MacRumors

Apple today announced the launch of its Find My network accessory program, which is designed to allow third-party Bluetooth devices to be tracked in the ‌Find My‌ app right alongside your Apple devices.

According to Apple, the first accessory companies to take advantage of the new ‌Find My‌ integration include Belkin, Chipolo, and VanMoof, with devices set to be available beginning next week.

VanMoof's newest S3 and X3 e-bikes will integrate with ‌Find My‌, as will Belkin's Soundform Freedom True Wireless Earbuds and the Chipolo ONE Spot item finder. Apple says that additional third-party manufacturers will offer Find My-enabled products and accessories soon.

"For more than a decade, our customers have relied on Find My to locate their missing or stolen Apple devices, all while protecting their privacy," said Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Now we're bringing the powerful finding capabilities of Find My, one of our most popular services, to more people with the Find My network accessory program. We're thrilled to see how Belkin, Chipolo, and VanMoof are utilizing this technology, and can't wait to see what other partners create."

Apple has a strict set of rules for devices that are part of the ‌Find My‌ Network accessory program, and all third-party products must adhere to all of the privacy protections of the ‌Find My‌ Network.

Participating ‌Find My‌ products will be able to be found in the "Items" tab and will have a "Works with Apple ‌Find My‌" badge. You will be able to see ‌Find My‌ accessories in the ‌Find My‌ app under the Items tab, where they can be tracked like Apple products. Third-party accessories can be added to the ‌Find My‌ app on devices running iOS 14.3 and later or macOS Big Sur 11.1 and later.

‌Find My‌ accessories will be able to be tracked on a map and there will be an option to play a sound to locate a lost device. Items can be put into a Lost Mode, which locks them to an Apple ID and prevents another person from pairing to it. Items can be associated with a phone number and message in case someone finds it, and users can get notifications when an item's location becomes available.

Third-party ‌Find My‌ devices will be able to take advantage of the ‌Find My‌ network that uses crowdsourced data from millions of Apple devices to detect missing devices or items and report an approximate location back to the owner.

Apple today also announced a draft specification for chipset manufacturers that will be released later in the spring. It will allow third-party device manufacturers to take advantage of the Ultra Wideband technology in U1-equipped Apple devices, such as the iPhone 11 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineups. U1 integration will allow for a more precise, directionally aware item location experience.

Apple today seeded the seventh betas of upcoming iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta updates coming one week after Apple released the sixth iOS and iPadOS 14.5 betas.

iOS and iPadOS 14.5 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper profile has been installed on an iPhone or iPad.

iOS 14.5 is the biggest update to iOS 14 to date, introducing several significant new features. First and foremost, Apple is making it easier to unlock an iPhone when you're wearing a face mask with a new "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature.

This opt-in option lets you use an unlocked and authenticated Apple Watch as a secondary authentication method to unlock an ‌iPhone‌ alongside Face ID. With this feature, you no longer have to enter a passcode or remove your mask to unlock your ‌iPhone‌. Both an ‌iPhone‌ running iOS 14.5 and an Apple Watch are required to use this, and the Apple Watch cannot authenticate Apple Pay purchases, App Store purchases, or unlock third-party apps that use ‌Face ID‌.

The update also brings worldwide support for 5G in Dual-SIM mode on ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, so if you use multiple lines, both can now connect at 5G speeds. Prior to now, Dual-SIM mode was limited to LTE networks.

With watchOS 7.4, iOS and iPadOS 14.5 include AirPlay 2 support for Apple Fitness+, so Apple Fitness+ subscribers can start a workout on an ‌iPhone‌ or iPAd and then AirPlay it to a compatible smart TV or set-top box. ‌AirPlay‌ 2 supports audio and video, but it does not display on-screen workout metrics.

PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers are supported on the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌iPad‌ with iOS 14.5, and code suggests that Apple is going to add joint account support for the Apple Card in the near future.

iOS 14.5 includes a Waze-like crowdsourcing feature for reporting accidents, hazards, and speed checks along a route in Maps when getting directions.

There's a new "Report" button available in the Apple Maps app that lets you tap to report an accident, hazard, or speed trap at your location in the ‌Apple Maps‌ app, which is a feature that mapping app Waze offers. This is available directly on the ‌iPhone‌ and in CarPlay.

There are several new emoji characters in the iOS 14.5 beta, with Apple introducing heart on fire, mending heart, exhaling face, face with spiral eyes, face in clouds, along with different gender options for people with beards. There are also new couple emojis that have new skin tone mixes.

Apple removed the blood from the syringe emoji, updated the Headphone emoji to look like the AirPods Max rather than a generic set of headphones, and added a helmet to the rock climbing emoji.

In the Find My app, there's a new "Items" tab that's been added, which will work with non-Apple products like Beats headphones and Belkin's wireless earbuds that have been designed to integrate with the ‌Find My‌ app. Anything item tracking function that uses Apple's ‌Find My‌ API will be shown here right alongside your Apple devices, and the Items tab will also work with AirTags when those are finally released.

The iOS 14.5 beta addresses the green tint issue that some ‌iPhone‌ owners have been experiencing, with Apple confirming that the beta has "optimizations" to help with the issue.

"iOS and iPadOS 14.5 beta 2 includes an optimization to reduce the appearance of a dim glow that might appear at reduced brightness levels with black backgrounds," reads Apple's iOS 14.5 beta notes. For some users, there are improvements thanks to the optimizations, but for others, the issue still appears to exist, so Apple may have some further work to do.

iOS 14.5 also includes a new process for recalibrating the battery health reporting in the ‌iPhone‌ 11, 11 Pro, and Pro Max. Apple says that the update recalibrates the maximum battery capacity and peak performance capacity on the ‌‌iPhone‌ 11‌ models to address inaccurate estimates of battery health reporting that some users have encountered.

iOS and iPadOS 14.5 add a new feature for choosing a preferred streaming music service to use with Siri. So if you prefer Spotify over Apple Music, for example, you can now choose Spotify as the app you want to use with ‌Siri‌ and all ‌Siri‌ song requests will go through Spotify without the need to add "on Spotify" to the end of ‌Siri‌ requests. This is a new ‌Siri‌ intelligence feature that works with music apps, podcast apps, and audiobook apps.

There are two new ‌Siri‌ voices in iOS 14.5, and ‌Siri‌ is no longer female by default in the United States, with users instead able to select their preferred Siri voice at setup.

iOS 14.5 is the update where Apple will begin requiring developers to comply with its App Tracking Transparency rules. Going forward, developers will need to ask for and receive your permission to access your random advertising identifier and track your activity across apps and websites.

Apple has made design tweaks to the Apple News and Podcasts apps, plus there are new print and sort options in Reminders. There are new settings for emergency alerts, a horizontal loading screen on the ‌iPad‌, and tons of other smaller feature tweaks that are outlined in our full iOS 14.5 features guide, which we've been keeping updated throughout the testing process.

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming watchOS 7.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming one week release of the sixth beta and over two months after the launch of watchOS 7.3 with "Time to Walk" functionality, expanded ECG availability, and a new Unity watch face.

To install the ‌watchOS 7.4 beta, developers need to download the proper configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once the profile is in place, the watchOS 7.4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌Apple Watch‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

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

Alongside iOS 14.5, watchOS 7.4 introduces a new "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature that lets an ‌iPhone‌ with Face ID use an unlocked and authenticated Apple Watch as a secondary authentication measure when you're wearing a mask, alleviating the need to enter a passcode to unlock the ‌iPhone‌.

‌Face ID‌ does not work when wearing a mask, but this new Apple Watch feature provides an easy but still secure way to access the ‌iPhone‌ without the hassle of a passcode. It's similar to the Apple Watch unlocking on Mac and can be enabled in the Settings app under ‌Face ID‌ & Passcode.

An unlocked Apple Watch paired with ‌Face ID‌ can unlock the ‌iPhone‌ when a mask is worn, but it's only for mask usage. The Apple Watch cannot be used to authenticate Apple Pay or App Store purchases, nor can it be used to unlock apps that require a ‌Face ID‌ scan. In these situations, the mask will need to be removed or a passcode/password will need to be used instead.

When the Apple Watch unlocks the ‌iPhone‌, you'll feel a haptic tap on the wrist and will receive a notification on the watch, similar to how it works when using the watch to unlock a Mac.

For those who use Apple Fitness+, the watchOS 7.4 update combined with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 enables AirPlay 2 for Apple Fitness+, so workouts can be streamed to an ‌AirPlay‌ 2-enabled TV or set-top box. Apple Watch metrics do not show up on the screen when AirPlayed, however, and that feature is limited to ‌iPhone‌/iPad/Apple TV.

Intel has been on a relentless marketing drive against Mac computers in recent weeks, positioning them as inferior to Windows laptops powered by Intel processors. In a slight slip-up, however, Intel has accidentally used a MacBook instead of a Windows laptop in one of its newest ads to promote one of its new 11th-generation chips as "the world's best processor."

The ad appeared on Reddit and was shared on Twitter by @juneforceone, and it features a man using what clearly seems to be a MacBook Pro. The ad's tagline says, "The world's best processor on a thin and light laptop," and is meant to promote the Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor.

The image Intel uses in the ad is actually a stock image offered by Getty Images, which clearly shows the laptop is indeed a ‌MacBook Pro‌ with an accompanying Magic Mouse.

Apple continues to sell Mac computers with Intel chips, despite its ongoing transition to its own Apple silicon. But while Apple still sells Intel-based Macs, the chip referenced in the ad is not used in any Mac, and in fact, it was launched around the same time Apple released its M1 Apple silicon chip late last year.

One of Intel's most notable marketing campaigns was launched last month and features former "I'm a Mac" actor Justin Long in a series of videos comparing a ‌MacBook Pro‌ powered with ‌M1‌ to a variety of Windows laptops. Even as the two companies go head to head, newly appointed Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says he hopes that his company will make Apple silicon chips in the future and have Apple as a normal client.

Apple's iPhone 12 lineup holds its value over 20 percent better than the Samsung Galaxy S21 range, according to data gathered by SellCell.

Despite having been on sale for considerably less time than the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup, with orders arriving from late January this year, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series is failing to hold its value as well as its main competitor.

By measuring each handset's suggested retail price against its monthly and total depreciation based on the value of "good" and "used" devices, SellCell was able to precisely calculate the depreciation of each device.

The ‌iPhone‌ 12 range has lost value by 18.1 to 33.7 percent since its launch in October 2020. The Samsung Galaxy S21 series, on the other hand, has seen significant depreciation of between 44.8 and 57.1 percent since its launch in January 2021.

The 64GB ‌iPhone‌ 12 and the 512GB ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro lost the most value with depreciation of 33.7 percent, while the 128GB iPhone 12 Pro Max was the smallest loser with depreciation of just 18.1 percent. The 512GB ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌, as the most expensive ‌iPhone‌ 12 model, still performed much better than the equivalent most expensive Samsung Galaxy S21 device, the 512GB Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which lost 53.3 percent of its value.

Similar losses are seen across the S21 lineup, with the 128GB Galaxy S21 losing 50.8 percent of its value, and the 256GB model losing 57.1 percent. Despite only launching in January 2021, all of the Samsung S21 handsets have lost almost 50 percent of their value, which seems like a very substantial loss considering they have only been on the market for three months.

It is also worth noting that, compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup, the S21 range costs more in a direct like-for-like comparison. Samsung's most expensive smartphone, for example, costs $1,599, compared to Apple's $1,399. This means that the losses on the Samsung devices are also much larger by the dollar as well as by percentage.

While the ‌iPhone‌ 12 handsets have also depreciated, their losses have occurred at a considerably slower rate, and a significantly lower percentage, not to mention the overall lower initial retail prices. This is also amid the ‌iPhone‌ 12 series having a two-month head start on launch. The markedly better performance of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 series in terms of resale value may be attributed to better existing demand for the same devices after the point of the initial sale.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's own personal information was among the details of 533 million Facebook users that leaked in a data breach, it has emerged.

Facebook has now confirmed that the leaked data was obtained not by a hack, but by scraping the platform prior to September 2019. The company now says that an exploit was found in its contact importer, but the "specific issue that allowed them to scrape this data in 2019 no longer exists."

Facebook has not clarified exactly what personal information leaked about the 533 million users, and has only said that "the information did not include financial information, health information or passwords." Although the company has not issued an apology over the data breach, it has said that Facebook is "focused on protecting people's data" and recommends that "people do regular privacy checkups to make sure that their settings are in the right place, including who can see certain information on their profile and enabling two-factor authentication."

Wired reported late last week that the personal information of a number of high-profile individuals was among the leaked details, including those of Zuckerberg:

The information from more than 500 million Facebook users in more than 106 countries contains Facebook IDs, phone numbers, and other information about early Facebook users like Mark Zuckerburg and US secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, as well as the European Union commissioner for data protection, Didier Reynders. Other victims include 61 people who list the "Federal Trade Commission" and 651 people who list "Attorney General" in their details on Facebook.

Pundits investigating the data breach also discovered that Zuckerberg is in fact a user of the encrypted messaging app Signal. Since WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, announced a number of changes to its privacy policy that would allow for more data sharing with its parent company, Signal has seen a surge in popularity, so it is interesting to see that the Facebook CEO himself is a user of the privacy-focused rival app.

Facebook and its subsidiary, Instagram, were found to be the most "invasive" apps for collecting data from users under Apple's app privacy labels. The company has also come under fire from security researchers for collecting and using data from link previews in Facebook Messenger and Instagram in a way that would breach European privacy law.

Facebook has suffered from major data breaches in the past. In 2018, a security vulnerability allowed hackers to steal data on 29 million Facebook users, including personal details about usernames, relationship status, religion, birthdate, location, and more.

Apple is on a trajectory to sell a record-breaking 240-250 million iPhones in the 2021 fiscal year, topping a previous record of 231 million iPhones sold in the 2015 fiscal year, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

"While the Street is forecasting roughly 220 million iPhone units for FY21, we believe based on this current trajectory and in a bull case Cupertino still has potential to sell north of 240 million units (~250 million could be in the cards - an eye popping figure) which would easily eclipse the previous Apple record of 231 million units sold in FY15," said Ives, in a research note shared with MacRumors today.

Ives estimates that 350 million iPhone users worldwide are currently "in the window of an upgrade opportunity," which he believes is "translating into an unprecedented supercycle upgrade cycle" for Apple this year.

If this forecast proves to be accurate, the iPhone 12 lineup could prove to be the most popular since the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which saw strong demand following their September 2014 launch due to their larger screen sizes. Samsung already offered multiple smartphones with screen sizes at or beyond the 5-inch mark at the time.

Starting with iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, Apple will be requiring apps to receive a user's permission to track their activity for targeted advertising purposes, as part of a privacy measure known as App Tracking Transparency.

To help advertisers adjust to this change, Apple today shared a new version of its "A Day in the Life of your Data" document with details on two privacy-preserving ad measurement technologies that advertisers can use to measure the impact of their ad campaigns without tracking users, including SKAdNetwork and Private Click Measurement.

Apple says SKAdNetwork lets advertisers know how many times an app was installed after ads for it were seen, without any user or device data being shared. Likewise, Private Click Measurement allows advertisers to measure the impact of ads that lead users to a website while minimizing data collection using on-device processing. Apps can use Private Click Measurement starting with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

"A Day in the Life of your Data" has also been updated with new information that details how advertisers bid in an auction to show their ad on a user's device, and how advertisers use ad attribution to optimize their ad campaigns.

Apple reiterated that iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5 will be released in early spring, but no specific timeframe was outlined. In a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the updates will be released in "just a few weeks."

Apple is opposing the trademarking of a bottled water business's logo since it argues that it can be easily mistaken for its own (via Law Street).

Apple filed a notice of opposition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board against Georgette LLC's logo, asserting that its brand will be damaged if the applicant's logo is registered because of dilution and the likelihood of consumer confusion, mistake, or deception.

Georgette's logo depicts a whole apple with the words "I am Arcus" over it, and with two leaves. Apple's logo, on the other hand, has a bite out of its right-hand side, and a single leaf. Apple says that the applicant's logo "features a stylized apple design with a right-angled, detached leaf, rendering it visually similar to Apple's famous Apple Marks."

Consumers encountering Applicant's Mark are likely to associate the mark with Apple. Applicant's Mark features a stylized apple design with a right-angled, detached leaf, rendering it visually similar to Apple’s famous Apple Marks. Indeed, the overall shape of Applicant's apple design is nearly identical to the shape of the Apple Logo

An image enclosed in the filing overlays Georgette's logo with Apple's logo, to reveal that they are even dimensionally similar.

Apple argues that since 1977 it has used its logo, which has gone on to become distinctive and gain a high level of consumer recognition and goodwill.

Applicant's Mark readily calls to mind Apple's famous Apple Logo given the visual similarities, and the Apple Marks are so famous and instantly recognizable that the similarities in Applicant's Mark will overshadow any minor differences and cause the ordinary consumer to believe that Applicant is related to, affiliated with or endorsed by Apple.

Beyond the obvious similarities between Apple's logo and that of Georgette, Apple is also arguing that it sells "goods related to beverages" featuring its logo, including mugs, thermal bottles, and water bottles, such as those available to customers exclusively at the Apple Park Visitor Center. Since Georgette wants to trademark its logo for "purified drinking water; bottled water," Apple believes this is even greater grounds to refuse the application.

Last year, Apple initiated trademark litigation with a small company called "Prepear," arguing that its pear-shaped logo was too similar to its own mark. Prepear ultimately changed its logo to bring the dispute to an end, but Apple continues to fiercely guard the trademark of its logo.

Apple hosts millions of apps on the App Store, calling the platform a "safe and trusted" place to discover apps. While mainly true, Apple has come under criticism for hosting many different scam apps on the platform, some even raking in millions in revenue.

In February, developer Kosta Elefherious highlighted how many of his own apps, including the popular Apple Watch keyboard, FlickType, gets blatantly copied on the ‌App Store‌. Eleftheriou says that copies of his apps can trick Apple's ‌App Store‌ algorithm into giving it prominence by fake ratings and five-star reviews.

Now, Eleftheriou has highlighted yet another scam app on the ‌App Store‌. This time Eleftheriou is shining a light on how one scam app called "Privacy Assitant: StringVPN" uses Apple's in-app purchasing system to trick people into purchasing either a weekly, monthly, or yearly subscription for a fake VPN service.

The scam app promises to offer a "full-featured" and "safe" VPN experience, but that's not the case. The app has a total of 104 reviews and a 3.5/5 rating at the time of writing. The majority of reviews praise the app as being "perfect" and say it offers "the best experience ever." The masses of fake reviews posted by the developer tricks Apple's ‌App Store‌ algorithm into boosting its appearance in search results, making it easier for other users to discover and download the app.

However, there are real reviews posted by users scammed by the app in the barrage of fake reviews. One user says the app tricked them into purchasing its yearly $89.99 subscription without the option to chose weekly or monthly, and notes how the app looks like a legitimate VPN app.

They did not show the different payment options for weekly or monthly. Yearly was the only option. I'm reporting to Apple to get a refund. There is no way to contact them directly, and there are no reviews when I did a Google search on this App... It tries to look like a "strongVPN" app, which has many positive reviews.

Other legitimate ‌App Store‌ reviews describe an experience in which they received a pop-up in Safari encouraging them to download the app, only for the app to scam them into purchasing its expensive "subscription."

ITS A SCAM!!!!! IF YOU GOT A SECURITY ALERT THROUGH SAFARI ITS A SCAM!!!! DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PUT YOUR INFO IN THIS APP!!!! THERE IS A REASON YOU CANT CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS!!!!!

Was charged for app from a pop up. Could not find a way to contact and request refund. Had to contact apple and report it. Was told I would be refunded. Still waiting for the refund. Will be reporting them over and over again!

As Eleftheriou notes, the app is grossing around $1 million per month by scamming users, and is even ranked #32 at the time of writing in the ‌App Store‌'s Utilities category.

There are other alarm bells, such as the fact that the app's website is blank, and the developer lists a fake email with a fake domain provider for its "privacy contact." In a previously issued statement, Apple said it does not "tolerate fraudulent activity on the ‌App Store‌" and that it will work hard to put in place "stringent rules against apps and developers who attempt to cheat the system."

Apple's in-app purchasing system, the center of this scamming tactic, has come under increased scrutiny recently. The criticism has come mainly from Epic Games, who are taking into question the fact that for every purchase made inside of an app, Apple takes a 30% commission from the revenue. In this case, even with the fake VPN app, Apple is earning a profit, at the expense of scammed users.

All school pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland, between the ages of 10 and 18 are set receive an iPad as part of the capital's "Edinburgh Learns for Life" program, the city's council has announced.

The initiative, which begins in September and runs through to the end of 2022, will see the local government issue 27,000 new iPads to pupils and staff, and 12,000 refreshed iPads for pupils and staff.

Younger pupils will also receive iPads, however the city has yet to provide the exact number of units that will be available.

The 1:1 deployment is being made possible thanks to a £17.6 million ($24 million) grant provided by way of a partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council's ICT services provider CGI. The initiative will also provide wireless access points and a comprehensive program of professional learning for teachers.

"This is a really exciting project which is going to be a real game-changer for the learning and teaching in our schools," said councillor Ian Perry, education convener for the City of Edinburgh Council. "Giving pupils their own device has been shown to improve outcomes and result in increased engagement and motivation for our young people. It will create a learning environment which will drive higher levels of creativity also improve teacher and learner collaboration."

According to the government's website, key benefits of the Empowered Learning program for young people will include:

• Fair and equal access from P6 to S6, ensuring all pupils have personal access to digital learning with their teacher in school or at home.
• Effective digital workflow to increase engagement, improve teacher feedback and raise attainment.
• A range of innovative accessibility features to improve access to the curriculum for pupils with additional support needs.
• Pupils can work online simultaneously in a class or collaboratively outside the classroom.
• High quality digital applications for productivity and creativity, providing more ways to personalise and choose how they learn.
• Development of learning, thinking and digital literacy skills vital for success in today’s rapidly evolving, technological society.

The rollout meets a key element of one of the 15 outcomes and actions from the Council's three year business plan "Our Future Council, Our Future City: increasing attainment for all and reducing the poverty-related attainment gap."

The initiative highlights the increasing adoption of digital devices in education since distance learning needs increased since the global health crisis took hold.

Last August, Apple and T-Mobile announced a collaboration to provide 1 million iPads with high-speed cellular connectivity to students across California, as part of advance planning for distance learning in the next school year.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Reddit for iOS and iPadOS now no longer supports iOS 12 and older, meaning that customers running a version of Apple's mobile operating system released more than two years ago will not be able to receive updates to the app.

Reddit announced the new change in its latest App Store update, saying that "Moving forward, we will only support iOS 13.0 and above." In simpler terms, users will now need an iPhone 6s or later to install the Reddit App following this week's App Store update. Luckily, the majority of active iPhones and iPad devices are running iOS 14, meaning the lack of support for older iOS firmware will not impact a significant amount of users.

In its ‌App Store‌ update, Reddit also introduced a new "double tap on images to zoom in" feature that gives users more ability to zoom into photos, much like the stock Photos app on iOS and iPadOS. For users looking for an alternative to the stock Reddit app, Apollo for Reddit remains a popular choice amongst users. [Direct Link]

According to the latest podcast analytics, Apple's Podcasts platform recently surpassed 2 million titles, however almost a quarter of those shows have only published one episode, suggesting the numbers are inflated by so-called "once-and-done" podcasts.

Breaking down the latest statistics provided by Podcast Industry Insights, industry advisor Amplifi Media found that 26% of listed podcasts have published just one episode, suggesting that many content creators immediately went out of business or else never intended to continue creating beyond their opening act.

Adjusting the mark, Amplifi found that 44% of podcasts have published three or fewer episodes, meaning if the arbitrary benchmark of a "real podcast" is set as a series of at least four episodes, then the total number of shows on Apple Podcasts is closer to 880,000.

Looking at podcasts offering ten or more episodes, a little more than a third of all titles have achieved this number (around 36%), which places around 720,000 podcasts at the ten-episode level.

The statistical breakdown suggests that "once-and-done" podcasts clutter up the ‌Apple Podcasts‌ library with what might be considered "dead-end" content. Indeed, according to Podnews.net's James Cridland, 63% of single episode podcasts came via Spotify's Anchor and another 16% came from iHeart's Spreaker, both of which are free-to-use hosting providers that appeal to new podcasters who are still experimenting with the medium.

Amplifi suggests that the way single-act runs inflate the 2 million number is equivalent to including TV shows that produced a pilot but never became a series in a list of all-time TV shows. Despite that assessment, however, Amplifi noted that not all podcasts are suited to multiple episodes:

Not all podcasts are meant to be unending series. You can find plenty of great and evergreen content designed to run for just a handful of episodes. That’s part of the beauty of podcasting, but the one-and-done titles unfairly inflate the overall number of podcasts, and it is revealing that 44% have three or fewer episodes.

Right now, the Podcasts app is free and Apple has no paid podcast content, but rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a paid podcast subscription service that would charge people to listen to podcasts.

With a paid subscription service, Apple could potentially lure high-profile creators with the promise of more money, stealing them away from other platforms like Spotify.

In perhaps a related move, Apple is making a small but notable change to the way listeners can sign up to get updates on new podcast content, with the company changing the word "Subscribe" to "Follow" in the Podcasts app in iOS 14.5.

The word "Subscribe" may have misled Podcasts users into thinking that the podcasts cost money to listen to, in which case the change in language could facilitates the later introduction of a podcasting subscription service and will prevent confusion in the future.

LG today announced the worldwide rollout of its 2021 sound bar lineup, complete with AirPlay 2 support for wirelessly streaming audio from Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The sound bars also support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

All of the 2021 sound bars support both the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound formats, while an "AI Room Calibration" feature promises optimal sound in any environment, using spatial awareness technology to measure a room's dimensions and customize the sound bar's audio settings accordingly. Many of the new models are also Hi-Res Audio certified for lossless playback at 24-bit/96kHz.

The new lineup includes models SP11RA, SP9YA, SP8YA, SP7Y, and SPD7Y, with additional models coming later this year. Availability will begin this month in key markets across North America and Europe, but pricing was not disclosed.

LG's press release includes a spec sheet with more details about the new sound bars.

Gazelle, a company that buys old iPhones, iPads, and Macs, has reinstated its device trade-in program after initially ending it in February.

Back in December, Gazelle announced plans to end its trade-in program in 2021, and said that it would shut down trade-in options on February 1, 2021. Gazelle stopped taking trade-ins at that time, but has since reversed course on the decision.

As of April 5, Gazelle is once again accepting online trade-ins for smartphones and tablets. In an email to customers that was also shared with The Verge, Gazelle said that trade-ins were reinstated after feedback from consumers.

Earlier this year, we announced that we will no longer be offering our trade-in option on Gazelle. After careful consideration, including feedback from customers like you, we have decided to keep Gazelle Trade-In going. Today, we are happy to say, 'We're back, baby!' Gazelle Trade-In is a pioneer of the electronics trade-in space and we are happy to continue building on our legacy by offering a simple process and immediate payouts for those unwanted devices.

When initially announcing that its online trade-in program was ending, Gazelle said that it would instead focus on its in-store ecoATM kiosks, which are designed to offer instant cash for devices.

Gazelle operates more than 4,000 ecoATM units across the United States and has collected more than 25 million devices.