piece in the autobiographical series that began with the memoir “Born to Run,” continued with “Springsteen on Broadway” and advanced through his film “Western Stars.”
Bruce Springsteen ‘Letter to You’ Documentary Premieres October 23 on Apple TV+
A new documentary called “Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You” premieres on Apple TV+ Friday, October 23, the same day his album of the same name launches.
Tim Millet Talks About iPad Air 4 A14 Apple Chip in Interview
Tim Millet, Apple’s Vice President for Platform Architecture, spoke to The Star about the A14 Apple chip found in the iPad Air 4.
When Will The Targeted Advertising Bubble Burst?
A large part of the web is free because of targeted advertising, but former Google employee Tim Hwang argues that it doesn’t even work.
He notes that while “some digital and social media messaging is quite effective,” it’s common for platforms and media agencies to triple (at least) its apparent value by wrongly crediting digital ads for purchases that consumers would have made anyway. Aral calls this “the most widely used shell game in business today.”
Or, as Hwang puts it: “The whole edifice of online advertising is, in short, bunk.”
Facebook Doesn’t Like Netflix Documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’
Facebook has published criticism of “The Social Dilemma” a Netflix documentary that reveals how social platforms use algorithms as addiction.
“Rather than offer a nuanced look at technology, it gives a distorted view of how social media platforms work to create a convenient scapegoat for what are difficult and complex societal problems,” Facebook said.
However, one issued raised in the movie is that Facebook’s algorithms learn more specific things about users, like their preferred political party, and shows them news it think they will agree with. That problem doesn’t happen on the services Facebook compares itself to.
Difficult and complex societal problems that you monetize.
Sci-Fi Authors Comment on Apple TV+ Series ‘Foundation’
Although “Foundation” won’t appear on Apple TV+ until 2021, science fiction authors Anthony Ha, Abby Goldsmith, and John Kessel talk about the books behind the series from author Isaac Asimov. John Kessel on psychohistory:
[Asimov is] basically saying if you have enough human beings—you have 100 million worlds, all inhabited by human beings—that psychohistory can predict the mass behavior of human beings, without being able to predict any individual human being’s behavior. That’s a cool idea.
I can’t wait until for the Apple TV+ series.
Oprah Winfrey’s Talk With Isabel Wilkerson Premieres Today
Oprah’s Book Club is premiering an episode on Friday with Isabel Wilkerson and her book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”
Find Compostable iPhone 12 Cases With Pela
Pela makes smartphones cases like many other companies, but they have a feature that stands out from the crowd: Compostable iPhone cases.
Apple Q4 2020 Earnings Release Scheduled for October 29
Apple has scheduled its Q4 2020 earnings call for Thursday, October 29 at 2PM PT / 5PM ET. You can listen to the conference call on its website.
New ‘LAX Order Now’ Food Ordering Website Supports Apple Pay
The Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) launched its mobile food ordering platform called LAX Order Now, supporting Apple Pay.
New York Launches its COVID-19 Contact Tracing App
COVID Alert NY is the official app of New York State that will hook into Apple’s exposure notification system you can find in Settings > Exposure Notifications. It alerts you if a sick person spends 10 minutes or more within six feet of you, and will do the same for others if you test positive. Using the app you can also contact a health advisor to request a conversation. The app’s source code is open source and has been vetted by privacy and security experts. The only personal information it collects is your phone number, but that’s only if you explicitly share it if you want a health advisor to call you back.
This Developer Made Over $100k Selling Custom App Icons
Developer “Traf” wrote a blog post saying he made over US$100,000 in six days selling custom app icons that can be used on iOS 14.
As soon as I noticed the hype, I put together some icons in my own style, downloaded some widgets, and tried it all out. I thought it looked cool, so I shared a screenshot of it on Twitter. Right away, people started asking about the icons in the screenshot. So I quickly packaged them, uploaded them to Gumroad, and embedded them on a Notion site using Super. All of this took about two hours.
It’s cool to see all of the customization people are doing on iOS 14, but I wonder if this developer could get into legal trouble by making money off of companies’ icons.
Apple Fills Cast for Upcoming Musical Comedy on Apple TV+
An upcoming music comedy on Apple TV+ starring and produced by Cecily Strong has the rest of its cast filled.
‘The Pathless” Arrives on Apple Arcade November 12
Annapurna Interactive’s newest game “The Pathless” is coming to Apple Arcade on November 12, as well as PlayStation 4/5, and PC. We saw a glimpse of the game when Apple Arcade first launched (it’s the ninja with the eagle). The Pathless sees players take on the role of the Hunter, a master of archery who travels to a mystical island to dispel a curse of darkness that grips the world. The Hunter must forge a connection with an eagle companion to hunt corrupted spirits, in turn being careful to not become the hunted. Players will explore misty forests full of secrets, solve puzzles in ancient ruins and be tested in epic battles. The bond between the Hunter and eagle and the fate of the world hang in the balance. This is one game I’m looking forward to playing once I can subscribe to Apple One.
New Apple Maps Version Comes to Ireland and UK
Apple announced on Thursday that its new version of Maps is now available for customers in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
AMC+ Arrives on Apple TV, No Cable Subscription Needed
The AMC+ streaming service has expanded to Apple TV Channels and Amazon, and you won’t need a cable subscription to use it.
Delve Into the ‘AI Dungeon’ for Text-Based Adventures
AI Dungeon is a text-based adventure game where the adventures are generated on-the-fly by machine learning. This means there are a near-infinite amount of adventures you can play. It’s available on the web and as an app for Android and iOS. There are two worlds you can play in: Xaxas (shown above) and Kedar (shown below). Xaxas is a world of peace and prosperity. It is a land in which all races live together in harmony. Kedar is a world of dragons, demons, and monsters. But there are other variations of AI Dungeon, like choosing a theme, playing multiplayer, or not choosing a world.