Popular journaling app Day One received an update yesterday that introduces end-to-end encryption to its cloud server for the first time, as well as a handful of other improvements.
Rather than using iCloud, Day One synchronizes data between devices using its own servers, something that has opened it up to criticism in the past because of security concerns regarding private journal data.
Version 2.2 of the app should allay those worries, since Day One now encrypts journal data from client to server via a user-generated private key. However it's important to note that the new end-to-end encryption feature is enabled on a journal-by-journal basis, so users need to go to Journals in Day One's Settings and select the journals they want to encrypt from there.
If users do not enable end-to-end encryption, Day One defaults to standard encryption, which encrypts journal data "at rest" on the company's servers. This less secure method requires that Day One staff hold the keys to decrypt journal data.
In addition to the enhanced security feature, the in-app camera has been improved to make it easier to take photos and quickly add multiple square-cropped shots to entries. Journal metadata now also includes the device name on which an entry was created.
Elsewhere, recent searches are now saved in a list for convenient re-use, while an app-wide state restoration system has been implemented so that users can pick up where they left off in the event of a crash or a force quit. The update also includes several fixes that should improve the user experience.
End-to-end encryption is included in the 2.2 update for both iOS and Mac. Day One is a $4.99 app on the iOS App Store and costs $39.99 on the Mac App Store.
Logitech today announced a follow-up to its popular Circle home camera, debuting the Circle 2. The Circle 2 builds on the features built into the original Circle camera, with Logitech introducing HomeKit support and two separate models, both wired and wire-free for different uses around the house.
For those unfamiliar with the Logitech Circle, it is an in-home camera designed to let you keep an eye on what's going on in your house when you're not there. It's great for keeping an eye on pets and kids, with cloud storage, two-way communication, and more. In our review of the Circle, we questioned its usefulness compared to other home security solutions on the market, and that's a specific area Logitech addressed in the Circle 2.
Wire-Free Circle 2
Logitech found that many people who purchased the original Circle camera were interested in it for home security, and the company has doubled down on those features in the second-generation version. Along with wired and wire-free models that offer more options for in-home placement, Logitech is also shipping the Circle 2 with a variety of mounting accessories. There's also more granular control over things like motion zones and person detection in the revamped app that will be offered alongside Circle 2, so you can choose what your camera records and doesn't record, and when and how it alerts you.
Wired Circle 2
The wired Circle 2 model is meant to be plugged in all the time and offers continuous recording, while the wire-free model runs on a battery and records video when motion is detected, allowing the battery to last for weeks or months at a time. Both models feature the same camera hardware, offering high-quality 180-degree video, night vision support, and a ball joint so it can be adjusted to any angle. Both models are weatherproof and can be placed outside for outdoor use.
Multiple accessories, priced from $29.99 to $49.99, expand the range of places where the Circle 2 can be placed. Accessory options are outlined below:
- Circle 2 Window Mount - The window mount allows the Circle 2 to be attached directly to a window pane with an adhesive ring.
- Circle 2 Plug Mount - With the Plug Mount, the Circle 2 can be plugged directly into and powered by any home wall outlet, which is ideal for kitchen or garage placement.
- Circle 2 Weatherproof Extension - The Weatherproof Extension is designed for the Circle 2 Wired Camera and protects cables from outside weather conditions.
- Circle 2 Rechargeable Battery - Designed for the Circle 2 Wire-Free Camera, the backup battery allows you to swap out batteries and keep one charged at all times.
Plug Mount left, Window Mount right
With HomeKit support, the Circle 2 video feed will be available in the Home app, and it will also be able to integrate and work with other HomeKit-connected products. Logitech plans to enable HomeKit compatibility to the Wired version through a software update following the launch of the Circle 2. Circle 2 also works with Amazon Alexa and the Logitech POP Smart Button.
"People want the peace of mind that comes with a simple security solution," said Vincent Borel, director of new ventures at Logitech. "Circle 2 gives people just that - you can place the camera wherever you need it, inside or out, and rest assured that you'll be alerted of any changes in your home while you're away."
Like the original Circle, Circle 2 will offer 24 hours of free encrypted cloud storage. Logitech also offers Circle Safe plans for a fee, which offer 14 to 31 days of storage.
Circle 2 is available for pre-order from the Logitech website starting today. The wired version of the Circle 2 is available for $179.99, while the wire-free version is available for $199.99. A range of mounts and accessories can also be purchased for $29.99 to $49.99.
Logitech plans to begin shipping Circle 2 orders to customers in July.
Apple's upcoming iOS 11 update, designed for the iPhone and the iPad, brings improvements to the way you capture, edit, and view photos on Apple's latest devices. Portrait Mode photos are better than ever, there are new ways to manipulate Live Photos, and photos and videos take up less space.
In the video below, we've outlined all of the new features you can expect to see in iOS 11 when it's released to the public this fall.
First and foremost, Apple is adopting new photo and video formats (HEVC for video and HEIF for images) that will shrink the size of the photos and videos you take by up to 50 percent. That's going to save valuable storage space on your devices, but the new formats are limited to Apple's most recent iPhones and iPads.
On the iPhone 7 Plus, Portrait Mode now supports optical image stabilization and HDR for better low light performance, and on all iPhones, there are new filters to choose when editing a photo.
When working with Live Photos on a compatible device, there are several new editing options. You can choose a key photo, which lets you select the portion of the Live Photo that looks the best, essentially making it impossible to take a bad photo. Since Live Photos are more or less short videos, it's a lot like taking a still from a video.
Live Photos can now be cropped, much like a video, and there are new Loop, Bounce, and Long Exposure options. Loop causes a Live Photo to loop over and over like a GIF, while Bounce does the same thing, but forwards and then backwards. Long Exposure combines the Live Photo video into a single shot to introduce a unique blur effect.
In the Photos app, there's now dynamic support for viewing Memories videos in portrait or landscape mode, and more kinds of Memories videos are automatically generated thanks to machine learning improvements. New categories include pets, babies, outdoor activities, performances, weddings, birthdays, and sporting events.
The People album, which uses facial recognition to recognize people in images, also now syncs across devices, so it doesn't need to be set up on each individual device.
For a complete overview of all of the new features included in iOS 11, make sure to check out our iOS 11 roundup. Over on our YouTube channel, you can also find other iOS 11 overviews highlighting the iPad features, the new App Store, the Control Center, and more.
CalDigit's Tuff line of rugged USB-C external drives have been a great option for those looking to take extra storage or backups on the go for a while now, but in addition to the existing 2 TB model using a 5400 rpm spinning hard drive, the company recently expanded the line to include a 1 TB solid-state drive option.
At a list price of $499, the solid-state drive version is not cheap, but if you want fast storage on the go, combining an SSD with the Tuff's 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 support gives some of Apple's latest Macs the ability to move data quickly. The MacBook Pro and brand-new iMac with their Thunderbolt 3 ports supporting full 10 Gbps USB are the best partners for the Tuff, and it's easy to see how useful it would be for moving data back and forth between notebook and desktop machines.
Our first glimpse at components that could be destined for the much-rumored 5.8-inch "iPhone 8" and its 4.7 and 5.5-inch companion devices surfaced this morning in a post on reddit. The images are said to be sourced from a case manufacturer who received them from a glass supplier in China.
The first photo depicts what is said to be the front and back panel of the iPhone 8, with the front panel featuring a super thin bezel around all sides along with a top bar that could perhaps house a front-facing camera, microphone, and speaker. There's been some question on how Apple will handle the front-facing camera and mockup devices and renderings haven't offered a clear picture.
Some design renderings have shown a section at the top of the device similar to the front panel in this image, while others seem to feature a bar that extends fully across the top of the device.
The rear panel features a vertical dual-lens camera and a separate protruding lens component, with no rear Touch ID in sight, in line with rumors suggesting Apple has indeed figured out how to build Touch ID into the display of the device.
A second photo depicts the two alleged iPhone 8 components next to alleged components for the 4.7-inch iPhone 7s and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7s Plus, two devices that are rumored to be launching alongside the OLED iPhone 8. All three rear shells are said to be made from glass in order to support wireless charging, and that all three devices will get wireless charging is a rumor we've heard before from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
While these images are in line with many rumors that we're heard about Apple's upcoming devices, there's no way to verify their authenticity. They could very well be from a clone device or a dummy device created based on the iPhone 8 design leaks and rumors that have circulated.
Even if fake, these panels are based on supply chain information and rumors and do perhaps provide an idea of what actual iPhone 8 components might look like. Still, it's best to view these leaks with some skepticism until we begin to see more part leaks to corroborate the design.
Apple recently emailed Apple ID users with two-step verification enabled to inform them that, upon installing iOS 11 or macOS High Sierra, they will be automatically updated to its newer two-factor authentication method.
Apple introduced two-factor authentication in 2015 as an improved version of its two-step verification method for securing an Apple ID account with both a password and a secondary form of verification. Two-factor authentication requires an Apple device with iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, watchOS 2, any tvOS version, or later.
The two security methods are similar in many ways, but two-factor authentication automatically sends a six-digit verification code to all trusted devices registered to a given Apple ID, whereas two-step verification manually prompts users to send a four-digit code to any SMS-capable trusted device registered.
Two-factor authentication also displays a map on all trusted devices with an approximate location of where an Apple ID sign-in attempt occurred when a user is trying to access the account from an unknown device or on the web.
Apple's two-factor authentication method disables the Recovery Key by default, since offline verification codes can be generated on trusted devices in the Settings app. On iOS, users can still enable the Recovery Key as a backup method in Settings > Apple ID > Password & Security > Recovery Key.
The full text of the email is copied below:
If you install the iOS 11 or macOS High Sierra public betas this summer and meet the basic requirements, your Apple ID will be automatically updated to use two-factor authentication. This is our most advanced, easy-to-use account security, and it's required to use some of the latest features of iOS, macOS, and iCloud.
Once updated, you'll get the same extra layer of security you enjoy with two-step verification today, but with an even better user experience. Verification codes will be displayed on your trusted devices automatically whenever you sign in, and you will no longer need to keep a printed recovery key to make sure you can reset a forgotten password.
iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra public betas will be available in late June through the Apple Beta Software Program. The software updates will be available for all eligible iOS devices and Macs in the fall.
As Apple gears up to sell iPhones directly through its website in India later in 2017, the company's successful sale of older generation iPhones in the country has come to light in a new article by Bloomberg. Within India, Apple has let third-party resellers and shops -- including Amazon and Flipkart -- reduce prices for "retro model" iPhones, because Indian users are said to be willing to concede in performance and specs for a cheaper Apple-branded smartphone.
One of the older iPhones in question is the iPhone 5s, launched in 2013 and replaced by the iPhone SE three years later in 2016. One user in the country described purchasing an iPhone 5s for 20,400 rupees (about $300) at local reseller iPlanet, and Amazon even listed the 5s as low as 15,999 rupees during a sale in May. Right now in the U.S., the cheapest iPhone you can buy is a SIM-free iPhone SE for $399.
Last summer, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that iPhones are too expensive in India, saying he wants Indian customers "to be able to buy at a price that looks like the U.S. price." Now, it appears that potential iPhone users in India are being able to do that at even cheaper prices.
Now it’s letting stores and online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. and Flipkart Ltd. slash prices for retro models, a rare concession for a brand that carefully guards its high-end image
“It doesn’t bother me that it is several generations old,” says Varuni T.V., a business professor in India who teaches at a college in Hospet, a mining town six hours north of Bangalore. “It’s a good feeling to own an Apple phone.”
Apple shipped 2.6 million devices to India in 2016, and older iPhones accounted for about 55 percent of those devices. In addition to the iPhone 5s, the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 are said to be popular options at Indian retailers and online stores. The company is believed to be doubling down on this retro iPhone sales idea, hearing retailer pitches about cash-back offers, product exchanges, and monthly payment plans on iPhones, "all aimed at making it easier for young Indians to spend a month’s earnings or more on a 5S."
Additionally, Apple will hire "affordability managers" in India, who will negotiate with banks and other money lenders on behalf of potential iPhone buyers, focusing on customers in smaller towns with less of a track record in buying expensive smartphones. Apple's competition in the country is still steep, with Xiaomi and Oppo remaining the dominant forces in the Indian smartphone market.
Analysts remain hopeful for Apple's presence in India, thanks to the onset of iPhone SE production in the country in its Bangalore plant. Next, it's believed that Apple will attempt to begin individual component manufacturing for iPhone devices in India in order to continue establishing its foothold in the country.
Last week at WWDC, Apple announced a new feature coming to Apple Pay that will let iOS users pay one another directly within Messages, placing the funds in a new "Apple Pay Cash" card that can then be transferred to a bank account or spent anywhere Apple Pay is supported. In addition to current competitors in the peer-to-peer payments space, including Venmo and Square Cash, a coalition of five U.S. banks are this week launching support for a new P2P payments service that promises speedier fund deposits, and support coming from more banks in the future.
The service is called "Zelle," and it will be rolled into the apps and websites of the banks supporting it, which will begin with JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, and Capital One (via Reuters). Another two dozen banks and credit unions are predicted to join Zelle over the course of the next year. Zelle was originally announced last October.
Zelle's supporters are focusing on its ability to deposit funds "in minutes" into a friend's bank account, using only an email address or phone number, "because the banks are finally linking to each other." Apps like Venmo and Square Cash normally take up to one day to transfer money into a bank account, with potential for instant transfers available at additional costs.
The long-awaited network will allow tens of millions of bank customers to send money to each other instantly - known as person-to-person payments - with a few taps on their smartphones. That is an improvement over Venmo, which immediately alerts users that a money transfer is in progress, but takes time to shift funds between bank accounts.
"By coming together to offer Zelle, we are providing a large majority of Americans with a safe, fast and easy way to move money," said Bill Wallace, head of digital at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the biggest U.S. bank by assets.
Zelle was created by an industry consortium called Early Warning Services, whose CEO Paul Finch also cited payment service fragmentation as a major frustration for customers. Besides Venmo and Square Cash, even Facebook, Snapchat, and Google have their own peer-to-peer payments solutions, which Finch references as "inconsistent solutions."
“Fragmentation has been frustrating for consumers. Inconsistent experiences, have made it difficult to send and receive money between banks,” said Paul Finch, Chief Executive Officer, Early Warning Services. “Zelle unites the financial community behind a single, real-time P2P payments experience for millions of consumers. Together, we are removing friction from finance, allowing money to move seamlessly between accounts in minutes. This revolution in money movement will create for consumers a viable alternative to checks and cash.”
The banks supporting Zelle "are being careful not to confuse customers" with the introduction of another payments app, so it's said that a company like Chase will slowly introduce Zelle into its existing QuickPay app, calling it "QuickPay with Zelle." Later in 2017, Zelle will also allow customers with banks that don't connect with the service to use its instant payment features by pairing an upcoming Zelle app with a Visa or Mastercard debit account.
Zelle has a full list of banks and financial institutions launching support for the service, although it hasn't detailed which will be available first beyond the five banks mentioned today, and encourages users to check with their financial providers for more information.
Apple's own peer-to-peer payments solution will launch alongside iOS 11 this fall.
Apple shares are currently trading for around $143 after Monday's opening bell, around 3.5 percent lower than Friday's closing price of $148.98.
Apple CEO Tim Cook at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference last week
Apple's stock has dropped around 8 percent since reaching an all-time high of $156.10 on May 12, amid a wider downturn in the stock market. Technology stocks have been hit particularly hard, as some investment firms fear that stocks like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Alphabet in particular rose too quickly.
Japanese bank Mizuho downgraded Apple to a "hold" rating today, as analyst Abhey Lamba believes enthusiasm around the company's upcoming product cycle is "fully captured" at current levels, with limited upside to estimates from here on out. The bank lowered its AAPL price target to $150, down from $160.
Andy Hargreaves, equity research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, also downgraded Apple's stock last week. In a research note distributed to clients, he said excitement surrounding the so-called "iPhone 8" appeared to be "priced in," compounded by risks such as the potential for gross margin pressure.
Wall Street analyst Brian White of Drexel Hamilton believes otherwise, calling the recent dip in Apple's stock price another buying opportunity.
"In our view, Friday's sell-off in Apple represents yet another buying opportunity as investors turn their focus to the iPhone 8 this fall, along with the company's raised capital distribution initiative, depressed valuation, and new innovations," said White, in a research note distributed to clients on Monday.
"We continue to believe Apple remains among the most underappreciated stocks in the world," he added.
White said Apple shouldn't be compared to the likes of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, jointly called FANG, as the iPhone maker's stock has significantly underperformed against its rivals over the past five years.
"For example, the average 'FANG' stock is up 674 percent over the past five years compared to a 100 percent increase for Apple and a 84 percent rise for the S&P 500 Index," said White, in a note obtained by MacRumors. "Even Microsoft has outperformed Apple with a 175 percent increase during this time."
White said Apple has "demonstrated resilience" through its "unique ability" to develop hardware, software, and services that work seamlessly together, despite seemingly never-ending concerns that the iPhone maker will fall victim to the missteps of consumer electronic companies of the past.
During last week's keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced a number of additional features coming to Safari web browser as part of its new macOS High Sierra operating system, due to release in the fall.
Apple claims that in its current form Safari is the fastest web browser in macOS when compared with Chrome and Firefox, but it is promising even more speed and better power efficiency in High Sierra.
One of the most welcome new features that was announced at WWDC is Autoplay blocking. This prevents websites from playing video the moment you visit a page, which should make browsing a lot less infuriating. As of the High Sierra developer beta, the feature is enabled by default for all sites, but can be specified on a per site basis by the user.
Another new Safari feature that Apple is introducing is called Intelligent Tracking Prevention. (This appears in iOS 11 under the Safari setting "Try to Prevent Cross-Site Tracking".) Safari was one of the first browsers to include mechanisms that try to prevent cross-site tracking – blocking of third-party cookies is a default Safari behavior – but elaborate API methods have been employed to overtake those efforts in the intervening years.
Apple's own testing has found that popular websites can harbor more than 70 cross-site tracking and third-party cookie trackers that all silently collect data on users while making the browsing experience increasingly sluggish.
To solve this, Apple's new feature uses local machine learning to identify cookie types and partition them or purge the cross-site scripting data of suspect ad trackers, without affecting the functioning of helpful cookies like those containing localized data or login details, for example. The feature should increase user privacy as well as boost overall browsing speed.
Elsewhere in Safari, users will be able to specify a number of other web page settings on a per-site basis. For example, it will be possible to set a zoom level for a particular web page, as well as enable/disable notifications and content blockers, and set camera/microphone and location service privileges for a site so that they remain active the next time you visit.
In addition, Apple has added a new Reader Mode option that lets users automatically enter the stripped down easy-reading mode whenever they visit a website, enabling them to enjoy content without ads, navigation and other distractions as a default setting.
The new Safari will be available in the Public Beta of macOS High Sierra, which is expected to drop later this month. Eager users can also get a taste of the new features in the latest release of the Safari Technology Preview.
This summer, Minecraft: Pocket Edition on iOS [Direct Link] will gain a free update that plans to introduce cross-platform play between most devices that the popular survival crafting game is available on, including iOS and Android smartphones, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows 10 PC, and VR. So if you're playing on iPhone or iPad, you can still join in with a friend who only owns the game on Xbox One or PC.
Game developer Mojang said that it has always wanted to introduce a cross-platform feature, and promised that the new "Better Together Update" will bring a more consistent and unified version of Minecraft. This unification will extend into the game's subtitles, which are being nixed going forward, with Mojang explaining that Minecraft on iOS, Android, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and the VR version, will all simply be called "Minecraft."
A game all about teamwork, building together and creating communities shouldn't be restricted to one device, which is why our Better Together Update introduces cross-platform play, breaking down the barriers and letting people play the same complete Minecraft with each other across devices! We've wanted to integrate cross-platform for ages, essentially making a version of Minecraft that's consistent no matter what device you're choosing to play on.
Better Together will also introduce cross-platform DLC support, so that any extra content that's purchased on one device will be accessible on any of the devices supported by the new update. As Mojang explained in an example, "If you buy the Greek Mythology pack on Nintendo Switch, you’ll also own it on the mobile, Xbox One and Windows 10 Editions too - no extra charge."
iOS players will see the Better Together update in the App Store sometime this summer, and on Android and VR it'll be rolled out as a simple version update as well. On Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, Mojang will give players an entirely new version of the game for free, and promised that all existing worlds and DLC will carry over to the new version of Minecraft.
The Better Together Update will also include an in-game server browser on the main menu, and a "Super Duper Graphics Pack" will come later this fall with 4K HDR support and improved lighting, shadows, and water effects. For more news about the additions, which are coming out of E3 this week, check out Mojang's blog post here.
One week after Apple introduced the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro at the WWDC keynote in San Jose, California, reviews for the device have begun circulating online. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro has replaced the 9.7-inch device, offering a larger display with 40 percent smaller bezels, ProMotion display technology with refresh rates of up to 120Hz, a 12-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization, and more.
In its review, TechCrunch points out that the overall impressiveness of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is largely dependent upon the device running iOS 11 -- which includes an array of iPad-specific updates. Of course, the new software won't launch until the fall, well after the 10.5-inch iPad Pro arrives to first adopters this week, but TechCrunch called it an "amazing" iPad when it does run iOS 11, saying that, "It pays off years of setup in ways that come home when you see how well iOS 11 works."
Image via Engadget
Even without iOS 11 the site did enjoy the new screen size, noting that it hit the sweet spot in terms of tablet form factor, and going so far as to say that Apple may decide to drop the 12.9-inch iPad Pro at some point: "I'd expect to see all iPads at 10.5 inches at some point. It's just the right size." TechCrunch ultimately concluded that, with the debut of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, "the iPad is a full-fledged computer."
Science fiction movies and books have for decades displayed tablets as the future of mid-range computing. And it makes sense. In a world of artificial intelligence, greater mobility and voice-first systems, a keyboard feels stupid and archaic.
With the iPad Pro, especially when it’s armed with iOS 11, it’s beginning to feel possible to see Apple in this world. The combination of custom silicon, a still robust and specifically attuned software ecosystem and a focus on security, Apple has everything it needs to make a strong showing here.
Whether it leads to future growth of the category I don’t yet know – but this particular recipe is coming to maturity. The iPad is a full-fledged computer, and you can argue against it but you’re going to increasingly sound like an idiot.
One of Ars Technica's favorite additions to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is the device's screen and its refresh rate, which has been bumped up from 60Hz to 120Hz. Apple calls the technology behind the refresh rate bump "ProMotion," and it allows for overall smoother animations and motions on the iPad's display, creating a better user experience and reducing input lag. When the iPad doesn't need a full 120Hz refresh rate, it can dip to as low as 24Hz, "and pretty much anywhere in between," in order to save battery life.
As for how it is to use a 120Hz display, I can say that it’s undeniably slick and it makes animations and transitions look great; it’s also easier to read text and scroll simultaneously, since the “ghosting” effect you get at 60Hz is much-reduced. None of the display improvements that Apple has made post-Retina—an ever-longer list that now includes the DCI-P3 color gamut, True Tone, and ProMotion—have had quite as big an impact as those sharper screens did, but the 120Hz refresh rate comes close. The sooner this trickles outward to the iPhone and Apple’s various Macs, the better.
Ars Technica called the new display, "The best screen Apple ships," and hopes for Apple to soon introduce the technology into iPhone and Mac sometime in the future. The site also dove deep into performance tests of the new iPad Pro, noting that single-core performance was up 25 percent with the A10X chip, while multi-core performance improved by nearly 80 percent, "If you’re using an app that can hit all three of the high-performance CPU cores at once."
The Verge got between 8 and 9 hours of battery life on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, describing the tablet as a "stupendous device" that most people should probably not buy at launch. The site explained the expensive price point an iPad Pro becomes to turn it into a main computing device, including extra-cost accessories like Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard, and upping storage, while also continuing the theme of many reviews posted today about the new iPad: it's launching too early.
Now that we know that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is an impressive device and that we further know that iOS 11 is going to radically change how you use it, let’s get back to that value equation I mentioned earlier. Basically, should you buy it? The iPad Pro 10.5 presents a conundrum: it is a stupendous device that I firmly believe most people shouldn’t buy just yet.
If you’re going to spend that much money on an iPad, you should know exactly what you’re going to do with it that takes advantage of all the Pro features. There are people who are already doing that, but I don’t think the majority of computer users can be comfortable using an iPad as their main device. For those who can, go out and buy the hell out of this thing (unless you already have the iPad Pro 9.7).
For the rest of us, my advice is to hold out and see whether iOS 11 changes the calculus.
U.K. high street retailer John Lewis is currently offering three years' free guarantee on selected Apple gear including new MacBooks, iMacs, and iPads through its online store, potentially offering buyers £159 on equivalent AppleCare.
The offer extends to all listed Macs and iPads. For example, customers can today order a Space Grey 2017 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro with Intel Core i5, 8GBGB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 for £1,449 RRP, which includes the three-year guarantee at no extra cost, with an option for three years' Added Care (accidental damage cover) for £80.
Similarly, the retailer is offering a free three-year guarantee on a new Silver 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display, Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB Fusion Drive and Radeon Pro 570 GPU for £1,749 RRP, with three years' of accidental damage cover for £30. The site lists the new iMacs "Coming Soon", but this is likely just an oversight, since the Add to Basket option has been added and several listings claim more than 10 in stock.
Also included in the three-year guarantee offer are Apple's new range of iPad Pros, which the online store currently lists as out of stock as the retailer waits for them to become available to resellers later this month. Given that the offer is open until June 28, John Lewis is presumably confident of receiving the iPad Pros before then.
The retailer is also offering £50 off all iPhones when bought with an Apple Watch. A two-year guarantee is also included for both devices.
Note that configuration options are not available from John Lewis and all Macs are only available with the listed specifications. Equivalent three-year AppleCare from Apple costs £159. For more information on John Lewis inclusive guarantees, see here.
An investigation into App Store developer pay-outs has uncovered a scamming trend in which apps advertising fake services are making thousands of dollars a month from in-app purchases.
In a Medium article titled How to Make $80,000 Per Month on the Apple App Store, Johnny Lin describes how he discovered the practice, which works by manipulating search ads to promote dubious apps in the App Store and then preys on unsuspecting users via the in-app purchase mechanism.
I scrolled down the list in the Productivity category and saw apps from well-known companies like Dropbox, Evernote, and Microsoft. That was to be expected. But what's this? The #10 Top Grossing Productivity app (as of June 7th, 2017) was an app called "Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN".
Given the terrible title of this app (inconsistent capitalization, misplaced colon, and grammatically nonsensical "Clean & Security VPN?"), I was sure this was a bug in the rankings algorithm. So I check Sensor Tower for an estimate of the app's revenue, which showed… $80,000 per month?? That couldn't possibly be right. Now I was really curious.
To learn how this could be, Lin installed and ran the app, and was soon prompted to start a "free trial" for an "anti-virus scanner" (iOS does not need anti-virus software thanks to Apple's sandboxing rules for individual apps). Tapping on the trial offer then threw up a Touch ID authentication prompt containing the text "You will pay $99.99 for a 7-day subscription starting Jun 9, 2017".
Lin was one touch away from paying $400 a month for a non-existent service offered by a scammer.
It suddenly made a lot of sense how this app generates $80,000 a month. At $400/month per subscriber, it only needs to scam 200 people to make $80,000/month, or $960,000 a year. Of that amount, Apple takes 30%, or $288,000 — from just this one app.
Lin went on to explain how dishonorable developers are able to take advantage of Apple's App Store search ads product because there's no filtering or approval process involved. Not only that, ads look almost indistinguishable from real results in the store, while some ads take up the entire search result's first page.
Lin dug deeper and found several othersimilarapps making money off the same scam, suggesting a wider disturbing trend, with scam apps regularly showing up in the App Store's top grossing lists.
It's unclear at this point how these apps managed to make it onto the App Store in the first place given Apple's usually stringent approval process, or whether changes to the search ads system in iOS 11 will prevent this immoral practice from occurring in future. We'll be sure to update this article if we hear more from Apple.
In the meantime, users can contact Apple if they have concerns about an app they've already purchased, or report scam apps if they see them, by using the iTunes Connect Contact Us form. (Select "Feedback and Concerns" and "Report a Fraud Concern".) It's also worth informing less savvy friends of this scamming trend until something is done to eradicate it.
The official Apple Store app is currently offering free redeem codes for AirPano's City Book app, which lets iOS users explore bird's-eye view panoramas of 10 famous cities from around the world.
Each high-resolution cityscape consists of multiple connected spherical photo panoramas that users can rotate and zoom 360 degrees via touch or by physically moving their iPhone or iPad in the direction they want to look.
Tapping a circled dot on the skyline transports the user to another area of the city map, which can include views from the air, from the ground, and sometimes from inside famous landmarks, such as St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Alternatively, users can scroll horizontally through a panel of the various views at the bottom of the screen to skip between locales more quickly.
Cities contained in the book include New York, Paris, Barcelona, Dubai, Amsterdam, Singapore, Rome, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, and Moscow, with a short city guide accompanying each. The locations are best viewed on Retina iPads.
The AirPano team is a group of Russian enthusiasts, specializing in taking high-resolution aerial panoramas from helicopters, airplanes, blimps, hot-air balloons and drones. AirPano's panoramas are frequently published in leading journals and have earned multiple international photo awards. AirPano's Travel Book is available as an in-app purchase, with the Wonder Book listed as "coming soon".
To get the $2.99 app for free, download and open the Apple Store app, scroll down the Discover pane and then tap the Featured App "Exclusively for you". A link to the App Store should appear with the redeem code already filled in, allowing users to download AirPano City Book at no cost.
Note: MR forum members running iOS 11 beta couldn't get the redeem code to work.
Apple has posted a message on its regional Taiwan website to announce the imminent opening of its first official retail store in the country. The store is located in the Xinyi District, on the ground floor and basement level of Taipei 101, the fourth tallest skyscraper in the world.
A specific opening date for the store has not yet been provided by Apple, but Taiwanese site AppleDaily speculates it will be by the end of the month, and the wording on Apple's website suggests it can't be far away now. The text on the celebratory page roughly translates to the following:
Taiwan's first Apple Store will soon open in Taipei!
Apple Store - Taipei 101 will provide a space for people to experience Apple's full range of products and services; At the same time, for people to come together to create, share and learn.
Much like how Taiwanese often gather under trees, with a pot of tea, to exchange ideas, share fun, and be prepared for the next journey.
To celebrate the opening, we have invited Taiwanese paper cutting artists, Shih Yi Yan, incorporating the same "tree as a gathering place" theme, to create a large cutout artwork to showcase the beauty of gathering. We welcome everyone to visit the Apple Store when you get a chance.
AppleDaily has grabbed some shots of the hoarding currently concealing the store, which covers 1,322 square meters across two floors.
Image via AppleDaily
Last July, we reported that Apple had posted its first job listings for a Taiwan store, which was soon followed by confirmation of its plans to set up a retail outlet in the country.
Image via AppleDaily
Apple currently only markets products in Taiwan through third-party resellers and direct through its regional online store, so today's announcement should come as good news for Apple fans there.
The company has opened 495 retail stores across 17 countries, including 270 in the United States and 225 elsewhere, since May 2001. We'll let readers know of the Taipei store opening date as soon as we hear of it.
This week in iOS gaming was a littler quieter than usual, likely due to two things: WWDC, obviously, causes most other people in the Apple universe to avoid the week as news from Apple dominates everything. Secondly, the surprise launch of Monument Valley 2 likely had many iOS developers scrambling to push the release date of their games back.
In TouchArcade news, we posted our hundredth weekly Hearthstone roundup. Similar to these roundups on MacRumors, every Monday morning we pile together everything you need to know to follow along with what's been happening in Blizzard's remarkably popular World of Warcraft-themed collectable card game. The constantly evolving metagame, esports aspects, and much more have made Hearthstone a staple in our community.
As mentioned, the release of Monument Valley 2 dominated everything this week. Apple stealthily announced the game during the WWDC keynote on Monday when they showed the new layout of the App Store, then mentioned the game was available immediately. Amusingly enough, ustwo studio head Dan Gray mentioned on Twitter that the game was actually available for download the week prior, but no one knew the magic URL.
Ustwo also posted part one of a behind the scenes series showing both the people and the studio behind the game. There's loads of great looks at different aspects of the art in the game as well as discussions surrounding the evolution of the story in the series along with the addition of the mother and daughter characters.
Monument Valley 2 also hit #1 on the iTunes charts much faster than the original Monument Valley. I'm not sure it's much of a surprise, given the success and popularity of the original, along with the absolutely ridiculous level of featuring it got from Apple. On launch day, Monument Valley 2 took over nearly every feature slot available on the App Store- A push we haven't seen since the launch of Supercell's Clash Royale.
In other iOS gaming news, Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy had its second episode hit the App Store. If you've never played a Telltale game, they're really worth checking out. The Walking Dead is what put them on the map, but over the last few years they've released interactive story games that cover loads of popular IP ranging from Game of Thrones to Borderlands. Modern Telltale games play like a highly cinematic Choose Your Own Adventure book, and many of the first episodes of their games are available for free.
On Wednesday, the Apple Design Award winners were made public, and we've got an article digging into the five games that won. What had us raising our eyebrows this year was that two of the five games were not mobile-first titles. Mushroom 11 launched on Steam first, and Severed started its life as a PS Vita exclusive. Both are fantastic on iOS, however, and those two games as well as the other three winners, Blackbox, Splitter Critters, and Old Man's Journey are all must-haves.
If you're looking for something else to download this week, Xigma Games' Super Nano Jumpers was also released. We've seen tons of developers attempt to take a stab at the Super Meatboy tough-as-nails platformer genre, but this is among the best. Your character runs automatically, and instead of complicated virtual controls, you have two forms of input: Being able to stop, and jumping. The interesting twist is you can even stop in the air. It sounds strange, but it works incredibly well.
While details on the game itself are few and far between, alpha footage of GRID Autosport for mobile was released this week. This racing game looks shockingly similar to its console counterpart, and if nothing else, serves as an incredible example of how far mobile games have come since the launch of the App Store in 2008. We're keeping a close eye on this, and expect to hear more information when we get closer to launch this fall.
Last, but not least, is an interesting change to the wording of the App Store Review guidelines. way back in 2014, Apple suddenly decided to stop approving apps that incentivized viewing video ads for gameplay bonuses. Developers (and gamers) rapidly responded, and Apple relented. This new wording has loads of developers trying to figure out once again where in-game advertising lies going forward on the App Store. Given how many games rely on ads now, this is going to be a fascinating story to follow as it develops.
That's about it for this week! If you're interested in more news, reviews, and other things that pertain to iOS gaming, be sure to visit TouchArcade. We also stream iOS games on Twitch, and our channel is a great place to get a look at the latest and greatest iOS game releases in action.
Apple revealed more details of its new Business Chat feature for iMessage at a WWDC developer preview on Friday. Coming in iOS 11, Business Chat allows real customer service representatives to communicate directly with users, making the feature separate from existing AI chat bot systems.
Users send the first message to start a Business Chat conversation by tapping Message icons that appear beside the names of businesses in Spotlight searches, Siri, and Maps, or by scanning a relevant QR code with their phone's camera. These actions switch them into the Messages app, where the business can offer products for sale, provide appointment scheduling options, and send notifications to customers in the related chat thread, among other services.
In addition to connecting the user with a business, the Message icons or QR codes can carry specific information that links the user with a particular geographic location, or a related product or service, and can even provide the customer service representative with the user's first language and any existing customer account details, including past orders and security questions.
To further the conversation, Siri's predictive text bar above the onscreen keyboard can offer up personal details like phone numbers or addresses to the user in case they want to share the information with the business. Elsewhere, a new Time Picker feature in Business Chat makes it easy for customers to select appointment times, while a List Picker lets users choose sale items, like clothes or groceries, with Apple Pay on hand as a convenient payment method.
To help businesses assist customers, Apple is also letting them build their own custom iMessage App extensions. One demonstration given on stage was of an airline seat selector app that allowed the user to tap where they wanted to sit in the cabin when booking a flight.
Crucially, businesses can only send notifications to users who have already initiated contact, and the customer can choose to turn off notifications of incoming messages, delete the chat thread entirely, or simply block the company from communicating with them outright.
Businesses with a Customer Service Platform (CSP) can register for Business Chat. Genesys, LivePerson, Nuance, and Salesforce CSPs are currently supported by Apple.
Business Chat is set to compete with similar services offered by the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Skype, but Apple has the distinct advantage of offering it as a native feature in iOS 11, which will eventually come pre-installed on new devices and will likely enjoy a high adoption rate by millions of existing users when it is released in the fall.
During last week's keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced a number of additional features coming to Safari web browser as part of its new macOS High Sierra operating system, due to release in the fall. 
