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Trump Says Tim Cook Made 'Good Case' That Tariffs Would Put Apple at Disadvantage With Rivals Like Samsung

Sunday August 18, 2019 4:14 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple CEO Tim Cook and U.S. President Donald Trump met for dinner on Friday evening, and Trump has since told reporters that the two discussed the impact of U.S. tariffs on Apple products imported from China.

Melania Trump, Donald Trump, and Tim Cook in August 2018

Trump said Cook "made a good case" that tariffs could put Apple at a disadvantage given that rival Samsung's products would be less impacted by the tariffs, according to Reuters. "I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I'm thinking about it," Trump said, speaking at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey.

The U.S. plans to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on approximately $300 billion of Chinese imports on September 1, but last week it delayed the tariff to December 15 for products including the iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks. Other products like the Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod are still set to be impacted September 1.

In a letter to the Trump administration in June, Apple urged against the tariffs, claiming that they would reduce the company's contribution to the U.S. economy and weigh on its global competitiveness.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: China, Donald Trump
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Apple Employees Testing Apple Arcade Ahead of Launch

Saturday August 17, 2019 10:40 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple Arcade, Apple's upcoming subscription-based gaming service, was first introduced in March and is set to launch this fall.

Ahead of the upcoming launch, Apple has debuted an early access program for its employees, with screenshots and details shared by 9to5Mac this morning. Apple employees are able to access Apple Arcade for $0.49 per month, with a one month free trial available.


Apple Arcade games will be available on the Mac, iOS App Store, and Apple TV, with the screenshots shared today sourced from the Mac App Store. The Apple Arcade tab in Apple's App Stores will feature a selection of highlighted games and different game categories.

Many of the games in development for Apple Arcade have been previously announced, but here are a few Apple is highlighting, along with their descriptions:
Way of the Turtle: "Play as two curious turtles lost on a cursed island in the middle of nowhere. Obtain shells containing special powers such as dash and attack to defeat enemies and overcome different challenges."

Down in Bermuda: "Adventurous aviator Milton left his loving wife and daughter to voyage across the Atlantic on the journey of a lifetime."

Hot Lava: "Hot Lava transports you back to your childhood imagination. Relive those moments of excitement, joy and chaos. Run, jump, climb and surf in first person across nostalgia-packed environments flooded with hot molten lava."
According to 9to5Mac, most of the games right now are still in-development builds, and other titles available to employees include "Sneaky Sasquatch", "Kings of the Castle", "Frogger in Toy Town" and "Lame Game 2."


Apple hasn't shared details on what Apple Arcade will be priced at when it debuts, but it looks like there may be a one-month free trial available for those who would like to try it out.

Apple has said there will be somewhere around 100 games at launch, with no ads and no additional in-app purchases. A single subscription will also allow for up to six family members to access games.

There's no word on when Apple Arcade will launch, but the internal employee test is set to end when iOS 13 launches, so that could potentially be when Apple Arcade will be made available.

For more on Apple Arcade, make sure to check out our Apple Arcade guide.

Tag: Apple Arcade Guide
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New Ceramic and Titanium Apple Watch Models Uncovered in watchOS 6 Beta

Saturday August 17, 2019 6:27 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
New leaked assets from the watchOS 6 beta suggest Apple plans to launch new ceramic and titanium Apple Watch models as early as next month.


Discovered by iHelpBR, the assets belong to the initial Apple Watch setup screen animation, which resembles the rear design of the watch including the model type and the words "Designed by Apple in California."

The firmware assets clearly reference a 44mm titanium case and a 44mm ceramic case. iHelpBR has also found analogous assets for the 40mm size Apple Watch model.

Back in February, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple would introduce a "new ceramic casing design" to its Apple Watch line-up, and these assets do appear to back up that claim.

Apple introduced "Edition" models with the Apple Watch Series 2 that were made from ceramic. Prices started at $1,299, which it continued offering when the Series 3 Apple Watches came out, but Apple discontinued the Edition models when the Series 4 launched last year.

Current Apple Watch models do have a ceramic back, but the assets indicate Apple will revisit a new high end ceramic model in 2019. And it looks like we can also expect an entirely new titanium model – a material perhaps currently in favor at Apple following work on its just-released titanium Apple Card.

Apple Watch Series 2 ceramic model in white

It's not clear if the titanium casing will replace stainless steel or become an additional option. Another unanswered question is whether these materials will be exclusive to a new Apple Watch Series 5, or also be offered as extra case material options for existing models.

According to the latest prediction from Kuo, Japan Display will supply the OLED displays for new Apple Watch Series 5 models slated to launch in the second half of 2019. Beyond that, we know very little about what to expect about the Series 5.

Apple is expected to unveil its new iPhone lineup on September 10, so it's likely these Apple Watch models will be unveiled during the same event.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5, watchOS 6
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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App Developers Claim Apple's iOS 13 Location Tracking Changes Are Anti-Competitive

Friday August 16, 2019 2:20 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple in iOS 13 made changes to the way location tracking permissions work, and there's no longer an option for apps to ask to "Always Allow" location tracking.

Instead, Apple allows users to select "Allow While Using the App," "Allow Once," or "Don't Allow," which some app creators have taken offense to. The leaders of seven companies that make apps for iOS devices banded together to write an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook to speak out about the changes, with the details shared by The Information.

There's no longer an "Always Allow" option on privacy popups in iOS 13 for enabling permanent location access
The companies that wrote to Cook are upset that there's no longer a readily available "Always Allow" option. Users can still turn on "Always Allow" in the Privacy section of the Settings app, but it's not available by default and requires additional steps.

As an example, Zenly, a location tracking app owned by Snap, needs to have location tracking on permanently to function. Since there's no option to turn on "Always Allow," Zenly has to have a clunky secondary display screen that instructs users to open up the Privacy settings on their iPhones to change the location setting. This makes consumers more aware of apps that are tracking them continually, but it is an extra step that app developers must contend with.

Apps that want continual location data must instruct customers to enable it in the Settings app
According to the companies who wrote to Cook, the changes could potentially lead users to think their apps are broken unless they're "savvy enough" tweak Privacy settings. These are the companies whose leaders wrote to Cook about the privacy changes:
  • Tile - Makes tracking devices for wallets, keys, and other objects.
  • Arity - A company owned by Allstate that developers technology for measuring driver risk.
  • Life360 - An app for sharing location with family and friends.
  • Zenly - A location sharing app owned by Snap.
  • Zendrive - A company that makes driver assessment apps.
  • Twenty - A social networking app for finding friends nearby.
  • Happn - A dating app.
The app creators suggested Apple create a two-step process that would let users grant apps access to locations as a solution, but it's not clear if Apple has plans to implement changes.

The companies were also concerned about changes Apple is making to a VoIP feature designed to let apps run in the background to listen for calls, but that was being abused for other tracking purposes. Apple doesn't plan to let developers use Apple's PushKit API for anything beyond voice calls in iOS 13.

While the companies admit that apps used this feature for tracking user location and for gathering data, they claim the change will hurt important app features. As an example, Life360 reportedly uses the feature to access a user's location to dispatch emergency services when a customer is involved in a car accident.

The email ends by pointing out that Apple's own apps do not need to get user permission to access user location, such as for Find My, which is built into the iPhone as a way to keep track of iOS and macOS devices.
"Like you, we are committed to ensuring that privacy is a top priority, but are concerned that the current implementation will create user confusion that actually undermines this goal," the e-mail to Cook reads. "The changes also have the added effect of removing critical geolocation functionality while simultaneously not applying to Apple's own apps, some of which compete with the products we develop."
In response to questions about the email, an Apple spokesperson told The Information that Apple's goal is to make the App Store a safe, trusted source for apps and to give its users the best products and ecosystem in the world.
We take responsibility for ensuring that apps are held to a high standard for privacy, security and content because nothing is more important than maintaining the trust of our users. Users trust Apple--and that trust is critical to how we operate a fair, competitive store for developer app distribution. Any changes we make to hardware, software or system level apps is in service to the user, their privacy and providing them the best products and ecosystem in the world.
In addition, Apple said that it is working with some of the companies that signed the email to find alternative methods for features that are being obsoleted, such as background tracking for purposes other than voice calls.

Apple also says that while system apps like Find My don't need to make location tracking requests from users, some Apple apps distributed through the App Store will abide by Apple's processes for requesting user permission to access location information. The full report with additional details can be read over at The Information.

Tag: App Store
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Hands-On With CarPlay in iOS 13: Everything That's New

Friday August 16, 2019 12:56 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Along with many new features for the iPhone and the iPad, iOS 13 brings updates to CarPlay, overhauling the interface for the first time in years and adding useful new functionality.

In our latest YouTube video, we went hands-on with CarPlay in iOS 13 to give MacRumors readers an idea of what's new with Apple's in-car platform.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

CarPlay in iOS 13 has a redesigned and revamped Home screen with new table views, rounded corners, and an updated Home button that swaps between a dashboard icon and an app row icon depending on what app you're using.

The new tile-like user interface displays the Maps app, Shortcuts, Siri suggestions, Music Now Playing interface, and upcoming Calendar events all at a glance, which is convenient. Tapping on any of the tiles opens up the relevant app. You can, of course, still access the standard icon list from previous versions of CarPlay with a swipe.

In the new Calendar app, you can see all of your upcoming events for the day, which is useful for when you get in the car in the morning. If a calendar event has a location associated with it, you can tap on the event and get directions to where you need to go.


Maps has an updated look and feel, and it takes advantage of all of the features in iOS 13. In supported areas, there's better detail for roads, buildings, parks, and more, and you can use the Favorites and Collections features to route to saved locations. It's also easier to find points of interest along your current route in Maps.

Siri in Maps uses more natural language, which is a great update. As an example, instead of hearing "Turn right in 1,000 feet," Siri might instead say "turn right at the next traffic light."


Updates to the Music app make it easier to navigate through your music library, playlists, radio stations, and more, so you can find just what you want to hear with little effort. The Now Playing UI has also been updated with album art throughout the entire CarPlay interface, which is an improvement over CarPlay in iOS 12.


There's Siri support for third-party navigation apps, so you can ask Siri to do something like route you home using the Waze app instead of Apple Maps. In the future, Siri support could also come to music apps like Spotify in CarPlay thanks to new SiriKit APIs. You're also now able to use "Hey Siri" across all vehicles for easier Siri activation.

For those with HomeKit products like garage door openers, there's a handy Siri suggestions feature that does things like bring up an icon to open up your garage when you approach home. There are multiple Siri suggestions like this that are going to vary based on your CarPlay usage, but it's definitely a neat and useful addition.

CarPlay has a Settings app in iOS 13, so you can adjust Do Not Disturb While Driving, turn Siri on and off, turn off album art, and switch the appearance between the default dark mode and a new lighter user interface.

Also new to CarPlay is support for using CarPlay and your iPhone at the same time. In earlier versions of CarPlay, if you had Maps up but wanted to do something like change the music on your phone, it would kick you out of Maps on CarPlay. That's not the case anymore, so now you can have Maps up while doing other things on your iPhone.

All in all, iOS 13 brings some much needed changes to the CarPlay experience, and it should be a welcome update for CarPlay users. Know of an iOS 13 CarPlay feature that we left out? Let us know in the comments.

Related Roundups: CarPlay, iOS 13, iPadOS
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Kuo: Apple Watch Series 5 Lineup to Launch in Fall With OLED Displays Supplied by Japan Display

Friday August 16, 2019 8:52 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Japan Display will supply OLED displays for new Apple Watch Series 5 models slated to launch in the second half of 2019, according to the latest prediction from well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.


In a research note with TF International Securities shared with Chinese media outlets today, Kuo forecasted that Japan Display will gradually increase its proportion of OLED display orders for the Apple Watch, starting with 15-20 percent of orders in 2019 and reaching 70-80 percent in 2021.

Kuo believes that Apple will also gradually increase the proportion of LG's supply of OLED displays for iPhones, and tap Chinese manufacturer BOE as an additional supplier, in a bid to diversify its supply chain.

Apple Watch Series 5 models will likely be unveiled next month alongside a trio of new iPhones. This would hardly be a surprise, as Series 1 through Series 4 models all launched in September, but specific rumors about Series 5 models have actually been relatively quiet, so this is nice reassurance.

For example, Kuo previously said a "new ceramic casing design" would be "added" to the Apple Watch lineup, but he did not explicitly mention Series 5 models. Reuters also reported that Japan Display would begin supplying OLED displays for the Apple Watch, but likewise did not specify Series 5 models.

Looking farther ahead, rumors suggest that Apple Watch Series 6 models will adopt MicroLED displays in 2020.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5, watchOS 6
Tags: Ming-Chi Kuo, TF International Securities
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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HomePod Launching in Japan and Taiwan on August 23, Pre-Orders Available Now

Thursday August 15, 2019 9:57 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's HomePod is set to launch in Japan and Taiwan next week, on Friday, August 23, Apple announced today. Ahead of the launch, Apple is accepting pre-orders through its online stores in Japan and Taiwan.


The HomePod is available for ¥32,800 in Japan and NT$9,900 in Taiwan, which is $10 to $15 higher than the price in the U.S. When the HomePod first launched in the United States in 2018, it was priced at $349, but the price was lowered to $299 in April of this year.

Apple announced plans to expand the HomePod to Japan and Taiwan earlier this summer, and added support for the new countries in the 12.4 software made available for the HomePod in late July.

Apple now sells the HomePod in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, China, and Hong Kong, along with Taiwan and Japan.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)
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Apple Files Lawsuit Against Virtualization Company Corellium for Illegally Replicating iOS and Apple Apps

Thursday August 15, 2019 3:36 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today filed a lawsuit against Corellium, a mobile device virtualization company that supports iOS. Corellium describes itself as the "first and only platform" that offers iOS, Android, and Linux virtualization on ARM.

In the lawsuit, filed today in the Southern District of Florida, Apple accuses Corellium of copyright infringement for illegally replicating the operating system and applications that run on the iPhone and the iPad.

A virtual iPhone on Corellium's website used as evidence in Apple's lawsuit against the company
Corellium's business is based entirely on commercializing the illegal replication of the copyrighted operating system and applications that run on Apple's iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices. The product Corellium offers is a "virtual" version of Apple mobile hardware products, accessible to anyone with a web browser.

Specifically, Corellium serves up what it touts as a perfect digital facsimile of a broad range of Apple's market-leading devices--recreating with fastidious attention to detail not just the way the operating system and applications appear visually to bona fide purchasers, but also the underlying computer code. Corellium does so with no license or permission from Apple.
According to Apple, Corellium's iOS virtualization product infringes on Apple's copyrights. "Corellium has simply copied everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the icons -- all of it, in exacting detail," reads the lawsuit.

Corellium's product creates digital replicas of iOS, iTunes, and user interface elements available on a web-based platform or a custom platform built by Corellium. It is designed to create virtual iOS devices for the purpose of running iOS, and at the recent Black Hat USA conference, Corellium emphasized that its "Apple product" is an exact copy of iOS, able to allow researchers and hackers to find and test vulnerabilities.

Apple goes on to say that though Corellium poses its product as a research tool for those aiming to discover security vulnerabilities, the company's actual goal is "profiting off its blatant infringement" by encouraging users to sell discovered information on the open market to the highest bidder.

Apple says it does not want to encumber "good-faith security research" but instead is aiming to end Corellium's "unlawful commercialization of Apple's valuable copyrighted works."
On information and belief, Corellium makes no effort whatsoever to confine use of its product to good-faith research and testing of iOS. Nor does Corellium require its users to disclose any software bugs they find to Apple, so that Apple may correct them. Instead, Corellium is selling a product for profit, using unauthorized copies of Apple's proprietary software, that it avowedly intends to be used for any purpose, without limitation, including for the sale of software exploits on the open market.
Apple is seeking a permanent injunction to prevent Corellium from continuing to offer a product that replicates iOS. Apple also wants Corellium to destroy all infringing materials that it's collected, and pay Apple damages, lost profits, and attorney fees.

Apple Inc. vs. Corellium, LLC by MacRumors on Scribd



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Apple Touts U.S. Impact of 2.4 Million Jobs

Thursday August 15, 2019 1:17 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is directly or indirectly responsible for creating a total of 2.4 million jobs in the United States, the company announced today.

Apple says that this is four times the number of American jobs that were attributable to the company compared to eight years ago, and that it is on pace to directly contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy as announced last year.


That 2.4 million figure includes Apple's own employees and those at U.S. companies that create components for Apple devices or otherwise work at Apple, such as battery testing company Maccor and modem company Broadcom, which has a manufacturing facility in Colorado.

Apple also works with Texas company Finisar, and since getting $390 million as part of Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, Finisar is on track to fill 500 full-time positions. Finisar will soon begin shipping the VCSELs used to power Face ID. According to Apple, it spent a collective $60 billion across 9,000 American companies in 2018.

The App Store, says Apple, is responsible for 1.9 million American jobs, up by 325,000 over the course of the last 2.5 years.
Several states saw double-digit growth during that period, including a 43 percent increase in North Carolina, representing almost 15,000 new jobs, and a 50 percent increase in Florida, which added almost 30,000 new jobs. Pennsylvania saw a 64 percent increase in growth, going from 40,800 jobs in 2016 to more than 67,000 today.
Apple itself currently employs 90,000 employees across 50 states and is on track to create 20,000 new jobs across the U.S. by 2023 with new campuses in Seattle and San Diego.

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New iPhones to Debut on September 10 According to File Found in iOS 13 Beta 7

Thursday August 15, 2019 12:22 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released the seventh beta of iOS 13, and an image hidden within the update suggest Apple is going to hold an event to show off new iPhones on Tuesday, September 10.

An iOS 13 screenshot in the beta, covertly named "HoldForRelease," features the Calendar app with the date set to Tuesday the 10th.


The screenshot was originally found by iHelpBR, and the site points out that a similar screenshot was found last year ahead of the September 12 iPhone event with a September 12 date.

September 10 is a very likely date for the iPhone event based on the dates of past iPhone events, and we would be surprised were it not held on that date. Almost all iPhone events in recent history have been held during the second week of September, and generally on Tuesdays.

Last year's Wednesday, September 12 event was an anomaly because September 11 fell on a Tuesday and Apple prefers Tuesday or Wednesday to Monday in order to give members of the media time to travel.

We've also heard the September 10 date bandied about from multiple sources that have contacted us. All three new iPhones are expected to debut at the event and see a release shortly after. Last year, the iPhone XS and XS Max were released in September ahead of the iPhone XR, which came in October.

With the iPhone event likely to be held on September 10, pre-orders for the new devices could take place on September 13 with a launch to follow on September 20. Apple often releases iOS updates two days ahead of when new iPhones become available, so iOS 13 could be released on September 18.

Related Roundups: 2019 iPhones, iOS 13, iPadOS
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Siri Answers 83% of Questions Correctly in Test, Beating Alexa But Trailing Google Assistant

Thursday August 15, 2019 12:05 pm PDT by Juli Clover
In an annual test comparing Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa on smartphones, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster found that Siri was able to correctly answer 83 percent of questions, beating Alexa but trailing behind Google Assistant.

Munster asked each digital assistant 800 questions during the test to compare how each one responded. Alexa answered 79.8 percent of questions correctly, while Google Assistant answered 92.9 percent of questions correctly.


Compared to last year, Siri has seen improvement. During the July 2018 test, Siri answered 79 percent of questions correctly compared to the 83 percent of questions answered right this time around. Alexa last year was at 61 percent while Google Assistant was at 86, so there have been digital voice assistant improvements across the board.


This test covered smartphones specifically, comparing iPhones and Android devices. Munster says that smartphones were isolated from smart speakers because while underlying technology is similar, "use cases vary." Siri was tested on an iPhone running iOS 12.4, Google Assistant on a Pixel XL, and Alexa in the iOS app.

Questions were based on five categories and all assistants were asked the same 800 questions. Each question set was designed to "comprehensively test a digital assistant's ability and utility." Some of the sample questions across each of the categories:
  • Local - Where is the nearest coffee shop?
  • Commerce - Order me more paper towels.
  • Navigation - How do I get to Uptown on the bus?
  • Information - Who do the Twins play tonight?
  • Command - Remind me to call Jerome at 2 pm today
Siri did best in the command, local, and navigation categories, faring less well in the information and commerce categories. Siri actually won out in the command category, but trailed behind Google Assistant in other categories.

Siri continues to prove more useful with phone-related functions like calling, texting, emailing, calendar, and music. Both Siri and Google Assistant, which are baked into the OS of the phone, far outperformed Alexa in the Command section.
Munster says that the continued rate of improvement "continues to surprise" based on the notable improvements that each voice assistant has demonstrated over the course of the last few years.

In the future, Loup Ventures expects to see further improvements from extending the feature sets of each voice assistant.

Tags: Siri Guide, Loup Ventures
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What's New in iOS 13 Beta 7

Thursday August 15, 2019 11:35 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released the seventh beta of iOS 13 to developers, bringing new bug fixes and refining iOS 13 and iPadOS features introduced in previous betas.

Now that we're up to the seventh beta, changes and tweaks are getting much more minor, but there are still a few new things worth noting.

- Folders - Folder backgrounds are once again gray, with changes made in the previous beta reverted.

- Dark Mode - The Dark Mode Control Center widget wording has been tweaked. Instead of saying Light Appearance or Dark Appearance, it now says Light Mode or Dark Mode.


- Deleting Attachments in Messages - You can once again delete photo and other attachments from Messages. In a conversation, tap on the "i" and long press on a photo, link, or document to bring up a menu to delete it.


- Blocked Senders in Mail - There are new options to determine what to do with messages from blocked senders. You can move them to the trash or mark as blocked and leave them in the inbox (the default option).


- Silence Unknown Callers - When toggling on Silence Unknown Callers, there's new text in the Phone app that lets you know incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions.


- All Photos View - When viewing "All Photos" in the main Photos tab in iOS 13, Photos are displayed in a grid three across instead of the smaller thumbnails that were available before by default.


- Find My - Notify When Found is now working in the Find My app in this beta. There's also a new "Help a Friend" option in the Me tab that opens up iCloud.com so a friend can locate a lost device.


- Do Not Disturb - Do Not Disturb settings now sync properly between iPhone and Apple Watch.

Know of a feature that's new in iOS 13 beta 7 that we left out? Make sure to let us know in the comments and we'll update this article. For more on what's new in iOS 13, make sure to check out our iOS 13 roundup.

Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS
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