MacRumors

Ahead of the impending arrival of Unicode 11 on June 5, Emojipedia today published an article about all of the emoji characters that will be launching on Apple devices later this year. While these characters were known, the site also looked forward a bit and briefly detailed what users can expect from Unicode 12 coming in March 2019.

On the short list for impending release in 2019 are the Flamingo and White Heart, which are the two "most requested" emojis by Emojipedia readers this year. Otherwise, the following emoji candidates have been drafted for potential launch next year: Diving Mask, Axe, Waffle, Diya Lamp, and Hindu Temple. All of these candidates have also received mockups, seen below, except Waffle.

At this time, these emojis are still only candidates for inclusion in Unicode 12, "and no decisions have been made about the final emoji list for 2019." Emojipedia has been expanding the Unicode 12 candidates list over the past few weeks, now including characters like Yawning Face, Ballet Shoes, Sloth, Butter, Stethoscope, Ringed Planet, and more.

For Unicode 11 in 2018, users can expect social media companies to adopt the new emojis sometime over the summer, while Apple and other smartphone makers will likely add all of the new characters into OS updates in the fall. As a reminder, some of the new emojis include Parrot, Llama, Lobster, Softball, Kangaroo, Partying Face, and more. Check out a glimpse below:

If going by traditional releases, Apple should add in these new characters to iOS, macOS, and watchOS devices around September 2018. The company might also provide further details about the incoming 2018 emojis in a press release later this summer, as it did on World Emoji Day last year, in addition to giving the iTunes Movies store an emoji-themed makeover.

There are several reasons why you should consider using a passcode on your Apple Watch. Without one, you won't be able to use Apple Pay to make contactless transactions using the device, nor will you be able to use it to automatically unlock your Mac.

But apart from losing out on functionality, not using a passcode on your watch means that anyone who got hold of it could potentially gain access to your Health and other app data, and possibly more besides.

Using a passcode on your Apple Watch isn't like having one on your iPhone or iPad, because you don't have to enter it every time you use your watch. You'll only be prompted for it if you remove your Apple Watch from your wrist or if the watch is restarted. Also unlike iOS devices, if you ever forget your Apple Watch passcode, there are steps you can take to regain access.

With those benefits in mind, here's how to set up your Apple Watch passcode.

➜ Click here to read more...

Belkin at CES debuted new wireless charging accessories, including the Belkin Boost Up Bold Wireless Charging Pad and the Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand, both of which are now available for purchase.

The Belkin Boost Up Bold Wireless Charging Pad is similar to the existing Belkin Boost Up Charging Pad, but it comes in a variety of colors that include pink, navy, black, and white.

It offers up to 10W output for fast charging on all Qi-enabled devices, and it supports the 7.5W charging necessary for fast wireless charging on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

The Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand features the same circular design and the same colors as the Bold, but it features a frame that holds the iPhone in an upright position allowing the iPhone to be charged in landscape or portrait mode without the need for it to be flat on a table.

Like the Charging Pad, the Charging Stand supports the faster 7.5W wireless charging specification for the iPhone.

Belkin's Bold Wireless Charging Pad is priced at $60, while the Wireless Charging Stand is priced at $70. Both can be purchased today from the Belkin website or from Amazon.com (Pad) (Stand).

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Belkin and may receive a small commission when you purchase a Belkin product.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.4.1 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding iOS 11.4.1 to developers and a few days after releasing tvOS 11.4.

The tvOS 11.4.1 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.

No notable features or changes were discovered in the first developer beta of tvOS 11.4.1, suggesting this is a minor update.

Most tvOS updates have been minor in scale, and Apple does not provide detailed notes outlining what's new, so we may not know just what's included in tvOS 11.4.1 if it's only bug fixes.

Apple has voiced support for a new Human Interface Device standard that will bring versatile support and overall improve the technology of future USB-connected Braille displays [PDF].

Set forth by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), a non-profit organization for the advancement and adoption of USB technology, the new standard will help make it easier for blind and low-vision users to use Braille displays "across operating systems" and with "different types of hardware." This way, users won't be locked into one ecosystem and can more easily go about reading and interacting with their devices no matter the manufacturer.

Additionally, the standard is set to simplify the development process by removing the need for Braille devices to have custom software and drivers created for a particular operating system or screen reader. According to Apple's director of global accessibility policy and initiatives, Sarah Herrlinger, the company is "proud" to help advance the new USB-IF standard.

“Technology should be accessible to everyone and Apple designs all products with that in mind,” said Sarah Herrlinger, director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives at Apple. “We’re proud to advance this new USB-IF standard because we believe in improving the experience for all people who rely on braille displays to use their Apple products or any other device.”

A few other executives from other companies chimed in on the news as well, including Microsoft accessibility program manager Jeff Petty, who said, "Developing a HID standard for braille displays is one example of how we can work together, across the industry, to advance technology in a way that benefits society and ultimately improve the unemployment rate for people with disabilities."

Helen Keller Services president and CEO Joseph Bruno applauded the USB-IF and its members like Apple, Intel, HP, Microsoft, and others, pointing out that the new standard will greatly reduce the friction that visually impaired, blind, or deaf-blind users can face when navigating between accessible devices. "It allows these individuals to more seamlessly connect to their favorite devices, which is a major step in helping them connect to the world around them."

Since the standard has just been detailed, no physical USB hardware products have yet to be shown off from any company. Currently, Apple has an entire accessibility store on Apple.com so users with disabilities can use devices crafted just for them to create music in GarageBand, navigate a Mac with a custom trackball, and more. There are no Braille-enabled devices sold by Apple yet, however, so the incoming HID standard could mark the first time that such a device is sold on Apple.com and potentially in retail locations.

In April, the Russian government banned secure messaging app Telegram and this month asked Apple to remove it from the iOS App Store completely in the country, citing the potential for terrorist communication via the app since Telegram refused to allow Russia to read user messages. As this unfolds, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov posted an update for users early this morning in an effort to explain why some features "don't work correctly under iOS 11.4" (via ArsTechnica).

According to Durov, Apple has been "preventing" the Telegram iOS app from updating on a global scale, dating back to when Russia banned the app in April. Durov says that his company chose to do the "only possible thing" and refused to provide Russia with decryption keys to access user messages, "preserving the right of our users privacy in a troubled country."

He continued by stating, "Unfortunately, Apple didn't side with us." The CEO says Apple's restricting of Telegram dates back to mid-April and while Russia represents a small subset of its user base (7 percent), Apple's actions affect all Telegram users around the world. Because of this, the launch of iOS 11.4 on Tuesday has broken some Telegram features like stickers, and caused the company to miss its deadline for compliance with the GDPR for users in the European Union.

Apple has been preventing Telegram from updating its iOS apps globally ever since the Russian authorities ordered Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store. Russia banned Telegram on its territory in April because we refused to provide decryption keys for all our users’ communications to Russia’s security agencies. We believe we did the only possible thing, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country.

Unfortunately, Apple didn’t side with us. While Russia makes up only 7% of Telegram’s userbase, Apple is restricting updates for all Telegram users around the world since mid-April. As a result, we’ve also been unable to fully comply with GDPR for our EU-users by the deadline of May 25, 2018. We are continuing our efforts to resolve the situation and will keep you updated.

By missing the deadline, Telegram users in Europe won't have the same level of security and privacy in comparison to compliant apps, and a lack of updates could put the platform at a higher risk of vulnerability. Apple has yet to comment on the issue or explain its stance, but Durov hopes to "resolve the situation" soon as the company continues its efforts to get the iOS app up to date for all users.

This is far from the first time Telegram has been in hot water with both Apple and Russia. Earlier in February, Apple pulled Telegram from the App Store due to reports of "inappropriate content" being hosted on the messaging service, but it made a return a few hours after disappearing, once Telegram put additional protections in place.

For Russia, the government previously threatened a ban on Telegram last summer after repeated efforts to obtain more information about the company were ignored. While seemingly innocuous, Russia's request for a "form with information" on Telegram would effectively add the company to the state regulators' registry, further requiring Telegram to retain users' chats and to share encryption keys with Russian authorities if asked. Similar requests date back to 2014.

As of writing, Telegram Messenger for iOS was last updated on March 24, 2018.

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.

Netflix appears to be testing -- or slowly rolling out -- a new user interface control scheme for its iOS app, which enables an unobtrusive volume indicator and lets users jump forwards or backwards in a video with a quick double-tap gesture.

As spotted by Redditor mm2nam, the update brings Netflix's video controls closer to those of YouTube on iOS, which lets users double tap on the right edge of the screen to fast forward 10 seconds and on the left side to rewind 10 seconds. Netflix's implementation includes the double tap gesture, as well as physical buttons on the screen that appear after you tap once on the video to bring up the playback controls.

Quick time jump controls have become increasingly popular in a variety of apps and in certain products, with Apple itself using a similar feature on its Siri Remote for Apple TV. On fourth and fifth generation devices, users can swipe to the right and click to jump forward 10 seconds and the same to go back 10 seconds, as long as the app supports Apple's native playback controls.

In regards to the volume indicator, Netflix currently has a bit of an unclear method for this piece of UI: some users lack an indicator completely, while others still see Apple's large, semi-translucent square that blocks most of the video every time the volume is toggled. It appears that along with the new 10-second playback gestures, Netflix is also planning to release a unified and unobtrusive volume indicator, which sits at the top of the screen, similar to YouTube and Instagram.

With no further information available regarding the update, it's unclear how widely available it is and if it will be launching for all users soon. Many users on the original Reddit thread commented about not having the update, and no one at MacRumors has yet seen either the double tap gestures or new volume indicator. We've reached out to Netflix for comment and will update the post if we hear back.

Back in 2016, Nokia acquired health startup Withings in a deal estimated at $192 million, hoping to re-establish its presence in the consumer electronics market. Nokia did this by rebranding Withings' iOS compatible products under its own name, with devices like the Withings Steel Watch and Withings Go fitness trackers becoming the Nokia Steel and Nokia Go.

Unfortunately for the company, the acquisition has largely been seen as a failure, with the digital health division earning just $62.4 million in 2017, part of Nokia's overall $27.9 billion in revenue for the year. Because of this, the company announced earlier in May that it would sell the division back to Withings co-founder, Eric Carreel, and today that deal has officially closed (via TechCrunch).

Financial terms were not given for the sale, but it is said to have included 200 employees rejoining Carreel under the Withings brand. Moving forward, Carreel said that the next steps for the renewed Withings brand will be a "relaunch" of its products focused on preventive health coming by the end of 2018.

“I am delighted to start working again with the brilliant teams that made the brand such a great success” said Carreel in a statement. “We have an exciting challenge ahead of us as we continue to push the boundaries of connected health.”

“We are still only just starting to discover what connected health can really bring to people,” said Carreel in a statement. “From now on we must concentrate our efforts on developing tools capable of advanced measurements and the associated services that can help prevent chronic health conditions. Today’s technologies allow us to imagine solutions that have the potential to benefit the lives of millions of people, and our ambition is to ensure that we, as Withings, lead the way with technological advances and intuitive designs.”

Withings offers connected products like scales, activity tracking smart watches, blood pressure monitors, smart thermometers, sleep trackers, and more, and according to TechCrunch it "sounds like it will keep all of these in place" after the relaunch. The news of the deal closing also brought confirmations of an executive shakeup in Nokia, with president Gregory Lee exiting Nokia and Maria Varsellona stepping up to the duty from a chief legal officer position.

In late 2016 Nokia and Apple entered a series of legal battles that began when Nokia sued Apple for patent infringement in the United States and Germany. As the dispute escalated, Apple decided to remove all Withings products from Apple.com and most Apple retail locations around the world, since the connected health devices were at the time under the Nokia umbrella. Although many of the Nokia-branded products have since returned to Apple.com, Withings should have a much easier time selling its smart scales and more when it returns to its original branding scheme later this year.

A few days after updating its iOS app to version 3.0, Philips Hue today is launching the "Philips Hue Sync" app for Mac and PC computers. Using the app, users can sync their Hue lights to films, music, and games that they're interacting with for an even more "immersive experience," according to the company.

The app works by creating light scripts for nearby Hue lights, based on screen-grabbed content from the Mac and what Philips calls a "smart color algorithm." With this information gathered, the app then matches the chosen Hue lights to the on-screen action of games and films in real time.

For music, Philips Hue Sync creates light scripts based on the beat and type of song "on the fly," and matches the playing music with dynamic lighting effects. Any of these features can be further customized, including brightness levels, "immersion controls" from subtle to intense, and a mode change for easily switching out the color pallet.

To set up the app, users will need to create a new entertainment area within the updated Philips Hue app on iOS or Android devices. Entertainment areas can encompass everything from one Hue bulb to a collection of devices like Hue Light Strips and table lamps (totaling up to 10 lights), but they most be color capable. Then simply download the Philips Hue Sync app for Mac, connect to a bridge, and choose the new entertainment area in the start-up menu.

Following the 3.0 iOS app update and the new Sync app for Mac, Philips is planning a line of Hue lights for outdoors that will be coming in July. With the outdoor Hue bulbs, users can connect and control their lighting on a patio, balcony, or other environments outside. The new lights include the Philips Hue Lily, which can be used to highlight key features in a garden, and the Philips Hue Calla, which can be placed in the ground and light pathways through outdoor spaces.