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iOS 14.5 delivers Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch, new privacy controls, and more

334 points by jmsflknr 6y ago

diebeforei485 6y ago
This works basically as advertised, almost as fast as Face ID, and good haptics (plus a lock button) on your Watch. If you're on a bus and someone steals your phone, it can be locked immediately using the watch. It does not do a "partial scan" of your eyes and forehead. It just detects a mask and triggers the Apple Watch unlock.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dot1x 6y ago
This doesn't work for me at all. Have Watch Series 5, Iphone 12 MAX. Option is enabled, tried rebooting both devices, tried enabling/disabling it. It's not like it fails, it literally never even tries to use the watch, goes directly to normal faceid. Gone are the times when apple software would just work...
- dot1x 6y ago
  Update: Managed to make it work. I usually don't put the mask over my nose as, having glasses, makes them all foggy and I can't see anything (protip: I don't care about how effective that is, the mask for me is just the minimum to confirm to current regulations). Seems that faceID is really anal about the mask being OVER the nose before it's recognized as a mask! This is why it wouldn't work before. So if you're having problems, be sure to wear a mask as apple expect you to.
wadhwanisumeet 6y ago
Here's my take: https://www.toolbox.com/tech/it-strategy/news/apples-soon-to-be-rolled-out-ios-14-5-puts-facebook-in-a-spin-and-mark-zuckerberg-can-do-nothing-about-it/ https://www.toolbox.com/tech/it-strategy/news/apples-soon-to...
tosh 6y ago
Not mentioned in the press release but this update also brings a new version of Safari (and WebView). Anyone knows if Safari in 14.5 is equivalent to a specific Technology Preview release? https://developer.apple.com/safari/technology-preview/release-notes/ https://developer.apple.com/safari/technology-preview/releas...
- HugoDaniel 6y ago
  it would be cool if Safari finally got WebGL 2 enabled by default
  - ghughes 6y ago
    Cool for the web, not so cool for the growth of Apple Arcade.
    - aroman 6y ago
      It's not like WebGL 2 is the crucial lynch pin blocking the viability of mobile web gaming... WebGL2 will have zero impact on Apple Arcade.
  - asiachick 6y ago
    It's not in this version. I'm 50/50 on whether it will ever be enabled. If it's not enabled in iOS 15 around September then I'll raise my probability it will never be enabled to 90%. What incentive does Apple have for enabling it? 4 years ago when other browsers got it it was important. Now, with WebGPU 6-12 months from shipping there isn't much reason for them to ship a bunch of code to Safari that has to be maintained and tested forever. I know the code is already written and tested ATM, just pointing out why my probably that it won't ship is > 0.
- turblety 6y ago
  If only it included Web Push API capabilities. But of course, Apple won't do that, as then developers wouldn't have to beg to be in their app store, and pay a 30% commission on any payments. I would have more respect for Apple if they just came out and said it, but the fact they haven't mentioned it at all, is just cowardly.
Tomte 6y ago
Scribble should now be supported in German (and a few other languages). That's the main feature I've been waiting for.
drewg123 6y ago
That's a step in the right direction, but I sorely miss the Android "trusted bluetooth device" that would keep your phone unlocked. I have really poor timing, and upgraded from a Google Pixel 2 to an iPhone with face id (and no touch id)just before the pandemic. Now I have to type my passcode to unlock whenever I'm wearing a mask because I have a Garmin watch and won't consider downgrading to an Apple watch. The Garmin watch kept my Pixel unlocked for me since it was a trusted bluetooth device.
- pcl 6y ago
  Anecdotally, in the last few weeks, FaceID just started working for me with a couple of the types of masks I’ve been wearing. I wonder if they have made some tweaks to their recognition algorithms / are doing any sort of additional training on the fly. I don’t have an Apple Watch, and am running 14.4.2.
  - Operyl 6y ago
    Every time you attempt authentication, and it doesn’t recognize you’re wearing a mask in particular, it’ll “retrain” the model when you authenticate with your passcode. If it was only a little bit off, eventually you’d retrain enough to get there with a mask. They mention this in their Security doc if I recall correctly.
  - dannyphantom 6y ago
    I thought that AI could identify someone even if they were wearing a mask and our iPhone's were being silly. I've seen a few videos of Chinese grocery shoppers paying with their face with a mask on.
  - kitsunesoba 6y ago
    I don't have any links to back it up or anything, but my impression is that Face ID continually trains itself as you use it to help keep up with facial changes over time. At the very least I know it takes the data from failed attempts immediately followed by passcode unlock and uses it for training. Depending on how either is implemented I could see it getting "used" to a masked face with enough samples. The question for me is if this makes it more susceptible to false positives, e.g. unlocking for people other than the owner wearing a mask.
Tsiklon 6y ago
5G on Dual Sim is a useful update, prior to this it was only possible to have 5G on one of the accounts (The hardware SIM, I think was the default not the eSIM)
- vmception 6y ago
  They finally did it!? I had resigned to thinking they got screwed with bad hardware from qualcomm
  - enos_feedler 6y ago
    Apple has communicated this limitation since the beginning and said when it was coming.
    - vmception 6y ago
      > said when it was coming ehhhh there was a lot of uncertainty around that. they just said a future update and it wasn't on time. I had my doubts and other people had their doubts, dual sim modes have been neglected for some time and there are still several limitations in iOS that make it seem like its not much of a priority. until the last few incremental updates you can tell from Apple's own communications on their forums that they thought of Dual Sim as more of a temporary traveller's use case, with them popping in a local sim card in different countries here and there. As opposed to someone that doesn't want to bother with two phones (or a handicapped VoIP number that also wouldn't have an iCloud account) and just always has two numbers in the same country. They are catching on, but the skepticism is there and they are incrementally fixing it successfully.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  Are people actually on 5G?
  - BBC-vs-neolibs 6y ago
    I am, not sure how common that is. But only when downtown.
danpalmer 6y ago
Sadly it also breaks a fairly common navigation flow in SwiftUI – having 2 navigation buttons on the same screen causes nav pushes to immediately pop back. This does however show an interesting trade-off of SwiftUI: by being a more abstract definition of a view hierarchy, they can change out implementations more easily than before to further optimise in each OS release. I'm hoping that they're essentially going down the route of rendering SwiftUI directly to Metal, their graphics API, as I'd expect that to be much faster and less energy intensive.
nindalf 6y ago
Happy about being able to unlock the phone with my watch. Arrived after a year of mask wearing, but better late than never. Impossible to say right now when we'll put our masks away, if ever.
- ASalazarMX 6y ago
  I already have an Apple watch, and still resent that their solution for removing the fingerprint scanner is buying a new expensive accessory. Under-display fingerprint readers have existed for years, so it's not an aesthetics issue.
  - turtlebits 6y ago
    Under display fingerprint scanners suck. I have a Galaxy S20 for work and it rarely works. I also have a A71 5G which is even worse. With winter dry skin (and/or light abrasion from woodworking projects), I can't even unlock the phones at all.
    - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
      My Moto Z4 works just fine. Unde4 tge screen is by far the best and most comfortable fingerprint scanner position.
    - tomjen3 6y ago
      My hands have turned into lizard skin from hand sanitizer (seriously, my knuckles have started to bleed from forming a fist) and I have no issues on my Oneplus pro 7.
  - fastball 6y ago
    No it's a usability issue. Have you tried the under-display fingerprint readers?
    - ASalazarMX 6y ago
      I've only tried the Huawei P30 Pro years ago, and it worked fine. the only drawback is learning to find the spot where the sensor is, as you don't have the tactile feedback external readers provide. Fingerprint reader in the back of the phone is one of the most ergonomic designs IMO, there's no need for it to be under-screen, I suggested it because Apple favors minimalist design.
Someone1234 6y ago
In regard to unlock w/Apple Watch: - This is an issue of Apple's own artificial creation. - This doesn't even solve the issue. So this all started because Face Unlock didn't work with masks, that's not Apple's fault. But what is entirely Apple's fault is that they break an option which resolves this only when Face Unlock is enabled: "Require Passcode." When you disable Face Unlock you can set Require Passcode to e.g. 15 minutes/1 hr, and it largely mitigates the aggressiveness by which your iPhone re-locks itself while you're e.g. out grocery shopping in a mask and trying to use a shopping list. But when you enable Face Unlock this option is removed (forced to "Require Immediately"). So Apple enforces "Require Immediately" in Require Passcode, it blows up in their face, and then instead of backing down when masks broke Face Unlock, they instead over-engineer a solution where you have to buy an Apple Watch to work around it. Their new work-around solution doubles down on exactly the same anti-choice problems discussed above because they forget to mention in this press release that you MUST enable a passcode on your Apple Watch to use this feature at all (and they're relying on the Apple Watch being less aggressive to re-lock than the iPhone). If you jailbreak your iPhone you can just switch it from "Require Immediately" to e.g. 30 minutes and this mask issue is almost completely gone in one fell swoop. This Apple Watch fix only kinda works (e.g. lost connection to the watch = relock, Watch thinks it is off your wrist = relock, etc).
- iso1631 6y ago
  I have a 2016SE, with touch ID. It works perfectly well when I wear a mask. If fingerprint doesn't work it immediately pops up the passcode box. It such a shame that apple are good at removing useful features rather than just adding them.
  - SilverRed 6y ago
    There is no way Apple could have possibly predicted faceid would fail like this. Under normal circumstances it works really well.
  - WorldMaker 6y ago
    If Face ID doesn't work it does pop up the passcode box. They tweaked it a versions back so it was faster to pop up when "mask detected" (though how well that worked as with any ML-based solution varied from person to person). Additionally the upward "home swipe" and "tap the Face ID indicator" options have both always immediately given the passcode box for me. (My favorite thing that happens sometimes is impatience with Face ID will have me swipe for the passcode box, the box will come up, and I get maybe one or two inputs in before Face ID catches up and finishes the unlock.) This new Watch feature is great for people like me who are paranoid about punching in my passcode in front of a shop full of cameras and strangers, but it's a nice-to-have feature not a "required" feature as some of the above comments seem to complain it is.
dannyphantom 6y ago
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-14-5-makes-using-the-iphones-face-id-with-a-mask-bearable-but-theres-a-catch/ https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-14-5-makes-using-the-iphones... > ...and the ability to unlock your iPhone using Face ID while wearing a face mask. Unlocking the iPhone with Face ID during the pandemic has been an exercise in frustration... !
- ASalazarMX 6y ago
  The new iPhone will include a revolutionary feature where just touching your phone will unlock it, and it will not unlock if someone unknown touches it. It will be called "dactylogram scourer". /s Edit: 5 minutes and already got the first downvote
- verst 6y ago
  I go to the same coffee shop a few times a week and they always think I'm struggling with Apple Pay. Of course I am not - I am just waiting for Face ID to fail so I can use the PIN. Finally changed the setting to skip Face ID for Apple Pay directly.
  - eddyg 6y ago
    Just tap the Face ID icon to immediately switch to the keypad.
    - verst 6y ago
      I never noticed that. Thanks! I guess I'm saving myself one tap now :D
smiley1437 6y ago
Feels a bit of a Rube-Goldberg workaround when TouchID exists. Love my TouchID to the point I'm dreading when Apple makes no more TouchID phones
- gambiting 6y ago
  Apple's insistence on only having face ID when competitors have fantastic and very fast in-screen fingerprint readers is just idiotic. I was kind of onboard when they first introduced FaceID, the argument that they don't want the sensor on the back and there is no room on the front was fair enough, but right now the technology has caught up. It's crazy that you can unlock a Samsung with your face OR an in-screen fingerprint reader, but you can't an iPhone.
  - 3grdlurker 6y ago
    Or they could put it on the lock button like they did with one of their iPads.
    - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
      I have used phones with all types of fingerprint sensor. Below the screen (Moto Z, iPhone 6S), at the back, in the power button (Moto Z3), and built into screen (Moto Z4). Built into the screen is by far superior of all. The worst is at the back, with power button at the side not far from it.
      - barbazoo 6y ago
        I think having it in the back is genius as that's where I always have a finger as opposed to the front. It's so awkward to try to hold the phone in my hand securely AND holding my thumb on the scanner at the same time.
        Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
        About half of the times i unlock my phone is when it is resting on the table. Fingerprint scanner on the back requires picking it up first, which is extremely uncomfortable to do every time. No. Just no.
minimaxir 6y ago
macOS/tvOS/watchOS are also updated with analogous features.
- jetpackjoe 6y ago
  tvOS should include the new color balancing feature, correct?
  - minimaxir 6y ago
    Yep, including for the older A8 Apple TV.
    - josteink 6y ago
      Just tested using my Apple TV 4K and an iPhone XR. Worked just fine!
idlewords 6y ago
Of course to unlock the Apple Watch, you'll be wanting the Apple Ring...
kristofferR 6y ago
The "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature was the reason I used all the betas, thankfully they were totally trouble free for me this time.
- gentryb 6y ago
  This was a reason I inadvertently got some previous co-workers over-excited about a feature (only to find it was only in the betas I happened to be running). Still remember having to break it to the first person who really wanted to enable the feature that it must be in beta - and I spoke too early. As an aside - earlier betas didn't seem to like various colored masks in my experience (turquoise being the main one) - which seemed to be fixed in later versions. For context: worked at a COVID-19 Testing/Vaccination site - mask on more hours than not each 24... I _LOVE_ this feature still.
Exuma 6y ago
"woman with beard" emoji? This is just getting stupid.
- geodel 6y ago
  "woman with neck beard" emoji would go long way in promoting gender equality in computer and related fields.
- mcbutterbunz 6y ago
  How so?
- dagmx 6y ago
  Why? Some women, especially in certain cultures, do indeed have beards. It takes nothing away from people who won't use that emoji, but it lets them be represented while giving others another optional emoji to use.
  - tasogare 6y ago
    In which cultures does women have beards? Without any example it seems something you just pretend exist. Women in general (ie without special medical conditions) don’t grow enough facial hair to produce a beard in a lifetime.
    - howinteresting 6y ago
      The boundary between "special medical conditions" and "natural human diversity" is incredibly socially constructed.
    - dagmx 6y ago
      Certain Sikh women grow beards as part of their culture. There are quite a few women outside of that who do get beards, for a variety of reasons. Regardless, even if it was hypothetically only people with medical conditions, then why is bad for them to be represented?
      - 6y ago
dmitriid 6y ago
I wish they added "unlock Mac/use id on Mac with iPhone". But no, they only introduce TouchId on a keyboard that only works with M1 chips.
- rrebelo 6y ago
  > I wish they added "unlock Mac/use id on Mac with iPhone". Me too. So I made a program that does exactly that: https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html It also works with Android phones, Android Wear watches, Tizen (Samsung) watches, ... even some earbuds or smart tags.
  - quenix 6y ago
    This sounds insecure. Do you store the user’s password on disk?
    - rrebelo 6y ago
      No, I store on OS-X's keychain. You made a fair and necessary question but I'd be embarrassed to even think about storing the password on disk, even if encrypted.
      - Nextgrid 6y ago
        Unless you’re on a machine with a hardware security module, isn’t keychain just stored somewhere on disk anyway?
- ascagnel_ 6y ago
  For what it's worth, if you have a system with the T1 chip (Apple's been using the watch chip rebadged as a T1 for a few years as a SSD controller+security module), you can both unlock your laptop with your watch (built-in to the OS) and as a biometric sudo auth[0]. [0] https://github.com/insidegui/pam-watchid https://github.com/insidegui/pam-watchid
  - 6y ago
DC1350 6y ago
The real story is the woman with beard emoji and two new ways to represent vaping
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
lemax 6y ago
My Face ID is completely broken after getting water on my "waterproof" iPhone X. I downloaded the beta in the hopes of using my Apple Watch to unlock my iPhone without Face ID enabled. My employer enforces a device policy with passcode required immediately and auto-lock in 1 minute, so this would have been really nice. Unfortunately this feature only works a) with Face ID enabled and b) while wearing a mask. Not exactly just "Unlock with Apple with Apple Watch".
- gpm 6y ago
  > b) while wearing a mask Wtf? What possible benefit does this have? Securing your phone against people who stole it (and your watch) but aren't willing to put on a mask?
  - abadaba 6y ago
    I wonder if Face ID is still able to partially detect a masked user's face, just with a much lower confidence interval. Maybe the presence of the watch allows Face ID to lower the confidence threshold when it detects a mask blocking half of the face. This is just a guess, I have no idea how Face ID works. If Face ID can't detect anything when a user wears a mask then I completely agree with you. It seems really silly to require the mask in order for the watch unlock to work. I don't understand the security model there.
    - lemax 6y ago
      It works because you put your watch on, unlock your watch. Your watch remains unlocked until you take it off. I was under the impression if you’re wearing your watch and it’s unlocked, and then you pick up your iPhone, it acts as the key to your phone.
      - valine 6y ago
        The watch will only unlock your phone when you're wearing a mask. If FaceID doesn't see a mask it will ignore the Apple Watch.
- 6y ago
freeslave 6y ago
I'm pretty happy that I will finally be able to cast fitness plus workouts to a bigger screen.
mcbutterbunz 6y ago
I really wish there was the option to disable the lock screen at home or on my home wifi. Or even disable the lock screen altogether but require it for certain apps.
- r0fl 6y ago
  Someone who knows you could steal your phone, go near the front door of your house/apartment to be within wifi reach, login to your phone, unlock it and then wreck havoc on your life.
  - robotnixon 6y ago
    Android has had this feature for years and it still requires an initial unlock of the device to remain unlocked at the location you've picked. So when I get home I still have to manually unlock my phone once to keep it unlocked. As an extra safety measure the phone locks itself again after 4 hours.
mrgreenfur 6y ago
Lots of comments here on the watch unlock, while the new privacy controls are requiring apps to ask for IDFA before it's given (and before you'retracked across apps with any identifiers). The MarTech industry is panicking to adapt and become compliant and there are estimates that it will drop ad targeting by ~75%. I see this as a huge win for privacy, if Apple actually enforces it (They have given no guidance on how this will happen).
- RangerScience 6y ago
  Yuuuup. It's unclear to me if this is collateral damage, but it's also wreaking havoc in directly measuring the impact of your own ads (ex: see and ad for an app, install the app, make a purchase in the app - folks want to be able to tell if that purchase is attributable to that ad).
  - Closi 6y ago
    > Folks want to be able to tell if that purchase is attributable to that ad Well, marketers and advertisers want to be able to tell if the purchase is attributable. Everyday folks typically either don't care or would actively prefer not to be tracked in this way.
    - RangerScience 6y ago
      > marketers and advertiser I mean, they're certainly not robots or aliens, so what're they other than more folks? (Not that robots or aliens wouldn't also just be folks...)
    - NightMKoder 6y ago
      I think it’s a bit more nuanced than that. The new policy doesn’t seem to try to break ads attribution globally - e.g. the App Store ads attribution continues to work regardless of tracking transparency choices. They’re also not trying to prevent first-party tracking - i.e. app analytics and the like. Apple could have thrown a bone to folks and just allowed passing url parameters or similar through the App Store links to the app after it’s installed. No third party needs to get the data and advertisers get to actually know ROI like they do with the rest of the web. Alternatively I’d love if Apple actually took a stance against data aggregation. Take on the actual creepy corps like LexisNexis or Experian or Transunion. Interest tracking is peanuts by comparison. Not to say we shouldn’t start somewhere, but I hope tracking transparency doesn’t end here.
rabuse 6y ago
When the hell is Apple going to finally allow push notifications for the web?
- ta9999 6y ago
  Never, they make way to much money and have an incredible amount of power over developers by keeping it disabled. People just leave you out of group chats if you don't have an iPhone now because building a decent chat application for iOS is too fucking hard.
- adrr 6y ago
  Never. They make too much money off the App Store.
- kiwijamo 6y ago
  Consider that users don't want notifications. I turn this off on other devices and I'm sure many others also do so.
  - turblety 6y ago
    You don't get notifications when you get a new Email or Social Message? You don't have Facebook/WhatsApp/Email? If not, then I applaud you. If you do, but keep notifications off, that's kinda respectable too. But I'm guessing you do get a notification when you get a new text message, chat message or email. Why should only native apps, that go through a dictatorship approval process from Apple, be allowed to send you notifications. Of course, you should always be able to say "No" to a site or app sending you notifications. This is the case on Android, as could be the case on Apple. Progress Web Apps are opening up the potential for developers to spend less time on the *worst* development platforms (xcode and android studio), and more time on their product. That being said, it would be cool if an app could not "force" notifications to be allowed. Like, you could choose "Allow", "Deny" or "Hide" which would trick the app into thinking you had allowed notifications, but then just not show them. It would stop bad advert behaviour. Although, on Android, I have never seen this be abused (yet).
  - rabuse 6y ago
kccqzy 6y ago
The proxied safe browsing feature also launches as part of this release: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26110928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26110928
lwansbrough 6y ago
Touch ID is an entirely superior technology and Apple is profoundly stupid for removing it. It doesn't have to be in the screen, just put it on the back. The lengths they'll go to offset the removal of Touch ID are astounding, from IR face tracking, to degraded biometric security, and now to requiring an Apple Watch to unlock the phone with your mask on. Talk about a Rube Goldberg machine.
- ascari 6y ago
  I have sweaty palms most of the time so Touch ID has been a massive problem for me.
- hipjiveguy 6y ago
  touch id never works - i've tried it a ton of times, and it eventually forgets my fingerprints or something, and just stops working... max it works is like 2 weeks, then... it's like i'm a new person. I have even tried training the same finger lots of different times, still no luck. And I've tried it on iphone and mac, no go.
- conception 6y ago
  Both is fine with me. FaceID is great for any time you've got gloves on. I wish they had an external version of it, e.g. an apple keyboard with touchID or support for generic webcams for FaceID so it'd work when docked, etc.
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    The new iMac has it on its external wireless keyboard. So it's coming, just slowly. FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera.
    - masklinn 6y ago
      > FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera. iMacs could absolutely have the entire camera module, depth sensor included. Things would be rather more complicated for the laptops, the cover is thinner than an iPhone. Though obviously not as bad as the protruding back cameras, the front cameras module is still rather deep and would likely require increasing the depth of the cover to fit flush.
teekert 6y ago
Hmm, I’m pretty sure I turned off “Personalized ads” under Privacy -> Apple ads, and now it’s back on. Or did I simply never turn this off before? Anyway, where is that famous new setting? Nothing seems changed to me under “Privacy”? Edit: I see iOS is still good at autocorrecting after I press “send”. Absolutely maddening.
- gpsz 6y ago
  It's still off for me, so perhaps you never turned it off? > famous new setting Privacy -> Tracking
  - teekert 6y ago
    But that was there before, right? I’m pretty sure. Edit: yeah I’m quite positive it was.
    - estel 6y ago
      It was, yes. The SDK for App Tracking permissions has been there since 14.0. The change in 14.5 is that using the new APIs (and getting user permission) is now mandatory.
- benhurmarcel 6y ago
  > Hmm, I’m pretty sure I turned off “Personalized ads” under Privacy -> Apple ads, and now it’s back on. It stayed off after the update for me.
tinyprojects 6y ago
Everyone is missing the point. This is the start of a major battle between two tech juggernauts. One look at the Facebook ads manager will show you Facebook is very scared about this privacy update and trying to do everything in their power to mitigate it. Apple is the gatekeeper and Facebook can't do anything about it. Their dominant revenue stream is about to be strangled. I think Zuckerberg realizes he is screwed in the long run, and only his bet on VR with Oculus will save him.
- jonny_eh 6y ago
  > only his bet on VR with Oculus will save him Sorry, it won't.
- xbar 6y ago
  Perhaps a new version of the Facebook phone?
- matdehaast 6y ago
  Good chance FB will own the VR space from platform on a hardware and software level. My bet is they will be bigger in 10 years than they are now if VR materialises
  - tinus_hn 6y ago
    If VR materializes and requires Facebook it’ll be ignored. We lived without VR for a long time, it really isn’t a necessity.
  - zdbrandon 6y ago
    A mountain sized “if”.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6y ago
  >Apple is the gatekeeper and Facebook can't do anything about it. Antitrust. As much as I applaud Apple here- isn't this just more proof they they abuse their position?
  - 6y ago
ape4 6y ago
Siri can have different voices but she(?) is still called "Siri".
- da_big_ghey 6y ago
  Yes, it is saying in announcement. She was given differing voice before in past, but it was needing configuration option for to enable some other. It is bad change though, now each person must make choice rather than having normal default.
- elil17 6y ago
  There have been male and female Siri voices for a long time. According to the Apple style guide: "When referring to Siri, simply use the name “Siri”. Do not refer to Siri with pronouns such as “she,” “him,” or “her.” Depending on language support, Siri may offer a male or female voice, or both."
rrebelo 6y ago
Sorry for the shameless plug, but for those without an Apple Watch I've made a program [0] that implements the Unlock Mac with Bluetooth for any other device, including Android phones, Android Wear or Tizen watches or even some ear plugs. [0] https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html Edit: However, the Windows version works only with Android phones: https://www.gadgetish.com https://www.gadgetish.com
- artificialLimbs 6y ago
  Enabled Umwelt in Accessibility (Big Sur). Clicked allow updates. Crashes every time I open. Displays check for updates screen, then immediately crashes.
  - rrebelo 6y ago
    Oh, thank you. I hadn't test it under Big Sur. It seems there is an incompatibility with Big Sur in the Sparkle Framework (I use it for updates). Will look into it.
alfiedotwtf 6y ago
Anyone else sometimes put in their Apple Watch from the charger, and notice it’s already unlocked? I.e they never needed to unlock it?
- snailmailman 6y ago
  I think by default the apple watch unlocks when you unlock your phone. There is a setting to disable this if you'd like. As a result, although my watch has a passcode i almost never type it in. It's easier to put on my watch and then unlock my phone.
  - alfiedotwtf 6y ago
    ah! I didn't know that... maybe that's what's happening each time I notice it. Thanks, I'll keep an eye out next time it happens. Thanks.
xyst 6y ago
They integrated the "Waze-esque" feature into Apple Maps. Even Apple is getting their users to snitch on the PD. Siri is about to be the #1 public enemy of the traffic cops lol
- daemoens 6y ago
  That feature is so helpful on google maps. I have to drive through a bunch of small counties every week and they all have so many cops on side of the road.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  Good. If municipalities want to raise revenue from my driving, then they should either raise taxes or implement tolls, not implement speed traps designed to trick people from out of town.
  - elil17 6y ago
    Unpopular opinion: people should just not speed. Even speeding just a little bit at high speeds drastically increases your car's emissions and is also dangerous (~40% increase in chance of death in a head on collision at 60 mph vs 55 mph). I don't think giving people a tool that helps them break what is in my mind a good/just/important law is the right move on Apple's part
    - alliao 6y ago
      So I live in New Zealand, and there was a period where cops were going all out with their new gadgets, and pulling people over whenever people speed above 4km/hr above speed limit that's like under 2.5MPH for you yanks. I don't know how good you're at knowing how fast you're going. When the margin's that tight, you're going to either be very rich with a Tesla that's going below the speed. Or quite rich with a car like BMW that lets you set top speed. Or you're just going to go slow. like 10km/hr slower especially if you can't afford it. The knock on effect was ridiculous. The trip took longer, and the amount of road rage witnessed on a daily basis was quite visible, wasn't a happy period for sure.
oseph 6y ago
I really hope Apple fixed the issue of wifi dropping out in iOS 14.5. It's been randomly dropping ever since iOS 13 (only device in the house that does), and I've been dinged by my provider in overage fees a few times because of it...
- stackedinserter 6y ago
  I had the same problem, it turned out that "Wi-Fi Assist" was enabled for some reason. After I disabled it it started working okay, at least I don't see "LTE" every time I pick the phone at home.
mhb 6y ago
Wow new emojis! Maybe some future update will make it possible to turn location services off in fewer than 5 taps.
teekert 6y ago
But why does iOS still turn my alarm to max volume every now and then
xyst 6y ago
So if I can unlock my phone with FaceID + Apple Watch + Mask. Then in theory, wouldn't ANY person with a mask be able to unlock my phone? If you steal the phone at the right time, and unlock the phone while wearing a mask and still be in proximity to the victim wearing the watch. You will have an unlocked iPhone at your disposal. Quickly disable all of the security features, remove the SIM, and now you have a $1000+ item you can fence.
- djstein 6y ago
  unlock is one thing. turning off security features requires another input of the actual pin passcode.
- dagmx 6y ago
  The watch vibrates on unlock with a prompt to lock the phone. It's also an opt in setting not an opt out. It also only enables unlock and not other features that require face id
  - xyst 6y ago
    I see that, however is there a way to remotely lock the iPhone from the watch? There is a small window to tap the “Lock iPhone” button before it disappears and the phone is unlocked. Or a clever person throws the phone in a faraday cage and thus blocks the lock signal from the watch.
    - deleted 6y ago
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- deleted 6y ago
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- mttjj 6y ago
  Sure, I guess that’s not out of the realm of possibility. But when you’re holding your keys in front of you when walking to your car to unlock it in the parking lot someone could snatch them out of your hand, sprint to your (unlocked car), turn on the car (because they have your keys), and speed off into the sunset. Now they have a $20k item. Possible? Yes. Practical enough to lose sleep over? Probably not.
maxgashkov 6y ago
For fucks sake it still requires the phone to recognize the fact that you're wearing the mask to allow AW unlock—and good luck if the mask isn't the one Apple trained this shit on or lighting conditions are not optimal. I do want to look the manager who decided that in the eye. What serious attack vector is this supposed to close? Somebody sawing your hand off and unlocking your phone? You have much bigger problems then.
holografix 6y ago
Couldn’t care less about the screen lock issue. Don’t know why everyone is spitting the dummy about it. As others have mentioned Facebook must be worries as their main (only?) revenue stream via ads could now lose significant appeal to marketers. Could Facebook pivot to a product company and release a fantastic VR/AR device to lure gen z away from iPhones? A Facebook glass? It’ll be interesting to follow their hiring for VR related jobs

334 points by jmsflknr 6y ago

This works basically as advertised, almost as fast as Face ID, and good haptics (plus a lock button) on your Watch. If you're on a bus and someone steals your phone, it can be locked immediately using the watch. It does not do a "partial scan" of your eyes and forehead. It just detects a mask and triggers the Apple Watch unlock.

deleted 6y ago

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dot1x 6y ago

This doesn't work for me at all. Have Watch Series 5, Iphone 12 MAX. Option is enabled, tried rebooting both devices, tried enabling/disabling it. It's not like it fails, it literally never even tries to use the watch, goes directly to normal faceid. Gone are the times when apple software would just work...

dot1x 6y ago
Update: Managed to make it work. I usually don't put the mask over my nose as, having glasses, makes them all foggy and I can't see anything (protip: I don't care about how effective that is, the mask for me is just the minimum to confirm to current regulations). Seems that faceID is really anal about the mask being OVER the nose before it's recognized as a mask! This is why it wouldn't work before. So if you're having problems, be sure to wear a mask as apple expect you to.

wadhwanisumeet 6y ago

Here's my take: https://www.toolbox.com/tech/it-strategy/news/apples-soon-to-be-rolled-out-ios-14-5-puts-facebook-in-a-spin-and-mark-zuckerberg-can-do-nothing-about-it/ https://www.toolbox.com/tech/it-strategy/news/apples-soon-to...

tosh 6y ago

Not mentioned in the press release but this update also brings a new version of Safari (and WebView). Anyone knows if Safari in 14.5 is equivalent to a specific Technology Preview release? https://developer.apple.com/safari/technology-preview/release-notes/ https://developer.apple.com/safari/technology-preview/releas...

HugoDaniel 6y ago
it would be cool if Safari finally got WebGL 2 enabled by default
- ghughes 6y ago
  Cool for the web, not so cool for the growth of Apple Arcade.
  - aroman 6y ago
    It's not like WebGL 2 is the crucial lynch pin blocking the viability of mobile web gaming... WebGL2 will have zero impact on Apple Arcade.
- asiachick 6y ago
  It's not in this version. I'm 50/50 on whether it will ever be enabled. If it's not enabled in iOS 15 around September then I'll raise my probability it will never be enabled to 90%. What incentive does Apple have for enabling it? 4 years ago when other browsers got it it was important. Now, with WebGPU 6-12 months from shipping there isn't much reason for them to ship a bunch of code to Safari that has to be maintained and tested forever. I know the code is already written and tested ATM, just pointing out why my probably that it won't ship is > 0.
turblety 6y ago
If only it included Web Push API capabilities. But of course, Apple won't do that, as then developers wouldn't have to beg to be in their app store, and pay a 30% commission on any payments. I would have more respect for Apple if they just came out and said it, but the fact they haven't mentioned it at all, is just cowardly.

Tomte 6y ago

Scribble should now be supported in German (and a few other languages). That's the main feature I've been waiting for.

drewg123 6y ago

That's a step in the right direction, but I sorely miss the Android "trusted bluetooth device" that would keep your phone unlocked. I have really poor timing, and upgraded from a Google Pixel 2 to an iPhone with face id (and no touch id)just before the pandemic. Now I have to type my passcode to unlock whenever I'm wearing a mask because I have a Garmin watch and won't consider downgrading to an Apple watch. The Garmin watch kept my Pixel unlocked for me since it was a trusted bluetooth device.

pcl 6y ago
Anecdotally, in the last few weeks, FaceID just started working for me with a couple of the types of masks I’ve been wearing. I wonder if they have made some tweaks to their recognition algorithms / are doing any sort of additional training on the fly. I don’t have an Apple Watch, and am running 14.4.2.
- Operyl 6y ago
  Every time you attempt authentication, and it doesn’t recognize you’re wearing a mask in particular, it’ll “retrain” the model when you authenticate with your passcode. If it was only a little bit off, eventually you’d retrain enough to get there with a mask. They mention this in their Security doc if I recall correctly.
- dannyphantom 6y ago
  I thought that AI could identify someone even if they were wearing a mask and our iPhone's were being silly. I've seen a few videos of Chinese grocery shoppers paying with their face with a mask on.
- kitsunesoba 6y ago
  I don't have any links to back it up or anything, but my impression is that Face ID continually trains itself as you use it to help keep up with facial changes over time. At the very least I know it takes the data from failed attempts immediately followed by passcode unlock and uses it for training. Depending on how either is implemented I could see it getting "used" to a masked face with enough samples. The question for me is if this makes it more susceptible to false positives, e.g. unlocking for people other than the owner wearing a mask.

Tsiklon 6y ago

5G on Dual Sim is a useful update, prior to this it was only possible to have 5G on one of the accounts (The hardware SIM, I think was the default not the eSIM)

vmception 6y ago
They finally did it!? I had resigned to thinking they got screwed with bad hardware from qualcomm
- enos_feedler 6y ago
  Apple has communicated this limitation since the beginning and said when it was coming.
  - vmception 6y ago
    > said when it was coming ehhhh there was a lot of uncertainty around that. they just said a future update and it wasn't on time. I had my doubts and other people had their doubts, dual sim modes have been neglected for some time and there are still several limitations in iOS that make it seem like its not much of a priority. until the last few incremental updates you can tell from Apple's own communications on their forums that they thought of Dual Sim as more of a temporary traveller's use case, with them popping in a local sim card in different countries here and there. As opposed to someone that doesn't want to bother with two phones (or a handicapped VoIP number that also wouldn't have an iCloud account) and just always has two numbers in the same country. They are catching on, but the skepticism is there and they are incrementally fixing it successfully.
Hamuko 6y ago
Are people actually on 5G?
- BBC-vs-neolibs 6y ago
  I am, not sure how common that is. But only when downtown.

danpalmer 6y ago

Sadly it also breaks a fairly common navigation flow in SwiftUI – having 2 navigation buttons on the same screen causes nav pushes to immediately pop back. This does however show an interesting trade-off of SwiftUI: by being a more abstract definition of a view hierarchy, they can change out implementations more easily than before to further optimise in each OS release. I'm hoping that they're essentially going down the route of rendering SwiftUI directly to Metal, their graphics API, as I'd expect that to be much faster and less energy intensive.

nindalf 6y ago

Happy about being able to unlock the phone with my watch. Arrived after a year of mask wearing, but better late than never. Impossible to say right now when we'll put our masks away, if ever.

ASalazarMX 6y ago
I already have an Apple watch, and still resent that their solution for removing the fingerprint scanner is buying a new expensive accessory. Under-display fingerprint readers have existed for years, so it's not an aesthetics issue.
- turtlebits 6y ago
  Under display fingerprint scanners suck. I have a Galaxy S20 for work and it rarely works. I also have a A71 5G which is even worse. With winter dry skin (and/or light abrasion from woodworking projects), I can't even unlock the phones at all.
  - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
    My Moto Z4 works just fine. Unde4 tge screen is by far the best and most comfortable fingerprint scanner position.
  - tomjen3 6y ago
    My hands have turned into lizard skin from hand sanitizer (seriously, my knuckles have started to bleed from forming a fist) and I have no issues on my Oneplus pro 7.
- fastball 6y ago
  No it's a usability issue. Have you tried the under-display fingerprint readers?
  - ASalazarMX 6y ago
    I've only tried the Huawei P30 Pro years ago, and it worked fine. the only drawback is learning to find the spot where the sensor is, as you don't have the tactile feedback external readers provide. Fingerprint reader in the back of the phone is one of the most ergonomic designs IMO, there's no need for it to be under-screen, I suggested it because Apple favors minimalist design.

Someone1234 6y ago

In regard to unlock w/Apple Watch: - This is an issue of Apple's own artificial creation. - This doesn't even solve the issue. So this all started because Face Unlock didn't work with masks, that's not Apple's fault. But what is entirely Apple's fault is that they break an option which resolves this only when Face Unlock is enabled: "Require Passcode." When you disable Face Unlock you can set Require Passcode to e.g. 15 minutes/1 hr, and it largely mitigates the aggressiveness by which your iPhone re-locks itself while you're e.g. out grocery shopping in a mask and trying to use a shopping list. But when you enable Face Unlock this option is removed (forced to "Require Immediately"). So Apple enforces "Require Immediately" in Require Passcode, it blows up in their face, and then instead of backing down when masks broke Face Unlock, they instead over-engineer a solution where you have to buy an Apple Watch to work around it. Their new work-around solution doubles down on exactly the same anti-choice problems discussed above because they forget to mention in this press release that you MUST enable a passcode on your Apple Watch to use this feature at all (and they're relying on the Apple Watch being less aggressive to re-lock than the iPhone). If you jailbreak your iPhone you can just switch it from "Require Immediately" to e.g. 30 minutes and this mask issue is almost completely gone in one fell swoop. This Apple Watch fix only kinda works (e.g. lost connection to the watch = relock, Watch thinks it is off your wrist = relock, etc).

iso1631 6y ago
I have a 2016SE, with touch ID. It works perfectly well when I wear a mask. If fingerprint doesn't work it immediately pops up the passcode box. It such a shame that apple are good at removing useful features rather than just adding them.
- SilverRed 6y ago
  There is no way Apple could have possibly predicted faceid would fail like this. Under normal circumstances it works really well.
- WorldMaker 6y ago
  If Face ID doesn't work it does pop up the passcode box. They tweaked it a versions back so it was faster to pop up when "mask detected" (though how well that worked as with any ML-based solution varied from person to person). Additionally the upward "home swipe" and "tap the Face ID indicator" options have both always immediately given the passcode box for me. (My favorite thing that happens sometimes is impatience with Face ID will have me swipe for the passcode box, the box will come up, and I get maybe one or two inputs in before Face ID catches up and finishes the unlock.) This new Watch feature is great for people like me who are paranoid about punching in my passcode in front of a shop full of cameras and strangers, but it's a nice-to-have feature not a "required" feature as some of the above comments seem to complain it is.

dannyphantom 6y ago

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-14-5-makes-using-the-iphones-face-id-with-a-mask-bearable-but-theres-a-catch/ https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-14-5-makes-using-the-iphones... > ...and the ability to unlock your iPhone using Face ID while wearing a face mask. Unlocking the iPhone with Face ID during the pandemic has been an exercise in frustration... !

ASalazarMX 6y ago
The new iPhone will include a revolutionary feature where just touching your phone will unlock it, and it will not unlock if someone unknown touches it. It will be called "dactylogram scourer". /s Edit: 5 minutes and already got the first downvote
verst 6y ago
I go to the same coffee shop a few times a week and they always think I'm struggling with Apple Pay. Of course I am not - I am just waiting for Face ID to fail so I can use the PIN. Finally changed the setting to skip Face ID for Apple Pay directly.
- eddyg 6y ago
  Just tap the Face ID icon to immediately switch to the keypad.
  - verst 6y ago
    I never noticed that. Thanks! I guess I'm saving myself one tap now :D

smiley1437 6y ago

Feels a bit of a Rube-Goldberg workaround when TouchID exists. Love my TouchID to the point I'm dreading when Apple makes no more TouchID phones

gambiting 6y ago
Apple's insistence on only having face ID when competitors have fantastic and very fast in-screen fingerprint readers is just idiotic. I was kind of onboard when they first introduced FaceID, the argument that they don't want the sensor on the back and there is no room on the front was fair enough, but right now the technology has caught up. It's crazy that you can unlock a Samsung with your face OR an in-screen fingerprint reader, but you can't an iPhone.
- 3grdlurker 6y ago
  Or they could put it on the lock button like they did with one of their iPads.
  - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
    I have used phones with all types of fingerprint sensor. Below the screen (Moto Z, iPhone 6S), at the back, in the power button (Moto Z3), and built into screen (Moto Z4). Built into the screen is by far superior of all. The worst is at the back, with power button at the side not far from it.
    - barbazoo 6y ago
      I think having it in the back is genius as that's where I always have a finger as opposed to the front. It's so awkward to try to hold the phone in my hand securely AND holding my thumb on the scanner at the same time.
      - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
        About half of the times i unlock my phone is when it is resting on the table. Fingerprint scanner on the back requires picking it up first, which is extremely uncomfortable to do every time. No. Just no.

minimaxir 6y ago

macOS/tvOS/watchOS are also updated with analogous features.

jetpackjoe 6y ago
tvOS should include the new color balancing feature, correct?
- minimaxir 6y ago
  Yep, including for the older A8 Apple TV.
  - josteink 6y ago
    Just tested using my Apple TV 4K and an iPhone XR. Worked just fine!

idlewords 6y ago

Of course to unlock the Apple Watch, you'll be wanting the Apple Ring...

kristofferR 6y ago

The "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature was the reason I used all the betas, thankfully they were totally trouble free for me this time.

gentryb 6y ago
This was a reason I inadvertently got some previous co-workers over-excited about a feature (only to find it was only in the betas I happened to be running). Still remember having to break it to the first person who really wanted to enable the feature that it must be in beta - and I spoke too early. As an aside - earlier betas didn't seem to like various colored masks in my experience (turquoise being the main one) - which seemed to be fixed in later versions. For context: worked at a COVID-19 Testing/Vaccination site - mask on more hours than not each 24... I _LOVE_ this feature still.

Exuma 6y ago

"woman with beard" emoji? This is just getting stupid.

geodel 6y ago
"woman with neck beard" emoji would go long way in promoting gender equality in computer and related fields.
mcbutterbunz 6y ago
How so?
dagmx 6y ago
Why? Some women, especially in certain cultures, do indeed have beards. It takes nothing away from people who won't use that emoji, but it lets them be represented while giving others another optional emoji to use.
- tasogare 6y ago
  In which cultures does women have beards? Without any example it seems something you just pretend exist. Women in general (ie without special medical conditions) don’t grow enough facial hair to produce a beard in a lifetime.
  - howinteresting 6y ago
    The boundary between "special medical conditions" and "natural human diversity" is incredibly socially constructed.
  - dagmx 6y ago
    Certain Sikh women grow beards as part of their culture. There are quite a few women outside of that who do get beards, for a variety of reasons. Regardless, even if it was hypothetically only people with medical conditions, then why is bad for them to be represented?
    - 6y ago

dmitriid 6y ago

I wish they added "unlock Mac/use id on Mac with iPhone". But no, they only introduce TouchId on a keyboard that only works with M1 chips.

rrebelo 6y ago
> I wish they added "unlock Mac/use id on Mac with iPhone". Me too. So I made a program that does exactly that: https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html It also works with Android phones, Android Wear watches, Tizen (Samsung) watches, ... even some earbuds or smart tags.
- quenix 6y ago
  This sounds insecure. Do you store the user’s password on disk?
  - rrebelo 6y ago
    No, I store on OS-X's keychain. You made a fair and necessary question but I'd be embarrassed to even think about storing the password on disk, even if encrypted.
    - Nextgrid 6y ago
      Unless you’re on a machine with a hardware security module, isn’t keychain just stored somewhere on disk anyway?
ascagnel_ 6y ago
For what it's worth, if you have a system with the T1 chip (Apple's been using the watch chip rebadged as a T1 for a few years as a SSD controller+security module), you can both unlock your laptop with your watch (built-in to the OS) and as a biometric sudo auth[0]. [0] https://github.com/insidegui/pam-watchid https://github.com/insidegui/pam-watchid
- 6y ago

DC1350 6y ago

The real story is the woman with beard emoji and two new ways to represent vaping

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

lemax 6y ago

My Face ID is completely broken after getting water on my "waterproof" iPhone X. I downloaded the beta in the hopes of using my Apple Watch to unlock my iPhone without Face ID enabled. My employer enforces a device policy with passcode required immediately and auto-lock in 1 minute, so this would have been really nice. Unfortunately this feature only works a) with Face ID enabled and b) while wearing a mask. Not exactly just "Unlock with Apple with Apple Watch".

gpm 6y ago
> b) while wearing a mask Wtf? What possible benefit does this have? Securing your phone against people who stole it (and your watch) but aren't willing to put on a mask?
- abadaba 6y ago
  I wonder if Face ID is still able to partially detect a masked user's face, just with a much lower confidence interval. Maybe the presence of the watch allows Face ID to lower the confidence threshold when it detects a mask blocking half of the face. This is just a guess, I have no idea how Face ID works. If Face ID can't detect anything when a user wears a mask then I completely agree with you. It seems really silly to require the mask in order for the watch unlock to work. I don't understand the security model there.
  - lemax 6y ago
    It works because you put your watch on, unlock your watch. Your watch remains unlocked until you take it off. I was under the impression if you’re wearing your watch and it’s unlocked, and then you pick up your iPhone, it acts as the key to your phone.
    - valine 6y ago
      The watch will only unlock your phone when you're wearing a mask. If FaceID doesn't see a mask it will ignore the Apple Watch.
6y ago

freeslave 6y ago

I'm pretty happy that I will finally be able to cast fitness plus workouts to a bigger screen.

mcbutterbunz 6y ago

I really wish there was the option to disable the lock screen at home or on my home wifi. Or even disable the lock screen altogether but require it for certain apps.

r0fl 6y ago
Someone who knows you could steal your phone, go near the front door of your house/apartment to be within wifi reach, login to your phone, unlock it and then wreck havoc on your life.
- robotnixon 6y ago
  Android has had this feature for years and it still requires an initial unlock of the device to remain unlocked at the location you've picked. So when I get home I still have to manually unlock my phone once to keep it unlocked. As an extra safety measure the phone locks itself again after 4 hours.

mrgreenfur 6y ago

Lots of comments here on the watch unlock, while the new privacy controls are requiring apps to ask for IDFA before it's given (and before you'retracked across apps with any identifiers). The MarTech industry is panicking to adapt and become compliant and there are estimates that it will drop ad targeting by ~75%. I see this as a huge win for privacy, if Apple actually enforces it (They have given no guidance on how this will happen).

RangerScience 6y ago
Yuuuup. It's unclear to me if this is collateral damage, but it's also wreaking havoc in directly measuring the impact of your own ads (ex: see and ad for an app, install the app, make a purchase in the app - folks want to be able to tell if that purchase is attributable to that ad).
- Closi 6y ago
  > Folks want to be able to tell if that purchase is attributable to that ad Well, marketers and advertisers want to be able to tell if the purchase is attributable. Everyday folks typically either don't care or would actively prefer not to be tracked in this way.
  - RangerScience 6y ago
    > marketers and advertiser I mean, they're certainly not robots or aliens, so what're they other than more folks? (Not that robots or aliens wouldn't also just be folks...)
  - NightMKoder 6y ago
    I think it’s a bit more nuanced than that. The new policy doesn’t seem to try to break ads attribution globally - e.g. the App Store ads attribution continues to work regardless of tracking transparency choices. They’re also not trying to prevent first-party tracking - i.e. app analytics and the like. Apple could have thrown a bone to folks and just allowed passing url parameters or similar through the App Store links to the app after it’s installed. No third party needs to get the data and advertisers get to actually know ROI like they do with the rest of the web. Alternatively I’d love if Apple actually took a stance against data aggregation. Take on the actual creepy corps like LexisNexis or Experian or Transunion. Interest tracking is peanuts by comparison. Not to say we shouldn’t start somewhere, but I hope tracking transparency doesn’t end here.

rabuse 6y ago

When the hell is Apple going to finally allow push notifications for the web?

ta9999 6y ago
Never, they make way to much money and have an incredible amount of power over developers by keeping it disabled. People just leave you out of group chats if you don't have an iPhone now because building a decent chat application for iOS is too fucking hard.
adrr 6y ago
Never. They make too much money off the App Store.
kiwijamo 6y ago
Consider that users don't want notifications. I turn this off on other devices and I'm sure many others also do so.
- turblety 6y ago
  You don't get notifications when you get a new Email or Social Message? You don't have Facebook/WhatsApp/Email? If not, then I applaud you. If you do, but keep notifications off, that's kinda respectable too. But I'm guessing you do get a notification when you get a new text message, chat message or email. Why should only native apps, that go through a dictatorship approval process from Apple, be allowed to send you notifications. Of course, you should always be able to say "No" to a site or app sending you notifications. This is the case on Android, as could be the case on Apple. Progress Web Apps are opening up the potential for developers to spend less time on the *worst* development platforms (xcode and android studio), and more time on their product. That being said, it would be cool if an app could not "force" notifications to be allowed. Like, you could choose "Allow", "Deny" or "Hide" which would trick the app into thinking you had allowed notifications, but then just not show them. It would stop bad advert behaviour. Although, on Android, I have never seen this be abused (yet).
- rabuse 6y ago

kccqzy 6y ago

The proxied safe browsing feature also launches as part of this release: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26110928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26110928

lwansbrough 6y ago

Touch ID is an entirely superior technology and Apple is profoundly stupid for removing it. It doesn't have to be in the screen, just put it on the back. The lengths they'll go to offset the removal of Touch ID are astounding, from IR face tracking, to degraded biometric security, and now to requiring an Apple Watch to unlock the phone with your mask on. Talk about a Rube Goldberg machine.

ascari 6y ago
I have sweaty palms most of the time so Touch ID has been a massive problem for me.
hipjiveguy 6y ago
touch id never works - i've tried it a ton of times, and it eventually forgets my fingerprints or something, and just stops working... max it works is like 2 weeks, then... it's like i'm a new person. I have even tried training the same finger lots of different times, still no luck. And I've tried it on iphone and mac, no go.
conception 6y ago
Both is fine with me. FaceID is great for any time you've got gloves on. I wish they had an external version of it, e.g. an apple keyboard with touchID or support for generic webcams for FaceID so it'd work when docked, etc.
- crazygringo 6y ago
  The new iMac has it on its external wireless keyboard. So it's coming, just slowly. FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera.
  - masklinn 6y ago
    > FaceID surely won't ever work with webcams however -- it uses a custom-built depth sensor separate from the camera. iMacs could absolutely have the entire camera module, depth sensor included. Things would be rather more complicated for the laptops, the cover is thinner than an iPhone. Though obviously not as bad as the protruding back cameras, the front cameras module is still rather deep and would likely require increasing the depth of the cover to fit flush.

teekert 6y ago

Hmm, I’m pretty sure I turned off “Personalized ads” under Privacy -> Apple ads, and now it’s back on. Or did I simply never turn this off before? Anyway, where is that famous new setting? Nothing seems changed to me under “Privacy”? Edit: I see iOS is still good at autocorrecting after I press “send”. Absolutely maddening.

gpsz 6y ago
It's still off for me, so perhaps you never turned it off? > famous new setting Privacy -> Tracking
- teekert 6y ago
  But that was there before, right? I’m pretty sure. Edit: yeah I’m quite positive it was.
  - estel 6y ago
    It was, yes. The SDK for App Tracking permissions has been there since 14.0. The change in 14.5 is that using the new APIs (and getting user permission) is now mandatory.
benhurmarcel 6y ago
> Hmm, I’m pretty sure I turned off “Personalized ads” under Privacy -> Apple ads, and now it’s back on. It stayed off after the update for me.

tinyprojects 6y ago

Everyone is missing the point. This is the start of a major battle between two tech juggernauts. One look at the Facebook ads manager will show you Facebook is very scared about this privacy update and trying to do everything in their power to mitigate it. Apple is the gatekeeper and Facebook can't do anything about it. Their dominant revenue stream is about to be strangled. I think Zuckerberg realizes he is screwed in the long run, and only his bet on VR with Oculus will save him.

jonny_eh 6y ago
> only his bet on VR with Oculus will save him Sorry, it won't.
xbar 6y ago
Perhaps a new version of the Facebook phone?
matdehaast 6y ago
Good chance FB will own the VR space from platform on a hardware and software level. My bet is they will be bigger in 10 years than they are now if VR materialises
- tinus_hn 6y ago
  If VR materializes and requires Facebook it’ll be ignored. We lived without VR for a long time, it really isn’t a necessity.
- zdbrandon 6y ago
  A mountain sized “if”.
2OEH8eoCRo0 6y ago
>Apple is the gatekeeper and Facebook can't do anything about it. Antitrust. As much as I applaud Apple here- isn't this just more proof they they abuse their position?
- 6y ago

ape4 6y ago

Siri can have different voices but she(?) is still called "Siri".

da_big_ghey 6y ago
Yes, it is saying in announcement. She was given differing voice before in past, but it was needing configuration option for to enable some other. It is bad change though, now each person must make choice rather than having normal default.
elil17 6y ago
There have been male and female Siri voices for a long time. According to the Apple style guide: "When referring to Siri, simply use the name “Siri”. Do not refer to Siri with pronouns such as “she,” “him,” or “her.” Depending on language support, Siri may offer a male or female voice, or both."

rrebelo 6y ago

Sorry for the shameless plug, but for those without an Apple Watch I've made a program [0] that implements the Unlock Mac with Bluetooth for any other device, including Android phones, Android Wear or Tizen watches or even some ear plugs. [0] https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html https://www.gadgetish.com/osx.html Edit: However, the Windows version works only with Android phones: https://www.gadgetish.com https://www.gadgetish.com

artificialLimbs 6y ago
Enabled Umwelt in Accessibility (Big Sur). Clicked allow updates. Crashes every time I open. Displays check for updates screen, then immediately crashes.
- rrebelo 6y ago
  Oh, thank you. I hadn't test it under Big Sur. It seems there is an incompatibility with Big Sur in the Sparkle Framework (I use it for updates). Will look into it.

alfiedotwtf 6y ago

Anyone else sometimes put in their Apple Watch from the charger, and notice it’s already unlocked? I.e they never needed to unlock it?

snailmailman 6y ago
I think by default the apple watch unlocks when you unlock your phone. There is a setting to disable this if you'd like. As a result, although my watch has a passcode i almost never type it in. It's easier to put on my watch and then unlock my phone.
- alfiedotwtf 6y ago
  ah! I didn't know that... maybe that's what's happening each time I notice it. Thanks, I'll keep an eye out next time it happens. Thanks.

xyst 6y ago

They integrated the "Waze-esque" feature into Apple Maps. Even Apple is getting their users to snitch on the PD. Siri is about to be the #1 public enemy of the traffic cops lol

daemoens 6y ago
That feature is so helpful on google maps. I have to drive through a bunch of small counties every week and they all have so many cops on side of the road.
heavyset_go 6y ago
Good. If municipalities want to raise revenue from my driving, then they should either raise taxes or implement tolls, not implement speed traps designed to trick people from out of town.
- elil17 6y ago
  Unpopular opinion: people should just not speed. Even speeding just a little bit at high speeds drastically increases your car's emissions and is also dangerous (~40% increase in chance of death in a head on collision at 60 mph vs 55 mph). I don't think giving people a tool that helps them break what is in my mind a good/just/important law is the right move on Apple's part
  - alliao 6y ago
    So I live in New Zealand, and there was a period where cops were going all out with their new gadgets, and pulling people over whenever people speed above 4km/hr above speed limit that's like under 2.5MPH for you yanks. I don't know how good you're at knowing how fast you're going. When the margin's that tight, you're going to either be very rich with a Tesla that's going below the speed. Or quite rich with a car like BMW that lets you set top speed. Or you're just going to go slow. like 10km/hr slower especially if you can't afford it. The knock on effect was ridiculous. The trip took longer, and the amount of road rage witnessed on a daily basis was quite visible, wasn't a happy period for sure.

oseph 6y ago

I really hope Apple fixed the issue of wifi dropping out in iOS 14.5. It's been randomly dropping ever since iOS 13 (only device in the house that does), and I've been dinged by my provider in overage fees a few times because of it...

stackedinserter 6y ago
I had the same problem, it turned out that "Wi-Fi Assist" was enabled for some reason. After I disabled it it started working okay, at least I don't see "LTE" every time I pick the phone at home.

mhb 6y ago

Wow new emojis! Maybe some future update will make it possible to turn location services off in fewer than 5 taps.

teekert 6y ago

But why does iOS still turn my alarm to max volume every now and then

xyst 6y ago

So if I can unlock my phone with FaceID + Apple Watch + Mask. Then in theory, wouldn't ANY person with a mask be able to unlock my phone? If you steal the phone at the right time, and unlock the phone while wearing a mask and still be in proximity to the victim wearing the watch. You will have an unlocked iPhone at your disposal. Quickly disable all of the security features, remove the SIM, and now you have a $1000+ item you can fence.

djstein 6y ago
unlock is one thing. turning off security features requires another input of the actual pin passcode.
dagmx 6y ago
The watch vibrates on unlock with a prompt to lock the phone. It's also an opt in setting not an opt out. It also only enables unlock and not other features that require face id
- xyst 6y ago
  I see that, however is there a way to remotely lock the iPhone from the watch? There is a small window to tap the “Lock iPhone” button before it disappears and the phone is unlocked. Or a clever person throws the phone in a faraday cage and thus blocks the lock signal from the watch.
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mttjj 6y ago
Sure, I guess that’s not out of the realm of possibility. But when you’re holding your keys in front of you when walking to your car to unlock it in the parking lot someone could snatch them out of your hand, sprint to your (unlocked car), turn on the car (because they have your keys), and speed off into the sunset. Now they have a $20k item. Possible? Yes. Practical enough to lose sleep over? Probably not.

maxgashkov 6y ago

For fucks sake it still requires the phone to recognize the fact that you're wearing the mask to allow AW unlock—and good luck if the mask isn't the one Apple trained this shit on or lighting conditions are not optimal. I do want to look the manager who decided that in the eye. What serious attack vector is this supposed to close? Somebody sawing your hand off and unlocking your phone? You have much bigger problems then.

holografix 6y ago

Couldn’t care less about the screen lock issue. Don’t know why everyone is spitting the dummy about it. As others have mentioned Facebook must be worries as their main (only?) revenue stream via ads could now lose significant appeal to marketers. Could Facebook pivot to a product company and release a fantastic VR/AR device to lure gen z away from iPhones? A Facebook glass? It’ll be interesting to follow their hiring for VR related jobs