iOS

The WhatsApp privacy policy change, in which the company will oblige users to agree to hand the data they have given it to Facebook, has caused controversy and virtual boycotts worldwide. However, the EU market is effectively immune to these changes. The Indian Supreme Court has argued that this should apply to all markets in which the messaging service is used.

Despite low sales of the iPhone 12 Mini, sources have told noted tipster Jon Prosser that Apple will launch an iPhone 13 Mini. According to these sources, the main reason the iPhone 12 Mini floundered was the success of the iPhone SE (2020). Since no iPhone SE will launch in 2021, the iPhone 13 Mini will do markedly better.

A proposed North Dakota law will force Apple and Google to allow developers alternative options for distributing iOS and Android apps, respectively. The bill will also allow developers to receive in-app payments through any method they choose, not just through the app's respective app platform.

According to new data from Oxford University, the Contact Tracing app may already saved thousands of lives in England and Wales by telling more than 1.7 million people to isolate. Apparently, the app has been downloaded over 21 million times so far.

A Counterpoint report has stated that Apple managed to sell over 9.5 million iPhones in the US market alone in December 2020. This gave the iPhone 12 maker a huge 64% of the market share, leaving Samsung in second on 20%. Google managed to claw back some share thanks to the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5, but Motorola and Alcatel are firmly in ZTE territory.

Telegram was #9 on SensorTower's list of most downloaded (non-game) mobile app in December 2020. Fast forward one month, however, and it had jumped up to #1. WhatsApp and Instagram were #3 and #4 at the end of 2020, but fell to #5 and #6 respectively at the start of 2021.

The latest version of iOS (14.4) is now available as a stable update. Installing it causes a new kind of "important hardware message" to pop up should an iPhone detect that its rear camera module has been unofficially replaced. Apple has also noted that the software includes patches for potentially actionable vulnerabilities.

A recent Cowen analysts' reports paints a rosy picture for Apple iPhone sales this year. The complete iPhone 12 lineup is expected to sell over 55 million units by the end of Q1 2021. The iPhone 12 Mini, however, Apple's budget play, continued to disappoint with lower-than-expected sales volume.

Redditor newhacker1746 managed to get Ubuntu up and running on an A10-powered Apple iPhone 7, after using the Checkra1n jailbreak exploit.

HP asserts that its new Elite-series earbuds are an enterprise-grade way of introducing wireless audio into your professional online conferencing set-up. They are rated for both passive and active noise cancellation (PNC and ANC), streamlined device-switching and fast case charging via USB type C.

According to a report by the Japan-based publication, Apple suppliers in China are already working on a new iPhone SE version, alongside the AirPods Pro 2. While further details about the devices aren’t, we expect to hear more in the months to come.

Apple App Store users spent a record US$540 million on New Year's Day, capping off a week that saw total App Store spending of $1.8 billion. The App Store continues to be one of Apple's most successful lines of business; since its inception, developers have earned over $200 billion and Apple has earned an estimated $85 billion over the past 12 years.

Foxconn is said to have successfully completed durability testing for two different Apple iPhone foldable prototypes. According to Taiwanese supply chain rag, Money UDN, the two prototypes are said to resemble the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip respectively in design approach.

The Apple MacBook Pro 13 is much more powerful and manages longer battery runtimes thanks to the new M1 processor. However, there are not many reasons why you should not just get the more affordable MacBook Air.

With Google Stadia available on iPhones and iPads via a web app, people have been seeing how well Cyberpunk 2077 runs. It turns out the likes of the iPhone 12 Pro do a better job of playing CD Projekt Red's latest triple-A title than the last-generation PlayStation 4 or Xbox One do.

Google's game streaming platform Stadia is now available on iOS. It is not on the App Store, however, having taken NVIDIA GeForce NOW's route as a web app onto iPhones. Therefore, users with these devices can now log into the sevice on its latest compatible hardware, should they want to.

Apple has now issued iOS and iPadOS updates to version 14.3. It contains some previously-promised features, which include ProRAW support in the Pro iPhone 12 variants, not to mention Apple Fitness+. It also reportedly fixes some issues, including one in which a user's new messages failed to appear in their Notifications.

Jay Freeman, the developer of the Cydia app store, has filed suit against Apple for monopolistic practices that have shut alternative app distribution methods out of iOS. If Freeman wins this suit, it could force Apple to allow and support alternative app installation methods for iOS.

In addition to the shortened battery life, the bug that seems to be affecting various handsets on iOS 14.2 also leads to longer charge times than usual. According to some users, their handsets (older ones in most cases, but also iPhone 12 models) lose over 50 percent in under 30 minutes. The 2018 iPad Pro also seems to be affected.

Apple is running a gift card giveaway Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Qualifying purchases will see the buyer rewarded with a card worth from US$25/£20/€25 up to US$150/£120/€150. The deal includes many major Apple products such as the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE, the iPad Pro, Beats headphones, and even the premium MacBook Pro 16.

The ARM-based Apple M1 chip has made a star turn appearance on the AnTuTu benchmark as the key component in a MacBook Air. The M1 managed to rack up way over one million points, leaving the Apple silicon, including the A12Z Bionic in the iPad Pro 4 and the performance-friendly A14 in the iPad Air (2020), trailing far behind.

Bypassing Apple's onerous restrictions on game streaming apps on the iOS App Store, including individual game certification and approval, NVIDIA recently launched a beta version of its GeForce Now service as a web app for the Safari browser.

The PlayStation 4 smash-hit adventure game The Last of Us Part II has amassed 10 nominations for The Game Awards 2020, including in the Game of the Year category. Indie hit Hades managed to grab eight nominations, while the critically acclaimed Ghost of Tsushima received seven nominations. Winners will be announced on December 10.

Vivo held its Developer Conference today (November 18, 2020). This event was dominated by the introduction of OriginOS, a new UI the OEM has developed in order to replace Funtouch OS on its smartphones. With its adaptive, dynamic widgets, "behavioral" wallpapers and Multi-Turbo 5.0 engine, it may be a vast improvement over its predecessor.

Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi have taken up all 10 places in the Q3 2020 table for most shipped smartphones of the quarter. While Samsung has five different Galaxy A-branded devices in the charts and Xiaomi has great results with the Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 9, it’s the Apple iPhone 11 that rules the roost once again.

An app that allows iOS users to run a Unix shell on their iDevice was under threat of removal from the App Store. However, Apple apparently reversed its decision, allowing the app to stay up. This could open the door for more scripting and shell apps to hit the App Store in the future.

Square Enix has published its earnings report for the last 6 months (ending on September 30, 2020). It claims to have made 172.7 billion yen (~US$1.7 billion), or 46% more in sales year-on-year (YoY), for this period. This was attributed to strong performance in areas of its business such as its games (mobile titles including) and merchandising arms.

WhatsApp is gradually rolling out two new features to iOS and Android users. Disappearing messages brings added privacy to WhatsApp chats by deleting messages automatically within seven days. There's also a new storage management feature that enables deletion of repetitive media in multiple forwarded chats. Future versions of the app may offer a Vacation Mode that does not de-archive chats when new messages arrive.

LG now has a few generations of its TONE FREE AirPod-clones under its belt. Now, it has announced a new one. These buds look much like the old, except that they support active noise-cancelling (ANC) this time. Their series' UVnano self-disinfecting technology is also still here.

Huami has launched the Amazfit Pop smartwatch in China for a surprisingly low price: 349 yuan (US$52). The bright and breezy wearable features non-medical grade monitors for blood oxygen saturation, atrial fibrillation, sleep quality, and 24-hour heart-rate monitoring. The Amazfit Pop comes in a choice of three colors and is water resistant.

We now have one potential explanation for why the new iPhone 12 models drain battery more quickly than they otherwise might. Although Apple is using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G modem, it is the older X55 component from last year, rather than the newer X60 modem released earlier this year.

The C3X is an external home-security camera of the type that integrates AI so as to distinguish potentially dangerous moving objects such as people and cars in the vicinity from others such as animals. Its maker EZVIZ also claims it has extreme low-light capabilities and color night vision. It is now on sale in the UK for a price of about US$194.

A social media post by Lu Weibing has led to some speculation that Xiaomi or Redmi could be planning a diminutive variant of a future flagship along the lines of the iPhone 12 Mini. A Xiaomi Mi 11 SE or Redmi K40 Mini would certainly go down well with users looking for a more compact smartphone.

OPPO has launched the latest addition to its Enco series of TWS earbuds. They are equipped with a dual-core chipset to control their active noise cancelling (ANC) features. The OEM also describes them as having been developed in partnership with the Danish sound specialist Dynaudio. These new Enco buds are Bluetooth 5.2 and have USB type C charging.

iTouch is a wearables brand with a main presence in the United States. It has announced its second-gen Sport smartwatch, which has a new kind of sensor: one that tracks body temperature and alerts the user if it becomes elevated. It has been priced at US$95.99, but is also currently on sale for Black Friday 2020.

Tipster @jon_prosser claimed that Apple's alleged decision to skip on a 120 Hz iPhone 12 display was "100 percent" because of battery life concerns, with the 5G radio taking priority. This might mean that 120 Hz displays will only make their way to iPhone in 2022.

Apple’s upcoming release event, dubbed “Hi, Speed”, will feature its highly anticipated iPhone 12 series. Within the series are four rumoured devices, the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini, 6.1-inch iPhone 12, 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. Kuo’s selection for the most popular model bucks the trend of previous releases.

French premium audio brand Devialet has revealed its first set of true wireless (TWS) earphones. The Devialet brings several unique features to its Gemini earphones that it hopes will catch the eye of audiophiles who demand more from their listening experience.

Casio has announced the ECB20 additions to the Bluetooth-enhanced EDIFICE range. There are 3 new variants of a style that comes with this manufacturer's Smartphone Link to show information streamed to it from a paired smartphone. It also supports up-to-date Casio abilities, including 5-alarm storage, a stopwatch, a timer and a super illuminator dial.

Ultimate Ears has launched the UE Fits, a set of true wireless earbuds that promise the “perfect fit.” The new buds use a polymer that it calls Lightform to mold to the unique shape of a user’s ears in under 60 seconds.

Rumored details about the Apple iPhone 13 range and the third-generation Apple iPhone SE have been shared by display industry analyst Ross Young. It seems there will be four SKUs in the iPhone 13 series, with two of them capable of mmWave 5G connectivity. The iPhone SE 3 will apparently not be part of Apple’s 2021 lineup though.

Epic Games has been in open litigious conflict with Apple over the latter's 30% levy on developer revenue in exchange for the use of its App Store. Now, the studio has escalated this situation with the implementation of the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), a new non-profit for "developer rights". Spotify, another company openly disgruntled with Apple's "unfair" practices, has also helped form the group.