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Two key OpenAI personnel are leaving the company, while another one is taking a months-long leave of absence. As reported by The Information, OpenAI president Greg Brockman is taking a sabbatical, while his fellow co-founder John Schulman is bidding the company farewell and joining its rival Anthropic. Peter Deng, its VP for consumer product who joined last year, is leaving OpenAI, as well. Deng used to lead product developments at Meta and Uber.
In a post on X/Twitter, Brockman said his leave of absence will last through end of year and that it’s his “first time to relax” since the founding of OpenAI nine years ago. He also reportedly assured staff members that he’s coming back after his vacation. Brockman temporarily left OpenAI last year when the company’s board ousted its CEO, Sam Altman. They were both reinstated just a few days later, whereas the board was disbanded and replaced.
I’m taking a sabbatical through end of year. First time to relax since co-founding OpenAI 9 years ago. The mission is far from complete; we still have a safe AGI to build.— Greg Brockman (@gdb) August 6, 2024

John Schulman also posted the note he sent to OpenAI staff on X, where he said that his departure stems from his “desire to deepen [his] focus on AI alignment” and to “return to hands-on technical work.” He clarified that he wasn’t leaving OpenAI due to lack of support for alignment research and that the company’s executives have apparently been “very committed to investing in this area.” At OpenAI, Schulman helped lead the post-training team that refined its large language models. After the company disbanded the “Superalignment” team that was in charge of steering powerful AI models that could pose a threat to humanity in the future, OpenAI said Schulman would be in charge of any future safety efforts. 
I shared the following note with my OpenAI colleagues today:I’ve made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI alignment, and to start a new chapter of my career where I can return to hands-on technical work. I’ve decided…— John Schulman (@johnschulman2) August 6, 2024

These departures follow several major previous changes in OpenAI’s rank of leaders. Before the Superalignment team was disbanded, Jan Leike, one of its heads, wrote on X that “safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products” within the company over the past years. Company co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever also left in May. He was involved in Altman’s dismissal as a board member, though he later said that he regretted his participation in the board’s actions. While he remained Chief Scientist after the event, he reportedly never truly returned to his duties. The Information also notes that OpenAI recently hired its first CFO and chief product officer, which may have had an effect on Deng’s role within the company. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/two-more-openai-leaders-are-leaving-the-company-110012003.html?src=rss

Two key OpenAI personnel are leaving the company, while another one is taking a months-long leave of absence. As reported by The Information, OpenAI president Greg Brockman is taking a sabbatical, while his fellow co-founder John Schulman is bidding the company farewell and joining its rival Anthropic. Peter Deng, its VP for consumer product who joined last year, is leaving OpenAI, as well. Deng used to lead product developments at Meta and Uber.

In a post on X/Twitter, Brockman said his leave of absence will last through end of year and that it’s his “first time to relax” since the founding of OpenAI nine years ago. He also reportedly assured staff members that he’s coming back after his vacation. Brockman temporarily left OpenAI last year when the company’s board ousted its CEO, Sam Altman. They were both reinstated just a few days later, whereas the board was disbanded and replaced.

John Schulman also posted the note he sent to OpenAI staff on X, where he said that his departure stems from his “desire to deepen [his] focus on AI alignment” and to “return to hands-on technical work.” He clarified that he wasn’t leaving OpenAI due to lack of support for alignment research and that the company’s executives have apparently been “very committed to investing in this area.” At OpenAI, Schulman helped lead the post-training team that refined its large language models. After the company disbanded the “Superalignment” team that was in charge of steering powerful AI models that could pose a threat to humanity in the future, OpenAI said Schulman would be in charge of any future safety efforts. 

These departures follow several major previous changes in OpenAI’s rank of leaders. Before the Superalignment team was disbanded, Jan Leike, one of its heads, wrote on X that “safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products” within the company over the past years. Company co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever also left in May. He was involved in Altman’s dismissal as a board member, though he later said that he regretted his participation in the board’s actions. While he remained Chief Scientist after the event, he reportedly never truly returned to his duties. The Information also notes that OpenAI recently hired its first CFO and chief product officer, which may have had an effect on Deng’s role within the company. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/two-more-openai-leaders-are-leaving-the-company-110012003.html?src=rss

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In the latest example of a troubling industry pattern, NVIDIA appears to have scraped troves of copyrighted content for AI training. On Monday, 404 Media’s Samantha Cole reported that the $2.4 trillion company asked workers to download videos from YouTube, Netflix and other datasets to develop commercial AI projects. The graphics card maker is among the tech companies appearing to have adopted a “move fast and break things” ethos as they race to establish dominance in this feverish, too-often-shameful AI gold rush.
The training was reportedly to develop models for products like its Omniverse 3D world generator, self-driving car systems and “digital human” efforts.
NVIDIA defended its practice in an email to Engadget. A company spokesperson said its research is “in full compliance with the letter and the spirit of copyright law” while claiming IP laws protect specific expressions “but not facts, ideas, data, or information.” The company equated the practice to a person’s right to “learn facts, ideas, data, or information from another source and use it to make their own expression.” Human, computer… what’s the difference?
YouTube doesn’t appear to agree. Spokesperson Jack Malon pointed us to a Bloomberg story from April, quoting CEO Neal Mohan saying using YouTube to train AI models would be a “clear violation” of its terms. “Our previous comment still stands,” the YouTube policy communications manager wrote to Engadget.
That quote from Mohan in April was in response to reports that OpenAI trained its Sora text-to-video generator on YouTube videos without permission. Last month, a report showed that the startup Runway AI followed suit.
NVIDIA employees who raised ethical and legal concerns about the practice were reportedly told by their managers that it had already been green-lit by the company’s highest levels. “This is an executive decision,” Ming-Yu Liu, vice president of research at NVIDIA, replied. “We have an umbrella approval for all of the data.” Others at the company allegedly described its scraping as an “open legal issue” they’d tackle down the road.
It all sounds similar to Facebook’s (Meta’s) old “move fast and break things” motto, which has succeeded admirably at breaking quite a few things. That included the privacy of millions of people.
In addition to the YouTube and Netflix videos, NVIDIA reportedly instructed workers to train on movie trailer database MovieNet, internal libraries of video game footage and Github video datasets WebVid (now taken down after a cease-and-desist) and InternVid-10M. The latter is a dataset containing 10 million YouTube video IDs.
Some of the data NVIDIA allegedly trained on was only marked as eligible for academic (or otherwise non-commercial) use. HD-VG-130M, a library of 130 million YouTube videos, includes a usage license specifying that it’s only meant for academic research. NVIDIA reportedly brushed aside concerns about academic-only terms, insisting their batches were fair game for its commercial AI products.
To evade detection from YouTube, NVIDIA reportedly downloaded content using virtual machines (VMs) with rotating IP addresses to avoid bans. In response to a worker’s suggestion to use a third-party IP address-rotating tool, another NVIDIA employee reportedly wrote, “We are on [Amazon Web Services](#) and restarting a [virtual machine](#) instance gives a new public IP[.](#) So, that’s not a problem so far.”
404 Media’s full report on NVIDIA’s practices is worth a read.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidias-ai-team-reportedly-scraped-youtube-netflix-videos-without-permission-204942022.html?src=rss

In the latest example of a troubling industry pattern, NVIDIA appears to have scraped troves of copyrighted content for AI training. On Monday, 404 Media’s Samantha Cole reported that the $2.4 trillion company asked workers to download videos from YouTube, Netflix and other datasets to develop commercial AI projects. The graphics card maker is among the tech companies appearing to have adopted a “move fast and break things” ethos as they race to establish dominance in this feverish, too-often-shameful AI gold rush.

The training was reportedly to develop models for products like its Omniverse 3D world generator, self-driving car systems and “digital human” efforts.

NVIDIA defended its practice in an email to Engadget. A company spokesperson said its research is “in full compliance with the letter and the spirit of copyright law” while claiming IP laws protect specific expressions “but not facts, ideas, data, or information.” The company equated the practice to a person’s right to “learn facts, ideas, data, or information from another source and use it to make their own expression.” Human, computer… what’s the difference?

YouTube doesn’t appear to agree. Spokesperson Jack Malon pointed us to a Bloomberg story from April, quoting CEO Neal Mohan saying using YouTube to train AI models would be a “clear violation” of its terms. “Our previous comment still stands,” the YouTube policy communications manager wrote to Engadget.

That quote from Mohan in April was in response to reports that OpenAI trained its Sora text-to-video generator on YouTube videos without permission. Last month, a report showed that the startup Runway AI followed suit.

NVIDIA employees who raised ethical and legal concerns about the practice were reportedly told by their managers that it had already been green-lit by the company’s highest levels. “This is an executive decision,” Ming-Yu Liu, vice president of research at NVIDIA, replied. “We have an umbrella approval for all of the data.” Others at the company allegedly described its scraping as an “open legal issue” they’d tackle down the road.

It all sounds similar to Facebook’s (Meta’s) old “move fast and break things” motto, which has succeeded admirably at breaking quite a few things. That included the privacy of millions of people.

In addition to the YouTube and Netflix videos, NVIDIA reportedly instructed workers to train on movie trailer database MovieNet, internal libraries of video game footage and Github video datasets WebVid (now taken down after a cease-and-desist) and InternVid-10M. The latter is a dataset containing 10 million YouTube video IDs.

Some of the data NVIDIA allegedly trained on was only marked as eligible for academic (or otherwise non-commercial) use. HD-VG-130M, a library of 130 million YouTube videos, includes a usage license specifying that it’s only meant for academic research. NVIDIA reportedly brushed aside concerns about academic-only terms, insisting their batches were fair game for its commercial AI products.

To evade detection from YouTube, NVIDIA reportedly downloaded content using virtual machines (VMs) with rotating IP addresses to avoid bans. In response to a worker’s suggestion to use a third-party IP address-rotating tool, another NVIDIA employee reportedly wrote, “We are on [Amazon Web Services](#) and restarting a [virtual machine](#) instance gives a new public IP[.](#) So, that’s not a problem so far.”

404 Media’s full report on NVIDIA’s practices is worth a read.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidias-ai-team-reportedly-scraped-youtube-netflix-videos-without-permission-204942022.html?src=rss

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X will soon close its longtime San Francisco office and move employees to offices elsewhere in the Bay Area, according to an email from CEO Linda Yaccarino reported by The New York Times. Yaccarino’s note to employees comes several weeks after Elon Musk threatened to move X’s headquarters out of California and into Austin, Texas.
Yaccarino’s note, however, doesn’t seem to mention Texas. According to The New York Times, she told employees the closure will happen over the “next few weeks” and that employees will work out of “a shared engineering space in Palo Alto” that’s also used by xAI, as well as other “locations in San Jose.”
Twitter, and now X, has had a rocky relationship with its home base since Musk’s takeover of the company. Musk banned employees from working remotely shortly after taking over the company in 2022, and ordered many Twitter workers back to the office in the mid-Market neighborhood of San Francisco.
He later ran afoul of the city’s Department of Building Inspection for installing a giant flashing X on top of the building, and for reportedly converting office space into hotel rooms for employees to sleep in. The company’s landlord had also sued X over unpaid rent, The San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this year. The lawsuit was later dismissed.
Despite Musk’s frequent complaints about San Francisco and its elected leaders, he had previously vowed to keep the company’s headquarters in the city. “Many have offered rich incentives for X (fka Twitter) to move its HQ out of San Francisco,” Musk tweeted last year.
“Moreover, the city is in a doom spiral with one company after another left or leaving. Therefore, they expect X will move too. We will not. You only know who your real friends are when the chips are down. San Francisco, beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend.”
But, even before Musk’s recent posts about moving to Austin, there were other signs X may be getting ready to leave after all. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in July that X’s landlord was looking to sublease much of the company’s 800,000 square-foot headquarters.
X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-reportedly-closing-its-san-francisco-office-203650428.html?src=rss

X will soon close its longtime San Francisco office and move employees to offices elsewhere in the Bay Area, according to an email from CEO Linda Yaccarino reported by The New York Times. Yaccarino’s note to employees comes several weeks after Elon Musk threatened to move X’s headquarters out of California and into Austin, Texas.

Yaccarino’s note, however, doesn’t seem to mention Texas. According to The New York Times, she told employees the closure will happen over the “next few weeks” and that employees will work out of “a shared engineering space in Palo Alto” that’s also used by xAI, as well as other “locations in San Jose.”

Twitter, and now X, has had a rocky relationship with its home base since Musk’s takeover of the company. Musk banned employees from working remotely shortly after taking over the company in 2022, and ordered many Twitter workers back to the office in the mid-Market neighborhood of San Francisco.

He later ran afoul of the city’s Department of Building Inspection for installing a giant flashing X on top of the building, and for reportedly converting office space into hotel rooms for employees to sleep in. The company’s landlord had also sued X over unpaid rent, The San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this year. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

Despite Musk’s frequent complaints about San Francisco and its elected leaders, he had previously vowed to keep the company’s headquarters in the city. “Many have offered rich incentives for X (fka Twitter) to move its HQ out of San Francisco,” Musk tweeted last year.

“Moreover, the city is in a doom spiral with one company after another left or leaving. Therefore, they expect X will move too. We will not. You only know who your real friends are when the chips are down. San Francisco, beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend.”

But, even before Musk’s recent posts about moving to Austin, there were other signs X may be getting ready to leave after all. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in July that X’s landlord was looking to sublease much of the company’s 800,000 square-foot headquarters.

X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-reportedly-closing-its-san-francisco-office-203650428.html?src=rss

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Google is in deep trouble after a federal judge ruled that the company illegally abused a monopoly over the search industry. The ruling follows a 10-week trial held in 2023 that stemmed from a 2020 lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice and several states. 
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said, according to The New York Times. Mehta has not imposed any remedies on Google at the time of writing. The judge may order Google to change how it operates or even sell parts of its business.
The lawsuit claimed that Google illegally acted to maintain its dominant position in search through a number of actions, such as paying Apple, Samsung and Mozilla billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on their phones and web browsers. The DOJ argued that Google facilitates almost 90 percent of web searches and that by paying to be the default option, it prevented rivals from achieving the kind of scale needed to compete. 
Engadget has contacted Google for comment.
This story is developing, refresh for updates…This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-is-a-monopolist-in-search-us-judge-rules-in-antitrust-case-193358356.html?src=rss

Google is in deep trouble after a federal judge ruled that the company illegally abused a monopoly over the search industry. The ruling follows a 10-week trial held in 2023 that stemmed from a 2020 lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice and several states. 

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said, according to The New York Times. Mehta has not imposed any remedies on Google at the time of writing. The judge may order Google to change how it operates or even sell parts of its business.

The lawsuit claimed that Google illegally acted to maintain its dominant position in search through a number of actions, such as paying Apple, Samsung and Mozilla billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on their phones and web browsers. The DOJ argued that Google facilitates almost 90 percent of web searches and that by paying to be the default option, it prevented rivals from achieving the kind of scale needed to compete. 

Engadget has contacted Google for comment.

This story is developing, refresh for updates…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-is-a-monopolist-in-search-us-judge-rules-in-antitrust-case-193358356.html?src=rss

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National Geographic is no stranger to new media. The network has produced a slew of immersive virtual reality experiences, 360 degree videos, and even its own “Space Projection Helmets” for its big-budget show One Strange Rock. Today, it’s finally delivering its first immersive experience for the Apple Vision Pro: A Disney+ environment featuring Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park. Now you can sit back and watch The Avengers in 3D amid pristine white snow, towering rock formations and a clear blue sky (or a star-filled on at night). Alongside that film, Disney+ is also adding 3D versions of The Age of Ultron and the first two Ant-Man movies today.
While standing in the middle of a snow-filled park isn’t as adventurous as, say, rowing a kayak through Arctic waters in VR, the environment shows that Nat Geo isn’t completely ignoring the Vision Pro. Apple’s headset has sorely lacked truly immersive experiences, outside of the “Encounter Dinosaurs” demo it shipped with, as well as Marvel’s What If…? 
I’m not holding my breath for a big-budget National Geographic experience only meant for the Vision Pro, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Nat Geo could reconfigure some of its existing VR projects to work on the Vision Pro, or even adapt One Strange Rock’s unique helmet projection view. (I’d bet money only very few people ever saw the footage in that form.) This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/nat-geos-first-vision-pro-immersive-environment-takes-you-to-iceland-190036673.html?src=rss

National Geographic is no stranger to new media. The network has produced a slew of immersive virtual reality experiences, 360 degree videos, and even its own “Space Projection Helmets” for its big-budget show One Strange Rock. Today, it’s finally delivering its first immersive experience for the Apple Vision Pro: A Disney+ environment featuring Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park. Now you can sit back and watch The Avengers in 3D amid pristine white snow, towering rock formations and a clear blue sky (or a star-filled on at night). Alongside that film, Disney+ is also adding 3D versions of The Age of Ultron and the first two Ant-Man movies today.

While standing in the middle of a snow-filled park isn’t as adventurous as, say, rowing a kayak through Arctic waters in VR, the environment shows that Nat Geo isn’t completely ignoring the Vision Pro. Apple’s headset has sorely lacked truly immersive experiences, outside of the “Encounter Dinosaurs” demo it shipped with, as well as Marvel’s What If…? 

I’m not holding my breath for a big-budget National Geographic experience only meant for the Vision Pro, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Nat Geo could reconfigure some of its existing VR projects to work on the Vision Pro, or even adapt One Strange Rock’s unique helmet projection view. (I’d bet money only very few people ever saw the footage in that form.) 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/nat-geos-first-vision-pro-immersive-environment-takes-you-to-iceland-190036673.html?src=rss

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CrowdStrike has taken a lot of flak over the enormous IT outage that brought much of the planet’s computer systems to a halt last month. One thing that the company isn’t willing to accept full blame for though is Delta’s severe flight troubles.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last week the company had “no choice” but to seek damages. The airline canceled more than 5,000 flights and said it was looking at a cost of over $500 million in lost revenue and compensation to passengers.
New: CrowdStrike accuses Delta of creating a “misleading narrative that CrowdStrike is responsible for Delta’s IT decisions and response to the outage.” Letter from CrowdStrike’s outside counsel: pic.twitter.com/OMD3iY6U9M— David Slotnick (@David_Slotnick) August 5, 2024

However, CrowdStrike claims it offered Delta assistance several times only to be rebuffed. “CrowdStrike worked tirelessly to help its customers restore impacted systems and resume services to their customers,” CrowdStrike lawyer Michael Carlinsky wrote in a letter to his counterpart at Delta. “Within hours of the incident, CrowdStrike reached out to Delta to offer assistance and ensure Delta was aware of an available remediation. Additionally, CrowdStrike’s CEO personally reached out to Delta’s CEO to offer onsite assistance, but received no response.”
Carlinsky goes on to state that if Delta does pursue legal action, it will have to explain “why Delta’s competitors, facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster” and why it rejected free onsite help from CrowdStrike technicians “who assisted many other customers to restore operations much more quickly than Delta.” The lawyer adds that CrowdStrike’s liability is contractually capped “in the single-digit millions.”
CrowdStrike’s public relations team made similar comments last week about Delta turning down “our repeated efforts to assist it in a speedy recovery.” However, a formal letter from the company’s lawyer holds a bit more weight, especially amid the threat of legal action.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/crowdstrike-says-deltas-woes-arent-its-fault-after-massive-it-outage-181803828.html?src=rss

CrowdStrike has taken a lot of flak over the enormous IT outage that brought much of the planet’s computer systems to a halt last month. One thing that the company isn’t willing to accept full blame for though is Delta’s severe flight troubles.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last week the company had “no choice” but to seek damages. The airline canceled more than 5,000 flights and said it was looking at a cost of over $500 million in lost revenue and compensation to passengers.

However, CrowdStrike claims it offered Delta assistance several times only to be rebuffed. “CrowdStrike worked tirelessly to help its customers restore impacted systems and resume services to their customers,” CrowdStrike lawyer Michael Carlinsky wrote in a letter to his counterpart at Delta. “Within hours of the incident, CrowdStrike reached out to Delta to offer assistance and ensure Delta was aware of an available remediation. Additionally, CrowdStrike’s CEO personally reached out to Delta’s CEO to offer onsite assistance, but received no response.”

Carlinsky goes on to state that if Delta does pursue legal action, it will have to explain “why Delta’s competitors, facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster” and why it rejected free onsite help from CrowdStrike technicians “who assisted many other customers to restore operations much more quickly than Delta.” The lawyer adds that CrowdStrike’s liability is contractually capped “in the single-digit millions.”

CrowdStrike’s public relations team made similar comments last week about Delta turning down “our repeated efforts to assist it in a speedy recovery.” However, a formal letter from the company’s lawyer holds a bit more weight, especially amid the threat of legal action.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/crowdstrike-says-deltas-woes-arent-its-fault-after-massive-it-outage-181803828.html?src=rss

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Apple is pumping the brakes on some of its updates to the Photos app in iOS 18. The company made some changes — removing some features and tweaking others — on Monday to address user feedback. The pared-down version can be found in the software’s fifth developer beta, which app makers can install today.
The biggest change is that Apple removed the Carousel from the Photos app altogether. The iOS 18 feature used “on-device intelligence” (which, confusingly, isn’t the same as Apple Intelligence) to aggregate what it thought was your best content, placing them in a swipeable row. Previously found to the right of the photo grid, it’s now gone altogether, helping Apple clean up one of the features that earned a healthy dose of complaints from beta testers.
In addition, Apple tweaked the All Photos view in today’s update to show more of the photos grid. The company also added Recently Saved content to the Recent Days collection. Finally, Apple made albums easier to find for users with more than one. (The difficulty of locating that section was a frequently echoed complaint among testers.)
Apple
Apple pitched the changes to the Photos app as one of the pillars of its 2024 software update. Although the app is streamlined into a single view and designed to be more customizable, it too often ends up as a mishmash of extra features most people won’t need, sometimes getting in the way of finding what you’re looking for.
A Reddit thread from July with over 1,000 upvotes gave voice to some of the most frequent complaints. “Once again taking a rapid-use app and making it into an experience for no reason,” u/thiskillstheredditor commented. “I just want a camera roll and maybe the ability to sort photos by location. It was perfectly fine, if maybe a bit bloated, before. But this is an unmitigated mess.”
Time will tell if today’s updates are enough to clean up the app’s user experience ahead of iOS 18’s fall launch to the public. The changes aren’t yet in the public beta but will likely appear there in the next version or soon after.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-latest-ios-18-beta-walks-back-some-changes-to-the-redesigned-photos-app-180145232.html?src=rss

Apple is pumping the brakes on some of its updates to the Photos app in iOS 18. The company made some changes — removing some features and tweaking others — on Monday to address user feedback. The pared-down version can be found in the software’s fifth developer beta, which app makers can install today.

The biggest change is that Apple removed the Carousel from the Photos app altogether. The iOS 18 feature used “on-device intelligence” (which, confusingly, isn’t the same as Apple Intelligence) to aggregate what it thought was your best content, placing them in a swipeable row. Previously found to the right of the photo grid, it’s now gone altogether, helping Apple clean up one of the features that earned a healthy dose of complaints from beta testers.

In addition, Apple tweaked the All Photos view in today’s update to show more of the photos grid. The company also added Recently Saved content to the Recent Days collection. Finally, Apple made albums easier to find for users with more than one. (The difficulty of locating that section was a frequently echoed complaint among testers.)

Apple pitched the changes to the Photos app as one of the pillars of its 2024 software update. Although the app is streamlined into a single view and designed to be more customizable, it too often ends up as a mishmash of extra features most people won’t need, sometimes getting in the way of finding what you’re looking for.

A Reddit thread from July with over 1,000 upvotes gave voice to some of the most frequent complaints. “Once again taking a rapid-use app and making it into an experience for no reason,” u/thiskillstheredditor commented. “I just want a camera roll and maybe the ability to sort photos by location. It was perfectly fine, if maybe a bit bloated, before. But this is an unmitigated mess.”

Time will tell if today’s updates are enough to clean up the app’s user experience ahead of iOS 18’s fall launch to the public. The changes aren’t yet in the public beta but will likely appear there in the next version or soon after.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-latest-ios-18-beta-walks-back-some-changes-to-the-redesigned-photos-app-180145232.html?src=rss

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Ahead of the full release of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia and more, Apple continues to bring updates to the betas it’s made available to early testers. Today, the company has dropped the fifth developer beta to those platforms, and with it comes a few changes to Safari and Photos. Specifically, Apple’s browser is getting some tools that could make surfing today’s cluttered and overwhelming web pages a lot less distracting, with something called Distraction Control. 
Is Safari’s Distraction Control an ad blocker?
To be clear, this isn’t intended to be an ad blocker. It’s for parts of a page that distract you, like an overlay asking you to subscribe or even requests to use cookies. When you land on a website, you can press the Page Menu button in the Search field (where the Reader and Viewer buttons are). There, you can tap “Hide Distracting Items” and go on to choose which parts of a page you want to filter out. Subsequently, that part will be blocked on that domain moving forward on repeated visits.
There are a few important caveats, though. The first time you click on Distraction Control, Apple will inform you that it won’t permanently remove ads or other areas where content might change or get updated. Since on-page banner ads usually refresh on each visit, this renders Distraction Control useless for those elements. 
You’ll also be the one selecting which parts of the site to hide, and there’s no artificial intelligence automatically detecting which components might be deemed distracting. You’ll see a blue outline over certain areas and can tap to select them. According to Apple, nothing will be hidden unless a user proactively selects it. You’ll also be able to unhide items afterwards, by going back to the hide icon in the search field and choosing “Show hidden items.”
If something you’ve chosen to block, like a headline or an ad, has changed in any way, it will resurface upon your next visit. 
How does Distraction Control handle those pesky GDPR cookie requests?
Theoretically, you would also be able to use Distraction Control to hide the dialogs with the GDPR-stipulated cookies permission requests. If you choose to block those, the website would just be told you closed its request without an answer. Based on the legal requirements in different regions, the website would then have to proceed based on that information. 
It’s not yet clear how Distraction Control will handle paywalls, especially since there are different ways that content is protected. 
The fifth developer beta also brings with it features that were teased at WWDC, like a redesigned Reader and Highlights, which brings up summarized information from a website like a business’ hours or phone number. There’s also a new Viewer experience that works when Safari detects a video on the page and puts in front and center. It’ll also give you system playback controls in this mode, including picture-in-picture. 
If you’re curious about how the new tools and Distraction Control work, you can run Apple’s developer beta. Just know that since you’ll be opting in to preview software, there may be bugs or quirks, so make sure to backup your data before you proceed. According to the information accompanying the iOS 18 beta 5 update, it requires 7.11GB of storage, too.
Update, August 5 2024, 1:31PM ET: This story has been updated to clarify that hiding distracting items only applies to that specific domain moving forward, and not all websites across the internet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/safari-can-block-distracting-ads-and-other-website-clutter-with-the-latest-ios-18-and-macos-betas-172041678.html?src=rss

Ahead of the full release of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia and more, Apple continues to bring updates to the betas it’s made available to early testers. Today, the company has dropped the fifth developer beta to those platforms, and with it comes a few changes to Safari and Photos. Specifically, Apple’s browser is getting some tools that could make surfing today’s cluttered and overwhelming web pages a lot less distracting, with something called Distraction Control. 

Is Safari’s Distraction Control an ad blocker?

To be clear, this isn’t intended to be an ad blocker. It’s for parts of a page that distract you, like an overlay asking you to subscribe or even requests to use cookies. When you land on a website, you can press the Page Menu button in the Search field (where the Reader and Viewer buttons are). There, you can tap “Hide Distracting Items” and go on to choose which parts of a page you want to filter out. Subsequently, that part will be blocked on that domain moving forward on repeated visits.

There are a few important caveats, though. The first time you click on Distraction Control, Apple will inform you that it won’t permanently remove ads or other areas where content might change or get updated. Since on-page banner ads usually refresh on each visit, this renders Distraction Control useless for those elements. 

You’ll also be the one selecting which parts of the site to hide, and there’s no artificial intelligence automatically detecting which components might be deemed distracting. You’ll see a blue outline over certain areas and can tap to select them. According to Apple, nothing will be hidden unless a user proactively selects it. You’ll also be able to unhide items afterwards, by going back to the hide icon in the search field and choosing “Show hidden items.”

If something you’ve chosen to block, like a headline or an ad, has changed in any way, it will resurface upon your next visit. 

How does Distraction Control handle those pesky GDPR cookie requests?

Theoretically, you would also be able to use Distraction Control to hide the dialogs with the GDPR-stipulated cookies permission requests. If you choose to block those, the website would just be told you closed its request without an answer. Based on the legal requirements in different regions, the website would then have to proceed based on that information. 

It’s not yet clear how Distraction Control will handle paywalls, especially since there are different ways that content is protected. 

The fifth developer beta also brings with it features that were teased at WWDC, like a redesigned Reader and Highlights, which brings up summarized information from a website like a business’ hours or phone number. There’s also a new Viewer experience that works when Safari detects a video on the page and puts in front and center. It’ll also give you system playback controls in this mode, including picture-in-picture. 

If you’re curious about how the new tools and Distraction Control work, you can run Apple’s developer beta. Just know that since you’ll be opting in to preview software, there may be bugs or quirks, so make sure to backup your data before you proceed. According to the information accompanying the iOS 18 beta 5 update, it requires 7.11GB of storage, too.

Update, August 5 2024, 1:31PM ET: This story has been updated to clarify that hiding distracting items only applies to that specific domain moving forward, and not all websites across the internet.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/safari-can-block-distracting-ads-and-other-website-clutter-with-the-latest-ios-18-and-macos-betas-172041678.html?src=rss

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Fitness enthusiasts and extreme sports aficionados who haven’t yet taken the plunge on an Apple Watch or are perhaps looking to upgrade from an older model may be interested in snapping up a version that’s on sale. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has dropped by $100 to $700. That matches both the Prime Day price and the lowest we’ve ever seen this product sell for.
Apple designed this smartwatch with endurance athletes, outdoor adventurers and water sport practitioners in mind, including a dedicated band for each category (Trail Loop, Alpine Loop and Ocean Band, respectively). The discount applies to a range of bands on Amazon, so you can pick which one best fits your needs and/or style.

One reason why the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is suited for such activities is because it’s pretty darn rugged. It’s made with aerospace-grade titanium, for one thing. Apple says the case is resistant to corrosion. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is swimproof and water resistant up to 100 meters, while it can be used for recreational dives for up to 40 meters, according to Apple.
The always-on Retina display reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, so it should be easy to look at even in direct sunlight. Thanks to the 49mm display (which is larger than the screen on other Apple Watch variants) you can have up to six complications on your watch face and view six metrics simultaneously.
The S9 System in Package (SiP) that powers the Apple Watch Ultra 2 supports the neat Double Tap feature. This is a customizable gesture control that allows you to carry out actions by tapping your thumb and index finger on your watch-wearing hand twice. So if you’re carrying something in your other hand and want to take a call, all you have to do is double tap your fingers. It works well once you get the hang of it.
Elsewhere, Apple says the device will run for up to 36 hours on a single charge and as much as 72 hours in low power mode. The wearable comes with cellular connectivity too. Hikers will appreciate the Compass app — which offers information including elevation, incline, longitude and latitude — as well as the ability to set custom waypoints with a press of the action button. This will help you retrace your steps if need be.
There are many other fitness and health features, including an electrocardiogram app that can help detect signs of abnormal heart rhythms, as well as fall and crash detection. Those can quickly connect you to emergency services if necessary.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-watch-ultra-2-is-on-sale-for-100-off-171347976.html?src=rss

Fitness enthusiasts and extreme sports aficionados who haven’t yet taken the plunge on an Apple Watch or are perhaps looking to upgrade from an older model may be interested in snapping up a version that’s on sale. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has dropped by $100 to $700. That matches both the Prime Day price and the lowest we’ve ever seen this product sell for.

Apple designed this smartwatch with endurance athletes, outdoor adventurers and water sport practitioners in mind, including a dedicated band for each category (Trail Loop, Alpine Loop and Ocean Band, respectively). The discount applies to a range of bands on Amazon, so you can pick which one best fits your needs and/or style.

One reason why the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is suited for such activities is because it’s pretty darn rugged. It’s made with aerospace-grade titanium, for one thing. Apple says the case is resistant to corrosion. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is swimproof and water resistant up to 100 meters, while it can be used for recreational dives for up to 40 meters, according to Apple.

The always-on Retina display reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, so it should be easy to look at even in direct sunlight. Thanks to the 49mm display (which is larger than the screen on other Apple Watch variants) you can have up to six complications on your watch face and view six metrics simultaneously.

The S9 System in Package (SiP) that powers the Apple Watch Ultra 2 supports the neat Double Tap feature. This is a customizable gesture control that allows you to carry out actions by tapping your thumb and index finger on your watch-wearing hand twice. So if you’re carrying something in your other hand and want to take a call, all you have to do is double tap your fingers. It works well once you get the hang of it.

Elsewhere, Apple says the device will run for up to 36 hours on a single charge and as much as 72 hours in low power mode. The wearable comes with cellular connectivity too. Hikers will appreciate the Compass app — which offers information including elevation, incline, longitude and latitude — as well as the ability to set custom waypoints with a press of the action button. This will help you retrace your steps if need be.

There are many other fitness and health features, including an electrocardiogram app that can help detect signs of abnormal heart rhythms, as well as fall and crash detection. Those can quickly connect you to emergency services if necessary.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-watch-ultra-2-is-on-sale-for-100-off-171347976.html?src=rss

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Apple’s AirPods Max headphones are on sale for $400 via Amazon. This isn’t a record-low, though it’s close, but does represent a savings of $150. The sale includes a bunch of colorways, like gray, blue, silver and pink.
For the uninitiated, these are Apple’s high-end over-ear headphones. They are, in a word, luxe. In our official review, we praised the excellent, balanced sound and useful ANC. These headphones sound very good, which is aided by an adaptive EQ system that automatically adjusts low and mid-frequencies. This algorithm takes into account how the headphones are being worn, such as the fit and earcup seal.

We also praised the solid battery life, getting around 20 hours of use even with ANC and spatial audio turned on. The battery life is enhanced by an automatic “lower power mode” that kicks in after 72 hours outside of the case. This mode disables Bluetooth and Find My. There’s no power button, so the headphones never really turn off until the battery is completely drained. However, the quick-charge feature provides 90 minutes of listening time in just five minutes at the charger.

Billy Steele/Engadget

On the downside, the included case isn’t really a case at all. It’s basically a wraparound piece of cloth. However, resting the headphones inside of the “case” automatically puts them in a power-preservation mode. The other significant drawback is the price. Simply put, $550 is just a whole lot of money for a pair of headphones, especially ones that are over four years old. Many of the features have been surpassed by the newer second-gen version. In other words, these headphones don’t have adaptive transparency and lack USB-C charging. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-max-drop-back-down-to-400-164310126.html?src=rss

Apple’s AirPods Max headphones are on sale for $400 via Amazon. This isn’t a record-low, though it’s close, but does represent a savings of $150. The sale includes a bunch of colorways, like gray, blue, silver and pink.

For the uninitiated, these are Apple’s high-end over-ear headphones. They are, in a word, luxe. In our official review, we praised the excellent, balanced sound and useful ANC. These headphones sound very good, which is aided by an adaptive EQ system that automatically adjusts low and mid-frequencies. This algorithm takes into account how the headphones are being worn, such as the fit and earcup seal.

We also praised the solid battery life, getting around 20 hours of use even with ANC and spatial audio turned on. The battery life is enhanced by an automatic “lower power mode” that kicks in after 72 hours outside of the case. This mode disables Bluetooth and Find My. There’s no power button, so the headphones never really turn off until the battery is completely drained. However, the quick-charge feature provides 90 minutes of listening time in just five minutes at the charger.

On the downside, the included case isn’t really a case at all. It’s basically a wraparound piece of cloth. However, resting the headphones inside of the “case” automatically puts them in a power-preservation mode. The other significant drawback is the price. Simply put, $550 is just a whole lot of money for a pair of headphones, especially ones that are over four years old. Many of the features have been surpassed by the newer second-gen version. In other words, these headphones don’t have adaptive transparency and lack USB-C charging. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-max-drop-back-down-to-400-164310126.html?src=rss

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