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Essential chief takes leave of absence over ‘inappropriate’ relationship

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Andy Rubin
Andy Rubin allegedly dated a colleague at Google.
Photo: Google

Essential founder Andy Rubin has stepped away from the company following claims he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a colleague while at Google.

Rubin’s leave of absence comes just three months after Essential launched its first smartphone. A statement from his representative denies any wrongdoing.

10 gifts iPhone owners can actually use every day (at crazy holiday prices)

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These gifts for iPhone owners will be a definite hit. Cult of Mac Gift Guide 2017
These gifts for iPhone owners will be a definite hit.
Photo: Ben White/Unsplash CC

2017 Gift Guide bug If you’ve been through a Christmas or two, you’ve undoubtedly got one of those drawers. You know the one. It’s a graveyard for all the holiday gifts you use every once in awhile (at best).

Stop the madness! If you’re shopping for gifts for iPhone owners this year (and basically, that means almost everyone), check out our 10 items they can absolutely use every day. Make sure your gift doesn’t get exiled to … the drawer!

Instagram might finally get a ‘regram’ button

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These Instagram tips will help you connect with photographers who share your interests.
Currating your feed is about to get even easier.
Photo: Lee Peterson/Cult of Mac

Reposting your favorite photos on Instagram is about to get a lot easier if a new feature that’s currently in testing makes it out to the public.

Instagram appears to be testing a button that allows users to “regram” button that allows users to share posts to their timeline. There’s no guarantee when the feature will make it out to the public, but it if it does, it could finally mean the end of horrible third-party reposting apps.

Apple sues Qualcomm over its Snapdragon chips

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Qualcomm patents
The war between the two companies has raged throughout 2017.
Photo: Qualcomm

Apple has filed a countersuit against Qualcomm in the latest twist in the battle between the two companies, which has run throughout 2017.

What Apple is alleging is that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile phone chips, which power a range of Samsung and other Android handsets, run into conflict with Apple’s own earlier patents.

Apple removes apps which glorify Philippines’ war on drugs

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App Phillipines
This is one of several games no longer available in the App Store!
Photo: Duterterador

Apple is removing violent games from the App Store — at least when it comes to games that glorify violence against drug dealers and users in the Philippines, that is!

While a lot of us probably haven’t come across them, there is apparently a niche series of games that depict Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in a literal war on drugs. And seemingly the organisation “Asian Network of People who Use Drugs” (yes, that’s a real thing!) were none too happy about them.

Instagram just ‘borrowed’ more features from Snapchat

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Instagram 2
Look familiar?
Photo: Instagram

Instagram is continuing its competition with Snapchat with its latest update, which lets user remix friends’ photos and then send them back.

To use the feature, when you view a photo message from friends, hit the camera icon at the bottom of the screen and capture a reply. Your reply then contains a sticker of the original message, which you can then move and resize, or add additional stickers, text, and drawings to.

Mysterious photo could reveal Apple Car proving ground

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Google Earthpic
Apple's autonomous vehicle project is still rolling.
Photo: Google Earth

What do crop circles have to do with Apple? No, it’s not 1996 — when an Apple laptop was used to save the world from aliens in Independence Day.

Instead, a new report claims that an image on Google Earth depicts a former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles facility in Arizona that Apple may be using to test autonomous vehicles. A satellite image shows a “proving ground” with urban street configurations, such as crosswalks and intersections, which would be necessary for putting a self-driving vehicle through its paces.

Huge security flaw leaves macOS High Sierra open to attack

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macOS High Sierra
Apple let a major security flaw slip through the cracks.
Photo: Apple

A serious security flaw in macOS High Sierra has been exposed that allows anyone to gain full access to affected Macs without knowing the computer’s administrative password.

The bug appears to let someone log into the admin account on a Mac by simply typing “root” as the username while leaving the password field blank. Attackers could potentially exploit the bug to access locked Macs and gain access to personal information.

Grammarly is iOS’ missing spellchecker

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Grammarly
Avoid lame mistakes with this new iOS software keyboard.
Photo: Grammarly

If you ever missed a full-featured spell-and-grammar checker on iOS then you should check out Grammarly. Grammarly is a replacement keyboard for iOS which not only offers auto-correction as you type, but can also run through the entire text and suggest changes, just like you can do on the Mac.

But Grammarly goes one better than that. Its grammar engine picks up on errors of punctuation, grammar, and even spots double spaces. I just ran it on the previous article I wrote today and it flagged up all kinds of small errors that a regular spell checker would never catch.

Force Dropbox to download your shared links directly

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default locations dropbox iOS 11
It's easy to stop Dropbox forcing its own previews on your clients and friends.
Photo: Cult of Mac

If you send somebody a Dropbox link, then they don’t just get the file you meant to send them. They are given an opportunity to go through the whole Dropbox Experience. Images may be presented in a folder or a gallery, a PDF will be rendered in the browser, perhaps with its images scaled so your amazing presentation looks like pixelated crap. And all the while your client/friend/boss will see Dropbox’s corporate chrome surrounding your content.

Today, we’re going to fix that.

Apple drops new betas for iOS, macOS and tvOS

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Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in iOS 11 control center
iOS 11.2 makes Control Center a bit better.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Developers received a new round of beta updates from Apple this morning after the company released the fifth beta build of iOS 11.2 along with new software for tvOS and macOS as well.

iOS 11.2 beta 2 comes more than a week after Apple seeded the last build to developers adding a bunch of tweaks to the iPhone and iPad.

Huawei reveals details of its upcoming Face ID competitor

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Face ID
Face ID uses 30,000 invisible dots to map your face.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Face ID on the iPhone X could soon face some stiff competition from one of Apple’s biggest rivals in China.

Huawei unveiled its latest tech today that is destined for its Android smartphones and it looks like the company may have come up with a facial recognition solution that’s already better than Face ID.

WhatsApp now supports picture-in-picture, plays YouTube

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WhatsApp
You’ll need a new iPhone if you can’t update to iOS 8 or later.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp for iPhone just got a big update that makes it easier than ever to keep your conversations flowing.

The world’s most popular messaging app now supports picture-in-picture video playback, and plays YouTube videos without sending you to another app.

Substitute Phone will never cure your iPhone addiction

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Substitute Phone
It's little more than a fancy fidget spinner.
Photo: Klemens Schillinger

Spending too much time on your iPhone? You might be addicted. One designer hopes to help cure that with the Substitute Phone.

It doesn’t have iMessage or Facebook or Snapchat. It doesn’t even have a screen. Instead, it’s a block of plastic that uses stone beads to give you the touchscreen gestures you crave.

Will it really work?

Save 92 percent on this top-shelf VPN [Deals]

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Anonymize and encrypt your online activity with this super popular VPN.
Anonymize and encrypt your online activity with this super popular VPN.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

ZenMate is a highly popular VPN, used by over 41 million people. That’s because it’s an easy way of getting online securely and anonymously, backed up by a ton of extra features. But premium VPN protection doesn’t have to cost a premium price.

Right now you can get a lifetime of ZenMate Premium for just $36.00 at Cult of Mac Deals with coupon code: CYBER40.

Apple’s new YouTube channel teaches iOS tips

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Apple Support YouTube
Apple Support's new YouTube channel.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple wants to help you make the most of your iPhone and iPad with a brand new YouTube channel. It offers a collection of how-to videos that teach you how to take screenshots, send attachments in Mail, print on the go, and more.

Animal Crossing enjoys crazy first week on mobile

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Nintendo introduces 2 paid subscriptions for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Nintendo introduces 2 paid subscriptions for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Photo: Nintendo

Animal Crossing made the leap to mobile last week, and it’s proving to be another smash hit for Nintendo.

Pocket Camp attracted 15 million downloads across Android and iOS during its first six days of availability, according to the latest estimates. That’s more than double the number of downloads achieved by Fire Emblem Heroes over the same time.

Last day to save big on Apple Watch bands with Cyber Monday Sale! [Watch Store]

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cybermonday
Save on gorgeous bands in a range of cool materials: metal, aluminum, stainless steel, leather, nylon, wood and more!
Photo: Ste Smith

It’s Cyber Monday — the last day to get that dreaded seasonal shopping out of the way from the comfort and safety of your Mac at Watch Store’s biggest sale of the year.

In a few clicks, you’ll find incredible savings on Apple Watch bands and accessories during Cult of Mac Watch Store’s big Black Friday Weekend Sale — four days of massive savings.

We’ve rounded up some amazing brands for this huge sale including: OleksynPrannyk, Casetify, Nyloon, Ottm, E3 Supply Co., Rilee & Lo, Jack Foster, Strapple, Wood Mark, Nomad, Form Function Form, Clessant, Juuk and more. These brands are offering from 17% to 50% off regular sale prices!

Rest-assured that bands sold in our Watch Store are high-quality and recommended by Cult of Mac — we’ve touched, worn, reviewed and recommend everything we sell. So, get ahead of the holiday shopping curve and check out these screaming deals before quantities sell out. (Most brands won’t be restocking until January.) Happy shopping!

Face ID gets its close-up in new Apple videos

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Face ID
The iPhone X unlocks with your face.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s latest series of videos are out to show fans why they should consider ditching Touch ID for Face ID.

With the new True Depth camera on the iPhone X, Apple’s magical software can unlock your iPhone just by looking at your face. In four new videos published on the company’s YouTube, Apple shows how Face Id can be used to bring your favorite animoji to life and more.

Watch all four right here:

Quick Tip: How to force Face ID to pay attention to you

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iPhone x notifications face id
iPhone X hides notification previews until you look at them.
Photo: Apple

Face ID is almost perfect, but that only makes it even more annoying when Apple’s facial-recognition tech doesn’t work like you’d expect. For instance, if you’re sitting at your desk and you glance at a notification on your propped-up iPhone X, the screen unlocks and lets you read the notification’s full content. But sometimes it doesn’t notice you looking, and the notifications stay locked.

What do you do in this case? Do you grab the phone and give it a shake, the same way you do to trigger raise-to-wake on other iPhones? No. There’s a shortcut, although you will need to lift at least one finger to use it.