Apple

Apple Pay goes live in Switzerland with Visa and MasterCard support

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 7, 2016

As rumored, Apple's mobile payment system on Thursday went live in Switzerland, its seventh country, expanding the European footprint for Apple Pay beyond the United Kingdom. The firm announced the service is available with initial support for MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards issued by Bonus Card, Corner Bank and Swiss Bankers, with additional banks and credit card issuers to be added at a later stage. Apple Pay boss, Jennifer Bailey, said the company plans to bring Apple Pay to every major market in which its products are sold.

It seems that iOS 10 beta 2 locks some people out of their Apple ID

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 7, 2016

Some folks with iOS 10 beta 2 installed on their iPhone are finding that they've been locked out of their Apple ID account, unable to perform a password reset. As per a new thread on Reddit, the problem seems to affect a portion of iOS 10 beta 2 users whose Apple ID account has been protected with Apple's two-step authentication system, which requires both a password and a one-time six-digit code when using iCloud on a new device.

We're posting this as convenience for those who have been affected. If you're seeing this, you probably don't need to worry about your Apple ID being hacked and unrecoverable, it's just a bug in iOS 10 beta 2.

macOS Sierra preview: Auto Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 25, 2023

Auto Unlock, a new feature in macOS Sierra, gives you instant access to your Mac when you’re wearing an Apple Watch. As its marketing name suggest, Auto Unlock is seamless. You simply wake your Mac from sleep while wearing your watch, and boom—just like that, you’re logged in and ready to go, no password typing required. Here's our entertaining video walkthrough of Auto Unlock and a detailed overview of the feature for those interested in its inner workings and intricacies.

Pokémon GO launches on US App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 6, 2016

Following a period of field-testing in the United States, Nintendo's augmented-reality game Pokémon GO should become available shortly on App Stores in select countries, including the United States and Japan. A Pokémon Company spokesperson told a Wall Street Journal reporter to “please wait for a while” for formal launch of the game.

Update: Pokémon GO is now available in the US App Store.

The download is already live on the New Zealand and Australian App Stores and is expected to launch later today on the Japanese and US App Stores.

Pokémon GO is Nintendo's second iOS game after Miitomo, an odd title designed as “a friendly conversation starter” and based on Nintendo's lucrative Mii universe.

Apple Pay support code makes its first appearance in Safari Technology Preview 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 6, 2016

Safari Technology Preview, an experimental version of the Safari browser meant for testing upcoming new capabilities and web technologies, is a good place to look for clues regarding new features in development. Today, Apple released an eighth update to Safari Technology Preview, which debuted in March 2016, and the browser appears to include pieces of code to support the upcoming Apple Pay integration with websites.

iOS 9.3.3 beta 5, tvOS 9.2.2 beta 5 and OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 beta 5 released for testing

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 6, 2016

Two weeks after seeding a fourth beta of iOS 9.3.3, Apple today released a fifth beta of the mostly bug-fix software update to members of the Apple Developer Program and public beta testers signed up with the Apple Beta Software Program. The new software is available as an over-the-air update on devices running a prior beta of iOS 9.3.3 through the Software Update mechanism in Settings. Apple also released tvOS 9.2.2 beta 5 to its registered developers and OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 beta 5 to developers and public beta testers.

Has Apple gone mad? More iOS 10 parts left unencrypted in beta 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 6, 2016

As you know, security experts were baffled realizing that the iOS 10 kernel in beta 1 was not encrypted. Apple argued it was no big deal because the kernel contained no user data so the company had left it unencrypted intentionally in order to increase general system performance, in their own words.

But Apple didn't stop there.

As first discovered by prominent jailbreak developer and iPhone hacker, MuscleNerd, iOS 10 beta 2 actually leaves more parts of the operating system unencrypted.

What's going on here?

Does your iPhone support Raise to Wake on iOS 10?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 13, 2016

iOS 10 makes waking your iPhone from sleep as easy as raising it in your hand. Aptly named Raise to Wake, this useful feature automatically wakes the screen as you raise the device so that you can instantly see all your notifications at a glance. It may sound like it's no big deal, but it is. However, Raise to Wake requires iOS to constantly capture and interpret data from the iPhone's many sensors to determine how you're holding the phone in your hand.

In order to realize this feature in a power-frinedly manner, it reads data from the sensors using an Apple-designed motion coprocessor, which also happens to be required for tetherless 'Hey Siri' functionality. So, does your iPhone support Raise to Wake on iOS 10 or not?

Video walkthrough: everything new in iOS 10 beta 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 19, 2016

Apple today seeded a second beta of iOS 10 to its registered developers and this time around, release notes are pretty packed to reflect that the company has squashed many bugs in iOS 10 beta 2 while also bringing out a bunch of notable changes, refinements and new features. Here's our running list of everything that has been changed or tweaked in iOS 10 beta 2.

macOS Sierra beta 2 released to Apple’s registered developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2016

Apple today pushed a second beta of macOS Sierra following the original developer-only preview of the desktop operating system that was made available following the June 13 WWDC keynote. Members of the Apple Developer Program can install macOS Sierra beta 2 (build number “16A239j”) on their computers running a prior beta through the Software Update mechanism.

Apple seeds watchOS 3 beta 2 to registered developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2016

In addition to the new iOS 10, tvOS 10 and macOS Sierra betas, Apple on Tuesday also pushed a second beta of watchOS 3 (build number “14S5278d”) for the Apple Watch to members of the Apple Developer Program. An over-the-air update is available via the companion Watch app on a paired iPhone running an iOS 10 beta.

tvOS 10 beta 2 now available for developer testing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 3, 2017

In addition to releasing a second beta of iOS 10 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Apple today issued a second beta of the tvOS 10 operating system powering the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 2 (build number “14T5284d”) is available on the fourth-generation Apple TVs that run a prior beta as an over-the-air download in Settings → System → Software Updates → Update Software.