Restrict website access with these tools. Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
There is a lot of explicit content out there on the internet, or so I am told.
Before handing a device off to a child, you may want to disable or limit access to the wide-open internet and App Store. Read on to learn how to block explicit content on iPhone and iPad.
A group of software engineers have joined forces to form the Open Web Advocacy (OWA), which will fight Apple’s “anti-competitive” web browser restrictions on iPhone and iPad.
The OWA says that Apple’s tight controls, which prevent third-party browsers from using their own engines on iOS, has stalled innovation for the past 10 years and “prevented web apps from taking off on mobile.”
Use Safari Tab Groups to arrange all those browser tabs you have open.. Photo: Cult of Mac
Keeping large numbers of browser tabs open is such a common habit that Apple created a system to organize them. Safari Tab Groups let you put open tabs into logical collections so you can more easily work with them. And the same groups are available across all your Apple devices.
The system gets a little complicated. But here’s how to get started with Safari Tab Groups.
iOS and iPadOS 15.4 make a small but welcome change to the way in which Safari saves login information. As of the third beta release, which rolled out to developers on Tuesday, passwords without user names won’t be saved.
The change, which also applies to macOS 12.3 Monterey, means users will be prompted to add a user name before they can save a new password. It helps prevent a buildup of passwords you can’t remember the user names for.
A big improvement for mobile apps on the web. Photo: Apple
Apple’s first iOS 15.4 beta, rolled out to registered developers last week, lays the groundwork for web apps to deliver push notifications.
The feature, long available in Safari for macOS, always stood out as a notable omission on iPhone and iPad. Fortunately for those who use mobile web apps frequently, that looks set to change in the near future.
iOS 15.3 fixes a nasty Safari bug. Photo: Cult of Mac/Egor Kamelev/Pexels
Apple made iOS 15.3 available to all compatible iPhone models Monday. The update squashes at least one bug that recently made headlines. But there are no new features.
Apple also introduced iPadOS 15.3 to erase many of the same bugs. And macOS Monterey 12.2 and watchOS 8.4 debuted, too. tvOS 15.3 arrived Monday as well.
A student showed Apple a Mac webcam security flaw and got paid $100,500. Photo: Mikhail_Nilov@Pexels.com
Apple paid a cybersecurity student what’s thought to be a record-high $105,000 bug bounty. Why? He showed the company how hacking its webcams can render the devices fully vulnerable to further attacks.
But we don't yet know when we'll get it. Screenshot: Cult of Mac
Apple has prepared a fix for a Safari 15 bug that allows websites to view your browsing habits and Google account details. And, because it’s a bug in WebKit — Apple’s browser engine used by Safari and third-party apps in the App Store — it affects virtually all iOS and iPadOS browsers, including Chrome and Brave.
Unfortunately, Apple’s patch won’t be available until the company rolls out new macOS, iOS and iPadOS updates. There’s currently no word on when that might be. Apple is in the process of beta testing new software updates, but it may be too late for the fix to be implemented into those before they are made available to all.
Well, that's not good. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
A newly discovered bug in Safari 15 allows any website to track your browsing activity and may even reveal your identity if you’re a Google user.
The vulnerability stems from Apple’s implementation of IndexedDB, a storage API widely supported by most modern browsers. And the problem affects users on Mac as well as iPhone and iPad. Here’s what you need to know.