Apple has “paused ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages” after developers and commentators criticized the types of advertisements showing up in the iPhone’s App Store, according to a statement from spokesperson Trevor Kincaid.
From my perspective, this experiment is not a promising development for the road ahead. It feels like a bait and switch: my loyalty in buying products that are better for me as a user is being tested because shareholders need to see more services revenue. Apple knows most people will not switch because it relentlessly promotes its own services across its systems or because there are ads for third-party apps all over the App Store — or, if as rumoured, it rolls out ads in Maps. But it will feel a little bit scummier every time I go to download an app or get directions.
Apple wants no part of being associated with gambling within an app. But now with advertising, it's in it up to its neck. Apple takes money from gambling advertisers, and it doubtlessly places those ads in the places, and at the times, when they are most likely to get a return for those companies.
In the process of patching a vulnerability in the 11th Ventura developer beta, released on October 11, Apple accidentally introduced a flaw that cuts off third-party security products from the access they need to do their scans. And while there is a workaround to grant the permission, those who upgrade their Macs to Ventura may not realize that anything is amiss or have the information needed to fix the problem.
Apple told WIRED that it will resolve the issue in the next macOS software update but declined to say when that would be. In the meantime, users could be unaware that their Mac security tools aren't functioning as expected. The confusion has left third-party security vendors scrambling to understand the scope of the problem.
Apple released iOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura to the public this week. In addition to headlining new features and changes, there are also essential security fixes as well. One of the most notable fixes is for a bug that allowed applications to eavesdrop on your conversations with Siri.
The updated design is a notable departure from the current iCloud design, showing full tiles with previews for Photos, Mail, iCloud Drive, Notes, and more, on a customizable Home page.
iOS 16.2 beta 1 launched yesterday to developers with a handful of new features and changes. As it turns out, the update includes a new Lock Screen widget option for Sleep data from the Health app. There’s also a new Medications widget coming soon as well.
A lot of people are now complaining that the iPad lineup is “confusing”. I disagree. There are specific aspects of the iPads in the lineup that are confusing, or at least disappointing. These aspects are mostly related to peripherals — which Pencils and which keyboard covers work with which iPads — and I wrote about these issues last week. But in terms of the fundamental question facing would-be buyers — “Which iPad should I get?” — I don’t think this lineup is confusing. I’d argue, in fact, that it’s less confusing, because the lineup is more complete. Prior to last week, there was a significant gap between the 9th-generation iPad (which remains in the lineup, unchanged in price) and the iPad Air. The 10th-gen iPad fills that gap.
Following the public release of macOS Ventura, Apple has issued a support document about .ps and .eps file support being removed from Preview.
Shirt Pocket has released SuperDuper 3.7, adding full compatibility with macOS 13 Ventura. However, while SuperDuper supports bootable backups for Big Sur, Monterey, and Ventura, Shirt Pocket notes that Apple bugs may cause startup to be unsuccessful, although restoration is still possible.
Duolingo has become known for its app that teaches new languages in a fun and intuitive way. The company has been expanding this experience to other areas of education, such as basic reading for children with Duolingo ABC and now math with the new Duolingo Math app.
Thousands of California residents were alerted ahead of Tuesday's magnitude 5.1 earthquake in the Bay Area, thanks to the MyShake app.
The app, which was developed by the Berkeley Seismology Lab, alerted 95,000 devices of the earthquake up to 18 seconds before the quake, advising users to "drop, cover and hold on," said officials from the California Office of Emergency Management and USGS.
A new set of Machine Learning lessons teaches users to train an app to recognize images. Users can train the model with a rock, paper, scissors game.
Another lesson, "Laying Out Views," challenges users to match a UI mock-up in code.
The new iPad Pro comes in packaging that is almost entirely fiber-based, and is completely biodegradeable, says Apple's Lisa Jackson.
Apple Music appears to have joined the widening list of businesses distancing themselves from Kanye West in light of his repeated anti-Semitic remarks.
The streaming music giant has apparently pulled Kanye West Essentials Playlist, after the rap veteran, who now goes by the name Ye, made offensive comments online and, again, in interviews.
But industry analysts say the decision to take down Ye’s music is complicated by several factors, including contract requirements streamers may have with record labels and publishers, free speech considerations and whether it is appropriate to take action against an artist’s behavior outside of their music.
"We will allow our developers to advertise more on our App Stores."
"Do we need to vet these ads? Do we need to approve each advertisement?"
"Of course not. Our crack team of app reviewers already vet through every single app that were submitted. Our App Stores are full of safe and trusted apps. Therefore, all of the ads are also going to be for safe and trusted apps. Don't worry about it."
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