Apple appears to have disabled Group FaceTime on its server side as a temporary workaround for a major bug discovered today that allowed anyone who places a FaceTime call to listen to audio from the recipient without them answering the call. The bug even extended to video in some circumstances.
As spotted by Mark Gurman, Apple's system status page now says "Group FaceTime is temporarily unavailable" as of 7:16 p.m. Pacific Time.
As a result, it is no longer possible to add your personal phone number to a Group FaceTime call, which was the underlying cause of the bug. Multiple editors on our team have confirmed being unable to add a phone number to a FaceTime call. One-on-one FaceTime calls continue to work normally.
Apple has promised to release a software update that permanently addresses the bug "later this week," and given the serious privacy implications, the company likely has engineers working on the update as we speak.
Group FaceTime is limited to iOS 12.1 and later.
Apple is aiming to have its video streaming service ready for launch in mid-April, reports The Information. The tidbit about Apple's service was shared in a wider piece on Amazon's plans for Amazon Prime Video.
According to the report, Apple has been telling entertainment companies who will have content available through the service to be ready for a launch in mid-April. A release date is said to be planned within a few weeks of the mid-April launch target.
A mid-April launch is in line with previous rumors that have suggested Apple's streaming service could launch early in 2019. The service is believed to feature Apple's own content along with content from third-party companies like HBO and STARZ.
Apple is telling entertainment companies that its streaming video service will be ready for launch by mid-April https://t.co/nsGRb5KgZz
— Aaron Tilley (@aatilley) January 29, 2019
Apple is planning to make the service available through its existing TV app, and at least some of Apple's own content will be provided to Apple users for free.
While the service is said to be launching in the United States first, Apple has ambitious plans to expand it to more than 100 countries during 2019.
Apple has over two dozen original TV shows in the works, many of which have entered the casting phase and are likely close to being filmed, if filming has not already started. Apple has also signed deals for multiple movies and has brought on well-known TV producers like Jason Katims and Justin Lin for exclusive TV shows and movies.
Content runs the gamut from dramas and comedies to children's shows and science fiction. A full list of the projects that Apple has in the works is available in the original content section of our Apple TV roundup.
There's a major issue affecting FaceTime right now, which all MacRumors readers should be aware of. A bug with Group FaceTime can let someone force a FaceTime call with you, giving them access to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac's video and audio even when you don't accept the FaceTime call.
In the video below, we demonstrate how the bug works. We do not condone MacRumors readers invading peoples' privacy, and these video is meant to make it clear how simple it is to exploit this bug to emphasize its seriousness.
As outlined in our original post on the issue, this FaceTime bug is very easy to exploit. All someone needs to do is call you and then add their own number to the FaceTime call to force a connection with you.
From there, they can hear your audio, even though on your end, it looks like the call wasn't accepted yet. If you hit the power button to make the call go away, it gives the person on the other end access to your camera. This bug can be initiated on an iPhone and it affects iOS and macOS devices running current software, including iOS 12.2.
This is a huge privacy issue and while Apple says a fix is coming "later this week," iPhone and Mac users concerned about spying should turn off FaceTime all together. Enabling Do Not Disturb also appears to work as a preventative measure.
Update: Apple appears to have temporarily addressed the issue by disabling Group FaceTime calls server side. On Apple's System Status page, Group FaceTime is listed as unavailable.
Apple is planning to address a major FaceTime bug that allows anyone who FaceTimes you see the audio and video from your iPhone or iPad even if you don't answer the call.
In a statement made to Axios, Apple said it was aware of the issue and has identified a fix that will be "released in a software update later this week."
It's not clear when "later this week" is, but Apple will presumably address the bug as quickly as possible because it us a huge privacy violation. While it was originally thought that it only allowed someone who called to hear your FaceTime audio, pressing the power button on a device also allows video to be seen.
These FaceTime calls can be made covertly and are super easy to initiate, requiring only a few steps as outlined in our original post on the subject.
All you need to do is initiate a FaceTime call and add your own number to it while it's ringing, forcing a connection with another person. There is no way to stop someone from using FaceTime this way other than disabling FaceTime on your devices.
Update: Apple appears to have temporarily addressed the issue by disabling Group FaceTime calls server side. On Apple's System Status page, Group FaceTime is now listed as unavailable.
There's a serious bug affecting FaceTime right now, which lets someone who calls you hear the audio on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac even if you don't answer the call.
There does not appear to be any way to avoid getting these unwanted calls, short of turning off FaceTime. Luckily, it's easy to do.
How to Turn Off FaceTime on Your iPhone and iPad
Open the Settings app.
Scroll down to FaceTime.
Click on the toggle next to "FaceTime."
This will turn off FaceTime on your specific device, but you will need to deactivate FaceTime on all of your iPhones and iPads to avoid unwanted spy calls if you use FaceTime connection methods other than a phone number.
How to Turn Off FaceTime on macOS
Open up the FaceTime app.
Click on "FaceTime" in the menu bar.
Select "Turn FaceTime Off."
You can also choose "Preferences" and deselect "Enable this account to deactivate FaceTime.
With FaceTime disabled, no one will be able to secretly FaceTime call you to listen to your audio. With FaceTime enabled, anyone can exploit a Group FaceTime bug to place a call to you that will allow them to listen to your audio even if you don't accept the FaceTime call.
Apple has purchased the rights to "Hala" a coming of age drama directed by Minhal Baig and produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, reports Variety.
The movie premiered at the 2019 Sundance film festival, and marks Apple's first purchase of the event. It's not known if "Hala" will debut on iTunes or if it will be shown in theaters.
"Hala" follows the life of Hala, a 17 year old girl "navigating the conflicting worlds of her traditional Muslim household and her modern high school."
"Hala is her father's pride and joy. Dutiful and academically gifted, she skillfully navigates both her social life as a teen in Chicago and her obligations as an only child to Pakistani immigrants. With high-school graduation looming, however, Hala is bursting with sexual desire. When she meets Jesse, a classmate who shares her love for poetry and skateboarding, their romance is complicated by her Muslim faith and a father who is prepared to arrange her marriage according to their family's cultural tradition. As Hala begins to challenge these customs, her parents' own lives start to unravel, testing the power of Hala's flourishing voice."
Geraldine Viswanathan, known for "Blockers" plays the title role, while Purbi Josh, Azad Khan, Gabriel Luna, Anna Chlumsky, and Jack Kilmer also star in the movie. "Hala" is director Minhal Baig's second feature-length film.
"Hala" is one of several movies that Apple is distributing. The company has also signed a deal with film studio A24, and it has acquired the rights to "The Elephant Queen." Apple also has more than a dozen original television shows in the works, with details available in the original content section of our Apple TV roundup.
There's a major bug in FaceTime right now that lets you connect to someone and hear their audio without the person even accepting the call.
This bug is making the rounds on social media, and as 9to5Mac points out, there are major privacy concerns involved. You can force a FaceTime call with someone and hear what they're saying, perhaps even without their knowledge.
We tested the bug at MacRumors and were able to initiate a FaceTime call with each other where we could hear the person on the other end without ever having pressed the button to accept the call. To exploit the bug, all you have to do is add your own phone number to a FaceTime call you've already initiated, which apparently creates a major FaceTime issue.
These are the steps:
1. Initiate a FaceTime call with someone. 2. While the call is ringing, swipe up from the bottom of the display. 3. Tap on the "Add Person" button. 4. Add your own phone number when it asks for the number of the person to add.
Adding your own phone number to Group FaceTime a second time causes the call between both parties to connect. You can hear the person on the other end and they can hear you, even though the call wasn't accepted.
What it looks like when you initiate a Group FaceTime call using this bug. With this screen up, you can hear the audio of the person on the other end.
When you force a connection this way, your screen looks like a standard Group FaceTime call sans video, but on the other person's screen, it still looks like the call hasn't been accepted.
This is what it looks like for the person you're FaceTiming. They can't tell their audio is accessible.
For this reason, the other person can't necessarily tell that you're listening in to their audio, which has huge privacy implications, especially because the ringing stops as soon as the bug is initiated. We were able to get this to work on various iOS devices running iOS 12.1.3 and iOS 12.2, and on a Mac running the latest version of macOS Mojave.
There appears to be no way to avoid this bug short of disabling FaceTime on iOS and macOS entirely, so it's likely Apple will implement a fix quickly. This bug is an audio only bug, so the person FaceTiming you does not get access to your video feed.
We do not recommend or condone following these above steps to invade on other peoples' privacy, and we are sharing them only so MacRumors readers can be aware of the issue to protect themselves.
Update: As The Verge points out, you can also covertly see someone's video. If you follow the steps above and the person on the other end presses the power button on their device to make the call go away, it activates their video. Once their video is activated, all sound is muted, so there is no indication on their end that their video is visible to a third-party person who has FaceTimed them.
The video above demonstrates the issue and how easy it is to execute with just a few taps in the FaceTime app.
Update 2: Apple appears to have temporarily addressed the issue by disabling Group FaceTime calls server side. On Apple's System Status page, Group FaceTime is now listed as unavailable.
The United States Justice Department today announced a series of criminal charges against Chinese smartphone maker Huawei for stealing trade secrets, bank fraud, wire fraud, and obstructing justice.
In the first of two indictments unsealed this afternoon, the Justice Department accuses Huawei, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, and two affiliates of bank and wire fraud.
Huawei is said to have misled a global bank and U.S. authorities about its relationship with subsidiaries Skycom and Huawei Device USA to conduct business in Iran despite sanctions, conducting millions of dollars in business. Huawei is accused of lying to the government, destroying documents, and attempting to move key Huawei employees back to China to impede the investigation.
A second indictment accuses Huawei of stealing trade secrets, wire fraud, and obstructing justice for stealing robotic technology from T-Mobile U.S. for testing smartphone durability.
Huawei violated confidentiality agreements with T-Mobile when it stole information on "Tappy," a T-Mobile robot designed to mimic human fingers to test smartphones back in 2012. Huawei employees secretly took photos of the robot, measured it, and stole components. T-Mobile won a $4.8 million lawsuit against Huawei in 2017 over the dispute.
All in all, the U.S. filed 10 charges related to trade secrets for the T-Mobile theft and 13 charges related to sanction violations against Huawei. The U.S. is seeking the extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou from Canada, where she was arrested in December.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the charges levied against Huawei "expose brazen and persistent actions to exploit American companies and financial institutions and threaten the free and fair global marketplace."
As you can tell from the number and magnitude of the charges, Huawei and its senior executives repeatedly refused to respect U.S. law and standard international business practices. Huawei also intentionally and systematically sought to steal valuable intellectual property from an American company so it could circumvent hard-earned time consuming research and gain an unfair market advantage. [...]
As Americans, we should all be concerned about the potential for any company beholden to a foreign government - especially one that doesn't share our values -- to burrow into the American telecommunications market. Today's charges serve as a warning that the FBI does not - and will not -- tolerate businesses that violate our laws, obstruct our justice, and jeopardize our national security.
The charges filed today against Huawei will likely escalate U.S.-China tensions, though the Department of Justice said that the indictments are "wholly separate" from trade negotiations with China, which are set to continue this week.
The U.S. has already banned government employees and contractors from using devices from Huawei and ZTE, and legislation has been introduced that would ban the export of U.S. parts and components to Chinese telecommunications companies in violation of U.S. export control or sanction laws.
Huawei is the largest smartphone manufacturer in China and a major Apple competitor in the country. Few Huawei products are available in the U.S., however, because of the aforementioned cybersecurity concerns.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Repair parts are temporarily constrained for 42mm models of the Apple Watch Series 1 and first-generation Apple Watch, nicknamed Series 0, according to an internal document distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers today.
If a customer initiates a repair order for one of those Apple Watch models, Apple has permitted Apple Authorized Service Providers to offer a 42mm Apple Watch Series 2 as a substitute starting February through April according to the document, obtained by MacRumors from multiple proven sources.
The document does not mention Series 2, Series 3, Series 4, or 38mm models of any kind as qualifying, nor does it specify if the parts constraint is limited to aluminum, stainless steel, or other finishes. No further information is provided.
The document was distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers in the United States and other countries, and it was likely sent to Apple Stores as well, in which case the Genius Bar would follow the same guidelines. We have elected not to share a screenshot of the document to protect our sources.
Visit the Get Support page on Apple.com to initiate an Apple Watch repair.
Google appears to be working on a facial recognition system that would offer similar security to Face ID, based on code for the next-generation version of Android that was highlighted by XDA Developers.
Code in Android Q, set to be shown off at Google's developer conference in May, points towards an advanced facial recognition system that would be secure enough to be used for authorizing purchases and signing into apps, in addition to unlocking a smartphone.
Furthermore, the code references a built-in hardware based sensor through error messages that are highlighted when the sensor is unable to properly detect a face.
Combined, these two factors suggest that Google is expecting future smartphones to feature an advanced facial recognition system that could perhaps be as secure as Face ID.
Android Q code referencing a secure face unlock system. Click to enlarge.
Right now, there are Android devices that are using 2D facial recognition techniques to replace a passcode, but none of those systems are based on 3D face scans like Face ID. Facial recognition used by Android right now is more rudimentary and easily fooled, which is why Android devices continue to use fingerprint sensors for operations that need more security like payments.
The Android Q code indicates Google is building a native secure facial recognition option into the next version of Android, which would allow smartphone manufacturers to create systems that rival Face ID.
Android Q code referencing a secure face unlock system. Click to enlarge.
Face ID was first introduced in 2017 in the iPhone X, and has since expanded to the iPhone XR, XS, XS Max, and the 2018 iPad Pro models. At the time Face ID was introduced, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested the sophistication of the 3D camera system Apple uses would be unable to be matched by Android smartphone makers for 2.5 years.
One and a half years later, there are still no Android smartphone manufacturers that have created a front-facing camera system similar to the TrueDepth camera system able to be used for all secure system functions like payments.
Google's work on adding secure facial recognition code to Android does, however, suggest that Android devices with Face ID-like systems are in the works and coming soon.
Apple today sent out its latest Apple Pay promo, which is offering Apple Pay users a 20 percent discount on a purchase of $25 or more from the Fanatics app or the Fanatics website in celebration of the upcoming Super Bowl.
Fanatics is a site that offers up team-themed gear for sports fans. The site has partnerships with the NFL, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, NBA, and more.
To get the 20 percent discount, customers will need to make a purchase of $25 or more in the Fanatics app or the Fanatics website using Apple Pay, and the code "APPLEPAY" will need to be used at checkout.
The discount will be available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 3, and certain brands and merchandise will be excluded.
Apple's email also references other game day-themed apps, including DoorDash, Gametime, and Little Caesars.
As noted in the MacRumors Buyer's Guide and discussed in the MacRumors forums, it has now been 602 days since Apple last updated its iMac lineup, a new record for the longest span between iMac refreshes ever. The previous record was 601 days between October 2015 and June 2017 refreshes.
In fairness, the iMac Pro was released in December 2017, but standard 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac models have not been updated in over a year and a half. Since the original iMac launched in 1998, the computer has typically been updated at least once per year, with the sole exceptions being 2016 and 2018.
The iMac is not alone. The 12-inch MacBook and Mac Pro have also set record-long spans of 602 days and 1,866 days and counting respectively since their last refreshes. Apple has at least promised to release an all-new Mac Pro with a "modular" design at some point in 2019, but has yet to share additional details.
As for the iMac and MacBook, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was likely to debut refreshed models at its October 2018 event, but only the MacBook Air and Mac mini were updated. Kuo expects both the iMac and MacBook lines to receive faster processors, and the iMac to receive "significant" display improvements.
Apple today shared a new experimental Shot on iPhone XR video that features footage captured using 32 iPhone XR devices mounted on a bullet time rig.
The video depicts various materials, including fire, colored water, dry ice bubbles, and colored slime, in a rotating rig that provides a 360 degree view.
The video is accompanied by a behind the scenes look at how it was made, complete with a demonstration of the crazy camera rig that Apple constructed from 32 iPhone XRs on bullet time mounts.
The video, in addition to using a custom iPhone XR camera rig with multiple devices, also uses specific iPhone camera techniques like slo-mo, which can capture slow motion video at 240 frames per second.
This is the second experimental video Apple has made with the 2018 iPhones. Back in September, ahead of when the new iPhones were released, Apple shared an experimental Shot on iPhone XS video using materials like clay and ink to demo slo-mo, 4K, and time lapse.
Samsung is close to completing a deal that will see it purchasing Israeli smartphone camera company Corephotonics for $150 million, reports Israeli news site Globes (via Android Authority).
The Corephotonics name may sound familiar to those who follow iPhone news because in 2017, Corephotonics levied a lawsuit against Apple accusing the Cupertino company of infringing on several Corephotonics camera patents with the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus.
The patents in question relate to dual-lens camera technologies such as optical zoom and mini telephoto lens assembly techniques. The iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 8 Plus both use a dual-lens camera setup with 2x optical zoom and a wide-angle lens paired with a telephoto lens.
Dual-lens camera technology was first introduced with the iPhone 7 Plus in 2016 and it has subsequently been used in the iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. Corephotonics' original lawsuit covered just the 7 Plus and 8 Plus, but in 2018, the company filed a new patent infringement lawsuit that also covers the iPhone X.
According to Corephotonics, Apple's iPhones with dual-lens cameras use patented telephoto lens designs, optical zoom techniques, and a method for fusing images from the wide-angle and telephoto lenses to create a better quality photograph.
When the lawsuit was filed, Corephotonics said that it contacted Apple, but after "positive feedback" and "encouraging reports," the two companies were unable to reach a licensing agreement. Corephotonics accused Apple of releasing the iPhone 7 Plus anyway, complete with infringing technology.
The legal matter between Corephotonics and Apple has yet to be resolved, so Samsung could inherit the dispute should it move forward with the Corephotonics purchase. Apple and Samsung in June 2018 reached a settlement for a design infringement lawsuit that spanned seven years.
Corephotonics developed the 5x optical zoom camera demonstrated by in an Oppo smartphone prototype in 2017, and it has detailed work [PDF] on a triple-lens camera setup that could allow for 5x optical zoom and a 25x total zoom feature that lets in 5x more light than traditional setups. Should Samsung purchase Corephotonics, these technologies could make their way to future Samsung devices.
Well-known developer and 9to5Mac contributor Guilherme Rambo has released a new macOS utility named AirBuddy that extends iOS-like AirPods integration to the Mac. We were provided a copy of the utility to try out in advance.
AirBuddy comes with a helper tool that allows you to enable the utility for AirPods. The helper tool also lets you choose where the floating AirPods status window appears on the desktop: left, center, or right.
Then, when you open the AirPods case near your Mac, the status window automatically appears with the battery life of the AirPods and case, just like on an iPhone. The window also has a one-click shortcut to connect the AirPods.
In our brief testing, AirBuddy worked quite seamlessly, although the status window did not always open. Rambo says the app relies on several factors to determine whether to show the status window, including the distance of the AirPods to your Mac, whether the AirPods are currently in use by another device, and so forth.
It is also possible to add AirBuddy as a Notification Center widget on Mac that displays the battery life of not only the AirPods and case, but the Mac itself, other headphones equipped with the Apple W1 chip like the BeatsX, Beats Solo3, and Powerbeats3, and other trusted, Wi-Fi-connected devices.
AirBuddy requires a Mac with Bluetooth LE and macOS Mojave. The app is available via Gumroad for any payment of $5 or more.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.4 update to its public beta testing group, a few days after seeding the beta to developers and a week after releasing macOS Mojave 10.14.3.
The macOS Mojave update can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store after downloading the appropriate profile from Apple's beta testing website. Apple's beta testing site gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.
macOS Mojave 10.14.4, along with iOS 12.2, introduces support for Apple News in Canada for the first time, allowing Canadian users to read the news in French or English.
The update also includes support for Touch ID-enabled Safari AutoFill and automatic Dark Mode themes in Safari. That means if you have Dark Mode enabled on macOS Mojave, when you visit a website with a dark theme, it will be activated automatically. You can see a demo of the feature here.
macOS Mojave 10.14.4 will likely be in beta testing for the next several weeks as Apple refines features and works out bugs. After that, it will see a release alongside iOS 12.2, watchOS 5.2, and tvOS 12.2.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.2 update to its public beta testing group, a few days after providing the beta to developers and a week after releasing the tvOS 12.1.2 update.
The tvOS 12.2 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.
tvOS 12.2, paired with iOS 12.2, lets users ask Siri to play specific media on an Apple TV from an iOS device. You can, for example, ask Siri to play Modern Family on the TV in the living room. This works for music and TV content.
No other new features were discovered in the tvOS 12.2 beta as of yet, and it's often difficult to determine what's new because Apple does not provide release notes letting us know what's changed.
Apple is today seeding the first beta of an upcoming iOS 12.2 update to its public beta testing group, a few days after releasing the beta to developers and a week after releasing the iOS 12.1.3 update.
Beta testers who have joined Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 12.2 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device. The update will become available right around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time or 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Those who want to download the new beta can do so after signing up for the beta program, which gives access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.
iOS 12.2 expands Apple News to Canada for the first time, with Canadian iPhone and iPad users able to access news stories in English or French. The update introduces infrastructure for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit on third-party TVs, and it brings a redesigned TV remote in Control Center.
The update also includes some tweaks to the Wallet app, new addition to Safari, changes to the Downtime feature in Screen Time, icon tweaks, and more, with a full list of the new features available in our iOS 12.2 tidbits post.
iOS 12.2 confirms that Apple is planning to release second-generation AirPods with "Hey Siri" support, thanks to a hidden "Hey Siri" AirPods setup screen in the beta. The inclusion of the AirPods setup option in the beta indicates that Apple could perhaps be planning to release new AirPods when iOS 12.2 is released.
