Apple will release iOS 14.5 update with AirTag support next week

Apple finally launched its long-delayed AirTag object tracker earlier today. There was not much of a surprise element there, as leaks had already given us a glimpse of what they look like and also revealed some of their key capabilities. But they’re finally here, and it’s a big deal for folks who have been awaiting its arrival patiently for years. However, the announcement also marked Apple revealing the release window for iOS 14.5 update that adds support for Apple’s object tracker. Curious? As per Apple, iOS 14.5 update will be rolled out next week.

“AirTag requires iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 14.5 or later, or iPad running iPadOS 14.5 or later. These software updates will be available starting next week. Customers must have an Apple ID and be signed into their iCloud account. Certain features require Find My to be enabled in iCloud settings,” Apple said in its press release. Once the update arrives, users will be able to link the AirTag with their device using the Find My app. Once the linking is done using the iCloud account, AirTag taps into the global Find My network to track your belongings.

airtag in action

Made out of stainless steel, the Apple-branded object tracker is also IP67-certified for dust and water resistance. AirTags are priced at $29 a pop, however, you can save some cash if you purchase the 4-pack that costs $99. They will be up for grabs starting Friday on April 30, just a few days before the rollout of iOS 14.5 begins via the stable channel.

In addition to adding support for AirTag, iOS 14.5 will also add a ton of useful features, some of which have already been spotted in action via the beta updates. One of them is ‘Unlock with Apple Watch’ that allows users to unlock their iPhone using an Apple Watch, saving them the trouble of removing face masks for Face ID to do its trick. Additionally, the update will also enable support for dual-SIM connectivity globally, and adds a new crowdsourcing feature for reporting accidents in Apple Maps, thanks to a new ‘Report’ button.

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Google wants Android smartwatches and phones to act as digital IDs and keys

Google has been fitting its Pixel phones with a custom security chip called Titan M for a while now. This chip stores sensitive data and handles processes such as protecting passcodes, encryption/decryption, and ensuring secure transactions in wallet apps. Plus, Google also integrates it with the Verified Boot process for validating the Android build, ensuring that you’re running a secure software that hasn’t been tampered with. In general, Google classifies such hardware as a Secure Element. Now, Google wants to extend that convenience to more Android phones – and even smartwatches – by establishing the Android Ready SE Alliance.

Google aims to cover phones, smartwatches as well as Android Auto and Android TV hardware as well

As part of the initiative, Google is partnering with vendors that make SE hardware to create a set of open-source, validated, and ready-to-use SE Applets that can be used by OEMs. Additionally, Google has also released the General Availability (GA) version of StrongBox for SE. In case you’re wondering, a StrongBox is part of a dedicated security chip – like the Titan M – that allows a phone to securely store keys for Android applications.

android SE applets google alliance

“The Android Ready SE Alliance is a collaboration between Google and Secure Element (SE) vendors. The alliance was created to make discrete tamper resistant hardware backed security the lowest common denominator for the Android ecosystem. Under this alliance, Google and the SE Vendors offer a growing list of tested open-source implementations of hardware backed security applets for new and emerging use cases.”

Right now, Google’s focus is on allowing Android devices with dedicated security hardware to be able to safely store data such as ID, driver’s license, and digital car keys. However, it can also be used for protecting digital wallets and other important documents such as passports as well.

Interestingly, Google is not limiting the scope of its Android Ready SE Alliance and StrongBox to just phones and tablets, but also envisions the benefits for smartwatches, Android Auto hardware, and Android TV ecosystem as well. The ready-to-use SE Applets are currently available from Giesecke+Devrient, Kigen, NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Thales. You can find the full list of supported chipsets from the aforementioned brands here.

“OEMs that adopt Android Ready SE can produce devices that are highly secure and allow for remote updates to enable compelling new cases as they are introduced into the Android platform. Consumers will benefit from their devices being more secure and updatable with new capabilities,” says Google. The company adds that multiple OEMs are already adopting the Android Ready SE applets, and aims to add more names to the list.

 

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Motorola Edge+ gets Android 11 update that brings a useful Ready For hub

Motorola re-entered the flagship segment late last year with the Edge+, offering high-end innards packed inside a sleek profile that was priced at a cool $1,000. Being a flagship, and especially one that ran a near-stock experience, we had hopes that the phone will get Android updates at a steady pace and on a timely basis. We were wrong. But hey, it’s better later than never, after all. The Verizon-locked unit of the Motorola Edge+ is finally getting the Android 11 upgrade. 

Ready For is essentially a Samsung DeX equivalent for Motorola Edge+

Android 11 brings the usual set of goodies such as chat bubbles, a native screen recorder, media controls, dark theme scheduling, and one-time app permissions to name a few. However, the update also adds another very helpful feature called Ready For that is exclusive to the Motorola Edge+ at the moment. 

Ready For is actually a hub that tries to replicate what DeX does with premium Samsung phones – allowing users to extend their phone’s software to a larger screen such as a monitor and control the UI using external accessories. Coming back to the Ready For hub, you can connect the Motorola Edge+ to a TV or monitor via a USB-C to USB-C cable. And to get a full desktop experience, you can throw in a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to the mix as well, while games can be enjoyed using a controller on a TV.

Once you connect the Motorola Edge+ to a monitor, you will see four options on the phone’s screen:

Mobile desktop: For mirroring your phone’s UI on a larger display, complete with support for running multiple apps at once. Aside from supporting keyboard and mouse input, the phone’s screen also doubles as a trackpad.

TV
: This one aggregates video-watching apps such as YouTube and Netflix.

Video
: As the name makes it abundantly clear, this one is for video calling apps such as Google Duo. You can use the phone’s 108MP main camera as a high-resolution webcam for an enhanced video calling experience. Users will also be able to switch between the wide-angle and the 3x zoom telephoto cameras as well.

Game
: You will find all your games here, which you can play on a monitor or a TV using a Bluetooth controller.  

To see Ready For in action on the Motorola Edge+, check out the video below:

 

 

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Samsung’s ambitious 4-year support cycle includes biannual updates

Just a few weeks ago, Samsung revealed an exhaustive list of phones that will get security updates for a span of four years. While the announcement was well-received, it was quite surprising – in a good way, that is – to see some dirt-cheap budget phones on that list. Samsung has now shed more light on its 4-year software update program and there is another hidden surprise – albeit not a good one. Despite an assurance of security updates for 4 years, some devices will get security updates only after a space of six months, which means only two security updates per year. 

Mid-range oldies and budget phones will only get two security updates per year

“Monthly, quarterly and biannual firmware security updates will include patches for Android OS related security issues released by Google, as well as, patches for Samsung-specific security issues,” Samsung says on its security updates support page. First spotted by the folks over at AndroidPolice,  Samsung has now clearly sorted all the phones and tablets that will get updates on a monthly, quarterly (once every 3 months), and biannual (once every six months) basis. 

READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy A52 5G gets video unboxing ahead of March 17 launch

Unsurprisingly, the biannual updates have been reserved for lower-end phones and some really old devices such as the Galaxy Tab S4 tablet. If you’re rocking an old Samsung phone and are wondering whether it is on the biannual security update cycle, check out the list below: 

  • Galaxy S8 Lite, Galaxy Note FE
  • Galaxy A6, Galaxy A6+, Galaxy A7 (2018), Galaxy A8+ (2018), Galaxy A8 Star, Galaxy A8s, Galaxy A9 (2018)
  • Galaxy J2 Core, Galaxy J3 (2017), Galaxy J3 Top, Galaxy J4, Galaxy J4+, Galaxy J4 Core, Galaxy J5 (2017), Galaxy J6, Galaxy J6+, Galaxy J7 (2017), Galaxy J7 Duo, Galaxy J7 Prime2, Galaxy J7 Pop, Galaxy J7 Top, Galaxy J7 Max, Galaxy J7 Neo, Galaxy J7+, Galaxy J8
  • Galaxy M10, Galaxy M20
  • Galaxy Tab A (2017), Galaxy Tab A 10.5 (2018), Galaxy Tab S3, Galaxy Tab S4, Galaxy Tab E 8 Refresh
Check out Galaxy S21 at Samsung

 

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Adobe Photoshop now runs natively on M1 Macs

Adobe released an optimized version of Lightroom in December that ran natively on the M1 Macs, and Windows on ARM machines too. Back then, Adobe also started beta testing M1-optimized builds of some of its more popular offerings such as Photoshop. Well, the product is finally ready for prime time. Adobe has released a new version of Photoshop that runs natively on the new MacBooks powered by the in-house M1 silicon.

Preset Syncing and Invite to Edit Cloud Documents tools are yet to be ported for M1 Macs

Following internal testing, Adobe claims ‘a wide range of features’ offer an average speed boost of 1.5X with the new and optimized version of Photoshop. The company even mentions in its blog post that some tasks are substantially faster compared to what you get on the Rosetta 2 emulated version or the x86-optimized build of the app. Specifically, tasks such as opening/closing files, applying filters, Content-Aware Fill, and subject selection will run noticeably faster on the M1 Macs.

However, there are a few Photoshop features that are yet to be optimized for taking full advantage of the M1 chip, and they will be released later this year. Notable features that are yet to be ported for the ARM-based M1 ecosystem are Preset Syncing and Invite to Edit Cloud Documents. Adobe advises users to revert back to the non-optimized version of Photoshop to use them with the Rosetta 2 emulation layer, in case those features are an integral part of their workflow.

Adobe Photoshop for iPad gets new tools too

adobe photoshop ipad document history
Cloud Documents Version History

Additionally, Adobe has also added two notable features to the Photoshop app for iPad – Cloud Documents Version History and Offline Cloud Documents Editing. The first one allows users to revert back to versions of a document as old as 60 days. Users can also choose to save older versions, rename them or even put them on the bookmark list. The latter allows users to download their cloud-based documents and store them locally for offline editing.

adobe photoshop ipad offline editing
Offline Cloud Documents Editing
View MacBook Pro M1 at Amazon
View MacBook Air M1 at Amazon

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Chrome OS gets Phone Hub for deeper syncing between your phone and Chromebook

Chrome OS is now officially a decade old, and to mark the 10th birthday, it is getting a bunch of new features. The most useful one of them, in my opinion, is the Phone Hub. As the name makes it abundantly clear, Phone Hub is a one-stop dashboard for your phone that serves as a remote control panel on your Chromebook.

The phone hub will also show the last few links you opened on your Android phone.

Accessible from the shelf, you’ll now see a dedicated phone icon at the bottom that you can tap to open the Phone Hub. On this widget, you can access controls such as enabling your phone’s hotspot, putting it on the silent profile, and locate it. At the top, you’ll also find the battery percentage of your phone and network reception too, alongside the name you’ve picked for your phone while setting it up.

chrome OS phone hub
The phone hub will also show the last few links you opened on your Android phone

More importantly, the Phone Hub will allow you to respond to messages you’ve received on your phone from your Chrome OS machine itself. Additionally, you will also see cards for the last few Chrome tabs that you accessed on your phone. This is a neat continuity feature, that will let you access some important webpages on your Chromebook without going through any copy-paste or sharing process on your phone.

Additionally, Chrome OS has also landed support for the Wi-Fi sync feature. What this essentially means is if you’ve connected to a trusted Wi-Fi network on your Android phone, your Chromebook will automatically latch on to it without having to go through the password prompt stage that requires you to manually enter the password.

Nearby Sharing finally brings an AirDrop rival to Chromebooks

Google is also extending Nearby Sharing to Chromebooks. This will allow users to share files from their Chromebook with another Chrome OS machine or Android phone with ease. With the arrival of Nearby Share on Chromebooks, Google is finally giving Chrome OS a full-fledged AirDrop competitor that will only get better with the release of Android 12 and subsequent Chrome OS updates.

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Google will not build alternatives once third-party ad tracking is dropped

Google is one of the largest sellers of advertising in the world. Plus, it also owns the most popular web browser, Chrome. Both of these characteristics add up to provide personalized ad tracking to users. However, the company will soon be following the footsteps of other browsers like Firefox and Safari to eliminate third-party tracking cookies. 

“People shouldn’t have to accept being tracked across the web in order to get the benefits of relevant advertising. And advertisers don’t need to track individual consumers across the web to get the performance benefits of digital advertising,” wrote Google in a blog post.

What is a cookie, anyway?

Website Cookies store small amounts of information about the users. For instance, if you are adding something in your cart, the website will be able to remember your activity. However, a third-party tracking cookie allows the website to follow the user from one site to another. Therefore, advertising the item you searched for on a shopping website. This is the form that Google aims to drop.

That said, some marketers oppose this idea saying that Google will anyway be able to gain an advantage by eliminating such cookies as it has other ways of obtaining personal information from users.

To counter the argument, Google promises that once third-party cookies are phased out, it will not build alternative identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will they use them in their products.

“We don’t believe these solutions will meet rising consumer expectations for privacy, nor will they stand up to rapidly evolving regulatory restrictions, and therefore aren’t a sustainable long-term investment,” Google said. 

If you are thinking that shift away from cookies will prevent personalized ad tracking, you are not entirely correct. As BBC points out, the industry has come up with new ways to generate personalized data. 

Advertisers can still generate personalized ads

The advertisers could use “fingerprints” to target personalized ads. This technique uses a range of information about your device including the type of phone or computer, browser version, language, IP address and more to identify the machine. Hence, allowing the advertiser to follow you even if it doesn’t know your name.

Google Chrome will offer the first iteration of new user controls in April. It aims to expand on these controls in future releases.

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Pixel phones get Smart Compose for messaging apps with March feature drop

The latest Feature Drop for Pixel phones is here, and if the name didn’t already make it evident, it brings a host of new features for Google’s Pixel phones. Let’s start with Smart Compose. Originally announced back in 2018, the Smart Compose feature uses AI to suggest words for completing your sentences as you type. After making its way to the Gboard app last year and a host of other Google services, Google is now enabling its magic for a few messaging apps well. 

Smart Compose will now auto-complete your sentences in messaging apps

Google has not revealed which apps exactly, but you can expect the popular ones such as WhatsApp and Telegram to take advantage of it on your Pixel smartphone. Just so you know, Google brought Smart Compose to Gboard back in July last year, allowing users to simply swipe on the suggested word to autocomplete their sentence. And if you enabled it on Gboard, it worked in third-party apps such as WhatsApp. 

So far, Smart Compose has been limited to in-house apps only such as Gmail and Docs,  and users had to manually enable it. However, the AI-driven predictive suggestion trick is limited to the US and supports only English, as per the latest blog post. ‘

You can now share audio clips from the Google Recorder app as web links

Additionally, the March Pixel Feature Drop also brings new wallpapers, and the ability to share the audio clips you’ve recorded using the Pixel-exclusive Recorder app in the form of links. These links will let anyone hear those recordings and read the transcript, even if they don’t have a Pixel phone. This feature comes to life courtesy of a companion web client – recorder.google.com – that we reported about last week. 

You can now share audio clips as links that can be accessed by anyone, even if they don’t have a Pixel phone.

You can enable backup and sync for your audio recordings and access them via this URL on your laptop or tablet. This is quite convenient and will come in handy when you don’t have your phone around or if it ran out of juice However, do keep in mind that all these synced recordings are stored in the cloud and will count towards your Google account storage.

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HUAWEI makes big strides towards boosting its AppGallery ecosystem

HUAWEI has lately done some impressive work at populating its HMS-backed AppGallery repository, thanks to a combination of massive spendings, initiatives for developers, and partnerships galore. Well, it looks like the troubled Chinese giant’s efforts are paying off, as app distribution, as well as the number of app distributors associated with its platform, have both gone up by almost a factor of two in a span of 12 months.

READ MORE: Huawei AppGallery adds mindfulness app Headspace

In an official press communique, HUAWEI revealed that the sheer volume of app distribution via the AppGallery has gone up by 83%. Talking figures, the company says that its application repository facilitated 384.4 billion apps distributed in 2020, which amounts to a growth of 174 billion compared to the previous year. And at the top of this growth spike are mobile games. Talking about games, HUAWEI says that the number of games available on its in-house Play Store-alternative has also recorded a growth of 500% over the course of the past year.

More importantly, HUAWEI notes that the number of registered AppGallery developers has now reached an impressive 2.3 million, which amounts to a 77% growth in the past 12 months that have seen the industry witness some major setbacks due to the ongoing global pandemic. As for the actual user base, HUAWEI tells us that AppGallery now has a 500 million-strong Monthly Active User (MAU) audience.

READ MORE: Huawei brings new AppGallery look to enhance the discovery experience

“It’s not just about quantity, and the fact that the number of apps integrated with HMS Core has more than doubled in one year shows that more developers are looking to Huawei’s on-device capabilities to drive innovation and provide better and more unique user experiences,” Zhang Zhe – Director of Global Partnerships & Eco-Development Business Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group – was quoted as saying.

HUAWEI has made some AppGallery splash lately

The company has lately upped the ante for growth. Back in November last year, the company landed multiplayer combat game Dystopia: Contest of Heroes for an exclusive debut on AppGallery prior to Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. The company also introduced a support initiative for developers hit by the pandemic, offering them solutions such as app promotion, sliding banner ads, access to push notifications, and more importantly, letting them keep 90% of the revenue generated from ad-click.

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One UI 3.1 update for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 brings some neat new tricks

Samsung has lately been on a roll lately, bringing the latest version of its Android 11-based One UI 3.1 skin to its smartphones and tablets. Among them is the foldable Galaxy Z Fold2, which has also received the update, and with it, a host of cool new features. The update makes the multi-tasking experience on the larger inner foldable panel even easier. As you can see in the image below, the Recents tab will now allow users to resume the three Multi-Active Windows that they were previously working on.

This neat trick removes the hassle of opening the three apps again and then resizing them accordingly for the multi-active window view. Additionally, the Recents tab in One UI 3.1 also allows users to import two apps running in split-screen view from the inner foldable display to the outer cover display. Plus, the weather widgets are also now synced across both screens.

Additionally, if you get a notification for an incoming message, you can directly tap on the notification to open it in a multi-window view and reply to it. This is a very convenient addition, as it ensures that you don’t have to switch apps and still keep the app that you were using in the foreground. All you have to do is just long-press on the notification, and then perform a simple drag and drop gesture.

Another cool addition is the ability to turn off the screen without having to reach the power button on your Galaxy Z Fold2. This convenience is brought to life with a ‘Palm touch to turn off screen’ feature in the settings menu, and it works for both the cover display as well as the inner display. And just as the name says, all you have to do is touch your palm on the display to put it into a standby mode.

Additionally, while shooting videos or clicking pictures with Flex mode enabled, users will be able to reposition the on-screen controls for added comfort. Moreover, a new Delete and Share button has also been added to the preview screen in Flex Mode. Lastly, One UI 3.1 also removes the black bars at the bottom and allows users to fill the whole screen with a window view of the person on the other end of a video call.

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Microsoft details the next major Windows 10 update arriving in first half of 2021

Microsoft follows a biannual approach for releasing major Windows updates. The first one of these for the ongoing year, codenamed 21H1, will arrive in the first half, likely with a ton of new features and some visual tweaks in tow. Today, Microsoft’s VP of Program Management for Windows Servicing and Delivery, John Cable has announced that the Windows 10 21H1 update will start rolling out in the first half of 2021.

The installation experience for Windows 10 21H1 will be faster, akin to a monthly update

The Microsoft exec mentioned in his blog post that the Windows 10 21H1 update will focus on improving security, remote access and the overall experience of users based on their current remote work lifestyle. The biggest change is that you’ll be able to use an external webcam (provided it has been certified) for Windows Hello authentication on machines that already have an in-built camera for Windows Hello login.

READ MORE: Windows 10 taskbar is getting a collapsible news and interests feed that won’t distract you

What this means is devices such as Microsoft’s own Surface family will let you connect an external webcam that will pull the double duty of Windows Hello sign-in as well as your day-to-day video calls. Notably, those running the current build (Windows 10 20H2) will be able to install Windows 10 21H1 faster than usual feature updates and more like a monthly update.

Windows 10 21H1 update is now rolling out in Beta and Release Preview channels

Things in the Insider channel are a tad quick though, as the 21H1 Build 19043.844 (KB4601382) of Windows 10 has already been released in the Beta and Release Preview channel. You can find more details about the bug fixes and improvements that arrive with the Windows 1o 21H1 update in the official release post here.

Windows 10 21H1 key changes

Following are the key changes arriving with the 21H1 update highlighted in the blog post:

Windows Hello multicamera support to set the default as the external camera when both external and internal Windows Hello cameras are present.

Windows Defender Application Guard performance improvements including optimizing document opening scenario times.

Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) updating performance improvement to support remote work scenarios.

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US House Committee asks Apple to improve credibility of App Store privacy labels

Apple recently implemented new App Store policies that required all developers to disclose the data collection behavior of their apps as a measure of transparency. However, an investigative report by The Washington Post’s Geoffrey Fowler revealed that privacy disclosures for many apps were misleading, and in some cases, downright inaccurate. In the wake of the revelation, Apple has been asked by the United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce to improve the validity of the app privacy labels so that users can get reliable information about the apps they are going to install, or already have, on their devices. 

Apple has been asked to explain its auditing process for app privacy disclosures

“A privacy label is no protection if it is false. We urge Apple to improve the validity of its App Privacy labels to ensure consumers are provided meaningful information about their apps’ data practices and that consumers are not harmed by these potentially deceptive practices,” wrote the committee in its letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The letter adds that in the absence of accurate information, Apple’s seemingly benevolent policy could become a source of confusion and harm to users for whom the privacy-centric policy was drafted in the first place. 

More importantly, the US House Committee has sent Apple a series of questions, asking the company to explain the process of checking whether the privacy disclosure provided by developers is accurate or not. Apple has also been asked to reveal how frequently it audits these app privacy disclosures, what method is used to verify the information, and the number of apps that have been audited since the rule was implemented among other crucial questions. 

Furthermore, the committee has asked Apple how it will respond if a developer is caught providing an inaccurate app privacy disclosure. Following are some other questions of critical importance whose answers the committee has sought from Apple:  

Does Apple ensure that App Privacy labels are corrected upon the discovery of inaccuracies or misleading information? If not, why not? For each app that has been found to have provided inaccurate or misleading information, how quickly was that label corrected?

Does Apple require more in-depth privacy disclosures and conduct more stringent oversight of apps targeted to children under the age of 13? If not, why not? If so, please describe the additional disclosures required and the oversight actions employed for these apps.

Providing clear and easily comprehendible privacy information at the point of sale is certainly valuable, but privacy policies are not static. Does Apple notify users when one of their app’s privacy labels has materially changed? If not, why not. If so, how are users notified of such changes?

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iOS 14.5 will add a crowdsourced incident reporting tool to Apple Maps

The beta-testing of iOS 14.5 is in full swing right now. The latest beta build of iOS 14.5 brings a way to unlock your iPhone using the Apple Watch even if you’re wearing a mask. Additionally, beta testers have also spotted that they can now set a third-party app such as Spotify as the default music and podcast app on their phone. Now, it has been discovered that with iOS 14.5, Apple Maps is adding a way to report incidents, akin to what you’ll come across on Google Maps and Waze.

Incident reporting works via on-screen inputs as well as through Siri voice commands

As per a screenshot shared by Macrumors, the incident reporting feature in Apple Maps currently supports only three types of disruptive events – accidents, hazards, and speed checks. The crowdsourced incident reporting feature works with the Apple Maps app installed on your phone and your car’s dashboard as well via CarPlay.

Apple Maps
Image: CNET

Apple Maps now has a dedicated ‘Report’ button that will allow users to report incidents. However, users can also report an incident via voice commands by asking Siri to do so. As per a Reddit thread documenting the new feature in Apple Maps, it appears that the crowdsourced incident reporting feature is only live for users in the United States, and doesn’t appear to be working for beta testers in Canada or other regions. Also, Apple is likely testing it only among a small batch of testers right now, and not all users running the beta build of iOS 14.5 on their phone.

The new Apple Maps feature is similar to what Google Maps and Waze already offer

As mentioned above, the new Apple Maps features in iOS 14.5 beta only supports reporting three types of incidents – accidents, hazards, and speed check. Waze and Google Maps, on the other hand, offer a much wider range. Google Maps, for example, lets users report incidents like an accident, traffic slowdowns, speed traps, ongoing construction, hurdles such as debris on the road, closed lanes, and disabled vehicles.

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Leak suggests Google is drawing inspiration for Android 12 from iOS 14’s privacy tools

The first developer beta of Google’s next major upgrade for its mobile operating system – Android 12 – is only a few weeks away. While the company hasn’t shared an official release timeline yet, a few leaked screenshots have surfaced online, giving us our first glimpse of Android 12’s fresh UI, and some apparent aesthetic as well as functional inspirations from iOS 14.

Tapping on the privacy indicator will let users enable/disable the access to mic or camera

As per XDA-Developers, the Android 12 screenshots come from documentation and source code that is shared by Google with partners to make them aware of the upcoming changes. A couple of screenshots show a small notification dot at the top to tell users that an app is using their phone’s camera or mic. Tapping on it opens a small window at the top that tells the specifics about the app’s hardware access.

READ MORE: Android 12 will solve split-screen multitasking woes with a trick called App Pairs

From there users can access the relevant settings page where they can choose to disable the camera or mic access via dedicated toggles. These toggles appear on a dedicated Privacy page, which appears to have been overhauled for the upcoming Android iteration. Now, this privacy indicator is not a unique addition for Android 12, as iOS 14 already takes a similar approach by showing a circular icon at the top when an app is using the camera or mic.

Image: PC World

Now, iOS 14 doesn’t have the same toggles as shown in the leaked Android 12 screenshots, but there are similarities. Apple’s operating system allows users to enable/disable mic or camera access on a per-app basis, something that was spotted by PC World. But do keep in mind that these UI elements might be changed or even nixed during the development phase and might never be released widely via the stable channel.

Android 12 might introduce a fresh take on widgets as well

Another aesthetic aspect worth noticing is a widget redesign that looks similar to their implementation on iOS 14. “We can see an alleged new “Conversations” widget in Android 12 that may highlight recent messages, missed calls, or activity statuses,” notes the XDA-Developers reports. Interestingly, it appears that Google will make these new conversational widgets mandatory for all devices running Android 12. 

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