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Apple to Stop Breaking iPhone 13 Face ID After Screen Replacement

Jeff Butts ·

Earlier in November, we learned that Apple had engineered the iPhone 13 in a way detrimental to Right to Repair. Currently, if Apple doesn’t “bless” your iPhone 13 screen replacement, iOS deactivates Face ID. Now, the iPhone maker has told The Verge it’s backing down on that requirement. A software update is coming to make things a lot easier. Repair technicians replacing iPhone 13 screens won’t have to worry about that microcontroller.

Apple tells The Verge it will release a software update that doesn’t require you to transfer the microcontroller to keep Face ID working after a screen swap.

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Report Shows Instagram Getting Ready to Launch Subscription

Andrew Orr ·

App analytics platforms Sensor Tower and Apptopia show that Instagram is preparing to launch a subscription service.

Both Sensor Tower and Apptopia track the mobile app ecosystem, which includes monitoring chart movements, app engagement and gathering app marketing intelligence data, among other things. But they also track the other less noticeable changes that apps tend to make — like rewriting their App Store descriptions, swapping out their screenshots, or — as in this case — adding new in-app purchases to their App Store listings.

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Samsung Teases Apple With Cleaning Cloth Offer

Charlotte Henry ·

Samsung is never one to avoid teasing Apple, and they’ve done so again regarding the infamous US$20 cleaning cloth. iMore reported on its latest offer.

In a move that seems to be part of the German Galaxy Club, Samsung customers can apply to get their very own cleaning cloth sent through the mail and they won’t have to spend a penny. They’ll need to be quick, though — there are only so many freebies to go around. First spotted by Galaxy Club, the offer is presumably taking aim at Apple and its own Polishing Cloth. No surprises there — Samsung is never shy when poking fun at Apple, whether it has a point or not.

‘Scanner Pro’ Update Brings AI-Powered Smart Categories for Organization
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'Scanner Pro' Update Brings AI-Powered Smart Categories for Organization

Andrew Orr ·

Now Scanner Pro automatically sorts & organizes your scans by categories. It’s tiring and time-consuming to manually organize the hundreds of scanned documents in Scanner Pro into folders and carefully name them so they’re easier to find. Thanks to Smart Categories, you’ll need less time to find the scan you’re looking for, without the need to manually organize all your files. Just search through bills, invoices, magazines, and so on.

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Proctoring Apps For Schools is Mass Surveillance for Kids

Andrew Orr ·

In an op-ed for Teen Vogue, writers from Fight For The Future argue that test proctoring apps that many schools use is mass surveillance of minors.

Remote proctoring software is, essentially, spyware that students are forced to install, typically as a browser plug-in or a computer program. Invasive features like keystroke logging, screen recording, network traffic monitoring, and video and audio recording are common. Many of the programs also collect tons of biometric data through eye-movement tracking and facial recognition.

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Billie Eilish 'Was Excited And Scared' About Apple TV+ Doc

Charlotte Henry ·

Billie Eilish spoke about the Oscar-contending Apple TV+ documentary The World’s a Little Blurry at an event moderated by Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. She described the emotions she felt being followed by cameras for three years, Deadline reported.

“I was excited and scared and nervous, and worried and hopeful,” she told attendees at a post-screening Q&A. “It was not acting, I wasn’t playing a character. It was real life footage of my life… It was a very real and good interpretation of my three years that you were filming it, or however long it was, and it’s really scary. It’s hard to tell anybody a lot of information about your life, let alone put it on a platform for literally anyone in the world to see.” Millions have seen it, noted Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s creative director, who moderated the discussion. Billie was joined on stage by Cutler and by her parents, Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell, who feature prominently in the film. The only family member missing (apart from dog Pepper and cat Misha) was Finneas O’Connell, Billie’s older brother and songwriting partner.