MacRumors

Apple today said it has approved the third-party Epic Games Store in the European Union, allowing the Fortnite developer to launch its alternative app marketplace in those countries, reports Reuters. ‌Epic Games‌ had submitted the ‌Epic Games‌ Store to Apple for notarization earlier this week.

Earlier today, Epic stated Apple had twice rejected the ‌Epic Games‌ Store this week, with Apple reportedly claiming that an "Install" button and "in-app purchases" labels were too similar to Apple's own elements for the App Store. Epic argued that the rejection was "arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA [Digital Markets Act]" and that it was reporting the issue to the European Commission, but it appears Apple has relented and approved Epic's previously rejected submission.

‌Epic Games‌ and Apple have been engaged in a years-long battle over Apple's closed ‌App Store‌ ecosystem, and Epic has been eager to launch its own marketplace in the EU under Apple's new policies driven by the Digital Markets Act.

YouTuber and podcaster Luke Miani joins us on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to discuss all the latest rumors about the upcoming Apple Watch "Series X."

The Apple Watch Series X, coming ten years after the Apple Watch was originally announced alongside the iPhone 6, was initially rumored to be a major overhaul of the device. Now, it looks like the upgrade will be more minor than expected, focusing on new casing and display sizes, but with a design that continues to be effectively the same. The current 41mm and 45mm casing options are likely to be replaced with 45mm and 49mm models, meaning that the larger model would be the same size as the Apple Watch Ultra. The two models are expected to offer 1.89-inch and 2.04-inch display sizes, respectively.

The Apple Watch Series X could also feature hypertension and sleep apnea detection, a more efficient display, and a thinner logic board. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to be largely the same as the previous model, but potentially adding a black color option and the health features also coming to the Series X. A third-generation Apple Watch SE could also be on the way with the larger casing and display sizes of the Apple Watch Series 7, increasing from 40mm and 44mm to 41mm and 45mm.

We also discuss mouse support in visionOS 2 and our reflections on the AirPods Max after three and a half years with Apple's premium over-ear headphones. See more of Luke's work over on his YouTube channel. The MacRumors Show also has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips:

You can also listen to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your preferred podcasts app. You can also copy our RSS feed directly into your podcast player.

If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up for our discussion about the international rollout of Apple Vision Pro and the new Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker.

Subscribe to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Kevin Nether, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Jon Prosser, Sam Kohl, John Gruber, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

‌The MacRumors Show‌ is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread to engage with us directly. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.

Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 Pro will gain the tetraprism periscope camera with 5x optical zoom that debuted last year on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, DigiTimes reports.

Taiwanese lens manufacturers Largan Precision and Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO) are said to be the primary suppliers for the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌'s tetraprism camera components. Sources close to the supply chain have indicated that both Largan and GSEO are now ramping up production in preparation for the release of the iPhone 16 lineup.

Largan, which supplied the periscope lenses for the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max, is expected to secure a substantial portion of the orders once again. Largan's chairman, Adam Lin, recently indicated that the optical components sector is expected to see peak sales from September to November, aligning with the anticipated release period for the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models.

GSEO, a new entrant in the supply chain for this component, is reportedly undergoing quality testing with promising results. According to DigiTimes, GSEO's periscope lenses are currently undergoing validation, with production expected to begin in mid-July if they pass the necessary tests.

The tetraprism periscope lens introduced on the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max offers up to 5x optical zoom and 25x digital zoom – a major improvement over previous models, which were limited to 3x optical zoom at most. In addition to the advancements in optical zoom with the telephoto camera, the periscope lens is also expected to improve overall image stabilization and low-light performance.

Apple's deal with Google that makes it the default engine on Safari faces uncertainty as the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit looms, The Information reports.

Apple's contract with Google, which ensures that Google's search engine is the default on Apple's Safari browser, has been a significant source of revenue. In 2022, the arrangement reportedly netted Apple over $20 billion, an amount derived from 36 percent of the ad revenue generated by searches on Safari, as revealed in court documents.

The agreement has substantial financial implications for both companies. For Apple, the payments from Google constitute an important revenue stream as a significant proportion of its profits. If the court rules against Google, it could lose access to approximately 70 percent of iPhone searches. This would significantly impact Google's mobile search advertising revenue, which was a major contributor to its $207 billion in search ad revenue in 2023.

Google has been working to reduce its reliance on the deal. The company has been actively encouraging ‌iPhone‌ users to switch from Safari to its own apps, Google and Chrome. Google has invested heavily in enhancing its mobile apps with features such as the Lens image search function and the Discover feed, which surfaces personalized content. In 2022 and 2023, Google launched extensive TV and online advertising campaigns showcasing exclusive features available only on its apps. However, over the past five years, Google has only managed to increase the percentage of ‌iPhone‌ searches conducted through its apps from 25 percent to the low 30s.

Earlier this year, Google hired Robby Stein, a former Instagram and Yahoo executive, to spearhead efforts to increase the adoption of its apps among ‌iPhone‌ users. Stein's strategies include exploring the integration of generative AI to enhance the appeal of Google's mobile apps. The company now wants to double the number of Google searches performed outside Safari, even as the number accomplished in the Google and Chrome apps stalled last year.

The shift is particularly important to Google in an effort to mitigate the impact of the potential outcome of the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit. A ruling against Google would also set a precedent for how Apple's default settings and competitive practices are regulated.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

In 2025, Apple is expected to discontinue the iPhone "Plus" device in its iPhone 17 lineup to make way for an iPhone "Slim" – although it may not actually be called this when it debuts in the fall of next year. Even though the iPhone 16 series launch is still over two months away, when you consider that we learned about larger displays on the iPhone 16 Pro models way back in May 2023, rumors about a two-generations-away iPhone isn't all that unusual so far ahead of time.

While we await this year's iPhone 16 series, here's a compilation of everything we have heard from reputable sources so far about Apple's so-called iPhone 17 "Slim."

iPhone 17 Slim: Rumors So Far

Thinner Design

According to The Information, Apple's all-new iPhone 17 model next year will have a "significantly thinner" design with an aluminum chassis, rather than a titanium casing like Apple's Pro models. The news outlet also claims that the device will feature a narrower Dynamic Island, potentially due to Apple's adoption of a smaller "metalens" for the Face ID system. Internally code-named D23, the device's redesign has been described as a major one equivalent to the iPhone X.

Smaller Display

The first details about the size of the device's display arrived courtesy of Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu, who said it would be 6.6 inches. However, according to Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young, it will feature a 6.55-inch display. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Plus has a 6.7-inch display. Apple is still said to be testing different designs for the slimmer phone, so the display size could always change between now and the device's launch.

Relocated Cameras

The Information claimed that the iPhone 17 "Slim" will have cameras in locations we haven't seen before on an iPhone. According to a May report, the rear cameras could be moved to the "top center" of the device. Some Android phones like Google's Pixel 8 Pro have rear cameras in a top-center position, but Apple's iPhone camera system has occupied the top-left corner ever since the 2007 model.

Anti-Reflective Coating

All iPhone 17 models will feature an anti-reflective display that is more scratch-resistant than Apple's Ceramic Shield found on iPhone 15 models, according to Chinese Weibo leaker Instant Digital. The outer glass on the iPhone 17 series is said to have a "super-hard anti-reflective layer" that is "more scratch-resistant." It's not clear whether Apple is planning to adopt the Gorilla Glass Armor that Samsung uses in its Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the description of Corning's latest technology matches the rumor.

ProMotion Technology

According to The Elec, all iPhone 17 models will feature OLED displays with low-power backplane technology, bringing ProMotion to Apple's non-Pro iPhone models for the first time. ProMotion allows the display to ramp up to a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and video content when required. ProMotion also allows the display to ramp down to a more power-efficient refresh rate as low as 1Hz, which is why the iPhone 15 Pro screens feature an always-on capability that shows the Lock Screen's clock, widgets, notifications, and wallpaper even when the device is locked.

Improved Selfie Camera

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the entire iPhone 17 lineup will feature a 24-megapixel front-facing camera with a six-element lens. The iPhone 14 and 15 feature a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with five plastic lens elements, and this year's iPhone 16 lineup is expected to feature the same hardware. The upgraded resolution on the iPhone 17 will allow photos to maintain their quality even when cropped or zoomed in, while the larger number of pixels will capture finer details. The upgrade to a six-element lens should also slightly enhance image quality.

Internal Upgrades

Haitong analyst Jeff Pu claims the iPhone 17 "Slim" will feature 8GB of RAM, compared to 6GB of RAM on the iPhone 15 Plus. It's worth noting that all upcoming iPhone 16 models are expected to be fitted with 8GB of RAM – a hardware requirement of on-device Apple Intelligence. According to The Information, the device will also be equipped with Apple's A19 chip.

Higher Price

The Information reported that the slimmer iPhone 17 could have a higher price tag than the Pro Max model, which currently starts at $1,199, suggesting that the device would become the ew highest-end model in the lineup, bettering the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If that's the case, then perhaps the "iPhone Slim" will end up being the "iPhone Ultra" that has been rumored for several years.

Twilio has updated its Authy two-factor authentication (2FA) service after a hacker claimed to have retrieved 33 million phone numbers from its user database.

TechCrunch reports that the hacker(s) known as ShinyHunters took to a well-known hacking forum to boast about the theft of 33 million cell phone numbers, achieved by what Twilio described as the use of an "authenticated endpoint."

The U.S. messaging giant confirmed this week that "threat actors" gained access to its servers, resulting in the theft of users' phone numbers, but it did not specify how many were accessed. The company said it had taken action to secure the exploit and prevent similar future unauthenticated requests.

"We have seen no evidence that the threat actors obtained access to Twilio's systems or other sensitive data," said the company in a blog post. "While Authy accounts are not compromised, threat actors may try to use the phone number associated with Authy accounts for phishing and smishing attacks; we encourage all Authy users to stay diligent and have heightened awareness around the texts they are receiving."

As Twilio notes, obtaining a list of phone numbers may not appear in itself to pose a severe security threat. However, attackers could conceivably contact users and claim to be Authy or Twilio representatives in order to get them to reveal personal information as part of a phishing campaign.

Users should update to the latest version of the iOS app, available on the App Store. Twilio also advises users who cannot access their Authy account to contact its support team immediately.

• How to Use Safari's Built-in 2FA Code Generator

At the beginning of the year, Authy announced that it was shutting down its Mac and Linux desktop apps in August 2024, but ended up bringing the date forward. The apps were subsequently killed off in March.

Code discovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors confirms Apple is indeed working on a long-rumored home accessory in addition to the HomePod and Apple TV.

The code references a device with the identifier "HomeAccessory17,1," which is a new identifier category. The name is similar to the ‌HomePod‌'s "AudioAccessory" identifier.

Interestingly, the 17,1 in the identifier name suggests that this device may receive Apple's upcoming A18 chip, which will be used in all four iPhone 16 models later this year. With the A18 chip, the HomeAccessory device would have the power for Apple Intelligence.

The code also indicates that this "home accessory" will be running a software variant of tvOS, much like the ‌HomePod‌. Earlier this year, MacRumors found evidence of Apple's work on homeOS, which could be the firmware running on this device.

On a similar note, the code also references two unreleased ‌Apple TV‌ models with the identifiers AppleTV14,4 and AppleTV14,5. Rumors suggest that an updated ‌Apple TV‌ could launch in 2024.

Apple is expected to announce new iPhones, iPads, and potentially other products in September.

(Thanks Nicolás Alvarez!)

OpenAI has issued an update to its ChatGPT app for Mac, after a developer discovered the app was locally storing users' conversations with the chatbot in plain text.

Pedro José Pereira Vieito told The Verge's Jay Peters: "I was curious about why OpenAI opted out of using the app sandbox protections and ended up checking where they stored the app data."

That led Pereira Vieito to develop "ChatGPTStealer," a simple app to demonstrate how easy it is to load the chats in a text window outside of the ChatGPT app. After successfully trying out the app for himself, Peters said he was also able to see the text of conversations on his computer just by changing the file name, indicating the extent of the privacy risk.

The ChatGPT Mac app is available solely through OpenAI's website, which is why it has not been obligated to follow Apple's sandboxing requirements that apply to software distributed via the Mac App Store. The oversight basically meant any other running app or process could potentially access the ChatGPT conversations without prompting the user for permission.

After The Verge contacted OpenAI about the issue, the company released an update that it says encrypts the chats. "We are aware of this issue and have shipped a new version of the application which encrypts these conversations," OpenAI spokesperson Taya Christianson told the website. "We're committed to providing a helpful user experience while maintaining our high security standards as our technology evolves."

After downloading the update (v1.2024.171), Pereira Vieito's app no longer works, and Peters said he was no longer able to see his conversations with the chatbot in plain text.

Apple will reportedly use a more advanced SoIC packaging technology for its M5 chips, as part of a two-pronged strategy to meet its growing need for silicon that can power consumer Macs and enhance the performance of its data centers and future AI tools that rely on the cloud.

Developed by TSMC and unveiled in 2018, SoIC (System on Integrated Chip) technology allows for the stacking of chips in a three-dimensional structure, providing better electrical performance and thermal management compared to traditional two-dimensional chip designs.

According to the Economic Daily, Apple has expanded its cooperation with TSMC on a next-generation hybrid SoIC package that additionally combines thermoplastic carbon fiber composite molding technology. The package is said to be in a small trial production phase, with the intention of mass producing the chips in 2025 and 2026 for new Macs and AI cloud servers.

References to what are believed to be Apple's M5 chip have already been discovered in official Apple code. Apple has been working on processors for its own AI servers made with TSMC's 3nm process, targeting mass production by the second half of 2025. However, according to Haitong analyst Jeff Pu, Apple's plans in late 2025 are to assemble AI servers powered by its M4 chip.

Currently, Apple's AI cloud servers are believed to be running on multiple connected M2 Ultra chips, which were originally designed solely for desktop Macs. Whenever the M5 is adopted, its advanced dual-use design is believed to be a sign of Apple future-proofing its plan to vertically integrate its supply chain for AI functionality across computers, cloud servers, and software.

(Via DigiTimes.com.)

With the introduction of OLED displays, a thinner design, and more in the M4 iPad Pro, we thought it was worth taking another look at Samsung's flagship OLED tablet, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, to see how the two compare and which one might be the better purchase for you.

Both tablets offer excellent OLED displays, though the Tab S9 Ultra's 14.6-inch 16:10 display is better optimized for video consumption than the ‌iPad Pro‌'s 13-inch 4:3 display. The wider aspect ratio on the Tab S9 Ultra means widescreen video content fits much better on the display, offering a larger content view with much less letterboxing than on the ‌iPad Pro‌.

The Tab S9 Ultra's display is rated just a bit brighter than the ‌iPad Pro‌'s, but in real-world usage the difference isn't noticeable. HDR content on the Tab S9 Ultra can get a bit too bright, however, washing out other content. The ‌iPad Pro‌ also does a better job of handling glare, and that's not even accounting for the Nano-Texture option available on higher-end ‌iPad Pro‌ configurations.

The ‌iPad Pro‌ and Tab S9 Ultra have similarly thin profiles, with the ‌iPad Pro‌'s new design making it just a hint thinner than Samsung's offering, but the difference feels negligible. The Tab S9 Ultra maxes out at 1TB of built-in storage while the ‌iPad Pro‌ goes up to 2TB, but Samsung includes a microSD slot that makes it simple to pop in extra storage at a much lower cost than boosting the integrated storage on an ‌iPad Pro‌.

Apple removed the Ultra Wide camera in the latest ‌iPad Pro‌, leaving only the standard Wide camera for capturing video content. Samsung includes both styles of camera on the Tab S9 Ultra, but we don't think most people should be using their iPads for capturing video anyway.

Where Apple really sets itself apart on the hardware side with ‌iPad Pro‌ is the redesigned Magic Keyboard, which offers a premium feel, solid typing performance, an excellent trackpad, and an additional USB-C port for charging the iPad. Samsung's first-party keyboard accessory for the Tab S9 Ultra looks and feels good, and the typing experience is pleasant, but the trackpad is simply awful.

One note in favor of Samsung's keyboard is that it can be separated into two pieces, leaving the back cover attached to the tablet for protection. While Apple has a keyboard design like this for cheaper iPads, the Magic Keyboard can not be removed from the ‌iPad Pro‌ without also removing the back cover.

Alongside the new ‌iPad Pro‌, Apple introduced a new Apple Pencil Pro with more advanced capabilities including new gestures and Find My support, but Samsung has the S Pen that also offers excellent integration with Android. Significantly for stylus adoption, the S Pen is included in the box with the Tab S9 Ultra, while the ‌Apple Pencil‌ Pro is an extra $129 purchase for ‌iPad Pro‌ owners.

As with most purchasing decisions for Apple and Android, it's likely to come down to platform preference. If you're already thoroughly invested in the Apple ecosystem, you're probably going to want to go with the ‌iPad Pro‌ to reap all of the benefits that come with Apple's tight integration. But if you're looking for something a bit different, Samsung's Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra offers some great features and a huge display at a price that well undercuts the ‌iPad Pro‌.

Would you consider picking up a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, or is the ‌iPad Pro‌ a better fit for your needs? Let us know in the comments below.

Amazon and Best Buy have introduced record discounts on the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models today, taking up to $500 off of standard prices.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Starting with the 14-inch models, the discounts begin with the entry-level M3 model with 512GB of storage, which is available for $1,399.99 with an on-page coupon at Amazon for total savings of $199 off the regular price. The 1TB model is similarly available for $199 off with an on-page coupon, bringing the price down to $1,599.99.

Moving to higher-end 14-inch models with the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, you'll find $300 discounts on several configurations:

• 11-Core M3 Pro, 512GB - $1,699.00, down from $1,999.00 at Best Buy
• 12-Core M3 Pro, 1TB - $2,099.00, down from $2,399.00 at Amazon and Best Buy
• 14-Core M3 Max, 1TB - $2,899.00, down from $3,199.00 at Amazon and Best Buy

For the larger 16-inch models, both Amazon and Best Buy have record-low prices with discounts ranging from $300 to $500 across the various configurations:

• 12-Core M3 Pro, 512GB, 18GB Memory - $2,199.00, down from $2,499.00 at Amazon and Best Buy
• 12-Core M3 Pro, 512GB, 36GB Memory - $2,399.00, down from $2,899.00 at Amazon and Best Buy
• 14-Core M3 Max, 1TB, 36GB Memory - $2,999.00, down from $3,499.00 at Amazon and Best Buy
• 16-Core M3 Max, 1TB, 48GB Memory - $3,499.00, down from $3,999.00 at Amazon and Best Buy

Tiptop recently announced the launch of its trade-in service, which provides instant credit for over 50,000 items, including Apple products like iPhones and Macs.

Online merchants powered by Shopify, Stripe, and more can offer Tiptop at checkout, with launch partners including electronics brand Nothing, game controller maker Backbone, pre-owned smartphone market Phonedaddy, and others. Tiptop manages the entire program for a merchant, including the trade-in, payment, and shipping.

After selecting the Tiptop option during checkout on a participating merchant's website, you can search for the Apple product or other item that you would like to trade in, confirm the trade-in amount being offered, and choose to pay the remaining balance in full or in four interest-free installments. To send the item being traded in to Tiptop, customers can scan a QR code to start the prepaid shipping process, or have a courier pick up the item.

Tiptop was founded by Bastian Lehmann, who also co-founded popular delivery service Postmates, and its marketing head is former TechCrunch editor-in-chief Matthew Panzarino. The startup had previously launched a trade-in app, but it is now promoting this trade-in service that online merchants can integrate into the checkout flow.

Netflix is proceeding with its plan to discontinue its cheapest ad-free subscription tier, starting with the UK and Canada, with more countries inevitably to follow.

The streaming giant has reportedly begun notifying users via on-screen messages about the last day they can access the service unless they upgrade. One Reddit user shared a notification they had received from the Netflix app, saying: "Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching." Customers are being prompted to instead choose the cheaper Standard with ads, or the more expensive Standard or Premium 4K plans.

In the UK, users are being informed that their £7.99 per month Basic plan has been discontinued and that they can sign up to the Standard with adverts plan for £4.99 or pay £10.99 for the Standard plan. The £10.99 plan includes access to 1080p streams, viewing on two devices simultaneously, and downloads on up to two devices. Meanwhile, the Standard with adverts tier still offers 1080p video quality but of course injects ads into streams.

Canadian subscribers are also receiving notifications about the last viewing day for their Basic plan. In Canada, the price increase is more significant, rising from $9.99 for the Basic plan to $16.49 for the Standard plan. Alternatively, users can save $4 by going with the Standard with Ads plan ($5.99).

The Basic plan, which costs $11.99 per month in the United States, has not been available to new subscribers since last year. In its early 2024 earnings call, Netflix announced its intention to retire its Basic plan in some countries where the ads plan has been introduced, starting with Canada and the UK in the second quarter, and then "taking it from there." Netflix said in May that its ad-supported streaming tier has 40 million global monthly active users, up 35 million from a year ago.

Apple today continued with the launch of its annual "Back to School" promotion, debuting back to school deals in most countries in Europe, some countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Mexico.

Higher education students and educators in the UK can get up to a £120 Apple gift card with the purchase of select Macs and iPads, which is a similar deal to the one that went live in the United States and Canada last month.

Apple is offering a £120 gift card with any new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac, and a £80 gift card with the purchase of any new M4 iPad Pro, M2 iPad Air, or Mac mini. The gift card can be used towards purchases of Apple products and accessories, App Store apps, subscriptions to services like Apple Music, iCloud+ storage, and more.

Meanwhile in most other countries, Apple is offering AirPods with every Mac or an Apple Pencil with every iPad sold through its education stores.

Apple is providing its standard educational discounts, and students are able to get lower prices on Macs and iPads through the EDU store in each country, a link to which can be found under "Education" at the bottom of regional Apple stores. Students are also eligible for AppleCare+ at a 20% discount.

Apple's Back to School promotion requires verification through UNiDAYS in many countries, with full terms and conditions available on the promotional pages for Apple's country-specific websites.

Apple's Back to School Promotion will last through October 21, 2024 in most of the above listed countries, but it does end in September in some locations, such as Mexico.

Swiss privacy company Proton today launched Proton Docs, which it is pitching to customers as a "secure alternative to Google Drive and Docs."

Proton Docs offers user end-to-end encrypted (E2E) document creation, editing, and collaboration, all of which is integrated with Proton's cloud storage product, Drive.

The implementation of E2E means not even Proton can access your docs content or metadata (such as file names), and user data is kept on Swiss servers, where it is protected by strict Swiss privacy laws.

Following Proton's recent acquisition of the encrypted notes app Standard Notes, Docs integrates many of its popular features, such as full support for markdown and rich text, code blocks and checklists. From Proton's press release, here are the highlights:

• Rich Text Editing: Create and edit documents with advanced formatting options, allowing for professional and polished outputs.
• File Compatibility: Easily open and edit documents in multiple formats, including Microsoft .docx, ensuring seamless integration and continuous privacy protection.
• Comments and Collaboration: Add comments, reply to comments, and resolve them efficiently, fostering a collaborative environment.
• Embed Images: Enhance your documents by embedding images, providing visual context without compromising on speed.
• Collaborative Cursors and Presence: See who else is viewing the document in real-time with collaborative cursors, making teamwork more intuitive.
• Invite Collaborators: Easily invite anyone to collaborate on your documents. Participants without a Proton account will be prompted to create a free one, ensuring a secure environment for all.

Drawing on its privacy-is-everything stance, the company says that every document, keystroke, and even cursor movement is end-to-end encrypted in real time. "Unlike Google Docs, Proton's commitment to never harvesting user data for any purpose, means information remains strictly private," promises the company.

Proton Docs is currently a web application, but Proton says it will eventually be offered as a dedicated app across platforms. Alongside Docs, Proton Drive includes a calendar, file storage, a password manager, and more.

Docs requires a free Proton Drive account. Proton says it is rolling out Docs starting today, and the feature will be available to all users over the next couple of days.

In macOS Sequoia, several Apple apps have gained a new HDMI Passthrough feature that enables a Mac to send an unaltered Dolby Atmos audio signal to a connected AV receiver or soundbar.

The new functionality appears in various places in macOS 15, including Apple's TV, Music, and QuickTime Player apps. Apple says turning on the option lets users "Play supported audio in Dolby Atmos and other Dolby Audio formats using HDMI Passthrough when connected to a supported device."

The feature is likely to be welcomed by users who connect their Mac to an external device that supports Dolby Atmos, such as an AV receiver or soundbar. When conected via HDMI cable, the device will be able to decode and output the full immersive Dolby Atmos audio as it was meant to be experienced by the creators, while sending any accompanying video signal to a connected TV.

It's unclear whether this option will be included in tvOS 18, but given that Apple has made it a system-wide feature in ‌macOS Sequoia‌, there is a good chance we will see it come to Apple TVs in a future update. Both ‌macOS Sequoia‌ and tvOS 18 are currently in developer beta, with public betas expected later this month, followed by a general release in the fall.

With iOS 18, Apple overhauled the Home Screen, introducing design changes that allow for more customization and personalization. You can put icons where you want, change their size, and give them new colors, plus you can hide apps and swap out your Lock Screen buttons.

This guide highlights everything new coming to the ‌iOS 18‌ ‌Home Screen‌ and Lock Screen.

Rearranging Icons

With ‌iOS 18‌, you can rearrange app icons and widgets on your ‌Home Screen‌ and app pages with space between them, providing a wealth of new layout options.

Apple stuck with a grid system so you can only move app icons within the grid locations, but an icon can be placed anywhere in the grid with empty space around it. That sounds complicated, but with iOS 17, if you added a new app to your ‌Home Screen‌, it would automatically go to the next open spot.

In ‌iOS 18‌, you can choose where to put it. You can have app icon-sized spaces between apps, full empty rows, and full empty columns. You can't put icons and widgets in places with uneven spacing because of the invisible grid limitation, so keep that in mind.

You can put a single app in the middle of a page, have a row of apps at the top and a row of apps at the bottom, create a column of apps, and more. Apple created this design to allow you to place apps and widgets around wallpapers and arrange them into more useful layouts.

Here's how to move your icons:

1. Long press on the ‌Home Screen‌ or on an app page to initiate wiggle mode.
2. Move apps into the desired positions.
3. Tap on done.

Increase Icon Size

You can make your app icons bigger in ‌iOS 18‌ by removing the app names. With app names in place, Apple needs space to display them, but removing them opens up a lot of area for a larger icon and folder size. Changing the app size does not change the number of apps that are visible, it simply removes text and uses up that empty space.

With larger icons, you still get a maximum of six icon rows with four icons each, the same that you're limited to when icon names are turned on. To change icon size, follow these steps:

1. Long press on the ‌Home Screen‌ or an app page.
2. Tap on "Edit."
3. Tap on "Customize."
4. Choose Small to turn on app names, or Large to turn them off.

Note that this setting is universal, so you cannot have small icons on one app page and large icons on a different app page.

Change Widget Size

You can change the size of widgets directly from the ‌Home Screen‌ without having to go into the customization options. Widgets now have a white rounded bar in the corner, which you can drag to make them larger or smaller.

1. Long press on the ‌Home Screen‌ or an app page to get into wiggle mode.
2. Use a finger to resize the widget to be smaller or larger.

You are limited to the minimum and maximum size available with any given widget. For example, the Battery widget can be the size of four app icons, six horizontal app icons in two rows, or a square shape that's four icons wide by four icons tall. When you resize the Battery widget, you are limited to those size options, but you don't need to go into the full widget settings to change the size.

‌Widgets‌ are still added to your ‌Home Screen‌ and app pages in the same way, though some of the labeling has shifted. Long press and tap on "Edit," then choose the "Add Widget" option. It's one more tap than it was before due to the new customization options.

If an app has a widget, you can also long press on its icon to see widget options right there, turning the app's icon into a widget instead.

New Widgets

Apple added a new Health widget in ‌iOS 18‌ that shows information from the new Vitals feature that's both in the Health app and on Apple Watch. It provides an overview of daily vitals or weekly vitals, plus there's also a new widget for cycle tracking.

Vitals aggregates information from the Apple Watch to provide a daily readout of how your heart rate, sleep patterns, respiration, and blood oxygen change from day to day and week to week.

There is a new Journal widget as well, with options that provide a writing prompt that you can tap on to open up the app to answer. You can also select a Streaks widget that keeps track of how many days in a row you've used the Journal app.

For the new Training Load feature on Apple Watch, Apple has added a corresponding widget in the Fitness widget section.

In the Home widget section, there are new widgets for electricity usage and electricity rates (a feature coming to select users in ‌iOS 18‌ later this year).

Dark Mode Icons

Apple's built-in apps have both Light and Dark color options in ‌iOS 18‌, which allows you to change the color of your icons when you have Dark Mode turned on. The Dark icons are all redesigned with a black background rather than a white or colored background, which makes them blend in better with the ‌Dark Mode‌ setting.

You can turn on Dark icons independently of having ‌Dark Mode‌ enabled, so you can leave Light mode on while using the Dark icon option. You can also set icons to an automatic mode, which means they'll change color depending on whether ‌Dark Mode‌ or Light Mode is active.

Right now, it's only Apple's apps that have a Dark option, but third-party developers will presumably also be able to include two color options for their icons when ‌iOS 18‌ launches.

To go along with the ‌Dark Mode‌ icons, Apple also introduced a toggle that makes your wallpaper darker. Here's how to change your icon and wallpaper color:

1. Long press on the ‌Home Screen‌ or an app page.
2. Tap on "Edit."
3. Tap on "Customize."
4. Select Automatic, Dark, Light, or Tinted, an option described below. This is also the interface used to change app icon size, and darken your wallpaper (the sun icon).

The wallpaper option makes your chosen wallpaper a bit darker in color, dimming bright shades when enabled. Tapping toggles Light and Dark modes, with Light being your standard wallpaper color.

Icon Tints

In addition to choosing a ‌Dark Mode‌ for your app icons, you can opt to put a tint over all of them, which is an aesthetic that's useful if you want to match a wallpaper.

You cannot change icon colors individually, and the tint changes the shade of all of the icons en masse. You can use an eyedropper to choose a color from your wallpaper, or you can use the two bars to tweak both hue and saturation. Tinting works with all icons because it desaturates and then places a color over the desaturated icon, so you do lose individual colors in app icons and widgets. It's a very monochromatic look.

As with icon size, this is a universal setting so you cannot have different tints for different app pages. Tinting affects not only your app pages and ‌Home Screen‌, but also the App Library. To change an icon tint:

1. Long press on the ‌Home Screen‌ or an app page.
2. Tap on "Edit."
3. Tap on "Customize."
4. Select Tinted and use the sliders to adjust the tint to your ideal color.

To turn off a tint, follow these same steps and then choose "Light" or "Dark" to get back to the standard app icon colors.

Hiding and Locking Apps

‌iOS 18‌ includes a security feature for locking apps or even hiding them entirely from your ‌Home Screen‌ and app pages. A locked app requires a Face ID or Touch ID scan to open, so if someone is using your unlocked iPhone, they still won't be able to open apps you've disabled.

Hiding an app does the same thing as locking it, but goes a step further and removes it from view entirely. You'll only see it in a Hidden folder in the App Library, which also requires authentication to access. Locked and Hidden apps do not show up in searches on the ‌iPhone‌, they're not accessible by Siri without authentication, and notifications and alerts like calls from the app are disabled, so they're entirely private without authentication.

The option to lock and hide apps is useful for when you need to hand your phone over to someone for viewing photos, playing games, or similar situations.

For a locked app, there is no sign that it's locked until someone attempts to open it, at which point there's a ‌Face ID‌ or ‌Touch ID‌ authentication prompt. For hidden apps, they simply don't show up anywhere except the App Library.

Apps do show up in your App Store purchase/download list, but they don't show up in the Settings app. Settings for hidden apps can be accessed in a separate "Hidden Apps" folder that does require authentication to open up. How to lock or hide an app:

1. Long press on the icon of the app that you want to lock or hide.
2. Tap on "Require ‌Face ID‌."
3. If you want to simply lock an app, tap on "Require ‌Face ID‌" again. If you want to hide it, choose "Hide and Require ‌Face ID‌."
4. Authenticate with a ‌Face ID‌ or ‌Touch ID‌ scan.
5. For a locked app, that's it. For a hidden app, you'll see a screen letting you know that you won't get notifications or calls from the app.
6. Tap "Hide App."

To remove the lock on an app, long press again on the icon on the ‌Home Screen‌ or app page and choose "Don't Require ‌Face ID‌." You will need to authenticate to turn it off.

To unhide an app, go to the App Library, select the Hidden section, authenticate with ‌Face ID‌ or ‌Touch ID‌, long press on the app icon, and choose "Don't Require ‌Face ID‌ or "Unhide App." The first option turns off the lock and keeps the app off of the ‌Home Screen‌, while the second both turns off the authentication requirement and adds it back to the first available opening on an app page.

If you turn off the lock and do not add it back to the ‌Home Screen‌, you'll need to find it in the App Library to put it back on the ‌Home Screen‌ later.

Lock Screen Updates

Apple didn't make major changes to the Lock Screen because it was just overhauled with ‌iOS 17‌, but there are a few updates worth noting.

Rainbow Time and Other New Lock Screen Widget Options

With ‌iOS 17‌, Apple added an option to customize the font and the color of the time on the Lock Screen, and in ‌iOS 18‌, there's a new rainbow color option that adds a variegated rainbow shade for the time. There are no other changes to font or color options.

Above the time, you can add a new Journal widget that presents a journaling prompt and opens the app when you tap it.

For widget options, there are new Health app Vitals widgets, and new entries for electricity usage and rates. These match the new ‌Home Screen‌ widgets.

Quick Buttons

For the first time, you can change the Flashlight and Camera icons on the Lock Screen, picking something more useful or turning them off entirely.

You can choose any Control Center option for the Lock Screen buttons, including Shortcuts, ‌Dark Mode‌, Airplane Mode, Remote, Alarm Calculator, Translate, and more. This change ties into a redesign of the Control Center, and it gives you a lot more possibilities for what you can launch from the Lock Screen.

Apple is allowing third-party apps to add Control Center icons, so you can also choose from those. Depending on what you pick, you may need to use ‌Face ID‌ or ‌Touch ID‌ to authenticate before being able to access an app from the Lock Screen in order to preserve user privacy and keep sensitive data from being easily accessible.

To change your Lock Screen buttons, follow these steps:

1. Long press on the Lock Screen after authenticating.
2. Tap on Customize.
3. Tap on Lock Screen.
4. From this interface, tap on the "-" icon to remove any apps that are already assigned to those buttons. If you're doing this for the first time, you'll have the Flashlight and Camera apps set to the default, which need to be removed.
5. From there, tap on the "+" button and choose a new control to add.
6. Tap on Done in the upper right corner.

iOS 18 Wallpaper

There are four new ‌iOS 18‌ wallpaper options in pink, yellow, azure, and purple with a matching darker colored swoop. These all have a Light Mode and a ‌Dark Mode‌ shade customized by Apple, with the ‌Dark Mode‌ featuring a background glow for the darker part of the design.

You can find the new wallpapers by long pressing on the Lock Screen, and choosing Customize to modify an existing wallpaper or "+" to add a new one entirely.

Read More

More on all of the new features that were added in ‌iOS 18‌ can be found in our iOS 18 roundup.

Apple Fellow and App Store chief Phil Schiller will take on a board observer position at OpenAI, reports Bloomberg. Apple has been granted an observer role as part of its agreement with OpenAI, which will see ChatGPT integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, and Schiller has been selected for the role.

A board observer is an informal board position where the participant is able to attend and contribute to board meetings, but is not allowed to vote and has no control. OpenAI has also given a board observer role to Microsoft, so Apple and Microsoft will be on even footing with Schiller's new position.

Given Microsoft's relationship with OpenAI, future board meetings could cover new arrangements between OpenAI and Microsoft, which Bloomberg suggests could cause tension if Schiller is present. Microsoft can request that Schiller be excluded from these meetings, however.

Schiller has not yet attended any OpenAI board meetings and is not set to do so until later in the year.

Apple and OpenAI's deal will see Siri able to hand complicated user requests over to ChatGPT with explicit user permission. OpenAI is not paying Apple to integrate ChatGPT in its operating systems, nor is Apple paying OpenAI. No money is being exchanged under the terms of the arrangement at the current time.