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Give your old DVDs new life on any device [Deals]

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MacX DVD
Easily convert DVDs of all kinds into formats perfect for your Mac, mobile devices, or streaming sites.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

One unfortunate consequence of the streaming age are the DVD collections gathering dust in our closets. That doesn’t mean they’re not worth watching, but let’s face it: we’re probably not watching them again. So instead of letting them go to waste, why not just convert them for other devices?

Apple’s adjusted App Store algorithm handicaps its own apps

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App Store
Apple apps no longer dominate App Store search results.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s recently-adjusted App Store algorithm prevents too many of its own apps from dominating search results.

The change, which followed Spotify’s complaint regarding “unfair” App Store practices several months, handicaps Apple titles and has had a huge impact since being introduced.

Man miraculously catches falling iPhone X on roller coaster ride

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Rollercoaster iPhone catch 1
What a catch!
Screenshot: sirsammy 15/YouTube

Nothing ruins a day out at a theme park quite like dropping your pricey $1,000 phone while riding a roller coaster.

Unless there’s a guy like Samuel Kempf sitting behind you, that is. Kempf recently shared a video showing how he snatched a dropped iPhone X out of mid-air — all while riding a roller coaster at speeds of 130 kilometers per hour. Check it out.

iPhone 11’s Apple logo will shift for big new feature

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iPhone 11 Max leaning on fence post
No, it won't look like this.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The Apple logo on the back of this year’s iPhone 11 lineup will shift to make way for a brand new feature, according to a new report.

The logo won’t disappear, but it will be perfectly centered for the first time in the iPhone’s history. The change will allow for a huge upgrade in wireless charging functionality.

Apple responds to complaint that Foxconn factory broke labor laws

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iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
Apple says too many temporary workers were employed in Foxconn factory.
Photo: CBS

Apple says that it is working to fix a problem in which too many temporary workers were found illegally working on the iPhone line at a Foxconn factory.

Over the weekend, New York-based watchdog China Labor Watch published a report about alleged violations. These supposedly took place at the biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China.

However, while Apple acknowledges the group’s point about temporary workers, it maintains the other findings are inaccurate.

The best music, notes and knob-twisting apps this week

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app roundup
Bears, knobs, and failure. What a week.
Photo: Cult of Mac

This week we listen to Apple Music in the browser, live on the edge with The Most Dangerous Writing App, lock up our notes in Bear, and schedule our messages to send later in Telegram. And more, etc.

Get the scoop on this week’s best new (or freshly updated) apps for iOS and Mac.

Enhance your content with unlimited royalty-free photos [Deals]

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Scopio
Add gorgeous, royalty-free photos from all over the world to any project.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Few things can make your content pop like a good photo. That’s true whether you’re building a website or a slide presentation, or writing an article or an ad.

Unfortunately, photo rights can be expensive, so this massive photo library subscription is a can’t-miss opportunity. Even better, you can get it at a massive discount.

How Apple will spark an AR boom [Cult of Mac Magazine 313]

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Apple's deep investment in augmented reality looks set to pay off.
Apple's deep investment in augmented reality looks set to pay off.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple’s long bet on augmented reality is about to pay off. Thanks to new tools for developers, and hardware that can handle the advanced apps they create, an AR revolution is in the offing.

Find out how Apple will spark the AR boom in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now for iOS, or see the top stories below in your browser.

Get the skills you need to be a pro web and mobile developer [Deals]

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The Complete Web & Mobile Developer Bundle Ft. Rob Percival
Learn from the best with the Complete Web and Mobile Developer Bundle.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you want to catch the eye of potential employers, adding “web and mobile app development” to your resume is one of the best ways to do so.

With the wildly discounted Complete Web and Mobile Developer Bundle — featuring lessons from a rock-star coder — you can make it happen.

Apple claps back at Google’s claims of iPhone vulnerabilities

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security lock safe
Surprise, surprise, your iPhone isn’t as vulnerable to being hacked as Apple’s chief rival says it is.
Photo: Pexels

The accusations Google recently made about iOS security flaws were greatly overstated, deliberately “stoking fear” in iPhone users, according to Apple. The iPhone maker points out that the issues were much more narrow than its rival indicated, and were online for only a brief time.

Apple tracking tags might be far easier to find than Tile

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Tile will speak out against Apple in Congress antitrust hearing
Tile makes the best items trackers available today, but that might change soon.
Photo: Tile

The item-tracking tags Apple is expected to unveil next week will have ultra-wideband radio technology, according to a reliable analyst. This will make them much more accurate than rival trackers like Tile that depend on Bluetooth to measure distance.

State antitrust probes of Google and Facebook don’t include Apple… yet

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Anti-robocall bill is one step closer to being passed into law
States have launched investigations into Facebook and Google but not Apple.
Photo: rawpixel.com/Pexels CC

Separate groups of US state attorneys general are investigating Facebook and Google for antitrust violations. So far, there has been no word of AGs probing Apple.

However, that doesn’t mean the iPhone maker has escaped probes by other government bodies, both in the US and Europe.

US orders Apple to identify users of rifle scope app

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random riflescope
Justice officials have their sights set on a lot of private data.
Photo: Captaindan/Wikimedia CC

The Department of Justice has ordered Apple and Google to turn over names, phone numbers and IP addresses for users of a gun scope app that allows gun owners to calibrate scopes and capture video.

Data privacy activists say the government’s ask would set a “dangerous precedent,” giving officials access to data on thousands of innocent people.

Apple’s self-driving car sports sleek new sensor array

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Apple car
Apple's self-driving car looks really good.
Photo: The Last Driver License Holder.

Apple made a big update to the design of the sensor array that powers the autonomous functions on its self-driving fleet of cars.

Some eagle-eyed observers in the Cupertino area spotted the new array a couple of times over the last month or so. Instead of having LiDAR and camera sensors mounted on a rack around the car, Apple’s gearheads created a system that’s entirely enclosed. And it looks like they’ve ditched LiDAR in the process.

Watch Apple’s whip drive down the streets of Cupertino.

Siri will one day discuss your health problems with you

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Spanish Siri labels Bolivian president a ‘dictator’
Less "What are you doing" and more "How are you doing?"
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

The ability to have back-and-forth conversations about users’ health problems is one of several new abilities planned for Siri in “fall 2021,” a new report claims.

Based on leaked documents, The Guardian says that Apple is planning a host of new features for its AI assistant. These will include built-in machine translation and, intriguingly, support for a new, unspecified piece of Siri hardware.

This is the start of a whole new era for Apple augmented reality

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Apple Park ARKit
Apple's augmented reality journey is just getting started.
Photo: Nobuyuki Hiyashi

When Apple introduced ARKit in 2017, the augmented reality platform was hailed as a game-changer. Two years later, Apple’s AR push looks ready to deliver the type of experience that gets CEO Tim Cook so excited he wants to scream.

Thanks to a trio of new augmented reality tools for iOS 13, and the very real possibility of an Apple AR headset on the horizon, 2019 promises to be the start of something truly special for Apple’s augmented reality efforts.

Applier supplier Foxconn sales hit new record high

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iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
Foxconn is Apple's biggest contract manufacturer.
Photo: CBS

Life is good if you’re Apple’s biggest contract manufacturer! Foxconn, a.k.a. Hon Hai Precision Industry, has reported its highest-ever August sales in the company’s 45-year history.

Foxconn sales hit $12.76 billion for August. That’s up 0.2% from one month earlier. This is the sixth consecutive month in which Foxconn has registered month-on-month increases. While it can’t necessarily all be chalked up to Cupertino, Apple represents more than 40% of Foxconn’s total sales.