Category: Apple

Apple is one of 10 companies to be approved for a US Department of Transportation project that will allow for the use of drones beyond the current FAA limits.  Apple, who will be using drones in South Carolina, has indicated that they will be using drones to capture aerial images for the improvement of Apple Maps.

The announcement yesterday by the DoT also named Microsoft and Intel as two of the other companies that had been approved.  In all, 149 companies applied for the project with only 10 selected.  Amazon was not selected for the program.

Apple seems to be getting serious about apps sending location data without user consent.  Over the course of the past few weeks, Apple has sent developers emails if their apps are in violation of two key parts of the legal section of the App Store Review Guidelines.  Those have to do with the sending of location data to third parties without the users explicit consent to do so.

The sections in question are 5.1.1 and 5.1.2, both in the legal part of the guidelines.  Those sections of the guide call out data collection and transmission guidelines which is what Apple is cracking down on with these apps.

Fitbit for iOS has a new update rolling out that finally brings one of the most requested features of female users of the fitness tracking app and devices.  With the new update, women can opt-in to a new Female Health Tracking which will allow women to track their monthly menstrual cycle to better understand their bodies and their cycles, something that is unique to every women.

Fitbit announced the new feature last month and it is rolling out to iOS users today while it should hit Android users later this month.  Once you have the app update and have identified yourself as a female in the app, you should get a pop-up to opt into the new feature.  It is only available for women 13 years and older.

Apple has posted an update to developers of iOS that requires them to use the iOS 11 SDK and to support the display of the iPhone X.  The policy change goes into effect in July and any apps submitted or app updates submitted must comply with the new policy or they will be rejected.

The requirement for using the iOS 11 SDK is not a surprise.  It has been available since September of last year and Apple likes to make sure that apps, just like iPhones and iPads, are up-to-date.  Part of that SDK is supporting the Super Retina Display of the iPhone X, including its notch.  That is now required too.

A week after the third beta of iOS 11.4 was released, a fourth new beta of the next update to Apple’s mobile platform has been released to testers.  For those who have a device registered in the Apple Beta Program, you should see the update as available to download to your compatible device.

The beta released today is a bit of a surprise given Apple usually spaces out their updates several weeks during beta testing.  The quick release likely indicates that an issue was discovered and needed to be patched quickly but Apple has not confirmed this fact.

It looks like the Apple HomePod is about to get a much needed feature:  Calendar access.  Right now HomePod isn’t able to access your calendar.  It can access your Messages, Reminders and Notes, which is handy but having calendar access is key to increasing the productivity of users of the smart speaker.  It looks like it is going to be changing pretty soon.

In the 3rd beta of iOS 11.4, when you go through the process of setting up an Apple HomePod, you now will see an icon for Calendar along with Messages, Reminders and Notes.  It is the strongest indication yet that calendar support is coming – although Apple hasn’t said anything on the topic to date.