MacRumors

President Trump plans to ban TikTok from the United States, NBC News reports.

Aboard Air Force One on Friday night, Trump reportedly said "As far as TikTok is concerned we're banning them from the United States." He described the action as a "severance" and said that an executive order enforcing the ban could be signed as soon as today. "I have that authority," he said.

In recent weeks, the White House has increasingly raised concerns over the popular short-form video app due to its ownership by ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese owner. Chinese law can compel any domestic company to hand over all collected user data. TikTok tracks user location information and user metadata, and has aroused concerns about privacy and censorship.

TikTok has repeatedly claimed that it is independent, not subject to Chinese government data requests or under Chinese influence, but on Wednesday a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin, suggested China views TikTok as a domestic company.

A TikTok spokesperson said that its largest investors come from the U.S. and the platform is a job creator committed to the privacy and safety of its 100 million American users.

"We've hired nearly 1,000 people to our US team this year alone, and are proud to be hiring another 10,000 employees into great paying jobs across the U.S.," the spokesperson said. "Our $1 billion creator fund supports U.S. creators who are building livelihoods from our platform... TikTok U.S. user data is stored in the U.S., with strict controls on employee access."

It has been rumored that Microsoft is in talks to acquire the app from ByteDance. Though ByteDance is in talks with a number of companies for a possible sale, Microsoft seems to be the leading candidate. Trump said he does not support a deal between ByteDance and Microsoft. ByteDance is reportedly seeking to retain a small stake in TikTok in any deal. Microsoft and TikTok declined to comment to NBC News about the negotiations.

Earlier this month, Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser, said he had been informed the eventual buyer of TikTok "will be a one hundred percent American company." The American Civil Liberties Union said Trump's plan to ban the app was "a danger to free expression."

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 marked the return of NHL hockey with a new "Shot on iPhone" ad on its YouTube channel in Canada.

Titled "Hockey Tape," the 30-second video features Vegas Golden Knights players Marc-André Fleury and Mark Stone having some on-ice fun with the iPhone 11 Pro, which they attach to the boards, a hockey stick, and a skate with hockey tape.

The ad was shot in February at the SoBe Ice Arena in Las Vegas, according to The Athletic, which has shared some behind-the-scenes coverage of the filming.

"They gave us a few props and had us do it ourselves. Have some fun, be yourself, do some goofy stuff, and we had a good time with it," Stone said. "The cool thing was they kind of gave us a script, but they let us do whatever and show our personalities. And (Fleury) has one of the biggest personalities in the league, so it made my life a lot easier."

The Golden Knights are one of 24 teams set to participate in the NHL's Stanley Cup Qualifiers, which begin today. All games will be played in the Canadian cities of Edmonton and Toronto, where players and other personnel have entered secure "bubbles" that are isolated from the general public.

Like other professional sports leagues, the NHL paused its 2019-20 season in March due to concerns over the coronavirus. The league announced a Return to Play plan in May that includes a new qualifying round to determine which teams advance to the traditional Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Apple has purchased payments startup Mobeewave, which created a system that lets shoppers tap a credit card or smartphone on another phone to process a payment. The functionality could allow iPhones to be used as payment terminals with no additional hardware required.

According to Bloomberg, Apple purchased the startup for approximately $100 million. Mobeewave's technology works with NFC, which is built into all modern iPhones. Mobeewave's website says sending payments with the Mobeewave app is as simple as inputting a transaction amount and tapping an NFC-enabled card on the back of a smartphone.

Apple hired the whole Mobeewave team, which includes dozens of employees, and the company is continuing to work from Montreal where it is based. Apple confirmed the acquisition with its typical statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

As Bloomberg points out, the acquisition has the potential to allow Apple to compete with companies like Square, which makes hardware that allows iPhone users to accept credit and debit card payments.

Apple often adds new features to its built-in apps with each iOS update, and iOS 14 is no exception. Many apps have important new features, including Apple Maps, which gains cycling directions, EV routes, guides, and more.

This guide highlights all of the new features that Apple has added to the Maps app in the iOS and iPadOS 14 updates.

Cycling Directions

Maps in iOS 14 offers cycling directions for bike riders for the first time, putting it on par with Google Maps. Cycling directions take into account bike lanes, bike paths, and bike-friendly roads to get you where you need to go.

You can preview the elevation for your route so you know just how difficult it will be, and see how busy the streets are with traffic. There are options to avoid steep inclines or stairs where you would have to carry your bike.

Cycling directions expand to the Apple Watch in watchOS 7 with Maps offering voice guidance and directions that make it easy to navigate with just a glance.

Cycling directions are limited to a handful of cities that include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing, and Shanghai.

• How to Get Cycling Directions in Apple Maps
• How to Get Cycling Directions From Siri in iOS 14

Routes With EV Stops

If you have an electric vehicle that's compatible with the iPhone, Maps will automatically add charging stops along your route when you plan out a trip.

The EV route option will also account for time spent charging when creating an estimated time of arrival, and the Maps app is able to keep track of current charge and charger type to provide customized routes for electric vehicle owners.

To use this feature, an electric vehicle needs to be synced to the ‌iPhone‌, and it is not an option that's available without an EV so it won't work when planning a trip with a friend that uses an electric vehicle, for example.

Right now, routes with EV stops work with vehicles from BMW and Ford.

Guides

Apple in iOS 13 added "Collections," a feature that lets you make lists of places to visit either for yourself or for friends and family. In iOS 14, "Collections" has been renamed to "Guides."

You can continue to make your own Guides on a device running iOS/iPadOS 14 (or macOS Big Sur), but Apple is also now providing a curated selection of guide options created by trusted brands.

Guides provide recommendations for the best places to visit in a city, offering up suggestions on places to eat, shop, and explore. Guides can be saved to Maps, and automatically update as new places are added.

Some of Apple's partners for Guides include Lonely Planet, the Washington Post, AllTrails, The Infatuation, and more.

• How to Use Guides in Apple Maps

Redesign Expansion

Apple last year started rolling out an updated Maps design with more detail for elements like roads, buildings, parks, beaches, marinas, forests, and more, and in iOS 14, those updated Map designs are expanding to new locations.

The updated Maps have rolled out across the United States as of 2019 and are now expanding to Canada, Ireland, and the UK.

Speed Cameras

If there are speed cameras and red-light cameras along your route, Apple will now let you know as you approach them. There's also an option to see where cameras are located on the map.

Refine Location

If you're in an urban area where GPS isn't working great and Maps isn't quite registering you in the right location, you can use the new refine location feature to get a highly accurate location reading to better orient yourself.

Refine location will ask you to use your ‌iPhone‌ to scan buildings that are nearby to narrow down where you're at, taking advantage of the Look Around feature added in iOS 13.

Because it uses Look Around, refine location is limited to places that include San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, as well as Oahu in Hawaii. Location matching done with the refine location feature is done on device.

Congestion Zones

Some big cities like Paris and London use congestion zones to reduce traffic in areas where traffic can be bad. Maps in iOS 14 shows congestion zone tolls and provides options for routing around them if desired.

There are also cities that limit access to certain high traffic roads by license plate, and ‌Apple Maps‌ also now supports license plate info so you can determine whether you're allowed to use a road on a given day.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about the Maps app, know of a feature we left out, or or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

A Florida teenager, who is accused of being the "mastermind" behind the July hacking of social media site Twitter, has been arrested, according to Tampa's WFLA Channel 8 News site.

17-year-old Graham Clark is facing 30 felony charges for "scamming people across America" with the Twitter hack. He's been accused of organized fraud, 17 counts of communication fraud, one count of fraudulent use of personal information with over $100,000 or 30 or more victims, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, and one count of access to a computer or electronic device without authority.

The July 15 Twitter hack saw the accounts of multiple prominent companies and individuals taken over, with hackers sharing bitcoin scam images in an attempt to collect money. Apple's Twitter account was included in the attack.

According to Twitter's internal investigations, Twitter employees were targeted in a "phone spear phishing attack," which suggests hackers called some of its staff and tricked them into thinking they were speaking with fellow Twitter employees.

The targeted employees provided access to Twitter's internal systems, which is how the hackers were able to breach the accounts. Twitter's internal tools were used to target 130 accounts, and for 45 of those accounts, the hackers used a password reset and had full access to send tweets.

Of the 130 accounts breached, which included the accounts of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and presidential candidate Joe Biden, hackers had access to information like email addresses and phone numbers, plus for some accounts, Direct Messages were accessed.

Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said that Clark's scheme earned him more than $100,000 in bitcoin.

"These crimes were perpetrated using the names of famous people and celebrities, but they're not the primary victims here. This 'Bit-Con' was designed to steal money from regular Americans from all over the country, including here in Florida," Warren said in a statement. "This massive fraud was orchestrated right here in our backyard, and we will not stand for that."

In a statement, Twitter said that it appreciated the swift actions of law enforcement agents in Florida.

Update: Along with Graham Clark, the United States Department of Justice announced that a 22-year-old man from Florida and a 19-year-old from the United Kingdom have also been accused of breaching Twitter's site.

Mason Sheppard, aka "Chaewon," 19, of Bognor Regis, in the United Kingdom, was charged in a criminal complaint in the Northern District of California with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer.

Nima Fazeli, aka "Rolex," 22, of Orlando, Florida, was charged in a criminal complaint in the Northern District of California with aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer.

The DoJ declined to name Graham Clark because he is under 18, but his identity was already revealed by Florida news sites.

"There is a false belief within the criminal hacker community that attacks like the Twitter hack can be perpetrated anonymously and without consequence," said U.S. Attorney Anderson. "Today's charging announcement demonstrates that the elation of nefarious hacking into a secure environment for fun or profit will be short-lived. Criminal conduct over the Internet may feel stealthy to the people who perpetrate it, but there is nothing stealthy about it. In particular, I want to say to would-be offenders, break the law, and we will find you."

Sheppard is facing up to 45 years in prison, while Fazeli is facing up to five years in prison.

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 updated its list of Vintage and Obsolete products to add the original 7.9-inch iPad mini, which was first released in 2012.

Apple's vintage products list includes devices that have not been sold for more than five and less than seven years ago, while the obsolete list includes products whose sales were discontinued more than seven years ago.

Devices on the vintage list are able to continue to receive hardware service from Apple and Apple service providers, subject to the availability of repair components and where required by law. Obsolete products, meanwhile, have no hardware service available with no exceptions.

The first ‌iPad mini‌, Apple's smallest tablet released to date, was replaced in 2013 when the second-generation ‌iPad mini‌ was released, but Apple continued to sell it until 2015. Since then, there have been third, fourth, and fifth-generation ‌iPad mini‌ models made available, with a sixth-generation version with a mini-LED display said to be coming in the not too distant future.

Apple's original ‌iPad mini‌ featured an A5 chip, 512MB RAM, up to 64GB of storage, and a 1024 x 768 display, which was not considered Retina. The ‌iPad mini‌ has not seen many design changes since it was launched, and the current release version continues to feature thick bezels and a Touch ID Home button.

In addition to adding the original ‌iPad mini‌ to the vintage list, Apple today also added the late 2011 21.5-inch iMac to its obsolete list.

Google today announced that the Exposure Notification API that it designed in partnership with Apple has received some improvements to make it more useful to public health authorities.

Most notably, the API supports interoperability between countries, and Bluetooth calibration has been improved. The full list of updates is below:

• When an exposure is detected, public health authorities now have more flexibility in determining the level of risk associated with that exposure based on technical information from the API.
• Bluetooth calibration values for hundreds of devices have been updated to improve the detection of nearby devices.
• The API now supports interoperability between countries, following feedback from governments that have launched ‌Exposure Notification‌ apps.
• To help public health authorities build apps more efficiently, we've added reliability improvements for apps and developer debug tools.
• We've improved clarity, transparency and control for users. For example, the Exposure Notifications settings on Android now include a simple on/off toggle at the top of the page. In addition, users will also see a periodic reminder if ENS is turned on.

Google says it has also launched more technical guidance on how the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API works over the course of the last few weeks, and is providing more information on its Exposure Notifications website.

According to Google, 16 countries and regions across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America are using apps built with the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API, and 20 U.S. states are "exploring" apps with the first set to roll out "over the coming weeks."

Canada today released a new COVID-19 contact tracing app called COVID Alert, as noted by iPhone in Canada. COVID Alert takes advantage of Apple and Google's privacy-focused Exposure Notification API to alert people when they've come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus.

If someone with COVID Alert tests positive for the virus, they can opt to enter that information into the app, and each person they've been in contact with will then receive an alert. COVID Alert collects no location information or personally identifiable data, and was built by Health Canada with the Canadian Digital Service.

COVID Alert has no way of knowing:

- your location - COVID Alert does not use GPS or location services
- your name or address
- the place or time you were near someone
- if you're currently near someone who was previously diagnosed

According to the app's description, provincial and territorial governments are working to support COVID Alert across Canada, and in some places, people can't yet report a COVID-19 diagnosis. At the current time, health authorities in Ontario are distributing one-time keys to people who are diagnosed with the coronavirus, and other territories and provinces will be "coming on board soon."

Even though the system is still rolling out in some areas, Canada recommends all Canadians install the app, which can be downloaded from the iOS App Store. iOS 13 is required for ‌Exposure Notification‌ apps, as iOS 14 does not support the API. [Direct Link]

Multiple countries have built apps using the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API so far, including Switzerland, Latvia, Italy, Germany, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Croatia, and Denmark.

Several U.S. states are working on apps that use the API, including Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina, but no contact tracing apps that take advantage of the tool have been released in the United States to date.

Nvidia is in advanced talks to acquire SoftBank Group's Arm Holdings, according to Bloomberg.

A potential sale of Arm to Nvidia, the world's largest graphics chipmaker, was rumored earlier this month. Nvidia's market value has increased to almost $260 billion in recent months, surpassing that of Intel. Arm has also become considerably more valuable as it pushes its architecture into smart cars, data centers, and networking technology. The purchase of Arm would help to transform Nvidia into a major player in the semiconductor industry.

Nvidia is reportedly the only company now in advanced negotiations with SoftBank to buy Arm. The two companies intend to reach a deal in the next few weeks. Representatives for Nvidia, SoftBank, and Arm declined to comment to Bloomberg.

Apple has licensed technology from Arm for its A-series chips used in iOS devices since 2006, and Apple is planning to expand the use of Arm-based chips to Macs, with the upcoming launch of Macs equipped with Apple Silicon. Arm also licenses to various other companies such as Qualcomm, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel. Companies that use Arm technology would likely not be in favor of a deal with Nvidia that does not include explicit assurances that Arm's instruction set will continue to be available for equal licensing opportunities.

SoftBank reportedly approached Apple to see if it was interested in the purchase of Arm. Despite preliminary discussions, Apple does not plan to pursue a bid because of Arm's licensing requirements and possible regulatory concerns.

If completed, a deal with Nvidia could be the largest ever in the semiconductor industry, and would likely attract scrutiny from monopoly regulators, particularly as Nvidia is a customer of Arm. SoftBank initially acquired Arm for $32 billion four years ago since it was a neutral party that could not be the subject of a dispute. A sale to Nvidia would probably not have a major impact on Apple's licensing of Arm technology because of the regulatory requirements that would accompany such a deal.

Apple's iPhone shipments have grown in Q2 2020, as Huawei overtook Samsung as the world's largest smartphone vendor, according to new data shared by Canalys and IDC this week.

Though the global smartphone market contracted by 14-16 percent in Q2 2020, Apple was the only vendor to defy expectations and grow by up to 25 percent compared to the previous year. As Apple does not publicize exact shipment numbers, the estimated data varies between the two reports. Canalys places the number at 45.1 million, while IDC places it 37.6 million.

Both IDC and Canalys accredit Apple's growth to the success of iPhone SE, stating that the device accounted for around 28% of its global volume, while ‌iPhone‌ 11 accounted for almost 40%.

"iPhone SE will remain crucial to prop up volume this year, amid delays to Apple's next flagship release," commented Canalys Analyst, Vincent Thielke. "In China, it had blockbuster results, growing 35% to reach 7.7 million units. It is unusual for Apple's Q2 shipments to increase sequentially. As well as the new iPhone SE, Apple is also demonstrating skills in new user acquisition. It adapted quickly to the pandemic, doubling down on the digital customer experience as stay-at-home measures drive more customers to online channels."

Huawei toppled Samsung as the world-leading smartphone vendor, with 55.8 million shipments over Samsung's 53.7 million. Xiaomi came after Apple in fourth place with 28.8 million units, followed by Oppo with 25.8 million units. Huawei was also the standout leader in the world’s largest smartphone market, China, taking 44% market share. IDC cautions that the impact of the U.S. Huawei ban will continue to create uncertainty for the company in foreign markets.

Senior Canalys Analyst Ben Stanton stated that going forwards "geopolitical uncertainty also hangs over the global smartphone market. Countries are becoming polarized between the interests of the US and China. In India, for example, Chinese companies now face a wave of negative sentiment. Smartphone vendors need to act, and many are already directing funds to brand marketing to highlight their positive impact in a local region."

IDC expects the launch of four new potential models to allow Apple to effectively challenge Android 5G devices that have been out for more than a year. Apple no longer discloses ‌device shipments, which means that analyst estimates cannot be confirmed by specific sales data.

Following yesterday's strong earnings report, Apple's stock price has officially broken through the $400 mark in regular trading today, rising over 5% to sit at roughly $406.

Apple's share price rose above $400 during after-hours trading yesterday following the earnings release, but now that the mark has been breached during regular trading, it's considered official as an intraday all-time high.

Apple's stock had dropped as low as $224 in late March as concerns mounted over the global health crisis, but it has experienced a strong and steady recovery since, rising over 80 percent in the last four months. Many other large tech companies have experienced similar surges, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent Alphabet.

As part of its earnings release yesterday, Apple also announced that it will be initiating a four-for-one split of its stock in late August. The move will drop the price of a single share of the company's stock to around $100, before accounting for any changes in price between now and the effective date for the split. Current owners of Apple stock will receive three additional shares for each share they own.

Internal Apple emails, made public by the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust inquiry, have revealed information about why Apple blocked in-app purchases of Kindle books on iOS devices, reports The Verge.

Two sets of emails between Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and various other senior Apple executives, disclose the exact thinking behind how Apple approached Kindle on iOS. The current precedent was outlined by Steve Jobs, who stated that "I think this is all pretty simple — iBooks is going to be the only bookstore on iOS devices. We need to hold our heads high. One can read books bought elsewhere, just not buy/rent/subscribe from iOS without paying us, which we acknowledge is prohibitive for many things."

Originally, Kindle books were available for purchase via the iOS app. Since 2011, the Kindle iOS app has only allowed users to read books in the app. Purchase of new titles can only be made in Safari, not in the app itself. This allows Amazon to avoid a 30% Apple surcharge on in-app purchases.

‌Phil Schiller‌ expressed concern in one of the emails that Amazon was advertising the fact that users could still access Kindle books purchased on iOS on Android devices, suggesting it was convenient to switch from iOS to Android.

Schiller explained that Apple initially made an exception for Amazon, because "users would be buying books on a Kindle device and later accessing them on iPhone." Over time, as sales of iOS devices rose dramatically, Schiller believed that it was time to reconsider the exception. Amazon's TV advertising was a clear point of contention for Apple and prompted the change of attitude.

These discussions took place as Apple was planning to announce revised App Store policies for subscriptions. Jobs suggested in his response that Amazon "must use our payment system for everything," and justify this with the new subscription policies. "If they want to compare us to Android, let's force them to use our far superior payment system," Jobs wrote.

Amazon later removed a link to the Kindle Store in the iOS app to comply with the new App Store subscription rules. From then onwards, the Kindle app's storefront feature was removed entirely, with no overt direction as to where to buy books.

Yesterday, further emails published by the U.S. antitrust subcommittee revealed that Apple offered Amazon lower ‌App Store‌ fees to convince it to launch its Prime Video app on the ‌‌App Store‌‌ and Apple TV.

The news that Apple made exceptions for Amazon for Kindle prior to 2011 and for Prime Video has caused confusion among some observers, as Apple has consistently claimed it treats every developer the same. ‌Phil Schiller‌ stated ahead of the antitrust inquiry this week that all apps in the ‌App Store‌ have been treated "the same - one set of rules for everybody, no special deals, no special terms, no special code, everything applies to all developers the same."

Apple has introduced a new single gift card in the U.S. for all things Apple. First spotted by iCulture, the card can be used at the App Store and other online services, but you can also use it to buy products and accessories in the Apple Store.

Previously, there were two separate Apple gift cards available: iTunes cards, which can be used for ‌App Store‌, iTunes Store, and iCloud storage purchases; and ‌Apple Store‌ gift cards, used for buying goods at Apple's online and brick-and-mortar retail stores.

Apple has a dedicated page on its website explaining what the new card does and how it can be used. "Products, accessories, apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, ‌iCloud‌, and more. This gift card does it all. And then some," reads the tagline.

As before, customers can decide what amount they want on the cards, which can also be used to add money directly into an Apple Account Balance for paying for things like Apple products, accessories, apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, and more.

The cards also have a new design, with colored Apple logos. There are a total of eight different designs if you request a gift card by email, and five designs for the physical version.

The webpage goes on to explain that U.S. users can continue to use their current ‌Apple Store‌ cards, while existing ‌App Store‌ and iTunes cards can now also be used in the US to purchase products from the ‌Apple Store‌.

Currently Apple is only offering the new cards in the U.S., but it's likely they will make their way to other countries in the near future.

Twitter has provided another update on the security breach two weeks ago that saw the Twitter accounts of Apple and other high-profile figures and companies hacked by bitcoin scammers.

According to the company, a small number of employees were targeted in a "phone spear phishing attack," suggesting that hackers called some of its staff and duped them into thinking they were speaking with fellow Twitter employees, leading them to reveal the credentials the hackers needed to access internal account support tools.

The attack on July 15, 2020, targeted a small number of employees through a phone spear phishing attack. This attack relied on a significant and concerted attempt to mislead certain employees and exploit human vulnerabilities to gain access to our internal systems.

Twitter previously called the hack a "coordinated social engineering attack" that had targeted some employees with access to internal systems. The internal tools were used to target 130 accounts, and for 45 of those accounts, hackers initiated a password reset and had full access to the account to send tweets.

For the 130 accounts that were breached, which included the accounts of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, presidential candidate Joe Biden, and others, hackers were able to see personal information like email addresses and phone numbers, and for some accounts taken over, additional information was available, including Direct Messages.

Twitter says it is taking a "hard look" at how it can improve the sophistication of its internal tools and systems, and in the meantime it has significantly limited access to them until it can safely resume normal operations.

The Apple Watch Series 6 will add blood oxygen monitoring to its features list when it's launched later this year, according to a new report from DigiTimes.

Apple Watch 6 will feature biosensors that can monitor sleeping conditions, detect blood oxygen and measure pulse rates, heartbeats and atrial fibrillation, and will also incorporate MEMS-based accelerometer and gyroscope, all allowing the new device to continue to lead in measurement precision among wearable devices, the sources said.

The Taiwan-based website's sources say that the next-generation Apple Watch has undergone "smooth development" thanks to close collaboration between Apple and Taiwanese company ASE Technology, which has obtained major backend orders for the device.

Leaked code found in iOS 14 has previously suggested Apple is working on an Apple Watch that can detect blood oxygen levels.

Based on the discovered code, Apple will provide notifications when blood oxygen levels drop below a healthy threshold, which is right around 95 to 100 percent saturation. A drop in blood oxygen level can suggest a serious respiratory or cardiac problem.

It was not clear from the code if the feature would be limited to new Apple Watch Series 6 devices or if it would come as a software update in watchOS 7, but today's report suggests it may be exclusive to the Series 6.

When the original ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ was released back in 2015, iFixit actually discovered that Apple's heart sensors have the capability to monitor blood oxygen levels, but Apple has never activated it.

Other smartwatch and fitness tracker makers including Google-owned Fitbit already offer blood oxygen monitoring features in some of their wearable devices, so Apple is playing catch-up in the area, but that could mean the company has a more advanced implementation of the feature in the works.

Apple Watch Series 6 models, which are in development for a fall launch, are rumored to feature faster performance, better water resistance and improved wireless transmission for faster Wi-Fi and cellular speeds.

These improvements will be made in part through a rumored swap to liquid crystal polymer or LCP material for the flexible circuit boards expected to be included in the Apple Watch Series 6, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Apple's iPadOS 14 update includes many of the same features that are found in iOS 14 (minus some of the Home Screen changes), but there are also quite a few notable iPad-only features.

• App Sidebars and Toolbars - iPadOS didn't get quite the same design overhaul that iOS did, but there are some tweaks worth noting. Apps like Music, Photos, Calendar, Notes, Files and more have been redesigned with sidebars that offer a more consistent and streamlined navigation experience, providing direct access to more information and tools. Apple has also introduced new toolbars that consolidate buttons into a single bar at the top of the app.
• Updated Pull-down Menus - Along with redesigned app sidebars and toolbars, pull-down menus in built-in apps have been streamlined, providing access to app tools from a single button.
• Search - The search interface is more compact and takes up less space on the iPad, plus there have been some refinements that let users see instant search suggestions, launch apps and websites, start in-app searches, and more. It's similar to search in iOS 13, but more powerful and better organized.
• Scribble - Scribble, which is perhaps the best new iPadOS feature, lets Apple Pencil users handwrite in any text field, with the handwritten text converted to typed text. There are all kinds of useful tools included like scratch to delete and circling a word to select it.
• Notes - Scribble brings new features to the Notes app. You can use Smart Selection to select and copy handwritten notes, plus you can copy handwritten notes and paste them as standard typed text. Shape recognition lets you draw an imperfect shape and have it converted to a perfect one, and data detectors, like those that make an address tappable, work with handwritten text.
• Compact FaceTime/Phone UI - Just like on the iPhone, incoming FaceTime and Phone calls (from the iPhone) on the iPad are shown in a small banner that's easily dismissed so getting a FaceTime call no longer interrupts what you're doing on your tablet.
• Compact Siri - Like FaceTime calls, the Siri interface is smaller too. Siri doesn't take over the entire iPad display when you use it, and instead shows up as a small animated icon at the bottom of the screen with results provided in a banner style. Siri can be swiped away, but when the Siri interface is up, you can't use the display behind it.
• Safari - There are major improvements to Safari in iOS and iPadOS 14. Privacy tracking lets you know which websites have cross-site trackers running, there's a built-in translator so you don't need to use an extension, you can see tab previews, and Favicons are shown in tabs by default so you can see what's what at a glance.
• Apple Music Lyrics - When you listen to Apple Music with iPadOS 14 and activate the feature that lets you follow along with the lyrics, the lyrics are now displayed full screen.
• Emoji Popover Menu - With the new emoji popover option on iPadOS 14 you can quickly enter an emoji when using a hardware keyboard with your iPad. The nifty iOS 14 feature that lets you search for an emoji is, unfortunately, not available on the iPad.

Make sure to watch our video up above to see all of these features in action, and for more on what's new in iPadOS 14, check out our iPadOS 14 and iOS 14 roundups, along with our Guides and How Tos.

Like iOS 14, iPadOS 14 is available to developers and public beta testers at this time, so anyone can download it and try it out. The update will see an official public release this fall.