Month: February 2023
Everything New in iOS 16.4 Beta 2: Apple Books Changes, Apple Music Classical Mentions, Apple Pay in South Korea and More
Apple today released the second beta of iOS 16.4 to developers, and while not as feature rich as the first beta, there are a couple notable additions in beta two worth knowing about.
Apple Books Page Turning Animation
With the launch of iOS 16, Apple tweaked Apple Books to eliminate the traditional page turning animation that had been used since the early days of the app, a move that upset some Apple Books users.
The second iOS 16.4 beta reintroduces the page turning animation as an option, which is a welcome change for the Apple Books readers who missed it. In the Themes and Settings section of the Books app, there are now three options for page turning: Curl, Side, and None.
Slide is the iOS 16 default, Curl is the old iOS 15 and earlier animation, and None is an even simpler animation that just shifts from page to page with little fanfare. These features are also available in iPadOS 16.4 for those who read on the iPad.
Apple Music Classical Code
Code in the iOS 16.4 beta confirms Apple’s continued work on the Apple Music Classical app, and suggests that it could be launching in the not too distant future.
Code in the beta suggests that listening to Apple Music Classical will require users to have the standard Apple Music app installed. “To listen in Apple Music Classical, you’ll need to install Apple Music,” reads a line in the MusicKit framework.
As of right now, there is no sign of an Apple Music Classical app in iOS 16.4, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t come in a later beta or with the iOS 16.4 launch. It could also be delayed until a later update or even iOS 17, as this is not the first iOS 16 update that has had Apple Music Classical references.
Apple Pay in South Korea
Code in iOS 16.4 confirms that users in South Korea will be able to add credit and debit cards to the Wallet app for use with Apple Pay, suggesting iOS 16.4 will add Apple Pay in the country.
That is in line with reports from early February that indicated South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has approved Apple Pay. Apple has been working to bring Apple Pay to South Korea since 2017.
Apple Care Device Coverage
Under Settings > General > About where Apple has a “Coverage” section that lists your Apple devices with AppleCare+, all listed products now have an icon next to them. This section includes your iPhone and connected peripherals like Apple Watch and AirPods.
The section was present in beta one, but the icons are new.
Podcasts Splash Screen
There’s a new splash screen in the Podcasts app in beta 2, which explains the new changes.
The Podcasts app now supports channels in Library, expanded CarPlay functionality, and an improved Up Next feature that lets you resume episodes and skip what you don’t want to listen to.
Always On Display Settings
Apple made some minor tweaks to the Always On Display section in the Settings app on iPhone 14 Pro models. The toggle to turn off Always On Display is now listed under the toggles for showing wallpaper and notifications, rather than above.
More Features
Know of something that we left out in this list? Let us know in the comments below.Related Roundups: iOS 16, iPadOS 16
Related Forum: iOS 16
This article, “Everything New in iOS 16.4 Beta 2: Apple Books Changes, Apple Music Classical Mentions, Apple Pay in South Korea and More” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple today released the second beta of iOS 16.4 to developers, and while not as feature rich as the first beta, there are a couple notable additions in beta two worth knowing about.
Apple Books Page Turning Animation
With the launch of iOS 16, Apple tweaked Apple Books to eliminate the traditional page turning animation that had been used since the early days of the app, a move that upset some Apple Books users.
The second iOS 16.4 beta reintroduces the page turning animation as an option, which is a welcome change for the Apple Books readers who missed it. In the Themes and Settings section of the Books app, there are now three options for page turning: Curl, Side, and None.
Slide is the iOS 16 default, Curl is the old iOS 15 and earlier animation, and None is an even simpler animation that just shifts from page to page with little fanfare. These features are also available in iPadOS 16.4 for those who read on the iPad.
Apple Music Classical Code
Code in the iOS 16.4 beta confirms Apple’s continued work on the Apple Music Classical app, and suggests that it could be launching in the not too distant future.
Code in the beta suggests that listening to Apple Music Classical will require users to have the standard Apple Music app installed. “To listen in Apple Music Classical, you’ll need to install Apple Music,” reads a line in the MusicKit framework.
As of right now, there is no sign of an Apple Music Classical app in iOS 16.4, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t come in a later beta or with the iOS 16.4 launch. It could also be delayed until a later update or even iOS 17, as this is not the first iOS 16 update that has had Apple Music Classical references.
Apple Pay in South Korea
Code in iOS 16.4 confirms that users in South Korea will be able to add credit and debit cards to the Wallet app for use with Apple Pay, suggesting iOS 16.4 will add Apple Pay in the country.
That is in line with reports from early February that indicated South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has approved Apple Pay. Apple has been working to bring Apple Pay to South Korea since 2017.
Apple Care Device Coverage
Under Settings > General > About where Apple has a “Coverage” section that lists your Apple devices with AppleCare+, all listed products now have an icon next to them. This section includes your iPhone and connected peripherals like Apple Watch and AirPods.
The section was present in beta one, but the icons are new.
Podcasts Splash Screen
There’s a new splash screen in the Podcasts app in beta 2, which explains the new changes.
The Podcasts app now supports channels in Library, expanded CarPlay functionality, and an improved Up Next feature that lets you resume episodes and skip what you don’t want to listen to.
Always On Display Settings
Apple made some minor tweaks to the Always On Display section in the Settings app on iPhone 14 Pro models. The toggle to turn off Always On Display is now listed under the toggles for showing wallpaper and notifications, rather than above.
More Features
Know of something that we left out in this list? Let us know in the comments below.
This article, “Everything New in iOS 16.4 Beta 2: Apple Books Changes, Apple Music Classical Mentions, Apple Pay in South Korea and More” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
You Can Watch Pluto TV in VLC, and the MPA Considers This Piracy
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) issued a DMCA notice to a GitHub repo that contained a playlist that let viewers watch Pluto TVs streams on their own apps, such as VLC, MPV, and Tvheadend. From a report: The move was first noticed by TorrentFreak, and GitHub has complied and removed the repo, which ultimately does nothing. If you still have a tiny text file, you can still do exactly what the MPA tried to stop. Pluto TV, for those who do not watch it, is a service owned by Paramount that allows users to legally stream movies and TV shows free of charge on many devices. They have a mobile app, apps for Xbox and PlayStation, smart TVs, and dongles. Users do not even need to sign up to use it. In turn, Pluto’s business model is predicated on serving ads and tracking user behavior. It’s part of a newer breed of streaming product called free ad-supported television, or FAST. The GitHub repo in question contained M3U playlists to watch Pluto TV’s content via an app like VLC. The repo basically took links that were already available and gathered them in one place. It should be noted that M3U files aren’t torrent files; it’s just a simple playlist file that can direct to local files and web sources.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) issued a DMCA notice to a GitHub repo that contained a playlist that let viewers watch Pluto TVs streams on their own apps, such as VLC, MPV, and Tvheadend. From a report: The move was first noticed by TorrentFreak, and GitHub has complied and removed the repo, which ultimately does nothing. If you still have a tiny text file, you can still do exactly what the MPA tried to stop. Pluto TV, for those who do not watch it, is a service owned by Paramount that allows users to legally stream movies and TV shows free of charge on many devices. They have a mobile app, apps for Xbox and PlayStation, smart TVs, and dongles. Users do not even need to sign up to use it. In turn, Pluto’s business model is predicated on serving ads and tracking user behavior. It’s part of a newer breed of streaming product called free ad-supported television, or FAST. The GitHub repo in question contained M3U playlists to watch Pluto TV’s content via an app like VLC. The repo basically took links that were already available and gathered them in one place. It should be noted that M3U files aren’t torrent files; it’s just a simple playlist file that can direct to local files and web sources.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Major Windows 11 update adds Notepad tabs, iPhone pairing, and a dash of AI
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Twitter updates violent speech policy to ban ‘wishes of harm’
Twitter is once again tightening its rules around what users are permitted to say on the platform. The company introduced an updated “violent speech” policy, which contains some notable additions compared with previous versions of the rules.
Interestingly, the new policy prohibits users from expressing “wishes of harm” and similar sentiments. “This includes (but is not limited to) hoping for others to die, suffer illnesses, tragic incidents, or experience other physically harmful consequences,” the rules state. That’s a reversal from Twitter’s previous policy, which explicitly said that “statements that express a wish or hope that someone experiences physical harm” were not against the company’s rules.
“Statements that express a wish or hope that someone experiences physical harm, making vague or indirect threats, or threatening actions that are unlikely to cause serious or lasting injury are not actionable under this policy,” Twitter’s previous policy stated, according to the Wayback Machine.
That change isn’t the only addition to the policy. Twitter’s rules now also explicitly protects “infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities” from threats of damage. From the rules:
You may not threaten to inflict physical harm on others, which includes (but is not limited to) threatening to kill, torture, sexually assault, or otherwise hurt someone. This also includes threatening to damage civilian homes and shelters, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities.
These may not seem like particularly eyebrow-raising changes, but they are notable given Elon Musk’s previous statements about how speech should be handled on Twitter. Prior to taking over the company, the Tesla CEO stated that his preference would be to allow all speech that is legal. “I think we would want to err on the side of, if in doubt, let the speech exist,” he said at the time.
It’s also not the first time Twitter’s rules have become more restrictive since Musk’s takeover. The company’s rules around doxxing changed following his dustup with the (now suspended) @elonjet account, which shared the whereabouts of Musk’s private jet.
Twitter didn’t explain its rationale for the changes, but noted in a series of tweets that it may suspend accounts breaking the rules or force them to delete the tweets in question. The company no longer has a communications team to respond to requests for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-updates-violent-speech-policy-to-ban-wishes-of-harm-214320985.html?src=rss
Twitter is once again tightening its rules around what users are permitted to say on the platform. The company introduced an updated “violent speech” policy, which contains some notable additions compared with previous versions of the rules.
Interestingly, the new policy prohibits users from expressing “wishes of harm” and similar sentiments. “This includes (but is not limited to) hoping for others to die, suffer illnesses, tragic incidents, or experience other physically harmful consequences,” the rules state. That’s a reversal from Twitter’s previous policy, which explicitly said that “statements that express a wish or hope that someone experiences physical harm” were not against the company’s rules.
“Statements that express a wish or hope that someone experiences physical harm, making vague or indirect threats, or threatening actions that are unlikely to cause serious or lasting injury are not actionable under this policy,” Twitter’s previous policy stated, according to the Wayback Machine.
That change isn’t the only addition to the policy. Twitter’s rules now also explicitly protects “infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities” from threats of damage. From the rules:
You may not threaten to inflict physical harm on others, which includes (but is not limited to) threatening to kill, torture, sexually assault, or otherwise hurt someone. This also includes threatening to damage civilian homes and shelters, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities.
These may not seem like particularly eyebrow-raising changes, but they are notable given Elon Musk’s previous statements about how speech should be handled on Twitter. Prior to taking over the company, the Tesla CEO stated that his preference would be to allow all speech that is legal. “I think we would want to err on the side of, if in doubt, let the speech exist,” he said at the time.
It’s also not the first time Twitter’s rules have become more restrictive since Musk’s takeover. The company’s rules around doxxing changed following his dustup with the (now suspended) @elonjet account, which shared the whereabouts of Musk’s private jet.
Twitter didn’t explain its rationale for the changes, but noted in a series of tweets that it may suspend accounts breaking the rules or force them to delete the tweets in question. The company no longer has a communications team to respond to requests for comment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-updates-violent-speech-policy-to-ban-wishes-of-harm-214320985.html?src=rss
In a bizarre twist, Windows OS is now supporting a vital iPhone feature
Microsoft announced that it’s bringing iPhone support to Windows 11, specifically for iMessage.
Something we never thought we’d see happen has, in fact, happened. In the latest update to its Phone Link app for Windows, the tech giant is bringing support to the Apple iPhone – most notably, iMessage for Windows 11.
According to Microsoft’s official blog and reported by The Verge, the Phone Link app works by mirroring your phone on your PC for notifications, phone calls, and messages. With this update, iPhone users can now connect their devices to a Windows laptop or PC, send messages through iMessage, make and receive calls, and get notifications through Windows 11.
In an interview with The Verge, Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s head of consumer marketing, explains how it works. “We send the messages back and forth via Bluetooth, Apple I think in turn sends those as iMessage once it gets onto their system.”
As impressive as this sounds, there are some setbacks involved.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Users won’t be able to see the full message history, only ones sent or received through Phone Link. You also won’t see any blue or green chat bubbles since the system can’t tell between a regular text message and an iMessage one. Still, this is a surprising and big step in the right direction, one that could open up even more features and support in the future like photos integration.
If you’re interested in testing this feature, Microsoft will begin beta testing with a small percentage of Windows Insiders who are in the Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels. “We will increase the availability of the preview to more Insiders over time and based on feedback we receive with this first set of Insiders,” according to the official blog post.
This new update also comes with several other features like AI Bing and chat-powered searches on the taskbar, a screen recording feature, better touch optimizations, and more.
Tesla shareholder suit says Musk and co. lied about Full Self-Driving safety
Investor lawsuit cites recall of Tesla cars that act dangerously in intersections.
Enlarge / Cars parked at the Tesla Fremont Factory in Fremont, California, on February 10, 2022. (credit: Getty Images | Josh Edelson)
A class-action complaint alleges that Tesla and CEO Elon Musk repeatedly made false statements about the capabilities and safety of the electric carmaker’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology.
The complaint, filed Monday in US District Court for the Northern District of California, comes less than two weeks after a recall of 362,758 cars based on a US government finding that Tesla’s “FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.” The problem is slated to be fixed by an over-the-air software update.
The lawsuit was filed by investor Thomas Lamontagne and seeks to represent a proposed class of potentially thousands of people who acquired Tesla stock. Tesla, Elon Musk, and other Tesla executives “made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects,” the lawsuit said, continuing: