MacRumors

Twitter is not concerned about the upcoming ad tracking changes that Apple plans to implement in iOS 14.5, Twitter CFO Ned Segal said today at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference.

Segal said that Twitter does not heavily rely on the device ID or IDFA, which is what Apple will be restricting through a new prompt that will require developers to get user permission before the IDFA can be used for ad tracking purposes.

We look at the unique signal that Twitter has with a growing audience, with better formats and more relevance and the ability to better leverage that signal, much of which isn't tied to a device ID. We feel really good about our ability to leverage that combination.

Segal went on to explain that he expects Apple's IDFA restrictions to "level the playing field." Other companies have been better at leveraging the data made available to them, but now everyone will have the same challenges to face, giving Twitter an opportunity to better compete with giants like Facebook.

We're in an industry where many were much better than Twitter historically at leveraging all of the data that was available to them, from the device ID to what people were doing on other websites. When we all have the same set of new challenges that we have to face, leveling the playing field will be a really interesting impact on the broader industry.

Twitter plans to wait rather than immediately ask its users if they want to opt into IDFA tracking through a popup. "We don't want to be in a rush around IDFA," said Segal, explaining that app developers only get one chance to ask for access to the device ID. "You want to ask in a really thoughtful way" and "take time to learn" before you "ask a question like that," he said.

Apple's App Tracking Transparency changes are baked into iOS 14 and are implemented now, but starting in iOS 14.5, Apple will enforce the rules. All app developers will need to ask permission before using the IDFA to track a user across websites and apps, and if a user declines, developers must respect that choice and not engage in other cross-app tracking methods.

Facebook has been fighting Apple's planned privacy changes and claims that small businesses will be unfairly impacted, but Apple has not budged on plans to implement the IDFA prompt and Facebook and other developers will be forced to use it following the launch of iOS 14.5 in the spring.

With the world largely shut down in June 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic, Apple held its 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference digitally for the first time, allowing developers from all over the world to attend for free.

Apple's digital WWDC was a success, with the company offering online labs, developer sessions, and more, and the digital format continued for the rest of Apple's 2020 events.

Prior to when Apple cancelled the in-person component of WWDC 2020 and opted for a digital event, other major events were forced to cancel ahead of time, including E3, NAB, and others, giving us insight into Apple's plans at the time.

While there's now a vaccine, it does not appear that there will be a path to a large in-person event by the time June 2021 rolls around. As The Verge points out, San Diego Comic Con, Anime Expo, and E3 have all decided not to host physical events this year. Comic Con and Anime Expo are July events and often take place after WWDC, while E3 is a June event.

For those who were hoping that things might be back to normal enough to allow for a traditional WWDC event, 2021 will not be the year that happens, and Apple is likely to once again go with the same digital format that it used last year.

In many ways, Apple's digital format is more accessible because no one has to pay $1,599 for a ticket or travel to San Jose, California for the event itself, so it's quite possible that the digital format will continue on in some way even when physical gatherings are once again possible in the future.

It will probably be some time yet before we hear about Apple's official WWDC plans. Apple last year in March announced that WWDC would be a digital-only event, but it's not clear if we'll get the same early heads up this year. WWDC info last year went out on May 5, so we could see a similar timeline this year.

Designer Dustin Curtis yesterday shared a story about an unusual series of events that led to him missing an Apple Card payment and Apple then opting to freeze his Apple ID, leading to fears that missing an ‌Apple Card‌ payment could cause Apple to lock an ‌Apple ID‌.

In a statement provided today to 9to5Mac, Apple said that's not the case and clarified what had happened in Curtis' specific situation.

We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience we may have caused for this customer. The issue in question involved a restriction on the customer's Apple ID that disabled App Store and iTunes purchases and subscription services, excluding iCloud. Apple provided an instant credit for the purchase of a new MacBook Pro, and as part of that agreement, the customer was to return their current unit to us. No matter what payment method was used, the ability to transact on the associated Apple ID was disabled because Apple could not collect funds. This is entirely unrelated to Apple Card.

Apple Card and the ‌Apple ID‌ are not linked in a way that would allow the ‌Apple ID‌ to be disabled in the event of a missed payment, and there was a trade-in issue that led to Curtis' problem. He purchased an M1 Mac and at that time, opted to trade-in an older Mac, getting an instant discount.

Curtis says that Apple did not send him the trade-in box for his older Mac and he forgot about it, so he essentially got the trade-in discount without providing the Mac back to Apple. He overlooked several emails from Apple and investigated only when his ‌Apple ID‌ became locked.

The ‌Apple Card‌ was involved because Curtis made the purchase with an ‌Apple Card‌, but when Apple went to charge Curtis for the full amount of the ‌M1‌ Mac, it could not get payment, leading to the ‌Apple ID‌ freeze.

Apple will freeze an ‌Apple ID‌ for a trade-in that goes south. In this case, Curtis received a discount on his ‌M1‌ Mac without sending in his older Mac, and because Apple was unable to collect the full payment for the ‌M1‌ Mac, the ‌Apple ID‌ was restricted until Curtis paid in full.

Customers who have an ‌Apple Card‌ and miss a payment do not need to worry about having their Apple IDs frozen in the same manner.

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 14.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta software coming two weeks after Apple released the second tvOS 14.5 beta.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV, the tvOS 14.5 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ via a profile that's installed using Xcode.

tvOS 14.5 brings support for the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers, which can be used to play games from the tvOS App Store and Apple Arcade.

Support for the new controllers has also been included in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, so the latest gaming controller options from Sony and Microsoft are now compatible with Apple's product lineup.

We don't yet know if there's anything else included in tvOS 14.5 in terms of features because tvOS updates are often minor in scale, but the release of tvOS will see Apple begin enforcing its new App Tracking Transparency rules, with developers now required to ask for and receive a user's permission to access their random advertising identifier (known as the IDFA) to track user activity across apps and websites for ad customization purposes.

Going forward, when an app wants to access a person's advertising identifier on tvOS, users will have a prompt with options to "Allow Tracking" or "Ask App Not to Track." Selecting "Ask App Not to Track" will prevent the app's developer from accessing the user's IDFA, and developers will also have to respect the user's tracking preference and refrain from using other invasive cross-app tracking methods.

The main tvOS 14 update released in September brought expanded Picture in Picture support, new HomeKit integration with HomeKit Secure Video cameras, support for multiple ‌Apple Arcade‌ profiles, and more, with details available in our tvOS 14 roundup.

As of today, YouTube has stopped supporting the YouTube app on third-generation Apple TV models, which means the YouTube channel is no longer available as a native option for watching YouTube on this ‌Apple TV‌ model.

Now that the app is defunct, third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ users will need to AirPlay YouTube content from a compatible Apple device like an iPhone or iPad to watch YouTube on the big screen.

The app's removal is limited to the third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ models. YouTube stopped supporting the second-generation ‌Apple TV‌ models back in 2015. The fourth and fifth-generation ‌Apple TV‌ models are not impacted as they have access to the tvOS App Store and the tvOS YouTube app.

• How to Watch YouTube on a Third-Generation Apple TV

Various app developers have slowly been phasing out support for the third-generation ‌Apple TV‌. In May 2020, HBO's apps were removed, and last week, the MLB app was pulled.

Those who have a third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ that are thinking of upgrading might want to hold off, as there is a refresh rumored to be coming later this year.

The new ‌Apple TV‌ is expected to feature a faster processor and more storage space, plus there could be a new remote control and U1 chip integration to allow it to better interface with other Apple devices. There could also be a gaming focus, with Apple rumored to be working on hardware that would support console-level games.

Apple this week introduced a new service that's designed to make it quick and easy for iCloud users to transfer their stored photos and videos to Google Photos.

As outlined in an Apple support document, you can go to Apple's privacy website and sign in to see the "Transfer a copy of your data" option. If you select this and go through all the steps, Apple will transfer your ‌iCloud‌ photos and videos to Google ‌Photos‌.

Transferring photos and videos from iCloud Photos does not remove the content you have stored with Apple, but it provides a backup method and stores a copy of the content on Google ‌Photos‌.

The transfer process takes between three and seven days, with Apple verifying that the request was made by you. To do the transfer, you must have two-factor authentication turned on for your Apple ID account and you must have a Google ‌Photos‌ account with enough storage to complete the transfer.

Smart Albums, Live Photos, photo stream content, some metadata, and some RAW photos are not able to be transferred, but formats including .jpg, .png, .webp, .gif, some RAW files, .mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v, .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts, and .mkv are compatible.

Only the most recent edit of a photo is transferred rather than the original version, and duplicates appear as just one photo. Images are transferred in their albums whenever possible, but videos are transferred separately.

Apple's transfer service is available to customers in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States at this time.

The Arizona House of Representatives today passed HB2005, a state bill that would provide developers with an alternative to Google and Apple's in-app purchase options by allowing developers to use their own payment solutions within apps.

Last week, the Arizona House Committee advanced the bill, and now it has also been approved by the House of Representatives. It will next be heard by the Arizona Senate.

In a hearing last week, Apple chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer called HB2005 a "government mandate that Apple give away the App Store."

"This would allow billion-dollar developers to take all of the app store's value for free, even if they're selling digital goods, even if they're making millions or billions of dollars doing it. The bill is a government mandate that Apple give away the app store."

Apple last month successfully fought back against a similar bill in North Dakota, which would have paved the way for third-party app store options.

Like the North Dakota bill, the Arizona bill was backed by the Coalition for App Fairness, a group that includes companies like Epic Games, Spotify, Basecamp, and Tile, all of whom have had significant issues with Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules. There's a similar bill in Minnesota that Apple is also battling against.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.

When the iPhone first launched in 2007, then Apple CEO Steve Jobs had no plans to allow developers to create native apps for the ‌iPhone‌, instead suggesting they rely on web apps. Developers weren't happy with the decision, and by October 2007, Apple decided that it would make a software developer kit and a full App Store available to developers by February 2008.

In the lead up to the launch of native ‌iPhone‌ apps, popular music streaming app Pandora was growing rapidly and was eager to be the first to get an app on the ‌iPhone‌ by any means necessary, according to an in-depth look at Pandora's history shared today by Vice's Tyler Hayes.

Ahead of the ‌iPhone‌'s debut, Pandora had been working to get its streaming radio service on flip phones with carriers like Sprint and AT&T, an effort that wasn't particularly successful. Once the ‌iPhone‌ was announced, Pandora knew it was the new big "music player" device and the company's mobile development resources needed to be focused on the ‌iPhone‌.

Then Apple Senior Vice President Scott Forstall invited Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren and his CTO, Tom Conrad, to lunch in Cupertino. After an hours-long talk over what Pandora had learned putting streaming audio apps on flip phones, Conrad asked Forstall what Pandora could do to get a head start on a mobile app. Forstall's response was surprising - jailbreak an ‌iPhone‌.

"What, if anything, can we do at Pandora to get ready for the next generation of iPhone that includes an app store and native APIs?" asked Conrad. "Forstall said, it wouldn't be a waste of your time to jailbreak some iPhones and use the kind of back door toolkits that were being distributed by other people to build a native Pandora app while we get our act together at Apple on something more formal."

Pandora's engineers did just what Forstall suggested, jailbreaking a series of iPhones and getting to work on a Pandora ‌iPhone‌ app ahead of when Apple released official support for native apps. When the ‌App Store‌ launched in 2008, Pandora was the first radio app that was available, and the work paid off - nine months later, Pandora was installed on 21 percent of iPhones.

The full Vice piece from Tyler Hayes is well worth a read for those who are interested in Pandora's early days, early battles over royalty rates, and its efforts to remain relevant as music services like Spotify and Apple Music dominate the market.

Apple today seeded the third betas of new iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 updates to public beta testers, with the new betas coming two weeks after the release of the second betas and just a day after Apple provided the third beta software to developers.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS and iPadOS‌ 14.5 updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website on an iOS device.

iOS 14.5 adds a new feature that lets you unlock your iPhone with your Apple Watch when you're wearing a mask, alleviating the need to use a passcode to get into an ‌iPhone‌ with Face ID when you have a mask on. Using this feature requires both iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4, and it is opt-in. It can be activated in the Settings app under ‌Face ID‌ & Passcode.

Dual-SIM 5G support is now available globally on ‌iPhone‌ 12 devices, so if you have more than one phone number associated with your ‌iPhone‌, both lines can now take advantage of 5G networks. Previously, Dual-SIM functionality was limited to LTE in all countries except for China.

With iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and watchOS 7.4, AirPlay 2 support is available for Apple Fitness+, which lets a workout played on the ‌iPhone‌ or the iPad to be AirPlayed to an ‌AirPlay‌ 2-compatible smart TV or set-top box.

The latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers are compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌iPad‌ after updating, and there's a new feature that lets Siri make an emergency call for you.

iOS 14.5 includes a Waze-like crowdsourcing feature for reporting accidents, hazards, and speed checks along a route in Maps when getting directions.

There's a new "Report" button available in the Apple Maps app that lets you tap to report an accident, hazard, or speed trap at your location in the ‌Apple Maps‌ app, which is a feature that mapping app Waze offers. This is available directly on the ‌iPhone‌ and in CarPlay.

iOS and iPadOS 14.5 add a new feature for choosing a default streaming music service to use with ‌Siri‌. So if you prefer Spotify over Apple Music, for example, you can now choose Spotify as the default app to use with ‌Siri‌ and all ‌Siri‌ song requests will go through Spotify without the need to add "on Spotify" to the end of ‌Siri‌ requests.

Though not in the update as of yet, iOS 14.5 has code that suggests Apple is adding Family Sharing functionality for the Apple Card, allowing multiple users to share a single card. iOS 14.5 is the update where Apple will officially enable App Tracking Transparency, so developers will need to ask for and receive a user's permission to track their activity across apps and websites for ad targeting purposes.

There are new emoji characters, new Shortcuts, ‌Apple Music‌ tweaks, and more, with a full list of changes coming in iOS 14.5 available in our iOS 14.5 guide.

The iOS 14.5 beta addresses the green tint issue that some ‌iPhone‌ owners have been experiencing, with Apple confirming that the beta has "optimizations" to help with the issue.

"iOS and iPadOS 14.5 beta 2 includes an optimization to reduce the appearance of a dim glow that might appear at reduced brightness levels with black backgrounds," reads Apple's iOS 14.5 beta notes.

Some ‌iPhone‌ 11 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 models exhibit a gray or green glow when viewing black backgrounds, an issue that Apple said it was investigating back in November. For some users, there are improvements thanks to the optimizations, but for others, the issue still appears to exist, so Apple may have some further work to do.

Apple has said that iOS 14.5 will be released to the public in the early spring, so we can expect to see a launch at some point in March, with the spring season officially starting on March 20. Apple has also seeded a new beta of tvOS 14.5 to fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV users who are signed up for the public beta.

Apple today seeded the third public beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming two weeks after the second public beta and a day after Apple provided the third beta to developers.

Public beta testers can download ‌macOS Big Sur‌ 11.3 from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website. Those who want to test the update can sign up on Apple's site.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 brings new customization options for Safari, adding a way to rearrange the different sections on the Start Page like Favorites, Reading List, Siri Suggestions, Privacy Report, and more. Developers also have access to a new integration to develop features for the Start Page.

The update includes optimizations for using iOS apps on M1 Macs. When running iPhone and iPad apps on ‌M1‌ Macs, there's a Touch Alternatives preference pane to set keyboard commands for touch input alternatives, plus iPadOS apps launch with a larger window if the Mac's display allows for it. Touch Alternatives can be enabled for ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ apps by clicking on the app's name in the menu bar and then selecting the Preferences option. Touch Alternatives let you customize taps, swipes, and drags with keyboard commands.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 adds support for the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X/S controllers for use with macOS games.

In the Reminders app, reminder lists can be sorted by Due Date, Creation Date, Priority, or Title, and there is an option to print lists by going to File > Print. Reminders can also be moved manually across lists with drag and drop, something that wasn't possible before.

Apple added a new "Made For You" library shortcut in Apple Music for finding personal mixes and Replay playlists, and the Listen Now section has been updated with support for highlighting live events.

There's also a new autoplay feature in the ‌Apple Music‌ app that lets the streaming service to continue to play music after a playlist or music queue ends. ‌Apple Music‌ sources music similar to what's in a person's ‌Apple Music‌ library, with the feature mimicking the autoplay option added to ‌Apple Music‌ in iOS 14.

With autoplay enabled, ‌Apple Music‌ audio will not end even after a playlist or album is over. To check that it's on, play a playlist or album and then click on the three dot/line menu button in the upper right hand corner. From there, make sure the infinity symbol is toggled on.

In the Apple News app, there's a redesigned ‌Apple News‌+ tab with a dedicated "For You" section and a new Browse tab that makes it easier to browse through available content. The new For You section is designed to help ‌Apple News‌+ users find favorite magazines and newspapers much faster, plus it adds new tools for managing downloaded issues.

There's an updated "Support" interface when accessing "About This Mac." The new design includes details on your warranty and it allows for starting a repair right from the Mac interface.

macOS Big Sur 11.3 adds support for HomePod Stereo pairs, allowing a set of paired HomePods to be set as the default sound output option, with the two HomePods showing up as a single selectable speaker rather than separate as in prior versions of macOS.

Code in the update suggests that the Optimized Battery Charging feature will now make sure the Mac's battery is fully charged before a scheduled calendar event. The Mac will charge to 100 percent three hours before a calendar event's start time.

Optimized Battery Charging is designed to preserve the lifespan of the Mac's battery by limiting the amount of time that a Mac sits at 100 percent battery.

In Safari, there's support for WebM video playback, allowing users to play WebM videos using Apple's browser. WebM is a niche video format designed to be a royalty-free alternative to the H.264 codec used in the MP4 format. WebM allows video files to remain small without sacrificing quality and can be played with little processing power, making it ideal for webpages and browsers.

Code in found in the third macOS Big Sur 11.3 beta suggests that Rosetta could be removed from some ‌M1‌ Macs in some select regions after the software is released. There's a mention that "Rosetta is no longer available in this region. Applications requiring Rosetta will no longer run," but no additional information is available at this time.

There are also appear to be new assets that suggest a feature for mapping game controller buttons to keyboard layouts, and there's a Game Center toggle to enable or disable connections with friends, which lets games set you up with your friends or prevents apps from accessing that info.

More on macOS Big Sur can be found in our macOS Big Sur roundup. The software is expected to see a release this spring.

Netflix has today announced the launch of its "Fast Laughs" feature, available now in the video streaming service's iOS app (via iPhone in Canada).

Fast Laughs offer "a full-screen feed of funny clips from our big comedy catalog including films, series and stand-up from comedians like Kevin Hart and Ali Wong," according to Netflix director of product innovation Patrick Flemming. Netflix says that the mobile-only section will provide up to 100 new curated clips per day.

To access the feature, users will find a new "Fast Laughs" tab in the Netflix app. Clips will auto-play and the feed effectively resembles TikTok with vertical scrolling. The view includes a "LOL" button, which releases a burst of "Face with Tears of Joy" emojis when tapped.

Netflix users can customize their Fast Laughs feed by adding series, films, and stand-up specials to their lists. Individual clips from Fast Laughs can also be easily shared via iMessage, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and more.

Fast Laughs acts as an entry point to begin watching a comedy show immediately, but it also functions as a destination to watch standalone entertaining moments. The Fast Laughs feature is unavailable on Netflix kids' profiles, and users are able to filter displayed content based on their set maturity level.

Fast Laughs is available now for users in English-speaking countries such as the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, and Ireland. The feature is also expected to come to the Netflix app for Android at some point in the future.

WhatsApp is testing the ability for images within chats to self-destruct, allowing the receiver to only view images once, without the ability to save them to their device.

Screenshots shared by WABetaInfo, who frequently leaks and reports on WhatsApp's plans and upcoming features, show an interface in which the sender can choose an image to self-destruct. If an image is chosen to self-destruct, the receiver will have a one-time chance to view it and not be able to save or export the image to their device.

WABetaInfo says that WhatsApp has not implemented screenshot detection, which would alert the sender if a screenshot of the self-destructing photo was taken. WhatsApp's approach to the feature is similar to Instagram Direct stories, in which case an image or video is only viewable once before it expires. Other popular messaging apps such as Telegram have already included self-destructing images for some time.

The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, expected later this year, will feature an improved ultra-wide lens with the additions of sensor-shift image stabilization and autofocus, according to sources cited by DigiTimes.

The iPhone 12 Pro features standard dual optical image stabilization for the Wide and Telephoto lens. On the other hand, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the first ‌iPhone‌ to include sensor-shift optical image stabilization for its Wide lens. Sensor-shift optical image stabilization shifts the sensor itself instead of the lens, resulting in a sharper image with better image quality.

According to DigiTimes, Apple will include sensor-shift OIS for both the Wide and Ultra Wide lens on the ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro Max. An earlier report suggested that Apple will also bring the Wide lens with sensor-shift OIS to the remaining models in the lineup. The new lenses will also include autofocus, according to the report.

In November of last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that the Ultra Wide lens for the ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro models willalso benefit from a wider ƒ/1.8 aperture, compared to ƒ/2.4 on ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro models. The ‌iPhone 13‌ lineup is expected to consist of four models, all benefiting from a LiDAR Scanner, a 120Hz ProMotion display, and more.