HiTechEdge

Tag: iOS

  • Android 12 Brings iOS to Android WhatsApp Migration

    Android 12 Brings iOS to Android WhatsApp Migration

    Google has brought a major new feature to the latest Android update, enabling iOS to Android WhatsApp migration.

    WhatsApp is one of the most popular secure messaging platforms. The app is available on both iOS and Android, but users looking to switch platforms haven’t always had an easy go of it.

    Google is trying to solve that pain point with its recent Android 12 update.

    “Switching to a new phone can be a daunting experience, especially if you are moving to a completely different operating system,” writes Paul Dunlop, Product Manager. “We want to make this process easier, so with the recent Android 12 release, we added the ability to transfer all your essentials by connecting your iPhone with your new Android phone using a cable. With your permission, Android automatically matches and installs the same apps from Google Play, and lets you easily bring your SMS and iMessage history with you, along with photos, videos, contacts, calendars and more.”

    The process is relatively simple, and works by connecting the two phones to each other.

    “All you need is a USB-C to Lightning cable to get started,” continues Dunlop. “Simply connect your phones, and when prompted while setting up your new Android device, scan a QR code on your iPhone to launch WhatsApp and move all your conversations, media and more over to your new device.”

    The new feature is good news for Android users, and iOS users looking to switch.

  • Xbox Controller Firmware Update Improves Connectivity

    Xbox Controller Firmware Update Improves Connectivity

    Microsoft is rolling out a firmware update for Xbox controllers that improves connectivity.

    Xbox controllers are used for a variety of devices, not just the Xbox. The controllers are popular with gamers on Windows 10, iOS and Android. Microsoft’s latest update is designed to improve controller connectivity.

    “These controllers now support Bluetooth Low Energy, which delivers better compatibility across devices and allows for better pairing experiences,” the company announced on its blog. “You will be able to play wirelessly on Windows 10 PCs, iOS 15+, and Android devices with Bluetooth Low Energy for remote play from your console or cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on the go. After installing the firmware update, these controllers will remember one Bluetooth host (e.g., smartphone) and one Xbox Wireless host (e.g., Xbox console), so you can quickly and seamlessly switch between previously connected devices with a simple double tap of the pair button.”

    The new firmware is available for Bluetooth-enabled Xbox One controllers, Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and Xbox Adaptive Controllers.

  • Lookout TikTok: Reddit Adds TikTok-Style Video Feed to iOS App

    Lookout TikTok: Reddit Adds TikTok-Style Video Feed to iOS App

    Reddit has added a TikTok-style video feed its iOS app, the latest social media company to emulate the popular platform.

    TikTok is one of the most popular and fastest-growing social media platforms, driven by its short, viral videos that have made stars and fortunes. Other platforms have sought to cash in on the trend, and Reddit is the latest to do so.

    According to TechCrunch, Reddit has added a video feed button to its iOS app, just to the right of the search bar. While the company has been experimenting with this feature for some time, this marks an increased effort to make the feed much more prominent than it has been in the past. 

    “Reddit’s mission is to bring community and belonging to everyone in the world, and subsequently, Reddit’s video team’s mission is to bring community through video,” a Reddit spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Over the course of the last year, our goal was to build a unified video player, and re-envision the player interface to match what users (new and old) expect when it comes to an in-app video player — especially commenting, viewing, engaging and discovering new content and communities through video.”

  • Google’s Privacy Labels Will Be Required By April 2022

    Google’s Privacy Labels Will Be Required By April 2022

    Android developers will be required to provide a privacy label for their apps by April 2022, bringing a new level of transparency to the platform.

    Apple rocked the mobile development world when it required app developers to disclose what information they gathered and tracked from their users. Meanwhile, Android users have had no comparable feature, leaving them in the dark about what and how much of their data is being collected by apps.

    Google is taking steps to address that, signaling in May it intended to bring its own version of privacy labels to the Play Store. According to CNET, those labels will be required by April 2022.

    The announcement is good news for Android users who are interested in protecting their privacy.

  • App Store Ecosystem Hit $643 Billion in 2020

    App Store Ecosystem Hit $643 Billion in 2020

    A new study has shown just how much the App Store ecosystem has grown, coming in at $643 billion in 2020, a 24% increase.

    While Apple’s iOS platform may lag behind Google’s Android, in terms of market share, it receives the lion’s share of money spent on mobile apps. According to an independent study by the Analysis Group, App Store sales grew 24% year over year in 2020, reaching a whopping $643 billion.

    Even more impressive, the number of small developers — defined as less than 1 million downloads and less than $1 million in earnings per year — has increased 40% since 2015. In fact, small developers now make up more than 90 percent of the App Store’s ecosystem.

    “Developers on the App Store prove every day that there is no more innovative, resilient, or dynamic marketplace on earth than the app economy,” says Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The apps we’ve relied on through the pandemic have been life-changing in so many ways — from groceries delivered to our homes, to teaching tools for parents and educators, to an imaginative and ever-expanding universe of games and entertainment. The result isn’t just incredible apps for users: it’s jobs, it’s opportunity, and it’s untold innovation that will power global economies for many years to come.”

    The study is an important validation of the App Store at a time when Apple is locked in a high-stakes legal fight with Epic over the very future of that ecosystem.

  • Shortcuts Run Much Faster in iOS 14.6

    Shortcuts Run Much Faster in iOS 14.6

    It appears iOS/iPadOS 14.6 contains an undocumented improvement, running Shortcuts actions faster than previous versions.

    The Shortcuts app is the unsung hero of iOS and iPadOS, providing a way to automate a series of actions for increased productivity. Federico Viticci, of MacStories, is a long-time iPad proponent and has extolled the virtues of Shortcuts.

    There’s good news for iPhone and iPad power users, as it appears iOS/iPadOS runs shortcuts faster. First spotted by 9to5Mac, users on Twitter started noticing the improvement.

    9to5Mac did their own tests and confirmed Shortcuts actions are indeed faster in iOS/iPadOS 14.6 and the 14.7 beta. One test involved a shortcut with 380 actions that took 8 seconds to complete with iOS 14.5.1. Running iOS 14.6, the same shortcut only took 4 seconds to complete.

    Similarly, one user on Reddit had a shortcut containing 700 actions that now runs in a mere 13 seconds, as opposed to roughly 30 seconds pre-iOS 14.6.

  • Mac Viruses and Malware Have Reached ‘Unacceptable’ Levels

    Mac Viruses and Malware Have Reached ‘Unacceptable’ Levels

    Mac viruses and malware have reached an ‘unacceptable’ level, according to testimony from Apple senior VP Craig Federighi.

    Many interesting details have emerged in the Epic vs Apple court case over the future of the latter’s App Store ecosystem. One of the most fascinating, however, is just how much the Mac is already being impacted by security threats.

    Not that long ago, the Mac had the reputation of not being affected by malware or viruses. This was due to two factors: the platform’s UNIX underpinnings and security through obscurity. Because the Mac held such a low percentage of the market, it simply wasn’t worth it for hackers to invest a lot of resources to make Mac-specific malware.

    According to Federighi, that appears to have changed in a big way. When Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked why the Mac could allow app installs from multiple sources, but not iOS, Federighi drew a stark contrast between the level of security and protections the two platforms offer.

    “It is regularly exploited on the Mac,” Federighi explained. “iOS has established a dramatically higher bar for customer protection. The Mac is not meeting that bar today.”

    Federighi emphasized the disparity between the number of Mac users and iOS users, and the value of their respective ecosystems, making the point that things would be far worse for iOS users if it took the same approach as the Mac.

    “And that’s despite the fact that Mac users inherently download less software and are subject to a way less economically motivated attacker base,” Federighi continued. “If you took Mac security techniques and applied them to the iOS ecosystem, with all those devices, all that value, it would get run over to a degree dramatically worse than is already happening on the Mac.”

    All of this led to the admission regarding Apple’s view of the current state of Mac malware.

    “And as I say, today, we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable and is much worse than iOS,” Federighi said. “Put that same situation in place for iOS and it would be a very bad situation for our customers.”

    Federighi’s explanation is at the heart of the case Apple is making, that keeping apps operating within its ecosystem help it provide the security and protection that people are paying for when they buy an iPhone or iPad. In contrast, individuals who don’t want that protection can buy Android.

  • Google’s Play Store Privacy Changes Won’t Match Apple

    Google’s Play Store Privacy Changes Won’t Match Apple

    Proposed privacy changes for Android developers will fall short of the protections Apple offers, according to new reports.

    Google made headlines when it informed developers it would be changing how privacy is handled. Developers will soon be required to disclose the security features their apps offer, whether an app adheres to Google’s Families policy, if the app’s safety section has been independently verified and if data collection is optional or required.

    Despite offering significant improvements over the current privacy protections, Google’s level of protection will still fall short of Apple’s recent moves, according to AppleInsider.

    In particular, Google wants advertisers to continue to be able to target ads, as well as quantify how effective those ads are. In contrast, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) is specifically aimed at preventing advertising’s from tracking users.

    According to AppleInsider, two Google employees say the company is working to improve privacy, but dragging its feet at the same time. The company clearly has more to lose than Apple, since it makes the bulk of its income from advertising. In contrast, Apple makes the bulk of its money from hardware and paid services, meaning it doesn’t treat people’s data as the product.

  • Apple’s App Store Stopped $1.5 Billion in Fraud in 2020

    Apple’s App Store Stopped $1.5 Billion in Fraud in 2020

    Apple has released a report detailing its efforts to protect users, including that it stopped $1.5 billion in fraudulent App Store transactions.

    The App Store is at the heart of Apple’s case against Epic, with the latter suing to force Apple to allow alternative payment methods and app stores. Not surprisingly, Apple is touting the benefits of the App Store, and working to demonstrate how integral it is to the overall security of the iOS platform.

    In its latest report, Apple reveals some significant details regarding its efforts.

    In 2020 alone, Apple’s combination of sophisticated technology and human expertise protected customers from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions, preventing the attempted theft of their money, information, and time — and kept nearly a million risky and vulnerable new apps out of their hands.

    Apple also says it blocked some 48,000 apps for having hidden or undocumented features; 150,000 apps for including spam, being copycats or misleading users; and 215,000 for privacy violations.

    The company is also tackling fraudulent app ratings.

    App Store ratings and reviews help many users make decisions about which apps to download, and developers rely on them to incorporate new features that respond to user feedback. Apple relies on a sophisticated system that combines machine learning, artificial intelligence, and human review by expert teams to moderate these ratings and reviews to help ensure accuracy and maintain trust. Since 2020, Apple has processed over 1 billion ratings and over 100 million reviews, and over 250 million ratings and reviews were removed for not meeting moderation standards.

    While the Apple vs Epic court case will continue for some time, Apple is certainly trying to make a compelling case for how the App Store works and why it’s so important to the iOS ecosystem.

  • Google Bringing Its Own Version of Privacy Labels to Play Store

    Google Bringing Its Own Version of Privacy Labels to Play Store

    Google is adopting a major feature from iOS, implementing its own version of app privacy labels.

    Apple introduced privacy labels late last year, requiring developers to disclose what information they collect and link to a user. The feature has shed a spotlight on the data practices of popular apps, with Facebook and Google drawing sharp criticism for the amount of data collected.

    Google appears to be following Apple’s lead, informing developers it is rolling out a safety section in the Google Play Store, designed to help consumers understand an app’s data and security practices. The information presented includes an app’s security features, such as encryption; whether an app follows Google’s Families policy; whether data collection is required or optional; if the app’s safety section has been verified by an independent third-party; and whether the app allows users to request data deletion upon removal.

    Google makes it clear its own apps will be subject to the new safety section, along with third-party apps.

    All apps on Google Play – including Google’s own apps – will be required to share this information and provide a privacy policy.

    We’re committed to ensuring that developers have plenty of time to prepare. This summer, we’ll share the new policy requirements and resources, including detailed guidance on app privacy policies. Starting Q2 2022, new app submissions and app updates must include this information.

    Google’s announcement is good news for Android users, and should be a significant step forward in protecting their data and privacy.