Apple today announced that an expansion of the company's more detailed Apple Maps app will be expanding to Spain and Portugal today, followed by Italy and Australia later this year.
The revamped Maps app features richer landscape details such as roads, parking lots, parks, buildings, airports, and more. Apple uses its own vehicles equipped with LiDAR sensors and cameras to obtain mapping data.
Apple worked for over a year to complete the rollout of the new Maps app in the United States, and the process concluded in January 2020 with the expansion to the Southeast and Central United States.
Spatial Audio, powered by Dolby Atmos for Apple Music is officially launching today, Apple announced during its WWDC keynote. Announced earlier last month, Spatial Audio provides a more immersive music experience for Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost.
Spatial Audio will initially be available to thousands of songs on Apple Music, with the selection growing more in the future. The feature, powered by Dolby Atmos, will be supported on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip, as well as the built-in speakers of the newest iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Learn more about Apple Music Spatial Audio using our guide.
Apple today announced that some users will be able to add their driver's license or state IDs to the Wallet app in iOS 15 this fall. This will be available in select states in the United States. If supported, you'll be able to scan your ID and store it directly in the Wallet app.
Apple is working with the TSA to enable airport security checkpoints as the first place customers can user their digital IDs in the Wallet app. Like other cards and items in Wallet, your ID will be secure and encrypted.
Apple today at WWDC revealed a new iOS weather app with additional features, like full-screen maps and live weather notifications. The new app includes many features similar to Dark Sky, which Apple acquired last year.
Apple said that the redesigned app includes more graphical displays of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts that change based on conditions.
There's also new animated backgrounds that more accurately reflect the sun's position and precipitation, and notifications highlight when rain or snow starts and stops.
Apple said that the new graphics were created to make it easier to understand conditions like wind, UNV, and barometric pressure. In total, there are thousands of variations of backgrounds to reflect sun positions, clouds, rain, snow, and more.
Apple today, with iOS 15, announced a slew of new changes coming to notifications on iPhone, including a completely redesigned interface and a new way to summarize notifications based on activities.
Notifications now have a completely new design on the lock screen, featuring richer images for messages, and a cleaner more compact look. With the redesign, iOS 15 also introduces a Notification summary, which uses on-device machine learning to automatically populate notifications based on priority in a new lock screen design.
Notifications have been redesigned, adding contact photos for people and larger icons for apps that make them even easier to identify. To help reduce distraction, a new notification summary collects non-time-critical notifications for delivery at a more opportune time, such as in the morning and evening. Using on-device intelligence, notifications are arranged by priority, with the most relevant notifications rising to the top, and based on a user’s interactions with apps. Urgent messages will be delivered immediately, so important communications will not end up in the summary, and it’s easy to temporarily mute any app or messaging thread for the next hour or for the day
The redesigned notifications is one of many changes coming to iOS 15. Learn more about all the other new features.
Apple at WWDC has announced several new upcoming FaceTime features for Apple devices, like spatial audio, voice isolation, wide spectrum, FaceTime Links, SharePlay, and more.
Adding spatial audio will make it feel like you're sitting in the same room as the person you're speaking to, and in group calls, friends will sound spread out in the room.
Voice isolation is a machine learning feature that blocks out ambient noise and prioritizes your voice so that it comes through crystal clear.
FaceTime links allow users to plan ahead and send links to a call via iMessage, email, WhatsApp, Calendar, and more. The links also work with Android right from the browser.
SharePlay is a new set of features designed for shared experiences. For example, it will be possible to listen to music together, watch movies, and share your screen.
Apple today previewed iOS 15, the company's next major update for the iPhone, featuring new video calling capabilities, improvements to Messages, user statuses, a smart notification summary, and more.
FaceTime
In iOS 15, FaceTime features a new grid view and portrait mode support for video. For audio, FaceTime calls now offer Spatial Audio so that voices sound as if they are coming from where the person is located on screen, and adaptive voice isolation for a more natural experience.
In addition, users can now generate a shareable link to a scheduled video call, and can join FaceTime calls through the browser on Android and Windows devices.
"SharePlay" in FaceTime allows users to bring music, videos, and movies into calls in sync, as well as share screens. SharePlay works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and with shared playback controls, anyone in a call can play, pause, or jump ahead. SharePlay is also available as an API to be integrated into third-party apps such as Disney+, HBO Max, and TikTok.
Notifications
Notifications in iOS 15 have been redesigned, adding contact photos for people and larger app icons. There is now a notification summary that presents notifications based on how users interact with their apps and priority.
Focuses
iOS 15 offers new user statuses called a "Focus." A Focus filters notifications and apps based on what a user wishes to focus on. Users can create a custom Focus or select a suggested Focus. Users can also create Home Screen pages with apps and widgets that apply to moments of focus to display relevant apps only.
When a user's Focus or Do Not Disturb status blocks incoming notifications, their status is displayed to others in Messages.
Photos
Photos features "Live Text," allowing users to highlight and select text in images. Live Text also works in other apps such as Apple News.
In iOS 15, Photos will also be presented in Spotlight searches and Apple Music songs can be added to Photos memories. Memory mixes are synchronized with the video and images, and user-configurable with intelligently chosen songs from Apple Music.
Wallet
iOS 15 brings additional types of keys to the Wallet app, including corporate badges, hotel room keys, and keys for home smart locks.
Wallet will also supports identity cards in the United States. Users simply scan their ID to add it to the Wallet app.
Weather
The Weather app now features a completely new design, a full-screen in-app map, and new background animations that reflect the sun's position. The new design changes based on conditions and notifications can highlight when rain or snow starts and stops.
Maps
Maps features a globe view and a much more detailed 3D view in cities, including a new night-time mode. There are new road details, such as turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks, to assist drivers in cities.
There is now more information in the Transit view, and Maps now automatically follows you during a transit route and can alert you when to disembark, as well as offer more detailed directional information.
With iOS 15, users can hold up their iPhone, and Maps will generate an accurate position to show detailed walking directions in augmented reality.
Safari
Safari features a completely new design with easier-to-reach controls. There is a new, compact tab bar that floats at the bottom of the screen so users can swipe between tabs. There are also tab groups to allow users to easily access them at any time across any device. Safari on the iPhone also supports extensions for the first time and a customizable start page.
Other Features
iOS 15 also features voice search in Safari, cross-app drag and drop, and new Memoji outfits. Messages features new ways to share content such as images, music, podcasts, Apple News articles, and more, as well as pinned content.
Spotlight can leverage web image search and enhanced search, and offers richer contact card, actor, musician, TV show, and movie results. The Notes app now features tags to categorize notes, and mentions and an activity history in shared notes.
The Health app has a new sharing tab that lets users share their health data with family or caregivers, and Trends can highlight meaningful changes in health metrics. Find My adds a new widget, support for live-streamed locations, and AirPods on the Find My network.
iOS 15 also brings more privacy to the iPhone, including on-device Siri requests, Mail Privacy Protection, and an App Privacy Report.
iOS 15 will be available on all of the same devices as iOS 14, meaning that all iPhones from iPhone 6S and newer are supported.
The developer preview of iOS 15 is available to Apple Developer Program members starting today, and a public beta will be available to iOS users starting next month.
Apple's all-online Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
We're expecting to see a number of announcements, including iOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15, but it's unclear what else we'll be seeing at the event. While there had been some claims of redesigned MacBook Pro models making an appearance at the event, last-minute rumors have indicated that hardware announcements are unlikely this year.
Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV and Developer apps across its platforms. We will also be updating this article with live blog coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the keynote unfolds. Highlights from the event and separate news stories regarding today's announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
Apple is facing increasing pressure to tighten its App Tracking Transparency rules after it was found that third parties are using workarounds to identify users who do not consent to be tracked, according to the Financial Times.
Apple rules around App Tracking Transparency, which came into effect as part of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, require apps to ask for consent to track users across websites and apps so that they can be targeted with advertising.
According to Eric Seufert, a marketing strategy consultant, many apps are using workaround methods to identify users who do not consent to being tracked, meaning that the amount of data being collected from many users is de facto unchanged.
"Anyone opting out of tracking right now is basically having the same level of data collected as they were before. Apple hasn't actually deterred the behavior that they have called out as being so reprehensible, so they are kind of complicit in it happening," Seufert explained.
According to an email seen by the Financial Times, one app vendor told its clients that it had managed to continue collecting data on over 95 percent of its iOS users, using device and network information such as IP addresses to determine user identities. This secretive technique, known as "fingerprinting," is banned by Apple, which insists that developers "may not derive data from a device for the purpose of uniquely identifying it."
Some adtech groups, used by thousands of developers, believe that looser "probabilistic" methods of user identification, which group users by behavior, are allowed under Apple's rules, since they rely on temporary, aggregated data rather than creating unique or permanent device IDs.
The situation regarding workarounds and Apple's lack of enforcement has created confusion around what Apple's rules actually allow. Apple told the Financial Times:
We believe strongly that users should be asked for their permission before being tracked. Apps that are found to disregard the user's choice will be rejected.
Apple declined to comment about whether it makes a distinction between fingerprinting and "probabilistic matching" under its rules.
Some industry observers think that the problem is severe enough that Apple is at risk of legal issues. Alex Austin, chief executive of Branch, a mobile marketing platform, said "It's becoming clear that iOS 14 was much more a marketing promotion than an actual privacy initiative, sadly."
Apple has suggested that third parties' ability to track users is blocked when users ask them to stop, but if this is not the case, Apple may be subject to litigation over marketing rhetoric and reality. Founder of the Yale Privacy Lab, Sean O'Brien, accused Apple of being "extremely disingenuous" in lauding its privacy measures without adequately enforcing them.
Apple may find this out the hard way, as Google has in the past, if the company is hit with lawsuits for misleading customers in regard to privacy. Just as it was discovered that Google's location history was never actually turned off in 2018, I think we will find that Apple still allows apps to peer into the windows of consumers' lives.
O'Brien highlighted a comparison with Google, which faced a number of lawsuits after it was discovered that it had been tracking the locations of its users even after they expressly told it not to.
Seufert believes that Apple is likely to provide clarity on the issue soon, which could coincide with its Worldwide Developers Conference, leading to a potential wave of app rejections during the review process later this month for those developers that use surreptitiously tracking techniques.
In March, Apple announced that the full-sized HomePod would be discontinued once supplies run out, following years of reportedly lackluster sales. Apple said it would focus its efforts on the HomePod mini released last year.
"HomePod mini has been a hit since its debut last fall, offering customers amazing sound, an intelligent assistant, and smart home control all for just $99," Apple said in March. "We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini. We are discontinuing the original HomePod, it will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers."
Since that announcement, the HomePod has been removed from sale on Apple's online store in several countries, including France, Germany, China, Hong Kong, and India. The full-sized speaker remains available on Apple's online store in the United States, Australia, and the UK for the time being, but only in a white color.
Apple ensured that it will provide HomePod customers with software updates and service and support through AppleCare for an unspecified amount of time.
Update: The white HomePod is once again in stock in Canada, but supplies are likely running very low at this point.
Apple has used its app review process as a bulwark in recent legal assaults on its App Store policy, and put particular emphasis on the security benefits for iOS users when buying apps. However, an investigation has found that almost 2% of the top 1,000 highest grossing apps on a given day were some sort of scam.
According to The Washington Post, which conducted the investigation, scam apps have been "hiding in plain sight" in Apple's App Store, including several VPN apps that duped users into paying for software they didn't need, a QR code reader that asked users for a $5 weekly subscription for a feature that's already built into Apple's native Camera app, and some apps that fraudulently appropriated the branding of Amazon and Samsung.
Two thirds of the 18 apps that The Post flagged in its paywalled report have since been removed by Apple from the App Store. However, according to market research firm Appfigures, the scam apps are said to have cost customers an estimated $48 million during the time that they were available, while earning Apple a sizable commission in the process.
The report comes at a time when Apple has increasingly looked to security as one of the reasons it takes up to a 30% cut on all App Store transactions. In the recent Apple vs Epic Games trial, for example, CEO Tim Cook claimed the the company's strict review process prevented the App Store from becoming a "toxic mess." Cook has also suggested that allowing developers to offer their own payment systems in apps would make the App Store no better than a "flea market," and that by curating the App Store, users have "a safe and trusted place" to discover apps.
Only last month, Apple announced that it had blocked $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020. In the same press release, the company claimed that it catches most scams within a month of them arriving on the App Store.
In a statement given to The Post, an Apple spokesperson said:
"We hold developers to high standards to keep the App Store a safe and trusted place for customers to download software, and we will always take action against apps that pose a harm to users. Apple leads the industry with practices that put the safety of our customers first, and we'll continue learning, evolving our practices and investing the necessary resources to make sure customers are presented with the very best experience."
The problem of scam iOS apps has dogged Apple's App Store for some years now, but recently there have been concerted efforts by some developers to highlight that the problem remains as big as ever in at least some app categories.
Apple is holding its second all-virtual WWDC keynote today, with the event kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time and likely once again consisting of a pre-recorded stream from Apple Park. Still, some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event as it's being broadcast are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until the event has ended and is available for on-demand viewing so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Apple's recent virtual events have been made available to view almost immediately following the conclusion of the broadcasts, and we expect similar timing for today's event.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events as they occur refrain from making any posts about Apple's announcements in this thread.
In response to a tweet asking if there will be hardware announcements at WWDC 2021, cryptic but reliable leaker "l0vetodream" suggested there won't be any. In a follow-up tweet, he seems to have ruled out new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models being unveiled at this time, suggesting that it is still too early for an announcement.
Leading up to WWDC, which kicks off today with Apple's Keynote at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, there had been some rumors that at least one new MacBook Pro model with Apple silicon would be announced at the developer conference. However, supply chain reports from outlets like Nikkei Asia and DigiTimes have claimed that mass production of new MacBook Pro models will not begin until the second half of 2021.
我感觉14寸和16寸应该还没那么快
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 7, 2021
The leaker also hinted at a new user interface for at least one of Apple's software platforms, although he did not specify which one, and said that Apple plans to announce improvements to its smart home framework HomeKit.
WWDC is Apple's annual developers conference, and it is typically focused on software, with Apple expected to unveil iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15. However, as noted by Stephen Hackett at Six Colors, Apple has made at least one hardware announcement at 65 percent of WWDC keynotes over the last two decades.
Ahead of WWDC, Apple has updated its official leadership site to show Memojis for all the key executives listed on the page. Similar avatars also now appear on executives' social media accounts, as the company prepares to preview new versions of its operating system software including iOS 15, which is expected to feature major updates to the Messages app.
Apple has changed the profiles to Memojis on its leadership page once before. In 2018, Memoji avatars were used to celebrate World Emoji Day, the year that Memojis were an iPhone X feature coming in iOS 12. On that occasion, just the heads were replaced with Memojis, leaving the real shoulders in place.
This time around, the photos have been replaced wholesale with disembodied heads against dark backgrounds, reflecting the wider use of more advanced Memoji technology in Apple's WWDC 2021 promotional material.
Apple is holding a virtual keynote that will take place on Monday, June 7, with the event set to give us our first look at new operating system updates. We don't know a lot about this year's event, but everything that we're expecting to see based on rumors can be found in our dedicated roundup.
Apple plans to live stream the WWDC keynote on its website, the Apple TV app, and YouTube, but for those unable to watch, we'll be covering the event on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
Apple has paid a 21-year-old millions of dollars in a legal settlement after photos and videos from the customer's iPhone, sent in for repair, were uploaded to Facebook, leading to "severe emotional distress," according to a new report from The Telegraph.
The incident occurred in 2016 at a repair facility run by Apple supplier Pegatron in California. The 21-year-old college student sent her iPhone into the repair facility to be fixed after it had stopped working. Legal documents outline that while it was being fixed, technicians posted 10 photos of the Apple customer in "various stages of undress and a sex video."
The exact amount Apple paid to the student was not disclosed. However, the report describes a "multimillion-dollar" settlement, and says that the customer's lawyers specifically requested $5 million during negotiation talks. Her lawyers also threatened to sue Apple for invasion of privacy and "infliction of emotional distress." They had reportedly warned the Cupertino tech giant that a lawsuit would give it negative PR, which possibly made the company more willing to pay the settlement.
Lawyers for the victim had threatened to sue for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress, and had warned of the "negative media publicity" that would accompany a lawsuit. The settlement included a confidentiality provision that prevented her from discussing the case or revealing the size of the payout.
In a statement given to The Telegraph, Apple said that it takes customers' privacy "extremely seriously," and that it thoroughly investigated the "egregious violation." The company said it took "immediate action" and has since "continued to strengthen our vendor protocols."
In a video posted on Apple Music, first spotted on Twitter, Apple is teasing a "special event" that will take place on June 7 at 12 p.m PT, two hours after the main WWDC keynote begins. Currently not on the WWDC schedule, this event is related to Spatial Audio for Apple Music, which Apple has said will launch later this month.
Apple announced that Spatial Audio, powered by Dolby Atmos, will be coming to all Apple Music subscribers in June, in addition to higher-quality lossless streaming. The company has been promoting the new features across social media and within the Apple Music app; however, the mention of a special event dedicated fully to it had previously remained undisclosed.
Apple's official keynote begins at 10 a.m PT on June 7, and the State of the Union takes place four hours after at 2 p.m PT.
Less than 48 hours away from the start of WWDC, a new App Store leak suggests that Apple plans to announce a brand new "Mind" app across its different platforms, as well as the introduction of the standalone Tips and Contacts app for Apple Watch, presumably as part of the watchOS 8 update.
The leak comes at the courtesy of developer Khaos Tian, who noticed that Apple accidentally updated the App Store manifest with new app ID bundle identifiers. The findings reference "com.apple.NanoTips" and "com.Apple.NanoContacts," both identifiers include "Nano," which is Apple's internal codename for Apple Watch apps.
Alongside the identifiers referencing the unreleased apps for Apple Watch, Apple also posted "com.Apple.Mind," an app currently not offered by the company. The lack of a specific codename, such as Nano, likely indicates that the app will be available across watchOS and iOS. Apple has in the past been rumored to be working on different health features, including mental health.
Bloomberg'sMark Gurmanhas stated that the next update to watchOS will include new and improved health tracking features. Apple already offers a Breathe app on Apple Watch, and the unreleased Mind app may be an expansion or replacement of the app to better suit mental health needs. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on Monday, June 7, at 10 a.m PT.
iPadOS 15 will include improvements to the way users manage multiple apps open at once, in addition to a redesigned incoming notification banner that will also debut in iOS 15, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In an overview report of what to expect from Apple at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Gurman reiterates his previous reporting while also providing a few additional new tidbits. Gurman has said previously that iPadOS 15 will allow users to place widgets anywhere on the Home Screen. Today Gurman expanded, saying that improvements to multitasking can also be expected on iPadOS 15.
For the iPad, Apple plans to revamp the home screen and support the placement of widgets -- snippets of dynamic information like calendar, weather, and stocks -- anywhere on the screen. This is a commonly requested feature that will bring the iPad in line with Android rivals. The company also plans an improved multitasking system to make it easier to operate multiple apps at the same time.
Addtionally, Gurman says that alongside major changes to iMessage and a new way for users to set their status on their device, iOS 15 will also include a redesigned incoming notification banner.
On the iPhone and iPad software updates, users will now be able to set a status -- such as whether you are driving, sleeping, working or don’t want to be disturbed -- and have that dictate how incoming notifications are handled. The update will also include a larger focus on auto-replying to messages and a new design for incoming notification banners at the top of the screen.
Gurman also notes that Apple has been working on a redesigned lockscreen for the iPad and iPhone, but says that some of those changes have been pushed until iOS 16, next year.
Apple has also been working on a revamped lock screen for the iPhone and iPad, though some of those changes have been pushed back to a future release and won’t appear this year.
As for macOS 12, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8, Gurman says to expect minor updates. watchOS 8 will include improved health tracking features and "interface improvements." Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference officially kicks off on Monday, June 7, at 10 a.m PT. Check out our roundup of everything else you can expect.
