Apple Planning to Sell Subscription Services Through the Apple TV App Later This Year

A new report from Bloomberg states that Apple is planning on selling subscription services through the Apple TV app later this year with the eventual plan of having all of those services stream from the TV app.  Currently you have to subscribe to an independent service like Hulu or use your cable TV credentials in the app you want to use, like HBO Go.

In its current form, the TV app is essentially a hub for your connected services and when you select a service to watch, you are taken to that service’s app on your iPad or iPhone.  Eventually, Apple wants this to stream directly from within the TV app so you don’t have to bounce around between different apps or subscribe to them independent of Apple TV.

Apple to use Drones to Improve Apple Maps

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.

Custom Routines Now Live in Google Assistant

It hasn’t taken Google long to bring some great new features to Google Assistant.  After announcing both new voices and customized routines yesterday at Google I/O, both are now live and available.  You can find Routines in the Google Assistant App under Settings>Routines.  There you will find a Floating Action Button (FAB) that will allow you to create a personalize routine for your Assistant.

The customization allows you to tell Google Assistant what to do when you give a particular command.  There are a lot of pre-built command that can be setup with just a couple of taps.

New Google Assistant Voices Now Available on Android and iOS

Yesterday at Google I/O it was announced that Google Assistant would be receiving six new voices that you could use to suit your personal preferences with as you interact with it on your phone or Home devices.  Just a day later, those new voice models are now live in the Assistant or Home app on your Android phone.

You can find the new voice models under Settings>Preferences>Assistant Voice.  There you can listen to a script read by each of the voices to pick the one you like the best.  There are three male and three female voices to chose from in addition to the stock male and female voices that have already been in Assistant.

Apple Removing Apps That Share Location Date with Third Parties Without Consent

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.

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