MacRumors

A frustrated AirTag owner has inadvertently discovered the existence of a hidden "developer mode" in the on-screen interface that Find My displays when the Precision Finding feature is activated to help locate one of Apple's item trackers.

Precision Finding is a feature that provides users with specific on-screen directions for finding a nearby ‌AirTag‌. iPhones with a U1 chip, which includes the iPhone 11 and the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, can take advantage of the feature, which combines camera input, AR, sound, Ultra Wideband radio technology, and haptic feedback to help locate the item tracker.

The hidden mode's overlay, which appears after tapping the item's name four times in the Precision Finding interface, displays real-time diagnostic and technical information about the feature's operation, including accelerometer and gyroscope coordinates, haptic feedback, screen resolution, tracking animations, and more.

Reddit user "cyem" stumbled upon the hidden mode after becoming frustrated with the performance of their ‌AirTag‌, particularly when Precision Finding is activated. The user has also posted a video showing it in action.

My experience of AirTags thus far has been underwhelming - the first one out of the box failed to pair four times in a row when it was sitting on top of the phone. Now that it is finally connected, anything outside of 0.8m/2.6ft away shows as a weak signal and when I can get a signal, there is never an arrow. Funnily enough, I tapped on my name about five times in frustration, and found what appears to be a hidden developer mode. Even more interesting, the arrow appears to actually be working underneath - just not in the normal mode.

The hidden mode in iOS 14.5 is unlikely to be particularly useful to the average user, and the sliders and buttons that it throws up probably shouldn't be manipulated unless you know what you're doing. Still, the discovery provides an intriguing peek under the hood at the hardware and calibration involved every time an ‌AirTag‌'s Precision Finding is enabled.

Apple sells individual AirTags for $29, while a pack of four AirTags can be purchased for $99. Single AirTags ordered directly from Apple currently ship in five to seven days, while engraved AirTags and multipacks are currently on a five- to six-week lead time.

The safeguards that Apple built into AirTags to prevent them from being used to track someone "just aren't sufficient," The Washington Post's Geoffrey Fowler said today in a report investigating how AirTags can be used for covert stalking.

Fowler planted an AirTag on himself and teamed up with a colleague to be pretend stalked, and he came to the conclusion that the AirTags are a "new means of inexpensive, effective stalking."

Apple's safeguards include privacy alerts to let iPhone users know that an unknown ‌AirTag‌ is traveling with them and may be in their belongings, along with regular sound alerts when an ‌AirTag‌ has been separated from its owner for three days.

Fowler said that over a week of tracking, he received alerts both from the hidden ‌AirTag‌ and from his ‌iPhone‌. After three days, the ‌AirTag‌ being used to stalk Fowler played a sound, but it was "just 15 seconds of light chirping" that measured in at about 60 decibels. It played for 15 seconds at a time, went silent for several hours, then chirped for another 15 seconds, and it was easy to muffle by applying pressure to the top of the ‌AirTag‌.

The three-day countdown timer resets after it comes in contact with the owner's ‌iPhone‌, so if the person being stalked lives with their stalker, the sound might not ever activate.

Fowler also received regular alerts about an unknown ‌AirTag‌ moving with him from his ‌iPhone‌, but pointed out those alerts aren't available to Android users. He also said that Apple does not provide enough help locating a nearby ‌AirTag‌ since it can only be tracked by sound, a feature that didn't often work.

I got multiple alerts: from the hidden AirTag and on my iPhone. But it wasn't hard to find ways an abusive partner could circumvent Apple's systems. To name one: The audible alarm only rang after three days -- and then it turned out to be just 15 seconds of light chirping. And another: While an iPhone alerted me that an unknown AirTag was moving with me, similar warnings aren't available for the roughly half of Americans who use Android phones.

The planted ‌AirTag‌ on Fowler kept his colleague well-updated with his location information, updating once every few minutes with a range of around half a block. While Fowler was at home, the ‌AirTag‌ reported his exact location, all using his own devices thanks to Apple's Find My network.

The ‌Find My‌ network is designed to make it easier to find a lost Apple device or item attached to an ‌AirTag‌ by utilizing hundreds of millions of active Apple products around the world. If you lose an ‌AirTag‌ and someone else's device picks it up, the lost ‌AirTag‌'s location is relayed back to you, and this also applies to AirTags tracking people.

Apple's vice president of ‌iPhone‌ marketing Kaiann Drance told The Washington Post that the safeguards built into the AirTags are an "industry-first, strong set of proactive deterrents." She went on to explain that AirTags anti-tracking measures can be bolstered over time. "It's a smart and tunable system, and we can continue improving the logic and timing so that we can improve the set of deterrents."

She also commented on some of the safeguards. Apple chose a three day timeline before an ‌AirTag‌ starts playing a sound because the company "wanted to balance how these alerts are going off in the environment as well as the unwanted tracking." Drance declined to say whether Apple had consulted domestic abuse experts when creating the AirTags, but she said that Apple is "open to hearing anything from those organizations."

Fowler admits that Apple has done more to prevent AirTags from being used for stalking than other Bluetooth tracking device competitors like Tile, but there are still concerns that need to be addressed. Fowler's full report that goes into more detail on how he mimicked being stalked and the shortcomings that he found in the AirTags can be found over at The Washington Post.

Twitter today announced that the Twitter for iOS app supports larger image previews in the timeline, which means tall images will no longer be cropped to a significant degree in the Twitter app.

Twitter has been testing larger-sized image previews on iOS and Android since March, but now the expanded image previews are rolling out for everyone.

Rather than displaying a cropped 16x9 version of a Twitter image in the timeline, Twitter will now show images with 2:1 and 3:4 aspect ratios in full as well. Larger-sized images are available on iOS and Android, but image previews on the web are still cropped.

Last month, Twitter also began supporting the viewing and uploading of 4K images on the Twitter for iOS app, allowing for higher-resolution images in the timeline.

Astropad's Luna Display accessory that's able to turn an old iPad or Mac into a secondary display for a primary Mac was today updated with a new feature that's designed to allow Mac-to-Mac mode to work over Ethernet and Thunderbolt.

The Luna Display is an alternative to Apple's Sidecar, allowing an ‌iPad‌ to be used as a display for a Mac. Unlike ‌Sidecar‌, it works with other Macs, so you can use one Mac as a display for another Mac, something that's always been useful with machines like the iMac.

With a new 4.5 software update that's available today, the Luna Display can work with two Macs connected by Ethernet or Thunderbolt, which improves the Mac-to-Mac mode experience for users who have poor WiFi connectivity or would prefer to work with a wired connection. Prior to today's update, Mac-to-Mac mode was limited to the Luna Display's wireless connection.

The new software update brings other features including a battery indicator for a secondary device, secondary Mac keyboard enhancements, improved Retina support on M1 Macs, and for iPads, better compatibility with the 2020 iPad Air.

According to Astropad, Mac-to-Mac mode is an ideal alternative to Target Display Mode, a feature that Apple used to offer for older iMacs. Target Display Mode allowed an ‌iMac‌ to be connected to another Mac, with the ‌iMac‌ then serving as a display, but that functionality does not work with modern Macs.

The Luna Display allows an ‌iMac‌ to be used as a display for another Mac, but technically, it works with any two Mac combinations, so you can pair up two MacBooks, a Mac mini and a MacBook, or anything else.

The Luna Display is priced at $100 and can be purchased from the Astropad website.

Apple's AirTag item trackers are designed to let users track their everyday possessions, such as keys, wallets, backpacks, and so on. If you find an ‌AirTag‌ that's been separated from its owner, here's how you can safely return it to them.

AirTags‌ can be tracked by their owners in Apple's ‌Find My app‌, which uses Bluetooth and other Apple devices to locate them. However, if an ‌AirTag‌ isn't nearby and there are no Apple devices in the area in which it's located, ‌‌‌Find My‌‌‌ can only tell the owner where it was last seen on the map.

In such cases, the ‌AirTag‌ owner can put it in Lost Mode, which allows anyone with an iPhone or Android device that has NFC to help return the ‌AirTag‌ to them. Even if an ‌AirTag‌ isn't in Lost Mode, if it's been separated for a period of time from its owner then it will make a sound to alert anyone nearby.

If you come across an ‌AirTag‌ and you have an NFC-equipped device, here's what you can do to get it back to its rightful owner.

1. Tap and hold the top of your ‌iPhone‌ or NFC-capable smartphone to the white side of the ‌AirTag‌.
2. Tap the notification that appears on your device's screen. This will open a website providing you with information about the ‌AirTag‌, including its serial number.
   
   

3. If the owner marked the ‌AirTag‌ as lost, you may be shown a message with information about how to contact the owner, enabling you to contact the owner to let them know that you found their AirTagged item.

AirTags can only be used to track items via an ‌iPhone‌ or iPad with the ‌Find My‌ app. Apple sells individual AirTags for $29 or a pack of four for $99. For more details on ‌AirTag‌ item trackers, check out our dedicated guide.

As the Epic Games v. Apple trial progresses into its third day, Apple's internal documents and communications with various companies are continuing to surface, giving us some insight into the dealings that Apple has had around the App Store.

Back in December 2018, Netflix stopped offering in-app subscription options for new or resubscribing members and instead began requiring them to sign up for Netflix outside of the ‌App Store‌ in order to avoid paying Apple's 30 percent cut. As it turns out, Apple executives were unhappy with Netflix's decision, and made attempts to persuade Netflix to keep in-app purchases available.

The subject hasn't yet been broached in the live in-person trial that's going on right now, but 9to5Mac highlighted emails between Apple executives discussing Netflix's decision. When Apple learned that Netflix was A/B testing the removal of in-app purchases in certain countries, Apple started scrambling to put a stop to it.

Apple's ‌App Store‌ Business Management Director Carson Oliver sent out an email in February 2018 outlining Netflix's testing plans and asked his fellow ‌App Store‌ executives whether Apple should take "punitive measures" against Netflix.

Do we want to take any punitive measures in response to the test (for examples, pulling all global featuring during the test period)? If so, how should those punitive measures be communicated to Netflix? (sic)

The emails do not make it clear if Apple did indeed take any steps to limit featuring during Netflix's testing, but Netflix did proceed with the A/B test and found it fruitful. Ahead of when Netflix pulled in-app purchase options, Apple designed an entire presentation to persuade Netflix to continue to offer in-app subscription sign ups.

Netflix was concerned about voluntary churn levels on iOS because it was higher than those who signed up via the web. In a nutshell, iOS users who subscribed to Netflix through in-app purchases were cancelling their Netflix accounts at a greater rate, an issue that Apple worked to solve for Netflix.

Other Netflix concerns included free trial abuse (which Apple addressed), un-grandfathering (raising prices on users locked in to a select price), and offering promotions (wasn't possible to offer discounts on iOS). Apple internally discussed ways to fix these problems for Netflix to encourage the company to stick with in-app purchases.

Apple also incentivized Netflix by describing how much dedicated featuring Netflix was getting. Apple said that Netflix was featured more than any other partner, something that Apple was willing to continue doing.

Apple proposed continued coordinated featuring across iOS and Apple TV, ads promoting Netflix, ‌App Store‌ email campaigns, featuring performance data, an "‌Apple TV‌ bundle" and select video partner program benefits such as the option to up-sell non-IAP customers and billing flexibility to un-grandfather and cancel subscription charges.

Apple also discussed bundle offers for Netflix and an Apple service along with carrier and payment partners for co-funded subscription offers, as well as in-store marketing for Netflix, but none of these measures ultimately convinced Netflix to stick with in-app purchases.

Today, there is no in-app purchase option for Netflix, and those who want to watch Netflix on an iPhone or an iPad must first sign up on the web, with Apple collecting no money. Netflix is also not allowed to direct customers where to sign up, though, and the splash screen just says "You can't sign up for Netflix in the app."

The ‌Epic Games‌ v. Apple trial is expected to last for approximately three weeks in total, with Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives set to testify in the coming weeks.

MacRumors previously reported about Apple's plan to switch to randomized serial numbers for future products starting in early 2021, and this transition has now started with the new purple iPhone 12 model in multiple countries.

With assistance from Aaron Zollo, host of the YouTube channel ZolloTech, we can confirm that the purple iPhone 12 released last month has a new 10-character serial number format, compared to the usual 12 characters for most other Apple products. Apple previously said its randomized serial numbers would initially be 10 characters long, so the purple iPhone 12 appears to be the first Apple product with a randomized serial number.

The change likely extends to the purple iPhone 12 mini, but we've yet to confirm this. On the contrary, the randomized serial number format does not appear to apply to the AirTag at this time, with multiple MacRumors editors and others we've spoken to still seeing 12-character serial numbers for the item tracking accessory.

It remains to be seen if the new iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV have randomized serial numbers when they launch in the second half of May.

In a memo obtained by MacRumors in March, Apple said products already shipping at that time would continue to use the company's previous serial number format, which has for years allowed customers and service providers to determine the date and location that a product was manufactured. The first three characters represent the manufacturing location, the following two characters indicate the year and week of manufacture, and the last four characters reveal a device's model, color, and storage capacity.

The new serial number format will consist of a randomized alphanumeric string of 8-14 characters (10 characters initially) that will no longer include manufacturing or configuration details, according to Apple's memo. Apple advised authorized resellers to prepare for the transition to the new format ahead of its "Spring Loaded" event last month.

While the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is set to launch in the second half of May, orders placed today are estimated for delivery as late as mid-July on Apple's online store in the United States — some two months later. The new 11-inch iPad Pro is faring better so far, with some configurations available for delivery in the last week of May.

The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro features a Liquid Retina XDR Display with mini-LED backlighting, providing higher brightness and improved contrast ratio, but Apple suppliers have reportedly faced yield issues producing the display. The consumer electronics industry is also facing a global chip shortage that is expected to last into 2022, and this could be having an impact on iPad Pro shipping estimates to some extent.

The new iPad Pro was announced at Apple's Spring Loaded event on April 20, so the fact that some customers might not get the device into their hands until mid-July underscores the issues that Apple is facing with supply.

The new iMac is also facing delivery estimates of mid-to-late June for many configurations in the United States, and even a four pack of AirTags won't arrive until mid-June.

In April 2021, Apple updated its popular iPad Pro lineup, introducing a faster M1 chip, a Liquid Retina XDR display, a Thunderbolt port, and more, replacing the previous models from March 2020.

Although the 2020 and 2021 ‌iPad Pro‌ models have now been discontinued by Apple, it is not unusual to find them available at discounted prices with third-party retailers. Some other users who already have the 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ may also be considering if it is worth the upgrade to the 2021 model.

Should you consider sticking with or purchasing the older ‌iPad Pro‌ to save money, or do you need the latest model? Our guide answers the question of how to decide which of these two iPad Pros is best for you.

Similarities

Being only a year apart, the 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ has more in common with its 2021 successor than it has in contrast, including key features such as the design and rear camera setup.

• Industrial design with flat edges
• Face ID enabled by TrueDepth camera
• Liquid Retina display with 264 ppi, full lamination, oleophobic and anti-reflective coating, P3 Wide Color, and True Tone
• ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide and ƒ/2.4 12MP Ultra Wide rear cameras with LiDAR scanner
• 2x optical zoom out, 5x digital zoom in, brighter True Tone flash, and Smart HDR 3 for photos
• 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps, time-lapse video with stabilization, and audio zoom
• TrueDepth front-facing camera with Retina Flash, Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting, Cinematic video stabilization, 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, Animoji, and Memoji
• Stereo recording with "studio quality" mics
• Four speaker audio
• "All-day" 10 hour battery life
• Wi‑Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
• USB‑C connector
• Compatible with Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
• Available in Silver and Space Gray

Apple's specification breakdown shows that the two ‌iPad‌ Pros share an overwhelming majority of features. Even so, there a number of meaningful differences between the 2020 and 2021 ‌iPad‌ Pros that are worth highlighting, including their display technologies, processors, and front-facing cameras.

Differences

Read on for a closer look at each of these aspects, and see what exactly both ‌iPad Pro‌ generations have to offer.

➜ Click here to read more...

Apple today announced it has awarded $410 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Pennsylvania-based II-VI, a manufacturer of optical technology.

The funds will help create additional capacity and accelerate delivery of future iPhone components, supporting more than 700 jobs in Sherman, Texas; Warren, New Jersey; Easton, Pennsylvania; and Champaign, Illinois, according to Apple.

II-VI manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that help power Face ID, along with lasers for the LiDAR Scanner:

II-VI manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that help power Face ID, Memoji, Animoji, and Portrait mode selfies. Apple also works with II-VI to manufacture lasers used in the LiDAR Scanner — technology that helps deliver faster, more realistic augmented reality experiences and improves autofocus in low-light scenes in photos and videos.

"We established Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund to support American businesses creating next-generation technology and the jobs of tomorrow," said Apple COO Jeff Williams. "II-VI shares our commitment to push the boundaries of innovation and we're proud to be extending our work together across the country."

Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund already awarded $390 million to optical supplier Finisar in 2017, and that company has since been acquired by II-VI.

A new study looking at the effects of low-light functions on smartphone users' sleeping habits suggests that features like Apple's Night Shift mode don't actually improve sleep at all.

Introduced in iOS 9, ‌Night Shift‌ is designed to cut down on the amount of blue light that an iOS device puts out during the evening hours. The feature uses the clock and geolocation of an iPhone or iPad to determine when it's sunset, and automatically shifts the colors of the display to warmer colors, returning the display to its regular settings in the morning.

Now found on most smartphones in some form, ‌Night Shift‌ is based on studies that have demonstrated that blue light can negatively impact sleep by altering the body's circadian rhythm. However, the results of a new study from BYU published in Sleep Health have undermined that premise.

To test the theory, BYU psychology professor Chad Jensen and researchers from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center compared the sleep outcomes of individuals in three categories: those who used their phone at night with the ‌Night Shift‌ function turned on, those who used their phone at night without ‌Night Shift‌, and those who did not use a smartphone before bed at all.

"In the whole sample, there were no differences across the three groups," Jensen said. "Night Shift is not superior to using your phone without Night Shift or even using no phone at all."

The study included 167 adults between the ages of 18 to 24 who said they use a smartphone daily. The participants were asked to spend at least eight hours in bed, during which they wore an accelerometer on their wrist to record their sleep activity.

Individuals who were assigned to use their smartphone also had an app installed to monitor their phone use. The app measured sleep outcomes that included total sleep duration, sleep quality, wake after sleep onset and the time it took to fall asleep.

In the second part of the study, the researchers split the sample in two groups – one consisting of participants who averaged about seven hours of sleep, and another that included those who slept less than six hours each night.

The group that got seven hours of sleep saw a slight difference in sleep quality based on phone usage, while those who didn't use a phone before bed experienced better sleep quality compared to both those with normal phone use and those using ‌Night Shift‌. Within the six-hour group, which had the least amount of sleep, there were no differences in sleep outcomes based on whether the participants used ‌Night Shift‌ or not.

The results suggest that blue light is only one factor that creates difficulty falling or staying asleep, and it's important not to discount the affect of physical interactions like texting, scrolling and posting on sleep outcomes.

"While there is a lot of evidence suggesting that blue light increases alertness and makes it more difficult to fall asleep, it is important to think about what portion of that stimulation is light emission versus other cognitive and psychological stimulations," said Jensen.

Since its debut on iOS, ‌Night Shift‌ has been included in macOS since Sierra. Mac users can enable or disable the feature using the ‌Night Shift‌ tab in System Preferences -> Display.

(Via BYU Communications.)

Apple's new 24-inch iMac range could help it overtake HP as the leading all-in-one (AIO) computer brand vendor, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

The prediction is based on evidence suggesting that more affordable all-in-one PC brands are being impacted much harder by the global chip shortage as suppliers prioritize their shipments to support more premium products in the AIO market.

The sources pointed out that high-end AIO PCs such as the iMac are only seeing limited impact from component shortages, but entry-level to mid-range products priced between NT$15,000 (US$536.51) and NT$30,000 have been hit much harder. Several ODMs have already halted their production for many AIO PCs because of component shortage, but iMac production remains unaffected, the sources said.

Apple is selling three all-new built-to-order ‌iMac‌ tiers, priced at $1,299, $1,499, and $1,699. All tiers come in several color options and include Apple silicon M1 processors, solid-state storage, 8GB of RAM, and two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. Pre-ordered iMacs begin shipping from May 21.

According to Digitimes Research, HP was the largest AIO PC brand in the fourth quarter of 2020, shipping 925,000 units, followed by Apple with 860,000 units, and Lenovo with 731,000 units. However, Apple's shipments are estimated to have surpassed HP in the first quarter of 2021.

That said, overall Apple says it expects to be impacted by the chip shortages, and predicts a sequential decline of approximately $3 to $4 billion revenue in the third-quarter of 2021 due to ‌‌iPad‌‌ and Mac supply constraints. Apple says a combination of the shortages and a very high level of demand for both ‌‌‌iPad‌‌‌ and Mac is expected to impact revenue in the second half of 2021.

Encrypted messaging app Signal has had a series of Instagram ads blocked from the social media platform, after it attempted to show users how much data the Facebook-owned company collects about them and how it's used to push targeted ads.

In a blog post, Signal described how it generated the ads to show users why they were seeing them, simply by declaring upfront the information that the advertising platform relies on to perform its targeting.

"We created a multi-variant targeted ad designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to," said Signal. "The ad would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses. Facebook was not into that idea."

The starkly transparent ads used Signal branding and featured the user's professional role, education, interests, hobbies, location, and relationship status, amongst other personal data points pruned from their interaction with the platform. Unsurprisingly, the ads never made it to Instagram users' feeds and Signal's ad account for the platform was summarily disabled.

"Facebook is more than willing to sell visibility into people's lives, unless it's to tell people about how their data is being used. Being transparent about how ads use people's data is apparently enough to get banned; in Facebook's world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you're doing from your audience."

In recent months, Signal has enjoyed a surge in account sign-ups following a bungled privacy policy update by rival service WhatsApp, which caused a user exodus from the Facebook-owned platform.

The privacy-focused chat app has also been promoted by prominent Signal users like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Edward Snowden, which has only added to mainstream interest in the service.

Nearly two years following the release of iOS and iPadOS 13, which included native, built-in, and systemwide dark mode, Snapchat, one of the world's most prominent social media networks, has finally rolled out a dark mode theme for iOS users.

Snapchat began testing a dark mode theme of its app design late last year with a small group of iOS users. Now, Snapchat says that as of this week, it has flipped the switch on access to dark mode for more than 90% of its iOS user base, offering millions of users access to the less eye-straining app interface.

Snapchat is offering three different types of "Appearance" modes for iOS users to choose from. The first mode maintains a dark theme for the app regardless of the default iOS system theme, the second mode maintains a light theme for the app, and the third mode matches the iOS setting.

Snapchat users can enable dark mode like so: Tap the Settings icon in the top-right hand corner, navigate the list, tap "App Appearance," then enable either "Always Dark," "Always Light," or "Match System."

Dark mode on Android will start rolling out in the coming months.