Apple has responded to US lawmakers’ concerns regarding the company’s COVID-19 screening site that was created in coordination with the CDC and the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and FEMA.
Earlier this month, lawmakers demanded proof that the new tools protect citizens’ privacy. In its letter addressed to senators Robert Menendez, Richard Blumenthal, Kamala Harris and Cory A. Booker, Apple details how its site was designed to protect users’ rights during this important time.
The world was starting to develop a healthy skepticism for tech companies and their claims of making data privacy a priority. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal seemed to get our attention and we began to understand how easy it is for groups to track our digital lives.
Then COVID-19 spread with bullet speed across the world and now surveillance of our movements to track the virus is sounding to many like a good idea.
Your Apple Watch could eventually keep an eye on more than your physical health. A future watchOS wearable will reportedly monitor the user’s stress level. This could go all the way to warning the wearer ahead of time that they could be close to a panic attack.
Instagram pushed out a big update to its IGTV app Monday focused on helping users discover more content from popular creators directly in the app.
IGTV, Instagram’s house for all long-form video, hasn’t been nearly as popular as the regular IG app, but Monday’s update hopes to change that by putting a bigger focus on creators and discovery.
Quibi, the new smartphone streaming service with 10-minute program, keeps wracking up the downloads and may give viewers a choice to watch its “quick-bite” shows on streaming TV.
CEO Meg Whitman told an interviewer Monday that Quibi has had more than 1.7 million downloads since launching one week ago.
An all-new iPhone 12 Pro concept is out this week, hot on the heels of the latest report that Apple plans to introduce four 5G iPhones this fall.
The beautiful new video concept created by Donel Bagrov and Anton Panton envisions the most drop-dead-gorgeous iPhone we’ve ever seen, with a slick new body design, haptic volume slider, 120Hz refresh rate display and so much more.
We sure hope the 2020 iPhone looks something like this:
Apple has registered its first COVID-19-related domain name as the total number of global confirmed cases inches towards 2 million this week. The iPhone-maker scooped up the domain name AppleCoronavirus.com but the site isn’t being put to use yet.
Minix Neo Storage Pro is a 480GB solid-state drive that’s also a USB-C multi-port adapter. Plug it into a MacBook and it expands the storage capacity, while also adding HDMI and USB-A ports. And there’s also an accessible Thunderbolt 3 port.
Instagram is adding more web access to its platform with Live Streams now available on your desktop.
This option follow’s Facebook’s rollout last week of Direct Messages on the web version. Facebook owns Instagram.
Apple Maps will soon feature special locators for COVID-19 testing centers.
A testing center’s location will appear with a red medical glyph and a card containing information about the site. The listings will include the name and location of the testing center, the affiliated health care provider and contact information. Apple also asks the testing centers to indicate whether they require appointments or doctor referrals.
Great Britain’s National Health Service has confirmed plans to use joint contact tracing technology developed by Apple and Google in an upcoming app to warn users if they have been near someone suspected of being infected with COVID-19.
Apple reportedly will roll out a major refresh to its top-of-the-line iPhones in the fall that will see the addition of 5G and a re-design of two models with a slimmer, sleeker design. Sources said the company also plans to release a smaller, less expensive HomePod and an electronic finder technology to monitor the location of anything from keys to a purse.
Some of the discounts in the Cult of Mac Store’s big Easter sale are coming to an end. Don’t miss your chance to bag two Apple Watch bands from Nyloon and save $15.
They’re available in a host of dazzling designs and made from ballistic-grade nylon that’s super-sturdy and incredibly comfortable all day long.
This sale ends later today so take advantage of it before it’s gone!
This week we edit photos using the iPad’s trackpad, solve math problems with a Mac keyboard shortcut, add dynamic complications to our watches with Watchsmith, and more.
If you’re asking whether the iPad Pro is a laptop replacement, you’re asking the wrong question. Apple’s tablet is more like a Swiss Army knife that can tackle tasks that a MacBook can never master.
Find out why in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. In the free iOS mag, you’ll also find the latest on Apple’s attempts to battle COVID-19, including a contact-tracing partnership with Google and those rad face shields for health care workers whipped up by Cupertino’s finest.
Plus, you’ll get the usual mix of Apple news, reviews and how-tos. Grab yours now from the App Store.
Friday’s announcement that Apple and Google are teaming up to create a contact-tracing program to stop the spread of COVID-19 generated more questions than answers.
We broke down how these apps could help with our Cult of Mac explainer on the subject. However, we also found a more lighthearted, comic resource that addresses the ins and outs of contact tracing.
The free “Today at Apple” education workshops are back on, even if your local Apple Store remains closed.
The tech giant launched an “at home” edition of its in-store sessions Friday to keep your creative juices flowing while quarantined at home under COVID-19 lockdown orders.
Apple and Google revealed Friday that they’re teaming up to take on one of the most colossal tasks in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19: contact tracing.
If you’re like me, you probably hadn’t heard about contact tracing until the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s proven to be an important tool in countries that have seen a drop in their reported cases of the coronavirus.
With a little background, here are the basics of contact tracing and what you need to know.
Scrappers makes taking out the rubbish less a boring chore and more an epic battle. Up to four players control robot garbage collectors as they clean up a grimy city. But watch out for rival teams!
“Creativity Goes On” is a touching new video from Apple that highlights people working from home, learning from home, FaceTiming one another, and more, with Apple products. It’s inspirational at a time when so many are self-isolating during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Instagram has been a little more desktop-friendly lately. On Friday, the photo-sharing app gave users the ability to read and send direct messages from a desktop computer.
Facebook, which owns the app, had signaled last year that it wanted to make private messaging easier across all of its apps regardless of device.
In a rare moment of collaboration, Apple and Google said Friday they have teamed up to create a contact-tracing program that uses smartphones to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The privacy-focused solution created by the companies will use anonymous Bluetooth “chirps” from phones as a way to tell where an infected person has been and who they’ve come in contact with.
Apple is working on a totally re-designed, wireless charging pad with the ability to route power to exact areas to prevent overheating, according to Front Page Tech analyst Jon Prosser.
Prosser reported Friday that engineers on Apple’s Sharing and Proximity team and working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic recently received prototype units of something called “C68”. AirPower isn’t mentioned by name, but descriptions and details appear to match Apple’s failed charging mat.
Apple will “likely” launch a low-cost iPhone 9 as early as next week, according to an analyst report published Friday.
Travel difficulties caused by the coronavirus outbreak may push back the release of the largest iPhone ever until late fall, the analyst said. However, other new iOS devices are still on schedule for September.
Apple feels for all the energetic kids getting antsy under stay-at-home orders.
The tech giant released a worksheet with 30 creative activities designed for kids 2-8 but could also be fun for the adults in the house.