Tim Hardwick
Tim is a Contributing Editor at MacRumors. His writing has appeared in over 30 newsstand print and online publications covering a range of topics. Originally from Liverpool, England, Tim can sometimes be found accessing a personal wi-fi hotspot on the Yorkshire Moors.
Tim Hardwick's Articles
Apple Maps Transit Directions Now Live for Hong Kong Residents, Apple Pay Octopus Officially Launches
Apple has updated its Maps app to include real time transit directions and data for Hong Kong residents. Image credit: @HappyETwmc From today, local Apple Maps users can search for metro train stations, bus routes and ferry piers, and get real time transit information for services. The only limitation appears to be a lack of indoor station mapping.
The metropolitan area is one location in ...
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Apple Music Joins Music Industry's Blackout Tuesday Awareness Campaign
Apple Music has cancelled its Beats 1 radio schedule for Blackout Tuesday and is suggesting that listeners tune in to a radio stream celebrating the best in black music.
Blackout Tuesday is a campaign organized by the music industry to support Black Lives Matter after Minneapolis citizen George Floyd was killed by police in the course of his arrest. On launching Apple Music, many users...
Zoom Developing End-to-End Encryption Feature for Paying Users
Videoconferencing service Zoom says it is developing end-to-end encryption for the platform, but the feature will only be available to paying users.
Speaking to Reuters, Zoom security consultant Alex Stamos confirmed the plan, which had been based on "a combination of technological, safety and business factors."
Zoom has attracted millions of free and paying customers amid the global...
6.1-inch 'iPhone 12' Production to Begin in July Ahead of Other 2020 Models
Volume production of Apple's forthcoming 6.1-inch "iPhone 12" models will start in July-August ahead of the rest of the company's flagship iPhone lineup this year, according to a new report by DigiTimes.
Apple is widely rumored to be launching four new iPhone models in the usual September or October timeframe, although supply constraints and delays in production ramp-up could cause a...
Report: Apple Investing $330 Million in Taiwanese Factory Where MicroLED Display Development Will Be 'Top Priority'
Apple is reportedly weighing up a $330 million investment in a Taiwanese factory to manufacture both LED and MicroLED displays for future iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other devices. According to Taiwan Sourcing Service Provider (CENS), Apple is teaming up on the new factory with LED producer Epistar and LCD panel maker AU Optronics. Apple is teaming up on the new factory with Epistar,...
Leaker Suggests MicroLED Apple Watch Not Coming This Year
The Apple Watch Series 6 will feature an OLED screen like previous models, according to a leaker of upcoming Apple products, suggesting the company isn't quite ready to use its in-house MicroLED display technology in consumer products. Apple reportedly has a secret manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, California where it is designing and producing test samples of displays that use...
How to Turn Off Moving Faces in Group FaceTime on Mac
In macOS Catalina 10.15.5, Apple introduced a new Group FaceTime feature that disables the option that automatically enlarges the tile of the person who is speaking.
By default, FaceTime has a dynamic view with a tile for each person. The person who is speaking at the current time has a larger tile, while tiles for people who are not talking fade into the background. Apple refers to this as A...
How to Record a FaceTime Call on Your Mac
If you use FaceTime on Mac to keep in touch with friends and family when you can't be with them, don't forget that you can use the Screen Recording feature in macOS to preserve those special moments. The following steps show you how it's done.
How to Record a FaceTime Call in macOS
Launch FaceTime on your Mac and initiate a FaceTime call.
Let the person on the other end of the call know...
How to Use Pinned Tabs in Safari Browser on Mac
In macOS, Safari's pinned tabs feature lets you better organize your tabs, especially if find you have too many open at the same time. It's particularly useful if you have certain websites that you tend to visit frequently throughout the day.
The neat thing about pinned tabs is that they stay in place, even when you open a new Safari window or quit and reopen Safari. And when you click a link...
Apple Asks LG Display for Urgent Supply of LCD Panels to Meet iPad Demand in Asia
Apple has asked LG Display to urgently supply LCD panels for iPads, following a surge in orders for tablet PCs and laptop monitors in the wake of the global health crisis, reports Business Korea.
Apple has recently asked LG Display to supply LCD panels for the iPad fast. LG Display is expected to start supplying them as early as June by operating the production lines at full throttle.Apple...
Tile Writes to EU Accusing Apple of Abuse of Power
Bluetooth accessory maker Tile has written to the European Union accusing Apple of abuse of power and of illegally favoring its own products.
According to a report by Financial Times, in a letter sent on Tuesday to the European Commissioner for Competition, the accessory maker said that Apple is making it harder for users to use Tile products on iPhone because it has its own rival Find My...
YouTube Rolls Out 'Chapters' Feature to Mark Specific Content in a Video
YouTube is rolling out a new Chapters feature across mobile and web that should make searching through a video for specific content a lot less annoying.
One of the frustrating things about YouTube is having to scrub through long videos and stopping and starting playback to find the content that interests you. Until now, users had to rely on considerate YouTubers adding a list of timestamps...
Apple Maintains Supremacy in Wearables Market With 21.2 Million Units Shipped in Q1 2020
Apple maintained its consummate lead in the global wearable products market in the first quarter of this year, based on research conducted by IDC.
According to the report, Apple's lot grew by 13.3 million units, or 59.9 percent year on year, handing it a 23.7 percent share of the market.
Despite difficulties in the supply chain for Apple Watch, the company saw strong results thanks to its ...
Twitter Enables Scheduled Tweets in Web App
Twitter says it has added the ability to schedule tweets using its web interface, suggesting the same option could eventually make it to the platform's iOS app.
Previously, users who wanted to schedule tweets have had to use third-party apps like Buffer and TweetDeck. Now they can do so in Twitter's native web app, via a calendar icon on the bottom of the compose window.
In addition, users...
How to Install the New Free Mac Fonts in macOS Catalina
Apple recently bought licenses for several new fonts in macOS Catalina. But given they're an optional download, you might not even be aware that you can access them for free.
Reported by Typography.Guru, the new system fonts were licensed from type foundries including Commercial Type, Klim Type Foundry and Mark Simonson Studio. To view and install the optional fonts, follow these steps.
Inst...
Netatmo Announces HomeKit-Compatible Smart Outdoor Camera with Siren
French accessory maker Netatmo has announced an Apple HomeKit compatible Smart Outdoor Camera with Siren.
The new camera is an updated version of Netatmo's Presence Camera, which came with a large floodlight. The built-in 105 db siren this time around provides even more reason to discourage intruders onto property.
The camera also features infrared night vision, which can trigger the...
APFS Bug in macOS 10.15.5 Catalina Impacts the Creation of Bootable Backups
An Apple File System bug has been discovered in macOS 10.15.5 Catalina that can prevent users from making a bootable clone of their system drive, according to the creator of Carbon Copy Cloner.
In a blog post on Wednesday, software developer Mike Bombich explained that the CCC team had uncovered the issue in the Apple File System, or APFS, when attempting to create a bootable backup in a...
Heart Analyzer App Gains New Dashboard, Revamped Interface, Dark Mode, and More
Version 8 of Heart Analyzer has been released, bringing a new dashboard, a revamped interface, a dark mode, and more data to iOS users.
Following version 7's big update last year, the developer has spent seven months rewriting much of the app using Apple's SwiftUI framework, and it now has new interfaces throughout, including a refined Apple Watch experience with more precise Infograph...
Apple Acquires Machine Learning Startup Inductiv to Improve Siri
Apple has bought Inductiv Inc., a Canada-based machine learning startup, to work on Siri, machine learning and data science, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
The engineering team from Waterloo, Ontario-based Inductiv joined Apple in recent weeks to work on Siri, machine learning and data science. Apple confirmed the deal, saying it "buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we...
Facebook Launches 'Catchup' Audio Calling App
Facebook is testing a new app that's designed to help friends and families in the U.S. to coordinate phone calls or set up group calls with up to eight people.
"Catchup," built by Facebook's internal R&D group, differs from other group chat apps, in that the calls are audio-only, not video, and displays users' status to indicate they're available to talk.
Catching up has never been this...
