iPad & iPhone User 173

Apple’s California Streaming autumn event saw it announce quite a few products and even took a little extra time to pat itself on the back for Apple TV+. If you have over an hour to spare, you can watch the entire thing at fave.co/3EW87pR. But if you want a quicker digest, here’s a brief breakdown of everything Apple announced. iPHONE 13 & 13 MINI It wouldn’t be a September Apple event without the introduction of new iPhones. The iPhone 13 and 13 mini are very similar to the iPhone 12 and 12 mini in appearance, with several notable improvements. The A15 is faster and the cameras are improved (particularly the Wide camera), the display is brighter, and Apple managed to make the notch 20 per cent smaller. But what users will probably…

If you’re one of the millions of happy Apple fans getting a new iPhone 13 or iPad mini, you may run into an issue where you can’t play any of your Apple Music tracks. Thankfully, there’s an instant fix. In a new support document, Apple outlines a bug affecting all iPhone 13 models as well as the new Pad and iPad mini that prevents access to Apple Music. Apple says that users who “restore your new iPhone or iPad from a backup … might not be able to access the Apple Music catalogue, Apple Music settings, or use Sync Library on your new device”. Thankfully there’s an easy fix. Apple has pushed out an immediate software update to iOS 15 (which is still identified as iOS 15.0) that fixes the issue in…

Which the chatter nowadays is all about the latest versions of the iPhone and iOS, there are a ton of older devices still out there. If you are using an older device – such as an iPhone 6 or a first-gen iPad Air – you should know that Apple has released iOS 12.5.5, an update for iPhones and iPads with critical security patches. The patches are for CoreGraphics, WebKit and XNU. As previously reported in the iOS 14.8 update, at least one of the security patches pertain to the Pegasus spyware that was uncovered on iPhones. Here are the details (including what devices the update is for) in the release notes: COREGRAPHIC Available for: iPhone 5s, 6, 6 Plus, iPad Air, mini 2, mini 3 and iPod touch (6th generation). Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted…

In September, a judge ruled that Apple needed to change some developer terms as a result of a ruling in the landmark court case stemming from the ouster of Epic’s Fortnite from the App Store. But according to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney that doesn’t mean Apple is welcoming Fortnite back with open arms. Quite the opposite, in fact. In a Twitter post in which begins with “Apple lied”, Sweeney shares a document from a law firm representing Apple that states: “Apple has exercised its discretion to not reinstate Epic’s developer program account at this time. Furthermore, Apple will not consider any further requests for reinstatement until the district court’s judgment becomes final and nonappealable.” That seems reasonable until you realize that the appeals process could take many years. Apple hasn’t appealed the…

While rumours about future health and fitness features usually pertain to the Apple Watch, a report in The Wall Street Journal says Apple is looking to expand the iPhone’s role as well. Sources and documents seen by the Journal say that Apple is developing iPhone features that could help diagnose depression and cognitive decline. Apple is reportedly investigating whether the data collected for mobility, physical activity, sleep patterns, typing behaviour and more can be used to find patterns that are associated with mental health conditions and create algorithms to detect them. In a project called ‘Seabreeze’, Apple is working with UCLA to study anxiety, depression, and stress. Another project called ‘Pi’ is with Biogen to study cognitive development. The Wall Street Journal also reports that Apple has an undisclosed project with Duke…

If you scrolled through your news feed recently, you likely saw headlines related to the European Commission’s new proposal to force smartphones and small electronic devices to use USB-C for charging. The headline likely included Apple or iPhone, because a tech-related story is much more interesting when it involves the biggest company in the world. On the surface, it would seem that the EC’s proposal is targeted directly at Apple. Under the terms of the proposal, “USB-C will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld video game consoles” in the interest of convenience and e-waste, and the sale of chargers will be ‘unbundled’ from the sale of electronic devices. Apple already complied with half of the proposal when it stopped including chargers with the…