Category: Apple Insider

Currently, the Apple News app returns to the top of an article when a user exits the page, even if they were midway through the story. The behavior is particularly vexing for users reading long form content from magazines offered through Apple News+.

As discovered by a MacRumors forum member, iOS 13.6 creates an ephemeral bookmark within previously opened articles, allowing users to pick up where where they left off after navigating away from a story or closing the Apple News app.

It appears an intentional delay of approximately 30 seconds is instituted before a a user’s reading position is recorded, according to early testing. While the mechanism is not detailed in Apple’s release notes, the delay could be an effort to lower system memory overhead.

In addition to new convenience features, Apple is also working on audio versions of Apple News articles.

Graphical assets discovered in an initial beta release of the company’s upcoming iOS update, then labeled iOS 13.5.5, show affordances for “Apple News+ Audio” and related features. The iconography, text and user interface elements were found shortly after a report in May claimed Apple was working with publishers on a deal that would allow the company to convert popular written word articles into short audio snippets.

Apple’s latest iOS 13.6 beta release was issued to developers on Tuesday. The evaluation version includes a handful of new features like an option to automatically download future iOS updates and a new symptoms section in the Health app.

According to a staff memo obtained by Bloomberg, Apple intends to start the so-called “phase one” process on June 15 with a relatively small number of essential employees.

To minimize contact between potential COVID-19 carriers, in-office schedules are staggered and building occupancy will be restricted, the report said.

The company underscored return to work safety procedures that were outlined in a report last week. Returning staff must wear masks at both Apple Park and Infinite Loop headquarters, undergo temperature and daily health checks when they arrive, and practice social distancing while at work.

Apple in its letter “strongly encouraged” employees to take a provided on-site or at-home coronavirus swab test prior to returning to work. Last week’s report noted Apple would offer employees a nasal swab test to screen for the virus.

While phase one of Apple’s return to work initiative officially begins next week, a handful of deemed-essential workers have already begun trickling in to join employees who remained at work through the crisis. Bloomberg said certain staff members, including hardware and software engineers, returned in May. Certain senior executives are also back at work.

For Apple office outside of Silicon Valley, the so-called phase one schedule began in May, the report said.

Apple plans to present employees with more information about the phased return in the coming months.

Relayed by Barron’s, Sacconaghi in the investor note argues that, while Google is the world’s dominant web search engine player, Apple is in a relatively strong position to apply pressure to the Alphabet company.

Currently, Google pays between $7 billion and $8 billion a year to be the default search engine for iOS and Siri, the analyst estimates. That figure equates to approximately 30% of an estimated $25 billion in ad revenue Google generates from Apple devices.

Alphabet is willing to pay the hefty sum in part to fend off attempts by Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo to replace Google as Apple’s default search engine. Google also has the option to pull out of the deal if it can capture 70% of its current iOS search revenue by pushing users to Google.com, Sacconaghi says.

Google’s position, however, might be less advantageous than it appears.

“However, we suspect the company’s fear of rocking the boat’ — which could compromise $15 billion in profits it captures today from iOS — may ultimately limit its freedom of action with Apple,” Sacconaghi writes. “Conversely, Apple may be in a stronger position than at first glance, given it controls the keys to the kingdom on who can monetize iOS search. However, it remains uncomfortably dependent on Bing to act as a counterweight to Google — hence our suggestion that Apple acquire its own search engine.”

To that end, Sacconaghi floats the idea of a DuckDuckGo acquisition for under $1 billion. Along with a fairly small workforce of less than 100 employees, DuckDuckGo would be a good fit considering the firm shares Apple’s views on user privacy and advertising strategies.

“To be certain, we doubt an Apple-owned DuckDuckGo could ever generate profits sufficient to make back the $7 billion to $8 billion a year currently paid by Google,” Sacconaghi writes. “Nevertheless, Apple would still likely be better off than a worst-case scenario where it had no backup, and Google or Microsoft (one or the other) withdrew from the bidding process altogether.”

The analyst notes such an acquisition could invite scrutiny from government antitrust agencies, and would still leave Apple somewhat reliant on Bing (DuckDuckGo uses Microsoft’s web crawler). Overall, however, an Apple-controlled DuckDuckGo would provide the iPhone maker a prime opportunity to further detach itself from Google, a long and drawn-out process years in the making.

Apple first built DuckDuckGo integration into mobile Safari in iOS 8, allowing users to select the search engine, as well as alternatives Yahoo and Bing, in the Settings app. Bing was the default search engine for Siri until 2017, when Apple transitioned to Google for a more “consistent web search experience.”

The Apple and Google-developed contact tracing API is being used to help track the spread of COVID-19, with health organizations around the world using the API in apps intended to securely and privately monitor the virus. While it is still being rolled out globally, a report on how the project came into being reveals it is down to a group of data scientists in Switzerland.

The profile by Neue Zurcher Zeitung on Saturday explains how VMWare founding CTO Edouard Bugnion heard about a suggestion by epidemiologist Marcel Salathe concerning using an app to track infections in a pandemic. In trying to solve the problem, Salathe observed existing apps in Asia that relied on GPS, but also used a large amount of personal data to accomplish the task.

Bugnion got in contact with Spanish data protection expert Carmela Troncoso to work on a way to make a contact tracing app without using GPS tracking. It was realized Bluetooth LE would be an answer as a data-saving option that doesn’t rely on direct location data, and with the further use of anonymized ID codes, it helped ensure the privacy of users.

Other researchers around the world joined the Swiss effort, but the team determined the assistance of Apple would be required due to Apple’s strict policies over Bluetooth usage in iPhones. Bugnion used contacts based in California to try and get in touch with Apple, but quickly discovered it was hard to establish communication with the company as so many people are contacting it every day.

After being called back by Apple on March 21, Bugnion started explaining the idea in an email, which was then followed by a series of meetings explaining what Apple would have to do, namely relaxing the policies. On determining Apple may not go through with it due to security concerns, Bugnion got hold of Apple head of Health Strategic Initiatives Myoung Cha, who reported to COO Jeff Williams.

By April 5, Apple was willing to invest resources, but it was determined Google had to assist, and that an interoperable system needed to be made. By April 10, Apple and Google made its contact tracing announcement.

“The fact that we, as an international team, had such an impact on these giants, and the fact that we became one of their main partners, is an expression of the high-quality computer science research in Switzerland,” said Bugnion.

If you’ve got a young child who has their own Apple gear, you might be worried that they will stumble upon explicit content on Apple Music. Fortunately, Apple has a setting for that, and even though the option is somewhat tucked away, it only takes a few minutes to change.

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Screen Time
3. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions
4. Toggle on Content & Privacy Restrictions
5. Tap Content Restrictions
6. Tap Music, Podcasts & News
7. Tap Clean

Once enabled, the Apple Music, podcast, and Apple News content will be restricted to all-ages appropriate content only. You will need to enable this feature for every device that you wish to restrict content on — it is not bound to a user’s AppleID.

This also only restricts properly-tagged explicit content across Apple-owned services. Children may still be able to access explicit material through Safari, or third-party apps, like YouTube.

If you wish to block explicit content in Apple Music on your Mac that is running Catalina, the process is much quicker.

1. Open Music
2. In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Music
3. Click Preferences
4. In the window that appears, click Restrictions
5. In the Restrict section, select Music with explicit content
6. Confirm your choice by clicking Restrict Explicit Content in the Window that appears.

The issue apparently primarily affects devices in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro lineup, though it may also be present on some iPhone X and XS models. Some reports indicate that the issue has been present since iOS 13.4.1.

According to user reports on Reddit (via MacRumors), the bug occurs when a user unlocks their device. The display will appear “washed out with a green tint” for a few seconds before returning to normal.

Considering both LCD and OLED screens are impacted, the problem is likely a software bug. There is a chance, however, that an issue could be present in Apple’s hardware.

If the issue is software-based, then it’s likely that Apple will patch the bug in an upcoming iOS release.

In comments made during an earnings conference call, Broadcom chief Hock Tan cited a “major product cycle delay” at a “large North American mobile phone” customer as cause for the delayed income.

As Bloomberg reports, Tan sometimes uses the vague descriptor as a sobriquet for Apple.

“We are in,” Hock said, assumedly referring to Broadcom parts in the next iPhone. “The question is timing.”

More specifically, Tan said, “This year, we do not expect to see this uptick in revenue until our fourth fiscal quarter. So accordingly, we expect, our wireless revenue in Q3 will be down sequentially.”

Apple is widely anticipated to debut a next-generation “iPhone 12” this fall, though an exact launch timeline is in dispute due to effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The company typically unveils its latest smartphones in September, but a number of reports have indicated this year’s launch will take place in October or later.

Most recently, reports from the supply chain claimed Apple assembly partners are gearing up for a start to production in July.

Files and code strings uncovered by 9to5Mac reveal references to a “bundle offer” and “bundle subscription” related to Apple’s services management backend. While not directly attached to a specific product, like Apple Music, the language indicates Apple is considering a subscription services combo offer.

Exactly what Apple’s bundle might look like is at this point unknown. The company currently fields four main subscription products in Apple Music, Apple News+, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. Apple Music and Apple News+ cost $9.99 a month for individuals, while Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade are priced at $4.99 a month. Discounts for each can be had through family plans. Non-content programs include Apple Care hardware support, which varies depending on device.

A potential bundle of two or more services would save consumers money and could boost adoption of less popular products.

Apple has long been rumored to be mulling a subscription bundle, though such a product has yet to materialize. A report late last year claimed the company was close to striking deals with publishing partners that would enable the rollout of a subscription package sometime this year.

Most recently, however, a report in March noted newly signed deals with record labels effectively precludes Apple from launching a combined service in the near term. The tech giant reportedly informed music executives that it plans to combine its digital services under a bundle-style plan, but discussions on distribution rights are ongoing.

Problems began at around 7 p.m. Eastern, with impacted users taking to Apple’s support forums to report the issue.

An update to Apple’s system status webpage reveals multiple outages including iCloud Account & Sign In, iCloud Mail and iCloud Web Apps. Users attempting to access Mail on their iOS or Mac devices are met with login authentication roadblocks, while iCloud.com is completely inaccessible for some.

Certain apps that require Apple ID authentication are also affected, with in-app verification and app-specific passwords not functioning as intended. Some users are also reporting verification failures that trigger a pop-up reading, “The application you have selected does not exist.” These problems appear to be tied to Apple ID’s backend.

It is unclear what caused the issue or how many users are affected by downtime.

Apple has yet to comment on the difficulties and does not offer an estimate as to when the service will regain functionality.

As noted by CNBC, iPhone prices on Apple’s official Tmall store have dropped significantly in the lead-up to 6.18. Identical rates are reflected by authorized Apple reseller JD.com.

For example, a 64GB iPhone 11 is now going for 4,779 yuan ($669.59) on Tmall, a 13% savings off the original 5,499 yuan price tag. The flagship iPhone 11 Pro starts at 7,579 yuan, down from 8,699 yuan, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max can be had for 8,359 yuan, a 13% savings on the original 9,599 yuan. Apple’s budget-minded iPhone SE also benefits from a price drop from 3,299 yuan to 3,099 yuan.

JD.com is offering more aggressive discounts starting with the 64GB iPhone 11, which sells for 4,599 yuan. Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are priced at 6,99 yuan and 7,499, respectively, while the iPhone SE is down to 3,069 yuan with discount. Prices may vary as the online seller might change discount offerings on a daily basis.

Other third-party resellers are also slashing prices on Apple hardware, products that rarely go on sale, let alone new devices like iPhone 11 and iPhone SE.

Beyond its official Tmall store, Apple itself is not participating in the festivities and prices remain constant on the Chinese online Apple Store.

The surprise savings event comes as Apple and other manufacturers scramble to rebuild sales momentum after a dismal first quarter was plagued by complications stemming from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. From the supply chain to retail, the virus severely impacted Apple’s business strategy during the three-month period ending in March.

According to Apple, iPhone generated $28.96 billion in revenue during the company’s second fiscal quarter of 2020, down from $31 billion in 2019. Poor demand in China was partially to blame for the contraction, executives said during a conference call in April.

The tech giant managed to beat expectations and finish the punishing quarter up 1% year-over-year in large part thanks to services and wearables, two categories that are becoming increasingly important to the company’s bottom line.