MacRumors

Today is World Emoji Day, and in celebration of emojis, Adobe released its 2019 Emoji Trend Report, giving us some insight into the most popular emoji characters that people are using. For its report, Adobe surveyed 1,000 emoji users in the United States.

The most popular emoji was the laughing face with tears of joy (😂), while the heart (❤️) came in second and the face blowing a kiss (😘) was the third most popular emoji. Top pairings included heart eyes/face blowing a kiss (😍😘), laughing face with tears of joy/rolling on the floor laughing face (😂🤣), and face blowing a kiss/red heart (😘❤️).

Among emoji users, 62 percent said they use emoji to make conversations more fun, while 42 percent said they use them to better communicate thoughts and feelings. 31 percent said they use emoji to feel more connected to people, 31 percent said using emojis is faster than typing words, and 30 percent said they use emojis because they paint a clearer picture than words.

Women were most likely to use the 😂, ❤️, and 😘 emojis, respectively, while men favored 😂, 😁, and 😢. 93 percent of all emoji users said emojis lighten the mood of a conversation, while 91 percent said they use emojis to show support to people.

Specific emojis are used to represent different moods, as outlined in Adobe's graphic below:

81 percent of emoji users believe that people who use emojis are friendlier and more approachable, and when asked about the benefits of emoji 94 percent cited the ability to communicate across language barriers while 94 percent cited the usefulness of emojis to instantly share thoughts and ideas.

65 percent of emoji users said they were more comfortable expressing emotions via emoji rather than a phone call, something more prevalent among younger Generation Z individuals. Emoji users are most likely to include emojis in text messages, and among social networks, emoji usage is highest on Facebook.

When it comes to emoji at work, 61 percent said that they use emojis in a work context. 78 percent said emojis positively impact likability, 63 percent said emojis impact credibility, and 74 percent said emojis make positive news more sincere.

58 percent of emoji users said they're more likely to open up an email from a brand that uses emoji in the subject line, and 44 percent said that they're more likely to purchase products advertised using emojis.

76 percent of emoji users wish there were more emoji, specifically emojis representing food, drinks, and snacks. Emoji users also want more emojis related to animals and insects, emotions, and hand gestures, plus more representation/diversity.

Adobe's full emoji report, which includes additional details on how, when, and why people use emojis, can be accessed through Adobe's emoji blog.

Emojis have become an increasingly important part of the smartphone ecosystem in recent years, and Apple has embraced emoji, regularly adding new emoji characters following Unicode Consortium updates. Apple is set to add new emoji at some point in iOS 13 as earlier this year, the Unicode Consortium finalized its list of 2019 emojis.

Note: Because emoji do not display properly on the MacRumors forums at the current time, please view this post on the MacRumors site to see the full emoji characters mentioned.

Apple has asked one of its manufacturing partners to ready components for use in rear Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera lenses said to be coming to next year's iPhone lineup, according to DigiTimes.

Apple has reportedly asked its supply chain partner to supply VCSEL components for use in rear ToF camera lens in its mobile devices to be released in 2020, according to supply chain sources.

Multiple sources have claimed that Apple's 2020 iPhones will include a laser-powered time-of-flight 3D rear camera that will result in significant improvements to AR experiences, including Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

VCSELs, or vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, are a key component of Apple's TrueDepth camera in the ‌iPhone‌ XR, XS, and XS Max, and power several flagship features like Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode selfies, as well as the proximity-sensing capabilities of AirPods. However, a ToF camera system is a major step up from TrueDepth due to its more advanced use of laser.

TrueDepth relies on a structured-light technique that projects a pattern of 30,000 laser dots onto a user's face and measures the distortion to generate an accurate 3D image for authentication. By contrast, ToF calculates the time it takes for a laser to bounce off surrounding objects to create a 3D image of the environment. This allows for more accurate depth perception and better placement of virtual objects, and should also result in photos better able to capture depth.

Bloomberg says that the rear camera in Apple's 2020 iPhones will be able to scan areas up to 15 feet from the device. Apple's front-facing TrueDepth camera uses 3D technology but its structured-light system only works at distances of 25 to 50 centimeters.

Apple is said to have gained a two-year lead over its rivals in the smartphone industry in the area of 3D sensing technology, having secured the necessary hardware way in advance of competitors. Sony could be the ToF supplier that DigiTimes is referring to in the paywalled article, as Apple has reportedly been in talks with Sony over ToF sensor tests. Although in December 2017, Apple said it planned to invest $390 million in Finisar Corp, which currently supplies the components for VCSELs.

At the time, Apple said its Finisar investment would enable the supplier to exponentially increase its R&D spending and high-volume production of VCSELs. Apple initially sourced VCSELs for 2017's ‌iPhone‌ X chiefly from California-based Lumentum, but it was bottlenecks in production there that helped spur the $390 million deal with Finisar.

Lumentum subsequently ramped up additional manufacturing capacity for VCSELs and edge-emitting lasers in the first half of fiscal 2019. Another producer, Austria-based Ams, also makes VCSEL chips, and in March 2018 said it had won a large deal with an unnamed smartphone maker, so there are a few potential suppliers that Apple could be leaning on.

There were originally some rumors suggesting Apple would introduce a rear 3D camera system in its 2019 iPhones, but Kuo said that wouldn't happen because Apple needs 5G connectivity, augmented reality glasses, and a more powerful Apple Maps database to truly take advantage of the AR capabilities afforded by a ToF camera.

Bloomberg has since confirmed that Apple was aiming to put the 3D rear camera system in this year's iPhones, but ultimately had to delay its plans. Whether that decision is related to rumors that Apple has had to temporarily stop developing AR/VR headsets remains unclear.

In celebration of World Emoji Day tomorrow, Apple has shared details on new emoji that are coming to iOS devices this fall following the Unicode 12 emoji release.

Unicode 12 brings 59 new emoji characters, 75 with gender variations, and 230 total emojis when gender variations and different skin tones are counted.

Orangutan, sloth, otter, skunk, and flamingo are the new animals included in the update, while new food items include garlic, onion, waffle, falafel, butter, oyster, beverage box, maté, and ice cube.

New faces, gestures, and poses include yawning face, pinching hand, person kneeling, person standing, and new people holding hands options that are both gender and skin tone inclusive.

To celebrate World Emoji Day, Apple is previewing a selection of new emoji coming this fall, revealing the newest designs that bring even more diversity to the keyboard, alongside fun and exciting additions to popular categories of food, animals, activities and smiley faces.

In a major update to the Holding Hands emoji typically used to represent couples and relationships, users will now be able to select any combination of skin tone, in addition to gender, to personalize the people holding hands, opening up more than 75 possible combinations.

Several new accessibility-related emojis are included, such as ear with hearing aid, deaf person, mechanical arm/leg, person with cane, person in wheelchair, guide dog, wheelchair (manual and motorized), and probing cane.

Following Apple’s proposal to the Unicode Consortium last year to introduce more disability-themed emoji, a new guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, wheelchairs, a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg will be available in the emoji keyboard. Celebrating diversity in all its many forms is integral to Apple’s values and these new options help fill a significant gap in the emoji keyboard.

Other miscellaneous emoji include Hindu Temple, auto rickshaw, parachute, ringed planet, diving mask, yo-yo, kite, safety vest, sari, one-piece swimsuit, briefs, shorts, ballet shoes, banjo, diya lamp, axe, drop of blood, bandage, stethoscope, chair, razor, white heart, and circles and squares in various new colors.

A full list of the emoji included in Unicode 12 are listed on the Emojipedia site.

Last year, Apple released new emoji in an iOS 12.1 update released in October, and the launch of new 2019 emoji could follow a similar timeline. New emoji won't be included in iOS 13 at launch, but could come in one of the first major updates to the new operating system.

Apple introduced updates to many of the built-in iOS apps in iOS 13, and Maps is no exception. The updated version of Maps has a long list of new features that are designed to make the Apple Maps app better able to compete with mapping apps from other companies.

There's a new Look Around street view level feature, a Collections feature for aggregating lists of your favorite places, a Favorites option for getting to your most frequently traveled places quickly, and some other smaller updates that are worth knowing about.

Maps Redesign

Apple in iOS 12 debuted a rebuilt, updated Maps app that uses an Apple-designed Maps engine to bring more detailed views of things like foliage, pools, buildings, pedestrian pathways, and more.

The work done in iOS 12 is continued in iOS 13 with Apple expanding the new Maps app to the entire United States as of January 2020. Apple now plans to bring the updated Maps app to Europe.

Apple on stage when introducing iOS 13 mentioned these map updates and promised improved detailing for roads, beaches, parks, buildings, and more. Maps in iOS 12 overall looks similar to iOS 13 in states where new Maps have already rolled out, but there could be more detail coming in the future and there are some small changes worth pointing out.

Road Hazards and Traffic Conditions

When viewing the main Maps interface, the app now displays road hazards and traffic conditions so you can see the route ahead at a glance. Previously, this information was available, but only when turn-by-turn directions were activated.

In iOS 13, traffic information is visible on the main map too.

Junction View

iOS 13 adds a Junction View option that's meant to help drivers avoid wrong turns and directional misses by lining them up in the correct lane before a turn or an elevated road.

Siri Directions

Siri gives more natural directions in iOS 13. Instead of saying something like "in 1,000 feet turn left," ‌Siri‌ might instead choose to say "turn left at the next traffic light," which is an easier instruction to follow since there's no distance estimation involved.

Venue Navigation Improvements

When you're navigating to something like a concert at a large venue, ‌Apple Maps‌ now offers up improvements that are better suited towards getting you to your end-point destination.

Real-Time Transit Schedules

The Maps app now includes real-time transit schedules, arrival times, network stops, and system connections for transit directions to provide better overall route planning.

Real-time information like outages, cancellations, and other changes are also listed in the ‌Apple Maps‌ app.

ETA Sharing

There's a new option to share your estimated time of arrival with friends, family, and coworkers. Your ETA will update dynamically, changing even when there's a significant traffic delay. This feature was removed from iOS 13 during the later betas, but could be re-added in the future.

• How to Share Your Estimated Time of Arrival in Apple Maps

Flight Status

Maps is now able to display up-to-the-minute information about flight terminals, gate locations, departure times, and more.

Place Cards for Businesses

Place Cards for businesses have been updated to be more helpful and easier to use. You'll see information like times of Today at Apple sessions when looking up an Apple Store, for example, or movie times when looking up a movie theater.

Look Around

Look Around is a new ‌Apple Maps‌ feature that's designed to be Apple's equivalent of Google Street View. Look Around offers up a street-level view of what's around you or a location you search for in the Maps app.

You can use Look Around in the main ‌Apple Maps‌ view whenever there's a pair of binoculars visible. Tapping on the binoculars icon delves into a close-up street level view of the location in a little card, which you can tap again to get to a full screen Look Around view.

Look Around can also be brought up when searching for specific supported locations by tapping on the Look Around card in the search results.

When in Look Around mode, tapping on the display lets you move through the Look Around area, and tapping a spot far off in the distance does a neat zoom in maneuver that's fun to watch.

In Look Around, all notable points of interest, like restaurants, businesses, parks, and more, are highlighted with identifying icons and place names so you can tell what's what.

Look Around is limited to areas where a car can go because it's using data captured from a 360-degree camera on a vehicle. That means you can't zoom into areas like parks or beaches, for example, but you can see what's visible from the street.

At launch, Look Around was limited to parts of California, Nevada, and Hawaii, but it has since expanded to Los Angeles, Houston, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Apple plans to continue the expansion in 2019 and 2020.

• How to Use Look Around in Apple Maps

Collections

Collections lets you search for and aggregate lists of different locations, such as restaurants you might want to try or places you might want to visit.

Collection lists can be shared, so you can make up lists of places for friends and family visiting you in your city and then share it with them, for example.

• How to Create a Collection in Apple Maps

Favorites

Favorites is a new Maps feature that lets you search for specific places and then add them to a list. Favorites are meant for places that you visit frequently, and Home and Work are already added by default.

You can add any place you go to often to the Favorites list, such as a favorite restaurant or coffee shop, or a friend's house. Tapping on one of your Favorites brings up directions to that spot right away, so think of it like a speed dial option for Maps.

• How to Add Places to Your Favorites List in Apple Maps

Maps Feedback Form

Apple introduced a redesigned customer feedback interface in iOS 13, which is designed to make it easier for ‌Apple Maps‌ users to submit corrections for things like incorrect addresses, business locations, or operating hours.

• How to Send Feedback About Errors in Apple Maps

CarPlay

All of the new features introduced in the Maps app in iOS 13, such as Favorites, Collections, and Junction View have been added to CarPlay. The Maps app in ‌CarPlay‌ also provides updated route planning, search, and navigation.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about Maps, know of an iOS 13 Maps feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Apple has a plan to start funding original podcasts in order to better compete with Spotify, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Apple executives have been reaching out to media companies to discuss exclusive buying rights for podcasts, which would be exclusive to Apple.

While Apple has yet to outline a clear strategy for its plans, the company will be pursuing "the kind of deals it didn't make before," according to Bloomberg. Apple has also been funding original content for its upcoming Apple TV+ series, which could account for its decision to also bankroll other kinds of exclusive content.

Apple does not make money from its Podcasts app, but has previously expressed interest in exclusive content as a way to draw and retain customers. Apple has used such exclusives for Apple Music, its music streaming service.

The news has caused Spotify's stock to fall 2 percent so far as any effort on Apple's part to delve deeper into podcasts could impact Spotify's efforts to become a major source for podcast content.

Apple's Podcasts app is installed on iOS devices by default, and starting with macOS Catalina, the Podcasts app is a standalone app. Apple's decision to split Podcasts out into its own app makes more sense if the company is indeed planning to invest money into original and exclusive podcasts.

Two years ago, Spotify said it was "coming after" Apple with a strong push into podcasting content, and this year, Spotify made a serious effort to become a premium podcast destination.

Spotify launched several podcast-related initiatives and acquired several podcast companies, including Gimlet Media, Anchor, and Parcast, boosting its catalog of exclusive podcast content and its available podcasting tools.

Spotify has also made an effort to fund new and original podcast content, with the aim of becoming the Netflix of podcasts.

Two of Apple's ads are in the running to receive the 2019 Outstanding Commercial Emmy. Both of the ads were created by TBWA/Media Arts Lab, Apple's longtime advertising partner.

The first ad nominated for the award is Apple's "Make Something Wonderful" MacBook ad, released late last year. In the spot, which is in black and white, various creative personalities and people are shown with their Mac devices.

In 2018, Apple was nominated for an Outstanding Commercial Emmy for its "Earth: Shot on ‌iPhone‌" ad, but ultimately lost to an ad from P&G.

Apple today pushed a second silent security update to Macs to address further vulnerabilities related to the Zoom video conferencing app for macOS, reports The Verge.

Apple removed software that was installed by RingCentral and Zhumu, two video conferencing apps that relied on technology from Zoom and were also found to have the same vulnerabilities as Zoom earlier this week.

These two apps installed software able to respond to commands that could potentially allow websites to open up your webcam during a video conference without permission. Removing the apps did not remove the secondary software that was vulnerable to exploitation, which is also how Zoom worked.

Discovered last week, the Zoom vulnerability let a website forcibly initiate a video call on a Mac with the Zoom app installed, due to a web server that Zoom installed in the background.

When the vulnerability was first discovered, Zoom said that it used a local web server as a workaround to Safari changes that Apple introduced in Safari 12, calling it a "legitimate solution" to an otherwise "poor user experience" that allowed users to access "seamless, one-click-to-join meetings."

At issue was a new popup Apple implemented to require user approval when launching a third-party app, which Zoom wanted to avoid. Zoom did so through the aforementioned web server, which was designed to wait for calls to open up Zoom conferences automatically.

Zoom eventually released a patch to address the issue, and Apple also took the step of removing web server software that was not initially removed from the Mac when uninstalling the Zoom app. Zoom has since made it so uninstalling the Zoom app will remove the web server, and has made other changes.

Installing Zoom no longer installs a local web server on Mac devices, and there is a new setting to save the "Always turn off my video" preference that disables video in Zoom by default until it is manually enabled.

As with the original Zoom patch, the new patch for RingCentral and Zhumu is deployed automatically so that users are not required to apply it manually for it to take effect. Apple told The Verge that it plans to fix the vulnerability for all of Zoom's partner apps.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of macOS 10.15 Catalina for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third macOS Catalina beta and over a month after the new Mac operating system update was first unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

The new macOS Catalina beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences. As with all new betas, macOS Catalina should not be installed on a primary machine because it is early release software and has bugs.

macOS Catalina eliminates the iTunes app, splitting it into Music, Podcasts, and TV apps. The Apple Music and Apple Podcasts apps are available now, while the Apple TV app is coming later this year.

The three new apps offer similar functionality to iTunes, but are split up by feature. iOS device management is still available on the Mac, but it's now done through the Finder rather than iTunes.

With a new Sidecar feature, you can turn your iPad into a second display for your Mac with just the click of a button. The Apple Pencil works with ‌Sidecar‌, so you can turn your ‌iPad‌ into a drawing tablet in apps like Photoshop and Illustrator.

Your Apple Watch can be used to approve security prompts for passwords and other info in macOS Catalina, and Macs with a T2 chip now support Activation Lock, making them more secure. There's a new Find My that brings the ‌Find My‌ Mac app to the Mac for the first time and even lets you track your devices when they're offline, or, in the case of notebooks, closed.

Screen Time is available on the Mac as well as iOS devices, and Project Catalyst, a new Apple initiative, will let developers easily port their ‌iPad‌ apps over to the Mac to increase the number of Mac apps available.

There's a new Photos interface that surfaces your best photos organized by day, month, or year, there's a new start page in Safari, Mail has new tools for muting email threads and blocking senders, and the Reminders app has been overhauled.

32-bit apps no longer work in macOS Catalina, which is something to be aware of before installing the beta.

For more details on macOS Catalina, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup.

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming iOS 12.4 update to developers, one week after seeding the sixth iOS 12.4 beta, and two months after releasing iOS 12.3, a major update that introduced a revamped TV app.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.4 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over the air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center. Public Beta testers can download the beta over the air.

There were no new features discovered in the first six iOS 12.4 betas, so it's not entirely clear what's coming in the update. As a more significant 12.x update, it's possible that the update is focusing on a feature that's not yet available -- the Apple Card.

Apple is planning to release the ‌Apple Card‌ in the summer, so iOS 12.4 could be the update that prepares the iOS operating system for that launch, adding hidden features that will be unlocked when the update becomes available to the public. If we find new features in the seventh beta of iOS 12.4, we'll update this post.

iOS 12.4 may be one of the last updates to the iOS 12 operating system as Apple transitions to iOS 13, set to launch this September, and as we are now at beta seven, the update could see a release in the very near future.