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IOS

Apple Will Start Sending Special Devices To iPhone Hackers (vice.com) 13

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
Apple has announced that it will send special devices that make it easier to find flaws and vulnerabilities in its mobile operating system iOS to iPhone hackers that apply and qualify for a program the company announced last year. From a report: The program might make some hackers less likely to engage in the underground market for stolen prototype iPhones hackers currently use to research iPhone security, and encourage them to share their findings with Apple. In a new website published on Wednesday, Apple wrote that the program "features an iPhone dedicated exclusively to security research, with unique code execution and containment policies." It's called the Security Research Device Program. Security researchers can apply for it starting today and Apple told Motherboard that if they qualify they will receive the devices soon. Apple doesn't have a goal in terms of how many of these devices it wants to send out, and all you need to qualify is having a public track record of security research, not only on iPhone but also on other popular devices and software like Android phones, Windows, or Linux.
Chrome

Chrome 84 Arrives With SameSite Cookie Changes, Web OTP API and Web Animations API (venturebeat.com) 14

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-improved dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Google today launched Chrome 84 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Chrome 84 resumes SameSite cookie changes, includes the Web OTP API and Web Animations API, and removes older Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions. First deprecated with Chrome 81 in April, TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 have now been completely removed with Chrome 84. This is notable for anyone who manages a website, even if they don't use Chrome at home or at work. TLS is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network -- websites use it to secure all communications between their servers and browsers. TLS also succeeds Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and thus handles the encryption of every HTTPS connection.

In May 2016, Chrome 51 introduced the SameSite attribute to allow sites to declare whether cookies should be restricted to a same-site (first-party) context. The hope was this would mitigate cross-site request forgeries (CSRF). Chrome 80 began enforcing a new secure-by-default cookie classification system, treating cookies that have no declared SameSite value as SameSite=Lax cookies. Only cookies set as SameSite=None; Secure are available in third-party contexts, provided they are being accessed from secure connections. Due to the coronavirus crisis, however, Google paused the SameSite cookie changes, with plans to resume enforcement sometime over the summer. SameSite cookie enforcement has now resumed with a gradual rollout ramping up over the next several weeks for Chrome 80 and newer.

Chrome 84 introduces the Web OTP API (formerly called the SMS Receiver API). This API helps users enter a one-time password (OTP) on a webpage when a specially crafted SMS message is delivered to their Android phone. When verifying the ownership of a phone number, developers typically send an OTP over SMS that must be manually entered by the user (or copied and pasted). The user has to switch to their native SMS app and back to their web app to input the code. The Web OTP API lets developers help users enter the code with one tap. Chrome 84 also adopts the Web Animations API, which gives developers more control over web animations. These can be used to help users navigate a digital space, remember your app or site, and provide implicit hints around how to use your product. Parts of the API have been around for some time, but this implementation brings greater spec compliance and supports compositing operations, which control how effects are combined and offer many new hooks that enable replaceable events. The API also supports Promises, which allow for animation sequencing and provide greater control over how animations interact with other app features.
Microsoft

iPhone User Sues Microsoft's LinkedIn For Spying Through Apple's 'Clipboard' (reuters.com) 39

Posted by EditorDavid from the LookedIn dept.
"Microsoft's LinkedIn was sued by a New York-based iPhone user on Friday for allegedly reading and diverting users' sensitive content from Apple Inc's Universal Clipboard application," reports Reuters. According to Apple's website, Universal Clipboard allows users to copy text, images, photos, and videos on one Apple device and then paste the content onto another Apple device. According to the lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court by Adam Bauer, LinkedIn reads the Clipboard information without notifying the user. LinkedIn did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

According to media reports from last week, 53 apps including TikTok and LinkedIn were reported to be reading users' Universal Clipboard content, after Apple's latest privacy feature started alerting users whenever the clipboard was accessed with a banner saying "pasted from Messages..."

A LinkedIn executive had said on Twitter last week that the company released a new version of its app to end this practice... According to the complaint, LinkedIn has not only been spying on its users, it has been spying on their nearby computers and other devices, and it has been circumventing Apple's Universal Clipboard timeout.
Google

A Moment of Clarity Regarding the Raison d'Etre for the App Store (daringfireball.net) 84

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
John Gruber, writing at DaringFireball: Feel free to file Google's release this week of an update to their iPad Gmail app with support for split-screen multitasking under "better late than never," but this is so late it borders on the absurd. It's like the difference between showing up fashionably late and showing up a week after the party. Split-screen multitasking was introduced for the iPad back in 2015 with iOS 9. Five years to add support for a foundational element of the iPad user experience. And an email client is near the top of the list of the type of apps where someone would want to use split-screen. Five years. Google makes a lot of software with terrible user experiences for users who have poor taste. Their iOS software, in particular, has for the most part never suggested that it was designed by people who like -- or even use -- iOS. It's the blind leading the blind. But yet the Gmail app is currently the number one free app in the Productivity category in the App Store.

On the surface, it's tempting to blow this off. To each their own. Whatever floats their boat. Who cares if millions of iPad users are satisfied using an email client that is a poor iPad app, so long as actual good iPad email clients are available to those who do care? But what about those stuck using the Gmail app not because they want to, but because they have to? Who can help them but Apple? I worry that it's not tenable in the long run to expect Apple to continue striving to create well-crafted -- let alone insanely great -- software when so many of its users not only settle for, but perhaps even prefer, software that is, to put it kindly, garbage. There have always been popular Mac and iPhone apps that are objectively terrible apps -- where by "popular" I mean much-used, not much-loved. But what made Apple users Apple users is that they complained vociferously if they had to use a terrible app. Word 6 was a sack of dog shit Microsoft dropped off and set aflame on Mac users' porch, but we all knew it was a flaming bag of dog shit, and even those of us who didn't even use Word were angry about it because it was an insult.

I worry that this sort of "Who cares, it's better than nothing" attitude has seeped into Apple itself, and explains how we wound up with barely modified iPad apps shipping as system apps on the Mac. But more than anything I worry that this exemplifies where Apple has lost its way with the App Store. What exactly is the point of running a strict approval process for apps if not, first and foremost, to ensure that they're good apps? An iPad email app that doesn't support split-screen multitasking for five years is, by definition, not a good app. I'd like to see all the vim, vigor, and vigilance Apple applies to making sure no app on the App Store is making a dime without Apple getting three cents applied instead to making sure there aren't any scams or ripoffs, and that popular apps support good-citizen-of-the-platform features within a reasonable amount of time after those features are introduced in the OS. I don't know exactly how long "reasonable" is, but five fucking years for split-screen support ain't it.
Media

New H.266 VCC Codec Up To 50% More Efficient Than Previous Standard (appleinsider.com) 115

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-improved dept.
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute on Tuesday announced the H.266 Versatile Video Coding codec, which will power more data-efficient video capture and transmission on future iPhones. AppleInsider reports: Apple adopted the predecessor to the new codec, H.265/HEVC, in iOS 11. The updated video codec, which was developed after years of research and standardization, will bring a number of tangible benefits to future iPhone users. In its announcement, the Fraunhofer HHI said that H.266 will reduce data requirements by around 50% thanks to improved compression. With the previous HEVC codec, it took about 10GB of data to transmit a 90-minute ultra-high definition (UHD) video. H.266 can do that with 5GB. The codec, as detailed in a 500-page specification, was designed from the ground up for use with 4K and 8K streaming. It'll allow users to store more high-definition video and reduce the amount of data on cellular networks.
Privacy

LinkedIn Says iOS Clipboard Snooping After Every Key Press is a Bug, Will Fix (zdnet.com) 38

Posted by msmash from the privacy-woes dept.
A LinkedIn spokesperson told ZDNet this week that a bug in the company's iOS app was responsible for a seemingly privacy-intrusive behavior spotted by one of its users on Thursday. From a report: The issue was discovered using the new beta version of iOS 14. For iOS 14, set to be officially released in the fall, Apple has added a new privacy feature that shows a quick popup that lets users know when an app has read content from their clipboard. Using this new mechanism, users spotted last week how Chinese mobile app TikTok was reading content from their clipboard at regular short intervals. TikTok said the feature was part of a fraud detection mechanism and that the company never stole the clipboard content, but promised to remove the behavior anyway, to put users' minds at ease. This week, users continued experimenting with this new iOS 14 clipboard access detection system. Yesterday, a developer from the portfolio-building portal Urspace.io discovered a similar mechanism in the LinkedIn iOS app. In a video shared on Twitter, the Urspace developer showed how LinkedIn's app was reading the clipboard content after every user key press, even accessing the shared clipboard feature that allows iOS apps to read content from a user's macOS clipboard.
China

Apple 'Suddenly Catches TikTok Secretly Spying On Millions Of iPhone Users', Claims Forbes (forbes.com) 61

Posted by FirehoseFavorites from the you-hear-that-mr-anderson dept.
In February, Reddit's CEO called TikTok "fundamentally parasitic," according to a report on TechCrunch, adding "it's always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my phone... I actively tell people, 'Don't install that spyware on your phone.'"

TikTok called his remarks "baseless accusations made without a shred of evidence."

But now Apple "has fixed a serious problem in iOS 14, due in the fall, where apps can secretly access the clipboard on users' devices..." reports Forbes cybersecurity contributor Zak Doffman, noting that one of the biggest offenders it revealed still turns out to be TikTok: Worryingly, one of the apps caught snooping [in March] by security researchers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk was China's TikTok. Given other security concerns raised about the app, as well as broader worries given its Chinese origins, this became a headline issue. At the time, TikTok owner Bytedance told me the problem related to the use of an outdated Google advertising SDK that was being replaced.

Well, maybe not. With the release of the new clipboard warning in the beta version of iOS 14, now with developers, TikTok seems to have been caught abusing the clipboard in a quite extraordinary way. So it seems that TikTok didn't stop this invasive practice back in April as promised after all. Worse, the excuse has now changed. According to TikTok, the issue is now "triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behavior," and has told me that it has "already submitted an updated version of the app to the App Store removing the anti-spam feature to eliminate any potential confusion." In other words: We've been caught doing something we shouldn't, we've rushed out a fix...

iOS users can relax, knowing that Apple's latest safeguard will force TikTok to make the change, which in itself shows how critical a fix this has been. For Android users, though, there is no word yet as to whether this is an issue for them as well.
Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 also shares an online rumor from an anonymous Redditor (with a 7-year-old account) who claims to be a software engineer who's reverse engineered TikTok's software and learned more scary things, concluding that TikTok is a "data collection service that is thinly-veiled as a social network."

So far the most reputable news outlets that have repeated his allegations are Bored Panda, Stuff, Hot Hardware, and Illinois radio station WBNQ.
Security

Apple Adds Support for Encrypted DNS (DoH and DoT) (zdnet.com) 16

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
In a presentation at its developer conference this week, Apple announced that the upcoming versions of its iOS and macOS operating systems will support the ability to handle encrypted DNS communications. From a report: Apple said that iOS 14 and macOS 11, set to be released this fall, will support both the DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and DNS-over-TLS (DoT) protocols. Normal DNS (Domain Name System) traffic takes place in clear text and has been used by internet service providers and others to track users in the past, usually to create profiles to sell to online advertisers. But DoH and DoT allow a desktop, phone, or individual app to make DNS queries and receive DNS responses in an encrypted format, a feature that prevents third-parties and malicious threat actors from tracking a user's DNS queries and inferring the target's web traffic destinations and patterns.
Privacy

Safari 14 Will Let You Log in To Websites With Your Face or Finger (cnet.com) 42

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
With Safari on iOS 14, MacOS Big Sur and iPadOS 14, you'll be able to log in to websites using Apple's Face ID and Touch ID biometric authentication. That's a powerful endorsement for technology called FIDO -- Fast Identity Online -- that's paving the way to a future without passwords. From a report: Apple disclosed the biometric authentication support in Safari on Wednesday at WWDC, its annual developers conference. "It's both much faster and more secure," Apple Safari programmer Jiewen Tan said during one of the WWDC video sessions Apple offered after the coronavirus pandemic pushed the conference online. The change is a big boost for browser technology called Web Authentication, aka WebAuthn, developed by the FIDO consortium allies. Apple's not the first supporter -- it's already in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, and works with Windows Hello facial recognition and Android fingerprint authentication.
Safari

Safari 14 Removes Flash, Gets Support for Breach Alerts, HTTP/3, and WebP (zdnet.com) 54

Posted by msmash from the up-next dept.
Safari 14, scheduled to be released later this fall with iOS 14 and macOS 11, is a release that is packed choke-full with features. From a report: The biggest and most important of the new additions is support for WebExtensions, a technology for creating browser extensions. What this means for Safari users is that starting this fall, they'll see a huge influx of new Safari extensions as add-on developers are expected to port their existing Chrome and Firefox extensions to work on Apple's browser as well. Apple said that, for now, WebExtensions will only be available for Safari on macOS.

Safari 14 is also an end of an era, as this will be the first version of Safari that won't support Adobe Flash Player content. But while old stuff is being removed, new stuff is also being added. One of the new technologies added to Safari is support for HTTP/3, a new web standard that will make loading websites faster and safer. Another important addition in Safari is support for WebP, a lightweight image format that has been gaining widespread adoption across the internet. The format, created by Google, serves as an alternative to the older JPEG format, and Safari has been the last browser to add support for it. [...] But Safari hasn't been lagging behind other browsers just in terms of HTTP/3 and WebP support. Apple has also added support for another cool feature, namely breach alerts, already present in both Chrome and Firefox. Starting this fall, Apple says that Safari 14 will scan a user's locally-stored passwords and show a prompt if one or more of the user's credentials are present in publicly available lists of breached accounts.
Businesses

Apple's Major Leap Is Unification and More Lock-In, Not Big New Features (bloomberg.com) 152

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference this week didn't bring any particularly revolutionary new feature, but it did something perhaps more important for Apple's long-term strategy. The latest updates will unify the company's devices and give customers more reasons to stay within its product ecosystem. From a report: From an average user's standpoint, the updates to iOS and iPadOS were underwhelming and minor, aside from widgets (which Android has had for years). Siri's interface changes were impressive, but there wasn't much discussion of a needed under-the-hood revamp, and the Watch update was incremental, other than sleep tracking. The company didn't let these products languish, but Apple's engineers essentially did just enough. The really impressive achievements came in getting the products to work together, plus sweeping improvements to the Mac.

The biggest news of the conference was that Apple-made chips will replace those from Intel in Mac computers. Besides higher speeds and longer battery life, the change customers will notice first is that Mac computers will work more like an iPhone or an iPad, and will have the ability to run the same apps on the new macOS Big Sur operating system. Soon, someone will be able to buy an iPhone app and run it across Apple's major platforms: the Mac, the iPhone, the iPad, and in some cases a variant of it on the Apple Watch and Apple TV. The company also moved toward increased unification by bringing over glance-able information (widgets) from the Apple Watch to its larger devices, and by more deeply integrating its smart home features across products. For example, a HomePod speaker can now be a doorbell and an Apple TV can be a door camera viewer. All of this may drive existing customers to buy additional Apple products, knowing that they'll work together seamlessly. The strategy could boost Apple's sales in the long-term and, just as importantly, make it more difficult for a user to leave behind a device, which could blow a hole in their network of Apple products.
IOS

New iOS 14 Feature Lets the iPhone Alert You If It Hears Sounds Like a Doorbell or Fire Alarm (theverge.com) 32

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
Apple unveiled iOS 14 at its annual WWDC keynote yesterday, and among the small but important new features is sound recognition. First spotted by a Reddit user, this new accessibility tool could significantly benefit people who are hard of hearing or deaf. From a report: The iPhone can be set to constantly listen for 14 different sounds, including a door knock, doorbell, sirens, smoke detector alarm, dog barking, a crying baby, and more. The feature can be found in the accessibility section of iOS 14's settings menu. Other tech companies, including Amazon and Google, have used AI-based sound recognition as a personal safety measure. You can set Echo speakers to detect the sound of alarms or broken glass as part of Amazon's Alexa Guard home security system, and Google uses the microphone on Pixel phones as part of its car crash-detection feature.
IOS

Find My Tracking In iOS 14 Will Locate Third-Party Devices (engadget.com) 20

Posted by BeauHD from the lost-and-found dept.
Apple's Find My tracking feature in iOS 14 will allow users to find third-party devices. Engadget reports: A draft specification for hardware makers is available now, although you'll clearly have to wait until both the general release of iOS 14 and finished implementations for those gadgets. A completed spec should be available by the end of 2020. This could be a boon for many hardware manufacturers, not to mention anyone who has a habit of leaving devices behind. However, it could be particularly useful for item trackers that, until now, have had to rely on third-party apps with limited iOS integration.
Businesses

After Outcry, Apple Will Let Developers Challenge App Store Guidelines (theverge.com) 27

Posted by BeauHD from the challenge-accepted dept.
Apple today announced two major changes to how it handles App Store disputes with third-party developers. The first is that Apple will now allow developers to appeal a specific violation of an App Store guideline, and that there will also be a separate process for challenging the guideline itself. Additionally, Apple says it will no longer delay app updates intended to fix bugs and other core functions over App Store disputes. The Verge reports: The changes come in the wake of Apple's high-profile showdown with Hey, a new email service from software developer Basecamp. The service launched last week as an invite-only website and a companion iOS app, with a full launch slated for July. But after initially approving the app, Apple later rejected Basecamp's subsequent updates and kicked off what became a very public feud between the company and Basecamp's co-founders, CEO Jason Fried and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson, over whether Hey could exist in the App Store in its current form at all. The feud, inconveniently for Apple, coincided with the announcement of two antitrust probes from the European Union last week that were spurred in part from complaints from longtime Apple rivals like Spotify.

The central dispute in this case was whether Hey qualified for an exemption to rules around in-app purchases, which Basecamp decided not to include because the company does not want to give Apple its standard App Store revenue cut. Apple said Hey did not and claimed Basecamp's iOS app violated three App Store guidelines by not allowing you to sign up or purchase access to Hey from mobile. Fried and Heinemeier Hansson claimed that the decision was evidence of inconsistency and greed on Apple's part given the numerous apps, like Netflix and business software, that do qualify for such exemptions and have existed in the App Store without in-app purchase options for years. Apple last week tried to head off any future escalation of the feud by outlining its reasoning in a letter signed from the App Review Board, which it disseminated to Basecamp and media organizations. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller also conducted interviews with members of the press. [...] On Monday, ahead of the keynote, Apple capitulated, allowing Hey's updates to go through only after a compromise from Basecamp in which the company now lets you sign up for a burner account that expires after two weeks.
Operating Systems

Apple WatchOS 7 Unveiled With Sleep Tracking, Shareable Watch Faces and a Hand Washing Timer (cnet.com) 22

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-improved dept.
At the WWDC 2020 keynote today, Apple unveiled WatchOS 7, adding sleep tracking features, shareable watch faces, a hand washing timer, and much more. CNET reports: WatchOS 7 adds much-anticipated sleep tracking features, including a Wind Down mode to help you get to bed on time. When you wake up, you'll see a visualization of your previous night's sleep, including periods of wake and sleep, and a chart showing weekly sleep trends. While the watch lacks a watch face store, the new software adds the ability to share customized watch faces and complications. If a shared watch face uses apps you don't have, you'll be able to download them easily. You can also easily share a face you've created yourself with a contact, or across social media.

In terms of health and fitness, WatchOS 7's Workout app adds support for four new workouts: core training, dance, functional strength training and cool down. The Activity app where you track your workouts will now be called Fitness, and will include a new Summary tab that gives you an easy way to see your activity history, workouts and trends, all in one view. With WatchOS 7, you'll be able to use Siri to translate several languages directly from your wrist. Like on iOS 14, in the Apple Maps app on WatchOS 7, you'll be able to see cycling-specific directions on your watch in some cities. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, WatchOS will use machine learning to determine when you start washing your hands, and sets a timer so you know you're getting the recommended 20-second wash.
IOS

iOS 14 Will Let You Change Your Default Email and Web Browser Apps (9to5mac.com) 19

Posted by BeauHD from the it's-about-time dept.
One of the new features available in iOS 14 is the ability to switch default app preferences for the first time. 9to5Mac reports: Details are scarce currently, but one of the slides in the WWDC presentation featured a block that announced users will be able to change their default browser and default email app. This is a long-requested feature, as iOS 13 and prior versions of the operating system will always direct taps on links to Safari, and new emails start in Apple Mail. Default apps will be available with iOS 14 for iPhone and iPadOS 14 for iPad users. Other iOS 14 features include home screen widgets, a new Translate app, contextual Siri and much more.
IOS

Apple Will Let You Emulate Old Apps, Run iOS Apps on ARM Macs (techcrunch.com) 213

Posted by BeauHD from the no-modifications-required dept.
At the WWDC 2020 keynote today, Apple announced that the company is going to switch from Intel chips to Apple's own silicon, based on ARM architecture. They also announced that iPad and iPhone apps will be able to run natively on ARM-powered Macs. TechCrunch reports: First, you'll be able to compile your app to run both on Intel-based Macs and ARM-based Macs. You can ship those apps with both executables using a new format called Universal 2. If you've been using a Mac for a while, you know that Apple used the same process when it switched from PowerPC CPUs to Intel CPUs -- one app, two executables. As for unoptimized software, you'll still be able to run those apps. But its performances won't be as good as what you'd get from a native ARM-ready app. Apple is going to ship Rosetta 2, an emulation layer that lets you run old apps on new Macs.

When you install an old app, your Mac will examine the app and try to optimize it for your ARM processor. This way, there will be some level of optimization even before you open the app. But what if it's a web browser or a complicated app with just-in-time code? Rosetta 2 can also translate instructions from x86 to ARM on the fly, while you're running the app. And if you're a developer working on code that is going to run on servers, Apple is also working on a set of virtualization tools. You'll be able to run Linux and Docker on an ARM Mac.

As a bonus, users will also be able to access a much larger library of apps. "Mac users can for the first time run iOS and iPadOS apps on the Mac," Apple CEO Tim Cook said. While the company didn't share a lot of details, Apple isn't talking about Catalyst, its own framework that makes it easier to port iOS apps to macOS. You should be able to download and run apps even if the developer never optimized those apps for macOS.
Desktops (Apple)

Apple Announces macOS Big Sur With a Brand-New Design (theverge.com) 92

Posted by msmash from the up-next dept.
Apple has unveiled the next version of macOS: Big Sur. From a report: The new operating system brings the biggest redesign since the introduction of macOS 10, according to Apple. Big Sur borrows a number of elements from Apple's iOS, including a customizable Control Center, where you can change brightness and toggle Do Not Disturb, and a new notification center, which groups related notifications together. Both interfaces are translucent, like their iOS counterparts. A number of apps have received streamlined new redesigns, including Mail, Photos, Notes, and iWork. Apple has introduced a new search feature to Messages (which organizes results into links, photos, and matching terms), as well as inline replies for group chats, a new photo-selection interface, and Memoji stickers. There's a new version of Maps for Mac that borrows features from the iOS app, including custom Guides, 360-degree location views, cycling and electric vehicle directions (which you can send directly to an iPhone), and indoor maps. Apple introduced a number of new Catalyst apps as well. Dock buttons have also been redesigned to look more similar to their iOS counterparts, in an effort to "be more consistent with icons across Apple's ecosystem while retaining their Mac personality," according to the company.

Apple also announced the biggest update to Safari since the browser was first introduced. The company claims its browser is 50 percent faster than Chrome and can show more tabs on-screen. Hovering over a tab now gives users a preview of its page, and right-clicking on the tab will give you the option to close all the tabs to its right. The new Safari also has a customizable start page and a built-in automatic translation feature that can interpret entire webpages in seven languages, Apple says. Safari is also getting support for extensions made for other browsers, and a dedicated extension store. (Unlike many other browsers, Safari will allow you to customize which sites your extensions run on). And there are new privacy features, including a Privacy Report that details actions the browser has taken to prevent tracking on the websites you visit.
IOS

Apple Announces iOS 14 With Widgets on the Home Screen (inputmag.com) 41

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
Apple's WWDC keynote was virtual this year, but that didn't stop it from announcing the next version of its mobile software, iOS 14. From a report: Fourteen versions since its debut changed the world, Apple is refocusing its improvement efforts on strengthening iOS's tent poles. That means more little changes and improvements across iOS and less of an aesthetic change. For users frustrated by the bugginess of iOS 13 and its many subsequent updates, the under-the-hood prioritization is appreciated. Any iOS users will tell you that the implementation of widgets has been underwhelming. They were bolted onto the Notification Center at first and then later given its own space to the left of the main home screen. In iOS 14, widgets are now prominently accessible on the home screen. Widgets on the home screen come in different sizes. For example, the weather widget takes up approximately apps. iOS 14 has a new Translation app, which is basically Apple's version of Google Translate. The pre-installed iOS 14 apps supports English, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Portuguese, and Russian.

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