News

iOS 10 and macOS Sierra launching for public beta testing today

Apple will be releasing iOS 10 and macOS Sierra betas to public beta testers who enrolled in the Apple Beta Software Program, The Verge reports. iOS 10 is turning out to be much more than another release, with dozens of refinements and little things on top of headlining new features, some of which allow developers to build apps for the stock Messages, Maps and Phone apps, as well as integrate with Siri.

Apple Pay goes live in Switzerland with Visa and MasterCard support

A scene from American Express's ad for Apple Pay featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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?

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?

macOS Sierra beta 2 released to Apple’s registered developers

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 iOS 10 beta 2 to developers

Following the first developer-only preview of iOS 10 which was issued following the June 13 WWDC keynote, the Cupertino firm today pushed iOS 10 beta 2 (build number “14A5297c”) to the members of the Apple Developer Program. The new software is available as an over-the-air download on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices that run the first beta. A beta of iOS 10 will be made available to public beta testers in July.

iOS 10 tidbit: unlocking iPhone and iPad without launching Home screen

As we wrote before, iOS 10 changes the way unlocking your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch works. For starters, iOS 10 does away with the familiar slide-to-unlock gesture so instead of “Slide to Unlock”, which now takes you to a dedicated widgets screen, you get to see a new “Press Home to unlock” message on the Lock screen.

As a result, unlocking a Touch ID-outfitted iOS device now requires you to press the Home button rather than rest your finger on it, like in prior editions of the software. But as it turns out, iOS 10 gives users another, previously unavailable option for unlocking their device without automatically launching the Home screen.

iOS 10’s Health app will let US users sign up as organ, eye and tissue donors

Apple announced Tuesday that it will add an organ donor registration option to the stock Health app in iOS 10. People in the United States will be able to use a built-in option in the Health app when iOS 10 launches for public consumption this fall to register themselves as organ, eye and tissue donors.

CEO Tim Cook told the Associated Press that the feature should help ease a longstanding donor shortage, reminding the public that the problem hit home when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs endured an “excruciating” wait for a liver transplant in 2009.