Reddit NSFW protestors – moderators who applied the Not Safe For Work flag to their subreddits to prevent monetization – have now been given a “final warning” to remove the label …

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The braided headband that goes around the back of the head has a fit adjustment dial, but the one headband may not be comfortable or secure enough for some users, especially if the device is going to be worn for extended periods of time, which is where the secondary over-the-head strap comes in.

But Apple has apparently not yet fine-tuned the secondary head strap. According to a new report by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, the secondary strap was introduced after testing determined that some people with smaller body sizes and heads struggle to wear the headset for more than half an hour or thereabouts. However, the design of the strap has “yet to be finalized,” says Gurman.

One member of the press who got to try the headset in person at Apple Park was MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera. “A lot of people probably didn’t know this just by looking at some press images, but there is another band that goes over the top of your head,” said Dan in his initial impressions video.

In his opinion, with the additional strap attached, the Vision Pro is “not that far off from other headsets in terms of weight,” but it does “a really good job of dispersing that weight” and making it not so front-heavy. “I do think most people will want to use it,” he added.

Apple has not revealed the weight of the Vision Pro, but Apple’s decision to offload the battery to an external pack highlights the need to keep the headset as light as possible. Apple is also apparently aware that some customers may not wear clothes with pockets capable of storing the battery pack, so it is considering asking accessory makers to create shoulder-worn pouches.

Other accessories could eventually be sold to protect the device, according to Gurman:

The company has found that the front of the headset could be prone to scratches, but it will likely outsource screen protectors to third-party makers as it does with its other products. Another concern: the front glass cracking if a user walks into a wall or an object. To help prevent such incidents, Apple has built in alerts to deter people from wearing the device while walking at certain speeds.

Gurman’s latest report also reveals that Apple plans to launch the Vision Pro headset in the U.K. and Canada by the end of 2024, with preparations for the device’s complex retail launch in the U.S. early next year already at an advanced stage.

This article, "Apple Vision Pro Secondary Head Strap Design 'Yet to Be Finalized'" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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According to Semafor, Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro yesterday sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter [PDF] accusing Meta of “systemic, willful, and lawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”

Twitter claims that Meta hired “dozens” of former Twitter employees that “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.” The company further says that the employees “improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices,” and that Meta took advantage of this to have those workers develop the “copycat” Threads app on an accelerated timeline.

When Elon Musk took over as CEO of Twitter, he fired thousands of employees who then had to look for work. It is likely that some of those employees transitioned to Meta, but hiring people actively looking for a job is typically considered poaching.

Twitter’s letter says that it plans to “enforce its intellectual property rights,” with the company demanding that Meta “take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets.” Twitter threatens that it reserves the right to seek “civil remedies and injunctive relief” to prevent Meta from using its intellectual property.

Along with claims that Meta poached Twitter employees to develop Threads, Twitter says that Meta is “expressly prohibited” from scraping Twitter’s followers or following data. Twitter is asking Meta to “preserve any documents” that could be relevant to a future dispute, suggesting that Twitter might be planning to file a lawsuit in the future.

Twitter has not gone after other Twitter-like social networks that include Bluesky and Mastodon, but Threads is a newly-launched app that is built off of Instagram, giving it a notable user base from its debut. Mastodon and Bluesky have far fewer users. In February, for example, Mastodon had 1.4 million active users, while Bluesky had 50,000 users at the end of April.

Following Twitter’s accusations, Meta’s communications director Andy Stone said that no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee. “That’s just not a thing,” he wrote.

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Most ‌iPhone‌ and iPad users will be familiar with the way their device throws up a prompt to turn on Low Power Mode when the battery falls to 20 percent. The special mode conserves what remaining battery life the device has left by limiting some features, but by default the mode automatically turns off when a charging iPhone or iPad reaches 80 percent. If that irks you, don’t worry – there is a solution.

Perhaps you’re running the latest version of iOS or iPadOS on an older device and you’ve found that the battery life is inadequate to get you through the day. Or maybe you just want to reduce the amount of times you have to charge your iPhone or iPad. Either way, you can keep Low Power Mode enabled regardless of the battery level with the help of an automation.

iPhone/iPad Features Disabled by Low Power Mode

Before you follow the steps in this article to create the automation, it’s worth highlighting which of the features it disables to reduce your device’s power consumption. According to Apple, Low Power Mode turns off the following:

• 5G (except for video streaming) on iPhone 12 models
• Auto-Lock (defaults to 30 seconds)
• Display brightness
• Display refresh rate (limited up to 60 Hz) on iPhone and iPad models with ProMotion display
• Some visual effects
• iCloud Photos (temporarily paused)
• Automatic downloads
• Email fetch
• Background app refresh

If you’re happy to live without the above features for as long as Low Power Mode is on, follow the steps below to create your automation.

Creating an Always-On Low Power Mode Automation

1. Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, then tap the Automation tab at the bottom.
2. Tap the + button in the top right, then select Create Personal Automation.
   
   
   

3. Scroll down and choose Low Power Mode.
4. Deselect the Is Turned On option and select the Is Turned Off option instead, then tap Next.
   
   
   

5. Tap Add Action.
6. Tap inside the search field and search for the Set Low Power Mode script, then select it below.
   
   
   

7. Make sure the Turn and On options in blue are selected, then tap Next.
8. Toggle off the switch next to Ask Before Running, then tap Don’t Ask in the prompt to confirm.
   
   
   

9. Tap Done to finish.

Low Power Mode can be turned on and off manually at any time by going to Settings -> Battery and toggling on the switch next to Low Power Mode. Just bear in mind that if you want to turn it off, you’ll have to disable your automation. You can do this in Shortcuts by selecting the automation and toggling off the switch next to Enable This Automation.
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It’s been over seven years since Spotify stopped allowing new customers to subscribe to its Premium tier membership through Apple’s in-app purchase system, and now the streaming giant is dropping support for the payment method entirely. As reported by Variety, Spotify has recently emailed legacy Premium subscribers who are still paying through the Apple App Store to notify them that they will need to resubscribe to the service using an alternative payment system, like PayPal or a credit card, at the end of their final billing period.

“We’re contacting you because when you joined Spotify Premium you used Apple’s billing service to subscribe. Unfortunately, we no longer accept that billing method as a form of payment,” Spotify said in the email, informing affected customers that their account will be automatically switched to the platform’s free, ad-supported service after the final payment has been taken. “If you wish to keep your Premium subscription, you will need to re-subscribe after your last billing period has ended and your account has been moved on to the Free account.”

In a statement to Variety, a Spotify spokesperson confirmed that the company has started notifying “a small number of users that a legacy payment method, that their Premium account is attached to, is being deprecated.” According to the spokesperson, these actions will “help ensure that [it] can continue to provide a consistent best-in-class subscription experience for all our users.”

Spotify stopped accepting Premium subscriptions via the App Store in 2016 to avoid paying up to a 30 percent commission to Apple for in-app purchases, just under two years after the audio streaming company had introduced the payment system to its platform. Customers who subscribed via the App Store were charged an additional $3 per-month to prevent Apple’s fee from cutting into Spotify’s revenue.

Spotify later filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Union in 2019, arguing that the iPhone maker’s App Store policies were harming competition. The streamer had also taken issue with a similar fee for Google’s Play Store, but last year Spotify and Google announced a pilot program that would give Spotify customers the choice of paying using either Spotify’s or Google’s payment system in select markets. Google is still charging a fee for these purchases, but has said it’s reduced by 4 percent versus the standard rate.

The update to App Store payments is unlikely to affect many of Spotify’s existing customers. In 2019, Variety notes that Apple published a regulatory filing revealing it had collected subscription payment fees for 680,000 Spotify subscribers — less than one percent of Spotify’s 100 million Premium subs at that time. As of Spotify’s Q4 earnings report for 2022, the service has since surpassed 200 million paid subscribers.

]]> https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/07/05/ios-17-developer-beta-3-is-out-now-public-beta-is-expected-soon/ Wed, 05 Jul 2023 17:51:10 +0000 http://www.latest-apple-news.com/?guid=f3cb0c3177c5fd7c117055e09b468e2b Macworld

Elon Musk and the Twitter logo

On Friday, Twitter updated its web interface to prevent users from browsing posts without logging into the site with an account. At first, it was unclear if the issue was a technical problem or one introduced by the service itself.

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This guide highlights all of the safety functions that Apple added to ‌iOS 17‌, and it accompanies our iOS 17 privacy and security guide.

Sensitive Content Warnings

With Sensitive Content Warnings, incoming files, videos, and images are scanned on-device and blocked if they contain nudity. It is a function that will put a stop to unsolicited nude photos and similar content.

The opt-in blurring can be applied to images in Messages, AirDrop, Contact Posters for the Phone app, FaceTime messages, and third-party apps. This is separate from the Communication Safety features implemented for children, and is designed for people of all ages.

All nudity will be blocked by default if the feature is enabled, but it can be viewed by tapping on the “Show” button. Sensitive Content Warnings can be enabled in the Settings app.

1. Open up the Settings app.
2. Choose Privacy & Security.
3. Tap on Sensitive Content Warning.
4. Tap to toggle on Sensitive Content Warning.

You can turn on Sensitive Content Warnings for specific services, including AirDrop, Messages, and Video Messages. All detection of images is done on device, and there are Safety Resources that can be accessed.

Messages Check In

Messages Check In is a feature that lets you inform other people when you’re going somewhere so they can keep tabs on you and make sure that you get to that location safely.

It tells a friend or family member your destination and the time that you’re meant to be there, and if you don’t check in at the proper time, they can ping you to see what’s going on and get access to your location in case of emergency. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open up the Messages app.
2. Open the conversation with the person you want to use Check In with.
3. Tap on the “+” button next to the text input bar.
4. Tap on More.
5. Tap on Check In.
6. Tap on Continue.
7. Follow the prompts to start the feature.

With Check In, a friend or family member will be notified of your destination and approximate travel time, with another automatic notification sent when you reach your destination. So if you’re going from a friend’s house to your house late at night, you can set up Check In and your friend will get an alert when you make it home.

If you are not making progress toward your destination, you’ll be prompted and will have 15 minutes to respond on your iPhone. If you don’t respond, your friend will get an alert.

There are two data sharing options for Check In. With “Limited,” current location, details about battery level, and network signal for your ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch are shared. With “Full” data selected, all of that information will be shared along with route traveled and location of last ‌iPhone‌ unlock and Apple Watch removal.

Check In requires your friends or family members to be running ‌iOS 17‌.

Communication Safety

Apple last year introduced Communication Safety, an opt-in feature that warns children when sending or receiving photos that contain nudity. It blurs nude photos and provides children with helpful resources and suggests that they get in touch with a trusted adult.

Communication Safety in ‌iOS 17‌ is expanding worldwide, so it will be available in more countries than it was previously. It will be turned on by default for children under the age of 13 who are signed in to their Apple ID and who are part of a Family Sharing group.

Parents can enable it for older teens as well, with the option to turn it on available in the Settings app under Screen Time.

In addition to being available worldwide, Communication Safety’s protections will expand to AirDrop, the systemwide photo picker, ‌FaceTime‌ messages, and third-party apps in addition to the Messages app.

Offline Maps

The Maps app works offline in ‌iOS 17‌, providing access to turn-by-turn directions and information for the area that you’re in even if you do not have a cellular or Wi-Fi connection.

Offline Maps is useful if you’re planning to travel somewhere remote, such as when hiking or traveling in rural areas. Downloading a map can be done by putting in a location, tapping on the “More” button, and then choosing the “Download Map” option.

You can select the size of the area that you want to save, and multiple areas can be downloaded. You can manage Map downloads by opening up the Maps app, tapping on your profile picture, and selecting Offline Maps.

Maps can be updated, deleted, renamed, and resized, and you can download new maps from this interface too. Downloads can be set to automatically update, and there is an option to use offline maps even when a connection is available.

Critical Medication Reminders

The Medications feature in the Health app can send a follow up reminder if you haven’t marked a medication as taken 30 minutes after the initial notification.

Apple also plans to add a Critical Alerts feature for important medications that will appear on the Lock Screen and play a sound even if the ‌iPhone‌ is muted or a Focus mode is turned on.

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More information on the additions in the ‌iOS 17‌ update can be found in our iOS 17 roundup.

This article, "iOS 17: All the Safety Features in the Latest iPhone Update" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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A TSMC spokesperson said that a “cybersecurity incident” caused data “pertinent to server initial setup and configuration” to leak, but TSMC customer information was not impacted.

“Upon review, this incident has not affected TSMC’s business operations, nor did it compromise any TSMC’s customer information. After the incident, TSMC has immediately terminated its data exchange with this concerned supplier in accordance with the Company’s security protocols and standard operating procedures.”

Data from TSMC was listed on the LockBit ransomware gang’s website on Thursday, with LockBit demanding $70 million to prevent it from publishing the stolen data. LockBit has attacked pharmaceutical companies, the UK’s Royal Mail, U.S. government websites, and more.

LockBit says that if TSMC does not pay up, it will also publish passwords and logins. The data was stolen from Kinmax Technology, a company that provides IT services like networking, cloud computing, storage, and database management. Kinmax was working with TSMC, and on Thursday, told TSMC that its “internal specific testing environment was attacked,” leading to the leak of “system installation preparation.”

Other Kinmax partners include Microsoft, Cisco, and VMware, and it is not known if those companies were also impacted.

This article, "Apple Supplier TSMC Suffers Data Breach, Hackers Demand $70M" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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