Apple Insider – Page 109

Posted on June 30, 2019 by — Leave a comment

The worst Apple designs by Jony Ive, according to the AppleInsider staff

While he’s often lauded, not everything Apple has cranked out under Jony Ive’s design lead has been spectacular. We’ve been on the Apple beat nearly as long as Ive has, and we have some thoughts on the flops from Ive’s design studio.

Malcolm Owen — Mighty Mouse 2

For the most part, the Magic Mouse 2 is a well-designed peripheral. Following on from the original, it retained the same physical appearance while also losing some weight and adding a rechargeable battery, changes that are on the face of it quite useful to end users.

A Magic Mouse 2 being recharged

My beef with the Magic Mouse 2 is the lapse of judgement in its design to place the charging point for it on the bottom edge. Rather than sully the outside of the mouse, Apple hid it at the very bottom of the device, where users won’t see it unless they need to recharge the thing.

Granted, the idea of hiding it there isn’t entirely that bad, but it does mean that the mouse isn’t able to be used at times while it’s being recharged, as there’s a cable and connector in the way. It may only be for less than a minute to get a few hours worth of charge, but it still leaves the user sitting there, twiddling their thumbs waiting for the thing to get enough power to do the thing they actually want to do.

I’d also argue that there isn’t anything wrong with placing the charging point at the front point of the Magic Mouse. Some other wireless mouse producers do so, effectively turning it into a “wired” mouse while charging, and it isn’t unsightly.

Add in that the front of the mouse isn’t usually on view to the person wielding it through normal use, and it makes the base-based port seem even more daft.

William Gallagher — The original iMac

It’s heresy to say it when the product is often beloved, and when it unquestionably saved Apple. Yet back in 1998 when it was new and on through today when it’s an antique, I’ve really disliked the design. It looks bulbous and ugly to me, and I understand that this is because there’s a whacking great CRT monitor in there —but that doesn’t change my mind.

The original 1998 Mac

And nor did any of the range of colors it came in.

I liked that the iMac came in many colors, and I have since become an absolute fan of the iMac range. Just not that original version.

Mike Wuerthele — The “hockey puck” mouse

Apple has a long and storied history with pointing devices. The company may have ushered in the dawn of the mouse with the Lisa, and then for everybody else with the Mac, but there have been some missteps along the way.

The AppleDesign mouse that shipped after Apple’s original ADB mouse wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. Its successor, the “hockey puck” mouse that shipped with the iMac, was fully terrible.

Original blue and white hockey puck mouse, without mouse button indent

With it being circular, there was no clear “up” without looking at the protruding cable. It was a wreck ergonomically, too, so it was a good thing that there were USB mice from third parties when it shipped.

A bit later, Apple put a divot on the mouse button for a better orientation, similarly to how it has put a raised circle around the Menu button on Apple TV remote. But that didn’t help that much.

It was replaced by Apple’s optical mouse, which was better, but again, still not great.

Andrew O’Hara — Smart Keyboard Folio

I was a pretty big fan of the original iPad Pro Smart Keyboard. I liked typing on it, liked being able to easily remove it, and liked using it to prop up my iPad when watching TV or movies. There was a fraction of users though who had issues with the presumed complexity of folding the cover around.

Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard Folio

With the second-generation Smart Keyboard Folio, Apple seems to have tried to make up for this and overcorrected. The Smart Keyboard Folio forces back protection onto users instead of making it only an option, as with the first generation. It added cost and bulk to the otherwise extremely slim third-generation Pro. With the case attached, the 2018 Pro is actually thicker than its predecessor.

It also can’t be used to prop up a Pro without the keyboard sticking out, taking up a huge footprint on your desk. When not using the keyboard and folding it around the back, there’s an awkward experience when users are holding onto the keys — it feels squishy and just odd.

Here’s hoping that the Ive-less design team comes up with some improvements for the fourth generation of Apple’s pro tablets.

Amber — The third generation iPod shuffle

For the most part, the iPod shuffle wasn’t really on my radar. In fact I didn’t routinely own iPods or really any Apple products until the introduction of the sixth-generation iPod nano. I was aware of the Shuffle however. After all, nearly half of everyone I knew owned a second-gen model at some point.

Who wouldn’t want a tiny, wearable MP3 player? It was certainly a lot more gym-friendly than most.

Third generation iPod Shuffle. It looks good from this side, but the other side is just blank metal.

As before, the third generation was a thumb drive-sized stick that you plugged headphones into. It had one control on the device itself that dictated whether you listened to your music in order or shuffled — leaving additional control to the earbuds’ in-line remote.

The product was a confusing choice for Apple to make. From a design standpoint, it was a big step backward. The second generation was a small, squat rectangle with a clickwheel that clipped onto your pocket, and allowed you to easily change songs and volume without much thought.

Functionally, the third-gen Shuffle was a total miss. If a user had a favorite pair of existing headphones that didn’t feature that inline, three-button remote, they wouldn’t be able to control their music. If they did, they’d still have to learn a series of non-intuitive clicking patterns just to navigate a series of invisible menus.

The third-gen was clearly not the hit that Apple had been expecting, because the fourth-gen Shuffle was released a little over a year later and was a slightly stumpier version of the second-gen. Not only was the clickwheel back, it also included an expanded color range, making it the most iconic in the product line.

Posted on June 29, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple’s best designs by Jony Ive, according to the AppleInsider staff

On Thursday, Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive announced his intent to leave the company after nearly 30 years on the job, many of which were spent at the side of tech visionary Steve Jobs. In wake of that bombshell, AppleInsider takes a look back at our favorite Ive designs.

Mikey Cambell – iPhone X

iPhone X

In development for more than two years, iPhone X is perhaps the purest expression of Apple’s — and Ive’s — vision of how a smartphone should look and feel.

A glass and metal slab reminiscent of the black monolith in Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (albeit with gently sloping corners), X blurred the line between utility device and art object more than any iPhone that came before. A sleek rectangular chassis closely follows the form of its dormant OLED panel, which remains inky black thanks to the deletion of all screen-bound manual controls. Without close inspection of the mirrored Apple logo and “iPhone” lettering set under its glass back, X’s orientation can only be divined by its camera bump.

Nothing seems wasted on iPhone X. Inside, vital components are neatly laid out on a — dare I say beautiful — logic board, battery cells are custom-fit and the level of fit and finish is peerless. Outside, the screen stretches from corner to rounded corner with a relatively thin bezel and the steel chassis feels almost sumptuous in the hand. The TrueDepth notch is, of course, a niggle, but an acceptable trade off for Face ID.

2018 Apple Pencil

Ridiculous Lightning connector swapped for inductive charging. A flat edge for mating with iPad Pro that also serves as a nice ergonomic grip (and stop Pencil from rolling off the table). Tap gestures. Velvety low-slip matte finish. This is what the first Apple Pencil should have been.

Amber Neely – The current MacBook Air

I still remember the original MacBook Air commercial from the original launch event, where it slid out of a manila envelope with a button-and-string enclosure. As an owner of an incredibly thick PC laptop, I was immediately enamored. The concept of even an entry-level notebook being that thin was wild to me.

Fast-forward to today. The MacBook Air has so far eluded me, but I do appreciate the quality and thought behind the design. In fact, I probably appreciate it more these days. It’s the one Apple product that gets my head turning every single time I see one.

Apple’s gold MacBook Air

Just look the current generation MacBook Air. It’s thin, it’s light, and aesthetically, it’s got a gorgeous design. The gentle taper from the front to the back gives it a luxe profile, an effect that is only increased when you realize that Apple had the foresight to start offering the Air in gold. I’ve owned computers with some decent looking cases, but I’ve definitely never owned something that looked as good as a gold MacBook Air.

Aesthetically, it’s hard to imagine how Apple could improve upon the Air. To this day, I still find myself swooning over every gold Air I see in the wild.

William Gallagher – The door on the Power Mac 9600 and iOS 7

Design is not about how something looks, it’s about how it does what it does —and how people can use it to do what they need. And that’s only rarely as visually striking as, for instance, a gorgeous iPhone. So my favorite Jony Ive design is what he did with door panels.

We know that the forthcoming Mac Pro features extremely easy access to its insides and we remember that the famous Mac Pro, the first cheese grater, had that panel that could open up very simply. What’s less known is that this was because of Ive.

He thought of it and he fought for it. Ive had to convince Apple hardware engineers that it was worth doing and that it could be cost-effective.

PowerMac 9600

And he won. The 1997 Power Mac 9600 was the first Apple tower computer where you could easily open the side to add or remove components. The same basic design was used for the beige PowerMac G3 tower, and the design lineage carried through the Blue and White G3 and G4 towers was clear.

But, iOS 7 is just as great. When Scott Forstall was forced out of Apple and Jony Ive took over the running of software as well as hardware, the result was iOS 7.

Actually, the result was iOS 7 and then whatever the next version of Android was. The result was that smartphones changed overnight and you can see iOS 7’s flattened aesthetic in graphic design used across the world.

2013’s iOS 7 looks familiar today, but so different to iOS 6 and earlier

What Ive did with software was what he always did with hardware. It’s easy to say that he made things simpler, but he also came at it from the focus of how people would use it.

The previous skeuomorphic approach was meant to help people grasp how to use, say, a calendar on their phone. Now we knew, now we were more familiar with the phone version than we were with actual calendars. Ive could step away from this hand-holding tutorial kind of interface, and make a tool that worked better for us all.

We’ve now had the Ive-inspired flat design of iOS for six years, which is as long as the original lasted. But there’s no sign of it changing again because there is no need for it to.

Malcolm Owen – Mac mini

As someone with a background in PC gaming and a habit of spending way too much time on PCPartpicker than should be deemed healthy, I have an interest in how a computer is assembled. This is particularly true for machines that are put together to take up as little space as possible, as aside from being a design headache to create and keep them usable, they also must be serviceable.

Given my disassembly of my own personal Mac mini earlier this year to replace the hard drive, I have to attest that the design of that pint-sized computing powerhouse is phenomenal. A rigid metal casing with so much crammed in there, including cooling, that somehow takes up less physical space than most non-Apple notebooks, is mind-boggling to begin with.

A partially disassembled 2014 Mac mini.

Then there’s the disassembly, which is surprisingly straightforward despite the seemingly daunting task of extracting so much stuff from inside that tiny frame, with so many genius design choices to make it relatively painless. Even the use of the power socket as a form of “lock” to hold the rest of the power supply in place is an inspired piece of design.

As much as it still amazes that Apple has put a powerful computer into a slimline and barely noticeable case barely bigger than a few DVD boxes, seeing what Apple did to fit everything in and the process of disassembly and reassembly is probably more breathtaking.

Andrew O’Hara – Leica camera and iPod mini

As a photographer and videographer, it isn’t much surprise that one of my favorite Ive designs isn’t Apple’s. It is the wonderful Leica Digital Rangefinder that was co-designed by Marc Newson, sold at the (RED) Auction back in 2013. The camera itself had a full-format CMOS sensor and shot through a Leica APO-Summicron -M 50mm f/2 lens.

Leica designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson

Needless to say, the camera is primarily formed of Ive’s material-of-choice —anodized aluminum. It is covered in 21,000 circular perforations that make up the grip around the body and took more than 85 days to manufacture as well as over 550 prototypes. I love how minimalist and functional the camera is, how the design doesn’t get in the way of the camera itself. It stays true to Leica but adds a bit of Apple finesse.

If Apple were to release a camera, this could easily be it. The attention to detail is simply unmatched and makes this one of the most lustworthy of Ive’s designs that can’t even be purchased.

Following the camera is the iPod mini. I absolutely love this device and still have a working model sitting atop my desk, full of my favorite music. The green is bright and fun without being overly loud. The aluminum design still holds up all these years later. The screen is small but with the simple UI controlled by the magical clickwheel, it doesn’t feel like it.

iPod mini in green

Apple had a pile of accessories to go with the iPod mini, which is a time I very much miss. The quirky iPod Socks, the headphone remote, the simple plastic clip that made it easy to clip onto the side of a backpack, and eventually even the Hi-Fi. All were in my arsenal. I spent a lot of time using the Mini and even though the switch to flash storage caused the device to become usurped by the iPod nano, the Mini still holds a special place in my heart —and my desk.

Victor Marks – Newton MessagePad and the last of the iMac G3 models

The Newton MessagePad is one of Jony Ive’s best products, from a time when he had yet to meet Steve Jobs, and was questioning whether or not he even belonged at Apple.

The Newton MessagePad and stylus

Design takes depth, focus, and caring, Ive used to say. People are frustrated with their environment, and products that surround us should show that they’ve considered the user in their design. They should show caring on behalf of their makers.

With the MessagePad, the first version shipped without a cover for the display and a wide, flat stylus that felt like a carpenter’s pencil, and was uncomfortable to use.

To change the user’s relationship with the product, Ive made two notable changes: one, a cover for the screen, and the other, a metal and plastic weighted stylus, with the look and feel of a luxury pen. The cover created the feel of a stenographer’s notebook, instantly making the design of the object communicate how you interact with it. The stylus showed care for the user by making the thing they touch and interact with feel like a luxury item.

Newton wasn’t long for the world, and was discontinued when Steve Jobs returned to lead Apple, but the humble Newton would influence the Mac and iOS later, with Ink in early Mac OS X, and the obvious Apple Pencil comparisons. The Newton showed that everything is designed, and even the humblest objects should show the care and thoughtfulness behind them.

The iMac G3 Flower Power and iMac G3 Blue Dalmation

Feb. 22, 2001 marked the introduction of the Flower Power and Blue Dalmation iMac G3. Why did these machines exist for so short a period of time?

I suspect the reason was that the process for decorating the inside of the iMac proved that the process would work for the iPod that was going to be released months later, and allowed Apple to test on an existing product at production scale.

This model was short-lived, replaced by the Snow White, Graphite, and Indigo iMac G3, with only Snow surviving before being replaced by the iMac G4 LCD sunflower model.

Flower Power recalled the 1960s hippies, and Blue Dalmation dogs never existed. We’re pretty sure it wasn’t a popular color. We’re even pretty sure it wasn’t one of Ive’s favorites. But it shows that design isn’t always easy.

Motorola wasn’t supplying faster G3 CPUs, and Apple had begun to source them from IBM. iMac G4 was almost a year away. There was pressure to release a new model. It allowed Apple to learn how to make a machine where no two would be the same, and make them reliably. It was looked down on by the press then and now.

But, it definitely broke the bright fruit color pattern that everyone else from kitchen accessories to DIY tools were copying. It paved the way for the iPod, and was the most distinctive computer that showed the industry followed Apple, not the other way around.

Mike Wuerthele – Original iPad

This one took me some thought. There are a load of big-time Ive-led inventions, and picking a favorite took forever. For sheer impact in this house alone, the iPad takes the cake.

For myriad reasons, the vast majority of documents that I had to read and assess through the ’00s were provided on PDF. I purchased a heavy and thick Windows tablet with a stylus to do so more conveniently. It was heavier than any single book I had to read, but more compact than all of them combined.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj6q_z2Ni9M&w=560&h=315]

When the iPad was announced in 2010, the game was changed. It wasn’t just changed for me, but it gave the internet back to most of the senior citizens across my family.

Furthermore, in 2015, my wife had a stroke. All of a sudden, she went from being on her MacBook Air all the time, to being completely unable to use the keyboard on the machine. The iPad became a crucial part of her recovery and relaxation.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it here. The iPad is, finally, Apple’s computer for the rest of us. And, Apple’s design for it made the entire concept possible, usable, and beautiful.

Posted on June 29, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Japan Display confirms $100M infusion from customer thought to be Apple

By AppleInsider Staff
Friday, June 28, 2019, 07:32 pm PT (10:32 pm ET)

Embattled smartphone screen manufacturer Japan Display Inc. on Friday said a consortium led by China’s Harvest Group is on board to invest up to 80 billion yen ($743 million) on a bailout, $100 million of which will reportedly come from Apple.

Apple’s iPhone XR is expected to be one of the last to use LCD technology.

Apple’s cut of the investment is included in Harvest’s nearly $500 million outlay to keep Japan Display afloat, reports Reuters, citing a source familiar with the negotiations. Japan Display confirmed the deal, including a $100 million investment from an unnamed customer, in a statement.

Alongside Harvest, Hong Kong-based Oasis Management is slated to kick in another $150 million to $180 million, Japan Display said in a separate statement. That investment comes with stipulations, including a provision that a “main customer” not scale back promised orders.

Japan Display is seeking around $743 million in total, and is currently in talks to reel in more investors.

Today’s confirmation arrives just two days after reports claimed Apple had decided to join the bailout deal.

Apple initially planned to make its investment through Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer TPK Holding, but the firm walked away from the negotiating table earlier in June, taking with it $230 million.

JDI supplies Apple with LCD displays for iPhone, with the tech giant accounting for some 60% of its sales. While the company invested heavily in LCD production, it largely ignored a wider industry trend toward OLED panels and is now playing catch-up with Korean conglomerates.

Along with the reported $100 million investment, debt relief measures and increase in orders, Apple has inked a deal with JDI for Apple Watch OLED panels.

Posted on June 27, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Sabih Khan promoted to Apple’s senior vice president of operations

By Mike Wuerthele
Thursday, June 27, 2019, 02:03 pm PT (05:03 pm ET)

In a move late on Thursday afternoon, Apple announced that long-time executive Sabih Khan has been promoted to the company’s executive team as senior vice president of operations.

Sabih Khan, Apple’s new senior vice president of operations

Khan earned bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics, prior to joining Apple in 1995.

“Sabih leads our Ops team with heart,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook regarding the move. “He and his entire worldwide team are committed to delivering unmatched experiences to our customers, treating workers everywhere with dignity and respect, and protecting the environment for future generations.”

Apple notes that Khan is in charge of the team that developed a new alloy that enables the use of 100% recycled aluminum in the MacBook Air and Mac mini. Furthermore, the operations department is the division spearheading supplier partnerships for “green” manufacturing.

According to Apple, Khan is responsible for “ensuring product quality and overseeing planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and product fulfillment functions.” Khan’s role is most similar to Tim Cook’s role, prior to Cook’s ascendance to Apple’s CEO.

Khan continues to report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer.

“I’ve been privileged to work with Sabih for more than 20 years, and you won’t find a more talented operations executive anywhere on the planet,” said Williams. “He is a world-class leader and collaborator, and I have no doubt that he will be the best leader of the Ops team in Apple’s history.”

Posted on June 27, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple to reportedly invest $100M in struggling supplier Japan Display

By Mikey Campbell
Wednesday, June 26, 2019, 06:15 pm PT (09:15 pm ET)

Apple has agreed to invest $100 million in Japan Display Inc., better known as JDI, as the struggling LCD manufacturer continues efforts to restructure its business in a bid to stay afloat, according to a local report Thursday.

Apple’s iPhone XR is expected to be one of the last to use LCD screen technology.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Asahi Shimbun reports Apple intends to increase aid to JDI through Chinese investment company Harvest Group which, along with Hong Kong fund Oasis Management, is negotiating a 58.2 billion yen (about $540 million) infusion into the Japanese display maker.

Apple initially planned to throw in with TPK Holding, a Taiwan-based electronics supplier that was part of a consortium negotiating a bailout of the embattled screen maker. TPK opted to walk away earlier in June, taking with it a planned $230 million contribution.

Apple’s $100 million sum is much lower than JDI’s original request of $185 million, which came with contingencies for waiving money owed and guaranteeing LCD orders. At the time, a Wall Street Journal source claimed Apple was willing to consider JDI’s ask, but warned the tech giant might not be willing to pay the full amount.

“We are not sure yet if we would really need to tap Apple to chip in, and the amount could be lower…, but they are at least showing willingness,” the person said. “You’d be surprised to see how supportive Apple is to us.”

Whether Apple is also considering to waive JDI’s debt as part of the continuing bailout talks is unknown.

A major Apple supplier, JDI has furnished LCD displays for iPhone for years. In a crucial misstep, however, the Japanese company continued to invest heavily in LCD technology while largely ignoring a wider industry trend toward OLED panels.

Apple, which accounts for some 60% of JDI’s sales, launched its first OLED handset with iPhone X in 2017, and last year debuted two OLED smartphones in iPhone XS and XS Max. The company is expected to field an all-OLED iPhone lineup in 2020.

JDI is working to build out its OLED production capabilities and is reportedly slated to supply a portion of OLED panels for a next-generation Apple Watch. While steps are being taken to reduce risk, including a split of JDI’s LCD business, the Japanese firm faces an uphill battle in a competitive field dominated by Korean companies like Samsung and LG Display.

Posted on June 26, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple Pay launches in Portugal and Slovakia

By AppleInsider Staff
Tuesday, June 25, 2019, 08:51 pm PT (11:51 pm ET)

Apple on Wednesday began rolling out Apple Pay services in Portugal and Slovakia with financial backing from a number of large European banks including Monese and N26.

“Get Started with Apple Pay” App Store section shows up for users in Slovakia. | Source: Jezsó Miklós via Twitter

While Apple has yet to confirm official availability, users in Portugal and Slovakia posted screenshots of the Apple Pay setup process to social media outlets. Others shared news of a special “Get Started with Apple Pay” section that appeared at the top of the Today page in regional App Stores early Wednesday.

The rollout in Slovakia is supported by a mix of local and mobile banks including Boon, Edenred, J&T Banka, Monese, N26, Revolut, Slovenska sporitelna, Tatra banka and mBank. In Portugal, Apple Pay is available only to users of larger banking services Monese, N26 and Revolut.

German online bank N26 was first to announce integration with Apple’s service in March, promising at the time to deliver Apple Pay to Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. UK-based mobile bank Monese followed suit in May, saying the integration will deliver Apple Pay to 13 new European markets including the Portugal and Slovakia.

Most recently, UK financial technology firm Revolut partnered with Apple at the end of May. Today’s rollout marks the first expansion to Revolut’s Apple Pay integration, which launched in France, Poland and the UK.

Apple is expected to update its regional Portugal and Slovakia websites with a dedicated webpage informing users about the service and where to use it.

Today’s Apple Pay rollout confirms in part reports over the weekend that claimed the payments solution would be made available to users in Greece, Portugal and Slovakia on Wednesday.

Posted on June 25, 2019 by — Leave a comment

iOS 13 could add support for Hong Kong’s Octopus transit card

By Mikey Campbell
Monday, June 24, 2019, 07:06 pm PT (10:06 pm ET)

Lines of code discovered on a public Apple services content server reference iOS 13 support for Hong Kong’s Octopus, suggesting the widely used touchless payment system could arrive on iPhone this fall.

Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay

Spotted by Japan-centric Apple blog Ata Distance, a code snippet in Apple’s JSON backbone for Wallet now displays supported credentials for Octopus card on iPhones running iOS 13. The transit and retail payment card is also available via Express Card NFC technology.

Apple Watch is not yet supported, with Apple’s server showing a minimum supported watchOS value of “999.0,” though that could change as the company continues work on watchOS 6.

Launched in 1997, Octopus card was the second contactless “smart card” to hit the consumer market and is considered a forebear of modern reloadable electronic payment solutions. Initially marketed as a physical tap-to-pay card, Octopus expanded to smartphones with Smart Octopus for Samsung Pay in 2017.

Since it is based on the FeliCa standard, Smart Octopus is technically compatible with iPhone 7 and newer Apple devices, though an exclusivity agreement has so far kept the payment platform restricted to Samsung handsets. That could change this fall with the launch of iOS 13.

Initially developed by Sony as an RFID chip solution, FeliCa was later hybridized for cellphone use with the cooperation of Japan’s leading cellular provider NTT Docomo. That version, called Mobile FeliCa, served as the basis of Apple’s NFC Type-F implementation in iPhone and Apple Watch, and ultimately Apple Pay integration with Japan’s Suica mobile transit card system in 2016.

According to Ata Distance, Octopus’ Apple Pay device profile is identical to that of Suica, meaning users can generate and manage new cards without leaving the Wallet app on Japanese market iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models, and all iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS and XS Plus and iPhone XR variants.

Posted on June 23, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Review: GigSky, an eSIM service for iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR

GigSky is a mobile cell service provider with a history of catering to Apple users, providing service in more than 190 countries. When they announced their eSIM for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, AppleInsider gave it a shot.

You may not have heard of GigSky, but they aren’t new; they’ve been around since 2010. In 2015, the firm began offering support for the Apple SIM for iPads, a SIM Apple provides which lets you select providers from within iOS.

From the very beginning, they’ve placed an emphasis on providing service for international travelers, and the eSIM offering fits right in that niche.

What it is

The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR are equipped with an eSIM.

A SIM card contains the SIM chip, essentially a very small computer that is programmed with all the carrier’s settings to enable phone service. With most modern phones, you have to insert a SIM to activate mobile phone service.

The eSIM, or embedded SIM, is that same functionality as a programmable computer built into the iPhone.

The advantage of doing this is that it saves space in the phone: you don’t need to have physical space for the physical card, you don’t need the contacts inside to receive it, you don’t need the ejector mechanism, which means Apple can use that interior space for something else.

With the 2019 iPhones, excluding the dual-SIM model for China, it’s possible to set up a mobile phone data provider directly from an app, such as the one provided by GigSky.

How it works

When Apple announced eSIM functionality, they mentioned using a QR code to set it up. In GigSky’s case, you download the GigSky app and are guided through choosing a plan.

GigSky has a range of four plans covering time, data and cost ranges

GigSky has data plans starting from 300MB (1 day, $10), and rising through 500MB, 1GB, 2GB (15 days, $15, $20, $30 respectively), and up to 5GB (30 days, $50.) After selecting the plan, the destination needs to be chosen from the long list of countries. For this review, Las Vegas was selected as the location.

Las Vegas is a difficult city for mobile data. The tall buildings of the strip negatively affect signal, and the increased number of people for conventions place huge demands on the cell towers, especially when tech conferences are in town.

In years’ past, we’ve used Verizon reasonably well, AT&T with poor results, and T-Mobile with mixed results, seemingly depending on how high up a building we were.

It’s not clear which providers GigSky uses in the US, or which providers they use in any of the 190 countries. We asked for this information, but had not received answers at time of publication. This was important to us, because if our regular carrier was Verizon, and they’re using Verizon’s towers, then it provides limited benefit to add as a secondary data provider.

After selecting a data plan, you give the eSIM a nickname, or can delete it if you need to, because perhaps you selected the incorrect plan or wrong country.

Payment for the plan was easy, but the steps that followed were a little more complicated, because you have to leave the GigSky app and be prompted to add the cellular plan within some screens that the iPhone displays. GigSky offers some screen images to help guide you through the process.

You add the plan to your phone, and have to give it a label, as well as changing any further settings, such as selecting it as a data-only plan.

Setting up GigSky is relatively easy

After doing this, reviewing the plan will show that the credits are active, and the signal strength bar will have a second line of bars below it indicating an additional plan is in use.

Using Control Center shows both signal bars with the names of the services, and indicators for whether they’re primary or secondary. In Settings > Cellular, it’s easy to change which service is primary or secondary, and it’s possible to set one service as primary for voice, and the other as primary for data.

And then completing the iOS setup to get GigSky working

Completing the iOS setup to get GigSky’s eSIM connected

When the screen is locked, you also get the carrier labels, although the labels are on the left side of the screen with the signal strength bars on the right side of the screen.

The lock screen and control center display both service’s signal strength

Speedtest.net’s app shows the GigSky eSIM tested at 74.21 Mbps, with AT&T detected as the nearest site to speed test through. The app also thought the provider was Zayo. As Zayo has 12.3 million miles of fiber according to their Web site, it’s possible that GigSky eventually routed back to Zayo’s backbone.

The different kinds of results from Speedtest.net. The slow result was my default Verizon Wireless service.

Testing Verizon Wireless against GigSky was revealing: download speeds were 10.4 Mbps. Even testing GigSky with different destinations offered better results than Verizon’s 10.4 Mbps. The worst GigSky result scored on the iPhone XS Max used for testing was 40.2 Mbps.

It’s important to note that this may not be similar to your experience if you don’t live or travel in Las Vegas or the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, but we are encouraged that GigSky partnered with competent carriers.

What we thought of it

Set up was easy, as at no time did we feel confused or lost, although we did take a minute to read all the steps, where normally we might have just tapped through. Even where setup is mildly complex (the handoff between GigSky and Apple), they do attempt to make it easy by providing the necessary information before hand.

Speeds are fast, at least in the areas we tested: Eastern USA and Las Vegas. We never felt like we were without signal in either region.

GigSky is probably the easiest method for having local data service, especially over the old ways of finding a cell phone store, buying a pay-go SIM, and having to figure out how to top up.

The use of the eSIM in general makes this easy, and doing it through an app is even easier. The downside we predict with international travel would be the fact that you need to have some sort of data connection to buy GigSky data in the first place, in which case users abroad have to find someplace with Wi-Fi long enough to set it all up.

The notion of buying 5GB for $50 is fine, but the notion of that being time-limited is lousy, and a real shame. If you buy 5GB for $50 and the unused portion expires, it’s fair to feel a little cheated. We understand this is how data is priced among carriers, but it’s a disappointment that there isn’t a carrier willing to change this.

Score: 4 out of 5

The GigSky app is available on the iOS App Store.

Posted on June 22, 2019 by — Leave a comment

‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ lands on iPhone in 25 more countries

By Malcolm Owen
Saturday, June 22, 2019, 02:59 pm PT (05:59 pm ET)

Niantic and WB Games is expanding the availability of the wildly-popular ‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” bringing the AR-based iOS game to 25 more countries around the world just one day after the title launched in just four major markets.

“Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” went live on Friday in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, following a beta period in the latter two countries. Joining those four are another 25 countries, with players able to download the game from the App Store straight away.

The long-awaited launch in a limited number of countries is thought to be Niantic’s attempt to limit how many players are in the game at the start, so as to not strain its infrastructure. Niantic’s previous and similar title “Pokemon Go” rolled out at a far slower pace, with servers reaching capacity as the game went live in each region.

The latest countries to get the “Harry Potter” title are: Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The official website advises the game will roll out to more countries “soon.”

“Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” puts players in the role of a protector of the secret wizarding world, tasked with covering up events of “The Calamity” from the non-magical “Muggles.” Similar in concept to “Pokemon Go,” players can walk around their local environment to collect items and to complete challenges, as well as to take part in multiplayer Wizarding Challenges.

Posted on June 21, 2019 by — Leave a comment

‘Executive review board’ has final say on controversial App Store titles

By Roger Fingas
Friday, June 21, 2019, 01:52 pm PT (04:52 pm ET)

Each week, an “executive review board” led by Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller meets to decide the fate of controversial App Store submissions, a report revealed on Friday.

The now-defunct Infowars app.

The ERB establishes policy for Apple’s Worldwide Developer Relations division, often dubbed App Review for short, CNBC said. In the case of apps on the edge of rejection, the ERB is the end of the line for decision making. Normally appeals must pass through the regular App Review Board before getting that far.

It was reportedly Schiller and the ERB that banned Alex Jones’ Infowars from the App Store. While Infowars is infamous for things like calling the Sandy Hook school massacre a hoax, Apple used threats against a reporter as its reasoning. The company had taken some flak for pulling Infowars podcasts but leaving the app intact.

To support a growing workforce, new App Review offices recently arose in Cork, Ireland and Shanghai, China, an anonymous source said. The division is believed to have over 300 reviewers in all, and while it’s headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., teams are often fluent and/or specialized in non-English languages.

Schiller “rarely if ever” visits the offices where app reviews take place, CNBC continued. Day-to-day affairs are said to belong to VP Ron Okamoto, as well as an unnamed director who joined Apple after its TestFlight takeover in 2015.

The review process begins with reviewers “claiming” a group of apps through a Web portal called App Claim. Those apps are often tested on an iPad, even if it’s an iPhone app, though there are dedicated stations for testing Apple Watch and Apple TV apps as needed.

Beyond screening for bugs or illegal content, the reviewers check against the latest App Store guidelines and decide whether to accept, reject, or hold a submission. The whole procedure can take just a few minutes, since most apps are simple, multiple sources indicated.

Reviewers are allegedly under the gun to meet quotas between 50 and 100 apps per day, something tracked by an app called Watchtower. They can also be called to task for other criteria, such as whether decisions are later overruled, and whether they meet SLA (service-level agreement) goals of reviewing 50% of apps within 24 to 48 hours.

On July 30, 2018, the SLA rate fell to 6%, at which point App Review management announced it was “opening up” 12-hour days.

“Please note that you should not work over 12 hours in one day,” an internal email cautioned.