We have a deal for you called The Ultimate Q4 Mac Freebie Bundle. It includes 7 Mac apps, including Clipsy ClipBoard Manager, CoverDesk, WiFi Signal Strength Status, Mission Control Plus, AirRadar 5, Data Guardian 5, and Workspaces 1.5. And, the whole bundle free. Check it out.
Now That Google Bought Fitbit, Here's How to Delete Your Account
Google recently bought Fitbit, and if you don’t want an ad company using your personal health data, here’s how to delete your account.
Everything You Need to Know About Apple TV+
Just what is Apple TV+? How do you watch content? Are the shows in HD? 4K/UHD? Dolby Vision? Dolby Atmos? How much does it cost? How do you subscribe? All of these questions are answered in our recent article.
Visible Introduces Multi-Line Party Pay Feature
Visible is back with another way to save customers money. It’s called Party Pay and it can lower your bill.
Adobe Creative Cloud App Brings Fonts to iOS 13.1
For the first time Adobe is bringing its fonts in its Creative Cloud app. Your device needs iOS 13.1 or later as that release supports custom font APIs.
If you already have a Creative Cloud subscription, you’ll have the same access as you do on your desktop to over 17,000 fonts from type foundries around the world. Users without a subscription but with an Adobe ID have access to 1,300 fonts included within the app for use on iOS13.1-compatible devices. Any fonts installed in Creative Cloud mobile are automatically activated across all your devices.
Edward Snowden Thinks Facebook is as Untrustworthy as the NSA
Whistleblower Edward Snowden told Recode’s Kara Swisher that he thinks social media giant Facebook is as untrustworthy as the NSA. He made the claims in a soon to be published podcast interview.
“Facebook’s internal purpose, whether they state it publicly or not, is to compile perfect records of private lives to the maximum extent of their capability, and then exploit that for their own corporate enrichment. And damn the consequences,” Snowden told Swisher. “This is actually precisely the same as what the NSA does. Google … has a very similar model. They go, ‘Oh, we’re connecting people.’ They go, ‘Oh, we’re organizing data.’” Although, Snowden said, these companies still don’t know as much as the government, which can gather information from all of the many tech platforms.
Facebook Could Use International Law in Content Moderation
Facebook is under increasing pressure regarding its approach to content moderation. On the Lawfare blog, Hilary Hurd explored how international law might provide a solution.
But there is a potential middle course in the diverging paths to principle and profit. Through the establishment of its new Oversight Board, Facebook could bolster its commitment to free expression globally by requiring governments to justify their take-down requests in keeping with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 specifically lays out three conditions for when—and under what circumstances—governments can restrict speech. By insisting governments frame their take-down requests in keeping with Article 19’s requirements before removing any content, Facebook would honor its stated goal of promoting free expression globally while shifting the burden to governments to justify their actions. The Oversight Board could in turn make this commitment credible by promising to restore any content removed because of a government take-down request, unless the government adhered to Article 19’s formal steps.
Uber and Lyft Want to Overturn a Law They Say Doesn't Apply to Them
Uber and Lyft are trying to overturn a law in California which is designed to turn workers in the gig economy from contractors to employees. The odd thing, as Wired noted, is that the two firms always said the law didn’t apply to them.
Three mainstays of the gig economy—Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash—this week launched a $90 million campaign to overturn a California law they say doesn’t apply to them anyway. The law, known as Assembly Bill 5, or AB5, would transform many gig workers into employees. On Tuesday, a small crowd of workers for the companies joined in Sacramento to kick off the campaign, which, if it receives enough support to reach the statewide ballot, would be voted on by Californians in November 2020. The companies and their supporters are pitching the initiative as a “compromise” that would create a third employment classification requiring Uber, Lyft, and their ilk to give drivers more perks than the average independent contractor but wouldn’t entitle workers to the full benefits of an employee.
Mario Kart Tour to Test Multiplayer Gameplay on iOS
Mario Kart Tour has proved exceptionally popular on iOS, and it looks like the game is going to expand further. AppleInsider reported that Nintendo plans to introduce real-time multiplayer gameplay, initially as a beta test.
The Japanese gaming giant announced the forthcoming test in a tweet on Thursday, saying access will initially be limited to subscribers of the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass. “A real-time multiplayer beta test is planned for December and will be available to #MarioKartTour Gold Pass subscribers,” Nintendo said. “Stay tuned here for more details coming soon.” Multiplayer gaming has been a defining feature of Mario Kart since the franchise launched on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, and its absence on mobile is viewed by some as a hindrance to adoption. Currently, players are limited to racing against AI bots, with in-game incentives like character unlocks and parts pushing users to continue play.
You Can Watch Apple TV+ Now
Apple TV+ launches today and content is now available via a simple subscription on your iPhone, Mac, iPad or Apple TV.
Apple Accused of Allowing Apps That Facilitate Modern Slavery
Apps that allow Kuwaiti families to buy women as domestic servants for just a few thousand dollars were found on the iOS apps store.
iOS 13.2 Aggressively Kills Background Apps and Tasks
Nick Heer put together a list of people noticing that iOS 13.2 is awfully aggressive in killing apps and tasks in the background.
As bugs go, this is isn’t a catastrophic one, but it absolutely should be the highest of priorities to fix it. It’s embarrassing that all of the hard work put into making animations and app launching feel smooth is squandered by mismanaged multitasking.
ACLU Sues FBI Over Facial Recognition
The ACLU is suing the FBI over its use of secret facial recognition technology. The agency as a database of roughly 640 million faces.
Nylon Braided iPhone Lightning Cable in Space Gray or Rose Gold: $9.99
We have a deal on a nylon-braided, MFi-certified Lightning cables in either Space Gray or Rose Gold. They’re 3.3 feet long (just over a meter), and feature Kevlar fiber core, nylon-braiding, and precision laser welding. They’re $9.99 through our deal. I’m linking to the Space Gray version, but check the pulldown menu for Rose Gold and a longer Space Gray version, too.
M. Night Shyamalan Posts 'Servant' Series Trailers
M. Night Shyamalan posted two trailers for his upcoming series for Apple TV+ called Servant, debuting on November 28.
Earnings Call Observations – TMO Daily Observations 2019-10-31
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss to discuss what we heard and think we heard on Apple’s earnings call.
AT&T Unlimited Elite Plan Gives You 100GB of Data
AT&T announced three new phone plans for customers: Unlimited Starter, Unlimited Extra, and Unlimited Elite.
Third-Party Lenses Still Beat iPhone 11's Ultra Wide Camera
There has (rightly) been a lot of praise for the cameras in the iPhone 11 family of devices. However, on Cult of Mac, David Pierini, argues why a third-party lens still beats the ultra-wide camera on the entry-level model
if you are a pixel-peeping stickler for quality, the ultra-wide camera may disappoint. The ultra-wide camera does not support RAW shooting or Apple’s new Night Mode. It also has a slow aperture at f2.4, meaning the lenses will not allow in as much light as the iPhone’s standard camera. Zoom in to see how the details are soft and surrounded by digital noise. The higher quality shot will come by placing one of these third-party ultra-wide lens attachments to the standard camera, which has a focal length of 28 mm.
16-Inch MacBook Pro Could Arrive This Quarter
The latest rumors swirling around the 16-inch MacBook Pro say the device is going to arrive in the next couple of months.
Brydge 10.2 Keyboard for iPad 7th Gen is Available
If you’ve purchased the seventh generation iPad you might be happy to know that Brydge’s 10.2-inch keyboard for this model is now available
Military and Government Officials From U.S. Allies Victims of WhatsApp Hack
WhatsApp was hacked to take over the phones of senior government and military officials in countries allied to the U.S.
The ProtonMail iOS App is Now Fully Open Source
Since 2015 ProtonMail’s web app has been open source, and today the company announced that its iOS app is, too.
In addition to making our iOS app open source, we have also documented and published our iOS security model. This is important to us because raw code without documentation can be almost unintelligible sometimes, and a documented security model will assist in rigorous assessment and review of our code by the public. Our iOS trust model is also available on our Github page.
Apple Card Customers Get 24-Month iPhone Financing
Yesterday during Apple’s earnings call one of the announcements was about iPhone financing. Apple Card customers can get 24-month financing.
Jason Momoa Believes 'See' Will Help Create New Roles for Blind Actors
‘See’ star Jason Momoa believes that the Apple TV+ series could help create new opportunities for blind actors