Category: iOS

Confirming a rumor from last week prior to Google I/O, the Mountain View company pulled back the curtains on the all new Google News app and service yesterday at the event.  The new look site and app brings an significantly updated, more Material Design look to the apps while also bringing more visual and video content along with it.

Along with the updated look, there is now a Newsstand tab in the app which brings in magazine and online content subscriptions to the app.  With that, it spells the end of the Google Play Newsstand app.

It appears that once again Apple is upping device security with the upcoming release of iOS 11.4.  In a new report on Elcomsoft indicates that when the new build of iOS rolls out, it will come with a Lightening Connection lockdown that requires the device to unlocked or the password/fingerprint to be entered every seven days.  The feature is meant to prevent tethering a device to a PC or Mac and brute force cracking the device to gain access.

The feature first appeared in iOS 11.3 but was dropped during the beta testing.  It reappeared in 11.4 and, to this point, has pretty much gone unnoticed until now.  What this means is after 7 days, if the device hasn’t been unlocked either with biometrics or a password, the Lightening connector becomes a charging port only.  No data is transmitted to or from the device by the connected laptop.

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.

While iOS 12 is on the horizon for 2018, attention is already starting to turn to iOS 13 which is slated for 2019.  That attention is being fueled by rumors about the update coming in 2019 and it looks like it is going to be heavily focused on the iPad.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman tweeted on Friday about some of the things that we can expect in “Yukon”, the codename for iOS 13.

Somewhat. iOS 13 “Yukon” will have a big iPad-focused feature upgrade as well, including an updated Files app. some other things in the works are tabs in apps like in MacOS, same app side by side, Apple Pencil stuff. The home screen redesign is iPad focused.

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) May 4, 2018

While the tweet and rumors are still somewhat generic in nature, it does align with previous rumors that there would be a heavy focus on the iPad in v13.