Apple is building a way out of the iOS “walled garden.” It promised on Thursday to make it easier to switch the data from an iPhone to an Android or other handset.
That said, the migration tool is part of Apple complying with the European Union’s Digital Market Act so the solution might not be available outside of the EU.
No company sold more smartphones than Apple in 2023, according to a market-research firm. iPhone shipments grew last year and outnumbered Samsung’s Androids.
Security and privacy concerns caused Apple to block messaging service Beeper Mini, the company said Sunday. But on Monday Beeper Mini got around the block and pledged to keep making its service available.
This followed Beeper Mini’s highly publicized launch on December 5. It said it had successfully reverse-engineered iMessage to turn green Android text bubbles blue on iPhones.
From that moment, many people wondered how long Apple would let it stand (just a few days, it turned out).
Update: Beeper Mini is back with improvements, according to a new blog post that puts the ball back in Apple’s court. Beeper said it’s willing to share its codebase with an independent research firm and reirterated it could add a pager emoji to enable filtering of Beeper Mini messages in iMessage. See more on the story so far below.
Believe it or not, a 16-year-old high school student may have been the first to fully reverse-engineer iMessage and turn green Android text bubbles blue on iPhones with the new Beeper Mini app, released Tuesday.
The text messaging world is buzzing over it, wondering how it may avoid security pitfalls like other recent attempts to merge the two texting worlds — and puzzling over whether Apple may put a stop to this incursion into its “walled garden.”
In what is apparently an enormous change of direction, Apple reportedly plans to add support for Rich Communication Services to the iPhone Messages app in 2024. This will enable iPhones and Androids to communicate more effectively, with more of the bells and whistles associated with Apple’s proprietary iMessage platform.
It also could be the end of the green bubble versus blue bubble controversy, though not necessarily.
Want to create an immersive cinematic experience almost anywhere? Now you can with the GV31 Portable Projector BenQ released earlier this month.
With built-in Netflix and Android TV among other streaming options, the 1080p projector can stream on walls or ceilings via AirPlay from your Mac, iPad or iPhone, or from Android devices via ChromeCast.
Moment said Wednesday its whole lineup of popular smartphone cameras lenses is getting bigger and bolder to suit growing handset cameras like iPhone’s, including the upcoming iPhone 15 series.
The new T-Series comprises eight lenses that are new versions of the company’s M-Series, which came out to widespread acclaim in 2017.
Google thinks Apple’s Find My network is so clever it’s “borrowing” the idea. But the upcoming extension of Android’s Find My Device network to tracking tags has been delayed — and Google says it’s all because of Apple.
The snafu supposedly stems from the companies working together on a scheme to prevent stalkers from misusing tracking tags made for the two rival platforms.
This charger, which retails for $89.99, can juice up an iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch all at once. And it’s perfect for travel, thanks to its light weight and compact size. It tips the scales at just 6.9 ounces, so you can take it anywhere and just pop it in your pocket for extra convenience.
A new report Wednesday from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) revisits the group’s recent finding that Android users increasingly switched to iPhone in recent years and gets into the reasons why.
It gave four specific major reasons and a fifth vague but important one, below.
The percentage of U.S.-based iPhone owners who just dumped their Android has grown in recent years, according to a market-analysis company.
That’s exactly the opposite of what conventional wisdom says should be happening. Nevertheless, the percentage of Android switchers hasn’t been this high since 2018.
May 4, 2011: Reports circulate that Apple is negotiating with carriers to bring over-the-air updates to iOS, beginning with iOS 5.
Such a move would free iPhone owners from using iTunes to get updates for their devices. That means no more plugging an iPhone into a computer via USB to download the latest version of iOS.
Apple and Google jointly proposed an industry specification Tuesday to help fight the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices. Their proposal would make it easier for both iPhone and Android users to detect that they are being surreptitiously followed by a tracking device.
The proposal enjoys support from other makers of location trackers, too.
Premium smartphones are on a roll. Revenue from iPhone and other devices that cost more than $600 grew to the point that they contributed more than half of all revenue from the product category in 2022, according to a market research firm.
That’s to Apple’s advantage, as iPhone sales make up 75% of this category.
iPhone captured eight spots in the list of top 10 bestselling smartphones for 2022, according to a market-research firm. In fact, Apple makes the three most popular models.
But Samsung’s flagship Android device surely lands at least one spot in the top 10, right? Nope.
It’s considered somewhat controversial that iOS 16 has been installed on only about 70% of iPhones four months after its release. But that’s a problem Google can only dream of. A full six months after the debut of Android 13, it’s on a whopping 5.2% of devices.
A year ago, Samsung has promised users more Android updates. Clearly, it’s not having much of an effect.
Android users could soon find it easier to watch Apple TV+ shows and films. A reliable tipster says an Android version of the Apple TV application is in development.
An app to make Androids copy the look of iPhone running iOS is widely popular. So many people wish their Android was an iPhone that Launcher iOS 16 has been downloaded over 50 million times from Google Play. And a rival app has just as many.
The just-announced Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 offer the clearest evidence yet that Apple is correct to hold off on releasing a folding iPhone. Flexible screens still come with too many problems to be acceptable in an iPhone.
Of course, that didn’t stop Samsung from releasing handsets with these drawbacks.
Google’s campaign to talk Apple into supporting Rich Communication Services in iMessage continues. The Android-maker introduced a new website Tuesday that claims that because iPhone does not support RCS it lacks “modern texting standards” and causes unnecessary problems.
Apple has long resisted RCS, choosing instead to reserve the best benefits of its messaging software to iPhone users.
Apple aimed a new video Monday at Android users who might want to switch to iPhone. The video answers the most common questions switchers ask, from transferring contacts to trading in handsets and much more — all in about 4 minutes.
iPad shipments declined modestly in the Q2 2022, but not because people don’t want Apple tablets. iPad is still suffering from component shortages that slow production.
This was the second quarter in a row that Apple couldn’t make enough iPadOS units to meet demand.