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Apple reportedly shutting down drone flights over Apple Park area

Today's aerial footage showing construction progress at the Apple Park site may be one of the last videos of the massive headquarters because Apple is reportedly cracking down on drone pilots in the area. AppleInsider has learned of the existence of a dedicated security force at the site with the sole mission to halt these flyovers.

“Another drone pilot claims that they were stopped by a hired security guard who has the express purpose of shutting down drone flights over the campus,” said the publication today.

Apple Park is not currently listed as a no-fly zone by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The publication notes that FAA guidance requires drones to keep 360 feet away from structures, with pilots required to maintain visual line-of-sight to the drone at all times.

“Apple could have an avenue for restrictions, if they can demonstrate that the drones are causing a nuisance, or are violating one of California's privacy laws,” reads the article. “Drones landing or being flown from private property can result in a trespassing charge.”

Today's video from videographer and drone pilot Matthew Roberts offered a closer look at the nearly finished visitor center that will host an Apple Store and a cafe open to the public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwxQnI98CKw

The historic Glendenning Barn has now been reassembled.

The video also offered a glimpse inside the entrance to the 1,000-seat underground Steve Jobs Theater, where Apple will unveil future products.

The glass auditorium is 20-foot tall and 165 foot in diameter.

Landscaping work at the site continues with additional trees being planted inside and around the ring-shape structure with each passing day. By the way, the final tree count is expected to approach 9,000. Also of note, the manmade pond appears to be nearly ready for water.

Apple Park visitor center taking shape, historic barn reassembled & more

Aerial videographer Matthew Roberts posted new birds-eye footage of the upcoming Apple Park corporate campus, showing that a visitor center is slowly but surely takin shape.

The historic Glendenning Barn that the company dismembered plank by plank has now been fully reassembled (it's adjacent to a 100,000-square-foot gym for employees).

Among other highlights: a closer look at the 1,000-seat underground Steve Jobs Theater where Apple will host future press and corporate events, additional trees being planted and more.

As for the visitor center, it will include an Apple Store and a cafe open to the public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwxQnI98CKw

As you can see for yourself, a pond inside the ring-shaped structure looks nearly complete. If the large sheet is an indication, Apple may soon fill the pond with water.

Landscaping work will continue for a few months after the offices inside the main building have been completed. Since April, employees have been gradually moving into Apple Park.

Hands-on video shows iPhone 8’s supposed industry-highest screen to body ratio

YouTuber Unbox Therapy got his hands on the most comprehensive CNC-machined iPhone casing “I've ever seen”, offering a look at the handset's screen to body ratio and other features.

According to trusted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, Apple's flagship 5.8-inch OLED iPhone will have the highest screen-to-body ratio of any smartphone currently available.

According to the YouTuber:

iPhone 8 represents a very important device for Apple. In a market where smartphone prices are dropping rapidly companies like Apple and Samsung have to work much harder to convince customers that their products are worth the cost premium.

Some will say that Apple has copied Samsung in the design of the iPhone but I think the race for maximum screen to body ratio was inevitable for smartphone vendors. Current speculation puts this iPhone 8 design at the top in those terms.

There's no other phone currently available that has this much screen in a body this size.

Prior rumors alleged that iPhone 8 would switch from a 16:9 to an 18:9 display, resulting in a 2:1 aspect ratio that would make the screen appear taller and perhaps slightly narrower than the screens on existing iPhone models.

The 18:9 aspect ratio has been popularized by the latest phones from Samsung and LG with displays that are taller than the 16:9 ratio used by the majority of smartphones.

And here's his hands-on video, posted last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WHMgBs_C3s&t

Current speculation—supported by the CNC-machined iPhone 8 model in the video and analysts—appears to indicate the lack of a Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

It' remains unclear, however, if Apple might decide to opt for an advanced facial recognition unlock system similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S8 as a Touch ID replacement.

According to KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Andy Hargreaves, iPhone 8 could launch without Apple Pay support unless the Touch ID situation is resolved in a timely manner.

“We do not believe facial recognition would be initially qualified as an acceptable verification method for Apple Pay,” said Hargreaves.

He explained that the solution wouldn’t work without clear line of sight to your face and, which could pose problems for customers using their iPhone 8 to pay with Apple Pay at stores.

New video provides one of the best looks yet at iPhone 8 dummy unit

A new video that surfaced yesterday offers an up-close look, one of the clearest yet, at the prospective design of Apple's OLED-based iPhone 8. Shared by Steve Hemmerstoffer of OnLeaks, in partnership with Tiger Mobiles, the clip depicts a dummy device with a nearly full-screen face protected by a curved 2.5D glass cover.

The dummy unit has minimal side bezels. A Touch ID fingerprint sensor is built into the display and there's an area at the top of the display that will presumably accommodate the front-facing FaceTime camera along with a 3D sensor and potentially other sensors.

On the back, we see a vertically aligned dual-lens camera system like on prior leaks. The dummy unit measures 144mm long, 71mm wide and 7.5mm thick without the camera bump (with the bulge included, the thickness increases to 9.1mm).

And here's the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1gx086ZxU

This particular iPhone 8 dummy unit is a CNC mockup manufactured based on CAD files that were posted to Twitter back in April. Because it's just a mockup based on the months-old CAD files and design schematics that have been circulating on the web for quite some time now, it may or may not be representative of the real iPhone 8 design.

This tweak helps break the habit of recording videos in portrait orientation

It bothers me from time to time when I watch videos on social media or YouTube and realize just how many people record their videos while their smartphone is in portrait orientation.

These services are formatted for computer screens, which naturally have displays longer than they are tall, so recording videos in this way usually degrades the viewing experience for the viewer. That’s why a free jailbreak tweak called VerticalVideoSyndrome 2 by iOS developer Andreas Henriksson is now available.

Apple Park sunset footage shows entrance to Steve Jobs Theater with its lobby lights on

Drone pilot Duncan Sinfield last Saturday published new aerial footage of the 175-acre Apple Park site on his YouTube channel, offering a glimpse at the entrance into the Steve Jobs Theater with its lobby light on.

“Opening day is getting closer at Apple Park, landscaping and road-striping are not the only things wrapping up,” reads the video's description.

Located atop a hill at one of the highest points of the upcoming campus, the Steve Jobs Theater sports the world's largest freestanding carbon-fiber rooftop.

Featuring glass staircase spiraling downward to an underground 1,000-people auditorium, the Theater will be used for corporate meetings and Apple media events, meaning the unveiling of iPhone 8 will most likely take place there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgzZnfAqLW8

“Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come,” said Tim Cook in April.

The video revels significant progress being continually made on the main ring-shaped building, offering a nice look at the main atrium with its floor-to-ceiling glass doors.

Landscaping work will continue for a few months after offices in the main ring-shaped building are completed. Since April, employees have been gradually moving into Apple Park.

Satellite time-lapse chronicles nearly two years of Apple Park construction progress

Apple Park began construction in 2014. A new time-lapse video based on high-resolution photos by satellite imaging provider Planet Labs has condensed nearly two years of work on the main ring-shaped building in an 18-second time-lapse video. Uploaded Tuesday to Planet Labs' YouTube channel, the clip was shared yesterday by Business Insider.

Aside from the main ring-shaped building, the video also depicts construction progress on Apple's twin research and development buildings, the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater, a wellness facility for employees and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCZZXOmC-J8

For those wondering, they used the high-resolution imaging SkySats constellation to capture the construction of Apple's new Cupertino campus.

If the Planet Labs name rings familiar to you, that's because Google recently sold its previously acquired satellite-imaging startup Skybox Imaging to Planet Labs.

The search giant acquired Skybox Imaging in 2014 for a reported $500 million.

That startup was founded by Michael Trela, who was a spacecraft engineer at John Hopkins University, and John Fenwick, who served in the U.S. Air Force. Both men joined Apple this April following Planet Labs' acquisition of Skybox from Google.

As part of the acquisition, Planet Labs now has seven satellites and plans to sell high-resolution aerial imagery starting next year.

Hands-on with watchOS 4: pausing workouts in the background, Toy Story faces & more

Yesterday was a big day as Apple seeded a bunch of new betas to its developers. Earlier this morning, we posted a nicely done hands-on video walkthrough of the new features and changes in iOS 11 beta 2, but what about the latest watchOS 4 beta?

Your wish is our contributor Andrew O'Hara's command!

Andrew put together a quick video demonstration of everything new in the latest beta of watchOS 4. Keep in mind that watchOS 4 beta 2 is not as feature-packed as a second beta of iOS 11, but there's still plenty to get excited about.

Watch Andrew's video highlighting all the new stuff and important changes in beta 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD7D-F0mXXU

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Aside from the gorgeously animated characters on the new Toy Story watch face, this beta lets you press the Side button and the Digital Crown simultaneously in order to quickly pause an active workout session, even if the Workout app is running in the background.

This is a very compelling feature for those who use their watch for swimming. Prior to watchOS 4, pausing a workout while swimming first required you to turn the Digital Crown to expel the water from the speaker. Then you had to swipe on the Workout app's screen to reveal the session controls, among them the Pause button.

The problem is, a wet Apple Watch display tends to behave erratically so getting to that screen while in water was difficult. With the new shortcut, this particular pain point goes away.

Haptics now play for frontmost apps in watchOS 4 beta 2, but some languages are unavailable for Dictation, including the newly released Shanghainese dictation.

New features and changes

Here are the new features and important changes in watchOS 4 beta 2.

Nicely animated Toy Story watch face Breathe notifications now respect your custom settings Location-based automation triggers now work if triggered from the alert on Apple Watch Pressing the Side Button and Digital Crown pauses an active workout session even if the Workout app is not in the foreground SiriKit requests no longer fail with a “Sorry I can’t do that” error. watchOS apps from TestFlight or the App Store now work with SiriKit Siri may not play music that has been synced to Apple Watch Music tracks now play from and sync to Apple Watch (Apple Watch must be on its charger for Music tracks to sync and Love/Dislike options are currently missing for locally synced music on your watch)

Aside from Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear, the new Toy Story watch face in the second beta provides other animated characters, like Ham, Rex and Bullseye.

A separate video from Andrew shows off almost all the character animations available in the new Toy Story watch face, including additional customizations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuEuxD9AJ7I

That's all, folks!

As we conclude our tour of watchOS 4 beta 2, we'd like to ask you to share any new feature discoveries of your own with fellow readers by posting them in the comment section.

You can also shoot us your findings via tips@iDownloadBlog.com.

What’s your favorite new feature in watchOS 4 beta 2, and why?

Hands-on with iOS 11 beta 2: DND While Driving and other new features, changes & fixes

Apple (somewhat surprisingly) dropped the second beta of iOS 11 to developers on Wednesday with a myriad of changes and bug fixes. While there doesn't seem to be a huge number of user-facing enhancements, there are still quite a few notable changes and new features in this beta.

A large number of prominent bugs have been fixed that have been plaguing users, like crashing when deleting a voicemail, manual screen brightness not staying set, 3D Touch on phone numbers and addresses not working.

Unfortunately, with all of those bug fixes are several new bugs and known issues.

For instance, an SOS alert may still be sent even though the user cancelled it. This is a good reminder this is an early developer beta that should only be run on secondary devices.

As for the new features, we have the initial implementation of the much touted Do Not Disturb While Driving mode that will lock your phone as well as send a custom auto-reply (customizable in Settings → Do Not Disturb) should someone text you.

Control Center can now be disabled inside of applications, like on prior iOS editions. And far from last, the Files app now has started to show external locations like Google Drive and Box.

New features and changes

This is what you probably wanted to know about iOS 11 beta 2.

CarPlay now has lane guidance in Maps Smaller speed in Maps To edit/add filters in Photos you now tap the edit button in the top right corner instead of the sliders icon Now Playing widget has been tweaked New phone placeholder icon when no album artwork present in Now Playing widget Audio source switcher is now available on Lock screen New orange color for the new Echo effect in Messages Do Not Disturb While Driving is enabled with extra options in Settings Control Center can be turned on or off while in apps New search options within Apple Music You can now select multiple items in Photos Bluetooth widget now works the same as Wi-Fi: instead of turning off, it will just disconnect from whatever is connected to it Notification Center pull down has a gradual blur New Share sheet extension: Save to Files app Safari has new experimental features in Settings Dictation is now available in Hindi New options in Settings to make notification banners permanent or permanent Built-in screen recorder boosts video capture resolution to 1080p

Take a look at our hands-on video to see all of these new features and more in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ5pwZMPRxI

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And here's a quick overview of the most important fixes.

Bug fixes 3D Touch data detectors are now working for phone numbers, addresses, etc. Screen brightness stays at set level YouTube search bar has returned More stable Bluetooth connections (Dexcom) Android Migration now works as intended Crashing when deleting voicemails is fixed Lock screen no longer rotates Long exposure photos are now higher quality than in first beta Wrapping it all up

As we conclude our tour of all the changes, fixes, improvements and new features in iOS 11 beta 2, feel free to tell us about your own discoveries and observations in comments or via tips@iDownloadBlog.com.

What's your favorite change in iOS 11 beta 2 thus far, and why?

Hands-on with beautifully animated Toy Story faces in watchOS 4

Aside from bringing more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch, the new watchOS 4 software includes a bunch of beautifully animated Toy Story faces. Not unlike the existing Mickey and Minnie Mouse watch faces, the Toy Story ones bring to life popular Pixar characters including Woody, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, Ham, Rex and Bullseye.

Our own Andrew O'Hara did a quick video showing off almost all the character animations available in the new Toy Story watch faces in watchOS 4, including additional customizations.

Give the video a quick watch, then meet us in comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuEuxD9AJ7I

watchOS 4 packs in other new watch faces.

Kaleidoscope, for instance, turns static images into mesmerizing patterns and the new Siri watch face uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to display the information users need most throughout the day.

ROUNDUP: 60+ new features in watchOS 4

Plus, you have new complications for your watch faces, including Now Playing and Apple News.

These new watch faces, complications and other features all require watchOS 4, a free upgrade for all Apple Watch users later this year.

Are you excited for the new Toy Story-themdd faces for your Apple Watch? Share in the comments section below!