MacRumors

A few weeks after Apple agreed to allow Russia to show iPhone users in the country suggested apps created by Russian developers, Russian users are seeing the list of app suggestions when setting up a new device.

As noted by Khaos Tian on Twitter, Russian users will see an App Store section featuring apps like Yandex Browser, Yandex Maps, ICQ, VK, and others during the ‌iPhone‌ startup process.

"In compliance with Russian legal requirements, here are some apps from Russian developers that you may download," reads the text of the popup, which resembles an ‌App Store‌ "Today" view card.

After going through standard ‌iPhone‌ setup procedures like setting light/dark mode, turning on True Tone, and adjusting Display Zoom, Russian users are directed to the list of apps that they can choose to download. Downloading the apps is optional and not required, and the apps are not installed automatically.

According to Russian site iPhones.ru, the ‌App Store‌ suggestions have been implemented server side, so Russian users will see them with no iOS update required. Users can choose the apps they want to install by tapping "Get," or can skip out of the screen without installing anything by tapping the "X."

Apple agreed to display the list of apps to comply with a law established by Russia's Ministry of Digital Affairs. The law requires software to be preinstalled on all devices sold in Russia, including smartphones, tablets, desktops, and smart TVs.

Apple said on March 16 that the app suggestions would be provided starting on April 1, and in addition to the apps listed during setup, Apple may also add a new section in the ‌App Store‌ that's dedicated to promoting Russian apps.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Twitter-owned app Periscope today announced that its dedicated app for the live video service will be shut down as of today. In a tweet, Periscope said that today is the last day that the Periscope app will be available.

Periscope first announced its planned shutdown in December of 2020, and said that the app was being shuttered because most of the Periscope functionality has now transitioned to the Twitter app.

The Periscope app was still available un an "unsustainable maintenance-mode state" with declining usage and rising costs, and the Periscope team said that leaving the app as is wasn't "doing right by the current and former Periscope community or by Twitter."

Periscope's core capabilities are available through Twitter, and the app has not allowed new account creation since last year. Broadcasts shared to Twitter will be available as replays, and all Periscope users will be able download an archive of broadcasts and data.

With the Periscope app gone, people will be able to broadcast using Twitter Live within the compose view by tapping on the in-app camera option. Brands, publishers, and creators can go live using Media Studio.

The tvOS 14.5 beta that was released this morning includes a code change that references an Apple TV remote control that features a "Center Button," which is a description that does not fit the current ‌Apple TV‌ remote.

"Press the center button or the touch surface to continue," reads the tvOS 14.5 code, which was discovered by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser.

The remote for the fourth and fifth-generation ‌Apple TV‌ models features a series of buttons that are arranged in two rows, with no button in the center.

There is an older "Apple Remote" with a center button that's designed for the second and third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ models and is compatible with the current ‌Apple TV‌ models, so it's possible that's what the code change is referencing, but it could also be referring to a new unreleased ‌Apple TV‌ remote.

The specific code that was found is in a "setup" app, which would make more sense for a new remote rather than an older remote, but we don't know for sure that this is a reference to a new ‌Apple TV‌ remote option. If it is indeed something new, the upcoming ‌Apple TV‌ remote could perhaps feature a design similar to the remote app on the iPhone, which features a large touch area, a main center Menu button, and side buttons for accessing Siri, play/pause, the Home screen, and search.

Apple is rumored to be working on a sixth-generation ‌Apple TV‌ that will feature an upgraded A-series chip and a revamped remote control. We haven't heard details on what the remote control might look like, but it could have a "Find My" feature for location purposes when lost.

In an earlier beta, Apple renamed the "‌Siri‌ Remote" to the "‌Apple TV‌ Remote," which is another possible reference to an unreleased ‌Apple TV‌ remote option.

Update: The code could be referring to a third-party ‌Apple TV‌ remote that's in development and which could be offered by Universal Electronics to cable, satellite, and MVPD companies. This remote also has a circular button, and an image of it was found in the beta by 9to5Mac.

It's possible the Universal Electronics remote will soon be available from various cable providers who will offer it alongside the ‌Apple TV‌, much like the Salt Remote sold by a Swiss telecommunications company.

Apple today added the late 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro, the first 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ to ship with a Retina display, to its list of obsolete products.

Apple first introduced the Retina display in its Mac lineup with the 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ released in mid-2012. In October of that year, Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display, flash storage, and upgraded processors.

The original 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ became obsolete in July of 2020, and the 13-inch model has now followed suit. Apple classifies products that have been discontinued for at least seven years as "obsolete," meaning that they are unable to receive any hardware service from Apple or its service providers.

Apple's iOS 14.5 beta that's currently in testing introduces a new process for recalibrating the battery health reporting on the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max.

As outlined in a support document, Apple says that the update will recalibrate 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.

Symptoms of this bug include unexpected battery drain behavior or in some cases, reduced peak performance capability. Apple says that the inaccurate battery health reporting does not reflect an issue with actual battery health.

Once the update is installed, ‌iPhone‌ 11 users will see a message in Settings > Battery > Battery Health about the recalibration process, which Apple says might take a few weeks.

Recalibration of maximum capacity and peak performance capability happens during regular charge cycles, and this process might take a few weeks. The displayed maximum capacity percentage will not change during recalibration. Peak performance capability might be updated, but this might not be noticeable by most users. If a previous degraded battery message was displayed, this message will be removed after updating to iOS 14.5.

When the recalibration is complete, the maximum capacity percentage and peak performance capability information will be updated. If the recalibration indicates that battery health has indeed significantly declined, users will see a battery service message.

In some cases, recalibration may not be successful and a battery service message will pop up. Apple says that it will replace these affected batteries free of charge to restore full performance and capacity.

The sixth beta of iOS 14.5 that was released this morning introduces two new Siri voices that are available in English, plus it adds a new setup selection option that will let people choose their preferred ‌Siri‌ voice rather than defaulting to a female voice in the United States.

The ‌Siri‌ changes were outlined by TechCrunch, and the site says that the two new voices will add more diversity in speech sound and pattern. Apple in a statement said that the change is a continuation of its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

We're excited to introduce two new Siri voices for English speakers and the option for Siri users to select the voice they want when they set up their device. This is a continuation of Apple's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and products and services that are designed to better reflect the diversity of the world we live in.

The new voices that have been added use source talent recordings run through Apple's Neural Engine to make the voices "flow more organically" through phrases generated on the fly.

After upgrading to iOS 14.5, the "‌Siri‌ & Search" portion of the Settings app has an upgraded "‌Siri‌ Voice" option. The "Accent" label has been changed to "Variety," and there's no longer a "Gender" selection. Instead, there are now four "American" voice options to choose from.

Today's beta also improves ‌Siri‌ voices in Ireland, Russia, and Italy to add Apple's Neural text to speech, which brings the total number of devices using this technology to 38. ‌Siri‌ now handles 25 billion requests on over 500M voices and supports 21 languages in 36 countries.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple today seeded the sixth 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 fifth 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 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.

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 sixth beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.3 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming one week after the launch of the fifth beta and more than a month after the release of macOS Big Sur 11.2, a bug fix update.

Developers can download the ‌‌macOS Big Sur‌‌ 11.3 beta using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile from the Apple Developer Center.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 introduces more customization options for Safari, adding a way to rearrange the different sections on the Start Page like Favorites, Reading List, Siri Suggestions, Privacy Report, and more. Developers also have access to a new integration to develop features for the Start Page.

The update also includes optimizations for using iOS apps on M1 Macs. When running iPhone and iPad apps on ‌M1‌ Macs, there's a Touch Alternatives preference pane that allows users to set keyboard commands for touch input alternatives, plus iPadOS apps launch with a larger window if the Mac's display allows it. Touch Alternatives can be enabled for ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ apps by clicking on the app's name in the menu bar and then selecting the Preferences option. Touch Alternatives let you customize taps, swipes, and drags.

Apple has also added a "Controller Emulation" feature that can be enabled for ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ apps to map game controller buttons to keyboard keys and mouse buttons. Controller Emulation will allow ‌‌iPhone‌‌ and ‌‌iPad‌‌ games that have controller support built in to be accurately controlled with a keyboard and/or mouse when those games are played on an ‌‌M1‌‌ Mac.

In the Reminders app, reminder lists can be sorted by Due Date, Creation Date, Priority, or Title, and there is an option to print lists by going to File > Print. Reminders can also be moved manually across lists with drag and drop, something that wasn't possible before.

Apple is adding a new "Made For You" library shortcut in Apple Music for finding personal mixes and Replay playlists, and the Listen Now section has been updated with support for highlighting live events.

The ‌Apple Music‌ app also features a new autoplay option that allows the streaming service to continue to play music after a playlist or music queue ends. ‌Apple Music‌ sources music similar to what's in a person's ‌Apple Music‌ library, similar to the autoplay feature added in iOS 14.

With this feature enabled, ‌Apple Music‌ audio will not end even after a playlist or album is over. To check that it's on, play a playlist or album and then click on the three dot/line menu button in the upper right hand corner. From there, make sure the infinity symbol is toggled on.

In the Apple News app, there's a redesigned ‌Apple News‌+ tab with a dedicated "For You" section and a new Browse tab that makes it easier to browse through available content. The new For You section is designed to help ‌Apple News‌+ users find favorite magazines and newspapers much faster, plus it adds new tools for managing downloaded issues.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 also adds support for the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X/S controllers for use with macOS games.

There's also an updated "Support" interface when accessing "About This Mac." The new design includes details on your warranty and it allows for starting a repair right from the Mac interface.

The tab works similarly to the AppleCare coverage menu in the iOS Settings app, which lets users request repairs, buy an ‌AppleCare‌ plan, and check their coverage.

For HomePod users, macOS Big Sur 11.3 brings support for ‌HomePod‌ Stereo pairs, allowing a set of paired HomePods to be set as the default sound output option, with the two HomePods showing up as a single selectable speaker rather than separate as in prior versions of macOS.

Code in macOS Big Sur 11.3 suggests that the Optimized Battery Charging feature will now make sure the Mac's battery is fully charged before a scheduled calendar event. The Mac will charge to 100 percent three hours before a calendar event's start time.

Optimized Battery Charging is designed to preserve the lifespan of the Mac's battery by limiting the amount of time that a Mac sits at 100 percent battery.

In Safari, there's support for WebM video playback, allowing users to play WebM videos using Apple's browser. WebM is a niche video format designed to be a royalty-free alternative to the H.264 codec used in the MP4 format. WebM allows video files to remain small without sacrificing quality and can be played with little processing power, making it ideal for webpages and browsers.

Code in macOS Big Sur 11.3 suggests that Rosetta could be removed from some ‌M1‌ Macs in some select regions after the software is released. There's a mention that "Rosetta is no longer available in this region. Applications requiring Rosetta will no longer run," but no additional information is available at this time.

There are also appear to be new assets that suggest a feature for mapping game controller buttons to keyboard layouts, and there's a Game Center toggle to enable or disable connections with friends, which lets games set you up with your friends or prevents apps from accessing that info.

More on macOS Big Sur can be found in our macOS Big Sur roundup.

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming watchOS 7.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming one week release of the fifth 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.

Apple is aiming to announce a mixed-reality headset at an in-person event sometime in the "next several months," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In a newsletter outlining the possible future of the company's WWDC conference taking place in an in-person format, Gurman says that Apple aims to release a mixed-reality headset, the first major new device since 2015, at an in-person sometime in the "next several months." Apple last held an in-person event in September of 2019. All events since have been held digitally due to the global health crisis.

Sometime in the next several months, the company is poised to announce a mixed reality headset, its first major new device since 2015. If possible, Apple won't want to make such a critical announcement at an online event. It wants employees, the media, its partners and developers in the room.

Bloomberg has previously reported that Apple's first AR/VR headset will be a high-end, pricey, and "niche" device aimed at developers. Internally, Apple believes it could sell just one headset per day at its retail locations. If the expectation comes true, it will sell just around 180,000 units a year at its 500 stores.

Bloomberg has previously stated that Apple is aiming for a product launch as soon as next year. Given today's new information, Apple may preannounce the headset to give developers time to prepare for the new VR experience. Apple made a similar move with its announcement of Apple Silicon for the Mac, in which it announced the transition at WWDC in June, months before it released the first Macs with its own chip in order to give developers time to prepare their apps.

The headset is rumored to include dual 8K displays, eye-tracking, and more than a dozen cameras for tracking hand movements. The headset would be a direct competitor to others already on the market, such as Facebook's Oculus Rift, which has largely been used for gaming.

After the initial headset, Apple's planning to release a more mainstream augmented reality product. According to Bloomberg, that product, informally dubbed Apple Glasses, is still "several years away," however. For everything we know about Apple's AR/VR plans, head over to our dedicated roundup.

Apple has announced that it will report its earnings results for the second quarter of the 2021 fiscal year on Wednesday, April 28. The earnings report should be released at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, followed by a conference call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time with Apple's CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri to discuss the results in more detail.

The earnings report will provide an overview of Apple's revenue and profits earned from December 27, 2020 through March 27, 2021, according to the company's fiscal calendar. This period was relatively uneventful for Apple, with no product launches of significance. In fact, Apple discontinued a few products during the quarter, including the iMac Pro and the full-size HomePod, the latter of which remains available while supplies last.

Apple reported revenue of $58.3 billion in the year-ago quarter, and the company is forecasted to report significantly higher revenue of $76.9 billion for this quarter, according to 27 analyst estimates averaged by Yahoo Finance; this would top Apple's record second quarter revenue of $61.1 billion set in the 2018 fiscal year.

Apple has thrived financially during the pandemic, as more customers rely on the company's products to work, learn, and connect with others from home.

Arizona's proposed state bill "HB2005", that would provide developers with an alternative to Google and Apple's in-app purchase options by allowing developers to use their own payment solutions within apps, appears to have been abandoned after intense lobbying (via The Verge).

The bill was advanced through the Arizona House Committee and the Arizona House of Representatives, before it was set to be voted upon by the state Senate. The Senate chose to pull the bill "at the last minute" after a sudden loss of support.

Arizona is due to conclude its congressional session next month with no plans to hear HB2005 again. The bill's sponsors told The Verge that "its fate is effectively sealed for the rest of the year."

The primary goal of the bill was to allow developers to bypass Apple and Google's 30 percent commission on in-app purchases, while pushing Apple to allow entire alternative app stores on iOS and making it illegal for big tech companies to act against developers for attempting to bypass app store policies.

Apple has described such legislation as having the potential to "destroy the iPhone as you know it" by opening it up to security risks and undermining the revenue that supports the App Store's infrastructure.

Last month, Apple successfully fought back against a similar bill in North Dakota, which would have paved the way for third-party app store options.

Like the North Dakota bill, the Arizona bill was backed by the Coalition for App Fairness, a group that includes companies like Epic Games, Spotify, Basecamp, and Tile, all of which have had significant issues with Apple's ‌‌App Store‌‌ rules. There is currently a similar bill in Minnesota that Apple is also battling against.

Congressional members in Arizona have now said that lobbying from big tech companies had a significant effect on the bill's chances of success immediately before it went up for a vote.

State Representative Regina Cobb claims that Apple and Google "hired almost every lobbyist in town," which caused Senate members who had previously agreed to support the bill to hesitate. "We thought we had the votes before we went to the committee yesterday, and then we heard that the votes weren't there and they weren't going to take the time to put it up," she explained. Commerce Committee Chair J.D. Mesnard similarly told The American Prospect:

I polled the committee members and there just wasn't enough support for it. A number of members were conflicted on it, others were just opposed. There was some support for it, but it definitely was coming up short.

The Coalition for App Fairness has said that it will continue the fight in spite of the two defeats of meaningful legislation that would change Apple and Google's control over their platforms.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple today announced over 110 of its manufacturing partners around the world have committed to using 100 percent renewable energy for their Apple-related production. Once achieved, Apple says these commitments will prevent over 15 million metric tons of CO2e annually, the equivalent of taking more than 3.4 million cars off the road each year.

Apple already announced some manufacturing partners committed to using 100% renewable energy in the past, such as iPhone assemblers Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron, chipmaker TSMC, and iPhone display glass maker Corning.

Apple is also investing directly in renewable energy projects, including a new California Flats solar farm that helps power its corporate headquarters. The farm is capable of storing up to 240 megawatt-hours of excess energy generated from intermittent sources, including wind and solar, and deploying it when it is most needed.

Last year, Apple unveiled a plan to ​become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030, and the company says it has made steady progress towards this target.

"We are firmly committed to helping our suppliers become carbon neutral by 2030 and are thrilled that companies who've joined us span industries and countries around the world, including Germany, China, the US, India, and France," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. "In a year like no other, Apple continued to work with a global network of colleagues, companies, and advocates to help make our environmental efforts and everything we do a force for good in people's lives — and to work alongside the communities most impacted by climate change."

Overall, Apple says it has seen consistent reductions in its carbon footprint, even as net revenue increased. The company says its footprint has decreased by 40 percent, and it has avoided more than 15 million metric tons of emissions through initiatives to use low-carbon materials, drive energy efficiency, and switch to clean energy.

Independent music distributor UnitedMasters has announced a $50 million investment round led by Apple that aims to help independent artists gain a foothold and establish a career in the music business (via TechCrunch).

As part of a strategic partnership, Apple is joined by Google parent company Alphabet and A16z, which will provide follow-on "Series B" investments in UnitedMasters.

The mission of the distribution platform is to enable artists to "maintain full ownership over their work while expanding their economic opportunity and introducing them to millions of new fans." To that end, UnitedMasters aims to furnish musicians with data on how fans interact with their content and community, allowing them to connect more directly to offer tickets, merchandise and other commercial efforts.

"We want all artists to have the same opportunity," UnitedMasters CEO Steve Stoute told TechCrunch. "Currently, independent artists have less opportunity for success and we're trying to remove that stigma."

"Every artist needs access to a CTO. Some of the value of what a manager is today for an artist needs to be transferred to that role."

UnitedMasters has deals with the NBA, ESPN, TikTok, Twitch and others that gives artists access to big brand deals that would traditionally be negotiated by a label and manager. It also has a direct distribution app through which musicians can publish to all of the major streaming services, as well as check stream, fan and earnings data at a glance.

"Steve Stoute and UnitedMasters provide creators with more opportunities to advance their careers and bring their music to the world," said Apple's Eddy Cue in a release statement. "The contributions of independent artists play a significant role in driving the continued growth and success of the music industry, and UnitedMasters, like Apple, is committed to empowering creators."

The strategic partnership is relatively unique for Apple, which typically likes to acquire companies rather than invest in them, and when it chooses to do the latter it usually does so through its Advanced Manufacturing Fund.

That said, the mission of the platform appears to have much in common with Apple Music Connect, the social network for artists that was originally part of Apple Music when it launched in 2015, but soon faded into obscurity before becoming officially defunct in December 2018.

The International Air Transport Association, or IATA, announced today that it plans to launch a digital travel passport for COVID-19 test results and vaccination certificates on Apple's App Store around April 15.

As reported by Reuters, IATA has had the digital passport in development for the past few months and is currently undergoing beta testing. Initial plans called for the digital pass to launch at the end of March, but undisclosed reasons pushed the release into mid-Apri.

The app will show whether a person has tested positive for COVID-19 and may become the international standard for proving someone has been vaccinated.

Kamil Alawadhi, IATA's regional VP for Africa and the Middle East, says the new app will only become valid when counties, airports, and airlines adopt it and make it a requirement. Already, UK-based airline Virgin Atlantic said that it would begin a trial of the pass with a flight on April 16 from London to Barbados, which will require travelers to present upon arrival.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Facebook today announced a slew of new changes coming to its app on iOS and Android, making it easier for users to turn off the algorithmically-ranked News Feed, and new tools for controlling who can comment on posts.

Facebook previously rolled out a new Favorites timeline, allowing users to specify their favorite friends, family members, and pages, and access their posts in one place. Facebook's now building on that functionality with a new Most Recent mode that will show posts in chronological order instead of based on an algorithm.

The Feed Filter Bar offers easier access to Most Recent too, making it simpler to switch between an algorithmically-ranked News Feed and a feed sorted chronologically with the newest posts first. Android app users can access the Feed Filter Bar when they scroll up on News Feed. The same functionality will be available in the iOS app in the coming weeks. Regardless of how often you use them, you can find Most Recent and Favorites in the Shortcuts menu.

The new mode, or timeline, will be available on iOS in the coming weeks, but is already available on Android. Additionally, Facebook offers tools to turn off political ads, and the ability to "Snooze" a specific page or person to stop seeing their posts.

Other changes coming to the Facebook timeline include the social-media giant offering users more context as to why they may be seeing a specific post. For content labeled "Suggested for You," users can now learn what factors triggered Facebook's algorithm to suggest the post to you. Factors may include past related posts you've engaged with, topics that interest you, or your location.

Related engagement: A post may be suggested for you if other people who interacted with the post also previously interacted with the same group, Page or post as you.

Related topics: If you've recently engaged with a certain topic on Facebook, we may suggest other posts that are related to that topic. For example, if you recently liked or commented on a post from a basketball Page, we could suggest other posts about basketball.

Location: You may see a suggested post based on where you are and what people near you are interacting with on Facebook.

Lastly, following in the footsteps of Twitter, Facebook will now allow users to specify who can comment on their posts. Users can choose to have anyone be able to comment, just friends, or only profiles and pages mentioned in the post.