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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.

Everything you need to know about tags in iOS 11 and High Sierra

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Tagging files in ios 11
Tagging files is a powerful and easy way to tidy up your files, but it’s currently limited to the new iOS 11 Files app.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

One of the most useful new features in iOS 11 is tags in the Files app. Just like in the Finder on the Mac, you can mark your files with as many tags as you like, making them easy to organize, and easy to find, even when they are scattered across different folders.

For instance, if you’re working on a song on your iPad, you could create a new tag for that song. You can add that tag to the GarageBand project, to any versions of the song you export to share with other folks, to any ideas for that song you record with the Music Memos app, and to any little samples, field recordings or sounds you create with other apps. Then, you can see all those files together in one view, even while they all stay safe in their original folders.

Even better is that Files uses the exact same tags as the Finder on your Mac, so anything you keep in iCloud Drive will be tagged in both places. Let’s see how iOS tags work.

Pay what you want for this Cyber Monday Mac app bundle

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PWYW Cyber Monday Mac Bundle Wide
The Pay What You Want Cyber Monday Mac Bundle features 10 utility apps you'll use everyday

What better to celebrate this Cyber Monday than with a present to your trusty Macs? While we might only surf the web, finish some spreadsheets, or watch Netflix, our Macs can do more than just that. The Pay What You Want Cyber Monday Mac Bundle features 10 Mac apps that you will use on an every day basis. Whether you want to quickly find your files or touch-up photos with just one click, this Mac app bundle is perfect for this Cyber Monday.

Grid Autosport puts console-quality racing in your pocket

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GRID
The game raced into the App Store today!
Photo: GRID Autosport

A new racing title, offering “console-quality” graphics and gaming, sped onto iOS today.

Called GRID Autosport, the AAA racing game offers 100 cars and a whole lot of circuits — all for the one-off price of $9.99, with no additional charges for later content. Check out the spectacular trailer below:

The best Cyber Monday deals of 2017

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Cyber Monday 2017
Grab a bargain today!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The holiday season is finally upon us and you know what that means? Killer deals on all the tech gadgets you’ve been lusting after all year.

Cyber Monday deals for 2017 are already setting the internet into a tizzy of anticipation with big discounts on 4K TVs, smart speakers, drones, iPads, smartphones and much more. Cult of Mac will be rounding up the best deals right here so you can spend less time Cyber Monday shopping and get on with life.

Here are the best deals worth checking out:

Apple will spend $4.2 billion on original programming by 2022

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
Apple is opening up its wallet!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple will $4.2 billion per year on original video content by 2022, according to a recent report, citing Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster.

The sum is a massive increase on the rumored $1 billion “war chest” that Apple will spend in 2018, although it will still trail behind Netflix and Amazon when it comes to their respective video budgets.

Retailers rage over cut iPhone X profit margins

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iPhone X wireless charging
Retailers in India say that Apple has slashed profit margins.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Retailers in India are not happy about the way that Apple is reducing their cut of the new iPhone X handsets, by reducing retail margins on the device by close to 30 percent.

As a result, some retailers in the country — such as Bengaluru-based Sangeetha Mobiles, which owns 400 stores across India — have stopped taking orders for the iPhone X altogether.

Foxconn is shipping half a million iPhone X units a day

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iphone x
iPhone X availability has been better than expected.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Respected Apple analyst KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo says that customer interest in the iPhone X continues to climb — with manufacturers ramping up their production to meet Apple’s demands.

Kuo claims that Foxconn is currently shipping 440,000 to 550,000 iPhone X units per day, representing an enormous increase on the 50,000 to 100,000 units being shipped each day just a couple months back.