Jurang Tayo

Senin, 06 Mei 2019

Apple is planning big software updates for WWDC, including iOS Dark Mode and iPad apps on Mac - The Verge

Apple traditionally shows off updates to its iOS, Mac, and smartwatch software at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). This year’s conference begins on June 3rd, and according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company has a lot planned.

Gurman is a reliable source for this sort of Apple news, and he suggests that the company will be announcing new apps and updated software across all of its major platforms. The updates seem mostly commonsense and minor, but if there’s an overarching theme it’s that Apple wants to make sure its homegrown apps are viable options.

The company seems like it’s lavishing particular attention on areas where third-party apps are stronger than Apple’s own (e.g., to-do lists and navigation).

Some of the biggest news includes an official dark mode in iOS, revamped mobile Health and Reminders apps, and an updated version of Maps that will better compete with rivals like Google Maps. In watchOS, Apple is adding direct support for the App Store, meaning Apple Watch owners will be able to install new apps without using their phones. In macOS, the company will announce the first crop of iPad apps that run on Macs. Oh, and the HomePod should get a multiuser mode, with different responses to different users.

Check out the highlights of Gurman’s report below, but visit the original story if you want all of the nitty-gritty details.

New in iOS 13:

An official Dark Mode will be enabled from the Control Center. iOS users have previously had to use color inversion to achieve a sort of dark mode.
There’s a revamped Health app, with a new homepage for daily activity, a “hearing health” feature, and “more comprehensive menstrual cycle tracking.”
The updated Reminders app has a new main screen with four default options: tasks to be done today, scheduled tasks, flagged tasks, and all tasks. Gurman says the update “better competes with the several to-do list programs available on the App Store.”
The updated Maps app has easier options for setting frequent locations, creating groups of favorite locations, and navigating to suggested and past destinations.
The addition of profile pictures and display names in iMessages includes a dedicated menu for sending sticker versions of Animoji and Memoji.
Find My Friends and Find My iPhone will be combined into a single app. Previously rumored by 9to5Mac, it also suggested that Apple was working on a physical tag similar to Tile that would let users track the location of any devices — not just Apple phones and computers.
Native support to use an iPad as a secondary Mac screen will be introduced, which is similar to the functionality offered by third-party apps like Luna and Duet Display. This was also previously rumored by 9to5Mac.
There’s a selection of iPad-specific updates, including a better interface for multitasking and an updated home screen.

New in watchOS 6:

App Store access on-device means you’ll be able to update and install new apps without using the Watch companion app on the iPhone.
Transplanted apps from iOS include Voice Memos, Apple Books (for audiobooks), and the Calculator app.
New apps including Dose for pill reminders and Cycles for tracking menstrual cycles will be introduced.
New Complications (including ones for showing the battery life of hearing aids, rainfall data, and external noise) and new watchfaces (including one with extra-large numbers) will arrive.

New in macOS 10.15:

iPad apps on the Mac was previously rumored by Bloomberg. It reported that Apple will allow developers to create (essentially) a single app that runs on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This process will need some work from developers, though, who will also have to submit multiple versions of the app to the iOS and Mac App Stores. Gurman says the feature will be expanded to iPhone apps “by next year.” Apple has already made iOS apps available on the Mac itself, including News and Stocks with macOS Mojave.
A new Apple Music app could be part of the rumored break-up of iTunes.
Apple iPad apps that will be initially available on the Mac include the Podcasts app and newly merged Find My iPhone / Find My Friends app. Apple’s Screen Time, Siri Shortcuts, and updated Reminders app will also be available on the Mac.

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https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/6/18530995/apple-wwdc-rumored-updates-ios-apple-watch-macos-new-reavamped-apps

2019-05-06 13:22:23Z
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Bloomberg: Apple Watch to Get Standalone App Store, iOS 13 Will Have All-New Sleep Mode, and More - Mac Rumors

Less than a month ahead of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has outlined his expectations for iOS 13, macOS 10.15, watchOS 6, and more, which we've summarized below.

Dark Mode that can be toggled in Control Center
A new systemwide Sleep Mode that can be toggled in Control Center to turn on Do Not Disturb, darken the Lock Screen, and mute all notifications. This is said to be tied to improvements to the Bedtime tab in the Clocks app.
A revamped Messages app with a WhatsApp-like feature that enables users to set a profile picture and display name, and choose who sees it, and a dedicated menu for Animoji and Memoji stickers
A revamped Maps app will make it easier to set frequent locations, like home or work addresses, and then navigate there. Improved grouping of frequent locations with ability to add photos.
A revamped Reminders app with four default sections laid out in a grid: tasks to be done today, all tasks, scheduled tasks, and flagged tasks
A revamped Books app with updated progress tracker and new rewards system
A revamped Health app with an improved view of daily activity, more comprehensive menstrual cycle tracking, and more
A revamped Mail app with ability to mute individual threads, block incoming email from certain contacts, and simpler folder management
New default swipe-based keyboard option like SwiftKey
New feature that will let users use their iPad as an external display for a Mac, complete with support for Apple Pencil, notifications, and more, as previously reported by 9to5Mac
A combined Find My iPhone and Find My Friends app, and possibly a Tile-like tag for tracking devices, as previously reported by 9to5Mac
User interface tweaks, including a new animation when launching the multitasking pane and closing apps and tweaks to the home screen on iPad
iPad is getting some unique features, including an updated interface for multi-tasking, tweaks to the home screen, and the ability to cycle through different versions of the same app
A more comprehensive Accessibility menu on the main page of the Settings app with improved hearing aid support and more
Performance improvements and bug fixes

macOS 10.15

Marzipan: iPhone and iPad apps can be easily ported to the Mac with new SDK that simplifies the cross-platform development process. This is said to be the first step in a plan to merge iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps into a single package that can run on any of those devices by 2021.
Apple Music, Podcasts, and merged Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps
Screen Time on Mac
iMessage stickers and effects
Siri Shortcuts integration

watchOS 6

A dedicated App Store app on the Apple Watch itself
Voice Memos, Calculator, and Books apps
"Dose" and "Cycles" apps for pill reminders and menstrual cycle tracking respectively
Animoji and Memoji sticker support in sync with iPhone
New watch faces, including one with a custom "gradient" design and at least two "X-Large" versions with very large font; new complications for audiobooks, battery life of hearing aids, and more

Apple is also said to be planning to let the HomePod respond to multiple users in a future software update tied to iOS 13.

As usual, Gurman notes that some of Apple's plans could change between now and WWDC, so some features may end up being slightly different than described, kept internal, or axed entirely.

Looking ahead, Apple is said to be already working on iOS 14 with support for 5G and new AR functionality on 2020 iPhones.

Gurman's full WWDC 2019 preview is a worthwhile read.

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https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/06/wwdc-2019-what-to-expect-gurman/

2019-05-06 12:41:00Z
52780287116005

iPhone sales declined in every part of the world last quarter, not just China - Phone Arena

As Apple confirmed in its two most recent earnings calls, iPhone sales have been consistently down year-on-year since October. The Cupertino giant blamed this primarily on weak demand in China, but recent SEC filings show this isn’t the full story.

Weak iPhone sales in all regions, America included

Spotted first by Cult of Mac, Apple’s recent Form 10-Q filing with the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) contains a detailed breakdown of performance over the past six months by both product category (iPhone, iPad, Services, etc.) and geographical region (Americas, Europe, Greater China, etc.).

iPhone sales, as mentioned above, have been down for the past six months. The Greater China region which includes China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan has undoubtedly impacted Apple's total shipments the most, but in actual fact the company has been experiencing “lower iPhone unit sales in all the reportable geographical segments" since October. This has resulted in year-on-year revenue declines for all regions except the Americas (North and South America), with Greater China being the most affected followed by Europe and Japan.

iPhone sales declined in every part of the world last quarter, not just China

In almost every geographical segment, Apple’s lower iPhone shipments were partially offset by improved performance in other product categories. For example, in Europe the company’s Services and Wearables businesses grew significantly, while over in Japan Services and iPad were key. In the Americas, however, strong Services and Wearables performance managed to entirely offset weak iPhone shipments and push year-on-year growth to a decent 4%.

The situation in China seems to finally be improving

Taking a look at the company’s performance over the past three months rather than six, it seems as though Apple’s efforts in certain regions are finally beginning to pay off. Other markets, however, seem to be in decline.

As mentioned by Apple in its recent earnings call, the company noticed improved demand in Greater China towards the end of the quarter. It didn’t elaborate on the matter, but it seems to have translated into slightly better financial results for the brand as, for the three months ending March 31st, the year-on-year sales decline was 22%. This is still pretty major, but it represents an improvement over the -25% average Apple has experienced in the region since October.

Another region that has improved is Japan. Over the past six months, Apple’s sales have dropped an average of 2%, but throughout the first three months of 2019 sales were actually up 1%. Similarly, the Americas continued to experience growth throughout the past quarter.

Moving on to Europe and the Rest of Asia Pacific, these two geographical segments didn’t fare as well. Since October, Apple has experienced an average revenue decline in these regions of 4% and 2% respectively. But during the first quarter of the year, these numbers nosedived to 6% and 9% due primarily to even lower iPhone demand.

iPhone sales are expected to remain flat throughout 2020

Regarding Apple’s performance throughout the rest of 2019, the Cupertino giant now appears confident that it can improve the situation in Greater China and ultimately slow down its year-on-year decline. Nevertheless, it’s still forecasting a drop for this current quarter and, with business in Europe and the Rest of Asia Pacific seemingly struggling, it’ll remain to be seen how Apple handles the situation.

Towards the end of 2019, Apple’s next-gen iPhones should provide a decent boost to demand. However, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently predicted almost no growth. Instead, Kuo expects iPhone sales to pick up towards the end of 2020 as a result of the first 5G models which should feature modems from both Samsung and Qualcomm.

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https://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-iPhone-sales-decline-America-Europe-Asia_id115798

2019-05-06 12:03:09Z
52780287116005

Firefox pushing out update that restores add-ons after huge bug [APK Download] - Android Police

Firefox faced a major cybersecurity-related outage this weekend that caused all browser add-ons, themes, search engines, and language packs to be disabled, which left many Tor users potentially exposed to tracking. However, Mozilla was quick to react and published an update to version 66.0.4 on Android and Desktop OSs that reinstated said features yesterday.

The bug started to make its rounds late Friday, May 3rd, when users found all of their browser customizations deactivated. Apparently, an expired certificate on Mozilla's end was the culprit, since Firefox suddenly couldn't verify the integrity of any third-party add-ons anymore and thus automatically disabled everything for everyone. This is a standard procedure to protect users from rogue unsigned extensions, and it worked just as it should since no add-ons were classified as safe any longer.

While that was merely a (granted, big) annoyance to most, especially since it happened during the weekend, one particular group of people had their safety at risk through this snafu: Tor users, who want to surf the web anonymously. You see, the Tor browser is a Firefox fork and relies on the same certificates to verify third-party add-ons – including the pre-installed NoScript extension that prevents websites from tracking you across the internet, which users found deactivated in the middle of researching the dark web. Ouch.

This is what Firefox add-ons looked like over the weekend on version 66.0.2

Luckily, Mozilla was quick to react with a hotfix that came to desktop browsers shortly after the bug was found and an update from version 66.0.2 to 66.0.4 that fixes the issue across all platforms, including Android.

You can either grab the new release from the Play Store widget below or download it straight from APK Mirror. Note that a small number of extensions may disappear from your about:addons after getting the new version. Their data is not gone; you just need to reinstall them from Firefox's add-on store. The situation is similar for themes, which have to be re-enabled manually.

Price: Free

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https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/05/06/firefox-pushing-out-update-that-restores-add-ons-after-huge-bug-apk-download/

2019-05-06 10:28:00Z
52780285280165

Google I/O 2019: What to Expect at I/O As Google's Sprawling Dominion Grows - WIRED

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Google I/O 2019: What to Expect at I/O As Google's Sprawling Dominion Grows WIRED

Spring is in the air, the anthuriums are in bloom, and Sundhar Pichai is sequestered away somewhere in Mountain View, preparing for another Google I/O. The ...

View full coverage on Google News
https://www.wired.com/story/google-io-2019-what-to-expect/

2019-05-06 11:00:00Z
CAIiEICXXBqjnn2ejHFPwDaAzokqGAgEKg8IACoHCAow-KLyCTDo8XIwua_pBQ

Jurang Tayo

Senin, 06 Mei 2019

Apple is planning big software updates for WWDC, including iOS Dark Mode and iPad apps on Mac - The Verge

Bloomberg: Apple Watch to Get Standalone App Store, iOS 13 Will Have All-New Sleep Mode, and More - Mac Rumors

macOS 10.15

watchOS 6

iPhone sales declined in every part of the world last quarter, not just China - Phone Arena

Weak iPhone sales in all regions, America included

The situation in China seems to finally be improving

iPhone sales are expected to remain flat throughout 2020

Firefox pushing out update that restores add-ons after huge bug [APK Download] - Android Police

Google I/O 2019: What to Expect at I/O As Google's Sprawling Dominion Grows - WIRED

YouTube Music for Android can play your local song collection - Engadget

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YouTube Music for Android can play your local song collection - Engadget

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