MacRumors

Apple and Google have been asked to provide compliance plans for a newly amended law in South Korea that bars both tech giants from forcing developers to using their in-app purchase payment system for their respective app distribution platforms, Reuters reports.

In August, South Korea passed an amendment to an existing law that bans Apple and Google from mandating developers to use their own proprietary in-app purchasing system. Apple's in-app purchasing system gives the company a 15 to 30% commission for all purchases made and has been a hot topic for Apple and the discussion around the App Store for some time. Under the new law in South Korea, which is yet to go into effect, Apple and Google will be required to allow developers to use third-party payment methods within their app.

Apple has in recent weeks made some concessions to its ‌App Store‌ policy, most notably pivoting to allow developers to add links in their apps to external websites where purchases can be made. Those concessions come short of the mandate created by South Korea, which permits developers to add third-party payment methods directly within their app.

Apple has continued to call its in-app purchasing system the most trusted and safest way for customers to make purchases. Still, in light of recent decisions in its lawsuit against Epic Games, the Cupertino tech giant is being forced to rethink its model.

Apple operates the ‌App Store‌ under a single set of policies worldwide, and while the law passed in South Korea pertains to South Korean users, it will undoubtedly play a domino effect across the globe. With the mid-October deadline now set in South Korea for Apple and Google, we'll likely see how this decision could have repercussions around the world for Apple users soon.

The newly launched iPhone 13 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro are apparently hitting a snag in production, mainly due to a new wave of health concerns and limited manufacturing capacity for the devices' camera systems in Vietnam, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia.

The ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini, ‌iPhone‌ 13, ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro, and ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max all feature sensor-shift optical image stabilization, a feature that was previously exclusive to the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and the feature’s expansion is reportedly the root cause of production difficulties.

According to today's report, the expansion of sensor-shift OIS to all models of the 2021 ‌iPhone‌ lineup has put on a strain on Apple's suppliers as demand for the system is significantly higher, adding to pressure to meet Apple's high-quality standards, raising demand, and the battle against the global health crisis.

This has put suppliers in the position of having to ramp up production without jeopardizing production quality, against the backdrop of severe restrictions due to COVID.

"Assemblers can still produce the new iPhones, but there's a supply gap [in] that the inventories of the camera modules are running low," one of the executives with direct knowledge told Nikkei Asia. "There's nothing we can do but to monitor the situation in Vietnam every day and wait for them to ramp up the output."

Demand for the new ‌iPhone‌ 13 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro has been high, according to early estimates shared by analysts.. This year's ‌iPhone‌ features considerable upgrades compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12, including a ProMotion display, smaller notch, and more premium camera features.

Nikkie Asia reports that production issues should begin to clear up in mid-October but adds caution that some of Apple's other suppliers, such as Foxconn and Pegatron, could start to see issues in the near future. On the flip side, the ‌iPhone‌ 13's high demand is leading some of Apple's suppliers to prioritize the Cupertino tech giant over other clients.

The situation may improve as soon as around mid-October as production at one of the key iPhone camera module manufacturing facilities in southern Vietnam has gradually resumed in recent days after several months of on-and-off disruption, another executive familiar with the situation told Nikkei.

So far, key iPhone assemblers Foxconn, Pegatron and Luxshare have not yet been significantly affected by the power cuts, Nikkei learned. But still unknown is the scope of a potential chain reaction from production halts at the makers of materials, components, modules and parts.

Apple's suppliers have also had to battle reduced work hours due to new energy restrictions in China, ultimately impacting production.

Strong iPhone 13 demand in Taiwan and China has led Taiwanese component suppliers to prioritize production lines for Apple over rival Samsung and many Chinese mobile vendors, according to a new DigiTimes report.

Taiwan-based makers of VCMs (voice coil motors), wire winding and other components of smartphone-use lens modules are giving priority to production for Apple, amid strong pre-sales of iPhone 13 series in China and Taiwan, according to industry sources.

The report states that Samsung's third-quarter sales this year fell short of expectations, while Chinese smartphone vendors including Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have high inventory levels of components.

Apple's iPhones have reportedly taken over a large portion of Huawei's original market share since it was hit by U.S. sanctions, and Taiwan's component makers have high hopes for the ‌iPhone‌ 13 series.

Analyst reports suggest ‌iPhone‌ 13 orders have seen strong early demand, with minimal near-term component headwinds for the devices suggesting lengthy delivery estimates are a result of high demand rather than low supply.

Apple is looking to boost initial production of this year's ‌iPhone‌ 13 models to 90 million units through the end of the year, an increase of up to 20% over the 75 million units of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 series produced last year, according to Bloomberg.

China in particular has seen major interest in the latest ‌iPhone‌ launch, which in one case apparently caused a stampede as people rushed a shopping mall to purchase one of the devices.

Some new iPhone 13 users are reporting intermittent touch issues on their new devices, a phenomenon where the ‌iPhone‌ does not respond to touch inputs by the user, sometimes requiring an entire device force restart to solve, or in other cases, repeated taps to trigger the system to react.

Posts on Reddit, the MacRumors Forums, Twitter, and Apple Support include reports of ‌iPhone‌ 13 customers having touch sensitivity issues on their new phones. Users report problems with tap to wake, where the ‌iPhone‌ doesn't respond after a tap on the screen to wake, and other instances of system-wide and in-app touch inputs not responding.

Isolated cases of touch screen sensitivity issues on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 would narrow it down to possible hardware malfunctions for some models of the new ‌iPhone‌; however, reports of touch issues occurring on older devices after updating to iOS 15 suggest it's likely a software bug instead.

Since its release slightly over a week ago, iOS 15 has been tormented with problems, including bugs related to the ‌iPhone‌ 13 and the Apple Watch, device storage, Apple Music, and widgets, on top of possible security vulnerabilities. Apple has promised to release a software update to address various issues currently impacting iOS and iPadOS 15 devices. Apple may release iOS 15.0.1 sooner rather than later to address the issues, though it may alternatively decide to just release iOS 15.1 instead when it completes beta testing later next month.

YouTuber and Apple beta specialist Zollotech noted in his latest video recapping the changes in the newest iOS 15.1 beta that the issue seems to be fixed, according to his limited time with the latest software build.

Apple's latest developer beta of macOS Monterey contains references to a "High Power Mode" that could boost performance when a MacBook isn't connected to a power adapter.

The reference, spotted by 9to5Mac, harks back to a similar so-called "Pro Mode" that was found in a developer beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.3 back in January 2020.

"Pro Mode" was referred to in the code as making apps run faster at the expense of consuming more battery and increasing fan noise, but the feature never made it to the public Catalina release and references to such a mode were absent in Monterey until beta 8, which was released on Tuesday.

"High Power Mode" isn't available to users, and beyond the name appearing in code, nothing is known about the referenced feature, although a "Low Power Mode" already exists in macOS Monterey that reduces performance in MacBooks to conserve battery life, so presumably "High Power Mode" will operate at the other extreme and let users run apps and hardware at maximum performance when not connected to power.

It's unclear whether Apple will announce "High Power Mode" as an upcoming feature in macOS Monterey. Likewise, there's no way of knowing if the feature would be available on all Macs or be exclusive to certain models, such as the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models rumored to drop this fall. Apple is expected to release macOS Monterey in the next few weeks.

Apple has called off a joint project with Samsung to use a Samsung-developed OLED display for a forthcoming 10.9-inch iPad Air, according to a new report today from The Elec.

The project was stopped due to either the single stack structure of OLED panel or profitability issues or both, people familiar with the matter said.

Single stack refers to the current widely used OLED panel structure where red, green and blue form one emission layer.

Apple is reportedly not satisfied with the brightness levels of single stack OLED panels and is also wary of the panel's lifespan, since consumers typically hold onto iPads for longer compared to smartphones, which have a more aggressive upgrade cycle.

Instead, Apple wants to use a two-stack tandem structure for its first OLED iPad that stacks two red, green and blue emission layers instead of just one. This doubles the brightness and extends the panel's life by up to four times.

However, Samsung has only commercialized a single stack structure and is either not able or not willing to supply the two-stack technology, according to the report.

Profitability is also said to be a factor in Samsung's unwillingness to provide the technology. Unless Samsung can be sure that the OLED ‌iPad Air‌ will be sold for a long time, preparing for the back-end module process for the products won't be worth the cost.

Most of the rumors that we've heard about an OLED ‌‌iPad Air‌‌ suggest that it's coming in 2022. However, now that Samsung isn't involved in development, The Elec suggests the OLED ‌iPad Air‌ will not see the light of day until 2023. A previous report from Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) claimed Apple will release its first OLED ‌iPad‌ in 2023, although no reason was given for the changed production roadmap.

Back in March, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple is expected to start using OLED next year, while DigiTimes has also predicted a 2022 release for an OLED ‌iPad‌, as have sites like ETNews, which rely on supply chain data.

OLED technology is expensive, which is a factor that has thus far limited it to smaller devices like iPhones and Apple Watches. When adopted in the ‌‌iPad‌‌, it will bring improved brightness, higher contrast, deeper blacks, and wider viewing angles.

Apple's 96W USB-C power adapter that is designed for use with the 16-inch MacBook Pro currently faces a lengthy 2-3 months shipping estimate on the company's online store in the United States and many other countries. The adapter is also listed as unavailable for in-store pickup at most Apple retail stores around the world.

In some countries like Japan, the 2-3 months shipping estimate began showing up in August, and the delay has since extended to more countries.

While redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are rumored to launch later this year, many tech companies are facing supply constraints due to a global chip shortage, so the reason for the 96W power adapter's shipping delay is ultimately unclear.

Apple has included the 96W power adapter with the 16-inch MacBook Pro since the notebook launched in November 2019, and it is also sold separately for $79, albeit now with the lengthy shipping delay. The previous-generation 15-inch MacBook Pro was bundled with an 87W power adapter, which Apple has since discontinued.

Apple's smaller 20W, 30W, and 61W power adapters are currently not facing any extended shipping delays in the United States.

A source at an Apple Authorized Reseller informed MacRumors that their distributors currently do not have any stock of the 96W power adapter, suggesting that the power adapter is facing significant supply constraints across multiple channels.

Apple is widely rumored to be planning redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with a faster version of the M1 chip and brighter mini-LED displays. Rumors suggest the notebooks will return to a design with an HDMI port and SD card reader, a magnetic power cable, and physical function keys instead of the Touch Bar.

The AirTag feature that allows anyone with a smartphone to scan a lost ‌AirTag‌ to locate the contact information of the owner can be abused for phishing scams, according to a new report shared by KrebsOnSecurity.

When an ‌AirTag‌ is set in Lost Mode, it generates a URL for https://found.apple.com and it lets the ‌AirTag‌ owner enter a contact phone number or email address. Anyone who scans that ‌AirTag‌ is then directed automatically to the URL with the owner's contact information, with no login or personal information required to view the provided contact details.

According to KrebsOnSecurity, Lost Mode does not prevent users from injecting arbitrary computer code into the phone number field, so a person who scans an ‌AirTag‌ can be redirected to a phony iCloud login page or another malicious site. Someone who does not know that no personal information is required to view an ‌AirTag‌'s information could then be tricked into providing their ‌iCloud‌ login or other personal details, or the redirect could attempt to download malicious software.

The ‌AirTag‌ flaw was found by security consultant Bobby Raunch, who told KrebsOnSecurity that the vulnerability makes AirTags dangerous. "I can't remember another instance where these sort of small consumer-grade tracking devices at a low-cost like this could be weaponized," he said.

Rauch contacted Apple on June 20, and Apple took several months to investigate. Apple told Rauch last Thursday that it would address the weakness in an upcoming update, and asked him not to talk about it in public.

Apple did not answer his questions about whether he would receive credit or whether he qualified for the bug bounty program, so he decided to share details on the vulnerability because of Apple's lack of communication.

"I told them, 'I'm willing to work with you if you can provide some details of when you plan on remediating this, and whether there would be any recognition or bug bounty payout'," Rauch said, noting that he told Apple he planned to publish his findings within 90 days of notifying them. "Their response was basically, 'We'd appreciate it if you didn't leak this.'"

Last week, security researcher Denis Tokarev made several zero-day iOS vulnerabilities public after Apple ignored his reports and failed to fix the issues for several months. Apple has since apologized, but the company is continuing to receive criticism for its bug bounty program and the slowness with which it responds to reports.

Apple today updated its investor relations page to announce that it will share its earnings results for the fourth fiscal quarter (third calendar quarter) of 2021 on Thursday, October 28.

The fourth quarter earnings call will provide some insight into the early sales of the new iPhone 13 models and the new iPad options, giving us our first hints into how 2021 sales compared with 2020 sales.

Apple again declined to provide guidance for the fourth quarter of 2021 during its third quarter earnings call due to the ongoing global health crisis, which is continuing to cause uncertainty for product launch timelines and sales.

Apple in the third quarter brought in $81.4 billion in revenue, marking a new June quarter record thanks to strong sales of the ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, and Mac.

The quarterly earnings statement will be released at 1:30 PM Pacific/4:30 PM Eastern, with a conference call to discuss the report taking place at 2:00 PM Pacific/5:00 PM Eastern. MacRumors will provide coverage of both the earnings release and conference call on October 29.

Apple today seeded the eighth developer beta of macOS Monterey, the newest version of the macOS operating system. The eighth beta comes one week after Apple released the seventh macOS Monterey beta.

Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and once the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.

According to Apple's release notes, attempts to install macOS Monterey into a virtual machine will no longer fail sporadically after updating to the latest beta.

macOS Monterey will bring Universal Control, a feature that lets a single mouse, trackpad, and keyboard be used across multiple Mac or iPad devices, plus there's a new AirPlay to Mac feature. Safari has been redesigned with a new tab bar with a toggle for two different designs and support for Tab Groups, and FaceTime has gained spatial audio, a Portrait Mode on M1 Macs, and Voice Isolation for cutting out background noise. There's also a new SharePlay ‌FaceTime‌ feature that lets Apple users watch TV, listen to music, and share their screens with one another.

Shared With You, a separate feature, keeps track of the music, links, podcasts, news, and photos that people are sent in Messages, highlighting it in the relevant apps. Notes has a new Quick Note feature for jotting down thoughts, and collaboration is easier with mentions and an Activity View.

The Shortcuts app from iOS is now available on the Mac, and Focus helps people stay on task by cutting out background distractions. There's an updated Maps app with a whole slew of new features, and with Live Text, Macs can now detect text in photos or provide details on animals, art, landmarks, plants, and more in images.

Mail Privacy Protection hides IP and prevents tracking through invisible pixels, and iCloud Private Relay keeps Safari browsing protected. There are many other new features in macOS Monterey, with a full rundown available in our macOS Monterey roundup.

Apple last week launched an updated version of the iPad mini, which has been entirely overhauled with an iPad Air-like design. The new mini is basically a smaller version of the iPad Air, and we thought we'd check it out and share first impressions after 48 hours with the little tablet.

With an 8.3-inch display, the ‌iPad mini‌ has a bigger screen size than ever before, but it's actually a touch less tall than the prior-generation version thanks to much slimmer bezels and the removal of the Home button.

Since there's no Home button, the ‌iPad mini‌ uses a Touch ID power button, which works well. It's just like the ‌Touch ID‌ power button on the ‌iPad Air‌, and it's identical to the ‌Touch ID‌ Home buttons we used for years before Apple started the transition to Face ID. It's quick and hassle-free, though it does take some getting accustomed to if you're used to ‌Face ID‌.

Design wise the ‌iPad mini‌ also looks like a little version of the ‌iPad Air‌ with the same squared-off edges, plus it adopts USB-C, which is useful if you want to connect peripherals or charge using the same cable you use for your MacBook. Apple also made the ‌iPad mini‌ 6 in new colors like pink, purple, starlight (a silver/gold) and space gray.

The size and weight of the ‌iPad mini‌ feel great in the hand, and it's the perfect size for reading or playing games on the go. It's equipped with the same A15 chip that's in the iPhone 13 Pro, with 5-core GPU included, so it's second in speed only to the M1 iPad Pro.

If you're used to devices like the ‌iPad Pro‌ or even the new ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro, the ‌iPad mini‌'s display might disappoint. It's not mini-LED like the ‌iPad Pro‌ and it doesn't support ProMotion so there are no 120Hz refresh rates.

The rear camera technology is mediocre and hasn't really seen an update, but it's using a new 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front-facing camera that supports Center Stage, Apple's FaceTime feature. Center Stage is meant to keep you in the frame even when you walk around, and it works for ‌FaceTime‌, Zoom, and other video apps.

You can use the Apple Pencil 2 with the ‌iPad mini‌, and to make a space to charge it on the side, Apple moved the volume buttons to the top of the tablet. This can take some getting used to, but it's an acceptable change to get ‌Apple Pencil‌ 2 support. The prior-generation ‌iPad‌ supported the original ‌Apple Pencil‌, but the second-generation version is more feature rich and has a much better charging and connection method.

Though there's ‌Apple Pencil‌ support, Apple has not, unfortunately, designed a little Magic Keyboard for the ‌iPad mini‌ so there's no Apple-created keyboard option. You can probably find a third-party keyboard, but it's definitely disappointing not to have a mini Apple keyboard to work with.

The ‌iPad mini‌ is available with a cellular connection and it supports 5G, just like the iPhones. It's worth noting that it only supports sub-6Hz 5G connections and not the super fast mmWave connectivity, but that's still so rare that it's unlikely anyone is going to miss mmWave capabilities on the ‌iPad mini‌ at this point in time.

All in all, there's not a lot to complain about with the ‌iPad mini‌. If you're looking for a smaller sized tablet to complement an ‌iPhone‌, it's a solid choice because it's lightweight, easy to carry around in a bag, and still offers a lot more screen space than an ‌iPhone‌. It's arguably the most innovative and exciting product to come out in September.

At $499, the ‌iPad mini‌ is pricier than the ‌iPad‌ 9, but Apple has packed a lot of technology into a small enclosure with this tablet. It's similar in design to the ‌iPad Air‌, which is priced at $599, but with the A15 chip it's even more powerful.

iPad mini 6 owners have been complaining about a "jelly scrolling" problem that affects some ‌iPad mini‌ models when using the device in portrait mode, and Apple now says that the behavior is normal for an LCD screen.

"Jelly scrolling" refers to screen tearing, which can cause text or images on one side of the screen to appear to be tilted downwards because of a mismatch in refresh rates. It can cause one side of the display to look as if it's responding faster than the other side, a visual disturbance that's hard to miss once you notice it.

Apple told Ars Technica that jelly scroll is normal behavior for an LCD. The screen is designed to refresh line by line, which can cause a tiny delay between when the lines at the top of the screen and the bottom of the screen are refreshed, resulting in uneven scrolling issues.

As many MacRumors readers have pointed out, the jelly scrolling effect is much more pronounced on the ‌iPad mini‌ 6 than on other iPads that also have an LCD screen like the iPad Air, or even the ninth-generation iPad that was released at the same time.

Unfortunately, with Apple calling the issue normal behavior, it means that those who are unhappy with the jelly scrolling effect will likely not be able to get a replacement device from Apple.

‌iPad mini‌ 6 owners who can't get past the jelly scrolling on their tablets should make sure to make a return or get a replacement within 14 days after purchase during the standard return period. Not all ‌iPad mini‌ devices seem to be experiencing the issue to the same degree, so it may be possible to purchase one that has less of a scrolling delay.

Apple may also issue some kind of software fix in the future to address the problem, even though the company claims that it is normal behavior.

Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 15.1 to developers, and the update includes a fix for an annoying bug that's been affecting iPhone 13 owners who also have an Apple Watch.

With beta 2, the Unlock with Apple Watch feature that was broken has been fixed, and an authenticated Apple Watch can once again be used to unlock an ‌iPhone‌ 13 model when wearing a mask.

Prior to the update, attempting to enable the Unlock with Apple Watch feature under Settings > Face ID & Passcode would result in an error that said the ‌iPhone‌ was unable to communicate with the Apple Watch. That error message has now been addressed, and the feature can be successfully toggled on after updating to iOS 15.1 beta 2.

Apple in a support document promised that a fix for the issue would be coming in a future update, and it appears that update may be iOS 15.1. It's not clear if we'll also see an iOS 15.0.1 update that has a fix, as it could still be several weeks before iOS 15.1 sees a public release.

DisplayMate today awarded the iPhone 13 Pro Max with its "Best Smartphone Display Award." The device earned the company's highest-ever display performance grade of A+ and set or matched 12 of its smartphone display performance records.

iPhone 13 Pro models feature a new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion, which is Apple's branding for a variable refresh rate between 10Hz and 120Hz. This technology allows the display to refresh from a power-preserving 10 times per second to an ultra smooth 120 times per second depending on the type of content that is on the screen.

One of the records that the iPhone 13 Pro Max set was highest full-screen brightness for smartphones with OLED displays, according to DisplayMate's in-depth analysis. Apple says the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a max brightness of 1,000 nits for typical content and 1,200 nits for HDR content. By comparison, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a max brightness of 800 nits for typical content and 1,200 nits for HDR content.

Other records set or matched by the iPhone 13 Pro Max include highest absolute color accuracy, highest contrast ratio, lowest screen reflectance, and more.

Samsung is the exclusive supplier of the LTPO OLED panels used for the iPhone 13 Pro Max, according to Display Supply Chain Consultants, but LG is reportedly aiming to begin supplying Apple with LTPO OLED panels as early as next year.

DisplayMate extensively tested the iPhone 13 Pro Max's display, so make sure to read the full analysis for more details.

Amazon today held a media event that saw the introduction of a slew of new products, ranging from an in-home Alexa robot to a new fitness service that mimics Apple Fitness+. We've rounded up all of Amazon's most interesting announcements below.

Astro Household Robot

Astro is an Alexa-integrated home robot that can monitor the home, help users keep in touch with family, and more. Astro can move around the home, check on specific areas, and show a live view of rooms when the homeowner is away, plus it can be used to remotely care for elderly relatives.

Astro integrates with Ring and can autonomously patrol the home with the Ring Protect Pro service, and it has full Alexa functionality. Astro also has a personality that makes it "feel like part of the family."

Amazon will be shipping out Astro later this year, and it will be priced at $1450. Amazon will have introductory pricing of $1,000 as part of the Day 1 Editions program.

Echo Show 15

The Echo Show 15, which is designed to serve as a central communications and entertainment hub for a family, features a 15.6-inch display and it can be mounted on a wall or set on a counter.

Amazon's Echo Show is equipped with Amazon's AZ2 Neural Edge processor, which Amazon says performs 22x more trillions of operations per second. It also runs ML-based speech models faster than the original AZ1.

The Echo Show has built-in Alexa widgets, visual ID so what's shown on the screen can be customized for each person, and integration with smart home products. It also supports 1080p video streaming and integrates with Amazon services like Audible and Amazon Photos. The Echo Show is priced at $250.

Hey Disney

Amazon is partnering with Disney for a new "Hey Disney" voice assistant that will let kids and adults use an Echo device to interact with characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more.

Hey Disney will offer interactive Disney entertainment and storytelling, in addition to jokes, fun facts, and more. Walt Disney World Resort hotel rooms will have integrated Echo devices with the Hey Disney functionality.

Amazon Glow

Designed for children, Amazon Glow is a projector-based interactive device that provides activities for children to do on video calls with relatives and friends. Through Amazon Glow, children and their families can remotely read stories, play games, create art, and more. Glow is priced at $250.

Ring Always Home Cam

Amazon last year debuted its $250 Always Home Cam, which is a drone-based security system that can fly to different places in the house from a home dock, and Amazon showed it off again at today's event because there's now an open invite list for those who want to buy an Always Home Cam.

Ring Alarm Pro

Ring Alarm Pro is designed to serve as a smart home hub with built-in Eero WiFi router functionality. It connects to Ring cameras that are in the home to store Ring video footage locally, and it integrates with third-party products like door locks, smoke alarms, and more. Ring Alarm Pro is priced at $250.

Amazon also announced the Ring Virtual Security Guard, a subscription service that allows customers to pay $99 a month to have a professional security company "visually monitor" their Ring cameras.

Halo View and Halo Fitness

The Halo View a new wrist-worn device with an AMOLED display that offers up health metrics, live workout tracking, and more. Halo View is priced at $80. The Halo View is a follow up to the original wrist-worn Halo Band, which has been criticized for its invasiveness and lack of privacy features.

To go along with the Halo View, Amazon has announced a new Halo Fitness service, which is almost identical to Apple Fitness+. Halo Fitness offers hundreds of studio-quality workouts that are led by industry experts and that integrate with Halo hardware.

There's also a Halo Nutrition program that includes a meal planner to allow users to plan out healthy meals, plus it connects with the Alexa Shopping list to add ingredients to one central spot.

Alexa Together

Alexa Together is a subscription service that's designed to help aging family members feel more comfortable living alone while also giving their families access to check in on them. Alexa Together includes a 24/7 Urgent Response option that connects to emergency services, and Remote Assist lets family members manage caregiving from afar. Alexa Together is priced at $19.99 per month.

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 betas to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the first betas and just over a week after releasing iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to the public.

iOS and iPadOS 15.1 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper profile has been installed on an iPhone or iPad.

SharePlay makes a return in iOS 15.1, with Apple once again testing the feature that was removed before the launch of iOS 15. SharePlay is designed to let users call their friends and family and interact by watching movies, watching TV, or listening to music together.

Apple has added features like shared playlists and TV show syncing so everyone sees the same thing at the same time. SharePlay also has a built-in screen sharing feature, and Apple is still working out the bugs.

Paired with the HomePod 15.1 beta (which is invite only), iOS 15.1 adds Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos with Spatial Audio support to the ‌HomePod‌ and the HomePod mini, bringing Apple's speakers in line with iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

‌iPhone‌ users who have a health care provider or state record that uses SMART Health Cards can import their COVID-19 vaccination records into the Health app and can then add a vaccine card to the Wallet app. This is an opt-in feature that uses a global specification, but healthcare providers need to implement it.

Right now, Smart Health Cards are or will be available to those in California, Louisiana, New York, Virginia, Hawaii, and some Maryland counties, as well those who were vaccinated at Walmart, Sam's Club, and CVS Health. Healthcare providers like electronic health record vendors like Epic and Cerner also support Smart Health Cards.

There were no other features of note that were found in the first iOS 15.1 beta, but we'll update this article should new features be found in the second beta.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 8.1 beta to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming one week after the release of the first beta and a week after the release of the watchOS 8 update.

To install ‌‌‌watchOS 8.1‌‌‌, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌‌‌watchOS 8‌‌‌ can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update.

To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌.

We don't yet know what's new in watchOS 8 and there were no new features found in the first beta, but we'll update this article should anything new pop up in the second beta.