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.
At first glance, the new OnePlus Pad looks like solid competition for iPad, with a beautiful 11.6-inch screen and a $479 price tag.
But a closer look shows the computer suffers from the same crippling flaw as every other Android tablet.
A whopping 87% of U.S. teens own an iPhone, according to a recent survey. This continues a long trend of iPhone reigning supreme in high schools.
The survey also shows that Apple Watch and Apple Pay prove quite popular with teens.
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.
It would be a win-win for both Android and Apple.
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.
That sure is a lot of jealous Android users.
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.
The video comes as Apple prepares the iPhone 14 series for release and follows Cupertino’s surprisingly positive earnings results Thursday in which the company mentioned a record numbers of switchers from Android to iPhone.
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.
iPhone shipments grew 3.3% year over year during the second quarter of 2022, according to a market-research firm. That’s in contrast to the global smartphone market, which declined 7%.
Apple made up 16% of the total market, its highest second-quarter performance in more than a decade.
High-end Android models sell in much smaller numbers than iPhones, according to a market research firm. Apple handsets that cost over $400 outsold all Androids in that price range almost two-to-one.
The data shows that while Androids with cutting-edge features like folding screens and very high-res camaras draw a lot of attention, they don’t attract many buyers. But pricier iPhone models do sell well.
WhatsApp is finally adding the ability to transfer your chat history from Android to iPhone.
If your WhatsApp conversations were holding you back from switching to an iPhone, that should no longer be a cause for concern.
Games played on iPhone and Android represents 61% of the overall gaming market, according to two market analysis firms. And mobile’s lead over PC and console gaming is growing.
The total gaming market is set to hit $222 billion in 2022. For comparison, global film revenue for 2019 (the last pre-pandemic year) was $42.5 billion.
Third-party iPhone apps scored significantly lower than their Android counterparts, according to an analysis of user reviews of 4,400 top mobile apps.
This does not necessarily mean that Android offers better third-party software, though. iPhone users simply expect more from their apps.
“The data shows iOS users are more critical of mobile apps than Android users are,” said David Kravets, senior content marketing manager for unitQ, the company that did the research, in an interview with Cult of Mac.
And after going through nearly 122 million reviews, unitQ analysts say there’s “lots of room for improvement” in mobile software.
The global market for Android phones shrank considerably in the first quarter of 2022, even as iPhone shipments rose.
Shipments from every major Android maker declined, from Samsung on down. Their combined drops were enough to reduce world smartphone shipments in Q1 by around 10%.
Google on Thursday confirmed that it will give “a small number of participating developers” the ability to implement third-party payment methods in their Android apps as part of a pilot program called User Choice Billing.
Spotify, first to take advantage of the change, will offer Google Play’s billing system as well as its own. The move puts even more pressure on Apple, which has been fighting hard to block third-party payment systems on iOS.
It’s no longer possible to purchase or rent new content through the Apple TV app on Android TV and Google TV. The block comes less than a year after Apple’s service made the leap to Google’s big screen platforms.
It is believed Apple removed purchasing after failing to strike a deal with Google over in-app commission rates. However, if you’re wondering how to watch Apple TV on Android, you can still use the Apple TV app to access content you’ve already purchased.
MediaTek looks set to become the first mobile chipmaker to finally give iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic chip a run for its money in processing performance.
The Taiwanese company’s new Dimensity 9000 chipset, announced late last year, is yet to make its way into an Android device. But early benchmarks suggest it will easily outpace rivals from Google, Samsung and Qualcomm.
Spoiler alert: For the seventh year in a row, Apple topped consumers’ lists as the most relevant brand to their everyday lives. Seems like the Cupertino tech giant can’t lose in this particular race.
You have to wonder who placed 293rd. That’s how many companies the annual survey evaluated, in 27 categories.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 has the best chip available for an Android smartphone, but it can’t keep up with Apple’s A-series processor in the iPhone 13 series. Apple’s flagship solidly beats Samsung’s new top-tier models in benchmark tests. It isn’t even close.
And this is despite the iPhone 13 coming out months ago.
Debates over the relative merits of iOS versus Android can go on forever, but there’s always been one area where Apple was way ahead: offering years of operating system upgrades.
Not anymore. Samsung committed itself Wednesday to releasing four generations of Android OS updates for its high-end smartphones. And for its tablets, too.
Apple this week rolled out a new firmware update for its Beats Studio Buds that adds a couple of handy new features and controls — including instant pairing for all your Apple devices over iCloud.
Instant pairing, which was already available on AirPods, means users no longer have to connect Beats Studio Buds to all their Apple devices individually.