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News - page 340

Apple’s biggest manufacturing partner ramps up workforce for iPhone 13

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This concept image shows how the iPhone 13 notch might shrink.
Foxconn needs a whole lot of people to build the iPhone 13.
Artists concept: Cult of Mac

Foxconn is bolstering its workforce ahead of mass-manufacturing the iPhone 13. According to South China Morning Post, the world’s largest contract manufacturer has raised its bonus payments to lure in new recruits.

Each new recruit will earn a bonus of $1,158 (7,500 yuan) if they work for 90 days, and are on duty for at least 55 days during that time. This is twice the 3,500 bonus that was on offer at the end of March. It’s the third bonus increase in the past month.

Only a tiny proportion of iOS users let apps track them

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App Tracking Transparency will be part of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5 and tvOS 14.5. It’s already showing up in betas.
App Tracking Transparency is here -- and users seem to be responding.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature looks surprisingly popular with users — and potentially devastating to advertising. According to analysis by Flurry, just 4% of U.S. users allow apps to track them when given a choice.

The new privacy feature, rolled out in iOS 14.5 in late April, requires developers to ask for permission to use Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers tag to track users’ movements across websites and third-party apps. Flurry’s stats indicate a massive 96 out of 100 users in the United States denied that permission.

Apple rejects more than a third of App Store submissions

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App Store icon
Literally millions of iPhone and iPad applications are submitted to the App Store every year. Each has to be reviewed.
Photo: PhotoAtelier/Flickr

In testimony on Thursday in the Epic Games v. Apple trial, Trystan Kosmynka, the senior director for the App Store review process, confirmed that around 5 million appications are submitted to the software store per year. And roughly 35% are rejected.

Survivor’s new rugged 10.2-inch iPad cases combine kickstand with handstrap

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Survivor All-Terrain offers rugged protection for the iPad 8 and iPad 7.
The Survivor All-Terrain‘s four layers of shock-absorbing materials deliver military-grade drop protection to the iPad 8.
Photo: Survivor

A pair of new rugged cases for the basic 10.2-inch iPad promise military-grade drop protection, and each has a combination kickstand/handstrap to make using the device easier.

Survivor All-Terrain and Endurance are designed for hazardous conditions, like worksites and classrooms.

‘Shot on iPhone’ film reveals camera tricks for capturing the beauty of spring

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‘Full Bloom’ is a demonstration reel for what can be down with ann iPhone 12 camera
Full Bloom sets out to inspire budding photographers and videographers with what they can do with just an iPhone 12 camera.
Photo: Apple

Full Bloom, a new spring-themed video commissioned by Apple, includes some amazing photography done with an iPhone 12. It’s part of the long-running “Shot on iPhone” series that demonstrates the capabilities of the cameras built into Apple handsets. A highlight of the latest offering is stop-motion video done with flowers and fruit.

Don’t miss it:

Carrot Weather gets big upgrade just in time for allergy season

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Carrot Weather
Snarky weather app gets even better.
Photo: CARROT Weather

If 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s prickly AI, HAL 9000, picked up a sense of humor and then decided to make weather apps, the results would probably be a bit like Carrot Weather.

The sarcastic weather app has been a fixture on iOS for more than half a decade, and has not only gotten more hilariously abrasive during that time, but more useful as well. On Thursday, creator Brian Mueller unleashed the app’s latest update.

Creeps could use AirTags to stalk people with ‘frightening’ ease

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Stalkers won‘t be able to track victims via hidden AirTags
The dangers of location-tracking.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

It it “frighteningly easy” to use Apple’s location-tracking AirTag to stalk somebody, a new report suggests.

While Apple says it’s been careful to incorporate anti-stalking measures to stop the AirTags from being used in this way, a Washington Post columnist says Apple’s countermeasures are not effective.

Servant is longlisted for ‘Best Drama’ TV Choice award

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TV Choice
Servant is up for Best Drama award.
Photo: TV Choice Awards

Apple TV+ show Servant is one of the longlist nominees for Best Drama Series at the 2021 TV Choice Awards, Apple has revealed.

While it’s great to see Apple TV+ rack up another award nomination, it’s important to note that the longlist is, well, very long: Servant is one of more than 50 shows up for the award. A spokesperson told Cult of Mac that the shortlist will be announced in June.

More Australian retailers stop selling AirTags over safety concerns

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AirTags
AirTags are causing concerns over their safety.
Photo: Apple

More retailers in Australia are reportedly removing Apple’s location-tracking AirTags from their shelves. This relates to concerns that the trackers’ tiny button batteries could be swallowed by small children.

Earlier this week, office supplier retail giant Officeworks suspended sales of the AirTag. Now other Australian retailers — including JB Hi-Fi and Big W — have seemingly followed suit.

Apple’s treatment of Netflix highlights arbitrary App Store rules

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Netflix Downloads for You puts suggested shows right onto your iPhone
Unlike Epic Games, Netflix wasn’t banned from the App Store when it did an end run around Apple’s in-app purchase system.
Photo: Netflix

The latest insider info brought to light by the Epic Games v. Apple trial is the lengths the Mac-maker went to convince Netflix to continue taking subscriptions in its iPhone/iPad app. But Netflix stopped anyway, and Apple took no action.

When Epic Games tried to do something similar, Apple banned all its software from the App Store.

Print a variety of useful AirTag holders with these free 3D models

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Print a variety of useful AirTag holders with these free 3D models
Don’t buy when you can 3D print an AirTag holder. Like this bike mount.
Photo: Marshall Farthing

It’s not necessary to buy an accessory to attach an Apple AirTag to your keys, bike or dog’s collar if you own a 3D printer. There are tons of CAD files with options to connect the recently released item tracker to various objects. And all of them are free to use.

Mixed-reality Apple glasses could add a new dimension to fitness

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How augmented reality could augment your workout
Will augmented reality augment your workouts?
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Like Apple Watch before it, Cupertino’s much-anticipated mixed-reality headset looks set to be another leap forward for fitness wearables.

Mixed reality is already commonplace in TV sports. You see it every time the virtual line of scrimmage is superimposed onto a football field. Now imagine that the players on the field can see that virtual line too, just like the viewers at home. That’s exactly what Apple’s latest gadget could deliver, adding a whole new dimension to sports and fitness.

Study: Night Shift makes no difference to a good night’s rest

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The Night Shift mode on Apple products may not be worth the hype. Using dim, cooler lights in the evening may be more beneficial to our sleep and health.
The Night Shift mode on Apple products may not live up to the hype.
Photo: Envato Elements

The iOS and macOS feature that changes display color temperature to reduce blue light so as to promote good sleep might not work quite as well as hoped.

A new study by Brigham Young University suggests that the Night Shift feature, introduced in 2016, doesn’t make any noticeable difference to sleep patterns.

Apple awards extra $410 million to optical firm that makes LiDAR lasers

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Advanced manufacturing
This is the latest investment from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund.
Photo: Apple

Apple has awarded an additional $410 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to II-VI, a firm that makes optical technology for the iPhone, including the laser for the LiDAR scanner found in the iPhone 12 Pro.

Apple previously awarded the firm $390 million back in 2017. The extra cash will “accelerate delivery of future components” for iPhone. It will also help fund the creation of more than 700 jobs in Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run gets its first big update on iOS

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Crash Bandicoot: On the Run
Crash keeps on running.
Photo: King

Back in the day, it took more than a year — from September 1996 to October 1997 — for fans of Crash Bandicoot to get a second dose of action with the game’s sequel.

Jump forward to 2021 and fans of Crash Bandicoot: On the Run who have completed the game, launched on iOS in March, can already get a second fix of Crash action courtesy of the title’s first big update.

Australian stores remove AirTags over safety fears

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AirTag pairs easily with iPhone, much like AirPods.
AirTags are tiny. So are their batteries.
Photo: Apple

A chain of office supply stores in Australia suspended sales of Apple’s AirTag over child-safety concerns.

Officeworks, which sells approximately 30,000 products in its 167 giant stores, confirmed that the “Apple AirTag range will temporarily be unavailable” for purchase. This is reportedly due to how easily the replaceable cell batteries can be removed from the location-tracking tags. And, presumably, swallowed.

Execs fretted over whether App Store ads were ‘at odds’ with Apple messaging

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TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2020.
Apple sells ads through the App Store.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

Many people may be surprised to hear that while Tim Cook has often taken thinly-veiled shots at the targeted ad-supported business model of some rivals, Apple does itself sell targeted ads.

Although there is a bit more nuance to that, it can look like a contradiction, or even a bit of hypocrisy, from the outside. As emails highlighted during the current Apple vs. Epic legal battle shows, Apple employees also grappled with whether or not Apple should offer ads in the App Store — and whether this opposed Apple’s messaging.

Read Epic Games’ reasonable idea for opening up the App Store

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App Store
The CEO of Epic Games had an idea for making the App Store more open. It’s likely to find some support.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Epic Games suggested a change to the iPhone App Store that, if Apple had followed it, might have prevented the lawsuit that landed the two tech giants in court this week.

The game developer recommended that Apple continue to police third-party software, looking for malware, privacy violations, etc. But once the iPhone-maker signed off on an app, it would be up to the developer how the software got distributed.