Apple completely redesigns the App Store, introduces entirely new sections and promotes in-app purchases
Yesterday at WWDC 2017 Apple not only announced details of iOS 11, the company also unveiled a completely redesigned App Store. Central to the entire iOS experience, the change is due to arrive later in the year, and when we say it's a complete redesign, we mean it's a complete redesign.
It goes without saying that Apple refers to the redesign as "beautiful," and the extreme makeover is something that has been a long time coming. But while the look of the store is markedly different to its current incarnation, it is still somewhat familiar. It borrows style ideas from iOS 10's Music and News apps.
Is Apple about to release a file manager for iOS at WWDC?
It's Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this week, and while we are very unlikely to hear anything about the iPhone 8, there's sure to be plenty of news to come. However, ahead of the start of the conference, it seems that Apple has accidentally let slip its iOS file manager.
A new, largely blank entry in the App Store was spotted by a developer. It shows a new app called, imaginatively enough, Files. The icon is Apple-y in style, would be appropriate for a file manager app, and the listing indicates that iOS 11 and up is needed.
Microsoft Planner now available for Android
Nearly two weeks after introducing the iPhone app, Microsoft officially announces the availability of Planner on Android. The tool was released a year ago to help teams using Office 365 better manage and collaborate on projects.
Microsoft says that Planner is available to Office 365 subscribers on the Business Essentials, Business Premium, Enterprise E1 to E5 and Education plans.
Live Chat With Friends brings private chats to Facebook Live
Facebook understands the importance of video on its platform, particularly live video. Facebook Live has proved to be an incredibly popular component of the social network and now the company is introducing new ways to connect with friends through the service.
Known as Live Chat With Friends, the new feature makes it possible to chat privately with friends during live broadcasts. The company is also rolling out another new feature called Live With. This "lets you invite a friend into your live video so you can hang out together, even if you’re not in the same place."
Apple and Nokia end all litigation as they sign patent license and business cooperation agreement
Apple is dropping its lawsuit against Nokia. The iPhone manufacturer and the Finnish company reached an agreement to not only bring the intellectual property dispute to an end, but also to start a multi-year patent license.
Described as a "meaningful agreement", details of the new arrangement are confidential, at least for the time being, but Apple does shed a little light on what's going to be happening moving forward. Apple will receive network infrastructure product and services from Nokia, and the company will also resume carrying the Withings health products Nokia bought.
Microsoft Planner now available for iPhone
Office 365 officially received a project management tool, called Planner, in June 2016, but it is not until today that Microsoft introduces an accompanying mobile app. And the platform of choice for the first Microsoft Planner app is iOS.
When Microsoft publicly launched Planner, the software giant said that there will be apps available for Windows and Android devices too, but there is no announcement regarding the support for the other two platforms. Hopefully, that will happen at some point in the near future.
Siri gets competition as Google Assistant heads to the Apple iPhone
Yes, the rumors were true (as they so often are when it comes to Google) -- the search giant announced at its I/O developer conference today that its personal assistant is coming to the iPhone.
As you might expect (and as is the case with Microsoft’s Cortana), you won’t be able to replace Siri with Google Assistant, instead you’ll need to summon it through a dedicated app. That’s not the only downside.
Apple's iPhone 6s is the most popular smartphone in the world
Apple may not sell as many smartphones as Samsung, but its iPhones consistently rank at the top of the sales charts, typically edging their Galaxy S rivals by a healthy margin. So, it should not come as a surprise that it is an iPhone that is the most popular smartphone in the world as well.
ScientiaMobile, which recently released a report that crowns the Galaxy S7 as the most popular Samsung-made smartphone in the world, today expands its scope and announces that the title for the most popular smartphone in the world belongs to the iPhone 6s.
Qualcomm wants to ban US iPhone imports because Apple's not paying licensing royalties
Apple and Qualcomm are not on the best of terms. The iPhone maker has sued Qualcomm for overcharging on royalties, demanding $1bn in compensation. The chip maker, in return, has sued Apple for making its modems worse in the iPhone 7 to match the performance of similar Intel cellular radios.
And now Qualcomm wants to take things to the next level, as it considers asking the International Trade Commission to ban iPhone imports in the US. If the ITC agrees, that would potentially lead to billions and billions of lost sales for Apple and affect its plans for the launch of the new iPhone.
iPhone sales continue to fall ahead of iPhone 8 launch
Yesterday we debated whether interest in the Apple Watch is falling, but Tim Cook says that sales have doubled over the last year. This is an easy claim to make when you don’t reveal the actual sales figures, but the story is definitely less rosy when we look at the iPhone. For the second quarter ever, sales of Apple's smartphone fell.
This was not only a drop in sales, but an unexpected one. While analysts had been predicting sales in the region of 52.27 million, the reality is that the company shipped just 50.2 million in the quarter ending April 1, 2017. It might not seem like a big difference, but the sustained fall in sales saw Apple's stock to follow suit to the tune of 1.5 percent.
Uber tracked iPhone users even after they uninstalled the app and Tim Cook wasn't happy
Uber broke Apple's rules by tagging and tracking iPhones even after users had uninstalled the taxi-hailing app. The New York Times reports that Tim Cook met with CEO Travis Kalanick and warned that the Uber app could be kicked out of the App Store for violating privacy guidelines.
It is said that Uber has been found "secretly identifying and tagging iPhones" not only after the app was uninstalled, but even after phones had been wiped. The "fingerprinting" technique was used -- it is alleged -- to identify individual iPhones, and measures were taken to hide the offending code from Apple.
Microsoft Authenticator app gets phone sign in
Microsoft is making it easier than ever to sign into a Microsoft account, adding a new authentication option in the Microsoft Authenticator app that lets you approve the sign in attempt using just your Android smartphone or iPhone.
Here's how it works. When you enter your Microsoft account handle you will get a prompt from Microsoft Authenticator to approve or deny the attempt. To take advantage of this option, you need to add your Microsoft account to the app or, if you already did so, turn on the "Enable phone sign-in" option.
Google Maps for iOS gains Your Timeline feature so you can check your travel history
It's something that Android users have been able to do for a little while now -- using the Timeline function of Google Maps to check back over their travel history. Now the feature is coming to iOS, meaning iPhone users can now look back over their day and where it has taken them.
Google suggests that it's a great way to rediscover places you have visited in the past, but it also provides a means of tracking how far you have traveled over the course of the day. Users are given a good level of control over what's included in their timeline, allowing for complete personalization.
Australia sues Apple over iPhones bricked by Error 53
Early last year, iPhone users upgrading to iOS 9 started to complain that their phones were being "bricked" by the process. An Error 53 was generated, and Apple explained that the bricking was intentional when it was detected that an iPhone had been subject to third party repairs. Many people were unhappy about this, and Australia is suing Apple.
The country's watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), argues that consumer rights are being infringed upon. It says that Apple has engaged in "misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations to consumers."
How to find out which of your apps are not compatible with iOS 11
Last week saw the release of iOS 10.3, and thoughts are already turning to the next major release of Apple's mobile operating system. When iOS 11 launches later this year, it is not expected to support 32-bit apps and this means that a number of apps that have not been updated accordingly will stop working.
Built into iOS 10.3 is a tool that can be used to quickly determine which of your apps could die in iOS 11. While it's possible that updates might be released for them, Apple's move away from 32-bit software is far from new, so it's probably time to start looking for 64-bit alternatives for anything you have come to rely on.
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