MacRumors

Just over a month after originally appearing for a few Apple Music subscribers on both iOS 10 and the iOS 11 beta, it appears that Apple's new "My Chill Mix" playlist is now expanding to many more users of the music streaming service.

My Chill Mix recommends music that's both old and new, curating a list of songs for Apple Music users that are supposed to help them "relax and unwind" as they listen. Because each person's definition of relaxation might differ, Apple Music's My Chill Mix isn't only aimed at low-key music, but could also include rock, hip-hop, techno, and more.

Like Apple's other intelligently curated playlists, Apple Music will get better at recommending music for My Chill Mix the more that users listen to music on the app. The playlist will refresh every Sunday and includes 25 tracks, just like Apple Music's other customized playlists.

"Tailored to your music taste, My Chill Mix is a selection of songs to help you relax and unwind."

Last year, Apple launched its first curated playlists, called "My Favorites Mix" and "My New Music Mix." My Favorites Mix presents users with a collection of their most-listened-to songs every Wednesday, while My New Music Mix recommends the newest music based off of each user's listening history.

When iOS 11 launches to the public, there will be a few changes in the Apple Music app, mostly related to a new social feature. In the "For You" tab, users will be able to create their own Apple Music profile page, share their favorite playlists, and follow friends to see what they're listening to in order to further facilitate new music discovery.

Update: One user on Reddit has discovered another custom Apple Music playlist that can be invoked by asking Siri to "play My Party Mix." As of now My Party Mix has yet to appear in the For You tab on Apple Music, but most users have found that they can play the collection through Siri. Musical artists and styles vary among users, as is custom with these playlists, but the common factor appears to be upbeat songs that could be played at a party.

Firmware for Apple's HomePod has already given us glimpses into the unreleased iPhone 8, including a glyph representing the basic front-facing design of the smartphone, as well as code that supports rumors of a "split" status bar.

Apple Watch has yet to be mentioned in the discoveries, but recently developer Jeffrey Grossman shared a few pieces of information on Twitter that are potentially related to Apple's wearable device, which he discovered when looking through the HomePod's IPSW files.

At one point, the firmware includes a few references to a "Skiing Workout" alongside multiple strings that describe items like "Downhill Snow Sports Distance," "Ski Data," and "Workout Activity Type."

As such, it's likely that there are various unannounced workouts that will be introduced in future watchOS 4 updates, which now might include sessions for skiers. Coming in the first public release of watchOS 4 are a number of UI improvements for the Workouts app, making it easier to start an exercise and string together different types of exercises.

Upon release, HomePod will run a version of iOS, and the firmware released by Apple that's been dissected by developers this week corresponds to iOS 11.0.2, lending credibility to all of the bits and pieces of information that have thus far been uncovered within the files.

Apple and Google have recently removed over 300 binary options trading apps from the App Store and Google Play store respectively, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

A spokesperson for Apple said it removed the apps globally in accordance with its recently updated App Store Review Guidelines:

Apps that facilitate binary options trading are not permitted on the App Store. Consider a web app instead.

MacRumors easily discovered at least five apps that still appear to facilitate binary options trading on the App Store. Apple's guidelines clearly state that binary options trading apps are no longer permitted on the App Store, so it's unclear why some remain available to download, and whether they'll soon be removed.

The trading apps encouraged users to make bets on whether instruments like shares or currencies will rise or fall, according to Bloomberg. However, many of them were unlicensed and failed to outline the risks of trading binary options, and some merely collected personal information, according to ASIC.

Many of the trading apps subject to surveillance by ASIC contained statements which appeared to be misleading about the profitability of trading and the amount of profit that could be made, the regulator said. One of the apps, for example, advertised that users could profit in as quickly as 60 seconds.

"In an age where technology can hide who is offering and controlling a product, buyer beware has never been so important," said ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour. "If something appears too good to be true, it probably is."

The U.K. home secretary Amber Rudd has argued that "real people" do not want secure end-to-end encryption on messaging platforms and are more concerned with usability and features than unbreakable security (via Yahoo News).

Rudd made her case in a newspaper article, published ahead of a meeting today with technology companies in San Francisco, where she will warn tech giants that their services are being misused by terrorists. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Rudd said:

"Who uses WhatsApp because it is end-to-end encrypted, rather than because it is an incredibly user-friendly and cheap way of staying in touch with friends and family?

"So this is not about asking the companies to break encryption or create so-called 'back doors'.

"Companies are constantly making trade-offs between security and 'usability', and it is here where our experts believe opportunities may lie.

"Real people often prefer ease of use and a multitude of features to perfect, unbreakable security."

Rudd's comments were immediately criticized by privacy campaigners, with civil liberties organization Big Brother Watch calling her viewpoint "at best naïve, at worst dangerous".

"Suggesting that people don't really want security from their online services is frankly insulting," said Renate Samson, chief executive of BBW. "What of those in society who are in dangerous or vulnerable situations, let alone those of us who simply want to protect our communications from breach, hack or cybercrime."

"Once again the government are attempting to undermine the security of all in response to the actions of a few. We are all digital citizens, we all deserve security in the digital space."

Rudd is due to give her speech to tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft, in which she will urge them to do more to remove extremist content online or face new laws forcing them to do so.

Speaking to the BBC, Rudd said she wanted to work more closely with companies on encryption so that "where there is a particular need, where there is a targeted need" the government should be given access to metadata and encrypted content.

But Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, pushed back against that argument, and warned about pushing criminals into even harder to reach parts of the internet.

"If people move off those encrypted services to go to encrypted services in countries that won't share the metadata, the government actually has less information, not more," she said.

Tuesday's summit is the first gathering of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an organization set up by the major tech companies following recent terror attacks. Organization members are likely to resist any action that would result in compromised encryption, however.

In a joint statement, the companies taking part said they were co-operating to "substantially disrupt terrorists' ability to use the internet in furthering their causes, while also respecting human rights".

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues 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.

Apple this week launched a new limited time discount on its Beats EP headphones, Beats Pill+ speaker, and urBeats earphones, which are all on sale for approximately $20 to $30 off.

The Beats EP On-Ear Headphones are available for $99, down from the original price of $129.95. All colors are available at the discounted price, including red, white, black, and blue. The Beats EP are Apples most affordable on-ear headphones, coming in at a lower cost than the Solo3 models.

The Beats Pill+ Portable Speaker is available for $199, down from $229.95. All colors are discounted, including white, black, and red.

Both the Beats Pill+ and the Beats EP On-Ear Headphones were discounted by a similar amount in late 2016 and early 2017, but Apple has not recently offered a sale on the urBeats. With the promotion, the earphones are priced at $79 instead of $99.95. All colors available from the Apple Store are included in the sale: silver, gold, space gray, rose gold, black, and ultra violet.

Apple's prices are a decent deal, but similar and occasionally bigger discounts can often be found from retailers like Amazon and Best Buy during routine sales.

According to the promotion details, Apple's sale will last from today until August 26, 2017 at 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Apple today updated its developer news site to let developers know that TestFlight tester limits have been expanded. Starting today, developers can invite up to 10,000 users to beta test their iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and iMessage apps before the apps are released on the App Store.

Developers often use TestFlight to send out pre-release copies of apps to testers and members of the media to suss out bugs and usability issues ahead of the release of an app. TestFlight is simple to use, requiring just an email address to send out beta testing invites, which has made it popular with developers.

Now you can gain even more valuable feedback by inviting up to 10,000 users to beta test your apps before you release them on the App Store. TestFlight makes it simple to invite testers using just their email address and lets testers quickly provide feedback within the TestFlight app.

Prior to today, app developers were only allowed to invite up to 2,000 individuals to beta test apps using the TestFlight beta testing platform, a limit that was put in place in 2015. This is the first time the limit has been increased since then.

Spotify is experimenting with a new podcast initiative that's said to be aimed at gaining ground on the current leader in the field, Apple, as a way to convince Spotify users on iOS to stick around in the Spotify app, and not migrate over to Apple Podcasts. As of now, the podcast initiative is described as a "test," with Spotify launching a few original podcasts and running promotions for the shows to see how users respond (via Bloomberg).

Currently, podcasts on Spotify sit within the Browse tab of the iOS app and lack any highlighted featured section on the Home screen. Spotify's new initiative seeks a way to change that and begin showcasing podcasts for users in the same way that the service curates music. Earlier this year, Spotify commissioned original podcasts focused on music, premiering first on Spotify before expanding to other services.

Next, more original shows will continue the podcast test over the coming months.

Spotify will fund a new batch of original podcasts in the coming months, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the private plans.

“Spotify has the potential to do a lot for podcasting,” Quah said. “They have a large user base, and all it takes is a few tweaks here and there to put podcasting in the foreground for the daily listeners.”

The initiative is also expanding into advertising fields, with Spotify agreeing to promote specific podcasts within the app and on mobile transportation, in return for these podcast hosts "talking up" Spotify on social media and throughout their shows. Right now, the podcasts in agreement with Spotify include "Reply All," "Pod Save America," and "The Bill Simmons Podcast."

At WWDC this year, Apple announced major features for both users and podcast creators coming to the overhauled Podcasts app in iOS 11. Although the recently rebranded "Apple Podcasts" holds the majority share of the podcast market (around 55 percent, according to weekly podcast newsletter author Nick Quah), Spotify's stance as the largest streaming service in the world presents it with "an opportunity to steal share from Apple."

Due to the surge in popularity of podcasts over recent years, Apple in 2016 even met with leading podcasters to discuss their grievances over iTunes and its podcasts section.

Gboard is Google's own keyboard app for iOS devices, and today the company announced that it's integrating Google Maps and YouTube directly within the keyboard. The two new features will be housed behind the "G" button on Gboard, now sitting alongside Google Search.

With Google Maps in Gboard, users can share their location, or another location that they wish to serve as a rendezvous point, and send the address to a contact in Messages. YouTube lets users search and send any YouTube video to friends and family directly from Gboard. There's also a new "Ink" tab that lets users draw pieces of art to share with their contacts.

Outside of the Gboard app, Google also has a Google Maps app for Apple's Messages App Store, which lets users send their location to a friend as an iMessage.

Gboard originally launched in May of 2016, with built-in Google search as its flagship feature, and was later updated with 3D Touch cursor tracking and voice support.

Gboard is one of the main iOS keyboard apps that users can install as an additional keyboard to text with on their iPhone or iPad. Microsoft's SwiftKey is another well-known keyboard app for iOS, which the company has now decided to focus on after recently removing Word Flow from the iOS App Store.

Gboard is available on the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Google's former senior vice president of social, Vic Gundotra, recently made remarks on Facebook about the advantages of Apple's iPhone ecosystem, specifically pertaining to the iOS Camera app and the quality of photos it creates (via Business Insider).

The end of the DSLR for most people has already arrived. I left my professional camera at home and took these shots at dinner with my iPhone 7 using computational photography (portrait mode as Apple calls it). Hard not to call these results (in a restaurant, taken on a mobile phone with no flash) stunning. Great job Apple.

Gundotra's original post received a comment that said Samsung's Galaxy S8 was a better photography tool than the iPhone 7, to which he commented with a detailed response explaining why he believes that's not the case. Specifically, the former Google executive referenced Android's need to be "neutral to all parties" since it's an open source platform, making it difficult for Google to release hardware and software innovations at the same time.

He also mentioned that Google has "fallen back" recently in regards to its development of computational photography software. But where Android-backed smartphone innovation lags, Gundotra said that Apple is far ahead of the competition because it "doesn't have all these constraints," leading to the best smartphone camera system on the market.

Apple doesn't have all these constraints. They innovate in the underlying hardware, and just simply update the software with their latest innovations (like portrait mode) and ship it.

Bottom line: If you truly care about great photography, you own an iPhone. If you don't mind being a few years behind, buy an Android.

The iPhone 8 is expected to see yet another leap forward in the realm of smartphone photography, potentially including a VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) system for the rear camera, which would enable speedier autofocus when capturing an image. The vertically aligned dual-lens camera system will also help fuel augmented reality experiences on the iPhone 8, which we've already begun to see take shape in ARKit demos.

Apple's difficulty in garnering a larger share of the smartphone market in China has been looked at recently by The Wall Street Journal, which described the ubiquitous mobile app WeChat [Direct Link] as the iPhone's "toughest rival" in the country. Citing data from QuestMobile, on average WeChat is said to have captured nearly 35 percent of each user's monthly smartphone usage time, averaging about 1 billion monthly active users in total.

The problem for Apple is that WeChat is an entire ecosystem, with one app allowing users to pay for services, text, call cabs, watch videos, play mobile games, and access cloud-based "mini programs," or apps that don't need to be downloaded to a device to be used. Because all of these WeChat features are universal across smartphone brands, analysts speaking with The Wall Street Journal questioned whether or not Apple is "losing its edge" in China.

Specifically, Apple saw a sales drop in Greater China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) in the first half of this past fiscal year, with revenue falling 13 percent in the period. According to analysts looking towards the launch of the iPhone 8, that device's success "largely depends on sales in China."

Skeptical investors are asking whether consumers in China will pay $1,000 for a new iPhone, when they spend more than 60% of their phone time inside a system from Tencent or from rivals Baidu Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. “That’s the question: Is Apple losing its edge?” said Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, who remains optimistic about Apple’s prospects in China.

Apple has been making moves recently to focus on China, including naming Isabel Ge Mahe as vice president and managing director of Greater China, who is said to ensure that Apple's products and services appeal specifically to China users. Just this weekend, Apple also removed VPN apps from the China App Store, a move that could potentially help Apple gain favor with Chinese authorities.

Some iOS 11 features -- such as the new QR code scanner in the Camera app -- are also seen as a way for Apple to appeal to users in China who are used to having these abilities on hand with WeChat. If Apple doesn't continue to bolster its software, solely relying on upgraded hardware changes might not be enough to convince iPhone users to stick around, according to analyst Ben Thompson.

Tailoring software for the market could be critical to keeping the iPhone competitive. Otherwise, Mr. Thompson wrote, Apple runs the risk that the phone’s appearance becomes the only thing that matters when Chinese consumers buy a new device.

Such a shift potentially would force Apple to overhaul its entire business model, moving to a system where it releases a new-looking phone annually rather than every other year, as it does currently.

In terms of market share, market research firm Warren Capital noted that Apple and the iPhone have taken fourth place in China, behind Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei. Apple dropped to fifth place in terms of smartphone devices shipped in Q4 2016 (with Xiaomi added into the mix along with the previously mentioned Chinese brands), and in April Kantar Worldpanel's data noted that iOS dropped to its lowest share of the China smartphone market since 2014.

Thompson points to WeChat as a major reason only 50 percent of China-based iPhone owners stayed with Apple when purchasing a new phone, while in other countries that number is closer to 80 percent on average. Since users spend so much time within WeChat and rarely see any other advantages to owning an iPhone, the app "has turned Apple into just another vendor in China," which analysts see as particularly problematic for Apple as the iPhone 8 launch grows nearer.

During a visit to China earlier in the year, Apple CEO Tim Cook told local media outlet Caixin, "We're not just someone who's here to access the market. We've created almost 5 million jobs in China. I'm not sure there are too many companies, domestic or foreign, who can say that." Ultimately, Cook said that Apple isn't afraid of the challenges it faces in China, telling the site that Apple is "here to stay."