Apple today released the second public betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS to its public beta testing group, two weeks after seeding the first public betas and a week after the third developer beta. The public beta gives non-developers a chance to test out iOS 13 ahead of its upcoming fall launch date.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 13 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.
Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. Before installing a beta, make sure to create a full encrypted iTunes backup or an iCloud backup. It's best to install iOS 13 on a secondary device because beta software is not always stable and can include bugs.
iOS 13 is a major update to the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone and the iPad, but this year, iOS 13 and iPadOS, the version of iOS 13 that runs on the iPad, are separate downloads as they've been split up.
iPadOS is identical to iOS 13 in almost every way, though there are some iPad-specific features such as new multitasking capabilities. For the most part, the two operating systems share the same features.
iOS 13 introduces a long list of new features. Dark Mode changes the entire look of the operating system, shifting it from light to dark, while an overhauled Photos app makes it easier to relive your memories with new Days, Months, and Years viewing options.
There's a new photo editing interface that makes it easier to edit photos than ever before, plus there are new tools to work with and options to edit the intensity of the built-in filters. You can edit video right in the Photos app for the first time, and on the newest iPhones, there's a new High-Key Mono lighting effect and an option to adjust the intensity of Portrait Lightning effects.
There's a less obtrusive volume HUD, a new Find My app that combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends and lets you track your devices even with they don't have an LTE or WiFi connection. A Sign In with Apple feature (not yet active) gives you a convenient and data safe way to sign into apps and websites, providing an alternative to Facebook and Google sign in options.
Maps has a new street-level "Look Around" mode and a Collections feature for making lists of places, Reminders has been entirely overhauled to make it more functional, there's a profile feature in Messages along with new Memoji and Animoji stickers, and Siri has a new voice.
There are a ton of additional new features and changes coming in iOS 13, and for a full rundown of what you can expect, make sure to check out our iOS 13 roundup.
As noted by 9to5Mac, version 2.0 of the game was released on the App Store today. Apple says it has completely redesigned, rebuilt, and re-rendered the game to use high-resolution graphics, as well as added new characters, more challenging gameplay, and many other new features.
Apple's release notes:
Apple's Texas Hold'em is back! To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the App Store, we've brought back one of its first games, a popular classic. Originally created for iPod, then brought to iPhone, fans will love the polished redesign, featuring new characters, more challenging gameplay, and stunning graphics for the newest iPhone and iPod touch.
Texas Hold'Em is a variation of poker. In the game, players bet and bluff as they attempt to advance through 10 distinctive locations, including Las Vegas, Paris, and Macau. The new version is entirely free-to-play with multiplayer support for up to eight players via Wi-Fi or offline playback against 24 computerized opponents.
The new version requires a device running iOS 12 or later and is optimized for the latest iPhone and iPod touch models.
Apple is widely expected to introduce three new iPhones in September, and ahead of time, photos of an alleged logic board for at least one of the upcoming devices have surfaced on Slashleaks.
The logic board has a rectangular design, so we assume it belongs to the 2019 successor to the iPhone XR, as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have L-shaped logic boards. The board appears to have been manufactured in early March based on its "1019" date code, which corresponds to the 10th week of 2019.
Only one side of the logic board is printed. While the layout of the chips and circuitry looks quite different from the current iPhone XR logic board, we cannot gather any specific changes from the photos.
Back in 1976, Apple released its first computer, the Apple I. Over a span of about ten months, Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs produced about 200 of the computers and sold some 175 of them, making it a valuable collector's item that has fetched up to $905,000 at auction in recent years.
As a testament to just how rare the computer is, an "extremely rare" Apple I operation manual alone is estimated to fetch over $10,000 at auction this week, with a most recent bid of $9,422 on the Boston-based RR Auctions website.
The vintage manual features Apple's original logo on the front cover, which depicts scientist Isaac Newton seated beneath a tree with a shining apple dangling overhead. The manual explains how to set up and use the Apple I and its monitor and includes a fold-out schematic of the system.
"Very few of the original Apple-1 operating manuals—perhaps 65 or so—are known to exist today," said Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction. He added that this makes the manual a "highly collectible piece from one of the most valuable and successful companies in the world."
The manual is said to be in "very good to fine condition," with light irregular grid-shaped toning to the front cover, a short tear to the top edge of the front cover, and a light circular stain inside the front cover.
Perhaps most interesting of all is the owner's message to prospective bidders:
I truly hate to sell it as The Manual is one of God's, I mean one of Woz's greatest gifts to nerdkind. Now I am not a greedy man and have enjoyed The Manual for nearly two decades, surviving two longer-than-they-should-have-lasted marriages and about 5 or 6 moves all over California. Alas, my time with this beautiful artifact has reached its end and I am now passing the torch to you.
Bids are open until July 10 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Update July 11: According to RR Auction, the manual sold for $12,956 to a technology entrepreneur who wishes to remain anonymous.
"Steve Jobs" biographer Walter Isaacson was on Squawk Box this week, and in an interview he mentioned that he "softened" parts of the book when it came to certain Jobs quotes (via CNBC).
Particularly, Jobs was said to have criticized current Apple CEO Tim Cook for not being a "product person." According to Isaacson, "Steve says how Tim Cook can do everything, and then he looked at me and said, 'Tim's not a product person.'"
Isaacson said that he wanted to soften certain things that he thought were too harsh in his biography of Steve Jobs. The book first launched in October 2011, just 19 days after Jobs died from pancreatic cancer.
“Sometimes when Steve was in pain ... and he was angry, he would say more things that [Cook] was not a product person,” recalled Isaacson. “I felt I would put in the specific things that were relevant to the reader but not the complaints.”
Cook was also mentioned in a recent piece by The Wall Street Journal, which focused on Jony Ive, who reportedly became "dispirited" because of Cook's lack of interest in the product development process. Ive announced that he will leave Apple later this year and start his own design studio, with Apple as one of its primary clients.
Isaacson has been critical of Apple as a whole in the past, believing in 2014 that Amazon and Google had overtaken Apple to become the most innovative technology companies of the modern day. At the time, he specifically referenced virtual assistants as a space where Apple needed improvement.
Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs went on to be the basis for Aaron Sorkin's screenplay of the Danny Boyle-directed film "Steve Jobs." The film was well received by critics, earning four Golden Globe Award nominations and two Academy Award nominations.
Apple's latest iPhone ad humorously demonstrates how Face ID is more convenient and secure than Touch ID for user authentication.
Timed with midsummer, the 30-second spot depicts a man napping on a reclining lounger in a backyard. After receiving a trio of iMessage notifications on his iPhone XR, he slowly raises the lounger to line up his face with the iPhone and unlocks the device with Face ID, all while continuing to lay down.
The messages come from a friend named Craig, who asks the man if he still plans to come around, suggesting that the two had made plans together. Instead, the man promptly returns to his nap alongside his dog. The ad is aptly titled "Nap" and features the song "Nice" by Grammy Award-winning DJ Latroit.
Face ID debuted on the iPhone X in 2017. At the time, Apple said the probability that a random person could unlock someone else's iPhone X was approximately one in 1,000,000, versus one in 50,000 for Touch ID.
The ad is part of Apple's ongoing "That's iPhone" marketing campaign promoting both hardware and software features of the device, such as iMessage encryption, App Store privacy, iPhone material recycling, and water resistance. "Face ID is even easier and more secure than Touch ID. That's iPhone."
Update 1:40 pm: Apple has also released a new short feature-focused ad with a similar tagline emphasizing that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID.
The BBC Sounds mobile app has been updated with CarPlay support, meaning users can now listen to the broadcaster's extensive library of live and on-demand radio, music, and podcasts from their in-car infotainment systems and dashboards.
As noted by Pocket-lint.com, CarPlay and Android Auto support was originally available for iPlayer Radio, which the Sounds app replaced, but this version has extra options and an improved in-car experience.
Here's what you'll see in the new car-friendly view of the BBC Sounds app:
Browse: Have a look through our simplified Podcasts, Music Mixes and Recommended for You menus
Stations: Listen live to all of the BBC’s national and local radio stations across the UK
My Sounds: Easy access to all of the radio programmes, podcasts and music mixes you're subscribed to or added to your Bookmarks
Downloads: Offline playback of programmes you've downloaded onto the app BBC Sounds was launched in June last year to introduce a more personalized listening experience and bring a new look and feel to the site.
BBC Sounds was launched in June last year to introduce a more personalized listening experience and bring a new look and feel to the site.
The BBC app is designed to learn from the user's listening habits and introduce them to shows and podcasts that they might not otherwise know about.
Apple is celebrating the United States' women's national soccer team victory in the 2019 World Cup with a Memoji-themed tribute on its Apple.com website.
USA defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup Final on Sunday. The victory saw the holders retain the trophy and win it for the fourth time in the competition's history.
Apple's short animation appears briefly on the company's homepage, and features three Memoji heads – colored red, white, and blue – seen cheering the nation's victory, complete with iMessage-style confetti effect and bouncing soccer balls.
The animation finishes with the message of "Job well done," and then vanishes to return Apple's website to its usual style of showcasing the latest products.
In iOS 11, Apple introduced animated emoji characters called Animoji, which are designed to mimic your facial expressions. Later in iOS 12, Animoji grew to encompass Memoji, which are customizable humanoid Animoji characters that you can design to look just like you.
Animoji/Memoji stickers let you express yourself using classic emoji-like poses and faces, such as heart eyes, brain exploding, shushing face, laughing with tears, crying, shrugging, face palm, and more.
Memoji and Animoji are limited to Apple's iPhones with TrueDepth technology, but in iOS 13, coming in the fall, Apple has added several different Animoji and Memoji stickers that can be used on all Apple devices with an A9 chip or later.
To learn more about how you can use Animoji and Memoji stickers in iOS 13, click here.
Apple is testing a new way of signing into the iCloud website as part of its beta program for iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina.
A tipster informed MacRumors over the weekend that users running a beta version of one of the above operating systems can now sign in with their Apple ID accounts using Face ID or Touch ID, depending on the device being used.
A new Face ID sign-in screen for iCloud.com on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2018)
For instance, the screenshot above was taken in Safari browser on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation) running the latest iPadOS 13 Public Beta.
Visiting icloud.com, the user is redirected to beta.icloud.com and is then prompted to sign-in to the site using the Apple ID associated with the device.
Tapping "Continue" automatically signs in the user in a matter of seconds by activating the iPad Pro's Face ID authentication feature, meaning no Apple ID password input is necessary.
Users on devices with Touch ID, including the 2018 MacBook Air and Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro models, are being met with a similar sign-in process that uses their fingerprint to authenticate without requiring two-factor authentication.
Apple's testing of this simpler way of signing in to the iCloud website is likely related to its forthcoming Sign In with Apple feature, which allows users to sign in to apps and websites using their Apple ID.
The feature is being touted as a more secure alternative to similar sign-in services offered by Facebook, Google, and Twitter, since it authenticates the user with Face ID or Touch ID, and doesn't send personal information to app and website developers.
In an additional privacy boon, Sign In with Apple also lets users create a randomly-generated email address that hides their own email address when signing up for a third-party app or service.
The new sign-in feature is coming with Apple's new operating systems when they're released this fall and will be available across macOS, iOS, and through websites.
Following last week's big news that Jony Ive will be departing Apple, this week saw a slew of Mac-related rumors including evidence of an upcoming MacBook Pro model, word that Apple is abandoning the troublesome butterfly keyboard used on its notebooks for the past several years, and logic board problems with a "very small number" of MacBook Air units.
Read on for all of the biggest news of the week, including a clever new iOS 13 feature to make your FaceTime video calls feel more natural and another controversy surrounding Xiaomi copying Apple.
Apple Receives FCC Approval for Unreleased MacBook Pro
The A2159 model number was one of seven recently registered with the Eurasian Economic Commission, but this was the only one to appear at the FCC. Based on the machine's power requirements, it appears to be a 13-inch MacBook Pro, which could be a new version of the non-Touch Bar model that wasn't updated alongside the other MacBook Pro models in May.
New machines typically appear in the FCC's database just about at the moment of launch, which could mean a debut is imminent, although it appears to have been a premature publication by the FCC as Apple has yet to release the new model and the documents were quickly pulled from the FCC's website.
Kuo: Apple to Use New Scissor Switch Keyboard in Future MacBooks, Starting With 2019 MacBook Air Refresh
Apple's much-maligned butterfly keyboard on its notebooks may be headed out the door, with prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claiming Apple will be including a new scissor-style keyboard on future models, starting with a MacBook Air refresh later this year.
Kuo says the scissor style keyboard is likely to be a bit thicker than the butterfly design, but would be cheaper and could offer a better user experience including greater key travel and a glass fiber-reinforced structure that's more durable and less sensitive to dust and debris preventing keys from working.
Attention Correction Feature in iOS 13 Beta Enables Appearance of Eye Contact During FaceTime Calls
The feature uses ARKit to capture a depth map of your face during FaceTime video calls and adjusts the position of your eyes to make it seem like you're looking at your device's camera when you're actually looking at the screen.
We went hands-on with the feature, which is only available for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, as well as the latest iPad Pro models, and can be toggled off in Settings if you prefer not to use it.
Apple Identifies Logic Board Issue With 'Very Small Number' of 2018 MacBook Airs, Will Fix Free of Charge
Apple this week notified its retail stores and authorized repair centers that it has identified a logic board issue affecting a "very small number" of 2018 MacBook Air units and will repair affected computers free of charge for up to four years from the date of purchase.
The program hasn't been announced publicly, so it seems that it should affect only a limited number of machines, and Apple will be notifying users with affected machines.
The internal repair program for the latest MacBook Air comes shortly after a more significant recall and repair program for 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro units that could experience overheating and even fire safety issues with their batteries. Dramatic photos showing the aftermath of one of these incidents demonstrate why owners of affected machines should take this recall seriously.
Xiaomi Clones Apple's Memoji With New 'Mimoji' Avatars
These 3D avatars are incredibly similar to Apple's Memoji introduced with iOS 12, with even the Mimoji name bearing a remarkable similarity to Apple's feature. Incredibly, Xioami was even caught using Apple's own Memoji ads to promote the Mimoji feature, allegedly by accident.
This isn't the first time Xiamoi has been accused of cloning a feature from Apple, as the company's animated emoji from last year were similar to Apple's Animoji, and they debuted on a phone that looked nearly identical to Apple's iPhone X. Xiaomi has also released wireless earphones that have some strong similarities to Apple's AirPods.
Five Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - July 2019
Over on our YouTube channel, we've released the latest installment of our popular series looking at some of our favorite third-party Mac apps.
This month's list includes Pock for customizing your MacBook Pro's Touch Bar, One Switch for adding toggles for various options and settings to your menu bar, Microsoft To-Do for keeping track of tasks across your devices, Flotato for turning some of your favorite websites into web apps, and Spotmenu for accessing information on your Spotify and iTunes content from the menu bar.
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
Apple in iOS 13 and iPadOS merged the Find My Friends and the Find My iPhone apps into one app that's just called "Find My," because it's used for finding whatever you need to find. Since then, Apple has made continual improvements to the Find My app, adding features like tracking when an iPhone has no connection, when an iPhone is powered off, and when an iPhone has been erased.
This guide is designed to walk through all of the Find My features on iPhone and iPad, including those introduced with the iOS 15 update.
Locating Lost Devices
The Find My app is organized into several sections, accessible by tapping the tabs at the bottom. On the left, you can find people, in the middle, you can find your own devices, AirTags, and Find My-enabled Bluetooth items, and on the right, there's a "Me" tab with all of your settings and info.
As with the prior Find My iPhone app, all of your Apple products are listed. Devices where you're signed into iCloud and have the Find My feature enabled are locatable through the Find My app.
All of your devices are displayed on a map, and you can zoom in or out to get a better picture of their location. Tapping on a single device provides you with options to get directions to its location in Apple Maps, Play a Sound for locating a nearby lost device, or get a notification when it's found if it's offline.
There's an option to mark a device as lost, which locks the lost device, disables Apple Pay, and allows contact information to be put right on the lock screen, and as a last resort, there's a tool for deleting all of your data.
Almost all Apple products are Find My compatible, including iPhone, iPad, Macs, Apple Watch, AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and the MagSafe Wallet.
Separation Alerts
Apple in iOS 15 added Separation Alerts to the Find My app, which are designed to let you know if you leave an Apple device, a device attached to an AirTag, or a Find My-enabled third-party device behind.
You can set up Separation Alerts in the Find My app, so if you want to make sure your iPhone is always with you or that you don't leave the house without the keys, this is the feature to use.
If you have Family Sharing enabled, all of your family's devices are listed in Find My right alongside your own, so you can also find devices from your partner or children through the Find My app.
Locating Friends
The Find My app allows you to locate friends and family members that have shared their location with you. You can view their location using the "People" tab within the Find My app.
The Find My app lists people who have shared their location with you and, if you haven't shared your own location, offers up an option to do so.
If you press the "Share My Location" button, you can share your own location with any of your contacts even if they haven't shared a location with you. Tapping on a person's name in the list provides an option to bring up their Contacts card for sending a message or an option to get directions to their location.
You'll also find tools for removing friends and turning off your own location sharing with the person if it's a mutual location sharing contact. You can opt to share your own location permanently, for an hour, or until the end of the day.
For any person who's sharing a location with you, you can turn on notifications to get notifications when they leave or arrive at a specific location. There's also an option to notify your friend when you leave or arrive at a specific notification.
The "Me" tab in the Find My app displays your current location and includes toggles for sharing location, allowing friend requests, choosing who to receive location updates from, and naming a specific place.
Locating Devices Without a Connection
Apple in iOS 13 added a Find My Network option that lets your lost devices be located even when not connected to WiFi or LTE by leveraging Bluetooth and proximity to other nearby Apple devices.
When your lost device is offline but close to another device, it's able to connect to that other device over Bluetooth and relay its location. That means that your devices are more trackable than ever, and there's a better chance you can find a device that's been lost.
The iPad Pro and MacBook in this screenshot are locatable without a connection. The iPad Pro has WiFi turned off while the MacBook was closed.
Tracking a device in this way requires Bluetooth to be enabled because location is shared with another device using Bluetooth. Turning off Bluetooth or power makes your device untrackable, but if it's on, has Bluetooth, and is near another Apple device, it can be tracked even if it can't connect to WiFi or LTE.
You're not going to notice a difference in the Find My app when tracking a device over Bluetooth rather than a cellular or WiFi connection -- it simply shows up in the list of devices like any other device that does have a standard connection. Offline devices do have their distance from you listed in gray instead of blue, and you can tell when the location data was last updated by the time listed.
In testing, setting an iPad into Airplane mode and enabling Bluetooth continued to allow the iPad to be tracked thanks to another nearby iPhone, but turning off Bluetooth prevented it from being found even from a device to device connection.
Enabling/Disabling Offline Mode
Offline Finding is enabled on your devices by default, but you can disable it in the Settings app. Open up Settings, tap on "Find My," select "Find My iPhone" and then choose the "Enable Offline Finding" option.
How It Works
Implementing the device to device location feature while preserving privacy was quite a feat and the technical details of how it works are quite complicated, but Apple has given a high level overview of how it functions.
Basically, it's been designed with an encryption system that prevents people from abusing the feature for doing things like tracking you. That encryption system makes your personal location unavailable to people aiming to intercept your device's Bluetooth signal and from Apple itself.
Find My requires Apple users to have at least two devices. Each of your devices emits a constantly changing public key that nearby Apple devices pick up, encrypt, and upload with your geolocation data.
To decrypt that location signal, you need a second Apple device logged in with your Apple ID credentials and protected with two-factor authentication. Essentially, only your own devices can decrypt the encrypted location signal that's being sent from a lost device, no one, not even Apple, can intercept it and locate you or your devices.
As an example scenario, if you were on an airplane, had your iPhone in Airplane Mode with Bluetooth on, and then left it behind on the plane accidentally, it would potentially still be trackable. In this situation, a flight attendant or an airport worker with an iPhone might come across it. The flight attendant's own iPhone would connect to your lost iPhone over Bluetooth by picking up your public key.
The flight attendant's iPhone would then upload your device's encrypted location and a hash of your public key (for identification purposes) to Apple's servers, where one of your own devices can receive the encrypted info and decrypt it to make the offline device able to be tracked.
Because the entire Find My system is end-to-end encrypted, other people can't get the location of your devices using Bluetooth, nor can Apple. Lost devices are trackable only by you.
Device Impact
According to Apple, Find My's background Bluetooth location tracking feature uses just tiny bits of data piggybacked on existing network traffic so there's no impact on device battery life, data usage, or privacy.
Locate Lost Devices That Are Off
Devices that have been turned off can still be tracked by the Find My network starting in iOS 15. If a device was low on battery power or turned off by a thief, it can still be found when it's close to another Apple device.
The Find My network is a feature that Apple introduced with iOS 13, and it enabled Apple devices to be located even without a WiFi or cellular connection by leveraging other nearby iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
In iOS 15, Apple has extended the Find My network to work with devices that are turned off as well. Apple has not outlined just how this feature works, but either the U1 chip, Bluetooth, or NFC continues to be powered in the background even when your device is off or out of battery, though in the case of battery, tracking may last a limited number of hours.
Apple has a similar feature for Car Keys that uses NFC, and it lasts for about five hours after an iPhone's battery dies. In this case, it lets you continue to unlock your car if your iPhone is dead.
For this feature to work, the Find My network feature must be enabled. It's on by default, but you can double check by going to your profile, tapping on Find My, selecting Find My iPhone, and then making sure "Find My network" is toggled on.
Tracking Devices That Have Been Erased
If someone steals your iPhone and then erases it, in iOS 15, it's still going to show up in the Find My app, and it will be trackable even after it's been wiped.
The feature is tied to Activation Lock, which prevents someone from using your iPhone without your Apple ID and password. In iOS 14 and prior iOS updates, erasing a device would leave Activation Lock on so no one could use your iPhone without your password, but erasing a device did prevent Find My from functioning.
A wiped iPhone would not show up in the Find My app, but now, erasing an iPhone no longer works that way. If Activation Lock is on (i.e., it wasn't wiped using your username and password to disable Activation Lock), it's tied to your account and locatable using Find My. Combined with the feature for tracking a device that's turned off, the Find My app serves as a much stronger theft deterrent.
To prevent someone from being tricked into purchasing a device that's tied to your account, the Hello screen on a newly erased iPhone makes it clear that the device is locked, locatable using Find My, and the property of someone else.
Help a Friend Find a Lost Device
To help a friend find a lost device, you can tap on the "Help a Friend" option under the "Me" tab. This opens up iCloud.com on the web, where a friend can sign into their account using iCloud. There is no option to sign out of Find My to let another person sign in like you could with Find My iPhone.
Apple in April 2021 introduced AirTags, which are small, circular, Bluetooth-enabled item trackers designed to be attached to items like keys and wallets to allow them to be tracked right alongside Apple devices in the Find My app.
AirTags can be tracked through the "Items" tab and have all of the tracking features available to Apple devices like iPhones and iPads. There's a Lost Mode, and AirTags can also take advantage of the Find My network that allows them to be tracked by billions of iPhones, iPads, and Macs when they're out of range of your own devices.
For everything you need to know about AirTags and how they work, we have a dedicated AirTags guide.
Tracking Third-Party Bluetooth Devices
In iOS 14, Apple introduced Find My support for third-party Bluetooth products. Bluetooth devices that use Apple's Find My Network Accessory Program can be tracked right alongside Apple devices using the Find My app.
The Find My Network Accessory Program launched in April, and the first three devices include Belkin earbuds, Chipolo item tags, and VanMoof electric bikes. These items can be added to the Find My app and tracked on the Find My map, with other features like Lost Mode and Play a Sound also available.
The Find My Network Accessory Program is separate from AirTags, but it will allow third-party accessories to be tracked in the same way as AirTags.
With the release of the Find My Network Accessory Program and AirTags, Apple added an "Items" tab to the Find My app. The Items tab is designed for AirTags and products that participate in the Find My Network Accessory Program. Bluetooth items that have Find My integration can be tracked using this Items tab, as can the AirTags.
Find My Tracking Safety and Anti-Stalking Measures
To prevent AirTags and other Find My-compatible Bluetooth accessories from being used to stalk or track a person, the Find My app has a feature that lets you know if there's a Bluetooth item near you. You will receive a notification when an unknown item is found and moving with you, so you can make sure no one slips an AirTag or other Find My Bluetooth device into your things to track you.
Lost or misplaced AirTags will also play a sound when they are nearby you, so if you hear a mysterious chirping, it could be an AirTag that can be located using an iPhone or iPad.
Tracker Detect for Android
In December 2021, Apple released "Tracker Detect" in the Google Play Store, with the app designed to allow Android users to scan for AirTags and other Find My-enabled items.
With this app, Android users can make sure that no AirTags or Find My-enabled accessories are being used to track them. The app will locate any nearby AirTags, and Android users will be able to cause the AirTag or Find My-enabled accessory to play a sound so it can be located. The app also provides instructions on how to disable an AirTag by removing the battery.
If You Find a Lost Item
If you come across an item that has an AirTag attached to it, the person who owns it can likely see its location. You can scan the AirTag with any smartphone to see information on who it belongs to, and iPhone users can open up the Find My app to find an "Identify Lost Item" scanning option in the Items tab.
Guide Feedback
Have questions about Find My, know of a feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Nomad to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's Battery Cables, which combines a Lightning cable with a battery pack.
Priced at $49.99, the Battery Cable combines a high-quality Lightning cable made from braided 500D nylon woven in a ballistic weave pattern with a 2,800mAh battery that's built right into the cord.
The built-in battery is meant to allow the cable to work even when you don't have a power source, and it's convenient because you don't need to have a separate battery pack -- it's all one device that you can bring with you.
At 2,800mAh, the Battery Cable won't quite charge your iPhone to full if it's an XS, XS Max, or XR, but it will give you some extra juice in a pinch.
A light on the Battery Cable will let you know what the charge level is, and for traveling, there's an integrated silicone cable tie to keep it from getting tangled up.
When charging your iPhone with the Battery Cable, it will charge up your iPhone before charging up the included battery pack. The battery pack itself is made from a durable aluminum while the kevlar construction of the cable will ensure that the Battery Cable lasts for a long time to come.
We have 10 of the Battery Cables from Nomad to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (July 5) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on July 12. The winners will be chosen randomly on July 12 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
Earlier this week, Xiaomi revealed a new digital avatar feature called "Mimoji," and the parallels to Apple's own Memoji feature were abundantly evident. Although Xiaomi sent out a press release refuting claims that it copied Apple, the company is in hot water again today for going so far as to use Apple's own ads on its website to promote Mimoji (via CX Live and Daring Fireball).
Discovered by a Weibo user earlier today, Xiaomi's product page for its upcoming Mi CC9 smartphone showcased the Apple Music Memoji ad that had Khalid's dancing avatar singing "Talk." These ads were found on e-commerce sites including JD.com and Suning, alongside Xiaomi's official Mimoji graphics.
According to Xiaomi's public relations general manager, Xu Jieyun, this was all an accident. Xiaomi staff "uploaded the wrong content" to the sites, Xu Jieyun said on Weibo.
Both Memoji and Mimoji are 3D avatars that the user can customize to make them look as similar - or dissimilar - to their own likeness as possible. Xiaomi's version includes similar art style to Apple's Memoji, as well as accessories and eyewear that all look just like Memoji.
Xiaomi has made a name for itself when it comes to copying Apple products and features. It launched the equivalent of Apple's Animojis on the Mi 8 smartphone in 2018; a device that strongly resembled the iPhone X. Earlier in 2019, it released a device that looked and functioned similarly to AirPods.
It's been well over a year since HQ Trivia spiked in popularity, but now that interest in the game is dwindling and downloads per month are down 92 percent year-over-year, the company has begun laying off employees.
According to sources speaking to TechCrunch, about 20 percent of staff was let go, amounting to six or seven people. Although the app became immensely popular, HQ Trivia only ever staffed about 35 people, so it will now be down to under 30 employees.
In the wake of its dwindling popularity, HQ Trivia's spin-off game HQ Words is launching a monthly subscription model that will cost $9.99 per month. The Wheel of Fortune-style game will introduce the new model in August, along with bigger prizes and more ways to win, for those who pay the subscription fee.
HQ Words Everyday. Coming next month.
🗓 Play HQ Words every day. 💰 Bigger prizes. 🕹 More ways to win. 🔥 $9.99/mo. subscription.
RT and reply with your username for a chance to win a free year. #wordseveryday
— HQ Words (@hqwords) June 26, 2019
HQ Trivia is said to have had a rocky first half of 2019, with co-founder and CEO Colin Kroll's death in December 2018 leading into co-founder Rus Yusupov gaining control. Staff apparently disliked Yusupov's leadership, as he allegedly "allowed the product to stagnate and popularity to decline," so many employees got behind a petition to have him removed as CEO.
Yusupov learned of the petition and fired two of its leaders, further sinking morale at the company. The board is reportedly still looking for a new CEO.
When Jony Ive announced that he is leaving Apple to start his own design firm, Apple confirmed that chief operating officer Jeff Williams is set to oversee many of the product design responsibilities previously held by Ive. In a new profile today by The Wall Street Journal, Williams' history at Apple is highlighted, including his potential as a future successor to CEO Tim Cook.
According to people who work closely with Williams, he has been "more visible" in the development of Apple products than Cook. Williams has displayed interest in the look and feel of certain products, and helped pivot the Apple Watch away from its fashion-focused launch to one predominantly concerned with health and fitness features that can be achieved without a connected iPhone.
Additionally, Williams was on the product development team that was responsible for the iPhone 4, and his contributions reportedly "quieted doubters" within Apple about his ability to contribute to the design stage. One unnamed source described Williams' knowledge in a thermal-engineering meeting: "It was impressive for a negotiator, and spreadsheet guy, and it just came naturally to him."
Yet, some people wonder if Williams' executive skills are enough to lead Apple product design, and live up to Ive's legacy.
Mr. Williams is an operations executive at his core, the people said, and his skills at logistics and planning make him more implementer than inventor. “He sees where we are, not where we need to be in years to come,” said a former colleague, who also praised Mr. Williams’s leadership, versatility and encyclopedic memory.
Apple chose to promote from within instead of finding outside blood to replace Ive, which analyst Bob O'Donnell said would have been almost impossible anyway. "What they're doing is saying, 'let's reallocate how we think about this and put someone else overseeing a few young designers to give them leeway.' It’s time for fresh blood. The last few iPhones have looked really similar."
Many of WSJ's sources wondered about Apple's future and what its next major product invention will be, and how that will be achieved without Ive's leadership. "You could have looked at Jony and said: 'He's the soul of Steve Jobs,'" said Ensemble Capital president Sean Stannard-Stockton. "I just wonder about their ability to invent the future now."
Ive is set to leave Apple sometime later this year.
Apple is working on a new iPad with a foldable display to be launched as soon as 2020, according to a sketchy new rumor by IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin, citing supply chain sources (via Economic Daily News). Many reports have suggested Apple could be interested in foldable devices, but this is one of the first times we've heard of a potential foldable iPad.
According to Lin, the 2020 iPad's screen size will be nearly equal to the current MacBook line, suggesting another iPad in the 12-inch range, similar to the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Lin goes on to state that this foldable iPad will also be the first with 5G, creating a tablet with many "business-friendly" features.
As of now, rumors suggest that next-generation iPad Pro models will be released in early 2020, potentially with a time-of-flight rear-facing camera system. This would allow for 3D models to be captured using the tablet and edited with Apple Pencil. Although Apple has been linked to foldable display rumors in the past, the launch of an iPad with a foldable screen as soon as next year appears unlikely.
Reports suggest that Apple's 2020 iPhones will support 5G networks, and it's likely the iPhone would get 5G features before the iPad. Prior to Apple's support of 5G in its hardware, all of the majorcellular companies have begun launching 5G test networks in many cities around the country.
In regards to the foldable display, we've seen recently that Apple will have to contend with many potential issues if it does release a device with a screen that folds, if Samsung's Galaxy Fold is any indication. When that device became available to reviewers in April, many serious issues came to light, all sourced from the smartphone's folding feature.
Samsung eventually decided to delay the launch of the Galaxy Fold and this week finished the redesign of the device, although a final launch date is still unknown.
Sony today announced the WF-1000XM3 earbuds, a new set of true wireless earbuds that will launch this August for $229.99.
The new earbuds come with advanced noise cancellation, powered by a dual noise sensor that catches more of the ambient sounds from your surroundings. This is paired with a dedicated HD noise-cancelling processor, the QN1e, which cancels more noise across all frequencies while using less power.
All of the noise cancellation features can be customized in settings, and you can choose to hear more or less ambient noise at any time. There are a few gesture-based features as well, allowing users to place a finger over the earbud to turn the volume down and let in ambient sounds.
In terms of audio quality, Sony promises high-resolution audio powered by a small 0.24" driver unit and the company's Digital Sound Enhancement Engine HX. The earbuds also have a new Bluetooth chip and an optimized antenna design for wider coverage and uninterrupted streaming.
The earbuds offer six hours of power on one full charge, and the included charging case provides three charges. Users can also opt to turn noise-cancelling features off to boost listening time to eight hours per charge. A quick 10-minute charge in the charging case offers up to 90 minutes of play time.
The Verge has hands-on coverage of the earbuds, noting one major downside: they aren't sweat or water-resistant, so any gym-goers may do better looking into other wireless headphones.
Apple reimbursed Samsung 800 billion won ($683 million) to cover the cost of OLED panels after Apple missed a sales target both companies had agreed upon.
Apple originally said it would buy a certain number of the display panels from the South Korean company, but disappointing iPhone sales meant it was unable to live up to the agreement. The payment was made in the second quarter of this year.
The figure, quoted by Reuters, came as Samsung on Friday forecast a plunge in its second-quarter operating profits, but one-off gains like the payment from Apple helped it beat analyst expectations.
Samsung's April-June operating profit likely fell 56 percent to 6.5 trillion won ($5.6 billion), the company revealed in a regulatory filing ahead of the release of its detailed earnings figures in late July. Revenue probably fell 4.2 percent from a year earlier to 56 trillion won ($48 billion).
Samsung is on track to post year-on-year profit declines for a third consecutive quarter, mainly due to a combination of falling chip prices because of a supply glut and U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei, which has become a key Samsung client.
The U.S.-China trade war is also impacting global chip and smartphone markets, with rising tariffs hitting demand for electronics. In a striking example of the ongoing feud between the two countries, Seoul also cut its annual economic growth target to a seven-year low as exports continued to slump.
The BBC Sounds mobile app has been 
When Jony Ive announced that he is 
