Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple Maps is getting a feature that users have been wanting for years: offline maps. With the launch of iOS 17 later this year, you’ll be able to download portions of a map for offline access to turn-by-turn navigation. Just like when you’re using Apple Maps online, the offline map will be able to show nearby places and your estimated time of arrival, along with directions for driving, walking, cycling, and public transit. This especially comes in handy if you’re traveling through an unfamiliar area where service might be spotty and need a set of backup directions in case you lose signal. It doesn’t cover the areas that you don’t download, however,…

Apple has now released the first iOS 17 beta to developers, and in a first for the company, it is also giving non-developers the opportunity to download the beta on their iPhones for free. Keep reading to learn how it's done. In years past when Apple has announced a major new operating system update, the first wave of betas has officially only been available to download if you are a paying subscriber to Apple's Developer Program, which costs $99 a year. Public betas then become available to users enrolled in Apple's Public Beta Software Program after a delay of a few days or weeks after the developer beta has been released. However, this year you don't have to wait for…

Macworld The next version of macOS will be called Sonoma, named after the Californian wine region. Widgets – can add anywhere on the screen. Make sure they aren’t distracting, glanceable with out feeling intrusive. Add more Widgets form Widget Gallery. Through Continuity can access Widgets from iPhone on the Widgets on your Mac. iPhone just needs to be near by on or same WiFi network. You can use car widget from iPhone. Photographers can select photos from the widget without even going in to Photos app.  Game Mode – ensures the game gets highest priority on GPU and CPU. Makes gaming on Mac more immersive. Reducing latency with controllers. In game responsiveness. With more Mac games coming, such as Death…

Antivirus provider Kaspersky has discovered a malware campaign targeting iPhones running up to iOS 15.7 via iMessage. Importantly, this zero-click/tap malware can be found and blocked. Kaspersky: ince it is impossible to inspect modern iOS devices from the inside, we created offline backups of the devices in question, inspected them using the Mobile Verification Toolkit’s mvt-ios and discovered traces of compromise. We are calling this campaign “Operation Triangulation”, and all the related information we have on it will be collected on the Operation Triangulation page. This allowed [us] to move the research forward, and to reconstruct the general infection sequence: • The target iOS device receives a message via the iMessage service, with an attachment containing an exploit. • Without any user…

Macworld Digital security firm Kaspersky has posted information about a recent cyberattack that targeted the iPhones of Kaspersky employees, which were infected with spyware that is part of a campaign the company dubbed, “Operation Triangulation.” Hackers were able to infect the iPhones using what Kaspersky called an “invisible iMessage with a malicious attachment” that can be activated without user interaction. Once installed, Triangulation was able to gather sensitive information (audio recordings, photos, geolocation, and more) and transmit that data to remote servers. All of this can occur without the user being able to notice. In a separate, more technical post, Kaspersky points out that “the most recent version of the devices successfully targeted is iOS 15.7.” An Apple representative told…

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed on Thursday it had uncovered a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) plot using previously unknown malware to access vulnerabilities in Apple iPhones. Lockdown Mode is the first major capability of its kind designed to offer an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security. Guy Faulconbridge for Reuters: The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said several thousand Apple phones had been infected, including those of domestic Russian subscribers. The Russian spy agency also said telephones belonging to foreign diplomats based in Russia and the former Soviet Union, including those from Israel, Syria, China and NATO members, had been targeted. “The…