Enter our new international giveaway for a chance to win the brand new iPhone 16 Pro.
FaceTime Didn’t See Much Growth due to COVID-19
A survey of 1,630 people found that among other video chat apps, Apple’s FaceTime got the highest satisfaction score, but didn’t see significant growth in users now that everyone is working from home.
Respondents consider FaceTime to be the easiest service to use, by far: it was ranked highest in terms of video quality and overall satisfaction. However, almost everyone reserved the service for one-on-one calls, and use of the app has barely changed since stay-at-home orders were put in place. Because FaceTime is only accessible to people with Apple products, it makes sense that current circumstances haven’t had a significant impact on the app’s popularity—it is quite likely that users interact with the app in much the same ways they did pre-COVID.
I’m thinking the biggest factor for this is the fact that FaceTime is only available on Apple devices. It’s not a good video conferencing app for businesses with multiple operating systems.
‘Insomnia’ iOS Exploit Used to Target Uyghurs in China
An iOS exploit called Insomnia was used between January and March 2020 to spy on Uyghurs in China using apps like Signal and ProtonMail.
Apple Pay Expands to More Banks in Germany
Apple Pay is now available to more customers in Germany. Banks within the Volksbank Raiffeisenbank collective are offering the service, AppleInsider reported.
The banking cooperative, which includes DZ Bank, Fiducia & GAD, VR Payment and DG Verlag, was initially scheduled to roll out support in 2019. It is unclear why BVR delayed rollout into 2020. With Volks- and Raffeisenbank on board, nearly all major German banks are in the Apple Pay fold, though Postbank, Targobank and Santander remain notable holdouts. Apple’s mobile payments service debuted in Germany in late 2018 with support from Comdirect, Deutsche Bank, Fidor Bank, Hanseatic Bank, HypoVereinsbank and prepaid service Edenred. Mobile banking services Boon, Bunq, N26, o2, Square and VIMpay were also added at that time, while credit card companies American Express, MasterCard and Visa offered limited integration.
You Can Now Use Sign In with Apple on Squarespace
You can now use Sign In with Apple on Squarespace, the latest company to support Apple’s private sign in service.
Opera Builds Instagram Into Desktop Browser
Opera has added an Instagram sidebar allowing users to browse the photo-sharing network directly, without having to head to the web-version.
iPhone Zero Day Found, Will Be Patched in iOS 13
An iPhone zero day has been found in the wild that takes advantage of two vulnerabilities in the Mail app. It’s currently unpatched in the public release of iOS.
iPhone Factories in China Cut Workers Due to Drop in Demand
Major iPhone assemblers in China are cutting workers and stopping overtime at their factories as demand drops.
Wirelessly Transfer Music, Videos, PDFs, More to Apple Devices with WALTR 2: $19
We have a deal on WALTR 2, which lets you manage the content on your iPhone or iPad from your Mac or Windows PC without iTunes. It will handle some file conversions, too. Check out the promo video below. You can get WALTR 2 for Mac for $19 through us. There’s a deal on the Windows version on the page, too.
Pixelmator 2.5 Adds File Browser, Photo Browser, Image Size Presets
Announced in March, Pixelmator 2.5 is officially released today, bringing features like a native File browser, photo browser, and image size presets.
This update is a really big deal for Pixelmator for iOS. These new features might not be amazingly flashy but they’re incredibly important to the future of Pixelmator for iOS. And the headline feature is the awesome Files-based document browser, bringing a much-improved file browsing and opening experience along with great features like file search, tagging, and more.
App Store: US$4.99
Apple History: iMac Edition – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-21
Charlotte Henry and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the iMac and how it fundamentally changed both Apple and consumer tech.
Apple Music Bosses Auction Lunch Meetings in Support of Childhood Cancer Charity
Some top Apple Music execs are auctioning 30-minute meetings in support of childhood cancer charity Pablove, 9to5Mac reported. Those involved are Global Creative Director Larry Jackson, Global Head of Video Production, Content Denise Watts, and Creative Producer, Artist Relations + Partnerships Alexa Dedlow. The auctions are being conducted by Charitybuzz and are open until May 7.
Tim Cook raised a record-breaking $688,999 for his charity auction back in 2017. While these latest Apple employee auctions won’t see near the same numbers, it’s wonderful to see Apple Music leaders donating their time to such a great cause. Pablove, a childhood cancer charity will see a meaningful donation from the three separate Charitybuzz auctions from these Apple Music leaders: Global Creative Director Larry Jackson, Global Head of Video Production, Content Denise Watts, and Creative Producer, Artist Relations + Partnerships Alexa Dedlow. Each auction is for a 30-minute lunch meeting with the respective Apple Music leader in the L.A. area. Bidding is open until May 7th.
ClimaCell Aims to Replace Dark Sky’s Weather API
After Apple acquired Dark Sky, one announcement noted that its weather API would no longer be available. ClimaCell recently upgraded its API with new features and pricing, hoping to entice developers. The company has some impressive clients it works with, like the U.S. Air Force, Ford, United, Delta, and others. One new feature is a new data layer to track pollen.
With more than 50 million Americans allergic to some form of pollen, this proprietary index includes data on when airborne irritants are in season to inform people who suffer from pollen-related aggravations, such as asthmatics. API users can add this data layer into their app to offer users alerts when pollen levels are high.
Good news for developers. ClimaCell tells me they had been upgrading their weather API when the news of Dark Sky’s acquisition hit.
Apple Resuming Smartphone Production Better Than Rivals
While iPhone sales will inevitably be hit by the coronavirus outbreak, Apple is resuming smartphone production at a better rate than many of its key rivals. That’s according to a note to investors seen by AppleInsider.
Cowen analysts believe global smartphone builds for the second quarter will be down 17% year-on-year. Though it will be a 4% rise in units in terms of sequential quarters, it will allegedly still be worse than the 15% year-on-year decline seen in the first quarter. For Apple in particular, it will be seeing a decline, but not at the same level. Cowen forecasts iPhone builds in the second quarter will be 35 million units, which works out to be a 5% drop quarter-to-quarter and a year-on-year decline of 13%, while Android builds will be down 18% overall year-on-year… “With the current state of the global economy, iPhone unit supply and demand expectations could continue to fluctuate in the coming months,” writes Cowen. The firm highlights how Foxconn’s workforce has “broadly recovered from the COVID-19 shutdown by the end of March,” which helps the outlook on Apple’s figures.
How to Remove Mac Screenshot Drop Shadows in macOS Catalina
To remove Mac screenshot drop shadows in macOS Catalina, you’ll have to use a keyboard shortcut instead of a Terminal command. Andrew shows us how.
Apple Releases ‘Works With Apple Health’ Badge for Developers
Apple has updated its Human Interface Guidelines for HealthKit with new resources like a Works With Apple Health badge.
Adobe Bundles Photoshop and Fresco for $9.99 a Month
Adobe announced today that it will bundle Adobe Fresco and Photoshop for iPad under one US$9.99/month plan.
The offer is available to customers who buy Photoshop on iPad or upgrade to Adobe Fresco premium through the App Store, as well as to Creative Cloud customers who buy the Photoshop Single App or All Apps plan on Adobe.com. Early adopters who already have a Creative Cloud membership are eligible too.
HBO Max Launching May 27th
HBO Max will launch on May 27th with a number of originals and access to the company’s extensive library of content.
France Says iOS Prevents Contact Tracing Apps From Running in the Background
France wants Apple to roll back an iOS privacy feature that limits apps constantly using Bluetooth in the background.
The new iPad Pro Floats on a Magic Keyboard
Apple has released a beautiful video, once again showing off the capabilities of the new iPad Pro. Featuring a lively, selfie-taking, kingfisher, it highlights how the device “floats” on the Magic Keyboard. The clip is soundtracked by Anna of the North’s song Dream Girl. The video also shows that Apple is not holding off on using its “your next computer is not a computer” advertising slogan for the iPad Pro which some feel confuses its product line.
Panasonic Brings Apple ProRes RAW to its LUMIX S1H Camera
Included in version 2.0 of its firmware coming next month, Panasonic will add support for ProRes RAW to its LUMIX S1H mirrorless camera.
Sonos Radio, Free and Ad-Supported Streaming Service, Launches on All Sonos Devices Today
On Tuesday, wireless speaker company Sonos announced the rollout of Sonos Radio, a free and ad-supported streaming service that runs on all Sonos devices. The new Sonos Radio service will arrive by way of a software update and will include Artist Stations, Sonos Sound System, Genre Stations, as well as music, news, and sports from a growing list of over 60,000 world-wide radio stations.
Apple Music Available in 52 New Countries as Apple Expands Services Globally
Apple is now offering services in more countries than ever before, including the rollout of Apple Music into 52 new countries.
Programmer, Author, Podcaster Rosemary Orchard - TMO BGM Interview
Rosemary Orchard describes herself as a geek, nerd, and programmer. She works full time as a developer of web applications, but her real loves are automation and productivity. She’s also a book author and podcaster.
Rosemary told me the story about how she started with computers and programming. After a bad experience with a Toshiba notebook and Windows Vista, she bought a MacBook Air for her university work—and loved it. At this point, she was still pursing human languages, but in time gravitated towards, instead, creating computer software that would make peoples lives easier. And she never looked back. We talked about her Web app development, her books (one on Shortcuts) and finished with how she learned to podcast. Today she does two. You’ll enjoy hearing how Rosemary’s career has developed.
Disagreement Over How to Proceed with European Coronavirus Contact Apps
Apple and Google have teamed up to help build contact-tracing apps, aimed at helping reduce the spread of coronavirus. However, there is disagreement in Europe over how to progress, Reuters reported.
Scientists and researchers from more than 25 countries published an open letter on Monday urging governments not to abuse such technology to spy on their people and warning of risks in an approach championed by Germany. “We are concerned that some ‘solutions’ to the crisis may, via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large,” said the letter that gathered more than 300 signatures. Tech experts are rushing to develop digital methods to fight COVID-19, a flu-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has infected 2.4 million people worldwide and been linked to 165,000 deaths.