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HealthKit needs a health check at WWDC

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HealthKit on iCloud: Apple needs to step up its Health game.
Apple needs to step up its Health game.
Photo: Julia Ballew/Unsplash CC

As a fitness writer and app developer, there’s just one thing I’m hoping to see at WWDC next week: a major upgrade to HealthKit.

Don’t get me wrong. I think Apple’s health-tracking framework is great, but there’s so much more it could do. Moving HealthKit to iCloud would finally set Apple Watch free from its iPhone dependency, launch a brand-new Apple subscription service, enable users to access health and fitness data on all their devices, create a whole new class of TV fitness apps, and much, much more.

FBI issues Apple with warrant as part of senator illegal stock selloff probe

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FBI director says Feds still can't unlock iPhone in Pensacola shooting case
FBI wants information pertaining to Senator Richard Burr's iCloud account.
Photo: Dave Newman/Flickr CC

The FBI has served Apple with a warrant to gain information stored on U.S. Senator Richard Burr’s iCloud account. The Justice Department is investigating Burr for stock transactions that he made before the coronavirus pandemic decimated the stock market earlier this year.

Apple rolls out App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, more in 20+ new countries

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International App Store
Apple's focusing on growing its services business more than ever.
Photo: Apple

Apple announced Tuesday that it is launching a whole host of its services in dozens more countries around the world.

Starting today, the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are available in 20 additional countries. Apple Music, meanwhile, has picked up an additional 52 (!) international markets.

Move over, Dropbox: How to share iCloud folders in iOS 13.4

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colored notebooks
Some folders, which could totally be shared.
Photo: Laika Notebooks/Unsplash

In iOS 13.4, you can share iCloud folders with other people for the first time. You’ve long been able to share a single file via iCloud, but now you can share folders, so all the people sharing can drop files in there. Just like Dropbox has done since, like, forever.

This new capability, which arrived Tuesday in iOS 13.4 and macOS Catalina 10.15.4, will finally let people ditch Dropbox and go all-in on iCloud. Let’s see how it works.

How to change your Safari downloads folder on iPhone and iPad

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books
Don't let your iCloud Drive end up looking like this.
Photo: lle dnuor/Unsplash

By default, Safari on iOS downloads all files to a folder in your iCloud. This means you can access those files from all your devices. But it also means those files fill up your iCloud Drive. Worse, every megabyte you download also gets uploaded back to iCloud, doubling your bandwidth usage.

Today we’ll see how to change the location of your Safari downloads folder in iOS 13.

Now everyone can try iCloud folder sharing

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iCloud folder sharing is in iPadOS 13.4 and iOS 13.4
iCloud folder sharing finally arrives in iPadOS 13.4, and iOS 13.4 too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The wait is over for iCloud folder sharing… at least for everyone willing to install the initial iOS 13.4 public beta or its iPad equivalent. And there’s new Memoji stickers, tablet users can remap some keys, plus some other new features to experiment with.

Apple’s new beta updates usher in iCloud folder sharing, universal purchases

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First iPadOS 13.4 Developer beta includes iCloud folder sharing
Developers can install iPadOS 13.4 to test out iCloud folder sharing. The same goes for iOS 13.4 and macOS 10.15.4.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The first pre-release versions of updates for all Apple computers include significant new features. iCloud folder sharing makes its delayed debut. And the ability to buy the iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS versions of third-party software as a single purchase is coming too.

These features appear in the initial developer betas of iOS 13.4, macOS 10.15.4, iPadOS 13.4, tvOS 13.4 and watchOS 6.2.

Save 95% on 2TB of cloud storage for life [Deals]

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ThunderDrive Cloud Storage Plans
Thunder Drive offers secure cloud access via your web browser, so you can access it from any device.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

By now, cloud storage is an essential part of our digital day to day lives. Unfortunately it’s still comes at a privileged price, so when there’s a chance to score massive storage for a song, our ears perk up. In this case, it’s lifelong access to 2TB of space for under $60.

How to switch off iCloud backups, and why you might not want to

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iCloud backups locker room
Apple might keep iCloud backups locked in rooms like this one.
Photo: Liz Weddon/Unsplash

Last week’s revelation that iCloud backups can be accessed by Apple, and are regularly given to law enforcement agencies, came as a big surprise to many people. Isn’t Apple the company that claims to protect your data? While your iPhone or iPad is locked down, much of your iCloud data, including1 your iMessages, is available to Apple. The only way to prevent Apple, and government agencies, from accessing that data is to switch off iCloud backups, and make local backups instead.

Apple ditched plans for secure iCloud backups after FBI concern

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Apple ditched plans for secure iCloud backups after FBI concern
Apple planned new feature two years ago.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple ditched plans to let users fully encrypt backups of their devices using iCloud, a new report by Reuters claims. Apple reportedly made the decision after the FBI complained that this would make it harder to carry out future investigations.

The report mentions no names. But the news outlet reportedly spoke with “six sources familiar with the matter.”

Apple denies AG Barr’s calls of no help to unlock Pensacola killer’s iPhones

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Tim Cook & Apple stand behind its stance that iPhone encryption is "vital to protecting our country and our users' data."

Apple denied late Monday that it has not cooperated with U.S. federal authorities to help unlock a pair of iPhone’s believed to have belonged to a Saudi aviation student that killed three people at a Florida Navy base in December, saying it always works with law enforcement in their investigations and directly contradicting claims by the U.S. Attorney General that it had not given “substantive assistance.”

US Attorney General demands Apple unlock Pensacola shooter’s iPhones

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slide to unlock lock screen
Apple is embroiled in another unlocking controversy.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple could be headed for another collision course with U.S. federal law enforcement, similar to the spat it had with the FBI over creating backdoors into iOS.

Attorney General William Barr has asked Apple to provide access to two phones used by the gunman at the Pensacola Naval Air Station shooting last month. Barr said this morning that Apple has provided no “substantive assistance” so far and indicated that he’s ready for a fight regarding the issue.

Apple scans photos uploaded to iCloud to check if they contain child abuse

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Apple ditched plans for secure iCloud backups after FBI concern
Apple's chief privacy officer discussed the tech in a CES panel.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

CES-2020-bug-2

Apple’s chief privacy officer says that Apple scans photos uploaded to iCloud to check whether they contain child abuse. Jane Horvath discussed the use of the technology during a Tuesday panel on user privacy at CES.

Horvath didn’t reveal exactly how Apple carries this out. Many companies — including Facebook, Twitter and Google — already use a Microsoft-developed tool called PhotoDNA. This checks images against a database of previously identified pictures.

Apple promises to fix big bug in iOS 13’s new parental controls feature

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iOS-13-Communication-Limits
Communication Limits doesn't work as intended.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

iOS 13.3 dropped this week, bringing a brand-new parental controls feature called Communication Limits. But it comes with a serious flaw that allows kids to bypass any rules set by adults.

Apple says a workaround is available, and it is working on a fix that will be included in a future software update.

No longer receiving App Store and iTunes receipts? You’re not alone.

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Appstore
You can request them manually if you need to.
Photo: Apple

Some Apple customers have stopped receiving email receipts for their App Store and iTunes transactions.

The issue appears to have arisen in late October, and it affects all purchases made through Apple’s digital storefronts — including subscriptions. But there is a way you can request receipts manually.

US Senator proposes new law aimed at limiting Apple data flow to China

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China
Tim Cook meeting with China's vice premier.
Photo: Tim Cook

One of tech’s biggest opponents in Washington D.C. proposed a new bill this week that could have huge implications on Apple and TikTok’s business operations if put into law.

GOP senator Josh Hawley from Missouri introduced legislation today that would prevent the Chinese company that owns TikTok from collecting information on American users and sharing it with the Communist Party of China. The bill would also stop American companies like Apple from storing user data in China.

The best alternatives to Apple’s disastrous MacBooks

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Macbook alternatives: The Surface Book comes with a 100%-working keyboard.
Unlike MacBooks, the Surface Book comes with a 100%-working keyboard.
Photo: Clint Patterson/Unsplash

Apple’s current line of MacBooks is probably its worst laptop lineup in years. The keyboards are so broken that even the newest MacBook Air is covered under Apple’s keyboard repair program. There are too few ports, and too much heat. And if you want to upgrade any internal parts? You’ll have to buy a new MacBook. But what are the best MacBook alternatives?

If you want to ditch the MacBook, you will find plenty of options. However, none of them offer one essential element: macOS. Switching to another operating system is like moving house and having to leave everything but your clothes behind. But there are workarounds even for that. Let’s check out the best alternatives to the MacBook in 2019.

How to give away your old AirPods

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Unpair airpods
New AirPods? Why not give your old AirPods away?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

You’ve got your amazing new AirPods Pro, and now you have a set of perfectly good (if a little waxy) AirPods Normal just taking up mental space.

Should you keep them as spares? I guess that’s the safe route (just in case you misplace the Pros). But how about giving them away to a friend or family member? Today we’ll see how to unpair AirPods from your iCloud account so you can do just that. (Plus how to clean them before you pass them along.)

With the holiday season approaching, maybe you could make someone very happy.

Why can’t you turn off Personal Hotspot in iOS 13?

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Personal hotspot
No, not that kind of hot spot.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 13 isn’t just about exciting new bugs. Apple did a lot of cleaning up and moving things around in its latest mobile operating system. One big, behind-the-scenes feature change comes in the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot. You can no longer turn it off. Or rather, you haven’t been able to turn it off for a while now. It’s just that iOS 13 finally makes it explicit.

However, this doesn’t mean your iPhone will constantly broadcast its hotspot status, or that it will run down your battery. In fact, this feature is now easier to understand, and more sensibly described, than ever. Here’s what the Personal Hotspot changes in iOS 13 mean.