MacRumors

Apple appears to be planning a meeting-friendly improvement to its Optimized Battery Charging feature on the Mac in macOS 11.3.

New code in the second beta of macOS 11.3, discovered by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, suggests that the upcoming software update will ensure a Mac is fully charged to 100% prior to a scheduled calendar event, such as a meeting.

macOS 11.3 will ensure that a Mac finishes charging to 100% three hours prior to a calendar event's start time, the code suggests, although the exact timing may vary depending on whether an alert is set for the calendar event.

Macs running macOS 10.15.5 or later have an Optimized Battery Charging feature that helps to reduce wear on the battery and improve its lifespan by learning the user's daily charging routine. The feature delays charging the battery past 80% when it predicts the user will be connected to power for an extended period of time, and aims to charge the battery before they unplug from power, according to Apple.

Optimized Battery Charging can be toggled on or off in System Preferences > Battery > Battery on both Intel-based and M1-based Macs, but there are certain other battery health management features that cannot be disabled on M1-based Macs.

Popular Mac accessory makers CalDigit and OWC have today announced new all-in-one Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 cables, promising maximum data and power transfer over a single cable, as well as full compatibility with older USB devices.

Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 is the latest connectivity specification present in the newest Macs and high-end external hardware, offering performance up to 40Gb/s, making it ideal for eGPUs, SSDs, external displays, and more.

CalDigit and OWC's new Thunderbolt 4 cables feature maximum power and data transfer capability. The cables deliver power up to 100W, making them appropriate for docking stations or monitors that can supply power, and support external displays with resolutions up to 8K.

Many previous generations of longer Thunderbolt cables lacked compatibility with USB-C devices, resulting in reduced transfer speeds, but both of the new CalDigit and OWC cables are fully compatible with USB-C. This also guarantees full compatibility with both Thunderbolt and USB-C monitors, the best possible performance for USB-C devices, and the ability to connect USB-C devices to Thunderbolt ports, giving users a large amount of versatility from a single cable.

The CalDigit cable is available in a length of 2m and the OWC cable is available in 0.8m only. CalDigit also supports its new cable with a two-year warranty, while OWC's features a three-year warranty.

The OWC 0.8m Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C Cable is available now for $27.99 on MacSales.com, while the CalDigit 2m Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C Cable is available on the CalDigit website for $79.99.

The second beta of iOS 14.5 seeded to developers and public beta testers this week enables users to stream Apple Fitness+ workouts to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs, allowing the videos to be watched on the big screen without an Apple TV.

Apple already announced that Apple Fitness+ was gaining AirPlay support in iOS 14.5, but the feature was not working in the first beta.

One caveat of using Apple Fitness+ with AirPlay is that Apple Watch metrics are not displayed on the screen, as they are when using the service with an Apple TV, iPhone, or iPad. Activity rings, calories burned, workout time remaining, and burn bars will not show up on the TV when streaming workouts with AirPlay 2, but users can still glance at their connected Apple Watch and iPhone or iPad to view that information.

AirPlay 2-enabled TVs are available from a variety of brands, including Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio. Roku TVs sold by brands like TCL, Sharp, and Hisense also support AirPlay 2, or users can connect a Roku streaming stick to their existing smart TV via the HDMI port as a cost-effective way of streaming Apple Fitness+ workouts via AirPlay 2.

iOS 14.5 should be released to all users by late March or early April, but anyone can sign up to be a public beta tester for free to access this feature early.

Apple Fitness+ launched in December, providing subscribers with access to a library of workout videos updated on a weekly basis. The service is currently available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, with pricing set at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year after a one-month trial.

Safari features support for WebM video playback in the second beta of macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta, indicating that Apple's browser will finally support the format after failing to do so for almost 11 years.

The added functionality, first spotted by The 8-Bit, allows users to play WebM videos in Safari for the first time.

WebM is a 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 excessively, and can be played with little processing power, making it ideal for webpages and browsers.

WebM was launched by Google in 2010, but has never been supported in Safari. This meant that Safari users have been forced to download WebM content and play it in a compatible media player, or simply use another browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Today, WebM is among the more niche video formats, primarily being used on sites such as imageboards and forums. It is also often chosen for its support for transparent video playback.

In 2010, Steve Jobs implied that WebM was "a mess" and "not ready for primetime." It is unclear why Apple has finally deemed WebM a format worth supporting 11 years after its launch, but it may be partially due to the fact that Apple officially backs the H.264 codec.

WebM also has a sister project called WebP for images. Last year, Apple added support for WebP in Safari 14, so the company's approach to more niche media formats appears to be softening. WebM support still appears to be unavailable on iOS, but in light of these developments it would be unsurprising if Apple's WebKit engine added support for it too in due course.

Instagram has confirmed that a bug is preventing proper Instagram URL previews from appearing in iMessage conversations. In a statement to Mashable, Instagram says the behavior is not normal, and that it's "working to resolve Instagram link previews in iMessage so that they load normally."

The lack of link previews was first brought up on Reddit around two months ago, so it seems the issue has been going on for a long time. Mashable implies that Instagram was not aware of the bug until it reached out for comment, which triggered the Facebook-owned social network to conduct an investigation.

Normally, sending an Instagram URL on iMessage generates a preview of the photo/video, alongside the account which posted it, and a snippet of the caption. Now, the bug is causing links to appear without the thumbnail preview or related information.

Thankfully, there is a logical explanation as to why this is occurring. Security research team Mysk did some digging at the behest of Mashable to backward engineer iMessage and Instagram. The team found that when iMessage attempts to fetch the metadata for the link, Instagram directs the request to its login page. Instagram's login page doesn't hold metadata, which includes a thumbnail of the post.

Mysk is the same security team that, earlier this month, found that Facebook and Instagram link previews could be violating EU privacy laws. Mysk believes that the preview of the link that is generated when a URL is sent in Facebook Messenger and Instagram may be infringing on multiples articles of the ePrivacy directive, which states that personal data can only be accessed by authorized personnel for legal purposes.

As a result, Facebook no longer generates link previews for EU users in Messenger and Instagram. There's no indication, however, that the bug with iMessage is related to the reported breach of privacy law, so it certainly seems to be an issue on Instagram's side.

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 is hiring engineers to work on next-generation 6G wireless technology, based on job listings spotted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The listings are for positions at Apple's offices in Silicon Valley and San Diego, where the company works on wireless technology development and chip design, according to Gurman's report.

"You will have the unique and rewarding opportunity to craft next generation wireless technology that will have deep impact on future Apple products," according to the job announcement. "In this role you will be at the center of a cutting-edge research group responsible for creating next generation disruptive radio access technologies over the next decade."

People hired for the positions will "research and design next generation (6G) wireless communication systems for radio access networks" and "participate in industry/academic forums passionate about 6G technology."

Apple only adopted 5G connectivity in its iPhones last year, and 6G isn't expected to roll out until around 2030, but the job listings indicate Apple is eager to get involved at the earliest stages in the development of the new technology.

Late last year, Apple joined the Next G Alliance, an industry group set up by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) that seeks to "advance North American mobile technology leadership in 6G and beyond over the next decade, while building on the long-term evolution of 5G."

The Next G Alliance held its first meeting for members in November to set the initiative's overarching direction and strategy. The other members of the group include Charter, Cisco, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Keysight Technologies, LG, Mavenir, MITRE, and VMware.

In September, AT&T said that it already has engineers working on next-generation 6G networking. Some analysts say the technology could enable speeds more than 100 times faster than 5G, but again, the technology isn't expected to arrive for several years to come.

The move continues a trend of Apple preferring to develop in-house hardware for its devices, rather than relying on third-parties. In 2019, Apple and Qualcomm settled a legal battle and reached a multiyear chipset supply agreement that paved the way for Apple to use Qualcomm's 5G modems in iPhone 12 models.

Beyond that, a court document from the settlement revealed that Apple will likely use the the Snapdragon X60 modem for 2021 iPhones, followed by the world's first 10 Gigabit 5G modem, the Snapdragon X65, in 2022 iPhones.

The Snapdragon X65 could be the last Qualcomm modem used in iPhones, however, as Barclays analysts and multiple other sources have forecasted that Apple will switch to its own in-house 5G modem for iPhones by 2023.

Apple supplier Pegatron says it has spent $14.2 million to buy the rights to use a plot of land for building a factory in Channai, India.

Via a DigiTimes report:

Pegatron will set up a manufacturing base on the factory site mainly for production of iPhone smartphones, with production to begin the earliest in the second half of 2021, according to industry sources, adding Pegatron plans to employ about 14,000 workers there.

Pegatron is Apple's second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn, and in June of last year registered a wholly-owned subsidiary called Pegatron Technology India. In late 2020, its board of directors approved a proposal to spend $150 million to build its first ‌iPhone‌ manufacturing plant in the country.

Pegatron has been cleared to take part in India's billion-dollar Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, which provides incentives on locally-produced smartphones. The Taipei-based assembler joins rival ‌‌iPhone‌‌ manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron, which are already signed up to the scheme.

Pegatron has also established a Vietnam-based wholly-owned subsidiary, Pegatron Vietnam, with initial paid-in capital of $150 million, some of which was used in late 2020 to acquire land in Haiphong, where it plans to set up a production base.

The ‌iPhone‌ assembler recently drew the ire of Apple after it was discovered that the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ supplier had been committing labor violations at a student workers' program at its Shanghai and Kunshan campuses in eastern China.

Apple put Pegatron on probation as a result of the violations, and while the supplier's current ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ business is not expected to be affected, it could lose some ‌iPhone‌ 12 orders to rival Luxshare next year.

Facebook has followed through on its threat to ban users from sharing news on its platform in Australia, in response to proposed media laws in the country that the company claims "fundamentally misunderstand" its relationship with publishers who share news content.

The move is a retaliation to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) proposed Media Bargaining law, which seeks to redress the balance in terms of the bargaining power between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms.

The law would allow Australian news publications to negotiate for fair payment for their journalist's work, effectively forcing social media companies to pay for news content.

Facebook and Google have had three months to negotiate with Australian media organizations to find a solution, but those discussions have failed to reach an agreement. Facebook concluded that the law "seeks to penalize Facebook for content it didn't take or ask for," while an inquiry last month saw Google go so far as to threaten to pull its search engine from the country entirely.

Facebook' decision means Australian news publishers are no longer able to share stories on the platform, while Facebook users won't be able to see or share international news to local Facebook users. At the same time, Facebook users overseas won't be able to read or share Australian content.

Announcing the change in a press release, Facebook explained its reasoning behind the nationwide content block and its total opposition to the proposed change in law:

The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content. It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.

This discussion has focused on US technology companies and how they benefit from news content on their services. We understand many will ask why the platforms may respond differently. The answer is because our platforms have fundamentally different relationships with news. Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content. On the other hand, publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue.

In fact, and as we have made clear to the Australian government for many months, the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favor of the publishers — which is the reverse of what the legislation would require the arbitrator to assume. Last year Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million.

For Facebook, the business gain from news is minimal. News makes up less than 4% of the content people see in their News Feed. Journalism is important to a democratic society, which is why we build dedicated, free tools to support news organisations around the world in innovating their content for online audiences.

Australia's communications minister Paul Fletcher hit out at the decision, telling Australia's ABC News this morning that Facebook needs to "think very carefully about what this means for its reputation and standing."

"They're effectively saying, on our platform, there will not be any information from organizations which employ paid journalists, which have fact checking processes, editorial policies," said Fletcher. "They're effectively saying any information that is available on our site does not come from these reliable sources."

The fallout from the ban is already impacting a range of Facebook-hosted organizations in the country, with the ban curtailing access to the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Queensland Health, and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA. Other pages for charities, politicians, sports groups, and other non-news organizations have also been affected.

However, the Australian government is standing by the law, which passed the lower house of parliament on Wednesday. It has broad cross-party support and will be debated again in parliament on Thursday, according to the BBC.

"We will legislate this code. We want the digital giants paying traditional news media businesses for generating original journalistic content," said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg who added that "the eyes of the world are watching what's happening here". He said he'd also had a discussion with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg which had been "constructive".

The decision by the social network has been met with anger among many of its Australian users, with the hashtag #DeleteFacebook currently trending on Twitter.

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.

Google has just rolled out a new pay for parking feature in the U.S. that lets Android users pay for street parking and mass transit fares right from within Google Maps, without having to come in contact with a parking meter or ticket machine.

These days, people are upping their hand sanitizing game and avoiding touching public surfaces as much as possible. Thanks to an integration with parking solutions providers Passport and ParkMobile, you can now easily pay your meter right from driving navigation in Maps, and avoid touching the meter altogether.

According to Google, users will get a "Pay for Parking" button in the driving navigation interface when they're nearing their destination, and when they arrive they can enter a meter number, input the amount of time they want to park for, and then hit "Pay" to use Google Pay. If users need to extend the time they need to park for, they can easily extend your parking session with just a few taps.

Google says it is also expanding the ability to pay for transit fares from Maps for over 80 transit agencies around the world, meaning users will be be able to plan their trip, buy their fare, and start riding without needing to switch between apps.

When you get transit directions, you'll see the option to pay with your phone with the credit or debit cards already linked to your Google Pay account. And in places like the San Francisco Bay Area, you'll also be able to buy a digital Clipper card directly from Google Maps.

Once you've purchased your fare, all you need to do is tap your phone on the reader or show your digital ticket to breeze on board.

Pay for parking is rolling out now in the U.S. on Android in over 400 cities, and Google says the same features will soon be coming to iPhone owners who use Google Maps – presumably via Apple Pay integration.

Apple is looking to begin iPad production in India by participating in a new government proposed scheme to increase India's exports of computer parts and products, according to sources cited by Reuters.

Last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new PLI (performance-linked incentive) scheme to encourage major companies, such as Apple, to produce more products in the country. The scheme has a government budget of nearly $1 billion and offers suppliers and manufacturers a cashback for exports.

The new scheme, reported today, is aimed directly at boosting the production of IT products such as tablets, laptops, and servers. Apple is reportedly among a group of companies lobbying the Indian government to increase the budget of the new proposal to $2.7 billion, to compensate for the lack of supply chain infrastructure needed to produce IT products, such as tablets and the ‌iPad‌.

A source cited by Reuters says that the Indian government "is asking Apple to get iPads assembled by its contract manufacturers here, the non-Chinese companies." Currently, three Apple suppliers operate in the country: Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron. Out of the three, it's not clear which one would be responsible for producing the ‌iPad‌, or which ‌iPad‌ model would be produced.

A report by Nikkei Asia last month reported similar ambitions by Apple to increase local production of the ‌iPad‌, alongside the iPhone and Mac in India. The report cited production beginning as early as the middle of this year, which seems to line up with the expected announcement of the new Indian PLI scheme.

A number of Apple suppliers have already begun operations in India. Last year, ‌iPhone‌ supplier Pegatron reportedly increased its investment in India to $150 million, and an earlier report cited that Apple may be planning to produce up to $40 billion worth of smartphones in the country.

Despite the efforts by the tech-giant to boost the production of products outside of China and into India, recent riots have put a dampener on the pace of those efforts. In December, workers at a factory owned by supplier Wistron went on a rampage, ransacking and damaging the site over claims of unpaid wages. In response, Apple placed the supplier on probation and found that it had violated its "Supplier Code of Conduct." Apple has yet to remove the supplier from probation.

The Clipper card, used for transit in the San Francisco Bay Area, appears set to gain support for Apple Pay with Express Transit mode in the near future.

With ‌Apple Pay‌ integration, Clipper cards will be able to be added to iPhone and Apple Watch and used for BART, Caltrain, Muni, VTA and more. Express Transit Mode will be supported, which means transit can be authenticated with just a tap, and no need to use Face ID, Touch ID, or touch a vending machine.

Though BART and Muni will offer tap authentication, Apple says that using the Clipper card with ‌Apple Pay‌ on SFMTA cable cars and other transit services with handheld card readers will require authentication with ‌Face ID‌, ‌Touch ID‌, or a passcode.

Apple has set up an Apple Pay website for the Clipper card, allowing those in the San Francisco Bay Area to be notified when the ‌Apple Pay‌ feature launches.

Malware specifically tailored to run on Apple's M1 chip has been discovered, indicating that malware authors have begun adapting malicious software for Apple's new generation of Macs with Apple silicon.

Mac security researcher Patrick Wardle has now published a report, cited by Wired, that explains in detail how malware has started to be adapted and recompiled to run natively on the ‌M1‌ chip.

Wardle discovered the first known native ‌M1‌ malware in the form of a Safari adware extension, originally written to run on Intel x86 chips. The malicious extension, called "GoSearch22," is a well-known member of the "Pirrit" Mac adware family and was first spotted at the end of December. Pirrit is one of the oldest and most active Mac adware families, and has been known to constantly change in an attempt to evade detection, so it is unsurprising that it has already begun adapting for the ‌M1‌.

The GoSearch22 adware presents itself as a legitimate Safari browser extension, but collects user data and serves a large number of ads such as banners and popups, including some that link to malicious websites to proliferate more malware. Wardle says the adware was signed with an Apple Developer ID in November to further conceal its malicious content, but it has since been revoked.

Wardle notes that since malware for the ‌M1‌ is still at an early stage, antivirus scanners are not detecting it as easily as x86 versions and defensive tools like antivirus engines are struggling to process the amended files. The signatures used to detect threats from malware on the ‌M1‌ chip have not yet been substantially observed, so the security tools to detect and deal with it are not yet available.

Researchers from security company Red Canary told Wired that other types of native ‌M1‌ malware, distinct from Wardle's findings, have also been found and are being investigated.

Only the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini have Apple silicon chips at this time, but the technology is expected to expand across the Mac lineup over the next two years. Given that all new Mac computers are expected to feature Apple silicon chips like the ‌M1‌ in the near future, it was somewhat inevitable that malware developers would eventually start to target Apple's new machines.

While the M1-native malware that researchers have found does not seem to be unusual or particularly dangerous, the emergence of these new varieties acts as a warning that there is likely more to come.

See Wardle's full report for more information about the first M1-native malware.

A group of mobile advertising companies today announced the launch of the Post-IDFA Alliance, a partnership that's designed to help marketers and app developers adjust to the ad tracking changes that Apple is implementing with the launch of iOS 14.5, reports Reuters.

The Post-IDFA Alliance will offer up tips that will help advertisers and developers get effective ads in front of customers and measure the efficiency of those ad campaigns. The group is planning to offer videos, webinars, and other materials to help advertisers understand how to use data in an "Apple-friendly manner."

"No IDFA? No Problem," reads the website, which also offers articles like "What does the IDFA change mean? and "How does SKAdNetwork work?" SKAdNetwork is a privacy-focused ad platform that Apple is providing to developers as an alternative to current ad tracking measures.

The partnership includes Liftoff, Fyber, Chartboost, Singular, InMobi and Vungle, all of which are mobile advertising companies that will be impacted by Apple's upcoming changes.

Starting with the launch of iOS 14.5, Apple will begin enforcing App Tracking Transparency, a feature first announced when iOS 14 debuted following the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Apple delayed the implementation of the feature to give developers extra time to adjust, but the delays are ending in early spring.

With App Tracking Transparency, developers are no longer able to access a user's IDFA or advertising identifier on the iPhone or the iPad without first obtaining express user permission. When access to the IDFA is declined, apps are also expected not to use workaround methods to track users against their wishes as well.

The IDFA is used by app developers and ad companies to track user behavior across apps and websites for ad targeting purposes, something that will no longer be possible when people begin declining to allow ad tracking functionality.

Users will be able to disable ad tracking on an app-by-app basis, with apps required to show a pop up that will ask users if they want to be tracked. Ad companies assume that the majority of people are going to decline this request, which will have a broad impact on advertising on iOS devices going forward.

Facebook has been the most vocally against Apple's planned ad tracking changes because App Tracking Transparency will impact Facebook's ad revenue. Facebook has claimed that Apple is harming small businesses, but Facebook's own employees have criticized the anti-Apple campaign and the EFF has called Facebook's efforts to get Apple to drop the privacy changes "laughable."

Brydge today announced the upcoming launch of a new beta firmware update designed for the Pro+ keyboards, which launched last spring. The Pro+ keyboards feature integrated trackpads and came out ahead of when Apple added dedicated trackpad support to iPadOS.

The software available from Brydge adds native multi-touch capabilities and should much improve the trackpad experience of the Pro+ keyboard. We reviewed the keyboard back in March and found the trackpad to be inferior as it wasn't initially designed with Apple's integrations in mind.

According to Brydge, the firmware will bring a "natural" multi-touch experience, with the update available through the Brydge Connect app. Using the new beta firmware requires customers to have the iPadOS 14.5 update installed.

Brydge Pro+ keyboard users who want to try out the new firmware update can sign up on the Brydge website. The first 500 who sign up for the public beta will be able to access the firmware on February 24, while others will get access on March 3. For a limited time, Brydge is also offering up to 25% off on Pro+ keyboards.

Brydge today also announced the launch of the 10.2 MAX+ wireless keyboard case with trackpad, which is designed to work with the 7th and 8th-generation iPad models.

Priced at $130, the 10.2 MAX+ has a built-in native multi-touch trackpad and an integrated backlit keyboard, plus it offers full device protection. Brydge says that it is designed to combine the functionality of a Brydge keyboard with the protection of OtterBox. The 10.2 MAX+ can be pre-ordered from the Brydge website.

Benjamin Lyon, who was heading up a sensor team working on the Apple Car, recently departed Apple to join space startup Astra as the company's chief engineer.

Lyon shared the news in an interview with TechCrunch, where he said that he moved on to Astra because he was interested in Astra's vision as it works on small satellite deployment. "I think the Astra vision is this magical combination of fundamentally taking the rocket science out of space. How do you do that? Well, you better have a great foundation of a team, and a great foundation of core technologies that you can bring together in order to make a compelling series of products," he said.

Prior to leaving Apple, Lyon worked on the iPhone, input devices and sensor hardware, and finally, the Apple Car. In 2016, he was working under Bob Mansfield, but Apple Car leadership has since shifted to AI chief John Giannandrea. Prior to leaving Apple, Lyon was reporting to Doug Field, the former Tesla engineer serving as vice president on the project.

Lyon has been on the Apple Car team since 2014, and according to Bloomberg, weathered all of the changes in leadership until moving on to Astra this year.

Apple has commissioned LG Display to develop a display panel destined for a foldable iPhone, according to the Chinese-language version of DigiTimes.

Citing industry sources, DigiTimes claims that LG Display is assisting Apple with the development of a foldable OLED display panel for an ‌iPhone‌. It is not clear, however, if LG Display will supply Apple with this display panel for mass production once it has been developed.

Samsung has been rumored to be Apple's supplier of choice for an OLED foldable display and the company was said to have provided Apple with a large number of foldable display samples for testing last year, so it is unclear how the news of a collaboration with LG fits into this. Apple has used both LG and Samsung OLED displays for the ‌iPhone‌ to date, and it is possible that the display for the long-rumored foldable ‌iPhone‌ may be provided by both suppliers.

Yesterday, it was reported that Apple is planning to launch a foldable ‌iPhone‌ with a 7-inch OLED display and Apple Pencil support as soon as 2023. Apple has been researching foldable devices since 2016, but rumors surrounding a foldable ‌iPhone‌ have noticeably increased in recent months, suggesting that the device may be gathering momentum behind the scenes.

Starting today, Twitter users in India will have the ability to send voice messages in their Twitter DMs that are up to 140 seconds long, the company announced (via The Hindu).

Twitter says the rollout in India will be conducted in phases, so not all users will see the feature straight away. For users who do, there’ll be a new icon that replaces the typical "Send" button within existing or new chats on iOS and Android that starts the recording. Once you begin recording, Twitter starts a countdown from 140 seconds until you press stop, or the time runs out. Before you send the audio message, Twitter does offer you the ability to listen to the recording.

The ability to record and send messages is currently only available on iOS and Android, while users on the web can only so far listen to recordings. With the rollout in India today, Android Central reports the feature is now available in three countries: India, Brazil, and Japan.

Twitter announced plans to bring voice messages to chat last year as part of its effort to offer users more options to "express themselves in conversations." Support for voice messages follows the rollout of audio tweets in June, and recent testing of audio group room chats called "Spaces."