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- What's new in iOS 17.5
There’s been a lot of publicity about stalkers and thieves using Apple AirTags for nefarious purposes, but little about other Bluetooth trackers from smaller companies.
If I wanted to clandestinely track someone, I certainly wouldn’t use an AirTag, which has fairly robust safeguards, alerting both iPhone and Android users if an unknown tracker is moving with them. Instead, I’d use an Android-compatible tracker from a lesser-known company.
But this loophole is coming to a close. Apple and Google just announced a new industry specification: Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers. The joint effort will alert both iPhone and Android users about Bluetooth trackers following their movements.
The new initiative was announced Monday morning to coincide with the release of iOS 17.5, which already includes the necessary technology. It’ll also be built into Android 6.0+.
There are several other great new features in the iOS update, which is available to download now, including a new word game, new wallpapers and Apple Watch faces, and more. Check it all out here.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Remember the iPhone 6’s “Bendgate”? The new iPad Pro, the thinnest product Apple’s ever made, apparently won’t suffer the same fate, thanks to a key design element.
Another game emulator just popped up on the App Store, this time for playing classic PlayStation games.
Apple is joining Rolling Stone with its own list of the 100 greatest albums of all time. I’m a sucker for lists like this, but annoyingly, Apple is trickling out its picks a few at a time. The full list won’t be published until the end of the month.
It’s a good question: Should you upgrade to the M3 MacBook Air?
Warning: There’s something you probably can’t unsee in today’s top tweet. (Take the poll and let us know.)
The new iPads are screamers, but the old ones are still plenty fast, and are going cheap.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
Tweetz o’ the day
OMG I JUST realized that the front camera on iPad Air isn't at the center of the device, if it was it would have lined up with the three dots (the iPad window manager menu)
The camera is very slightly offset to the left
This is the worst thing I have seen today, wtf Apple
— icon (EN/ZH/DE) (@iconredesign)
7:30 PM • May 10, 2024
Shame nobody threw a calculator into the pile...
— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy)
1:59 PM • May 13, 2024
Tim Cook can sleep at night knowing the Apple Watch is saving hundreds if not thousands of lives every year.
This is also why Apple doesn't rush health features. People depend on the Apple Watch for its accuracy and doctors recommend them for the same reason.— AppleLeaker (@LeakerApple)
8:51 AM • May 12, 2024
It took 14 years to thin the iPad from 14.3 mm to 5.1 mm 😲
— Beta Profiles (@BetaProfiles)
12:48 PM • May 12, 2024
Apple iOS 6 icons had incredible detail.
If you look closely at the Interstate 280 sign, 3M® DG3™ substrate's diamond pattern can be seen. Someone deliberately looked it up & spent the extra effort. Tiny details, highlights/shadows, texture, etc. all painstakingly added.
— United States Graphics Company (@usgraphics)
7:59 PM • May 10, 2024
One more thing ...
My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better. My job is to pull things together from different parts of the company and clear the ways and get the resources for the key projects. And to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better, coming up with more aggressive visions of how it could be.
Today’s poll
Is the slightly offset camera on new iPads a deal-breaker? |
Results from last Friday’s poll: Which iPad is right for you?
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