Facebook's controversial plan to sell ads in WhatsApp has been put on the back-burner, according to a new report today from The Wall Street Journal. WhatsApp in recent months disbanded a team that had been established to find the best ways to integrate ads into the service, according to people familiar with the matter. The team's work was then deleted from WhatsApp's code, the people said.Plans to monetize WhatsApp were floated no longer after Facebook acquired the messaging service in February 2014 for $22 billion. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum and Brian Acton continually pushed back against the plans, which were a factor that ultimately led both men to quit the company. Prior to leaving, Koum and Acton changed WhatsApp's terms of service to explicitly forbid displaying ads in the app, which complicated Facebook's future efforts to do so, according to WSJ's sources. Facebook has changed its platforms' terms of service in the past, but introducing ads on WhatsApp would have required a formal notification of users, creating a potential public-relations problem for Facebook. Still, Facebook hasn't completely given up on inserting ads into WhatsApp, and reportedly plans to add them to the app's Status feature "at some point." Status allows users to create short-lived posts similar to Instagram's Stories. However, for now the focus is said to be on developing money-making features that enable businesses to communicate with customers and better manage those interactions. Before the acquisition, WhatsApp was initially a paid-for app and later transitioned to a

Apple's recent purchase of Seattle startup Xnor.ai, which specializes in on-device artificial intelligence, appears to have had a knock-on effect on home security cameras made by Wyze, another Seattle-based company. The Verge reports that the Wyze Cam V2 and Wyze Cam Pan rely on Xnor.ai's on-device people detection, but now that Apple owns the company, the support has been pulled in a beta firmware update currently rolling out to Wyze customers' devices. As it happens, Wyze issued a statement in November 2019 saying that Xnor.ai had terminated their contract, and that a firmware update rolling out in mid-January 2020 would remove the feature from its cameras. Whether Xnor.ai planned to be acquired by Apple in January, or it already had been acquired, remains unknown. Despite the apparent forewarning, Wyze says it is still working on an in-house people detection replacement feature, but it promises to launch it as a free update sometime this year. Given Apple's deep interest in personal privacy, an acquisition of technology for handling AI on device shouldn't raise any eyebrows. Xnor.ai's work could potentially be incorporated into future iPhones, improving Siri and other AI and machine learning-based tasks that are done on device.

New questions have been raised about the FBI's latest request that Apple break its iPhone encryption, after Forbes uncovered a search warrant strongly indicating that federal agents already have tools that can access data on Apple's latest ‌iPhone‌ models. The report says that FBI investigators in Ohio recently used the GrayKey hardware box to unlock an iPhone 11 Pro Max. The ‌iPhone‌ belonged to Baris Ali Koch, who was accused of helping his convicted brother flee the country by providing him with his own ID documents and lying to the police. He has now entered a plea agreement and is awaiting sentencing. Koch's lawyer confirmed to Forbes that the ‌iPhone‌ was locked with a passcode when it got in the hands of the FBI and that the code was never revealed to law enforcement, nor was the defendant forced to use his face to unlock the phone via Face ID. Created by a company named Grayshift, GrayKey is a portable gray box that has previously been used by law enforcement to crack the passcode on iPhones. Complete details on how the latest GrayKey works are not known, although Apple continually works to fix the kinds of exploits used by such devices. Ohio FBI search warrant Forbes has previously revealed a GrayKey brochure that showed it worked on older devices, and the two iPhones acquired by the FBI in the most recent Pensacola case are an ‌iPhone‌ 5 and an ‌iPhone‌ 7, which strongly suggests that investigators are already capable of unlocking them. President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr have also weighed in on the latest ‌iPhone‌ encryption stalemate

Following rumors of a performance-boosting "Pro Mode" coming in the next update to macOS Catalina, developer Marco Arment has argued that Apple should bring an iPhone-style Low Power Mode to MacBooks as well. Since iOS 9, Apple has included a Low Power Mode on iPhones that reduces the amount of power that the device uses when the battery gets low, and Arment this week shared his experience with his own self-styled equivalent for macOS. His method involves the use of a third-party app called Turbo Boost Switcher Pro that enables users to disable Intel Turbo Boost on a Mac's processor. According to Arment, disabling Turbo Boost has increased his 16-inch MacBook Pro's battery life by an estimated 30-50 percent and made it "a much better laptop" the vast majority of the time he uses it. With Turbo Boost disabled, peak CPU power consumption drops by 62%, with a correspondingly huge reduction in temperature. This has two massive benefits:The fans never audibly spin up. When Turbo Boost is enabled, the fans annoyingly spin up every time the system is under a heavy sustained load. Disable it, and it’s almost impossible to get them to be audible. It runs significantly cooler. Turbo Boost lets laptops get too hot to comfortably hold in your lap, and so much heat radiates out that it can make hands sweaty. Disable it, and the laptop only gets moderately warm, not hot, and hands stay comfortably dry.Arment claims that despite the reduction in processing power, his ‌MacBook Pro‌ is "still fast enough to do everything I need (including significant development with Xcode)." His

A new update to Google's Smart Lock iOS app lets users set up their iPhone or iPad as a security key for two-factor authentication when signing into native Google services via Chrome browser. Once the feature is set up in the app, attempting to log in to a Google service via Chrome on another device such as a laptop results in a push notification being sent to their iOS device. The user then has to unlock their ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ using Face ID or Touch ID and confirm the log-in attempt via the Smart Lock app before it can complete on the other device. After installing the update, users are asked to select a Google account to set up their phone's built-in security key. According to a Google cryptographer, the feature makes use of Apple's Secure Enclave hardware, which securely stores ‌Touch ID‌, Face ID, and other cryptographic data on iOS devices. The Smart Lock app requires that Bluetooth is enabled on both the ‌iPhone‌/‌iPad‌ and the other device for two-factor authentication to work, so they have to be in close proximity, but the advantage of the system is that it ensures the process is localized and can't be leaked onto the internet. The Google Smart Lock app is a free download for ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ on the App Store. [Direct Link] (Via 9to5Google.com)

Google has updated its official YouTube iOS app with Subscription feed "topics" in an effort to make it easier for users to catch up with their favorite creators. The topics appear below the top row of followed channels and essentially act as filters for content that you subscribe to. The default setting is "All," which lists all videos from channels you're subscribed to, from newest to oldest. Then there's "Today," showing all the videos published within the past 24 hours. The other topics include "Continue Watching" (videos you started watching but haven't finished yet), "Unwatched" videos, "Live" videos (includes livestreams as well as YouTube Premieres), and "Posts," which shows only community posts. Google says that tests showed that these topics encouraged more subscribers to come to their subs feed daily to look for new updates. That said, there's no requirement to use them, and user feeds will continue to show in reverse chronological order in the traditional way if the topics buttons are left untouched. YouTube is a free download for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

If you've ever handed your iPhone or iPad to a baby or toddler to entertain them while you do something else, you'll probably be aware of just how easily their little fingers can navigate into all manner of screens and settings they shouldn't be messing with. Fortunately, Apple includes a feature in iOS that allows you to keep your device locked into a single app and control which features are available. It's called Guided Access, and this article explains how you can use it. How to Enable Guided Access on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. Tap General. Tap Accessibility. Tap Guided Access under the General section at the bottom of the screen. Tap the switch next to Guided Access to toggle it to the green ON position and reveal further options. If you use any other accessibility options, turn on the switch next to Accessibility Shortcut so that you can access them when Guided Access is active, using a triple-click of the Home button or Side button (depending on your device). Tap Passcode Settings, then tap Set Guided Access Passcode to set a special passcode for exiting the feature. Optionally, turn on the toggle next to Face ID or Touch ID (depending on your device) if you want to be able to use biometric authentication to exit Guided Access. How to Use Guided Access on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ Launch the app that you want the user to have access to. In our example, we're using the BBC iPlayer app to play a kids' show. If your device has a Home button, triple-click it to enter the Guided Access initialization screen. If your

On iPhone and iPad, a long press (also known as a press-and-hold) gesture will often initiate a different action in an app that isn't immediately obvious, such as revealing an icon's contextual menu. On recent iPhones, a long press will sometimes also offer haptic feedback in the form of a vibration, which Apple calls Haptic Touch. Apple has made extensive use of the long press gesture and ‌Haptic Touch‌ in its apps, which means if you don't tend to long press screen elements, you could be unaware of some convenient shortcuts to everyday actions, or you could even be missing out on app functionality altogether. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. This is particularly true for Safari, Apple's native mobile browser, which has several handy features that can be accessed with a long press. In this article, we've put together 10 of our favorite long press tips for Safari on iPhones and iPads running iOS 13. Note that the default minimum period that a finger must press on the screen for the long gesture to be recognized is half a second. If you're having trouble performing a long press, open the Settings app, go to Accessibility -> ‌Haptic Touch‌, and try selecting a Fast or Slow touch duration. There's also a handy interactive demo area for you to test each setting. 1. Bookmark Multiple Tabs in One Go Make sure you have a few tabs open in Safari that you want to reference at a later time. Now, select one of those tabs, and in the main browsing window, long press the Bookmark icon (it looks like an open book). A popup menu will appear on

Apple is now accepting donations from users to help Australian bushfire relief efforts. The company has updated its U.S. and Australian websites with a banner that visitors can click on to make donations, 100 percent of which go to directly to the aid agencies involved. Depending on the device you're using to access Apple's website, clicking on the banner launches the Music app or the iTunes Store where you can select how much money to donate from a series of pre-defined amounts. The U.S. site offers six buttons ranging from $5 to $200. Donations made via the U.S. site go to the American Red Cross, while donations made through the Australian site go directly to the Australian Red Cross. Visitors to the sites outside of their respective regions don't appear to be able to donate at this time. The plea follows Apple's own donation pledge in late December to support fire fighting efforts in Australia. For several weeks now, bushfires have been burning across Australia due to one of the worst droughts in history and record-breaking heat waves. At least 27 people have died and more than 800 homes have been destroyed. Wildlife has also been impacted by the ongoing fires – an estimated 25,000 koalas were killed when flames devastated Kangaroo Island last week. Apple often provides donations during major disasters and most recently donated money to help fight the wildfires in

Overnight, Apple has quietly slashed almost all of its maximum estimated trade-in values of second-hand iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watch models. For example, yesterday on Apple's device trade-in program web page, the iPhone XS Max had an estimated trade-in value of up to $600, but today Apple is only offering up to $500 –– a full $100 less than it did 24 hours ago. The only devices that have been spared reductions are the MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac mini, and ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 1, 2, and 3. The new trade-in iPhone values on the trade-in program page match the values offered on Apple's online store when purchasing new devices. There are no special trade-in prices for Macs, iPads, and ‌Apple Watch‌ models when ordering a new device, so this only applies to iPhones. We've compiled a list of all device trade-in reductions below for convenience. The new maximum estimated trade-in values are shown in bold alongside yesterday's values in brackets. Apple's New Estimated ‌iPhone‌ Trade-in Values ‌iPhone XS‌ Max –– up to $500 ($600) ‌iPhone XS‌ –– up to $420 ($500) iPhone XR –– up to $300 ($370) ‌iPhone‌ X –– up to $320 ($400) iPhone 8 Plus –– up to $250 ($300) ‌iPhone 8‌ –– up to $170 ($220) ‌iPhone‌ 7 Plus –– up to $150 ($200) ‌iPhone‌ 7 –– up to $120 ($150) ‌iPhone‌ 6s Plus –– up to $100 ($120) ‌iPhone‌ 6s –– up to $80 ($100)Apple's New Estimated iPad Trade-in Values iPad Pro –– up to $220 ($290) ‌iPad‌ –– up to $100 ($140) iPad Air –– up to $70 ($100) ‌iPad‌ mini –– up to $80 ($120)Apple's New Estimated Mac Trade-in Values ‌MacBook Pro‌ –– up to $2530

Bethesda has updated the iOS versions of DOOM and DOOM II with some notable features that should please fans of the original classic first-person shooters. Both games now offer an increase in framerate from the original 35fps to 60fps for smoother gameplay, and a new aspect ratio has been added that stretches the display vertically to match the original 4:3 aspect ratio that the game was intended to be played in. There's also added support for quick saves and a new option to select any episode, map, and difficulty setting for immediate play, without having to clear the previous levels first. Perhaps the biggest addition though is support for DOOM and DOOM II community add-ons. These will be curated and offered as free downloads from the main menu, and Bethesda says that it is open to suggestions as to which community-made episodes it should include in the future. As it stands, players can load up John Romero's SIGIL, as well as TNT Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, the latter two forming 1996's Final DOOM release. As noted by our sister site TouchArcade, DOOM II also gets No Rest for the Living, which is a map pack originally available on Xbox Live. Gamers will need a Bethesda.net account to access the add-ons, but the good news is that Bethesda has removed the online log-in requirement that caused so much frustration when the games were released last year. A full rundown of all the updates and improvements can be found here. DOOM and DOOM II are available to download for iPhone and iPad from the App Store and both games are priced at $4.99

Some travelers on the New York City subway who have enabled Apple's Express Transit feature on their iPhones are reportedly being hit with unintentional MTA charges when they walk near the tap-and-go fare readers. Image credit: PRNewsfoto/OMNY Express Transit is an Apple Pay feature that allows users to pay fares with a swipe of their iPhone or Apple Watch at the turnstile without having to unlock their device first with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. But according to the New York Post, the OMNY tap-and-go fare readers that the MTA installed have been taking charges from some commuters when they used contactless cards and their iPhones were pocketed or in a purse. Megan Bagg, 29, of SoHo, told The Post she has been charged twice — despite having her phone in her bag. "It was ridiculous. My phone was in my purse near my hip," she said. Bagg said she at first blamed the charge on her contactless credit card — and even called the bank to complain — until the second charge occurred when it wasn't on her person. "I've been keeping my purse far from the thing when I go through the turnstile," she said.Another subway user told The Post that he had had a similar experience swiping in with his MetroCard at Grand Central Terminal when his ‌iPhone‌ was in his pocket, and only noticed the doubled-up charge when later reviewing their bank statement. MTA confirmed to the paper that "about 30 customers" had complained about unintended charges when the Express Transit feature of their iPhones is activated. The authority said it is working with Apple on a solution to

Express Transit is an Apple Pay feature that lets you make a payment without unlocking your Apple Watch using Face ID or Touch ID. Thanks to Express Transit, you can now make a transaction at a transit gate just by tapping your iPhone or ‌Apple Watch‌. But first you have to set it up. This article shows you how. Where Can I Use Express Transit? Apple has a web page that it updates with the countries and regions that support the feature. As of writing, Express Transit works in the following places: In mainland China with Beijing Transit cards and Shanghai Transit cards. In Japan with all forms of transit that accept Suica. In London with Transport for London (TfL). In New York City with Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) terminals at select stations. In Portland, Oregon, with all forms of transit that accept Hop Fastpass.How to Set Up Express Transit on ‌iPhone‌ To set up Express Transit, you need to be using an ‌iPhone‌ 6s or later with iOS 12.3 or later installed. You can check what software version your device is running by going to Settings -> General -> Software Update. Obviously, you also need to have a registered at least one debit or credit card with ‌Apple Pay‌. That said, it's worth mentioning that not all banks support Express Transit, but you can find out if your bank does by following these steps. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌. Tap Wallet & ‌Apple Pay‌. Tap Express Travel Card. Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None. Authenticate

Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to receive an award from the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar this month, reports Bloomberg. Cook is scheduled to meet with the Irish Taoiseach in Dublin on January 20 to receive the award, "in recognition of the iPhone maker’s 40 years of investment in Ireland," according to IDA Ireland, the country's investment agency. Apple's business relationship with Ireland has faced significant opprobrium in recent years. In 2016, the European Commission found that the company received illegal state aid from Ireland. Apple and Ireland both appealed the ruling, but the European Commission opened litigation against Ireland in October 2017 for its failure to procure Apple's back taxes. Apple has already finished paying the $13 billion in back taxes it owes. If the order is eventually overturned, the money will be returned to Apple. In 2018, Apple abandoned plans to build a $1 billion data center in Ireland after facing significant pushback from local residents concerned about its potential effects on local animals as well as arguments over its proximity to a shut-down nuclear power plant in Wales. Apple's European headquarters are located in Cork, and last year it expanded the campus with a new building that provides space for an additional 1,400 employees. Apple's European Job Creation page reveals that it now supports 1.7 million jobs across Europe, including around 1.5 million jobs attributable to the App Store ecosystem, some 17,000 of which are based in Ireland. Apple's website notes that it "has been based in Cork for over

Apple saw a significant jump in smartphone shipments in China last month thanks in part to the popularity of the iPhone 11, according to Bloomberg. The iPhone maker’s shipments in China grew 18.7% year on year in December to roughly 3.18 million units, according to Bloomberg calculations based on government data on overall and Android device shipments. The increase marked an acceleration from the prior months, which were buoyed by the ‌iPhone 11‌’s release in September. The numbers come from the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology, a government think tank.Apple's ‌iPhone 11‌ and iPhone 11 Pro brought significant improvements in battery life and camera quality over previous models, and have been well received by consumers and critics in China. Apple's business last year in the country was strengthened in other ways, too. The company benefited from a sales tax cut that allowed it to decrease the price of its products, while investors took comfort in what Apple CEO Tim Cook called a "much better tone" in the China-U.S. trade relationship. Looking ahead, the double-digit growth in shipments bodes well for Apple in the buildup to the Chinese New Year, which falls in late January this year. However, the company still has some work to do if it is to put a significant dent in the market share of local vendors led by Huawei, which gained a dominant position domestically last year, despite its struggles

Apple has marked the close of a "historic 2019" for its services offerings with a press release celebrating Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Card, as well as the continued success of its App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud. "2019 was the biggest year for Services in Apple's history. We introduced several exciting new experiences for our customers, all while setting the standard for user privacy and security," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "We begin the new decade with incredible momentum and gratitude to our customers who have shown such enthusiasm for all of our Services, and we continue to celebrate the work of the world's best creators, storytellers, journalists and developers."Here are some key takeaways from Apple's services highlights of 2019, including some things that the company says customers can look forward to in 2020: ‌App Store‌ customers spent a record $1.42 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, a 16 percent increase over last year, and $386 million on New Year's Day 2020 alone, a 20 percent increase over last year and a new single-day record. Over 50 percent of ‌Apple Music‌ listeners have used the new time-synced lyrics feature that was introduced in 2019 with iOS 13. ‌Apple TV‌+ "made history" as the first streaming platform to receive multiple Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations in its launch year, and is the first and only streaming service to debut instantly in over 100 countries and regions. ‌Apple News‌ draws over 100 million monthly active users in the US,

Apple's chief privacy officer attended a discussion panel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday to debate the state of consumer privacy, marking the first time in 28 years that Apple has been at CES in an official capacity. Apple's privacy officer at CES 2020 panel (Image: Parker Ortolani) Jane Horvath, Apple's senior director for global privacy, joined an all-female panel consisting of representatives from Facebook, Procter & Gamble and the Federal Trade Commission. During the discussion, Horvath defended Apple's use of encryption to protect customer data on mobile devices. "Our phones are relatively small and they get lost and stolen," Horvath said. "If we're going to be able to rely on our health data and finance data on our devices, we need to make sure that if you misplace that device, you're not losing your sensitive data."Apple has held a consistent position regarding its use of encryption, even if that means it has limited ability to help law enforcement access data on devices involved in criminal investigations. Just this week, the FBI asked Apple to help unlock two iPhones that investigators believe were owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, who carried out a mass shooting at a Naval Air Station in Florida last month. Apple said that it had already given the FBI all of the data in its possession. Apple's response suggests it will maintain the same stance it took in 2016, when the FBI demanded that Apple provide a so-called "backdoor" into iPhones, following the December 2015 shooter incidents in San Bernardino. Apple refused, and the

Global home appliance company Bosch has announced that its smart home products are about to gain broad support for Apple's HomeKit platform. In a ">press release titled "New Year, New Perspectives," the German company said that in combination with iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and HomePod, its Bosch Smart Home System would soon offer numerous operating options, including interaction with other HomeKit-compatible devices. The Apple Home App will soon be able to control the Bosch Smart Home System... After the voice services from Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant have been integrated during the course of 2020, the Bosch Smart Home System will also be conveniently controllable via Siri, Apple's voice assistant.The announcement was short on specifics, but it's worth mentioning that the Bosch Smart Home system is a platform for shutters, light fittings, thermostats, intelligent alarms and other accessories, so there are plenty of reasons to throw ‌HomeKit‌ support into the mix. Whether that support will extend to home appliances like fridge-freezers and ovens remains to be seen. Also this year, Bosch said it would offer an open interface for selected third-parties that would enable them to integrate Bosch Smart Home devices into their own solutions via a cloud API. Bosch said the integration would mean partner apps would be able to control the devices and services, which would ultimately allow for "a safer life and an optimized living environment." The first partner apps are expected in the spring and will be able to control Bosch Smart Home cameras, the company said.

Apple has confirmed that the iPhone XR is not working as it should on the O2 network in the U.K., reports BBC News. "We are aware of an issue causing intermittent network connectivity effecting [sic] some O2 customers, and we will have a fix in an upcoming software release," the company said.The statement from Apple comes after reports emerged yesterday of multiple ‌iPhone XR‌ users who have O2 as a mobile provider and are unable to maintain a reliable signal. Customers have been unable to make and receive calls and send and receive text messages, as well as get a reliable 4G internet connection for using apps on the go. O2 has declined to say exactly how many users are affected by the issue, but said turning the phone off and on again will temporarily fix the problem. One O2 customer told BBC News he had first noticed a network issue on December 16. "I've had virtually no signal at all since," he said. "It may come with a weak signal for a few minutes once or twice a day then go again." The customer said O2 had told him Apple had introduced the issue with a recent update to the iPhone's iOS software, but this has yet to have been publicly confirmed by either company. The last software update Apple released was iOS 13.3 on December 10, 2019. According to the report, O2 and Apple are telling customers seeking answers on Twitter to direct message them for

French consumer electronics company Withings today announced ScanWatch, a hybrid smartwatch that can both detect irregular heart rhythms and sleep apnea in wearers. Billed as Withings' most advanced device to date, the ScanWatch uses two detection methods to identify if users have an irregular heart rhythm (AFib) or if their heart rhythm is slow, high or normal. The first is through users taking an electroECG on-demand when they feel symptoms like palpitations. When symptoms aren't present, the watch offers a second early detection capability that continuously monitors heart rate through a PPG sensor to alert users of a potential issue and encourages them then to take an ECG. Sleep apnea affects an estimated 22 million adults in the U.S., with another 80 percent of cases of moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea undiagnosed, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association. Withings claims ScanWatch can detect the presence of sleep apnea episodes through a SpO2 sensor. All of the sleep, cardiovascular and activity data collected by ScanWatch is stored in the accompanying Health Mate app and can be shared from there with a physician. The PMOLED digital display in the center of the watch face is bigger than previous hybrid Withings smartwatches, and shows health and sports data such as daily and previous day steps and sleep score as well as calories, distance and heart rate. You can also scroll through each screen using the watch's newly designed digital crown. The digital crown also allows you to launch an ECG record and SPO2 measurement,