iOS 10 Beta 4 Tidbits: Redesigned Emoji and New Emoji Characters, Revamped Keyboard Sounds, and More

Apple released iOS 10 beta 4 to developers today and as with any major beta update, it includes several small changes and tweaks as Apple aims to refine the operating system ahead of its public release this fall.

Today’s update, available as an over-the-air download for those who installed the first three betas or the beta configuration profile, features new emoji, new keyboard sounds, Notification Center tweaks, and more.

We’ve rounded up all of the new features in beta four in the video below, so make sure to check it out to get a quick look at what’s changed. We’re also listing all of the changes in the post below.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Emoji – There are new emoji designed to promote gender equality. Many professions and activity emoji are now available in both male or female options. Emoji have a new texture and many emoji have seen slight design tweaks.

New emoji textures. Old emoji on left, new emoji on right.
Control Center – There’s an intro screen when opening Control Center for the first time that instructs people to swipe left to access the different Control Center cards.

Haptic feedback – In iOS beta 3, Apple added haptic feedback when pressing the power button on the iPhone to lock it. In beta 4, this feature has been removed. There’s no longer a haptic feedback buzz when locking an iPhone.

Accessibility – In the Accessibility section of the Settings app, the Color Filters option includes a set of colored pencils to show off the different color options instead of a color grid. This gives a better idea of how each setting is actually displayed on an iOS device.

Notification Center – The widgets screen, accessible by swiping to the right in the Notification Center, now displays the date. In previous versions of iOS 10, the date was not available.

Home – In the Control Center, the Home app icons have been tweaked again.

Keyboard sounds – Keyboard sounds have been slightly tweaked. Backspace now has a distinctive sounds unique from other key press sounds, and there’s a new sound for space, return, shift, and number/emoji shift.

Wallpaper – Some older wallpaper options have been removed and the mountain wallpaper with stars from an earlier version of iOS has been re-added.

Related Roundup: iOS 10
Discuss this article in our forums

Let’s talk about LG building the first phone with Android 7.0 Nougat — and what may lie ahead for Nexus

Korean firm says its V20 will be the first new phone to run Nougat out of the box. But what does that mean for Nexus — and for everyone else?

LG this morning dropped quite the news bomb on the Android world, announcing that the V20 — the successor to last year’s V10 — “will be the first device to feature Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box” when it ships this September. That’s a pretty big deal for bunch of reasons. That honor usually goes to a new Nexus handset (or more recently, handsets), developed in partnership with one of the major Android device makers. With reliable sources pointing to final, stable builds of Nougat arriving in August, we’ll have an unusual situation where a major new Android version drops well in advance of the new Nexus.

It’s also a coup for LG, which scores an important differentiator for its upcoming phone — at least in the eyes of enthusiasts. If the rumors are to be believed (and we’ll know soon enough if they are) the V20’s major rival, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, will launch on the older Marshmallow release.

It’s unlikely LG was given any special treatment by Google in order to claim its first with Nougat. Most big manufacturers have access to the code for a new version of Android well in advance of the public release. It’s more likely LG, knowing Google’s timetable, decided to work that into its development roadmap for the V20.

LG gets a PR win. Google gets stable code in manufacturers’ hands.

As for Google, it’s significant to see Nougat likely launching in August, with the widely-rumored duo of HTC Nexuses apparently hanging back until at least September. You have to go all the way back to 2009 and the original Droid for the last time a new Android version arrived without a Nexus (or equivalent — hi Motorola Xoom) in tow.

But in the greater scheme of things it could be a smart move. Shipping Nougat in August gets stable code in the hands of phone makers ahead of the late-September/early-October rush of new devices. Meanwhile, sticking to the usual fall release window for Nexus phones gives engineers time to finish work on — well, everything else Google might want to ship on its 2016 Nexuses. Think Allo, Duo, Google Assistant and Daydream.

The core of Nougat may be done, but there are lots of other Googley things that probably aren’t.

In this context, it’s also worth remembering this year’s big Google release party is about way more than phones. Think back to everything the company announced at May’s I/O conference, most of which was given a vague “later this year” release timetable: The arrival of stable Android app support on Chromebooks. Google Home. There’ve even been credible rumors Google is making a pair of Android Wear watches. Even if Nougat is basically done at this point, there’s no guarantee any of this other stuff is. So if Google wants to do the smart thing and launch all its new consumer products at the same time, it makes little difference if the operating system behind some of it goes out a little earlier.

Hell, it’s entirely possible the upcoming HTC Nexuses won’t even ship with the initial Android 7.0 build. If there’s going to be a gap of a month or more between the initial Nougat release and new Nexus phones, they’d likely skip straight to the first MR (maintenance release) — a possible Android 7.0.1 or 7.1. If that happens, well… it becomes very interesting when you recall reports this summer claiming pressure-sensitive display support, originally planned for Android 7.0, had been held back for just such a maintenance release.

Who knows what else we might see in an Android 7.1 or 7.0.1 — or how Google might choose to differentiate its new phones in other ways. The company has hinted at extra software coming to Nexus phones beyond barebones stock Android. In an interview this June, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told The Verge: “You’ll see us hopefully add more features on top of Android on Nexus phones. There’s a lot of software innovation to be had.” Once again: Just because Nougat is done, doesn’t mean this extra software is.

Everyone benefits in the long run, hopefully.

We’re throwing around some speculation here, but the bottom line is this: LG gets a nice publicity victory out of aligning its new phone launch with Google’s roadmap for the stable Android 7.0 release — something it badly needs after the flop of the G5. Google gets the important bits into phone makers’ hands earlier than in previous years, (hopefully) meaning fewer new phones launching in Q4 on Marshmallow.

Meanwhile Google engineers get a little more time readying important companion apps and services like Assistant, Allo/Duo, Android Wear, Daydream and Google Home without holding back the Nougat source code drop. And who knows, maybe Google will have something extra special waiting on those new Nexuses when they do arrive.

Android Nougat

Android N (currently in Developer Preview status) is now Android Nougat! It’s the 12th nicknamed version of Android and will be released to the public in the fall of 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!

• What’s new in Android Nougat
• All Android Nougat news
• Should you use the Android N Dev Preview?
• About the Android Beta Program
• Join the Discussion

The best fantasy football apps for Android

Football season is back, baby!

The kickoff to the 2016 NFL season is rapidly approaching, and from office leagues to public leagues, we’re sure there’s a lot of you looking to get in on the fantasy action. We’ve gathered up our favorite Android apps to help you dominate this year’s fantasy football draft (and hopefully, the season that follows it)! You’ll find plenty of options here, each letting you drill down into player statistics, latest news, and updates to your draft.

Note: these apps are for season-long fantasy football, not daily fantasy sites like FanDuel and Draft Kings.

Yahoo Fantasy

Yahoo Fantasy includes fantasy leagues for more than just the NFL; you can get in on MLB, NBA and NHL at the same time, too. Before the league actually starts towards the end of the month, you can work on mock drafts, check in on player news and score updates, and see what the experts are saying about the latest progress.

Download Yahoo Fantasy Football (Free)

NFL Fantasy Football

The official NFL Fantasy Football app features live and mock drafts, live scoring, in-game video highlights, the ability to join and create leagues, quickly choose your weekly lineup, and tweak your player lineup. There’s lots of timely player news available and expert analysis to help you in your game.

Download NFL Fantasy Football (Free)

ESPN Fantasy Football

ESPN’s Fantasy Football app leverages the network’s extensive news teams to provide real-time alerts of trades, injuries, and scores for your favorite teams. You can also check in on live auctions and gut-wrenching snake drafts in addition to participating in mock and live drafts. Of course, you can set your weekly players and follow the latest NFL news from within the app.

Download ESPN Fantasy Football (Free)

CBS Sports Fantasy

CBS Sports Fantasy is a great football reference that provides projections, 2016 stats, and outlooks by CBS experts. You can play around with mock and live drafts, and dive in with full team management, live scoring, and chat with other players in the league. CBS Sports fantasy allows for on-the-go trades for your multiple teams, spanning football, baseball, basketball and hockey.

Download CBS Sports Fantasy (Free)

Fantasy Draft Dominator

The Fantasy Draft Dominator is a cheat sheet to help you make the best picks for your draft. Players are scored across 20 positions within 19 categories of passing, 12 categories of rushing, 12 categories of receiving, 7 categories of kicking, and 27 categories of defense. You’ll have more data than you’ll know what to do with once this is installed. This is one of the highest-rated fantasy football apps in the Google Play store, and one of the most expensive, too, but really, what’s five bucks if it can help you get an edge in a thousand dollar league?

Download Fantasy Draft Dominator ($4.99)

So what’s your favorite?

There are a lot of ways to get in on fantasy football. What are yours? Who are you eyeballing for your draft? Which leagues do you play in? Hop into the comments and let us know!

Google Apps’ new Android notifications for device activations are better than emails

Google Apps is rolling out a new feature to Android accounts that sends direct notifications to users when a new device is activated. This additional security feature has been found to be more effective than sending out emails.

In a blog post, Google stated that when a new device is activated on an Android Google Apps account, that person will now see a notification pop up on any device they have linked to that account. If that user hasn’t bought a new device to add to their Google Appsaccount, they can tap on the “Review Account Activity” selection. They can see which devices was activated, along with its location and IP address. If they didn’t activate that product, then someone else has their Google Apps account password.

Google says this new security feature will have big benefits over old-fashioned email alerts:

Now users are quickly notified on multiple devices when a new device has been added. This increases transparency to the user of what actions they’ve performed and allows them to flag any suspicious activity they may be seeing on the device. We’ve also found that with Android notifications, users are up to four times as likely to review the information as compared to email notifications.

The new notification feature may take a couple of weeks to reach all Android users.

These are the cars that support Android Auto

Does my car work with Android Auto? If it’s in this list, it does!.intro

Android Auto has expanded a great deal since its inception. Its main goal is to use your phone as the brains of the operation, connecting to your vehicle’s infotainment display so that your apps work seamlessly. It’s grown a bit over the months and years and will now work on its own, without a vehicle display. But in its purest form, it’ll work with your car.

Unfortunately, not every vehicle is compatible with Android Auto. But the good news is that the list of vehicles that support Android Auto is growing all the time. This is the official list of supported vehicles, according to Google:

Acura

• 2017: NSX

Audi

• 2016: Q7
• 2017: Q2, A3, A4, A6, A7

Buick

• 2016: LaCrosse, Regal
• 2017: Envision, Encore

Cadillac

• 2016: ATS, ATS Coupe, ATS-V, CTS, CTS-V, ELR, CT6, Escalade, Escalade ESV, XTS
• 2017: XT5

Chevrolet

• 2016: Camaro, Camaro Convertible, Colorado, Corvette, Corvette Convertible, Cruze, Impala, Malibu, Silverado, Silverado HD, Tahoe, Volt, Suburban, Spark

Ford

• 2017: C-MAX, Edge, Escape, Everest, Expedition, F-150, Flex, Focus, Fusion, Galaxy, Kuga, Mondeo, Mustang, Ranger, S-MAX, Super Duty, Taurus, Transit, Vignale

GMC

• 2016: Canyon, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL
• 2017: Acadia

Holden

• 2016: Spark, Captiva

Honda

• 2016: Civic, Accord

Hyundai

• 2015: Sonata
• 2016: Elantra GT, Veloster, Tucson, Sonata, Sonata Hybrid, Sonata PHEV, Azera, Genesis
• 2017: Elantra, Santa Fe, Santa Fe (Sport)

Kia

• 2014 – 2016: Soul (software update)
• 2015: Optima (software update)
• 2015 – 2016: Soul EV (software update), Sedona (software update), Optima Hybrid (software update), Optima Plug-in Hybrid (software update)
• 2016: Optima, Sorento (software update)
• 2017: Sportage, Forte, Soul, Soul EV, Optima Hybrid, Optima Plug-in Hybrid, Sedona, Cadenza, Niro Hybrid
• 2018: Rio
• 2019: K900

Lincoln

• 2017: Continental, MKC, MKX, MKZ, MKZ HEV, Navigator

Mercedes-Benz

• 2017: E-Class, CLS Coupe, CLS Shooting Brake, GLE, GLE Coupe

Mitsubishi

• 2016: Pajero, Pajero Sport
• 2017: Mirage

Opel

• 2016: Adam, KARL, Corsa, Astra, Insignia, Zafira, Mokka

Seat

• 2016: Alhambra, Ibiza, Leon, Toledo, Ateca

Škoda

• 2016: Fabia, Fabia Combi, Octavia, Octavia Combi, Rapid, Rapid Spaceback, Superb, Superb Combi, Yeti, Kodiaq

Vauxhall

• 2016: Adam, Viva, Corsa, Astra, Insignia, Zafira, Mokka

Volkswagen

• 2016: Beetle, Beetle Cabrio, Caddy, CC, Eos, Fox, Golf, Golf Cabrio, Golf Sportsvan, Golf Variant, Jetta, Passat, Passat Variant, Polo, Scirocco, Sharan, Spacefox, T6 Van, Tiguan, Touran

Volvo

• XC90
• S90
• V90

Back to top

All About Android Auto

• Getting started with Android Auto
• List of compatible phones and cars
• Android Auto news
• Apps that work with Android Auto
• Join the Android Auto discussion!

Go Time! Episode 3: Blanche, Candela, and Spark

It’s time for Episode 3 of our Pokemon Go podcast!

Valor, Instinct, and Mystic are back again with another episode of Pokémon Go. This week we’re talking about our newly uncovered Team Leaders, changed announced at Comic Con, gym sniping, and the delay of the Pokémon Go Plus add-on. We also spent some time debunking rumors surrounding the game.

We’re here because we love Pokémon Go, and we hope you’ll join us!

• Google Play
• Soundcloud
• iTunes
• Or add us to your podcatcher of choice!

You can also join our Facebook page to keep up on all things Pokémon Go. See you in the world!

Pokémon Go

• Join our Pokémon Go forums!
• How to deal with GPS errors in-game
• Which team should you choose?
• How to play without killing your battery
• The Ultimate Pokémon Go Game Guide!
• Listen to the Pokémon Go podcast!

Russia claims it can collect encryption keys

Russia now requires (or at least, appears to require) that local internet providers offer backdoor access to their customers’ encrypted messages, and it conveniently has a way to make that happen. Its Federal Security Service now claims that it can collect encryption keys, giving it the chance to crack communications that would otherwise remain private. In theory, this means that even locked down messaging services like Telegram or WhatsApp aren’t safe from prying eyes.

The question is whether or not Russian officials have as much power as they claim. President Putin only ordered the FSB to develop an encryption key collection technique two weeks earlier — how did it manage to do that so quickly when surveillance agencies around the world have wanted this for years? The FSB doesn’t say how its technique works (to no one’s surprise), so it’s difficult to know how realistic or wide-reaching its anti-encryption technology might be. The one certainty? You won’t want to assume your chats are safe while in Russia, especially if you’re going to criticize its government.

Via: The Daily Dot, Ars Technica

Source: FSB