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All 270 US Apple Stores are open for the first time since March 2020

Every Apple Store in the United States is open for the first time in nearly a year. It was 353 days ago — March 13, 2020 — that Apple closed all of its retail stores outside of Greater China.

While some Apple Stores offer in-store shopping appointments and others can accept Express pickup of online orders only, all 270 US locations are now open in some capacity as of March 1, 2021. Apple Stores in Texas around Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio were the last to reopen today.

Over the past 12 months, Apple Stores have weathered a rambling calendar of horrors that began when the pandemic hit. After starting to reopen from May 11, 2020, evolving health guidance and COVID-19 infection spikes forced some stores to reclose and reopen a second, third, or even fourth time.

If adapting and responding to new health and safety guidelines overnight wasn’t enough, Apple Stores were then confronted with looting and vandalism, an intense heatwave and wildfire smoke throughout California in the midst of curbside operations, Election Day and Inauguration Day security precautions, and severe winter storms in Texas that pushed back store reopenings in Austin by nearly a week.

US Apple Stores have reopened and closed again many times over the past year due to COVID-19.


To top it all off, rapidly evolving shopping trends and physical distancing have drained the life from many of the shopping centers and public squares Apple calls home. These are just a few of the most visible and intense challenges of the past 12 months. The miserable cocktail of unfortunate events has tested the spirits of Apple’s Retail teams and kept all US stores from reopening at any point before today.

In addition to reopening every store, Apple is also starting to offer in-store shopping at more US locations again after months of operation as Express storefronts. Twenty-one stores in California, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, and Utah reintroduced shopping sessions today. That’s on top of almost 50 locations last week, more than 40 the week before, and dozens in early February.

5,120 px × 1,592 px



Today’s milestone doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet. All Apple Stores still enforce health and safety guidelines that include reduced occupancy and a mask requirement. Apple continuously evaluates local COVID-19 conditions, and it’s highly possible that some stores could temporarily close or return to Express operations in the future.

Outside of the US, just over a dozen Apple Stores remain closed in France and Brazil. Apple Stores in Mexico reopen March 2.

 

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Apple celebrating Women’s History Month with App Store interviews, Fitness+, and more

March is Women’s History Month along with International Women’s Day landing on the 8th. And Apple has announced its wide-ranging plans to celebrate the day and month across the App Store, Apple TV app, Apple Music, Apple News, Podcasts, Fitness+, Today at Apple sessions, and more.

Apple's Watch Challenge that will happen this year in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8. Now Apple has detailed all the ways it will celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day 2021 in a Newsroom post.

For Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Apple is further amplifying female voices that drive culture and change by bringing to the forefront untold stories, exclusive content, and curated collections across all of its services. Available beginning in March, these offerings celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of all women who accelerate the conversation around gender equality.

Customers can learn new skills from female creators with virtual Today at Apple sessions, join the Apple Fitness+ community for inspiring workouts on International Women’s Day, or listen to an all-new show on Apple Podcasts from ABC News, featuring never-before-released audio from former first lady Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson.

Here are some of the ways Apple is celebrating and highlighting women for March:

App Store

Apple celebrates women who challenge themselves to create new paths and ways of working, sharing their knowledge and experiences for others to follow in their footsteps. Customers can read about female developers in exclusive interviews, or browse the curated Apps Made by Women Collection. Additionally, the App Store will feature an App of the Day and Game of the Day from a woman creator during the month of March, and, with Apple Arcade, showcase a collection of games starring powerful female characters.

Apple Music

Apple Music is highlighting women who are leaders in their field, breaking records, topping charts, and inspiring others through their work, advocacy, and influence within pop culture and beyond. Apple Music listeners can enjoy a diverse range of “Visionary Women” curated playlists from artists and influencers from all over the world. Apple Music will also showcase four original content short films, and Apple Music radio and Apple Music TV will feature incredible female voices, stories, and musicianship for a full 24 hours, back to back, on March 8.

Apple TV App

The Apple TV app is highlighting showrunners, directors, stars, and crew members who are working — both in front of and behind the camera — toward progress in the fight for women’s equality. Customers can enjoy curated collections that celebrate iconic and emerging voices who bring women’s experiences to the forefront of their storytelling, spotlight the leading women of Apple TV+, and elevate remarkable shows, movies, and documentaries from international creators.

Apple Fitness+

Starting on International Women’s Day, Apple Fitness+ subscribers can enjoy a collection of 24 workouts featuring full playlists made up entirely of artists who are women, across High Intensity Interval Training, Rowing, Strength, Core, Treadmill, Cycling, Dance, Yoga, and Mindful Cooldown. These workouts will celebrate women with either a full theme, such as persistence, equal opportunity, and breaking through barriers, or by including inspiring and motivating songs from great women artists across all music genres. Additionally, the Time to Walk episode released on March 8 features Korean-born writer Min Jin Lee, author of the New York Times bestseller “Pachinko,” who talks about finding her voice through storytelling and how her family created a new life after immigrating to the United States.

Apple Watch

On March 8, Apple Watch users can participate in the International Women’s Day Activity Challenge and earn a limited-edition award by recording any workout of 20 minutes or more.

Check out the full details of everything Apple has planned for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day in its Newsroom post here.

 

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Here’s why 5G speeds are slow in the US and why that could change this year

Last year, if you were just listening to the major US carriers, it seemed like 2020 was the year that impressive 5G coverage with lightning-fast speeds was going to arrive for the masses. However, what actually arrived for many was very small pockets of dramatically faster speeds, with overall speeds not so different from 4G. A new report from Speedcheck today dives into why the rollout of 5G in the US turned out to be so disappointing, and also gives some hope for why 2021 could be the year carriers’ 5G coverage really starts to deliver.

As for where the US stands now when it comes to 5G speeds compared to the rest of the world, it’s in 17th place out of 22 in Speedcheck’s latest index. That’s a median US 5G speed of just 42.69 Mbps.

Looking up the chart, Switzerland takes 10th place with 100.32 Mbps, and South Korea at the top embarrasses everyone with a median 5G speed of 428.72 Mbps.

That’s not to say 5G speeds in the US haven’t been better than 4G overall, but they certainly haven’t lived up to the hype of the next-gen network standard offering 10 times the speeds of 4G or more.

Why has 5G been disappointing?

In a new report today, Speedcheck detailed three major reasons why 5G in the US is lackluster. First, corroborating previous details we heard from experts, the majority of 5G coverage for now is built on 4G infrastructure, particularly with AT&T and Verizon.

Sub-optimal network configurations. The majority of the initial 5G deployments in the US were Non-Stand-Alone (NSA), meaning that the new networks were aided by existing 4G infrastructures. On NSA deployments, LTE-controlled communications shift to 5G only when a device wants to exchange, resulting in a 4G-like user experience.

T-Mobile launched its standalone 5G coverage last year, which, along with its Sprint merger and focusing on the mid-band 5G spectrum, has allowed it to lead with speed and coverage.

Speedcheck notes that the government could have done better with making more mid-band spectrum available to carriers – this particularly held back AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile/Sprint was more aggressive in acquiring mid-band spectrum early on.

Regulatory decisions. In every country around the world that has launched 5G – except the US – the C-band frequencies (that is airwaves between 3.4GHz and 4.2GHz) are at the very heart of the new technology, as they offer a great combination of good coverage and high-speed connections. In the US, most of the spectrum available in the C-band (280MHz) was not auctioned until January this year, forcing the major carriers to rely heavily on lower frequencies, which work over long distances but deliver slow speeds, or higher frequencies (mmWave), which carry far larger amount of data but on short-range signals.

Finally, the tension between the US and China that has included a ban on Huawei has been a factor for US carriers rolling out 5G.

Geo-political tensions. When the US deemed [Chinese-owned] Huawei a national security risk, it caused many 5G deployments to be put on hold. Operators then had to take big steps backward and choose other suppliers for their network equipment, in a move that delayed the commercial launch of 5G in the country.

Speedcheck does sound a warning to US cellular carriers that WiFi 6 and satellite-based WiFi like Starlink could prove to be a threat if they don’t really improve 5G this year. But it shares some optimism for why this could actually be the year 5G really takes off.

2021 might be a turning point for 5G in the US, as operators will try to capitalize on their newly acquired C-band spectrum.

In January, the US Federal Commission Communications (FCC) completed a spectrum auction that will provide an injection of highly desired C-band spectrum (that is a mid-frequency) for 5G deployment in the country. The major US carriers and other service providers bid a staggering USD 80.9 billion for the licensing rights to use this spectrum, shattering the country’s previous auction record for 4G LTE back in 2015. More important than the specific bids, the total amounts are so high that they speak volumes to the importance of the C-band to improve 5G networks in the US.

The downside is that not all of the newly purchased mid-band spectrum will be available all at once, but hopefully it will still mean a significant improvement in 5G US performance across all the major carriers.

 

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Apple launches ‘Apple for Kids’ website to help parents set up devices for kids

Apple launched today a new support page on its website. With “Apple for Kids,” parents and guardians can learn everything they need to know about how to manage a family group, set up a child’s device, and more.

Since it’s becoming more natural for children to have an iPhone, an iPad, or even an Apple Watch, Apple is promoting a new page to help parents and guardians take care of their kids online.

The pandemic and the adoption of homeschooling forced many parents to give their children a gadget for education’s purpose. With “Apple for Kids” support page, here’s what you can learn:

• Set up Family Sharing: To use Family Sharing, each person needs their own Apple ID. As the family organizer, you can create Apple IDs for your children, and add existing Apple IDs for other family members.
  
  
• Set up your child’s device: Help your child sign in to Apple devices with their Apple ID, create a device passcode, and use Family Sharing to access purchased apps and content.

On the “Apple for Kids” page, Apple is also detailng how to set up an Apple Watch for a family member who doesn’t have their own iPhone.

The company also shows how to keep track of your child’s activities and set limits and monitor usage with six tips:

• Approve purchases with Ask to Buy: With this feature on, kids will need a family organizer permission before making a purchase with the iPhone.
  
  
• Locate missing devices with Find My: Turn on Find My, and if your child’s device goes missing, you can see it on a map and play a sound to help you find it.
  
  
• Use Apple Cash Family: You can send Apple Cash to your children so they can use Apple Pay, while you stay informed and in control.
  
  
• Prevent in-app purchases: You can keep your kids from making unintentional or unauthorized purchases from the App Stores or in-app purchases and subscription.
  
  
• Set limits with Screen Time: See how your kids use their devices, set time limits for app or apps categories, and control with whom they can communicate.
  
  
• Use parental controls on your child’s device: You’re in control of what your kids can do. Set up Screen Time to restrict which apps your children can use, what content they can access, and what settings they can change.

If you want to know more about “Apple for Kids” support page, just click here.

 

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Latest Apple Pay promo nets 10% in Bed Bath & Beyond rewards

A new Apple Pay promotion kicked off on Thursday, offering Bed Bath & Beyond customers 10% back on purchases in the form of My Funds rewards when using Apple's payments service at checkout.

Items bought through the Bed Bath & Beyond app and paid for using Apple Pay are eligible for the extra My Funds rewards. Users can apply collected rewards toward future purchases.

The promotion runs through March 18 and rewards earned are valid for 30 days, Apple says. Additional information about Bed Bath & Beyond's My Funds system can be found on the company's website.

Along with the Bed Bath & Beyond deal, Apple in an email sent to Apple Pay users advertises home improvement retailers that accept the payments platform in their respective apps and stores. Ace Hardware processes touchless payments in its brick-and-mortar outlets, while Buy Buy Baby, Houzz, and Office Depot feature in-app Apple Pay integration.

Apple routinely partners with retailers, brands, service providers and app makers to boost Apple Pay engagement. Most recently, the company last month offered users four months of free unlimited coffee from Panera Bread when signing up for the restaurant's MyPanera+ Coffee subscription.

The tech giant this week also announced a limited time promotion that nets some Apple Card members a full 3% Daily Cash with every Apple Pay transaction. Typically, card terms allow for 1% cash back for card purchases, 2% for Apple Pay transactions, and 3% for Apple Card with Apple Pay purchases at Apple and select partners.

 

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7 tips and tricks for typing faster and more accurately on your iPhone

If you spend most of your day typing on your iPhone, there are a few tricks to help you type even faster. The best part is that you don’t even have to download a miraculous app or anything like that. It’s all built-in in your phone.

There are a few ways to improve your typing experience that will really help when sending long iMessage texts or just being a good person and avoiding audio recording.


How to type faster on your iPhone

First of all, you can check your keyboard settings on the iPhone. Go to Settings, General, Keyboard, and take a look at which function you think will help. For me, I don’t like Auto-Capitalization, but I love Slide to Type and “.” Shortcut.

If you speak more than a language, go to Keyboards, then the keyboard settings, and add the languages you’re familiar with. Now, let’s go with the tips.

• Predictions/QuickType: When you’re typing, you’ll find a prediction bar along the top of the keyboard. If you are not the fastest typer, just look at it and see if the word you want to write is already there. With time, QuickType learns the things you write all the time and gets really smart.
  
  
• QuickPath: slide to type. That’s a feature that’s been available for a long time for Android users and not that many for the iPhone ones. Just slide from character to character and see QuickPath forming words. The good part is that when you finish a word, you can start another one because the space bar is pressed automatically.
  
  
• Text Replacement: remember when I told you to check your keyboard settings? Go there and click on “Text Replacement.” You can add that every time you write “omw” it replaces for “On my way!” It’s a great tip you are used to writing long words or long terms every time.

• Undo typing: this one is just a gimmick, but worth a try. When you write something you don’t like, just shake the phone to undo typing. You can also slide three fingers to the left to undo or three fingers to the right to redo.
  
  
• Move the cursor: if you want to add a word in the middle of a sentence, you can just click where you want to put it. But if you want to go faster. Press and hold the space bar, then move your finger on the keyboard to select exactly the place where you want to correct a word or write a new one.
  
  
• Quick access to numbers: on the left bottom of your phone, there’s a “123” bar that you can access numbers and symbols. But did you know that if you keep the bar pressed and select a number, it will automatically go back to the QWERTY keyboard.
  
  
• One-Handed Keyboard: if you love big phones, like the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but have tiny hands, you can press and hold the world bar on the left bottom corner of your iPhone and select a keyboard that is more to the left or to the right. It will help you to write with just a thumb, for example.

 

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Apple discontinues iMac Pro, available 'while supplies last'

Apple has discontinued the iMac Pro, with the Mac model now only available in a single configuration but only "While supplies last."

An update to the online Apple Store's iMac Pro listing late on Friday has severely limited the potential purchasing options for the model for customers. The change seems to indicate Apple is in the process of discontinuing the model completely, and is in the process of selling off its last units.

The store page includes the text "While supplies last" at the top of the page. While customers were previously able to configure the iMac Pro with different specifications, there's now only one option available to purchase.

The sole option offers a 3.0GHz 10-core Intel Xeon W processor with 32GB of 2,666MHz ECC memory, 1TB of SSD storage, a Radeon Pro Vega 56 8GB, and 10Gb Ethernet. It is priced at $4,999, with no options to upgrade or customize the order from Apple itself.

Previously, there were configuration options for 14-core and 18-core processors, Vega 64 graphics, up to 4TB of storage, and up to 256GB of memory.

The change does not apply to third-party resellers, who will have some stock of other configurations on hand.

It is unknown whether a new version of the iMac Pro line will be available in the future or if it will be absorbed into the main iMac range in a future product line update.

Since its launch in 2017, the iMac Pro has received some specification updates, but no major upgrades to the design.

Apple is also on an aggressive two-year timeline to migrate its Mac products from Intel processors to Apple Silicon, but it seems unlikely that the iMac Pro would be a part of that. Apple is thought to be preparing a redesigned iMac with Apple Silicon for release in 2021.

 

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Win the Apple Watch International Women's Day challenge with a quick workout

Apple Watch owners can secure the International Women's Day challenge badge for 2021 by undertaking a 20-minute workout while wearing their wearable devices.

Originally announced as part of Apple's overall Women's History Month and International Women's Day celebration, Apple Watch owners started to receive notifications on their devices that this year's challenge is happening on Monday. For March 8, participants can secure the badge by undertaking Apple's simple challenge.

According to the notification, the limited-edition award can be earned by working out for 20 minutes or more. The workout has to either be recorded in the Workout app, or in any app that adds workouts to the Health app.

The award is a circular two-tone badge, with a purple outer ring surrounding an inner pink circle. The numbers "2021" marking the year are also visible, with the zero forming the edge of the inner circle.

Special stickers for use in Messages are also unlocked by completing the challenge.

As part of other celebrations marking Women's History Month and International Women's Day, Apple's other services are offering a variety of content to consume. This ranges from inspirational Apple Fitness+ workouts to App Store stories highlighting women creating new ways to work and the "Apps Made by Women" collection.

Apple Music will showcase female artists, Apple Books will offer curated collections of women-written books in every field, and Apple News will showcase inspiring female figures and lesser-known stories about women's history.

 

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Apple releases updates for Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Motion, and Compressor for Mac

Apple has quietly released the latest versions of its video and motion effects software. Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Motion, and Compressor all have new versions available for Mac users with some new features along with stability and performance improvements. Notably, Final Cut Pro now has native support for RED RAW decoding and playback.

The latest builds of Apple’s video suite are showing as updated yesterday but appear to have started showing up widely for users today.

iMovie 10.2.3 for Mac gets a variety of optimizations and bug fixes:

• Fixes the following issues that could occur when importing projects from iMovie for iOS:

• Fonts may change when using the Slide and Chromatic title styles
  
  
• Longer titles may shift from one line to two lines
  
  
• Filters may be removed from clips
  
  
• Some projects may fail to import

• Fixes an issue in which changing an event name in the All Events view may cause that same name to be incorrectly displayed for a different event
  
  
• Includes stability and reliability improvements

Final Cut Pro 10.5.2 just notes “stability and reliability improvements” in the App Store release notes. However, Apple detailed the actual changes in a new support document.

Notably that includes native RED RAW decoding and playback:

• Adds support for a new Universal RED plugin enabling native RED RAW decoding and playback on both Apple silicon and Intel-based Mac computers.
  
  
• Improves stability when playing back H.264 video files with corrupt data.
  
  
• Fixes an issue in which text could disappear when double clicking a value field in the inspector.
  
  
• Fixes an issue in which FCPXML files created from drop frame projects would import as non drop frame.
  
  
• Fixes an issue that may prevent custom Motion titles stored inside the library from appearing in the Titles browser.
  
  
• Improves stability when choosing the DPP/Editorial Services metadata view with MXF media.
  
  
• Improves stability when using AirPlay with Final Cut Pro on a Mac computer with Apple silicon.

Motion 5.5.1 features some new features along with optimization and fixes:

• Adds a new Auto-Shrink option to the Text Layout tab of the Inspector to automatically reduce text size to fit in a paragraph, scroll, or crawl layout
  
  
• Includes UI refinements for macOS Big Sur
  
  
• Includes stability and reliability improvements

And finally Compressor 4.5.2 has new new HEVC Proxy settings and UI refinements along with bug fixes and other improvements:

• Includes HEVC Proxy settings optimized for use in Final Cut Pro
  
  
• Includes UI refinements for macOS Big Sur
  
  
• Includes stability and reliability improvements

 

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T-Mobile will automatically enroll users into new tracking program ‘relevant ads'

T-Mobile will automatically enroll users into a new tracking program to show ‘relevant ads’

T-Mobile is planning to automatically enroll its subscribers in a new “advertising program informed by their online acting,” according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The program will also include Sprint following the T-Mobile merger back in 2020.

In a statement, T-Mobile defended this new program and said that it has heard from many subscribers who say they prefer “more relevant ads,” which this program will make possible. This is also why T-Mobile will make this new data sharing program opt-out rather than opt-in.

A T-Mobile spokeswoman said the changes give subscribers advertising that aligns with their interests. “We’ve heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we’re defaulting to this setting,” she said. The company said the changes wouldn’t apply to business accounts or children’s lines.

T-Mobile does say that it will “mask users’ identities” to add a layer of privacy protection:

T-Mobile said it masks users’ identities to prevent advertisers and other companies from knowing what websites they visit or apps they have installed. The company tags the data with an encoded user or device ID to protect the customers’ anonymity.

This is, unfortunately, becoming common practice in the wireless industry. Prior to the T-Mobile merger, Sprint offered a similar program, but it was completely opt-in. AT&T and Verizon also automatically enroll subscribers into their own “Relevant Advertising” programs, so in many ways, T-Mobile is playing catch up here.

AT&T and Verizon also both offer “enhanced versions” of their programs that share more data with advertisers, but this is opt-in.

The Wall Street Journal has rounded up details on how to opt out of these “revenant advertising” programs completely. You can get started by visiting these links:

• Verizon
  
  
• AT&T
  
  
• Sprint

And for T-Mobile customers:

T‑Mobile: In the T‑Mobile app, visit the MORE tab, Advertising & Analytics, Use my data to make ads more relevant to me. Turn the toggle off (gray) to stop. On MyT‑Mobile.com, click the My account drop down, Profile, Privacy and Notifications, Advertising & Analytics, Use my data to make ads more relevant to me. Turn the toggle off (gray) to stop.

The full report at The Wall Street Journal is well worth a read with more details on the growing targeted advertising business of the wireless carriers in the United States.






this is just further evidence of how we’re at the mercy of the companies providing us with internet access


"It's hard to say with a straight face, 'We're not going to share your name with it,'" Aaron Mackey, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that advertisers have ways to link data back to usersl. "This type of data is very personal and revealing, and it's trivial to link that de-identified info back to you."

 

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How to set up and use one-handed keyboard on iPhone

Sometimes you don't want to use both hands to send a text — maybe you're holding a coffee, a dog leash, or a particularly squirmy toddler. Whatever the reason, here's how to set up a one-handed keyboard on your iPhone.

While it's not uncommon for people to text using both hands, there are a fair amount of people who have been accustom to sending texts with one hand only. However, as smartphones get larger, such as the iPhone 12 Pro Max, one-handed texting can be a real pain in your hand to do.

Fortunately, you don't need to choose between a large phone and one-handed texting. Apple has implemented an easy-to-use solution — the one-handed keyboard. Here's how you go about setting that up.

How to set up one-hand texting on your iPhone

1. Open any app that uses the keyboard, such as messages
   
   
2. Touch and hold the globe or emoji keyboard button
   
   
3. Tap either the right handed or left handed layout, as indicated by the arrow to the side of the keyboard icon

Once set up, you'll notice that your keyboard has shifted over to one side of the screen, making it easier to type on with one hand. If you find that you don't like the one-handed setup, or you'd like to go back to two-handed typing for a bit, reverting the changes is easy, too.


How to undo the one-handed keyboard for iPhone

1. Open any app that uses the keyboard
   
   
2. Touch and hold the globe or emoji keyboard button
   
   
3. Tap the standard keyboard icon, between the left and right one-handed keyboard icons

Of course, you can toggle the one-handed keyboard on and off from the Settings app, too.

How change one-handed keyboard settings on your iPhone

1. Open Settings
   
   
2. Tap General
   
   
3. Tap Keyboards
   
   
4. Tap One Handed Keyboard
   
   
5. Select the Left, Right, or Off (standard layout) setting

 

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If you want full-speed Verizon 5G, you’ll need a premium plan

If you want full-speed Verizon 5G when it comes online around the end of the year, you’re going to have to splash out on one of the company’s premium plans.

The company made the admission about its 5G plans during a Virtual Investor Day presentation …


Background

What is currently billed as 5G by both AT&T and Verizon is often a hybrid of 4G and 5G coverage known as dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS). This offers middling speeds, and has even been described as using “leftover” 4G capacity (please allow me a few minutes for the next post).

To understand the complicated 5G situation in the US right now, you first need to know that there are low-, mid-, and high-band frequencies that carriers can use. Low-band is slower but offers widespread coverage. High-band, often called mmWave, is very fast but extremely limited in range. Mid-band sits in a sweet spot between the two, with good range and better-than-LTE speeds.

If you were building a 5G network from scratch, you’d probably want a bunch of mid-band spectrum, right? The trouble is, spectrum is a limited resource. Sascha Segan, lead mobile analyst at PCMag and a wealth of 5G knowledge, sums up part of the spectrum problem.

“Our government did not make the right channels available to the carriers,” he says. “Verizon and AT&T have basically just been using leftover odds and ends of their 4G spectrum… putting the 5G encoding on these leftover bits and bobs so they can pop a 5G icon on the screen. And the performance is meaningless.”

Full-speed Verizon 5G admission

The Verge reports that although Verizon has bought enough mid-band spectrum to offer full-speed 5G, customers on metered and non-premium plans won’t be able to use it – they will be stuck with DSS.

If you’re on a basic Verizon plan, you’re going to be stuck with the company’s poor performing “nationwide” 5G network — even after critical C-band spectrum comes online. The company revealed in a presentation to investors and confirmed to The Verge that C-band frequencies, and their faster speeds, will only be available to customers on “premium” unlimited plans. Those on metered or the basic Start Unlimited plan will be relegated to slower, low-band 5G.

The iPhone 12 is compatible with C-band 5G, but whether you’ll be able to use it depends on your plan.

The site notes that the carrier does have a track record for offering slower speeds to those on cheaper plans.

This is essentially how the company already treats its ultra-fast mmWave 5G: customers on the base-level unlimited plan don’t have access to this network, while Play More, Do More, and Get More Unlimited subscribers do. Customers on metered plans don’t have mmWave access either, and likewise won’t have C-band, though they can add access to both for an additional fee.

So perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised. All the same, it does seem a rather cynical approach.

 

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5G is slow because ‘it uses leftover odds and ends of 4G spectrum’

..., and has even been described as using “leftover” 4G capacity (please allow me a few minutes for the next post)....

apologize meant to post this two weeks ago

If your experience has been that 5G is slow compared to the speeds we’ve been promised in all the marketing hype, that’s no surprise, according to experts – especially in the case of Verizon and AT&T …


Background

Some of what carriers claim is 5G is really a blend of 4G and 5G known as dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS).

AT&T 5G service has now gone live in a further 28 US cities and counties. The carrier says that this takes its 5G coverage to a total of 355 markets, reaching 179 million people. One of the ways it has done this is using a technology known as dynamic spectrum sharing.

In parts of some markets, AT&T has enabled dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology which allows carriers to share the same channel between both 4G and 5G users simultaneously, based on demand, creating a seamless experience for customers […]

It is a slight stretch to call it 5G without an asterisk, however, as it uses a low-band 850MHz spectrum.

Which is why 5G can be slow

One analyst cited by The Verge doesn’t mince any words when it comes to describing DSS.

To understand the complicated 5G situation in the US right now, you first need to know that there are low-, mid-, and high-band frequencies that carriers can use. Low-band is slower but offers widespread coverage. High-band, often called mmWave, is very fast but extremely limited in range. Mid-band sits in a sweet spot between the two, with good range and better-than-LTE speeds.

If you were building a 5G network from scratch, you’d probably want a bunch of mid-band spectrum, right? The trouble is, spectrum is a limited resource. Sascha Segan, lead mobile analyst at PCMag and a wealth of 5G knowledge, sums up part of the spectrum problem.

“Our government did not make the right channels available to the carriers,” he says. “Verizon and AT&T have basically just been using leftover odds and ends of their 4G spectrum… putting the 5G encoding on these leftover bits and bobs so they can pop a 5G icon on the screen. And the performance is meaningless.”

Another analyst expressed a similar view.

Michael Thelander, president and founder of wireless industry research firm Signals Research Group, sums it up this way: “It’s kind of like having that super fast sports car and you’re stuck on the Santa Monica freeway.”

T-Mobile gets faster speeds as it doesn’t make much use of DSS, but it’s likely not going to be until 2022 that the other large carriers stop doing so.

By early 2022, though, we will likely see Verizon and AT&T catching up. A swath of mid-band spectrum known as C-band went up for auction in late 2020. And while we don’t know which companies won which blocks of spectrum, we know those two carriers, in particular, spent big; bidding topped out at over $80 billion.

Many of us have found 5G speeds vary wildly as you move around a city.

Two bars of 5G provided a completely unusable download speed of less than 1Mbps, and a decidedly average 11Mbps upload. Moving only a handful of steps got me four bars of 5G, with the kinds of speeds most people would be happy to see on their home broadband connection: 196Mbps up, 86Mbps down. This kind of variability is the norm, not the exception.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple now showing privacy labels for all of its apps in one central location

As part of Apple’s efforts to be more transparent about privacy on its devices and operating systems, the company today launched a new webpage on its official website that shows privacy labels for all Apple-developed apps. This includes native iOS and macOS apps as well as other apps from the company available in the App Store.

Apple apps already had the privacy labels since the feature was introduced in December 2020, but now users can find all this information in one place. The webpage lists all apps created by Apple, such as Apple TV, Apple Music, Health, Mail, and even Pro apps like Final Cut and Xcode.

Our privacy labels are designed to help you understand how apps handle your data, including apps we develop at Apple. This page brings privacy labels for our iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps together in one place.

Apple has provided a great alphabetically ordered list, and you can just click on an app to see all the information that app knows about you. Some apps like Alarms do not collect any user data, while others like the App Store may store data such as search history, financial information, and usage data. However, none of them use this data to track the user.

With App Store privacy labels, developers are required to submit a full report on all the personal data they collect from users through an app, such as contacts, photos, financial information, location, browsing history, messages, and more. The feature is part of a number of privacy changes that came with iOS 14.

In addition to the App Store privacy labels, Apple is also working on a new feature called App Tracking Transparency that will be released to all users this spring with iOS 14.5. Once this feature goes live, apps will no longer be able to track users between other apps and websites without requiring users’ permission.

If you’re unfamiliar with app tracking, it usually means that the developer is collecting your personal information from an app and linking it to your name or your personal device. Such information can be used to show you advertisements about what you have been searching for on the web or for measurement purposes.

Users can access the full list of privacy details for all Apple apps via a new tab on the Apple Privacy webpage.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple touts iPhone 12 durability in 'Cook' ad [Video]

Apple on Friday shared a new iPhone 12 ad to its official YouTube channel, touting the durability of the flagship handset as it weathers an onslaught of eggs, vegetables, flour and more in a frantic cooking session.

Aptly titled "Cook," the commercial focuses on iPhone 12's ability to withstand the elements — in this case a whirlwind of food.

"More spill and splash resistant than ever. Ceramic Shield, tougher than any smartphone glass. Relax, it's iPhone," Apple says.

Set to "Sauce" by Naïka, the ad follows an iPhone user as he makes a meal (mess) in the kitchen. Used as a digital recipe book, complete with video tutorials, the iPhone is dropped, shaken, covered in flour, splattered with batter and slammed with a pepper mill.

When the ad is ending, the cooker drops his iPhone 12 one more time in the sink then cleans it with running water. “More durable than ever. Relax, it’s iPhone,” is how the commercial ends.

iPhone 12 — Cook | Apple - 0:38
iPhone 12. More spill and splash resistant than ever. Ceramic Shield, tougher than any smartphone glass. Relax, it’s iPhone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCQpOaR3sVo&t=4s

 

[sandysgeek]

Why Facebook is so upset about Apple IDFA change

My apologies for the length of this article, but might help you understand Facebook's and Mark Zuckerberg's actions during the past nine months



Former Facebook insiders explain why the company is making such a big fuss over Apple’s upcoming privacy change

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.



For the past few weeks, Facebook has been running an ad campaign in defense of personalized advertisements, arguing that targeted ads are key to the success of small businesses.

The catalyst for the campaign has been an ongoing battle between the social media company and Apple. The battle focuses on a unique device identifier on every iPhone and iPad called the IDFA. Facebook and others that sell mobile advertisements rely on this ID to help target ads to users and estimate how effective they are.

With an upcoming update to iOS 14, apps that want to use IDFA will have to ask users to opt in to tracking when the app is first launched. If users opt out, it will make these ads a lot less effective. Facebook has warned investors that these looming changes could hurt its advertising business as soon as this quarter.

But while Facebook has been loud about how harmful this change will be, rivals like Twitter and Snap have said the change will be good for user privacy and could even benefit their businesses. Google, the leading advertiser on the web, has not said nearly as much about the changes, while simultaneously introducing its own privacy-related changes to its Chrome browser and pledging to stop tracking individual users entirely.

A handful of former Facebook employees who have worked on the company’s ad products and businesses and explained why the social media giant is making such a loud fuss about Apple’s upcoming change.


How the change hurts Facebook

Most critically at stake for Facebook is what’s known as view-through conversions. This metric is used by ad-tech companies to measure how many users saw an ad, did not immediately click on it, but later made a purchase related to that ad.

Think of view-through conversions like this: You’re tapping through your Instagram stories and you see an ad for a pair of jeans. You don’t tap the bottom of the ad for more information because you’re busy checking out what your friends are up to, but the jeans were cute. A few days later, you go on Google, search for the jeans you saw on Instagram and buy them.

After the purchase is made, the retailer records the IDFA of the user who bought the jeans and shares it with Facebook, which can determine whether the IDFA matches with a user who saw an ad for the jeans. This shows the retailer that their Facebook ad worked.

Losing that type of measurement could be a big blow for Facebook. If advertisers are unable to accurately measure the effectiveness of their Facebook and Instagram ads, they may feel compelled to shift more of their budgets to other apps and services where they can see the exact return on investment for their ads.

Facebook is the number-two recipient of online ad dollars, behind Google. One particular threat is that advertisers will pour more money into Google’s search ad business, which Facebook cannot duplicate, and which targets users at the time of conversion.

In terms of specific businesses, the IDFA change will particularly hurt its Audience Network.

The Facebook Audience Network provides advertisements in non-Facebook apps, and it uses IDFA numbers to determine the best ads to show to each user based on Facebook’s data. For instance, a soft drink maker could decide to target 18-to-34-year-old gamers in the San Francisco Bay Area with a new promotion. The company could use the Facebook Audience network to have those ads placed before the right audience within mobile games; Facebook would split the ad revenue with the game makers.

But if users opt out of IDFA tracking, all of that personalization Facebook has built will be rendered irrelevant outside of the company’s own apps. In August, Facebook acknowledged that Apple’s upcoming iOS 14 could lead to a more than 50% drop in its Audience Network advertising business.

Nearly all of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising, but Facebook’s Audience Network contributes only a small portion of that -- well less than 10% of the company’s net revenue.

Besides view-through conversions, Facebook may lose valuable data about what its iPhone-based users do on their devices when they’re not in Facebook-owned apps. Already, Facebook collects a lot of data about its users from its apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and others, but every additional bit of data makes its algorithms better at what they do, which includes ad targeting.

Although Apple is letting users decide if they want to opt into IDFA tracking, it will still allow app-makers and advertisers to collect some data through its SKAdNetwork API without explicit user permission. But the information shared will be much less granular -- Facebook has warned in developer documents that it won’t support breakdowns of activity in buckets like region, age, or gender, for instance.


Why all the noise?

Facebook knows that it won’t be able to convince Apple to change its mind regarding IDFA, but it has pushed forward with this campaign in support of small businesses anyway. Why?

Reputation repair could be one reason. Facebook’s reputation has been in the gutter since the March 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a data firm improperly accessed the data of 87 million Facebook users and used it to target ads for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Since then, Facebook has endured numerous scandals, it has alienated Democrats and Republicans and it has fought a never-ending battle against misinformation on its services.

By taking the moral high ground and saying that it is standing up for small businesses, the IDFA debate presents an opportunity for Facebook to rebuild goodwill, even if it’s with just a portion of the general public, one former Facebook employee said.

In addition, IDFA tracking isn’t going away -- users will simply have to choose to allow it. This means that Facebook and other app developers will have an opportunity to plead their case to every Apple user.

Facebook’s marketing campaign is a key part of its case. The company wants users to associate device tracking with personalized ads and with supporting small business. “Don’t opt in for Facebook, do it for the coffee shop you care about,” is the essence of the message.

Within a small subset of its users, Facebook has begun showing prompts asking them to opt into the IDFA tracking. This is what’s known as A/B testing. Among tech companies, A/B testing is a popular strategy for figuring out the most effective way to do something. In this case, Facebook can show different prompts to different users to determine which prompt will be the best at convincing the most people to opt into the IDFA tracking.


Most small businesses shouldn’t notice

Asked if the IDFA change will actually impact small businesses as Facebook claims it will, the former employees gave mixed answers.

With less tracking data available at its disposal, Facebook and all of its clients, including small businesses, will not be able to target ads as effectively as they once did. So in that sense, yes, small businesses will be affected.

However, for many small businesses, the change may not be noticeable at all.

If you’re a small coffee shop in Austin, Texas, for example, you may not need too much data to target your ads, said Henry Love, a former employee on Facebook’s small business team. A business like that typically limits its targeting to fairly broad categories -- for instance, an age range and a distance range from a specific zip code would let them target ads to Facebook users in their proximity. That’s the type of data Facebook would be able to collect from its own apps, without needing IDFA to track a user’s activity elsewhere on their Apple devices.

“If you talked to any restaurant owner anywhere and asked them what IDFA is, I don’t think any of them would know what that is,” Love said. “It’s affecting Facebook at scale. Not the small business owners.”

Among the few “small business owners” who might feel the effects of the IDFA change are start-ups backed by venture capital money who have hired professionals with the skills to target users with sniper precision, Love said.

“The only people targeting across mobile, web and Facebook Audience Network, they’re not really small businesses,” he said. “They’re sophisticated, VC-backed startups. They’re not your typical SMB.”

In addition, while the change isn’t slated to happen until early this spring, Facebook has known about it for a long time, and has been rolling out a number of alternative solutions for businesses.

Most notably, the social media company in 2020 introduced Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops. These features make it possible for brands to list their product catalogs directly on Facebook’s most popular apps, and sell goods directly on Facebook and Instagram. If a sale happens within Facebook’s walls, IDFA tracking won’t be necessary.

You may already encountered a few brands selling directly on Facebook and Instagram. Expect to see more moving forward.

 

[sandysgeek]

Starbucks offers free Aira app usage for blind and partially sighted customers

The Aira app for blind and partially sighted people normally costs anywhere from $29 to $199 per month, but free Aira app usage is now available inside Starbucks stores across the US…

The idea behind Aira is simple. If you need assistance with anything from checking a product label to helping you find your way, you use your iPhone camera as your eyes, and a human operator will describe what is in front of you or around you, and provide assistance.

The service isn’t cheap, starting at $29/month for 30 minutes and going up to $199/month for 300 minutes, but if you’re inside a Starbucks and need assistance there, the service is free.

The coffee store chain has been piloting the service in seven US cities, and is today rolling it out across the country.

Earlier this month, Susan walked into a Seattle Starbucks and, using Aira, was able to ask a remote agent to describe the layout of the store so she could navigate to the order line and point-of-sale, read the menu to her and describe options in the pastry and Ready-to-Eat and Drink cases and on the counters.

“It helps me scan the environment and learn what’s there and do it quickly,” she said.

Instead of having to try to remember what’s on the menu, and possibly miss new seasonal options, through Aira, “I can be like every other customer with the same number of choices,” she said.

Starbucks first tested Aira service in seven US cities early this year, including at its Signing Store in Washington, DC, one of nine Signing Stores globally that provide a space for the Deaf and hard of hearing community to connect through sign language and celebrate Deaf culture. Partners (employees) who work at these stores are all proficient in sign language.

Matthew Gilsbach, store manager at the DC Signing Store, says the customer reaction to Aira service “has been nothing short of positive. It’s one more tool that that we can use for customers to be themselves and be independent. And customers and partners both feel that there are no more barriers between them. They can get to know each other, build relationships and have those connections: one human to another human” […]

Susan added: “There were times I wouldn’t go into Starbucks to order something because I didn’t remember the particular name of it … or do they have Pumpkin Spice Latte now? (With Aira), I can scan around and see that, oh, they also carry Madeleines which my daughter loves and I can purchase those and bring them home and bring her something special.”

Fortunately, you don’t need to be in a Starbucks or pay a monthly subscription to get visual help through an accessibility app. Microsoft’s Seeing AI app offers the ability to get audio commentary on what your iPhone camera sees. First launched in 2017, the app got handwriting recognition later the same year, and photo narration alongside iPad support in 2019.

 

[sandysgeek]

“Please someone help me.” FaceTime users bombarded with group call spam

BANG HEAD HERE. —

Apple doesn't provide tools that effectively ease a major headache for FaceTime users.

FaceTime users are getting bombarded with group calls from numbers they’ve never seen before, often as many as 20 times in short succession during late hours of the night.

Griefers behind the pranks call as many as 31 numbers at a time. When a person receiving one of the calls hangs up, a different number will immediately call back. FaceTime doesn’t have the ability to accept only FaceTime calls coming from people in the user’s address book. It also requires that all numbers in a group call must be manually blocked for the call to be stopped.

“I got my first facetime spam starting 4 days ago,” one user reported to an Apple support forum earlier this month. “It has been non-stop, over 300 numbers blocked so far. My 3 year old daughter has been accidentally answering them and going on video without a t-shirt on.”

The high volume of callbacks appears to be the result of other people receiving the call dialing everyone back when the initial call fails shortly after answering. As more and more people receive follow-on calls, they too begin making callbacks.

Apple provides surprisingly few ways for users to stop the nuisance calls. As noted earlier, users can block numbers, but this requires manually blocking each individual person on the group call. That’s not an effective solution for people receiving dozens of group calls, often to a different group of people in a short period of time, often in the wee hours.


“Sick to death of it”

A user can also turn off FaceTime in iOS settings or in the macOS app, but that prevents users from receiving wanted calls as well. Last, people can uncheck their phone number under the FaceTime setting “where you can be reached.” Once again, however, this will prevent wanted calls that are initiated using the user’s number.

As the Apple support thread above shows, the nuisance group calls date back at least to last year and have persisted nonstop since then.

“Sick to death of it,” one person wrote last June. “I answer one face time on it and was a young teenage girl. Other time random art on walls are creepy old men. Makes me feel sick. I do not want to be part in any of these scams or if they are trying out random numbers. But how can you stop it. Should I report to the police? How can I stop this? Please someone help me.”

A Reddit user also reported the same problem last week.

The disruptions caused by junk group calls could be minimized if Apple gave users the ability to block all numbers in a group call with a single tick of a box. Multiple thread participants also reported that FaceTime doesn't have the ability to take group calls only from numbers in the user's contacts. Ars asked Apple for comment, and this post will be updated if representatives provide an answer.

For now, people receiving spammed group calls have few options other than those listed above. Probably the most effective means is to turn off FaceTime and wait for the spam wave to die out. Users should not answer the calls or engage the callers.

 

[sandysgeek]

iPhone app privacy analysis shows which apps collect the most personal data

Had to blow up three graphs as they're small

This study was done prior to when Google shared App Privacy labels for its Google Search and Chrome apps



The most invasive apps: which apps are sharing your personal data?

Apps form a part of our everyday life. From catching up with our friends to playing games, watching films, investing in stocks and banking, there’s not much we do without them.

But what price do we pay for the ease they offer?

Recently Apple updated their privacy policy, giving us more information on how different apps use our data and more clarity on where our information goes.

We’re experts in online privacy, so we looked at the concerns surrounding mobile apps, working out which ones require the most information in exchange for using them. By using the new Apple privacy labels featured in the App Store, we identified which apps share the most of your private data with third parties and which gather the most for their own benefits, to find the most invasive overall.


What kind of data do apps collect?

Any information you agree to be gathered by an app when signing up can be analysed for their benefit and even shared. You agree to this by accepting the app’s terms and conditions. While this data is willingly passed on, you might be interested to know exactly what it is apps are after.

Everything from your browsing history, to your location, your banking details, your contact details, and your fitness levels can be valuable for apps to store, use, or sell on. While they all have a responsibility to keep this data safe, that doesn’t always mean it stays in their hands.


52% of apps share your data with third parties

Apps collect your data for a lot of reasons. One of the initial reasons for this is to make your experience better, tracking how you interact with them to fix bugs and improve how they work. However, they also use your information to target you with ads across any platform. We’ve all seen it – we finish browsing on one app, then an advert selling us something we’ve just looked at appears somewhere else.

This is done by passing on your data to third parties, something our study revealed that over half of all apps do. Third parties might be associated with the company that runs the app, or they might just pay a fee to access their users’ data.

Social listening companies are often where your data ends up. Companies like BuzzSumo and Hootsuite collect your data to allow people to analyse, understand and, ultimately, sell to you.


Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn share the most data with third parties

Apps can collect and share anything from your personal information and user content, to search and browsing history, to analyse you as a ‘profile’ for themselves and other apps.


YouTube shares 42% of your information

Every time you search for a video on YouTube, 42% of your personal data is sent elsewhere. This data goes on to inform the types of adverts you’ll see before and during videos, as well as being sold to brands who’ll target you on other social media platforms.

Instagram shares 79% of your data including browsing history and personal information with others online

YouTube isn’t the worst when it comes to selling your information on. That award goes to Instagram, which shares a staggering 79% of your data with other companies. Including everything from purchasing information, personal data, and browsing history. No wonder there’s so much promoted content on your feed. With over 1 billion monthly active users it’s worrying that Instagram is a hub for sharing such a high amount of its unknowing users’ data.

In second place is Facebook, which gives 57% of your data away, while LinkedIn and Uber Eats both sell off 50%. In fact, when it comes to food apps, Just Eat, Grubhub and My McDonald’s are the only three in the study that give nothing away at all, instead using your data for location tracking and their own marketing needs.

Social media platforms are the worst offenders for collecting your data for their own marketing

The study conducted revealed that 80% of apps use your data to market their own products in the app and beyond. This includes things like apps serving you their own ads on other platforms, as well as in-app promotions for their own benefit, or for third parties who pay for the service. We revealed which apps collect the most data for this by analyzing how many of the possible 14 data categories each collects under Apple’s ‘Developer’s Advertising or Marketing’ section.

Food delivery apps Grubhub & Uber Eats amongst the worst apps for collecting your data for internal marketing purposes

The top two here are the same offenders – Instagram and Facebook. Both are owned by Facebook and use 86% of your data to sell you more of their own products and serve you relevant ads on behalf of others. In joint second are Klarna and Grubhub, who use 64%, while Uber and its food app, Uber Eats, both use 57%.

The data these apps use can range from your date of birth to offer you exclusive discounts, through to the times you usually use the app. If Uber Eats, for example, knows you’re often browsing at 6 pm on a Friday, they’ll know when to hit you with the ads.


Which apps are the safest to use, to keep your data private? Clubhouse, Netflix and Signal top the list

Worried about your information being shared? Based on how much data apps collect overall, for selling on, selling to you, and tracking your actions, we can reveal which apps are the safest to use, to keep your data safe and private.

Lockdown favorites such as Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Google Classroom collect no data at all and top the list alongside Clubhouse, Netflix, and Signal.

At the other end of the scale to Facebook and Instagram, upcoming social media stars BIGO LIVE and Likke are amongst the top 20 safest apps to use, collecting just 2% of users’ personal data.


How invasive are your favorite apps?

Based on how much data apps collect overall, for selling on, selling to you, and tracking your actions, we ranked over 100 of the most popular apps around the world, in order of how invasive they are.

Ebay ranked 5th worst app for the overall tracking and sharing of users information

The popular auction app Ebay came in at 5th place, by tracking and selling 40% of the personal data possible. Shopping giant Amazon came surprisingly low in the list, with minimal tracking for their own advertising, and no data passed on to third parties.

Reddit, a platform celebrated for giving users a safe place for freedom of speech, came in 19th place, though sharing users location and usage data with third parties, as well as tracking user content and purchases for its own marketing purposes.


Want to keep your data secure online?

While these apps can be trusted not to do anything malicious with your information, there are lots of people out there who can’t. That’s why it’s important to have a secure place to store your data, preventing anyone from accessing it without your permission.


Methodology

The study used the new Apple privacy labels featured in the App Store, which categorises all the information that can be collected on users by apps into 14 categories, and how they are used. The sections we analysed are ‘Third Party Advertising’, and ‘Developer’s Advertising or Marketing’. To identify the worst apps for sharing your data with third parties, we used the ‘Third Party Advertising’ section, marking each app out of 14 for how many of the 14 categories they track. The same was done to see which apps collect the most data for their own marketing, using the ‘Developer’s Advertising or Marketing’.





Now hold on. Why is Facebook and Instagram collect so much user for itself and sharing.



Oh that's right

 

[sandysgeek]

Report: macOS malware boomed in 2020, but still a fraction of Windows threats

A study looking at new malware found in the wild during 2020 says that threats developed for macOS saw a huge jump – almost 1,100% compared to 2019. But taken into context, that total was less than 1% of the new malware that was discovered for Windows in the same period.

A new report from Atlas VPN today says that it found a record number of new malware designed for macOS in 2020. Atlas partnered with AV-TEST on the investigation that showed malicious malware for Mac grew on average by 1,847 new threats each day.

That amounted to a total of 674,273 new malware found for Mac but the more interesting and concerning part is the jump from 2019 and previous years.

Last year new Mac malware discovered amounted to just 55,556, meaning 2020s numbers represent a huge 1,092% increase.

Over the previous years, macOS saw 92,570 new malware in 2018, 28,949 in 2017, and just 5,208 back in 2016, according to the study.

Atlas VPN says ready made malware is a factor in last year’s big increase:

Contributing to this record surge in threats is the fact that new malicious software is now easier to engineer than ever before.

Nowadays, hackers don’t even need advanced programming skills since they can purchase a ready-made malware code, tailor it to their needs with a little bit of coding, and establish a completely new threat.

Interestingly, the new macOS malware numbers are way down for 2021 so far – just 2,474.

What about Windows malware?

To put this all into context, Windows still has a much bigger problem with malware. The study found over 91 million new threats in 2020, so more than 135x what was discovered for macOS. That’s was an average of almost 250,000 new Windows malware per day.

And even before Q1 is up, the investigation found over 33 million new malware threats for Windows in 2021.

 

[sandysgeek]

iOS developer who drew attention to App Store scams is now suing Apple

Developer Kosta Eleftheriou accuses Apple of abusing its ‘monopoly power’

Mobile app developer Kosta Eleftheriou, who publicly called out Apple earlier this year for negligence with regard to policing iOS scams and copycat apps on the App Store, has filed a lawsuit against the iPhone maker in California. He’s accusing the company of exploiting its monopoly power over iOS apps “to make billions of dollars in profits at the expense of small application developers and consumers.”

Eleftheriou’s company KPAW LLC, which he co-owns with his partner Ashley Eleftheriou, filed its complaint in Santa Clara County on Wednesday. It details the development and release timeline of Eleftheriou’s Apple Watch keyboard app FlickType.

At the time he began accusing Apple of abetting App Store scams early last month, Eleftheriou revealed that his FlickType app had been targeted by competing software he says either didn’t work well or didn’t work at all, and yet nonetheless chipped away at this sales and App Store rankings through false advertising and the purchase of fake reviews. After he complained, he said Apple did not do enough to combat the scams, though Apple did later remove some of the apps he called attention to.

Kosta Eleftheriou
@keleftheriou
The App Store has a big problem



You: an honest developer, working hard to improve your IAP conversions.
Your competitor: a $2M/year scam running rampant.

10:46 PM · Jan 31, 2021
4.5K 1.6K Copy link to Tweet

Eleftheriou’s claims join a chorus of growing complaints against Apple and the App Store. Some developers, competing tech companies, regulators, and now state lawmakers have accused the mobile marketplace of being a monopoly in software distribution that harms competition and keeps consumers paying higher prices.

Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, is targeting both Apple and Google with antitrust lawsuits over the removal of the battle royale game last summer for use of an alternative in-app payment system. Meanwhile, a group of app makers, ranging from Epic to Spotify to Tinder parent company Match Group, have begun lobbying state lawmakers to take up the fight against the App Store and Google Play Store, with surprising success so far in Arizona and numerous other bills around the country in the works, too.

In the complaint, Eleftheriou goes further into detail about what he claims is wrongful behavior from Apple, including alleged false advertising, breach of its developer agreement, and fraud. One notable claim involves Apple trying to acquire FlickType, after which Eleftheriou says he faced “roadblock after roadblock” to selling his software on the App Store. The complaint suggests Apple chose not to take action on scam and copycat apps in an effort to force Eleftheriou to sell his app to Apple. “Evidently, Apple thought Plaintiff would simply give up and sell its application to Apple at a discount,” the complaint reads.

At the heart of the dispute appears to be conversations Eleftheriou had with an Apple executive Randy Marsden, who led mobile keyboard technology at the company and later held the position of Text Input Special Projects Manager. Marsden is well known in the tech industry for co-founding the keyboard technology startup Swype, and for later co-founding the app Dryft, which was acquired by Apple in 2015. The acquisition resulted in Marsden being put in charge of the iOS keyboard at Apple from 2014 to 2018.

Eleftheriou says he was approached by Marsden, who expressed interest in having Apple acquire his software to improve typing on the Apple Watch. Yet, the negotiations went quiet, and afterward, Eleftheriou claims Apple removed his FlickType keyboard app and refused to approve future versions as well as a note-taking variant, on what he thinks are suspicious grounds.

Only later did Apple permit both apps after months of appeals and after Eleftheriou let countless other app makers integrate his technology. Those apps using the FlickType tech were approved without issue, the complaint says. Meanwhile, many other wearable and mobile keyboard apps Eleftheriou characterizes as scams were also approved and allowed on the App Store. “By this time, Apple’s wrongful rejections had already cost Plaintiff over a year of revenue,” the complaint reads.

Eleftheriou’s complaint says this is evidence of Apple “flexing its monopoly muscle against potential competition”:

Apple entices software application developers like Plaintiff to develop innovative applications with the promise of a fair and secure App Store in which to sell them. In truth, Apple systematically flexes its monopoly muscle against potential competition through the App Store and profits from rampant fraudulent practices. If Apple cannot buy a desired application from a developer on the cheap, Apple attempts to crush that developer through exploitive fees and selective application of opaque and unreasonable constraints against the developer.

At the same time, Apple permits other developers that Apple does not view as real competition, including scam competitors, to peddle similar, inferior products because Apple profits from their sales. Scammers oftentimes use screenshots and videos taken from legitimate developer’s applications and manipulate their ratings. Apple does little to police these practices because it profits from them. Apple then lies to its regulators by asserting that it must maintain its monopoly power over the sale of Apple-related applications to protect consumers, when, in fact, Apple lets them get ripped off and exploits the developers trying to deliver innovation to consumers.

Eleftheriou says even after his app became the No. 1 paid app on the App Store after it was approved, earning him $130,000 in its first month of release, he had to face down a wave of scam apps and copycat software that targeted FlickType after its visible success.

“Despite possessing massive resources and technological savvy, Apple intentionally fails to police these fraudsters, costing honest developers millions, and perhaps billions, while Apple continues to amass huge profits for itself,” the complaint reads. “Apple holds both its device users and developers hostage. Yet each time it faces antitrust claims, Apple justifies its monopoly by claiming it is necessary to protect its users and developers from unscrupulous conduct and ensure a fair competitive marketplace for the benefit of both. In truth, Apple turns a blind eye to rampant fraud and exploitation to make an easy profit.”

Eleftheriou is accusing Apple of false advertising, unfair competition in violation of California’s business and professions code, breach of good faith and fair dealing with regard to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, fraud, and negligence and negligent misrepresentation.





Understand a way to help combat against malware and scams on Apple devices is to download apps from Apple, which is Apple's position. Besides taking a cut (different than earning money) processing transactions, Apple has the responsibility of helping developers, sorting out scams and malware, etc to protect buyers of their devices.

 

[sandysgeek]

Mozilla leads push for FCC to reinstate net neutrality

Mozilla, Reddit, Dropbox, and more call for FCC to reinstate net neutrality

Mozilla is one of a number of tech companies calling for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate net neutrality, bringing back rules removed by the previous administration.

Apple has previously expressed its own support for net neutrality asking the FCC to “retain strong, enforceable open internet protections” that advance consumer choice, no paid fast lanes, transparency, competition, and investment and innovation.


Background

Net neutrality required internet service providers to treat all websites and internet-based services equally. Without this protection, big players can pay ISPs to prioritize their traffic over smaller websites, effectively creating a two-speed internet.

The loss of net neutrality would even allow ISPs to block traffic to specific websites if they desired.

The former administration removed federal net neutrality protections, which resulted in a number of states implementing their own net neutrality laws. Multiple states, tech luminaries, and tech giants have expressed their support for net neutrality.



Tech companies led by Mozilla are urging the Federal Communications Commission to swiftly reinstate net neutrality rules stripped away under the Trump administration.

In a letter to FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Friday, ADT, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Reddit, Vimeo and Wikimedia joined Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox web browser, in calling net neutrality “critical for preserving the internet as a free and open medium that promotes innovation and spurs economic growth.”

Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers should not be allowed to favor or throttle service for websites that rely on it. Net neutrality was instated under the Obama administration by reclassifying ISPs under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, making them “common carriers” subject to greater regulation. The Trump FCC led by then-Chairman Ajit Pai moved to undo the rule and was ultimately successful in spite of a court challenge led by Mozilla.

While ISPs have made few changes in the absence of net neutrality rules, advocates have raised flags over a handful of actions. One example is AT&T’s practice of excluding its own HBO Max streaming from counting against wireless customers’ data caps.

AT&T announced Wednesday it would do away with such an arrangement after a federal court upheld California’s net neutrality law that bans “sponsored data.” AT&T said the change would apply beyond California, noting, “a state-by-state approach to ‘net neutrality’ is unworkable.” The California law was created after the rule was rolled back on the federal level.

In a blog post Friday, Mozilla Chief Legal Officer Amy Keating said the Covid pandemic has made the need for net neutrality rules even more clear.

“In a moment where classrooms and offices have moved online by necessity, it is critically important to have rules paired with strong government oversight and enforcement to protect families and businesses from predatory practices,” Keating said. “In California, residents will have the benefit of these fundamental safeguards as a result of a recent court decision that will allow the state to enforce its state net neutrality law. However, we believe that users nationwide deserve the same ability to control their own online experiences.”

Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel

 

[sandysgeek]

It’s not just you: Instagram, WhatsApp, and other Facebook apps are down

It’s not just you: Instagram and other Facebook apps are down. Messages flowing in on social media and the Instagram web app is currently throwing a server error. Messages and posts are not loading in the app.

Reports on Twitter suggest that this outage is affecting the Facebook app, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger to varying degrees. #InstagramDown is trending on Twitter, and reports are flowing in that messages across Facebook’s recently-unified messaging system are failing.

 

[sandysgeek]

It’s not just you: Instagram and other Facebook apps are down. Messages flowing in on social media and the Instagram web app is currently throwing a server error. Messages and posts are not loading in the app.

Reports on Twitter suggest that this outage is affecting the Facebook app, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger to varying degrees. #InstagramDown is trending on Twitter, and reports are flowing in that messages across Facebook’s recently-unified messaging system are failing.

Update: If you couldn’t tell already, Facebook’s apps and services are coming back online. Instagram and WhatsApp are now loading. If you have problems going forward, be sure to check back every few minutes — all the services should be fully functional in no time.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple discontinues 512GB and 1TB SSD options for 21.5-inch iMac as refresh looms

After Apple officially discontinued the iMac Pro, the 21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K display appears to be the next in line to say goodbye. This comes as rumors of an upgrade continue to loom.

The 21.5-inch iMac is now only available with 256GB SSD and 1TB Fusion Drive options. Before that, it was possible to choose 512GB and 1TB SSD options as well.

Early this month, a person familiar with Apple’s supply chain claimed that the company had stopped producing the 512GB and 1TB SSD configurations of the iMac 4K altogether, and now it’s no longer available on Apple’s website.

Apple last refreshed the 21.5-inch iMac line in early 2019 with the 8th-generation Intel processors, newer storage options, and improved graphics capabilities.

This March, the company discontinued the original HomePod as well as the iMac Pro. With the iMac 4K receiving fewer options for consumers to buy, it’s possible that the iMac with Apple Silicon will arrive sooner than later.

An iMac redesign with the M series chip is also rumored to be on the way. A report from Bloomberg in December said:

“Apple is working on successors to the M1 with up to 20 CPU cores, made up of 16 high performance and 4-efficiency cores. In 2021, the company is expected to roll out ARM versions of the higher-end MacBook Pro, “both entry-level and high-end iMac desktops.”

Apple could be planning a keynote for April, as the fifth-generation iPad Pro with mini-LED display technology could launch as early as April.

As Apple appears to be slowly discontinuing the 21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K display, the 5K 27-inch iMac is still available in all options on the company’s website.