Week 3, April 2023
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” — John Maynard Keynes
1. Zoom for iPhone update delivers Dynamic Island support, incoming call hiding, dark mode for Calendar
● Zoom is out with an update for its iOS app, with the headlining feature being to support the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. Also arriving are some handy features like the option to hide incoming calls during a meeting, dark mode for Calendar, Zoom IQ Meeting Summary support, and more.
2. Apple expands Tap to Pay and Track Detection features to more countries
● Last year, Apple introduced Tap to Pay, which lets businesses use their iPhones to accept contactless payments. First launched in the US, Tap to Pay is now being expanded to Taiwan. At the same time, the company is also rolling out the Track Detection feature of the Apple Watch to users in France.
3. Comment: An Apple journaling app makes complete sense to this recent convert
● A report today says that we can expect to see a new Apple journaling app as part of iOS 17, with the new stock app likely to be shown off at WWDC in June.
4. Apple journaling app will be part of iOS 17; Day One being Sherlocked, says founder
● A new report says that one of the new features being introduced as part of iOS 17 is an Apple journaling app, along the lines of the popular Day One app.
5. Zoom for iPhone update delivers Dynamic Island support, incoming call hiding, dark mode for Calendar
● Zoom is out with an update for its iOS app with the headlining feature being support the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. Also arriving are some handy features like the option to hide incoming calls during a meeting, dark mode for Calendar, Zoom IQ Meeting Summary support, and more.
6. WhatsApp working on its own version of animated emoji
● WhatsApp has been working on a lot of somewhat inspired features from its competitor Telegram recently. And now the popular messaging app is experimenting with its own version of animated emojis that replace the ones from iOS and Android.
7. If you’ve ever used Facebook, you can now cash in on your share of its $725M privacy settlement
● Five years ago, a major privacy scandal at Facebook surfaced as the world learned the social media giant allowed Cambridge Analytica to mine US user data through paid ads disguised as personality tests. Now after being settled as the largest privacy class action lawsuit ever, you can request your portion of the $725M. Here’s how to submit a Facebook privacy settlement claim, plus all the fine details.
8. Instagram targets Linktree and finally adds support for putting multiple links in your bio
● Instagram is adding what Mark Zuckerberg describes as “one of the most requested features we’ve had.” Starting today, you can now add up to five links to your Instagram bio, resolving a long-standing feature gap that forced Instagram users to opt for third-party tools like Linktree instead.
9. Bar theft tactic sees iPhone owners permanently locked out of Apple accounts
● A spate of iPhone thefts in bars is resulting in owners finding themselves permanently locked out of their Apple accounts, in some cases losing access to years’ worth of irreplaceable photos.
● As technology advances, scams are becoming quite sophisticated. One of the latest threats is AI voice cloning which a malicious party can use to make it seem like they have a loved one held hostage. Read on for more details and how to protect against AI voice clone and caller ID spoofing scams.
11. watchOS 10 Described as Apple Watch’s Biggest Software Update Since 2015
● watchOS 10 will be the Apple Watch’s biggest software update since the initial version of the operating system was released in 2015, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apple is expected to announce watchOS 10 alongside iOS 17, macOS 14, and other new software during its annual WWDC keynote on June 5.
12. Hands-on with the new Multiview feature for Apple TV sports streams
● With tvOS 16.5 beta, Apple is testing a new feature for the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K set-top box: the ability to watch more than one game at a time. Multiview allows users to watch up to four simultaneous streams at once.
13. Apple launches all-new ‘Apple Trade In’ website in time for Earth Day
● Apple has put an increasingly big focus on trade-ins over the last several years, encouraging users to trade in their old iPhones for instant credit toward a new device. Now, Apple has launched a new “Apple Trade In” website with a new design, more details about the trade-in process, and more.
14. Advanced iPad Pro OLED screen reports boosted by LG news
● Today it is reported that LG has reached a new milestone in its work on the screen tech for Apple, following Samsung’s lead. We’re expecting the first iPad OLED screens to differ from iPhone ones in two main ways …
15. Instagram announces new features to make Reels more attractive to creators
● Instagram has been aggressively trying to compete with TikTok when it comes to short videos. Now the social network has announced multiple new features for its Reels platform in an attempt to make it more attractive to creators.
