Category: Apple Insider

The ‘iPhone Fold’ is expected to take design cues from existing Apple products

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Rumors and patents show that Apple has been working on a folding iPhone design for years. However, the technology required for such a device is still being developed, and it isn’t clear what form the device may take.

Each year, more rumors arrive pushing the expected launch date of the “iPhone Fold” back further. In September 2021, well known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said it may not arrive until 2024.

Later rumors from The Elec place the foldable iPhone releasing sometime in 2025. It would take the form of an iPad mini-sized product like our renders show, not a flip phone.

Even as flagship Android devices pioneer folding technology, Apple is content biding its time while the technology matures. Devices being released to the public have encountered issues from poor software optimization to creased displays.

Patents show that Apple expects to overcome these issues with complex hinges, new display technology, and hybrid OLED that doesn’t crease. Apple isn’t likely to ever release a foldable if it has such fundamental problems with the display.

Since the “iPhone 14” is expected to look similar to the iPhone 13, it seems Apple won’t be introducing any radical redesign soon. We’ve based the renders on existing iPhone camera bumps, the rumored pill and hole punch cutout, and Apple’s flat-sided industrial design.

The “iPhone Fold” would likely have a USB-C port, support MagSafe, and at the least use Touch ID. Apple could use Face ID, but placement of such a biometric sensor would be complicated on a product that can be used open or shut. We’ve opted to show the Face ID sensor internally, but the external power button could be used for Touch ID instead.

We expect Apple’s foldable to open and close without a crease or seam in the display. Fully closed the thickness of the device should be only slightly thicker than current iPhones, while open it should be similar to the size of the iPad mini.

The external display would be thinner and taller than the usual iPhone, but it would still likely run a full version of iOS. Like Samsung’s foldable, Apple will likely want the device to work like an iPhone when closed so apps can still be used normally.

It isn’t yet clear how Apple will optimize iOS or iPadOS for the folding device. Little may have to change if the display only works in a fully open position. There is a chance that Apple could allow a three-quarters open or half-open mode for gaming or chat apps as well.

Some folding Android devices have multiple positions for operation and even an external display for use when the main display is closed. While such operations would be a big departure from Apple’s design philosophy, it is still possible Apple could adopt them.

For Apple’s first foldable, expect it to be an iPhone or iPad that can simply fold open and shut. Beyond that, Apple may not want to sour the experience with experimental features or hardware additions.

Some users are so impatient for Apple to release a foldable that they have tried making one themselves. The product may only be demanded by a niche segment of the market, but that hasn’t stopped Apple before.

The “iPhone Fold” is rumored to launch sometime in 2025 or later. There’s also a chance this device will only ever exist internally at Apple and never see the light of day.

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Yet another companion app is leaving the Apple Watch, and this time it’s the two-factor authentication app, Microsoft Authenticator.

In a support post spotted by 9to5Mac, Microsoft confirmed that a new update to the Microsoft Authenticator iOS app will cause the watchOS companion app to quit working.

Microsoft suggests that anyone who currently has the watchOS app installed to delete it, as it will be nonfunctional sometime in January.

According to Microsoft, watchOS is incompatible with Microsoft Authenticator’s security features.

Of course, anyone who needs to use Microsoft Authenticator to access their Microsoft account will still be able to use the app on iPhone or iPad — it’s only Apple Watch that is affected.

This marks another app that is quietly leaving the Apple Watch. In 2017, Google pulled its companion Google Maps app, but later reinstated support for it in 2020.

While eBay introduced its watchOS app in 2015, it removed it in 2017.

In 2018, enterprise messaging platform Slack depreciated its Apple Watch app.

In 2019, Niantic pulled the Pokemon Go companion app from the Apple Watch less than three years after it was introduced.

App Clips

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App Clips allow the user to complete everyday tasks like ordering lunch, renting a city bike, testing video game level, or messaging that hilarious TikTok cat to coworkers without the constraint of downloading the full app.

Apple’s mission statement is to “bring the best user experience through innovative hardware, software, and services,” and App Clips had potential by offering a sleek, compact app experience that offered a trial-run of an app’s performance before downloading.

For the user, the main benefits of App Clips are: time, minimizing iPhone clutter, and less collection of sensitive data. Besides a happier customer, benefits for the developer largely remain to be seen.

Time is money for the user. But, the developer’s money is, inversely, our time — spent fetching, downloading, signing up with user data, and ordering or renting the product.

In addition to user data, our usage patterns are just as profitable to developers as the sandwich you’re about to purchase from some transient App Clip.

Now, two years later, App Clips remain problematic for developers and consumers.

The what and the how of App Clips are clear. But the problem that consumers and developers are having is “why bother.”

App Clips was launched in 2020, a year most of us were homeward-bound due to social distancing and lockdowns. Like the filmmaker unlucky enough to debut his life’s-work in movie theaters that operated at one-tenth capacity or were closed entirely, the release of App Clips, designed for the traveling iOS user, was destined for a silent rollout.

In a 2021 interview with the Applefun podcast, Wiley Hodges, Apple director of Product Management and Marketing, indicates that the initial bright flame for App Clips waned due to the indoor nature of the pandemic.

“We had a huge amount of interest in App Clips early on and a lot of those developers came back and said you know, we’re waiting a little while because it turns out everybody is inside now,” Hodges said.

Another issue is what developers stand to lose if App Clips become mainstream. As fictional Pied Piper founder Richard Hendricks states in the tech start-up sitcom Silicon Valley, “People don’t delete apps. I’m telling you.”

Since App Clips don’t require users to download the full app and set up an account using private information, surveillance capitalism inherently loses out.

Just as Big Pharma is known to place profits before people, many tech companies feed on private user data as a means of revenue. The installation of App Clips doesn’t make sense for such companies.

Such companies seem to prefer leaving App Clips on the back burner until the flame flickers and dies.

Another issue with the ‘why’ is that if a full app already exists, retailers will not be immediately incentivized to create a Clip version. Especially when the full app and website are sufficient, collect user data, and have cross-platform functionality, which App Clips insofar do not.

For example, if you search for Panera Bread with Apple Maps, you will find the App Clip easily discoverable. However, doing the same for Starbucks in 2022, you will not be able to circumvent downloading the Starbucks app first.

In addition — and due to — these challenges, App Clips grapple with the issue of discoverability. If a user or developer is unaware of the software, or refuses to invoke it, it will never become mainstream.

There must be incentives for the user and developer in order for App Clips to embody the sleek, ubiquitous, and user-friendly software Apple imagined at its inception.

In 2020, ExxonMobil rolled out a tap-to-pay App Clip feature at gas pumps.

In 2021, A new App Clip for the Apple Store app allowed customers to quickly scan a barcode to purchase select accessories without interacting with store staff.

Presently, to summon App Clips, simply invoke QR codes or NFC tag codes when you’re traveling outdoors. For example, at a rentable bike or scooter station, parking garage, coffee shop, or restaurant.

To use App Clips, you must first find a compatible retailer. In the Panera example:

1. Open Maps
2. Search Panera Bread
3. Tap on the location on the map
4. Tap Order
5. View the menu from within the App Clip

For NFC interactions and payments, Apple’s Dynamic Island, compatible on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, will alert the user when an Apple Clip purchase is complete.

You can also use App Clips with a smart banner in Safari. If you are not a Safari user, this might feel like another roadblock to App Clips’ software-friendliness. You can also send a link to a friend through iMessage, and the receiver can click on the link to fetch the Apple Clip.

App Clips would’ve been a great option for mobile ordering from apps that you have no interest downloading in their entirety. For me, a regular consumer, that is most of them.

For example, if you’re hankering for fast food, it would be advantageous to have the option to use App Clips instead of fetching the McDonald’s app from the App Store, signing up with sensitive user data, ordering, and deleting the App afterward.

This could eliminate app clutter from iPhones, keep private user data safer, and potentially buy back the five precious minutes lost in the protracted process of fetching, installing, signing up, ordering, and deleting the app.

App Clips was released in 2020 with handsome fanfare. Two years later, we’ve implemented preventative strategies necessary in the long battle against COVID and iOS users are deeming the great outdoors “safe” again.

We hope App Clips is slow-burn software that will soon be moved from the back to the front burner so that our precious time and user data can remain intact.

Verification issues were the downfall of Twitter Blue last time.

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The continued attempts by Twitter to bring in more revenue from users has already seen changes to its Twitter Blue subscription, followed by its abandonment. Now, it’s confirmed to be coming back on Monday, with it being more expensive on iOS.

In a tweet confirming the rumored pricing change, the official Twitter account, Twitter Blue will cost $8 per month when subscribed to via a web browser. Meanwhile, on iOS, it will cost users an inflated $11 per month.

For that money, subscribers will get the blue checkmark, as well as prioritization for replies, mentions, and search. It remains to be seen if Twitter has successfully come up with a better way of handling verification considering the last attempt had severe issues dealing with fake accounts.

They will also see half the quantity of ads as non-subscribers, can post longer videos at 1080p, gain early access to new features, and a reader mode, among other features.

The higher $11 fee will apply to users who choose to subscribe via the iOS app, with the increase thought to be covering Apple’s first-year 30% commission for in-app purchase subscriptions. Though Apple charges a 15% fee for subscriptions maintained past a full year, it is unknown if the per-month charge for Twitter Blue will reflect the reduction beyond 12 months.

The change in pricing follows after Musk engaged in a tweet storm over allegations Apple was cutting advertising on Twitter. During the tirade, Musk complained about the 30% App Store commission, raising the legal battle with Epic Games as part of the conversation.

Credit: Epic Games

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In a new interview with The Verge, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney explains why he believes Apple and Google have too much control over the internet.

Epic has long been critical of Apple, with Sweeney claiming that Apple’s 30% App Store tax is an “absolute monopoly.”

In the interview, Sweeney compares Apple’s control of the App Store to railroad monopolies in the past.

“Yes, Apple built the iPhone hardware and they designed iOS, and they deserve to earn a fantastic return by selling their devices with their operating system, as did the railroads deserve to earn a fantastic return by profiting from selling railroad tickets and transportation services,” he tells The Verge.

“But what they cannot do under the law, and under any principle of fair competition, is Apple cannot use its control over the hardware and operating system to impose trade restraints on related markets,” he continues. “Apple prevents other companies from establishing competing stores on iOS. That’s similar to the railroads blocking the oil refineries from shipping their products on the railroad in order to take over those related industries.”

He worries that Apple’s monopoly is “strangling the digital economy,” not just for the app market, but for the music and TV market as well.

Unsurprisingly, Apple responded by pulling Fortnite from the App Store.

Apple has argued that its commission fee goes to maintaining the App Store’s high standards and protecting users from being fraudulently charged by developers.

The 30% commission fee, which Apple has lowered to 15% for developers making less than $1 million in net annual sales on its platform and for subscriptions that run over a year, is industry standard.

But it isn’t just money that Sweeney is worried about. He also argues that by requiring users to get apps exclusively from the App Store, Apple limits the free speech of both developers and users.

“I think it’s incredibly dangerous to allow the world’s most powerful corporation to decide who is allowed to say what,” says Sweeney. He warns that it’s something every politician should fear.

Sweeney is referencing Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s allegations that Apple was planning to pull Twitter from the App Store. However, Musk has since walked back that stance, having now publicly said that Apple never considered removing the app.

Sweeney explains that he wants to see app distribution opened up, allowing customers to download apps directly from developers’ websites. He also wants to ensure that Apple cannot earn a commission from any revenue generated by apps after the initial purchase price from the App Store.

“[W]hat we’re asking for is how this should have been, how the iPhone should have been established when it was first released,” Sweeney said. “That is how all platforms, all general computing platforms, should operate. It’s how Windows operates, it’s how macOS operates, and this should just be an established foundational piece.”

Prior to Apple’s App Store for iPhone, most software was sold in retail stores, often with a fraction well less than 30% paid out to the developer. Obviously, the retail landscape has changed since then — but mostly because platforms like the App Store and Steam changed it.

“And so Epic is not conducting any sort of elaborate negotiation here. We are simply going to fight as long as it takes to get to what we’re asking for,” exclaimed Sweeney. “And if Apple would settle for that, we would settle it today.”

Sweeney has made it clear that he’ll fight Apple all the way to the Supreme Court, if need be, to achieve victory at any cost. He notes that the process is “painful and expensive,” but also “absolutely necessary.”

NovaPlus A8 Duo and Apple Pencil.

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NovaPlus is back with an improved version of its well-received Apple Pencil-like stylus, adding a secondary charging method and a few new features. It is an inexpensive clone that gives users a second color option, and even manages to occasionally beat Apple at their own game in a few places.

The previous A7 Pro Pencil, which resembled the actual Apple Pencil 2 in nearly every dimension, was the first truly competitive stylus to add the same magnetic charging that was introduced with the 2018 iPad Pro. Without close examination, most people would be unable to distinguish its “classic white” model from the Apple original.

There are a few tell-tale signs, of course, for both practical and legal reasons: the cap portion of the stylus, for example, is also a button. The previous model and the A8 use a light ring around the top to provide battery information through color changes.

Of course it also includes palm rejection, and of course the soft nibs are fully compatible with Apple’s own — NovaPlus sells its own nib packs. Interestingly, the A8 weighs noticeably less than the Apple Pencil 2: 13 grams compared to Apple’s 20g.

In addition to a lower price, the A8 offers additional value. For a start, a second nib is included in the box, along with a protective woven cover for the stylus, and a short USB-A to USB-C cord to allow for charging by older computers.

All in a cardboard box of about the same dimensions as the Apple Pencil box. We’re just sayin’.

But let’s not kid ourselves: the initial big attractor for many previous and future buyers was and will be the “star black” color option. It’s not the first black Pencil-compatible stylus, but it is the first Pencil lookalike we know of to go dark.

If your art is as black as your soul, this is a major selling point: a black Pencil exactly matching your iPad’s border, your goth wardrobe, and your darkest visions. Naturally, the “classic white” option is also available.

The A8 will be appearing in the market early in the new year, and was the subject of a modest but very successful crowdfunding campaign. We’ve been using the black version for a month now, and we think most buyers will enjoy it in either color.

This is not just because of its identical appearance to the Apple Pencil, and not just because of its clever-but-subtle UI differences. It’s also because it is dramatically lower price: it is expected to retail for $69.

Because of the new USB-C charging port, the Duo A8 is able to work with more models of iPad than just the ones that support the Apple Pencil 2. In addition to the iPad Pros, iPad and iPad mini models from 2018 and later can work with it — as well as 2019 and later models of the iPad Air.

As mentioned, the button on the cap of the stylus glows green when charging, blue when in “agile mode,” and red when the battery is low. When held down for three seconds, the button will pair or unpair.

In addition, the cap has still more options: users can choose to make a quick double-click of it to switch between telling the tip to change brushes, or to erase, and back again. These actions can also be triggered by a double-tap on the flat side of the device — exactly as you would with an Apple Pencil 2.

The A8 Duo is rated for 12 hours of typical-use drawing time, and recharges fully in about 40 minutes. Due to its ability to charge magnetically on compatible iPads, users are unlikely to ever be inconvenienced in typical use.

An optional extra for the A8 is a wear-resistant metal nib that the company says won’t scratch the tough Corning glass of the iPad models. The NX nib is rated for 30 kilometers of drawing use, and offers an even more pen-like feel, with a pair of them selling for $25.

Outside of drawing, the A8 is able to write text in nearly any text field if desired, from Facebook post input fields to the URL bar in Safari, to Quick Notes, and so on. It can be used for text or drawing in Notes and Pages, among other Apple apps, and is “seen” by them exactly as though it was an Apple Pencil.

NovaPlus makes a point of mentioning that it is compatible with many of the big-name third-party drawing and note-taking apps, like GoodNotes and ProCreate among others. We could not find any app that it didn’t work with, though the erase mode may work differently on some apps — and we only tested a handful of drawing or writing apps.

One of the very few areas where the Apple Pencil clearly beats this clever copycat is in pressure sensitivity: the genuine Pencil has it, the A8 Duo does not. It’s enough to be a dealbreaker for serious artists, but for people for whom drawing is not the primary purpose, the tilt sensitivity — which can also change the stroke being used — may be enough to get by.

The other problematic area is the location of the USB-C charging port, solely because of its dust-protecting port cover nubbin. The small rubbery cover is very likely to get lost if removed for more than a short period of time — but that is not the biggest issue.

The other problem with the cover is that because the USB-C port is on the flat side, it raises the back end of the A8 slightly higher than the nib end. This causes the magnetic bond between the stylus and the iPad Air or Pro to be a bit diluted compared to the Pencil’s firmer attachment, meaning it is easier for the A8 to come loose.

Removing the dust cover fixes the attachment-strength issue, but then you go back to the high risk of misplacing the cover. It would have been worth it, in our opinion, for the makers to give the A8 two flat “sides” — one with the USB-C port and cover, the opposite with the magnetic compatibility.

If your main use of the Apple Pencil 2 is for regular, professional-level art creation, the NovaPlus A8 Duo might pass muster as a secondary-use spare drawing and writing tool — but it won’t be your daily driver. The lack of pressure sensitivity stops it from being a serious artist’s preferred stylus.

Instead, the target market for the A8 is the arguably larger user base of would-be Pencil users who are casual artists, and use it equally often for non-drawing tasks like note-taking. The very attractive pricing makes it a real and frankly superior competitor to the similarly-priced but bulkier Logitech Crayon.

The A8 Duo’s ability to mimic the Apple Pencil 2 in so many ways, combined with its mostly-excellent additional features, earn it serious consideration. If future models ever gain Pencil-like pressure sensitivity, NovaPlus could grow to threaten Apple’s near-monopoly on serious iPad drawing pens.

• Low cost
• Apple Pencil 2 look and feel
• Informative and useful cap button
• Dual charging methods for those without magnetic charging
• Optional ultra-durable nib
• Compatibility with Apple and third-party nibs
• Tilt sensitivity
• Wider range of iPad compatibility than Apple Pencil 2

• Lack of pressure sensivity
• Easily-misplaced USB-C port cover
• Weaker magnetic attraction when dust cover is on
• Won’t ship until early 2023

The NovaPlus A8 Duo Pencil may still be available for pre-order from the company’s IndieGoGo crowdfunding page, or directly from the NovaPlus A8 website.