MacRumors

Aqara makes a range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices for multiple regions around the world. This review takes a look at six of Aqara's most popular products, including the Camera Hub G2H, Motion Sensor, Door and Window Sensor, Water Leak Sensor, Vibration Sensor, and Single Switch Module T1.

With this broad selection of accessories, supported by the Camera Hub G2H, I was able to create a varied HomeKit setup and put Aqara's devices to the test. While Aqara does have its own app for controlling and setting up the accessories, it is possible to control, automate, and manage them entirely through Apple's Home app.

Designs

All of the Aqara smart home devices share the same minimalist design language. With the exception of the Water Leak Sensor, they each use a smooth, matte white plastic, almost like the texture of the Apple Pencil, with gray accents. The result feels high quality, and there is clear consistency across the family of devices.

I was very impressed by each product's design and it is noticeable how compact these devices are compared to many of their ‌HomeKit‌ competitors. This is especially important with smart home devices, where being discreet and fading into the background is vital.

Setup

For the Camera Hub G2H, users simply need to plug in the included micro-USB cable and download the Aqara app to begin the setup process. The Aqara app recognizes the Camera Hub on the network very quickly and automatically adds it to the Home app with all features, such as HomeKit Secure Video, ready to go.

Unlike many other smart home accessories I have used before, the G2H issues voice alerts to inform you about the status of the device, such as when it has been detected, is searching for a network, or has been successfully connected.

Setting up each of the other Aqara devices was even simpler. First, you open the Aqara app and select which accessory you would like to add. Then, you pull out the blue battery tab to power on the accessory and hold down the small pairing button. The Camera Hub G2H then issues voice alerts to clearly inform you that the new device has been detected, and a few moments later, added.

The voice alerts from the G2H are very loud and not entirely necessary, but the feature does add some clarity to what is going on in the pairing process at any given time.

I would have preferred it if I did not need to use a proprietary app, but overall, Aqara's setup process is one of the easiest I have experienced with ‌HomeKit‌. Where other accessories I have used have struggled to connect to the network or taken a few minutes to pair, Aqara's process was quick and hassle-free.

Camera Hub G2H

The Camera Hub G2H is a 1080p HomeKit-enabled smart camera with a 140-degree wide-angle lens. The camera features HomeKit Secure Video, two-way audio, and night-vision.

The base of the G2H rotates and folds out to orient the camera in any preferred direction, and it is also magnetic to attach to walls via a small metal plate included in the box. This plate can be affixed to a surface with an adhesive pad or directly screwed in. I was impressed by the amount of flexibility that the camera's fold-out base afforded, especially compared to some other smart cameras, and it was easy to quickly get it facing in the right direction.

The camera is powered via a standard micro-USB cable. Some other smart home cameras, such as the Logitech Circle 2, use a proprietary power cable, which makes it difficult to get hold of a longer cable if placing the camera further away from a power outlet, so the G2H's use of micro-USB makes it easy to obtain a longer cable if the one included in the box is insufficient for your setup.

The Camera Hub's support for HomeKit Secure Video allows it to encrypt and store footage in iCloud rather than on servers handled by Aqara. Recordings can be viewed in Apple's Home app, and all motion and people detection is done on-device for privacy purposes. Using ‌‌HomeKit Secure Video‌‌ requires an upgraded ‌‌iCloud‌‌ storage plan. Apple's 200GB plan supports one ‌‌HomeKit Secure Video‌‌ camera, while the 2TB plan supports up to five cameras.

The G2H also offers a standard night-vision mode and uses a small color-changing LED to indicate the device's status. While it is clear that the camera is not as crisp as some 4K alternatives and the colors were a little washed out, it copes well with different lighting situations and is more than acceptable for monitoring an area of the home.

In addition, the G2H features ‌HomeKit‌ two-way audio, allowing users to hear live audio from the camera and even communicate through its speaker via the Home app. The G2H's microphone apparently performs ambient noise reduction, but this was not especially noticeable to me during daily use. The speaker is very loud for its size and easily projects across a large room, and while it does not deliver the clearest possible sound, its quality is adequate for a brief voice message.

What makes the G2H different from many other cameras on the market is that it also functions as a Zigbee hub, allowing it to work as a local control center for other devices. This means that users do not need to connect a separate hub to their router to control Aqara's range of devices. As someone that already has a cluttered router with the likes of Philips Hue and Soma Connect Hubs taking up space and ethernet ports, the fact that the G2H doubles as a hub is an excellent idea, and it is good to see smart home accessory manufacturers finding innovative ways to stop relying on router-connected hubs.

The only downside to this solution is if you wish to use other Aqara devices without the camera, you would need to purchase a dedicated Aqara hub.

Motion Sensor

The Aqara Motion Sensor can detect movement within a range of 22 feet and 170 degrees. You can use the sensor to detect unexpected motion, such as to be alerted to a potential intruder, or simply for home automation to activate lights and other smart home devices.

The sensor is incredibly compact and light, making other motion sensors that I have used, such as the Philips Hue Motion Sensor, feel needlessly large and heavy. There is an LED embedded behind the sensor portion of the device to indicate status, but this remains off most of the time to fit in with the discreet design.

Furthermore, Aqara's motion sensor includes an optional fully-articulated stand, to allow for precise orientation. This base is adhesive to attach to a wall, and since the whole package is so light, I expect it would easily be strong enough to hold it. The stand makes Aqara's motion sensor much more versatile and easy to set up than many other motion sensors.

Door and Window Sensor

Aqara's Door and Window Sensor can detect whether a door or window is open or closed. The sensor can be used to alert users with a notification from the Home app when a door or window is opened unexpectedly, and the sensor can also activate ‌HomeKit‌ scenes, such as turning on lights when a door is opened. You can use Siri to ask if a door or window is open, or simply check the Home app.

The Aqara Door and Window Sensor works with most types of doors, windows, and other fixtures with similar mechanisms, such as drawers, cabinets, and more, allowing for a gap of up to 22mm between the two parts.

I was struck by how small the sensor was, especially compared to the Elgato Door and Window Sensor, which is considerably thicker and bulkier. During daily use, the sensor was extremely responsive and updated the status in the Home app with virtually no delay.

Water Leak Sensor

Whenever the Aqara Water Leak Sensor detects water, it sends a notification via the Home app to your devices to alert you to leaks and potential flooding. While the main purpose of such a sensor is these alert notifications, it is also possible to set it to trigger ‌HomeKit‌ scenes.

No wiring or screws are required to set up the sensor. You simply need to place it on a flat surface where you suspect dripping, leaking, or flooding could occur. The underside of the sensor has two sensitive leak probes which are able to detect up to 0.5mm of water, which is more than enough to be aware of an emergency leak.

The sensor has a durable IP67 water and rust-proof housing, and has a glossy plastic exterior for better water resistance.

To test the water sensor I tried tipping small amount of water under the device, and it immediately issued an alert notification to my devices via the Home app. After drying the sensor off on a towel, it was able to sense water again immediately.

Though the speed of the water detection was impressive and I was pleased that very little water was needed to initiate a detection, I was frustrated by the button on the sensor. The other Aqara devices have a small round button on their exterior for pairing, but due to the need for water resistance, the pairing button on the Water Leak Sensor is hidden under the top of the shell. Not only was it initially unclear where the button actually was, but it was also very difficult to press in due to the thickness of the shell. While it is true that users will very rarely have to press the button, I was disappointed that it was unclear where the button was, even after looking at the instruction manual, and that it required such a large amount of pressure to depress.

Vibration Sensor

Whenever the Aqara Vibration Sensor detects unexpected vibration, it will send an alert to your devices, much like the Water Leak Sensor. It can detect tilts, drops, jolts, and vibrations.

The Vibration Sensor is extremely versatile. For example, you could adhere the sensor to a drawer or object to be alerted when it used, or even attach it to a window to alert to breakages as a security measure. Again, while the main purpose is alert notifications, you could easily integrate the Vibration Sensor into a ‌HomeKit‌ automation.

While the sensor seems to be sensitive enough to be useful, it does seem to take up to around ten seconds to reset, and I noticed that it is not quite as responsive as the other Aqara devices. Nevertheless, I was confident that the sensor could provide an alert notification when needed, but it simply lacked the seemingly instantaneous response of the other Aqara devices.

Single Switch Module T1

The Single Switch Module T1 is installed behind a wall switch and can be used to make ceiling fans, power outlets, light switches, and more part of your smart home setup.

The Single Switch Module was smaller than expected, but quite heavy for its size, and I am unsure how comfortable I am with this much weight tugging on the wires behind my switches.

Despite being installed behind a switch, the T1 works in a very similar way to the other Aqara accessories and pairs the same way, by holding down a small button on the device. The main difference is that you can specify what exactly is being activated by the T1 in the Home app.

My main takeaway from using the T1 is that the instructions included in the box could have been much better. It was not clear to me how the module should be installed, which is essential when it comes to rewiring a switch. As a result, I would not encourage anyone to undertake installation without significant confidence.

HomeKit Support

The Aqara app's ability to add accessories automatically to the Home app, combined with the company's embrace of ‌HomeKit‌ features such as Secure Video or two-way audio, makes for ‌HomeKit‌ support that is generally as good as it gets.

I did not receive any "no response" indicators from any of the accessories in my time using them, and they seemed to be consistently connected to my network.

When using the Home app to control the accessories, they were just as responsive as in Aqara's own app. The same cannot be said for some other smart home providers such as Philips Hue, where there is a clear advantage to using the company's own app. With the exception of the Vibration Sensor, which stuck out as distinctively less responsive and sensitive than the others, I was struck by just how responsive the devices were in general. Any changes in status detected by an accessory were updated in the Home app almost immediately.

This is key for devices such as a Motion Sensor, where you would want lights to come on immediately in response, for example. It also has the added effect of instilling more confidence in the devices themselves to do their job in the background.

The Bottom Line

The Aqara accessories set a high standard in terms of design, ease-of-use, reliability, and responsiveness that some other brands could learn a lot from. I like Aqara's compact, aesthetic designs, the pairing process was easy, and Apple ‌HomeKit‌ was well-integrated. Above all, Aqara's devices worked exactly as they should.

With competitive price points, Aqara's selection of ‌HomeKit‌ accessories make for a very compelling package within any smart home setup.

How to Buy

Aqara's full range of ‌HomeKit‌ accessories is available in the U.S. via Amazon.

• Camera Hub G2H - $69.99 (currently with a 20 percent discount, along with an additional five percent off with the code: AQARAG2H until March 7)
• Motion Sensor - $20.19
• Door and Window Sensor - $17.99 (currently out of stock but expected to return soon)
• Water Leak Sensor - $18.99
• Vibration Sensor - $19.19

The Single Switch Module T1 is unavailable in the United States as it is designed for the UK and EU market. For customers in these regions, Aqara's devices are available through third-party distributors.

Note: Aqara provided MacRumors with a Camera Hub G2H, Motion Sensor, Door and Window Sensor, Water Leak Sensor, Vibration Sensor, and Single Switch Module T1 for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Microsoft has officially released version 89 of its popular Chromium-based Edge browser, bringing its long-trialed vertical tabs feature to Mac for the first time.

Vertical tabs are intended to make more efficient use of screen space, and should prove a welcome addition for users browsing on 16:9 ratio displays in particular. Users can click vertical tabs to switch between them and optionally group related tabs together.

"To make tab management and organization easier, vertical tabs is now generally available this month," said Microsoft corporate VP Liat Ben-Zur in a company blog post. "Now everyone can view and manage their tabs from a pane on the side with a single click. This allows you to clearly see the tab titles and controls, making it easier to find and switch between the tabs you need, regardless of how many you have open."

Edge users can toggle between horizontal and vertical tabs by clicking the new "Turn on/off vertical tabs" icon at the far left of the tab row. By default, vertical tabs are displayed as icons unless hovered over with the mouse pointer, but the expanded pane can also be pinned to the left side of the browser window so that each page's title remains visible.

In addition to vertical tabs, Edge now includes a new way to view browsing history. Now when users go to history, it opens as a lightweight dropdown from the toolbar instead of opening the full page view in settings. The idea is that it allows users to easily search, open and manage their history without navigating away. For users who prefer the original style, this drop-down can also be pinned to the right side of the browser window as a pane.

Microsoft Edge has won over many users with its frequent feature updates and the tight integration of Microsoft's design language with the design signature of macOS. The last major update came in January and introduced several new features, including system resource-releasing "sleeping tabs," a password generator and monitor, new visual themes, and more.

The browser can be downloaded from the Microsoft Edge website.

Twitter is actively exploring the possibility of bringing a rumored "Undo Send" feature to the social media platform, if a newly unearthed animation is anything to go by.

Serial app de-coder Jane Wong discovered the feature animation, which adds a new "Undo" button to the usual dialog that confirms a tweet has been sent.

The Undo button has a long oblong shape, which allows it to also function as a progress bar, showing the user how much time they have to act before the tweet is actually posted.

As noted by The Verge, the feature bears similarities to Gmail's last-chance option for preventing emails from being delivered after the user has clicked "Send."

Twitter's "Undo" tweet option is likely to be the closest it will come to allowing users to edit tweets – a feature long-requested but which has never come to pass.

Assuming "Undo Send" does eventually become a thing, presumably it will be an optional function so that live microbloggers and other users who post time-sensitive tweets aren't subject to an additional delay because of it.

Last month, Twitter announced new features coming to the platform for content creators, including a "Super Follow" feature that will let users charge followers for access to exclusive content.

Bloomberg, which first reported on the new features, also said that Twitter was exploring the possibility of introducing paid subscriptions to reduce its dependence on advertising to generate revenue. "Undo Send" was floated as one of several advanced features that could be included in the subscriptions.

Jane Manchun Wong regularly flags potential new features coming to high-profile apps and services. Last year the reverse engineering expert was first to tip that Twitter was working on a new verification system and that the company had at one time tested Emoji reactions to tweets.

Microsoft has updated Visual Studio Code with official support for M1 Apple Silicon Macs, offering developers the ability to use the software without the need for emulation on Rosetta.

The support is coming to the web and cloud app code editor as part of its February 2021 1.54 build, which alongside ‌Apple Silicon‌ support, includes several improvements and updates. Microsoft says that with native ‌Apple Silicon‌ support, ‌M1‌ Mac mini, MacBook Air, and Macbook Pro users will notice better performance and longer battery life.

We are happy to announce our first release of stable Apple Silicon builds this iteration. Users on Macs with M1 chips can now use VS Code without emulation with Rosetta, and will notice better performance and longer battery life when running VS Code. Thanks to the community for self-hosting with the Insiders build and reporting issues early in the iteration.

With version 1.54, Visual Studio Code is now also a Universal build download. Users with Intel or Apple Silicon-based Macs will be prompted to download the same file, which will automatically work for whichever Mac chip they're using. Microsoft is also offering users the ability to download the specific version of Visual Studio Code that works for their Mac's architecture on its Downloads page.

Apple has sent out a new Apple Pay promotional email, offering Bed Bath & Beyond customers 10% back on purchases in the form of My Funds rewards when using Apple's digital payment service.

My Funds is a program run by Bed Bath & Beyond that rewards its customers for shopping and engaging with the company. The rewards can be redeemed in store at Bed Bath & Beyond, buybuy BABY and Harmon Face Values.

According to the terms and conditions, the promotion runs from March 4 until March 18 and My Funds rewards earned are valid for 30 days. More information about My Funds can be found on the Bed Bath & Beyond website.

The email also highlighted other home improvement merchants that accept ‌Apple Pay‌ either in-store or in-app, including Ace Hardware, Buy Buy Baby, Houzz, and Office Depot.

Earlier this week, Apple launched a new Apple Card promotion offering new ‌Apple Card‌ customers 6% Daily Cash Back for purchases made from Apple for the month of March.

According to market data from Counterpoint Research, Apple shipped 12.9 million models of the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The market saw an overall decline in smartwatch shipments compared to last year due to the ongoing global health crisis. Apple, however, saw a 19% increase in shipments YoY. Apple was the single largest smartwatch maker in Q4 of 2019 when it controlled 34% of the market. In the final quarter of last year, Apple Watch models accounted for 40% of the market share.

Apple's market share consolidation can be attributed to the new Apple Watch SE's success, the mid-range Apple Watch option. Apple released the SE model alongside its flagship Series 6 at a lower $279 price point, with some caveats such as the lack of an always-on display, ECG functionality, and the faster S6 processor.

Counterpoint senior analyst Sujeong Lim says that the new mid-range Apple Watch SE will likely push Samsung and other smartwatch makers to create similar, mid-range options for customers looking for cheaper alternatives to main flagships.

Earlier today, DigiTimes shared a preview of an upcoming report claiming that Apple is working on both iPad and Mac notebook models with OLED displays that could launch starting in 2022. The full report from DigiTimes is now available, and it includes several new alleged details about Apple's plans.

According to the report, the first of these devices to adopt an OLED display is likely to be a 10.9-inch ‌iPad‌, presumably an updated version of the iPad Air. The updated ‌iPad‌ is said to be planned to go into production in the fourth quarter of this year with a launch coming in early 2022. In addition to the 10.9-inch ‌iPad‌, Apple is also said to be considering using OLED displays for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The sources pointed out that the first device to come with an OLED panel is likely to be a 10.9-inch iPad, set to begin volume production in the fourth quarter of 2021 for an official release in 2022.

The US brand reportedly is also considering adopting OLED panels for its 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 16- to 17-inch MacBook Pro scheduled for release in 2022, but have not made a final decision, the sources noted.

While rumors of OLED displays for Apple's larger portables have only recently started to surface, the company has been rumored for some time to be transitioning to mini-LED displays on its iPads and Macs. ‌DigiTimes‌ says that the two display technologies will exist side-by-side, "each targeting different customer groups."

A number of sources including ‌DigiTimes‌ have indicated that a 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ with a mini-LED display is coming in the first half of this year, and ‌DigiTimes‌ says 14-inch and 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models coming in the second half of the year will also adopt mini-LED.

Apple last week sent out emails to developers who are in possession of a Developer Transition Kit, providing instructions on returning the test machines. Developers have now started mailing in their DTKs, with Apple rewarding the promised $500 USD credit once the DTK has been received.

In appreciation of your participation in the Universal App Quick Start program and to help with your continued development of Universal apps, we'd like to provide you with a one-time-use promo code for $500 toward the purchase of a new M1 Mac or other Apple products ordered through the Apple Store Online.

Developers are receiving the equivalent of $500 USD regardless of country, so those in Canada are receiving C$ 636, while those in Europe will receive 412 euros. In some cases, the amount being paid out by Apple does not match the cost that developers paid to participate in the program as some countries were required to pay more than $500 USD.

The Developer Transition Kits were offered to developers ahead of the release of the M1 Macs to allow them to begin developing apps for Apple silicon chips. The DTKs are Mac minis with an A12Z chip, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and an HDMI 2.0 port. The A12Z chip in the DTK was first developed for the 2020 iPad Pro models.

Apple has asked developers to return their DTKs by March 31, 2021 in order to get the $500 credit, which can be used toward the purchase of any Apple product.

Apple originally planned to give developers a $200 credit, but later upped that amount to $500 after developers complained about low credit amounts and the technical issues that were experienced during the testing process.

While DTKs must now be sent back, developers will continue to have access to a private discussion forum and technical support from Apple for further app development.

Ahead of the debut of AirTags and support for locating third-party Bluetooth items through Find My in iOS 14.5, a team of security researchers from the Secure Mobile Networking Lab at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany has reverse engineered the ‌Find My‌ protocol and developed an app that's designed to let anyone create an "AirTag" based on a Bluetooth-capable device.

Called OpenHaystack, the app and the source code are available on GitHub for those who are interested in taking a look. The app allows users to create their own Bluetooth tags based on the ‌Find My‌ network by installing an "‌AirTag‌" firmware image on a Bluetooth dongle.

The app displays the most recent location of a created Bluetooth tag reported by any iPhone using Apple's ‌Find My‌ network that was implemented in iOS 13, plus it shows the location of the tag on a map.

According to the security researchers, the created tags send out Bluetooth beacons, which are picked up by nearby iPhones that interpret the sending device as lost. The current geolocation is end-to-end encrypted and then uploaded to Apple, with the OpenHaystack app then downloading the encrypted report from Apple and decrypting it locally on the Mac.

In the process of developing this tool, the Secure Mobile Networking Lab researchers also identified a macOS Catalina ‌Find My‌ vulnerability that was reported to Apple and addressed in a 10.15.7 update released back in November. The vulnerability allowed a malicious app to access iCloud decryption keys to download and decrypt location reports submitted by the ‌Find My‌ network.

Apple's iOS 14.5 update includes support for tracking third-party Bluetooth devices in the ‌Find My‌ app using a new "Items" tab, which takes advantage of the same ‌Find My‌ protocol used for the Mac app.

At the current time, in-app tracking is limited to Beats headphones and upcoming Belkin wireless earbuds, but in the future, many third-party Bluetooth devices may include ‌Find My‌ integration, making it easier to keep track of them. This system will also be used by Apple's own rumored AirTags, which have yet to be released.

Apple plans to begin enforcing its App Tracking Transparency changes following the release of iOS 14.5, and all apps that access an iPhone's ad identifier or IDFA will need to ask a user's permission before tracking is allowed.

LinkedIn today said that with Apple's proposed changes, it will no longer be accessing the IDFA so LinkedIn users will not be presented with an ad tracking popup.

On its Marketing Solutions blog, LinkedIn says that it won't use the IDFA "for now," a change that will result in "limited impact" to campaign performance for advertisers.

We've always kept ourselves to a higher standard by putting our members first. And we work hard daily to provide reliable and resilient solutions for our customers that evolve with the industry's requirements, while providing a trusted, quality experience for our members. One of the bigger industry shifts is Apple's upcoming changes to Identifier for Advertising (IDFA), which companies use for tracking and ad targeting.

We want to share an update on our plans and guidance to help you prepare for these changes. We have decided to stop our iOS apps' collection of IDFA data for now. Although this change affects the LinkedIn Audience Network (LAN), Conversion Tracking and Matched Audiences, we expect limited impact to your campaign performance, and don't foresee major changes required for your campaign set-up.

LinkedIn plans to "regularly reevaluate" the usage of the advertising identifier, but the company says it is committed to "privacy-by-design principles" that "provide a trusted experience" for LinkedIn users. Rather than using the IDFA, LinkedIn says that it will leverage its first-party data to help marketers reach buyer groups.

LinkedIn's message that abandoning the IDFA will have a limited impact to campaign performance for LinkedIn advertisers is a different message than other major social networking sites like Facebook have been sharing. Facebook has claimed that Apple's App Tracking Transparency changes will have a major impact on the small businesses that use Facebook advertising tools.

Twitter this week also said that it is not concerned about Apple's ad tracking changes because Twitter does not heavily rely on the IDFA. Twitter CFO Ned Segal said that Apple's IDFA restrictions will actually "level the playing field" by giving all advertisers new challenges to face. Twitter has, however, said that App Tracking Transparency will have a "modest" impact on revenue.

Facebook and other advertisers that have spoken out against App Tracking Transparency are concerned about Apple's changes because many do not believe that users will consent to being tracked across apps for ad personalization purposes.

All of the App Tracking Transparency code is in iOS 14 at the current time, but starting with the release of iOS 14.5, all apps that access the IDFA will need to implement the ad tracking popup that allows users to give or deny permission to use the IDFA.

Over on our YouTube channel, MacRumors videographer Dan has a new video up where he shares his Home Screen, wallpaper, and all of his current favorite widgets.

Check out Dan's video to see his setup, and then comment below and show us your own Home Screens. It's always fun to see other peoples' Home Screens, and with widgets and customization options now available, there are more possibilities than ever before.

Plex today confirmed that it now supports Apple's TV app, allowing you to keep track of what you've watched using the built-in "Up Next" feature.

When you watch one of Plex's ad-supported video on demand offerings, which includes both TV shows and movies, you'll be prompted to allow Plex to share what you've watched with the TV app.

From there, Plex content will be visible in Up Next right alongside all other data sources, letting you keep tabs on the Plex content you're viewing.

With the integration, anyone using the TV app or Siri is able to search for a title, and if the show or movie is available as part of the ad-supported video on demand library, Plex will come up as an option where it can be viewed.

All of Plex's ad-supported content is available to watch for free. The Apple TV app integration applies only to video on demand content sourced from Plex and it is not compatible with personal media content, live TV, or other Plex features.

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 7.4 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming two weeks release of the second beta and over a month after the launch of watchOS 7.3 with "Time to Walk" functionality, expanded ECG availability, and a new Unity watch face.

To install the ‌watchOS 7.4 beta, developers need to download the proper configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once the profile is in place, the watchOS 7.4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌Apple Watch‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

To update to the new software, the ‌Apple Watch‌ needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the ‌‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌‌‌.

Alongside iOS 14.5, watchOS 7.4 introduces a new "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature that lets an iPhone with Face ID use an unlocked and authenticated Apple Watch as a secondary authentication measure when you're wearing a mask, alleviating the need to enter a passcode to unlock the iPhone.

‌Face ID‌ does not work when wearing a mask, but this new Apple Watch feature provides an easy but still secure way to access the iPhone without the hassle of a passcode. It's similar to the Apple Watch unlocking on Mac and can be enabled in the Settings app under ‌Face ID‌ & Passcode.

An unlocked Apple Watch paired with ‌Face ID‌ can unlock the iPhone when a mask is worn, but it's only for mask usage. The Apple Watch cannot be used to authenticate Apple Pay or App Store purchases, nor can it be used to unlock apps that require a ‌Face ID‌ scan. In these situations, the mask will need to be removed or a passcode/password will need to be used instead.

When the Apple Watch unlocks the iPhone, you'll feel a haptic tap on the wrist and will receive a notification on the watch, similar to how it works when using the watch to unlock a Mac.

For those who use Apple Fitness+, the watchOS 7.4 update combined with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 enables AirPlay 2 for Apple Fitness+, so workouts can be streamed to an ‌AirPlay‌ 2-enabled TV or set-top box. Apple Watch metrics do not show up on the screen when AirPlayed, however, and that feature is limited to iPhone/iPad/Apple TV.

Apple has said that watchOS 7.4 will be released in the early spring, with spring set to start on March 20, so there are still a few weeks of beta testing expected.

iOS 14.5 includes a feature that lets users select a specific music service to use with Siri, with the options including third-party services like Spotify in addition to Apple Music.

Several reports have referred to this as a feature that allows a user to select a default streaming music service, including our own, but Apple today told TechCrunch that the option is a bit more nuanced than a simple default music toggle.

There is no option to choose a music service that will be selected every time, with Apple instead using ‌Siri‌ intelligence. ‌Siri‌ will learn from your listening habits and the music selection process will improve over time. If you always ask ‌Siri‌ to select Spotify, for example, Spotify will be the default, but you can also change it in the future.

To be clear, when asking ‌Siri‌ to play a song in Spotify in iOS 14.5, it is not setting it as the "default," with Apple clarifying because the company does not want users to be confused if ‌Siri‌ asks again for your preferences in the future.

‌Siri‌ will learn your preferences for all types of audio content rather than just music. It will let you open podcasts in Apple Podcasts or a third-party podcasts app, and let you choose a specific audiobook app if you listen to audiobooks.

‌Siri‌ offers up a list of audio apps that you have installed whenever you make a content request, and that choice will dictate ‌Siri‌'s behavior going forward, but ‌Siri‌ may ask again in the future and even when a preferred audio option has been selected, it can be changed by asking for a different app. If you've selected Spotify, for example, but want to swap to ‌Apple Music‌, you can say "Hey ‌Siri‌, play [song] in ‌Apple Music‌."

Apple has been improving the ‌Siri‌ audio request feature throughout the beta, and the third beta refines the dialogs for app selection. App developers are able to choose participate in the ‌Siri‌ app selection feature by making their apps available as an option.

The ‌Siri‌ app selection feature will be available to everyone when iOS 14.5 launches this spring.

EU regulators are in the process of finalizing a charge sheet against Apple, initiated by an antitrust complaint from Spotify (via Reuters).

In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Apple enforces App Store rules that "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience," accusing the company of "acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers."

In particular, Spotify highlighted that Apple's 30 percent commission on ‌App Store‌ purchases, including in-app subscriptions, forces the music streaming service to charge existing subscribers $12.99 per month for its Premium plan on the ‌App Store‌, just to collect the $9.99 per month it usually charges.

It is proposed that this gives Apple an "unfair advantage," since Spotify is unable to fairly compete with Apple Music's standard $9.99 per month price within the ‌‌App Store‌‌. If Spotify chooses not to collect payments via the ‌‌App Store‌‌, Apple purportedly "applies a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions" on the company. It is also said that Apple was "locking Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod, and Apple Watch," thereby making ‌Apple Music‌ a more attractive option for subscribers.

In what appears to be a significant advancement in the antitrust case, Apple looks to be hit with charges by the European Commission, suggesting that the company has likely been found to have conducted itself anti-competitively and violated the EU's antitrust rules. The EU is now actively preparing a charge sheet against Apple, according to sources speaking to Reuters, which may be sent to the company before the summer.

The Spotify antitrust case is one of several opened by the European Commission into Apple's business practices last year in June last year, including similar cases from the likes of Kobo-owner Rakuten. It is not yet known what exactly the EU's charges could involve, but it has been suggested that Apple could be forced to pay a fine or make changes to its ‌App Store‌ business model in Europe to foster greater competition.

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Apple plans to release new iPad and MacBook models with OLED displays in 2022, according to industry sources cited by Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes. The information was shared in the site's paywalled "Before Going to Press" section, so there are no further details yet, but the full report should be released by tomorrow.

Apple has gradually increased its adoption of OLED displays, starting with the Apple Watch in 2015. Two years later, the iPhone X became the first iPhone with an OLED display, and Apple has since expanded the display technology across the entire iPhone 12 lineup. OLED displays have several benefits over LCDs, including higher brightness, improved contrast with deeper blacks, wider viewing angles, and more.

Macs and iPads still use LCDs, perhaps due in part to large OLED displays being expensive to manufacture. High-end OLED TVs often cost thousands of dollars, for example, with LCD versions at equal screen sizes typically priced far cheaper.

In November, Korean website The Elec reported that Apple planned to release new iPad Pro models featuring OLED displays in the second half of 2021, and claimed that Samsung and LG were already in the process of developing the displays. However, this rumor was soon followed up by a research note from Barclays analysts that said an iPad with an OLED display does not appear to be in the works for this year.

In a research note shared with MacRumors in December, the Barclays analysts said an iPad with an OLED display is unlikely to launch until 2022 at the earliest, based on their conversations with Apple supplier sources in Asia.

Assuming that Apple actually plans to release iPad and MacBook models with OLED displays, 2022 certainly sounds like a more likely timeframe, as Apple is widely expected to release iPad and MacBook models with Mini-LED-backlit LCD displays this year, and it would certainly be quick for Apple to switch display technologies twice within the same year.

Given that Mini-LED backlit displays offer many of the same advantages as OLED, such as high brightness and high contrast, one possibility is that Apple will eventually use a mix of both display technologies across its iPad and Mac lineups based on price points. Apple's exact plans remain to be seen, but there is mounting evidence that OLED displays will be involved in some capacity within the next year or two.