MacRumors

Executives from Apple and other tech companies will meet Trump administration officials on Wednesday to discuss co-ordination efforts and information sharing to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak, reports Fox Business.

Representatives from Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter are expected to visit the White House on Wednesday, FOX Business has learned. These executives will be joined by officials from government agencies including Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Health and the U.S. Labor Department, to name a few. White House Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios will lead the meeting.

Tech executives will reportedly attend the White House meeting either in person or via video conference.

As the coronavirus spreads, there's been an upsurge of users spreading conspiracy theories on social media and attempts to boost fraudulent "treatments" for the disease. One of the topics of discussion is expected to include finding effective ways to fight coronavirus-related misinformation being spread online.

It's also expected that remote working options for employees will be discussed. Google on Tuesday issued one of the most sweeping cautionary measures by tech companies so far, recommending that all its employees in North America work from home until at least April 10 amid the viral outbreak.

Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly encouraged its employees in Cupertino and many other locations to work from home this week if possible. Another report this week claimed that Apple has offered its retail employees and some other hourly workers unlimited sick leave if they experience COVID-19 symptoms, with no doctor's note required.

As of Wednesday, there are 119,357 global cases of the coronavirus with over 1,000 in the U.S. On a global basis there have been 4,290 fatalities as tracked by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

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

iPad stocks are reportedly running low in China because parents are buying them to help with e-learning at home in response to school closures relating to the coronavirus outbreak.

Nikkei Asian Review today reports that labor shortages have also seen suppliers struggle to meet production demands, amid government-imposed restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus.

"Later the need surged even higher when China opened schools but asked students to take the courses online," one person familiar with the situation said. "The shortage of the iPad range is up to four weeks of waiting, especially for the cheaper models. The supply could not meet the pace of the demand at all."

Today, Apple's regional online store for China shows a three to four week delivery time for orders of the low-cost 10.2-inch ‌iPad‌, while anyone ordering a 12.9-inch iPad Pro will have a wait of up to two weeks.

Demand is said to have been rising since January when Beijing imposed quarantine measures. One source told Nikkei that Apple recently ordered a 20 percent increase in production of iPads for the first half of this year, compared with the production forecast it gave suppliers in January, prior to the outbreak.

In Wuhan, where the outbreak began, schools are closed, and children have been using an Alibaba-owned corporate app called DingTalk to attend classes remotely. At least 50 million students are reportedly now taking classes online using the app, which would go a long way to explaining the strong demand for iPads.

Typically this would be positive news for Apple, but with suppliers severely affected by the spread of the coronavirus, the company has been unable to keep ‌iPad‌ stocks plentiful. Conversely, Apple has been unable to match 2019's iPhone sales figures across China, with fewer than 500,000 iPhones sold last month amid the ongoing curbs on travel and transport, according to government data.

Apple told investors in February that it wouldn't meet its revenue guidance for the quarter because of the impact from the epidemic.

The company closed all 42 of its retail stores in China at the beginning of February as the outbreak worsened, but most of the stores have re-opened, although many are operating with shortened hours. New infections and deaths reported in China have steadily declined in recent weeks, suggesting the enforced movement restrictions are having an impact on the spread of the disease.

Apple is postponing a March event that would have seen the introduction of new products like the low-cost iPhone and iPad Pro with triple-lens camera setup, according to a source at Apple that spoke to Cult of Mac.

Apple allegedly became "concerned" about bringing people together at Apple Park for the event, said to be planned for late March. There was a rumor in February suggesting Apple would hold an event on March 31, but Apple never announced the event so there was no confirmation that it was going to happen.

It's no surprise that if there was indeed a March event planned that it has now been canceled. Yesterday, Santa Clara County, which is where Cupertino is located, banned all gatherings of 1,000 people or more. The ban lasts from March 11 to April 1, so Apple could not hold a large event in March even if it wanted to.

While the order from Santa Clara County was said to have been a major factor in the decision to postpone the event, Cult of Mac's source also claims that there were "delays in producing two of the primary products," which also led Apple to call off event plans.

Many of Apple's suppliers in China were forced to close their factories in February due to the coronavirus, which may have caused production delays on devices like the low-cost ‌iPhone‌. Factories are back up and running, but are experiencing lower than normal production levels because of travel restrictions and staffing shortages.

Apple is now said to be waiting to better evaluate the "production schedule of components" and "final product assembly," making it difficult to determine a firm product announcement plan.

Given Santa Clara County's ban, it's clear that there's not going to be a March event, but there have been a lot of mixed rumors on product availability and the production status of devices like the new ‌iPad Pro‌ and the low-cost ‌iPhone‌.

Even with no event, Apple could choose to unveil these products in March through a press release, though the aforementioned possible production issues could delay the announcements, too.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which typically takes place in June, is also in jeopardy. The event normally attracts around 5,000 developers who convene at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

The Santa Clara County ban does not extend to June at this time, but Apple may still choose to cancel the conference given the unknowns of how the coronavirus will spread in the area in the coming weeks.

WWDC announcements usually come a couple months ahead of when the conference is planned to give developers time to purchase airfare and reserve hotel rooms, so it's possible we could hear about Apple's WWDC plans soon.

Even if Apple does not hold an in-person developer event, it could still choose to unveil new software through a virtual event and host virtual gatherings for developers.

Apps designed for the Mac don't typically receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, so we have a series here at MacRumors that highlights useful and interesting Mac apps that are worth checking out. This month's picks are all about making your life easier.

• Tab Space ($0.99) - Tab Space is a handy little Safari extension that lets you save all of your open Safari tabs with a single click. The extension adds a Tab Space button to your browser's toolbar, and saves tabs to the Tab Space page. You can organize all your saved tabs with tags, so you can do things like open all of your favorite social media sites with one click.
• Rocket (Free) - Rocket is a simple app that lets you search for any emoji on your Mac. Just type a colon and then a few characters of the name of whatever emoji you're looking for, and Rocket finds it right away. It's similar to how Slack works with emojis, but it's available across the entire system. Rocket also lets you send and store GIFs, memes, and more.
• InstaRemind ($0.99) - InstaRemind makes it much, much easier to add new reminders to the Reminders app. It's a menu bar app, but it works best if you create a keyboard shortcut (try shift + command + r) because when you use that keyboard shortcut, a text bar pops up, and whatever you enter is added to the Reminders app.
• Slash (Free) - Slash is a to-do app that's meant to help you get through all the tasks you need to do in a day. It has a simple, clean interface that minimizes into a little task tracking box. It lets you know how much time you're spending on each task, and it provides motivational GIFs. You can pause tasks, skip them, schedule them for later, and more.
• Next Meeting (Free) - Next Meeting is a no frills menu bar app that's designed to show you your next meeting or calendar event so it's available at a glance. That's all it does - puts meeting reminders in the Mac's menu bar. Super simple, but useful.

If you have a favorite must-have Mac app that we haven't highlighted yet, let us know in the comments below and we might feature it in a future video. For more of our Mac app picks, make sure to check out our Mac app archives.

Apple today seeded the fifth betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.4 updates to developers, one week after the release of the fourth betas and more than a month after the release of iOS and iPadOS 13.3.1.

iOS and ‌‌iPadOS‌‌ 13.4 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer center or over the air once the proper developer profile has been installed. On the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, Apple requires the beta to be installed over the air using the configuration profile.

iOS and iPadOS 13.4 are major updates, bringing several major new features to the ‌iPhone‌ and the iPad. There's a new toolbar in the Mail app that's available when viewing an email, featuring a more logical design to address complaints about the Mail layout in iOS 13.

The update design moves the reply icon away from the delete icon, making it much harder to accidentally delete an email, and it adds Folder and Compose icons.

iCloud Folder Sharing, designed to let users share folders in iCloud Drive with other people, is available as of iOS 13.4. ‌iCloud‌ Folder Sharing was first announced at WWDC last year, but it has taken Apple several months to implement it. The feature shows real-time updates so file changes will sync across the devices of all people with access to a specific folder.

There are nine new Memoji and Animoji stickers included in the update, featuring emoji-style poses like shocked face, face with hearts, eyes rolling, and more.

There's a subtle but important change to the way the URL bar works in Safari. In iOS 13.4, you can tap into the URL bar right away even when a URL is highlighted, which is different behavior from iOS 13.3.1. In iOS 13.3.1, an extra tap outside of a URL was required to deselect it before it could be tapped to be edited.

There are new Settings in the TV app that are designed to allow users to control streaming and downloading over WiFi and cellular, introducing new data saving options for those without unlimited streaming plans.

There are hints of a new CarKey API in iOS 13.4, which would allow the ‌iPhone‌ to be used to lock, unlock, and start a car that has NFC capabilities. This functionality hasn't been announced by Apple as of yet, but it will ‌iPhone‌ owners to use their devices in lieu of a car key. Sharing features will also be available for assigning keys to friends and family members through the Messages app.

Code in iOS 13.4 also suggests Apple is working on an over-the-air recovery feature that would allow the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌iPad‌ to be restored without the need for a computer.

Though not an iOS specific feature, Apple with iOS 13.4, macOS 10.15.4, tvOS 13.4, and Xcode 11.4 is allowing developers to create apps with universal purchase support, which means Apple device users will be able to purchase one app that works across multiple platforms.

There are new controls for calls and third-party navigation apps in CarPlay, along with keyboard shortcuts for the Photos app, changes to location requests for apps requesting user location, a new Shazam Shortcuts action, options for remapping hardware keys of a keyboard connected to the ‌iPad‌, and more.

For a full list of all the new features that have been found in iOS and iPadOS 13.4, check out our dedicated what's new articles for beta 1 and beta 2.

Apple plans to introduce a new screen that allows users to view all of their installed apps in a list in iOS 14, with several sorting options available, according to code seen by 9to5Mac. A basic version of this feature already exists on the Apple Watch, as shown below.

The list will presumably be in alphabetical order by default, with the report claiming that users will be able to set filters such as recently used apps or apps with unread notifications. This will provide users with a third way to view their installed apps beyond swiping through home screen pages or dragging down on the home screen and using the search function.

In a separate report, 9to5Mac claims that there is a possibility that third-party wallpaper packs will be supported in the Settings app on iOS 14, with Apple planning to introduce several new wallpaper categories to help sort through them. It is already possible to set any image as a wallpaper on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, but this feature would provide users with countless wallpapers to choose from right in the Settings app.

iOS 14 is also expected to include new HomeKit features like face classification in HomeKit camera video streams, a new accessibility feature that can possibly provide haptic feedback for important sounds like fire alarms and doorbells, Alipay support for Apple Pay, and integration of Apple's "Shot on iPhone" challenges in the Photos app.

Last, 9to5Mac has uncovered evidence of a new version of the Apple TV remote in iOS 14, but no further details are known at this time.

Apple is developing a new augmented reality app codenamed "Gobi," according to iOS 14 code leaked today by 9to5Mac.

The report claims the app would revolve around QR code-like tags that trigger an augmented reality experience, adding that Apple appears to be testing integrations with Apple Stores and Starbucks. "For instance, users would be able to hold up their phone in an Apple Store and view information about the products on display, get pricing, and compare features."

The report adds that Apple plans to make an SDK or API available to third-party companies to "provide their own tag identifiers, which would load up custom assets and scenery for that company," noting that this would be based on extensions built into App Store apps. It is unclear if the API would be widely available or limited.

For more new features and changes expected in iOS 14, keep an eye on our roundup.

Apple today confirmed that an employee has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus at its campus in Cork, Ireland. In a statement issued to Independent.ie, Apple said the individual has gone into and remains in self-isolation.

One of our employees in Cork has been confirmed to have Covid-19.

We are closely coordinating with the local health authorities who feel the risk to others is low, and the individual remains in self-isolation.

As a precaution, we have asked some of our team members to stay at home while we work with the Health and Safety Executive to assess the situation. We are continuing to regularly deep clean all our offices and stores and will take all necessary precautions in accordance with guidance from health authorities.

To our best knowledge, this is the first confirmed case of an Apple employee testing positive for COVID-19 in any country.

Apple has reportedly encouraged its employees in Cupertino and many other locations to work from home this week if possible. Another report this week claimed that Apple has offered its retail employees and some other hourly workers unlimited sick leave if they experience COVID-19 symptoms, with no doctor's note required.

Apple like many companies is taking various other precautions in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak, including suspending "Today at Apple" sessions in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Italy, China, and select other locations. It is also looking like an inevitability that Apple will cancel WWDC 2020 as a physical event, with other large developer conferences like Google I/O and Facebook F8 having already been canceled.

Apple has shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone" series, showing off the photographic capabilities – and in this case the battery life – of the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro.

Titled "Hermitage," the one and a half minute video previews footage taken within the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The footage was filmed on an ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro in one continuous take for 5 hours, 19 minutes, and 28 seconds, and all of it on a single battery charge.

A cinematic journey through one of the world's biggest museums in St. Petersburg, Russia, taking in 45 galleries, 588 masterpieces, and live performances. Filmed entirely on iPhone 11 Pro in one continuous take on one battery charge.

After the footage was taken, the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro still had 19 percent battery left, according to Apple.

Directed by Axinya Gog, the one-take journey through Russia's iconic museum can be viewed in its entirety. Apple has also made available a playlist of track highlights used in the film on Apple Music.

Apple has shared dozens of "Shot on ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌" photos and videos over the course of the last several years, updating the content with the launch of each new ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ model.

• iOS 13 Battery Drain: 15+ Tips to Make Your Battery Last Longer

Apple's ‌‌‌‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro‌‌‌, which is used for the newest ad, features a triple-lens camera with the best wide-angle sensor Apple has released so far along with a telephoto lens and a super wide-angle lens for better landscape shots.

The County of Santa Clara's Public Health Department today issued a mandatory order that requires all mass gatherings of 1,000 or more people in Santa Clara County to be canceled.

Santa Clara County includes cities like Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose, and it is the county where Apple's two main campuses are located along with many of its satellite offices.

Last week, county officials issued guidelines suggesting that companies in the area minimize or cancel large in-person meetings and conferences, but the new ban is a requirement that will prevent any major gatherings.

The ban takes effect at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 11 and for now, will last for three weeks. Santa Clara County is putting the ban in place as it waits for more widespread testing and for more details on how COVID-19 spreads.

"This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. The strong measures we are taking today are designed to slow the spread of disease," said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer. "Today's order and new recommendations will reduce the number of people who develop severe illness and will help prevent our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed. This is critically important for anyone with healthcare needs, not just those most vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19."

The three-week ban will only last until the beginning of April, but ahead of when the mandatory ban was in place, tech companies had already started canceling events. Both Facebook and Google have canceled planned developer events set to take place in May that would have had around 5,000 attendees.

Apple still has not made any announcements about WWDC, which is typically held in June at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, and the length of this ban will not affect June plans, but with the growing number of coronavirus cases in the county, Apple may cancel the event as a precaution.

Apple could still provide WWDC content in a digital format with online presentations for media and developers, but it's not entirely clear what the company's plan is at this time. We should be hearing soon, as Apple normally announces WWDC info right around this time in March.

The county's decision to blanket ban all events of 1,000 or more people comes as Santa Clara County experienced its first death due to the coronavirus. Santa Clara County has a total of 43 known COVID-19 cases, with more in other counties in the Bay Area.