MacRumors

As part of an ongoing antitrust inquiry into Apple's App Store policies, U.S. antitrust regulators are looking into the 30 percent cut that Apple takes from in-app subscriptions, reports Bloomberg.

Government lawyers have been meeting with developers over the course of the last several months, and in meetings as recent as last week, developers have been asked questions about Apple's subscription rules.

Apple requires developers to use its ‌App Store‌ payment system for subscriptions, an issue that was in the spotlight recently when email app "Hey" was rejected for requiring users to purchase a subscription on its website because the app's developers did not want to pay Apple's subscription fees. The problem was ultimately resolved, but it led to multiple developer reports about unfair treatment from Apple.

Developers have been questioned by government officials about the ‌App Store‌ review process, and at least one developer was asked if Apple lowering its 30 percent cut would solve concerns, but the developer in question told the DoJ that the problem is not the commission, but the fact that Apple doesn't allow for alternate payment systems.

Representative David Cicilline, Chairman of the U.S, House Subcommittee on Antitrust that's looking into Apple's ‌App Store‌ policies, earlier this month called Apple's fees "highway robbery" and said that Apple's rules are unfair to developers and hurt consumers.

The U.S. investigation into Apple's ‌App Store‌ practices is in the early stages, according to Bloomberg, with the U.S. Justice Department focusing most of its resources on a separate investigation into Google's dominance in digital advertising. The case against Apple has been described as "serious," however, but the inquiry is ongoing and no decisions have been made.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the antitrust committee will generate a report with recommendations on legislative action.

Apple is also facing a European antitrust complaint over its 30 percent cut on ebooks in the ‌App Store‌, brought about by Rakuten's Kobo subsidiary. Kobo said that Apple's rate is anti-competitive because of Apple's own Books service, which does not have to pay the same fee.

WWDC was held online this year, but it was still packed with announcements, including iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, and Apple confirming its long-rumored plans to transition to its own custom-designed processors for future Macs. Sadly, there was no sight of a redesigned iMac, but that is still on the table for later this year.

With so many rumors shared every week, it can be hard to remember exactly what was leaked ahead of a particular Apple event. For that reason, we have put together a list of accurate and inaccurate rumors in relation to everything announced this week. The list is not comprehensive, but it covers many of the biggest leaks and rumors that surfaced.

Accurate Rumors

• Apple's plans to use its own custom-designed Arm-based processors in Macs were reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Ian King in April 2018.
• The ability to set third-party web browser and email apps as default in iOS 14 was revealed by Gurman.
• HomePod gaining support for third-party music services like Spotify was also revealed by Gurman. The report mentioned a possibility of being able to set Spotify as the default music app in iOS 14, which is not yet possible.
• Apple Watch sleep tracking was reported by Gurman, 9to5Mac, and MacRumors.
• iOS 14's home screen widgets were reported by 9to5Mac.
• iMessage's new mention function in iOS 14 was reported by MacRumors. Some other features that Apple was testing, including the options to retract a message or mark a conversation as unread, did not make the cut. Typing indicators were also not implemented directly in group chats and instead appear next to profile pictures for pinned conversations.
• iPadOS 14's new handwriting-to-text feature Scribble was reported by MacRumors.
• iOS 14's digital car key feature in the Wallet app was discovered in iOS 13.4 code by 9to5Mac and MacRumors. Apple plans to make the feature available in iOS 13.6 as well, according to BMW.
• iOS 14's App Clips feature was reported by 9to5Mac.
• CarPlay gaining wallpaper support was reported by 9to5Mac.
• Safari getting built-in translation on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 was reported by 9to5Mac.
• Watch face sharing in watchOS 7 was reported by 9to5Mac.
• iOS 14 supporting the same devices as iOS 13 was reported by iPhoneSoft.
• Just hours before the WWDC keynote, the anonymous Twitter account L0vetodream leaked several accurate details, including macOS Big Sur's name and redesign, tvOS 14's Home app, watchOS 7's hand washing monitoring, and more.

Inaccurate Rumors

• A redesigned iMac with a T2 chip, AMD Navi graphics, and no Fusion Drive was to be announced at WWDC, according to Sonny Dickson. While those details may still prove to be accurate, the timing was incorrect. Apple plans to launch a redesigned 24-inch iMac in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
• Apple planned to introduce a high-end, gaming-focused MacBook or iMac at WWDC, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily News. Of no surprise to Mac gaming critics, no such announcement was made.
• Apple was aiming to introduce high-end, over-ear headphones called "AirPods Studio" at WWDC, according to Jon Prosser. While the headphones are still expected to be released, this timing was incorrect. Just hours before WWDC, Prosser reversed course and said that there would be no hardware announcements at the event after all.
• Prosser also expected AirTags and MacBook Pro news at WWDC.
• Apple planned to release its AirTags item trackers and high-end, over-ear headphones in the first half of 2020, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The second half of the year begins Wednesday, July 1, so unless Apple announces these products on Monday or Tuesday of next week, this timeframe will be incorrect as well.
• Twitter user DongleBookPro leaked screenshots of iOS 14 that showed a wallpaper collections feature, but this is not present in the first beta.
• iPadOS 14 was rumored to drop support for the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 per iPhoneSoft. Those devices remain supported.
• watchOS 7 does not yet include a "Kids Mode" that 9to5Mac uncovered.
• As mentioned above, not all of the iMessage features in testing that were reported by MacRumors made the cut, including the options to retract a message or mark a conversation as unread. Typing indicators were also not implemented directly in group chats and instead appear next to profile pictures for pinned conversations.
• iOS 14's renamed Fitness app does not yet allow users to download guided workout videos, a feature that was in testing according to MacRumors and CNBC.
• iOS was going to be renamed back to iPhoneOS per Jon Prosser. There was no change.

Looking ahead, there are still some rumors that remain to be seen, such as blood oxygen monitoring on Apple Watch Series 6 models in the fall and what proved to be a controversial claim that Xcode is coming to the iPad Pro by next year.

In the Photos app, there's an option to use pinch gestures to zoom in to photos to see details up close, and in iOS 14, Apple lets you zoom in further than ever before.

Zooming super far into iPhone photos doesn't always produce the clearest image, but it lets you inspect images more closely.

There have been tricks to zoom in further on images in the ‌Photos‌ app like using the rotate tool to unlock a zoom level not normally allowed, but in iOS 14, there's no need to use any trick to zoom in further.

For those who like to pixel peep at ‌iPhone‌ photos to see different elements of images, the new zooming options will be a welcome and convenient change. There's still a limit on zooming, so the rotate trick still works if you need to zoom in even further than iOS 14 allows. Further zoom will be entirely pixellated though, so most people shouldn't need to zoom in beyond what's permitted by default.

iOS 14 introduces some other changes for the ‌Photos‌ app, such as support for captions for the first time. A complete list of everything new in the ‌Photos‌ app can be found in our iOS 14 roundup, which also covers all of the other new features added in the update.

Apple's software chief Craig Federighi often does a series of interviews following WWDC events, and 2020 has been no exception. Federighi was on the The Talk Show with Daring Fireball's John Gruber, and he also spoke with tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee.

In a video published today, Federighi and Brownlee discussed some of the new features in iOS 14 and answered questions from Apple fans.

On New iOS Features

• Default apps - Apple is letting users set third-party mail and browser apps as the default in iOS 14, but this doesn't extend to Maps and other app categories. Federighi said that when Apple looked at the top things people wanted to configure, "those two rose to the top," so it's where Apple started.
• Siri - Siri has a new compact UI that leaves the background of the iPhone's display visible, but it can't be interacted with. This is intentional, according to Federighi. "We tried it both ways internally. We had prototypes where you would scroll behind the Siri answers as you brought them up. Initially, we thought that was going to be really great so we implemented it that way, and then what we found was that for most of the interactions we were having with Siri, it then created this extra heaviness to it." Apple will listen to people during the beta period, and this could change.
• macOS Big Sur 11.0 - macOS Big Sur is macOS 11, rather than macOS 10.16. Federighi said that between the new design and Apple Silicon, macOS Big Sur serves as a "real renewal of the platform" and Apple is excited to "mark it as the next chapter."
• macOS Big Sur design - macOS Big Sur brings the first major redesign the Mac has seen in years. Federighi says that after you get used to the change, "it feels natural, fresh and yet clearly, distinctly Mac." Federighi says he looks forward to hearing feedback from people who have used it for a few weeks. The rounding "may seem arbitrary" but it's "extremely consistent" throughout the OS. Curves feel more natural and organic compared to straight edges that feel more manufactured.

Fan Questions

• iPad Calculator and Weather - Federighi was asked why there's no Calculator app or Weather app on the iPad. "There are some things we have not done because to do it, we would want to do something really distinctly great in that space." Apple wants to wait to do it well, and hasn't "gotten around to doing it great." Federighi said the day "may come."
• Apple Watch for iPad - On the topic of why the Apple Watch doesn't work with the iPad (thereby requiring an iPhone), Federighi said it's a "sensible point" that some people would want that feature, but it's not something Apple has pursued yet. "I wouldn't rule it out," he said.

While we covered the highlights of the interview in this article, the full video up above is worth watching, as is the complete one hour and 20 minute podcast that features even more discussion about WWDC.

Apple's iOS 14 update adds several new features to the Photos app, including an option to add captions to images right from the iPhone, which is something that ‌Photos‌ users have been wanting for quite some time.

The ‌Photos‌ app for Mac previously supported captions through the Description field, but on the ‌iPhone‌, there has been no method for adding similar information. In iOS 14, entering a caption is quick and easy.

Tap to view any photo full screen on the ‌iPhone‌, and then swipe up to get to the caption field. Tap the field, type the caption, and press enter.

Captions in iOS 14 sync across all devices if iCloud Photo Library is enabled, and the Description field in macOS Big Sur has been renamed to Captions for continuity.

Adding a caption to a photo using iOS 14 allows for an additional level of tagging and organization because captions can be searched for using the ‌Photos‌ search interface. There's still no native option for editing metadata for photos, but Captions make it easier to add labels that are visible cross device.

There are a few other useful improvements to the ‌Photos‌ app, such as filters for viewing all images or albums by Favorites, Edited, ‌Photos‌, and Videos, sorting inside albums, and better autoplay for Live Photos. Navigating through photos also lets you zoom in and out on all albums, much like you can do with the "All ‌Photos‌" interface in iOS 13, so it's easier to find specific images that you're looking for.

Ford's F-series pickup is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S., and last night the carmaker unveiled the redesigned 2021 F-150, which includes Ford's new SYNC 4 infotainment system with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.

Ford announced SYNC 4 last October, with the first announced vehicle to include it being the upcoming electric Mustang Mach-E. With the F-150, Ford will be kicking off inclusion of the new system in its more mainstream vehicle lineup.

The 2021 F-150 comes with SYNC 4 and wireless ‌CarPlay‌ standard, but there are two different sizes of infotainment screens available: an 8-inch screen that's standard on the lower XL and XLT trims and a larger 12-inch screen that's available as a package option on the XLT trim and standard on Lariat and higher trims.

Wireless ‌CarPlay‌ has been relatively slow to trickle out and has largely been limited to premium brands like BMW, Porsche, and Audi, although we're on the cusp of seeing much broader rollouts with Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler all announcing support for the feature in select 2021 models launching later this year.

In addition to wireless ‌CarPlay‌ and Android Auto with SYNC 4, the F-150 includes a number of other technology enhancements such as standard over-the-air updates that can improve performance, add new features, and reduce needed maintenance and repairs over time.

The F-150 also includes many of the driver-assist technologies that have become common in recent years, and in the third quarter of 2021 will receive a software update to support Active Drive Assist, which will allow for hands-free driving on over 100,000 miles of divided highways throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The 2021 F-150 will start rolling out to dealers this fall.

Microsoft today announced that it is permanently closing its physical stores worldwide. The company's retail employees will continue to serve customers through Microsoft's corporate offices and remotely, providing sales, training, and support.

Microsoft will continue to operate its online storefront, and it also has plans for reimagined "Experience Centers" for customers in New York City, London, Sydney, and at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

"Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location," said Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porter. "We are grateful to our Microsoft Store customers and we look forward to continuing to serve them online and with our retail sales team at Microsoft corporate locations."

Microsoft opened its first store in Scottsdale, Arizona in October 2009, eight years after Apple's first stores opened in Glendale, California and the Washington, D.C. area.

Apple's upcoming "iPhone 12 Pro" and "iPhone 12 Pro Max" will feature displays capable of up to 120Hz refresh rates, allowing for a smoother on-screen experience, according to a reliable mobile leaker.

"A reliable source, if there is no accident, ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro and ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌ have basically determined the maximum 120Hz refresh rate," tweeted Ice Universe this morning.

The leaker, who goes by the Twitter handle @UniverseIce, doesn't usually comment on Apple's plans, but is a well-regarded source of Samsung rumors. Samsung has supplied Apple with OLED panels for the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ X, ‌iPhone‌ XS, and the most recent ‌iPhone‌ 11 series.

On a related note, some users of the iOS 14 developer beta are seeing an accessibility setting that limits the frame rate of the device to 60 frames per second. The setting, which does not appear for all beta users, suggests that future iPhones could be capable of higher frame rates. Current iPhones have a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz.

Apple already uses variable refresh rate technology in its iPad Pro models, but they still use LCD panels rather than OLED. Bringing it to a new breed of OLED iPhones would raise the smartphone performance bar even higher.

Apple markets the iPad Pro-exclusive tech under the moniker "ProMotion," which it says dynamically adjusts the display to the movement of content for fluid scrolling, greater responsiveness, and smoother motion. It does all this on the fly, which means it also conserves battery life.

Apple's adaptive ProMotion IAPs also reduce Apple Pencil latency, and reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that ‌‌Apple Pencil‌‌ support is a possibility for a future ‌‌iPhone‌‌.

Leaker Max Weinbach has also suggested that the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, rumored to come in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, will feature a high refresh-rate 120Hz ProMotion display.

Apple is expected to release four iPhones this fall. Rumors suggest the 6.7-inch ‌iPhone‌ and one 6.1-inch model will be higher-end OLED devices with triple-lens cameras, while a 5.4-inch model and another 6.1-inch model will be lower-end iPhones with dual-lens cameras and a more affordable price tag.

A new feature in iOS 14 alerts users when apps read the clipboard, and it turns out some apps have been reading clipboard data excessively.

TikTok users who upgraded to iOS 14, for example, quickly noticed constant alerts warning them that TikTok was accessing the clipboard every few seconds. After being caught, TikTok now says that it's removing the feature.

In a statement to The Telegraph, TikTok said that it accessed the clipboard to identify spammy behavior.

"Following the beta release of iOS 14 on June 22, users saw notifications while using a number of popular apps.

"For TikTok, this was triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behavior. We have already submitted an updated version of the app to the App Store removing the anti-spam feature to eliminate any potential confusion.

"TikTok is committed to protecting users' privacy and being transparent about how our app works."

An update to remove the feature has already been submitted to the App Store, and a download of the new update confirms that TikTok no longer appears to be accessing the clipboard.

TikTok did not say whether the feature would be removed from Android devices, nor whether clipboard data was ever stored or moved from user devices. Other apps have also been called out for reading the clipboard, including Starbucks, Overstock, AccuWeather, several news apps, and more.

Prior to when iOS 14 was released, a pair of developers sounded an alarm letting users and Apple know that iPhone and iPad apps were quietly accessing the clipboard. Apple's new iOS 14 feature appears to have been added in response, and apps are no longer able to read the clipboard without users knowing exactly what's going on.

iOS 14 is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple plans to release a public beta version next month ahead of the software's fall launch. Clipboard reporting is just one of the many new privacy features in iOS 14, with a full list available in our iOS 14 roundup.

Apple's upcoming iPadOS 14 update has many of the same features that are available in iOS 14, but there are a handful of functions that are designed specifically for the larger display and the Apple Pencil, such as Scribble.

Scribble is one of the most notable new features in iPadOS 14, and we checked it out in our latest YouTube video. With Scribble, you can use an ‌Apple Pencil‌ to write in any text field on the iPad, with the written text then converted to typed text.

The functionality lets you use the ‌Apple Pencil‌ throughout the operating system without having to swap over to a keyboard when you need to compose an email, write a Calendar event, visit a URL, send an iMessage, or conduct a search. You can, for example, go to Safari and write in MacRumors.com, and it'll convert to the proper URL so you can get to the site.

Scribble is decent at recognizing all kinds of handwriting, even when it's messy, but it does not work well with cursive. It interprets capitals and proper spacing, so once you get the hang of handwriting in text fields, it's a fairly seamless experience.

If you make a mistake when you're writing something, you can just scribble it out with the ‌Apple Pencil‌ and it deletes, which is a handy feature. If you need to select text, you can just circle it.

Scribble works in any text field as mentioned, but it's also been built into the Notes app. Just tap on the toolbar and select the pen that has the little "A" on it. This tool will convert all your handwritten text in notes to typed text.

To go along with Scribble, there are a few other useful tools. Smart Selection lets you select all of your handwritten text as if it was typed text, and if you copy it and paste it into an app that doesn't support handwriting, it will be converted into typed text.

You can also select handwritten text and paste it into other notes, or make changes to the style and the color of the written text. Handwritten phone numbers, links, addresses, and more also turn into clickable links like they do when typed. So if you write out a phone number, you can tap it to call it because the ‌iPad‌ is able to detect the numbers and convert them on the fly.

With a Shape Recognition tool, if you clumsily draw a standard shape like a circle or a star, iPadOS 14 will recognize the shape you're trying to make and convert it into a perfect version, which is useful for note taking and diagrams.

With iPadOS 14, the ‌iPad‌ can be used almost entirely with touch and tools, and there's little need to type. If you're someone who prefers writing by hand, iPadOS 14 introduces tools that enhance the experience.

What do you think of Scribble and the other features in iPadOS 14? Let us know in the comments, and for more on iPadOS 14, make sure to check out our roundup.

Apple hosts a Swift Student Challenge ahead of WWDC each year, tasking students with creating an innovative Swift Playgrounds project. Apple has been highlighting Swift Student Challenge winners in 2020, and today shared some of the projects students created on the Apple Developer site.

Brazilian student Henrique Conto, for example, created a three-minute Touch Bar game where players help a young developer escape from a cave.

French student Louise Pieri designed Meep, a two-level game where one level is normal and the second level is upside-down, and 18-year-old Devin Green created an AI bot named Stanny.

More about the projects of some of the Swift Student Challenge winners can be found on Apple's developer site, on Apple Newsroom, and in the App Store.

Apple chose 350 winners in 2020, and each winner received an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set. In past years, winning the challenge has been more valuable as it included a $1,599 ticket to Apple's physical WWDC event. WWDC 2020 was, however, a digital-only event that was free for everyone.

Apple is continuing with store closures in areas that are experiencing significant spikes in coronavirus infections, and tomorrow, 14 retail locations in Florida will be shut down.

The Galleria, The Falls, Aventura, Lincoln Road, Dadeland, Brickell City Centre, Wellington Green, Boca Raton, The Gardens Mall, Millenia, Florida Mall, Altamonte, International Plaza, and Brandon will close tomorrow, and customers with devices being repaired at those locations should initiate pickups today.

Apple today closed seven retail stores located in the Houston, Texas area, where coronavirus cases are surging. Highland Village, First Colony Mall, Houston Galleria, Memorial City, Willowbrook Mall, Baybrook, and the Woodlands in Texas are now closed with no planned reopening date.

Last week, Apple shuttered stores in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and South Carolina, even as it worked to reopen stores in other locations across the United States. With the additional store closures in Florida, just two stores in the state will remain open -- St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville and University Town Center in Sarasota.

U.S. Apple Stores began reopening in May, and ahead of when store closures restarted last week, more than 150 of the 271 stores in the United States had reopened. When stores started opening again, Apple's retail store chief Deirdre O'Brien made it clear that Apple would not hesitate to close stores again if additional outbreaks demanded it.

"These are not decisions we rush into - and a store opening in no way means that we won't take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant," O'Brien said.

Apple's decisions on store closures and store openings are based on data evaluation, such as local cases, near and long-term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials. Apple is continuing with store reopenings in areas where Covid-19 infections are dropping. In the Greater Toronto Area, for example, Apple retail stores are opening up on Monday, June 29, which will mean all stores in Canada will be up and running.

In stores that have reopened, Apple is implementing safety measures that include mandatory masks, social distancing, frequent cleaning, temperature checks, and more. In some locations, stores are open only for repairs and curb-side pickup, while others are open but with a limited number of people allowed in at one time.