The first version of Apple and Google’s contact-tracing API will reportedly roll out April 28, Apple CEO Tim Cook says.
As noted by French language website iGeneration, Cook revealed the launch date to European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who then shared it during a press conference held Wednesday.
Let’s face it: The novelty of video calls has kind of worn off by this point in lockdown. What once seemed like the “video phone” of sci-fi dreams is now a way-too-frequent reality. But Skype has taken efforts to freshen things up by allowing users to swap out backgrounds for their calls.
Want to pretend you’re being massively irresponsible by appearing to call from a crowded beach? Want to swap out your cluttered apartment for a picture of an upscale mansion that will make your boss wonder if they’re paying you too much? Now you can. Here’s how.
Why are massive smog clouds over China good news for Apple? Morgan Stanley analysts explain in their latest note to clients: Because pollution it suggests that Chinese manufacturing is ramping up again.
Probably correct? Sure. Slightly off-brand messaging for Earth Day? You bet!
In May, Verizon Wireless customers get an additional 15GB of mobile data for free for a second month of the COVID-19 crisis.
Many people under stay-at-home orders during the pandemic depend on their iPhone, Android or mobile hotspot to connect to the internet, and hence the world.
Some people make a big production out of unboxing their new iPhone. What’s supposedly an upcoming iPhone SE ad takes the opposite approach with Apple’s just-released budget handset.
Watch it now:
An iOS 14 concept video shows how an iPhone might look if it gains home screen widgets, as has been rumored.
Plus, it envisions several features currently available for iPad jumping to iPhone, like Split Screen multitasking, a floating Dock, and more.
Watch it now:
B&H Photo just dropped the biggest discount we’ve seen so far on Apple’s new 2020 MacBook Air. You can save $100 on yours for a limited time only.
That’s just one of the awesome offers in today’s Deals & Steals roundup. Other highlights include:
Find all these discounts and more in today’s Deals & Steals roundup.
This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.
A pandemic that kills thousands offers no silver linings.
But stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 shows us a window for what living with clean air is like.
An air quality tech company, whose global measurements can be monitored on an iOS app, says greenhouse gas emissions are so low right now, Los Angeles has the cleanest air of all metropolitans areas in the U.S.
Zoom on Wednesday committed to upgrading the encryption in its video-chatting app. And Zoom 5.0, which will be out within the week, will include additional security controls for meeting hosts, like the ability to report disruptive users.
Use of this platform rose enormously since people around the world went into self quarantine. And criticism of Zoom’s security and privacy controls also increased dramatically as Zoombombing became a thing.
Sell your old Apple devices to Cult of Mac now to earn an additional $10 for Earth Day. We typically pay more than other buyback services, and we cough up real cash, fast!
Find out how much your old iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and other Apple devices are really worth — and use our promo code to get even more.
Twelve South’s stunning SurfacePad is a case (kind of) for iPhone owners who hate cases — and it’s now available for iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
SurfacePad is a sheet of high-end leather that sticks to the back of your device and wraps around to cover its display. It keeps your iPhone free from scracthes, without the drawbacks of a traditional case.
Order yours today from the Cult of Mac Store.
This is the second of a two-part video feature on integrating your Elektron synthesizers, samplers and drum machines with Ableton Live on your Mac.
In this video, we’ll show you how to use the brand new Overbridge 2 app and plugin to record up to eight tracks simultaneously over a single USB connection. We’ll also dive into FX routing on the Elektron’s Digitakt sampling drum machine, which is powerful but confusing at first. Finally, we’ll explain how to use the Overbridge plugin to sync Ableton and the Digitakt, and to record loops through a normal analog mixer.
Americans love Apple’s video chatting app FaceTime, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday. But they don’t use it for group chats. As a result, use of FaceTime hasn’t increased at all while millions of people around the world self quarantine.
Instead, rival Zoom has enormously increased in popularity in recent weeks.
Someone sends you a link that looks like this:
https://youtu.be/rZdrlpz3MOo
What do you do? Well, that one is probably safe, as it uses YouTube’s own URL shortener. But what about all those other shortened URLS you see in emails, on Twitter and everywhere else? They could link to anything. A cautious person never clicks on links in emails. And only an insane person would click on shortened links in emails. That’s why you need today’s shortcut, which lets you expand a URL, preview the actual link, and then tap a button to either open it or dismiss it.
The just-released iPad Pro Magic Keyboard costs more than some iPads, and it’s possible to get AppleCare+ repair insurance for it. Just not directly.
Purchasing AppleCare+ adds accidental damage coverage to an iPad, as well as some Apple-branded accessories. That includes keyboards, like the very expensive one that debuted last week.
Facebook Messenger Kids, the free chat app designed specifically for your little ones, on Wednesday expanded its reach to more than 70 new markets and added a number of helpful new features.
It’s now possible for parents to give kids control over their contacts (if they wish), and for kids to join approved groups. The changes come at a time when many children are out of school and unable to see friends.
A redesigned iMac, a more affordable HomePod, and a powerful new Apple TV are just some of the products Apple has planned for 2020, according to one reliable reporter.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also revealed expectations for the 5G iPhone lineup, scheduled to launch this fall, and for a 14-inch MacBook Pro during a Twitter Q&A with followers on Tuesday.
The iPhone SE, with its iPhone 8 form factor, proves that you can teach an old dog new tricks. With the first reviews for the new handset having hit the internet, pundits are in agreement that, well, the iPhone SE is pretty darn great.
In fact, if Apple’s made any kind of misstep it may have been showing us that you can get a pretty amazing iPhone for the price of a mid-level handset. Here’s what the initial reviewers are saying:
Flowcharts are one of the easiest tools for charting ideas and deciding next steps. Too bad they’re not always very easy to create. So this tool cuts through the clutter and makes the task of creating flowcharts quick and simple.
San Francisco-based cybersecurity company ZecOps says that iPhones and iPads may be vulnerable to a flaw involving the Mail app, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Unlike most email-based phone hacks, which involve making someone click a link or visit a website, this exploit does not require victims to do anything other than download (although not necessarily open) an email. It nonetheless could let hackers install malicious software on their devices.
A ZecOps blog post on the topic says that the vulnerability has existed in Apple’s mobile software as far back as iOS 6.
We know Apple makes some of the prettiest packaging you’ll ever find wrapped around electronics, but it’s really just trash when you’re done with it. Samsung has found a terrific way to make its packaging useful.
Boxes built for the company’s newest TV sets can be turned quickly and easily turned into cardboard cat houses, small furniture, and other useful things when you’re done with them.
Zoom calls have exploded during the current coronavirus lockdown. But if you’ve already exhausted the possibilities of different angles and backdrops for your video calls, why not try being a different person entirely? You know, like former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.
At least, that’s the tech demo/experiment created by coders Ali Aliev and Karim Iskakov. They’ve developed an Animoji or Memoji-style tool called Avatarify that lets users superimpose a real-time mask onto themselves during video calls.
A new beta version of the Facebook app for iOS contains hidden resources that suggest a dark mode is on its way to iPhone and iPad.
The feature is expected to work in tandem with the system-wide dark mode settings on iOS for automatic activation and deactivation, but users should be able to toggle it manually, too.
Sen. Josh Hawley wants Apple and Google to have some skin in the game when it comes to keeping data private in their joint coronavirus contact-tracing project. Hawley’s idea? That the Apple and Google CEOs — Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, respectively — should take personal responsibility for ensuring the data is kept private.
“If you seek to assure the public, make your stake in this project personal,” the Republican senator from Missouri wrote Tuesday in a letter to Cook and Pichai. “Make a commitment that you and other executives will be personally liable if you stop protecting privacy, such as by granting advertising companies access to the interface once the pandemic is over.”
T-Mobile is wasting no time expanding — and solidifying — its 5G network in the U.S. following its recently completed merger with Sprint. The two companies, now one, are combining their networks following the landmark merger.
On Tuesday, T-Mobile announced that its 5G 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum is now live in parts of Philadelphia, offering T-Mobile customers with compatible 5G phones the opportunity to take advantage of the new super-speedy connectivity — with peaks of nearly 600 Mbps.