The App Store launched in 2008 with the mission of accomplishing two important objectives: to establish a reliable and secure platform for users to safely discover and download apps, free of fraud, and to provide developers with an exciting opportunity to showcase their ideas and grow their business. Over the years, Apple has introduced various measures to support an ecosystem that benefits both users and developers. As a result, the App Store has become a vibrant and innovative platform that attracts over 650 million average weekly visitors worldwide, while providing more than 36 million registered Apple developers with a global distribution platform that supports more than 195 local payment methods and 44 currencies. Today, Apple announced that in 2022, the…

The App Store prevented an estimated $2 billion in "potentially fraudulent transactions" in 2022, Apple said today in a Newsroom article that highlights the security benefits of the ‌App Store‌ and Apple Pay. Close to 3.9 million stolen credit cards were prevented from being used to make fraudulent purchases within apps, and 714,000 accounts were banned from transacting again, which is how Apple ended up at the $2 billion figure. Apple says that it also rejected almost 1.7 million app submissions for apps that did not meet ‌App Store‌ standards for "privacy, security, and content." Of those 1.7 million apps, 400,000 were rejected for privacy violations, 153,000 were rejected for spam, copying an existing app, or misleading users, and 29,000…

WhatsApp is rolling out a new Chat Lock feature that allows users to secure select conversations in their inbox behind a passcode, fingerprint, or Face ID authentication, parent company Meta has announced. In a post on its news page, Meta explained that locked conversations are removed from the regular chat list and hidden in a password-protected folder. Notification previews for any locked chats don't show sender or message content, while any media shared in locked chats won't be auto-saved to the phone's photo library, altogether keeping the conversations more private. "We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your…

Macworld Every year there is a major update to macOS, the Mac operating system, followed by smaller updates bringing fixes and new features in the months that follow. In 2022 Apple previewed macOS Ventura at WWDC in June and then, following an extensive beta testing phase, released the final version to Mac users on Monday, October 24. If you are yet to update to Ventura, here’s what you need to know about the new features, whether Ventura will run on your Mac, and how Apple’s apps including Mail and Safari have changed. We’ll also discuss details of any issues and flaws people are encountering with the new software Apple continues to develop macOS even after a major release, so throughout…

Macworld The monitor might be the most important part of your Mac’s setup–after all, you can’t use any computer without one. Because you’ll spend a lot of time looking at it, you’ll want to invest wisely. Not only will you want a monitor that provides a pleasing experience, but the quality of the images on the screen can also affect your work. However, picking a new monitor can be daunting. Not only are there lots of manufacturers to choose from, but there are also lots of sizes, resolutions, and features to consider–and when we say lots, we mean lots. We’re here to help guide you while you shop, and we have some tips on what to look for in a…

Macworld After announcing its big yearly operating system update in its WWDC keynote on June 6, 2022, and following months of beta testing, Apple made iOS 16 available to be installed on iPhones on September 12, 2022, followed by iPadOS 16.1 on October 24. But while tons of new features arrived in September, and even more in the months that followed, there is still more to come as Apple continues to work on iOS 16. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about iOS 16 and how it’s going to affect your iPhone and iPad experience if you haven’t updated yet, including new features, design changes, and details of any issues and flaws people are encountering…