MacRumors

Giphy today announced an update for its iOS app, bringing its GIF-sharing keyboard extension to any app that supports multimedia, including Mail, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, and more. The update also introduces a "Sticker Maker" feature exclusive to iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR devices that have Apple's TrueDepth Camera system (via Engadget).

Sticker Maker allows iPhone X owners to turn selfies into custom animated GIF stickers, which you can then share in Apple iMessage and any other texting app. In the Giphy app this feature can be found in the "Plus" symbol tab, tap "Sticker", and then you can take your photo. The image has to be uploaded to a Giphy account so you can use it across Giphy's connected apps and keyboard extension.

Giphy's own GIF features have powered other apps before, including GIF sticker search in Instagram. The company's keyboard extension also works with Apple iMessage, similar to apps like GIF Keyboard. Although Apple's iMessage App Store introduced app-based alternatives, many keyboard extensions like these have remained popular over the years.

Satechi today announced that its new USB-C hub for the 2018 iPad Pro is now available for purchase for $59.99 on the accessory maker's website and Amazon.

Designed for the new iPad Pro with a USB-C port, the hub features a HDMI output, one USB-C port with Power Delivery, one USB-A port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, enabling the tablet to be connected to a wide variety of peripherals, such as a 4K display via HDMI, a wired keyboard via USB, and wired headphones.

Satechi is currently offering 20 percent off with code MPH20%OFF at checkout, lowering the price of its USB-C hub to $48 for a limited time.

For comparison, accessory maker Hyper has launched a Kickstarter campaign for a USB-C hub that features six connectivity options: a 4K HDMI output, a 3.5mm headphone jack, SD and microSD card slots, one USB-A port, and one USB-C port with Power Delivery. The early bird price is $49 and the regular price will be $99.

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

In October, a report by Bloomberg claimed that spies working for the Chinese government had inserted microchips on Supermicro server motherboards to spy on customers, which Bloomberg reported as affecting Apple and nearly 30 companies in total. Today, the outside investigations firm hired by Supermicro reported its findings, confirming that there is no evidence of any malicious hardware in current or old Supermicro server motherboards, including those used by Apple for iCloud (via Reuters).

Supermicro denied the allegations made in the Bloomberg report when it came out, and in today's letter to its customers said it was not surprised by the new findings. The investigation was performed by global firm Nardello & Co., which tested samples of motherboards in current production, as well as versions that were specifically sold to Apple and Amazon since both of those companies were mentioned directly by Bloomberg.

Nardello & Co. also examined software and design files, and didn't find any unauthorized components or signals being sent out from Supermicro. Customers interested will be able to ask for more details about the investigation, and Supermicro as of now is still reviewing its legal options following the investigation.

The day that "The Big Hack" article came out, Apple quickly released a statement, denying all claims made about the microchips spying on customers. "On this we can be very clear: Apple has never found malicious chips, "hardware manipulations" or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server," Apple said in its statement.

Eventually both Apple CEO Tim Cook and Supermicro CEO Charles Liang called on Bloomberg to retract the story. Talking to BuzzFeed News, Cook said there is "no truth" to Bloomberg's claims about Apple. As of today, the story remains online.

Two of Apple's largest suppliers have reported healthy jumps in monthly revenue, suggesting fears of weak iPhone demand may be overblown (via Bloomberg).

Asian firms TSMC and Foxconn (Hon Hai) both posted a 5.6 percent rise in November sales, reversing a recent trend of Apple suppliers reducing production or revenue outlooks to reflect lowering demand for Apple's smartphones.

Foxconn posted NT$601.4 billion ($19.5 billion) in revenue, a record for the month of November, which puts the iPhone assembler on track for its fastest pace of annual growth in years.

TSMC, maker of Apple's system-on-chips like the A12 processor, reported revenue of $3.1 billion, a lower figure than the previous month but still considered strong overall. Executives at the chipmaker have said they expect demand for premium devices to help offset lethargy in the crypto-mining market, which it has heavily invested in.

Apple accounts for close to half of main iPhone-assembler Hon Hai's revenue and about a fifth of TSMC's, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The figures offer something of a riposte to the narrative that sales of Apple's iPhone XR and XS have been weaker than expected. For example, last week it was reported that Apple moved marketing staff off other projects to focus on bolstering sales of the latest iPhone lineup in late October.

Apple's next earnings call is in January, when investors will get an idea of how the company did over the holiday season, although Apple recently stopped reporting real unit numbers for its major product categories, so investors will have to rely on revenue and gross margin figures alone to assess performance.

Google today announced that it is expediting the closure of its Google+ social platform, which was previously set to end in August 2019 and will now be shut down in April 2019.

The company explained that it's doing this because of a discovery that 52.5 million users were impacted by a software update in November that contained a bug affecting Google+ API.

The bug appears to be connected to a certain Google+ API that let apps view information that users added to their profile, even if the user had set this data as private.

This included their name, email address, occupation, age, and more, but not financial data, passwords, or national identification numbers.

While Google discovered and addressed the bug within a week, and promises no third party compromised its systems, it has decided to hasten the closure of the consumer version of Google+ and all Google+ APIs. Ahead of the April 2019 sunsetting of the platform, the network's APIs will be shut down within 90 days from today.

Google explained what it knows about the bug:

- We have confirmed that the bug impacted approximately 52.5 million users in connection with a Google+ API.
- With respect to this API, apps that requested permission to view profile information that a user had added to their Google+ profile—like their name, email address, occupation, age (full list here)—were granted permission to view profile information about that user even when set to not-public.
- In addition, apps with access to a user's Google+ profile data also had access to the profile data that had been shared with the consenting user by another Google+ user but that was not shared publicly.
- The bug did not give developers access to information such as financial data, national identification numbers, passwords, or similar data typically used for fraud or identity theft.
- No third party compromised our systems, and we have no evidence that the developers who inadvertently had this access for six days were aware of it or misused it in any way.

Google says that ahead of the closure of the consumer Google+, in the coming months it will provide users with additional information on how to safely and securely download and migrate their data off of the platform. In the end, Google also reiterated on its original reasoning behind the sunsetting of Google+, which is because of "the significant challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers’ expectations, as well as the platform’s low usage."

The pushed up end date for Google+ comes just under a week after the company announced the closure of Google Allo, which will see many of its features migrated to the main Google Messages app on Android.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.1.3 update to developers, four days after releasing the watchOS 5.1.2 update with new complications for the Infograph face and ECG functionality for Apple Watch Series 4 owners.

Apple's release notes state that watchOS 5.1.3 "contains bug fixes and improvements," so this appears to be a minor update.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

Apple this morning seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.1.2 update to developers for testing purposes, five days after releasing the tvOS 12.1.1 update.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 12.1.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.

tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than outward-facing changes. Apple unfortunately provides little to no information on what's included in tvOS updates, so we may not discover anything new after installing the new beta.

Though we don't often know what's included in tvOS updates, we share when new software is available so developers and public beta testers are able to download it upon release.

If there are noticeable changes in the tvOS 12.1.2 beta, we'll update this post with details.

Honda consistently ranks as a top five best-selling car brand in the United States, so it's worth taking a look at the company's Display Audio infotainment system and how well it works with CarPlay.

Honda was one of the first car brands to support CarPlay, starting in late 2015 with the 2016 Accord, and the company has since expanded support across nearly its entire lineup. I had the opportunity to spend some time with a 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid, which offered me a chance to try out Display Audio, CarPlay, and some of Honda's slick hybrid technology.

My Accord Hybrid came in the high-end Touring trim, which tops out at a little over $35,000. It includes all of the bells and whistles you might expect from a top-level trim on a mid-range car, including a heads-up display, heated and ventilated front seats, built-in navigation, rain-sensing wipers, and even a wireless phone charger that'll talk a bit more about later.

Honda has been at the forefront of driver safety technology, and every Accord trim comes with Honda Sensing standard. The suite includes a collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow, lane-keeping assist, and, newly standard in 2019, traffic sign recognition.

The two-motor hybrid system Honda is using in the Accord delivers an EPA rating of 47 MPG and offers a remarkably smooth ride that feels like an all-electric vehicle much of the time. That's because at most speeds (up to about 50 mph), only the electric drive motor is connected to the wheels and providing the drive force. When the gas engine kicks in, initially it's solely being used to generate electricity for the hybrid system.

Only as you approach highway speeds or briskly accelerate and power demand increases beyond what the electric drive motor can provide does the gas engine connect to the front wheels to provide drive power. As a result, the Accord Hybrid doesn't have a traditional transmission and instead has only a single gear that's the equivalent of sixth gear in a six-speed manual transmission to provide "direct drive" power.

CarPlay is available on all but the entry-level LX and base Hybrid trims, as they have the basic 7-inch LCD infotainment screen. Sport and higher trims come with an 8-inch Display Audio touchscreen, and all of these trims support CarPlay with no additional packages, options, or fees required.

Display Audio

In addition to the generously sized 8-inch capacitive touchscreen, Honda has also equipped its Display Audio system with a number of hardware controls, including volume and tune/scroll knobs and a series of buttons along each side of the display for jumping directly to specific functions. It's a handy combination that combines the tactility of buttons to help keep your eyes on the road with the flexibility of a touchscreen.

The screen itself has a matte finish, so glare and fingerprints are thankfully minimized, and it supports touch, swipe, and pinch gestures within the Display Audio system.

The Display Audio's home screen is centered around pages of tiles for various functions, all color-coded to make it easy to identify their categories. For example, the navigation tile has a red hue, while phone functions are green, audio tiles are blue, and system tiles are yellow. It's a somewhat subtle shading, with a band or bright color across the top and a gentle fade down through the tile. The design helps the tiles stand out without being too colorful. The home screen layout can be customized by tapping and holding on the screen, which enters an edit mode where you can add, hide, and rearrange tiles however you see fit.

In a strip along the top of the screen, you'll see a persistent set of icons that lets you jump directly to commonly used functions. Like the main tiles, these shortcut icons can be customized to make it easy to access phone, navigation, audio, or other apps from anywhere else in the Display Audio system. The strip also displays current audio information, the time, and small icons representing such data as signal strength of a paired phone, Bluetooth and USB connections, hotspot signal strength, and more.

To the left of the screen, you'll find hardware buttons for returning the Display Audio home screen, going back a screen in the hierarchy, adjusting display brightness, and changing audio tracks, as well a volume knob. To the right of the screen are quick-access buttons for jumping to navigation, phone, and audio apps, as well as a source button that takes you directly to a menu to switch among AM/FM, Sirius XM, CarPlay, USB, and other audio sources. There's also a tune/scroll knob to help navigate options or change radio/SiriusXM stations.

The 8-inch screen is a nice palette for Honda's navigation system, which offers a helpful "3D" perspective view that shows a good amount of your surroundings to help orient you. The display's location high on the center stack makes it easy to glance over, and it's bright and crisp with a solid combination of detail and easy-to-tap interface elements.

Honda's Display Audio system doesn't yet support natural language input, so you'll need to use trigger phrases to accomplish needed tasks. I didn't find it nearly as clunky as Volvo's system, however, and the system helpfully displays trigger word options for each step as you walk through the hierarchy. For example, to set a destination, you can say "Navigation," then "Find Place," then a business name. Once the system pulls up some results, you'll be able to choose the correct one by line number, confirm, and you're off.

One aspect of this process that could be improved is the layout of the destination search results. In some cases, the name of the business is so long that you can't see much other information about the specific location like the address, which makes it a bit difficult to easily identify the location you want just from the list. A compass direction and distance is included for each result, but being able to see the street address right in the list would be much more helpful.

The POI database is generally solid, and the system does a good job of pulling up relevant results, although I did run into one issue where it was unable to find my doctor's office when I searched using only a portion of the practice name. When I used the full name, the office came right up, so I was surprised that my initial search didn't find a hit as a partial match and instead simply yielded no results. Other partial searches like "FedEx" do pull up proper results even when the business name in the database is "FedEx Office Print & Ship Center," so it's not a ubiquitous problem.

On highways along your route, Honda includes a nice pop-over exit sign view on the right side to help you identify the proper exit.

Honda has wisely kept climate controls out of the Display Audio system, and there is a full set of climate control buttons and knobs within easy reach on the dashboard. All trims come with dual-zone automatic control with temperature knobs that subtly change color as you adjust the settings.

Ports, Wireless Charging, and Connectivity

Honda provides two USB-A ports in the front of the Accord, both offering up to 2.5 amps of charging power and both providing connectivity to the Display Audio system for CarPlay, iPod audio, or other options.

The first USB port is inside what Honda refers to as the center pocket where the center stack meets the center console. There's a USB port and a 12V power port tucked inside this pocket, and it has a garage door-style cover that can be closed to conceal what's inside.

That center pocket also optionally includes a Qi wireless charger, which is a great option although rather pricey at $300. The option is available on all trims with the exception of the high-end Touring where it's included standard.

The charger includes a power button that lets the charger be left on or off as you desire, and then a pair of status lights: green to signify the charger is on and amber to signify that a device is charging. On supported devices (not iPhones), the light will switch back to green when the device is fully charged. There are also two small rails in the bottom of the pocket to help keep your phone aligned on the charger's sweet spot.

The second USB port is inside the center console compartment, which provides another option for hiding away your phone or other device connected to the Display Audio system. The center console compartment is fairly deep, and there's a removable tray sitting on the top of the rear half that's a convenient place to rest a connected phone.

Honda also offers rear USB ports as an option on the Sport trim and higher as a $120 standalone option, but my test vehicle was not equipped with them. They're charging-only ports, so they won't allow you to deliver media to the Display Audio system, but they do provide 2.5 amps of power each, so they're great for keeping iPads charged up.

The Accord also comes with NFC capabilities, but unfortunately this feature currently only works with Android phones using Android Beam. It lets you tap your phone on the NFC N-Mark on the dashboard to more quickly pair your Android phone to the Display Audio system over Bluetooth and also transmit a wallpaper image from your phone to use on the Display Audio system.

While it's not a big deal to jump through the normal Bluetooth pairing process once when you first get your car, NFC is a simple way for friends with Android phones to get their devices paired up to share music on road trips, for example.

Honda does offer vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities in the Accord and Accord Hybrid through AT&T, but only on the top-of-the-line Touring trim where it's standard. It's not available even as an option on any of the lower trims.

Separate from the hotspot capabilities, Honda also offers several HondaLink connected car packages for the Accord, depending on trim. Entry-level trims have free access to the Basic package that offers a digital owner's manual, recall notifications, service appointment booking, parking location reminders, and roadside assistance during your warranty period. With higher trims, you can also access the free Link package that lets you see dashboard stats like mileage and fuel range from your phone, receive warning and maintenance notifications on your phone, and send destinations from your phone to the in-vehicle navigation system.

The high-end Touring trim offers several additional paid HondaLink package options, including the Security package that can automatically connect you to a live agent if a collision is detected and offer enhanced roadside assistance, priced at $89 per year after the first year.

A Remote package priced at $110 per year after a three-month trial offers features like remote start and lock/unlock, geofencing and speed alerts that can help keep tabs on teen drivers, security alarm alerts, stolen vehicle locator technology, and more. Finally, a Concierge package priced at $260 per year after a three-month trial gives you to a live assistant who can perform tasks such as making reservations, finding nearby events and more. The Remote package features are also included in the Concierge package.

CarPlay

Unsurprisingly, Honda's CarPlay implementation is a wired one, which is unfortunate considering the company offers convenient Qi wireless charging right in the center pocket. The missed opportunity is made a bit more frustrating by the fact that a Plus/Max-sized iPhone with a Lightning cable sticking out the bottom is just a little bit too long to fit comfortably in the center pocket without sitting oddly or putting strain on the cable.

It's not a deal-breaker, however, and it's great that you also have the option of using the USB port in the center console compartment for CarPlay, either tucking your iPhone away in that compartment or routing the cord out and using a cupholder conveniently shaped with a flat side to accommodate a phone. Most other manufacturers limit CarPlay to working over a single USB port, so I really like that Honda has provided an option here.

CarPlay looks nice on the large 8-inch screen, although Display Audio lacks some of the more seamless integration I've seen with other infotainment systems. CarPlay takes up the entire screen, so you can't see any information from Honda's system simultaneously unless you've configured things to show it elsewhere such as navigation directions in the heads-up or driver display.

It's easy enough to hop out of CarPlay using the Display Audio hardware buttons, which can quickly take you to the Honda home screen, the Display Audio navigation, or the audio display/options. Getting back into CarPlay from Display Audio can, however, take a couple of steps, depending on how you have things laid out, so I recommend setting up one of the persistent icons in the top strip to get you back to CarPlay with a single tap.

If you want to use Honda's navigation and CarPlay's Apple Music app, for example, you can control some aspects of the CarPlay music playback from the Display Audio system, so once you get your tunes up and running in CarPlay, you can hop back to Display Audio and may not necessarily need to get back into CarPlay.

Siri voice input for CarPlay works similarly to most other manufacturers' systems, with a short press on the steering wheel voice button bringing up Honda's assistant and a long press bringing up Siri. With the exception of the track buttons and the tune/scroll knob being able to change between album or playlist tracks in CarPlay audio apps, none of the other hardware buttons in the Display Audio system can be used to control CarPlay. That's not an issue, however, as voice and the touchscreen are plenty simple to use.

Wrap-up

Honda's Display Audio system offers some solid hardware with a quality 8-inch touchscreen that's well-positioned at the top of the center stack and minimizes both fingerprints and glare. The inclusion of hardware buttons and knobs around the display definitely helps with usability, making it easy to quickly access popular functions and make common adjustments by feel.

The software is pretty solid as well, offering a clean interface that's customizable with easy-to-find tiles. I wish the navigation system supported natural language input, but as it stands the voice interface isn't bad. You can move pretty rapidly and intuitively through the various steps to get directions to your destination. I do wish the navigation search results screen was laid out a bit better to make it easier to identify location options at a glance.

CarPlay looks nice on the big display, but I do miss the widescreen displays offered on some other vehicles that let you see some of the native infotainment data in a split-screen view alongside CarPlay. Still, Honda makes it reasonably easy to hop back and forth between Display Audio and CarPlay, particularly if you configure a shortcut icon for CarPlay.

Honda has done a decent job of bringing CarPlay to most Accord buyers, leaving it out of only the LX and base Hybrid trims as those vehicles offer smaller, non-touchscreen infotainment systems. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before the more full-featured Display Audio system becomes standard equipment across the lineup. For those trims that do include Display Audio, Honda doesn't charge extra for CarPlay support.

The 2018 and 2019 Honda Accord models in Sport trim, the lowest one that supports Display Audio and CarPlay, start around $26,000, and you can go up to around $35,000 for the Touring trim, although you can push the price even a bit higher with assorted options, particularly upgraded 19-inch wheel options that can add about $3,000 over the standard 17-inch wheels.

Google today announced that its Google Maps app for iOS will be updated today with a new "For You" tab in over 40 countries.

"For You" was first announced at Google I/O in May and was initially limited to Android. The feature is designed to "tell you what you need to know about the neighborhoods you care about," such as new restaurants opening nearby, trending spots, and more, based on places you've rated and places you've visited.

The tab is accompanied by a new "Match Score" that predicts which restaurants you're most likely to prefer based on your personal preferences, which is designed to help you to choose between multiple restaurant suggestions.

iPhone users can install the update from the App Store later today. "For You" is also expanding to over 130 countries on Android today.