MacRumors

Israel has passed emergency measures that will allow security agencies to track the smartphone data of people with suspected COVID-19 and find others they may have come into contact with (via BBC News).

The Israeli government said the new powers will be used to identify people infected with coronavirus and make sure they're following quarantine rules.

On Monday, an Israeli parliamentary subcommittee discussed a government request to authorize the security service to assist in a national campaign to stop the spread of COVID-19, but the group decided to delay voting on the request, arguing that it needed more time to assess it.

The emergency law was passed on Tuesday during an overnight sitting of the cabinet, effectively bypassing parliamentary approval.

The government has yet to explain how the mobile tracking will work, but the BBC reports that it is understood the location data collected through telecommunication companies by Shin Bet, the domestic security agency, will be shared with health officials.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week announced his intention to bypass parliamentary oversight in order to push through the emergency regulations. Netanyahu says the new powers will last for 30 days only. Civil liberties campaigners in Israel called the move "a dangerous precedent and a slippery slope."

Israel is still in the relatively early stages of the pandemic. It had 200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, the country's health ministry reported that cases had risen to 427.

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.

Fox Corporation has bought streaming platform Tubi, an ad-supported service that hosts over 20,000 movies and television shows (via Variety).

The $440 million acquisition represents the media conglomerate's first major move in the streaming market. Fox will inherit 25 million Tubi users and a veritable catalog of content, including movies and shows from over 250 content partners including Warner Brothers, Paramount, Lionsgate and NBCUniversal.

"Tubi will immediately expand our direct-to-consumer audience and capabilities and will provide our advertising partners with more opportunities to reach audiences at scale," Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a press release. "Importantly, coupled with the combined power of FOX's existing networks, Tubi provides a substantial base from which we will drive long-term growth in the direct-to-consumer arena."

Fox plans to host its own content on the platform, although original programming does not form part of its short-term plans. Fox will use the acquisition to compete with other free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto TV, Comcast's Xumu, and Sony-owned Crackle.

Fox sold its 5 percent stake in Roku to help fund the acquisition, according to Variety. Under the terms of the deal, Tubi will remain an independent service, so it won't come under the Fox name, but Fox will offer a large number of its older TV shows and movies for free to Tubi subscribers.

Tubi can be accessed via the web, on set-top boxes including Apple TV, and on mobile devices including through the use of its native iPhone and iPad apps.

Opera has announced that users of its mobile and desktop apps can now buy cryptocurrency through the browser using Apple Pay.

Opera was the first browser to include a built-in crypto wallet across its iOS and Mac browsers, and was one of the first to protect users against disguised online cryptocurrency mining, or "cryptojacking."

In partnership with Wyre, a US cryptocurrency-brokerage firm, the Norwegian company is now letting Opera users in the U.S. purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum using a debit card or ‌Apple Pay‌.

Charles Hamel, head of crypto at Opera browsers, explained how this integration supports Opera's long-term vision of making blockchain technology relevant beyond speculation:

"Allowing our users to easily load cryptocurrency into their browser's digital wallet is very powerful, as it connects the Web to a global internet-native payment network.

"In the past, obtaining cryptocurrencies was a cumbersome process that took hours or even days. When you compare it with this seamless solution, which takes less than 30 seconds, it really is a gamechanger," added Hamel.

Easy crypto top ups are available in iOS browser Opera Touch as well as in the crypto wallet available in its desktop browser. As for users outside the U.S., Opera says it plans to introduce a similar crypto-purchasing feature to more countries "very soon."

Microsoft-owned GitHub has released a new iPhone and iPad app to help developers manage projects on the go.

The new app doesn't aim to provide a complete developer environment – instead it provides a convenient way for devs to stay in touch with teams, organize tasks, give feedback, respond to comments, and review and merge pull requests when away from a computer.

There's a lot you can do on GitHub that doesn't require a complex development environment – like sharing feedback on a design discussion, or reviewing a few lines of code. GitHub for iOS lets you move work forward wherever you are. Stay in touch with your team, triage issues, and even merge, right from the app. We're making these tasks easy for you to perform, no matter where you work, with a beautifully native experience.

GitHub for iOS includes an inbox-style interface for keeping on top of notifications, quick emoji responses to comments, organization tools like labels and projects, and a native read-only code browser.

GitHub for ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ is a free download available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Amid the coronavirus outbreak that has many people in the United States and other countries sheltering inside their homes to avoid spreading the infection, some game developers have opted to make their games available to play for free.

Alto's Odyssey and Alto's Adventure, two popular endless runner-style games are available at no cost at the current time on iOS and macOS as the developer has dropped the price due to the coronavirus. Kingdom Rush and Kingdom Rush Origins, two popular strategy games for iOS, can also be downloaded for free.

We're compiling a list of paid games that have gone free below, and we'll add to it if we find additional titles:

• Alto's Adventure
• Alto's Odyssey
• Kingdom Rush Frontiers
• Kingdom Rush Origins

If you're at home because of the coronavirus, this is also potentially a good time to try Apple Arcade if you haven't already used your free trial, though it's also a worthwhile way to spend $4.99 for a month of gaming as there are a wide range of great titles available.

We've listed some favorites below, though there are quite a few different games that will suit all tastes.

• Card of Darkness
• Roundguard
• Crossy Road Castle
• Pilgrims
• What the Golf
• Cat Quest II
• Super Mega Mini Party

Know of other games that are free to download at the current time? Let us know in the comments and we'll add them to the list.

Popular digital film collection platform Movies Anywhere today announced that it will begin letting users lend their digital movies to friends, with a new feature called "Screen Pass" (via The Verge).

Screen Pass will let you share up to three films each month, and your friend will have seven days to accept the offer, after which they will gain access to the film for 14 days. Once started, recipients will have three days to finish watching the film.

Both users will need a Movies Anywhere account, but there won't be a limit on how many times a film can be shared or how many people you share it with in a month. This means that you can share the same movie to two different people, for example, while still being able to watch it in your own library.

Not every movie will support Screen Pass, but Movies Anywhere said that over 6,000 titles will be eligible when the feature kicks off in beta later today. Eligible movies will be determined by studios, so it's likely that newer releases or very popular films won't see Screen Pass support.

Movies Anywhere is a digital locker service that houses all of your movies from platforms like iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, Fandango Now, and more. When synced with Movies Anywhere, all of these accounts feed into the central service and let you see your entire digital collection in one place.

The closed beta will start today at 1 p.m. PT, and an open beta is planned for May. Afterwards, a wide launch of Screen Pass is slated for later in the year.

Anker's newest round of discounts have hit Amazon this week, offering shoppers a chance to save on Bluetooth speakers, wall chargers, wireless chargers, portable batteries, and Lightning cables. As usual, Anker's discounts will only last for a few days, so be sure to visit Amazon to make your purchase soon if you're interested.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You'll find Bluetooth speakers on sale starting at $27.88, as well as a solid deal across the company's PowerCore Slim line of 10,000 mAh portable batteries (in every color). You can get your favorite colorway for $22.99, down from $39.99 this week. Most of these sales are automatically discounted, but some do require a coupon code, which you can find below.

Bluetooth Speakers

• Soundcore 2 - $27.88, down from $39.99
• Soundcore Flare - $37.41, down from $59.99
• Soundcore Flare S+ - $79.99, down from $129.99

Wall Chargers

• 5-Port USB-C Wall Charger - $30.99 with on-page coupon, down from $49.99
• PowerPort Atom 2 - $35.23, down from $56.99

Wireless Charger

• PowerWave Pad - $7.99 with code AKA253SD, down from $11.95

Portable Charger

• PowerCore Slim 10,000 mAh (all colors) - $22.99 with code ANKERCMF7, down from $39.99

Cable

• PowerLine III USB-A to Lightning - $12.99, down from $15.99

Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.

Amazon and Best Buy today have introduced new sales on the 2019 iPad and iPad Air, including a few lowest-ever prices on the latter tablet. For the iPad, you'll see up to $50 off Wi-Fi models, including both 32GB and 128GB, priced at $279.00 and $395.00 respectively.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The iPad Air has deeper discounts, with $99 off every model this week at Best Buy. These low prices start at $399.99 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model of the 10.5-inch iPad Air, and also include the 256GB model at $549.99. Additionally, Best Buy is discounting the cellular models, starting at $529.99 for 64GB.

10.2-inch iPad

• 32GB, Wi-Fi - $279.00, down from $329.00 ($50 off)
• 128GB, Wi-Fi - $395.00, down from $429.00 ($34 off)

10.5-inch iPad Air

• 64GB, Wi-Fi - $399.99, down from $499.00 ($99 off, lowest ever)
• 256GB, Wi-Fi - $549.99, down from $649.00 ($99 off, lowest ever)
• 64GB, Cellular - $529.99, down from $629.00 ($99 off, lowest ever)
• 256GB, Cellular - $679.99, down from $779.00 ($99 off)

Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.

Long-standing mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has announced that it will close all 531 of its standalone stores on Britain's high streets next month, with around 60 percent of staff (2,900) set to lose their jobs.

As part of the same company that owns Currys PC World, Carphone Warehouse has 350 mini-shops inside 305 of those stores, but these will not be affected by the changes.

The standalone stores will close on April 3. The move is not related to the coronavirus outbreak, but rather the result of the changing mobile market, according to the firm.

Group chief executive Alex Baldock told BBC News that customers were increasingly buying online and from its big stores, which sell computers and TVs as well as mobiles.

"They can't find all this in the small mobile-only stores that are one-twentieth of the size; they're visiting these less and these stores are losing more money as a result," he added.

The company says the closures represent around 8 percent of its current selling area, and the move is "an essential next step" towards making its mobile business a sustainable and profitable category.

"We have to take the difficult decisions to throw our weight behind the parts of the business that the customers are showing us they want... that's with the big stores and that's online."

Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail merged in 2017 to become Dixons Carphone, in a bid to fend off tough competition from internet players like Amazon. However, the online strategy has failed to pay dividends and the merged entity has lost £90 million a year as a result.

Almost 40 percent of staff (1,800) affected by the closures are expected to take new roles in the business, the firm said.

As promised, Anker has updated its EufyCam 2 security camera with support for HomeKit Secure Video, which allows the cameras to capture and store recordings securely in iCloud.

As noted by iMore, the free update adds secure video recording directly to Apple's Home app for users with a paid ‌iCloud‌ storage plan.

EufyCam 2 is one of the first security cameras to support Apple's new ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ feature. Support for the feature was first unveiled during Apple's WWDC 2019 keynote, but it wasn't available when the eufyCam 2 launched last fall.

The firmware containing the support is version 2.5.9 and is currently rolling out to EufyCam 2 owners as a silent automatic update. Users can also manually check the availability of the new software via the firmware update option in the eufy Security mobile app.

The release notes don't mention the feature addition, so it's unclear whether Anker's other HomeKit camera, the eufyCam 2C, is also getting the upgrade.

According to Apple, ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ is only available to users that pay for 200GB or more of iCloud storage, starting at $2.99 per month. Users with the 200GB plan can store 10 days of recordings from one camera in ‌iCloud‌ at no extra cost, while those with a 2TB plan can store 10 days of recordings from up to five cameras. ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ recordings do not count towards a user's ‌iCloud‌ storage usage.

Update: A spokesperson for Anker informed the blog iPhone in Canada that the rollout of ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ for the EufyCam 2 has been delayed until mid to late April.