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Apple apparently not ending iOS downgrades

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The official iOS 12 release date is next week, but you can download it now.
The newest beta of iTunes blocks people from downgrading their iPhone to an earlier iOS version, but it’s apparently a bug not a feature.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The most recent beta of iTunes reportedly won’t allow iPhone and iPad owners to reinstall an older iOS version. This is apparently the result of a bug rather than a change of policy by Apple.

It seems Apple will continue to allow users to downgrade to a previous version if a serious problem is found in a new one.

GoodReader 5 brings split-screen documents to iPad

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iPad users can view two documents side-by-side with GoodReader 5.
The iPad pre-dated the iPhone, at least inside Apple.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The latest version of GoodReader enables iPad users to view two documents side-by-side. It also offers a long list of  improvements to its built-in PDF viewer and methods for securing files.

This iOS app debuted back in 2009, not long after the original iPad, and has been called a Swiss army knife of file managers.

3D laser camera could make 2020 iPhones AR machines

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The 2019 iPhone could have a much larger camera bump than any predecessor.
Your next iPhone might come with 3 cameras.
Render: OnLeaks/Digit.in

The 3D sensing capabilities on the iPhone are set to get a big upgrade in 2020, according to a new report.

Apple is supposedly planning to add a laser-based 3D camera system to the 2020 iPhone lineup that will be more powerful than the dot-projection system currently used by the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR for facial recognition.

How to place and receive phone calls on iPad

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Remember these?
Remember these?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Ever looked at your iPad and thought, “I’d love to hold that huge thing up to my ear and make a phone call. I’d look to-ta-lee badass. Now, where’s my cellphone holster?”? Bonus points if you had this thought while looking at a huge 13-inch iPad Pro.

Of course, it might actually be handy to make calls on your iPad, especially as you probably would use AirPods or EarPods to do so. Your iPhone may be charging, or in another room, or maybe you’re there with a number ready to call on your Mac or iPad. Now, the iPad still can’t use its cellular connection to send or receive SMS messages, or make phone calls, but if you have an iPhone nearby you can use it as a bridge to do both. Bonus: This even works with the Wi-Fi-only iPad.

Use this Mac DVD ripper to back up and decrypt DVDs [Giveaway]

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With MacX DVD Ripper Pro, your old DVDs don't need to languish.
Don't let your old DVDs languish.
Image: Digiarty Software

This post is presented by Digiarty Software.

There are plenty of reasons to digitize your aging DVD library. One is that, at this point, those discs are probably just gathering dust. Moving that content onto your computers and other devices means you’re more likely to actually watch it. It’s also a good way to make sure your videos stay safe from scratches or loss.

Apple just broke all of Facebook’s internal apps

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple just dealt Facebook a serious blow in retaliation for the social network’s recently pulled VPN app that was paying teens to take all their data from phones.

Facebook’s internal iOS apps no longer work after Apple revoked the certifications need to install the apps on employee’s iPhones. Everything from early builds of Facebook, Messenger and Instagram won’t even open. Even simple tools like a lunch menu are currently broken.

Amazon’s Drop In basically turns Apple FaceTime bug into a feature [Opinion]

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facebook eavesdropping microphone
Smart speakers are microphones that other people can listen to.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

You know the Apple FaceTime bug that everyone’s going crazy about? It’s a huge screwup, for sure, but at least we know it’s just a bug. Being able to call someone and eavesdrop on their conversations without them knowing is clearly a privacy nightmare, which is why Apple disabled Group FaceTime until it can issue a proper fix.

Amazon, on the other hand, offers silent eavesdropping as a feature for its Echo speakers. It’s called Drop In, and if you’ve enabled it, you should probably turn it off.

Chinese worker allegedly caught stealing Apple self-driving car secrets

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Project Titan
Apple is invested heavily in self-driving tech.
Photo: Idiggapple/Twitter

Another alleged Chinese spy has been caught apparently trying to steal secrets from Apple’s mysterious self-driving car project.

The FBI reportedly arrested a Chinese national working for Apple the day before he planned to fly back to China with thousands of files on his laptop, including Apple’s intellectual property. He was reportedly planning to take all the info to a Chinese electric car manufacturer.

Hacked iPhones star in Middle East cyberwar

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UAE iPhone hacks
The hack took advantage of a flaw in iMessage.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Intelligence operatives from the United Arab Emirates used a powerful cyber weapon that allowed them to monitor the iPhones of hundreds of targets.

The iPhone spy tool, dubbed Karma, gave the UAE remote access to phone numbers, photos, emails and text messages in 2016 and 2017.

An iOS security update rendered it “far less effective,” according to U.S. intelligence contractors who worked with the UAE to breach the iPhones of diplomats, activists, and rival foreign leaders.

Meizu Zero goes up for pre-order with eye-watering price tag

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Meizu Zero 1
This phone outdoes Apple on the whole getting-rid-of-ports thing.
Photo: Meizu

In its quest for minimalist perfectionism, Apple loves shaving ports off its products wherever possible. But even it has stopped short of creating a phone like the Meizu Zero.

Promising no buttons, no speaker holes, no Sim card slot, and no charging port, this sleek Chinese Android phone looked like a concept phone or, uncharitably, an early April Fool’s joke when it first popped up online last month. Well, it seems that that’s not the case at all — since pre-orders have just gone live on Indiegogo. Be warned: It’s not cheap.

Foxconn says it can’t afford to make TV screens in Wisconsin

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Foxconn signing
Foxconn and University Wisconsin officials signing a deal for a research center.
Photo: Bryce Richter/University of Wisconsin-Madison

Foxconn, which promised to create 13,000 jobs with a $10 billion factory in Wisconsin, won’t be producing state-of-the-art TV screens here as planned.

The news may not come as a big surprise to critics of the deal, which gave the iPhone maker the richest subsidy package in the state’s history. Foxconn has already forfeited some of those tax credits after it missed 2018 hiring goals.

Disappointing holiday earnings don’t stop Apple shares from rebounding

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Cash app with cash money
Apple's on its way back up.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple may have suffered a few bruising months, but it seems that investors aren’t ready to lose faith in the Cupertino giant.

Despite Apple announcing disappointing holiday earnings, shares in the company rebounded today. Having performed strongly in pre-market trading, they are currently valued at — time of writing –$161.44. That’s the highest AAPL has been since the middle of December.

Brand new Pokémon game may be coming to iOS

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Pokémon on iPhone
Pokémon Rumble Rush is rolling out now.
Photo: Cult of Mac

The Pokémon Company looks to be hard at work on a brand new Pokémon game for mobile.

The studio is seeking a principal game designer who will work “within a team of designers, engineers, artists, producers, and testers to create an upcoming mobile game.”

There’s still a way to get a cheap iPhone battery replacement

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iPhone batteries
Apple's offer has ended, but iFixit's one continues.
Photo: iFixIt

Apple’s cheap battery replacement program might have come to an end, but the folks over at iFixit have extended their own $29.99 replacement program for the rest of 2019.

The company’s kits provide everything you need to replace the battery for your iPhone, with batteries available for handsets going all the way back to 2011’s iPhone 4s.

Enjoy Apple Music on American Airlines without buying Wi-Fi

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Apple Music on American Airlines
Forget downloading your playlists before takeoff.
Photo: Apple

Starting Friday, Apple Music subscribers can enjoy the service on domestic flights with American Airlines without purchasing Wi-Fi.

Complete access to the service and its more than 50 million songs will be available on flights equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi. American Airlines is the first commercial airline to offer the service.

Another analyst thinks Apple shares are going cheap

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money
If you're looking to invest in Apple, this might be the time!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Another analyst has declared that Apple stock is currently undervalued following on from yesterday’s earnings call.

“The stock is cheap, I mean, it’s selling at low multiples,” King Lip, chief strategist at Baker Avenue Asset Management, told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday. However, Lip said that Apple is going to have to prove itself with a “killer app or killer product” sometime in the next 12 months.

Gmail is getting a big redesign on Android and iOS

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Gmail redesign Android iOS
Meet the new Gmail for mobile.
Photo: Google

Google’s official Gmail app is getting a fancy new redesign on Android and iOS.

The fresh lick of paint won’t just make Gmail look better; it will also come with new features and tweaks that will make it quicker and easier to use, as well as phishing alerts for dodgy emails.

Facebook will remove iOS app that paid users to ‘spy’ on them

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Facebook previously ran into problems with Apple for data collection.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Facebook will shut down the iOS version of its Research app after a TechCrunch report revealed how it was paying users aged 13-35 to install a VPN, allowing it to gather data on their phone and web activity.

This follows an incident last August in which Apple asked Facebook to remove its Onavo VPN from the App Store, since it was violating Apple’s data collection policies.

Lawyer claims FaceTime bug was used to eavesdrop on a client

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2018 iPad Pro Animoji
Apple's FaceTime bug could land it in court.
Photo: Apple

Unsurprisingly, Apple’s recently exposed FaceTime bug — allowing other people to see or hear you before a call starts — is already landing the company in hot water.

According to a new lawsuit filed against Apple, the bug allowed an unknown individual to eavesdrop on a private conversation between a lawyer and their client.

Apple won’t say how many iPhones it sold, but here’s a good guess

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Long-term iPhone XR demand could eventually lead to greater sales than the iPhone XS.
iPhone sales last quarter were down considerably year-over-year. But the company’s other products did quite well.
Photo: Apple

Not included in the Q4 financial results Apple just announced was the number of iPhone units sold. An analyst firm quickly filled in the gap, estimating that 65.9 million iOS handsets shipped in the last quarter of 2018, down significantly.

This is the first quarterly earnings announcement in which Apple didn’t reveal how many iPhone, Mac, and iPad units it had sold.

Budget 2019 iPad needs to include Apple Keyboard [Opinion]

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A budget iPad with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil would be tough competition for a Chromebook.
A budget iPad with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil would be tough competition for a Chromebook.
Photo: Apple

Details  on an upcoming pair of iPad models are already trickling out, and today came word that these tablets might support an Apple clip-on keyboard. At least one of these models is expected to target the classroom, making the release of a Smart Keyboard for it a very welcome addition.

This change might help Apple regain some of the ground it’s lost in education.

Everything you need to know about Apple’s disappointing holiday quarter

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Tim Cook sounded confident about Apple’s future when he got on today’s Q1 2019 earnings call with investors this afternoon. Despite slumping iPhone sales and declining revenues, Cook told investors that his company is being managed for the long-haul instead of short-term gains.

Wall Street is already responding positively to Apple’s earnings report with shares trading up in after-hours trading. The company has 1.4 billion active Apple devices in the world, positioning Apple to continue raking in money as no other company can. However, today’s call revealed some new challenges Apple faces going forward.

iPhone sales slump, but Apple’s in it ‘for the long term’

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Tim Cook with money bag
Tim Cook
Illustration: Cult of Mac

Apple unveiled its earnings for Q1 2019 this afternoon and as expected, total revenue came in a lot lower than Apple originally predicted at the end of last year, with iPhone sales dropping 15%.

Thanks mostly to slumping sales in Greater China, Apple posted $84.3 billion in revenue, marking a drop from the $88.3 billion the company pulled in during the same quarter a year ago. Even though iPhone sales are struggling, Apple’s services are bringing in more money than expected, giving investors some good news.