Afghanistan won’t ban WhatsApp or Telegram after all

Last week, reports circulated that the government of Afghanistan was aiming to enact a ban on popular encrypted messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology sent letters to private telecommunications companies asking them to disable the apps, and copies of those letters quickly began making the rounds on social media. That caused a hefty amount of pushback from the public and spurred some to question the stability of citizens’ freedom of expression. However, as Reuters reports, the Afghan government has now stated that there will not be a ban on either messaging service.

Both the chief executive of Afghanistan and his deputy spokesperson tweeted that neither WhatsApp nor Telegram will be banned following a meeting between Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani.

President @ashrafghani and Chief Executive Abdullah met today & decided that there will be no ban on Whatsapp & Telegram in #Afghanistan.

— Dr. Abdullah (@afgexecutive) November 6, 2017

Government of #Afghanistan isn’t going to ban any social media platforms. Whatsapp and Telegram to continue operating in Afghanistan.

— Javid Faisal (@Javidfaisal) November 6, 2017

While the issue now appears to be resolved, it’s still unclear which Afghan agencies wanted the ban in the first place. Though the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology sent the requests to the country’s telecommunications companies, a source told the New York Times that the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, was actually behind the move. And stated reasoning for the proposed temporary ban ranged from security concerns to the apps’ service quality.

Regardless of who initiated the ban and why, many were quick to speak out about it. Nai, a free speech activist group based in Afghanistan, tweeted that the move was nothing short of tyranny.

Via: Reuters

Source: Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah

Twitter exploit let two pranksters post a 35,000-character tweet

Over the weekend, two German Twitter users successfully broke the existing character limit by sending a 35,000-character tweet. By formatting a message as a URL with extensive gibberish, they were able to absurdly pollute followers’ timelines. Twitter soon removed it, but for a moment, all the complaints about the length of 280-character tweets seemed insignificant in the face of such a monster.

User Timrasett paired up with another named HackneyYT to discover the exploit and tweet out the message. The original is gone now, but thanks to the power of the Internet Archive, you can see the colossus here in all its glory. While the text looks like nonsense, buried inside are URL codifiers (notably a ‘.cc’ tucked within), as Twitter user hexwaxwing pointed out:

If you’re wondering how twitter[.]com/Timrasett/status/926903967027785728 works:

[27024-char domain name].cc/[3244-char directory name] pic.twitter.com/vG26Jvz27F

— waxwing:(): &;: (@hexwaxwing) November 4, 2017

Twitter temporarily banned the two users responsible, though their accounts are back online (after thanking Twitter and apologizing for crashing the site). Judging by HackneyYT’s post-ban tweet, both will continue to poke around looking for bugs on the social platform. When reached for comment, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed that the exploit has been fixed and pointed to its rules, specifically:

To promote a stable and secure environment on Twitter, you may not do, or attempt to do, any of the following while accessing or using Twitter:

• Access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of Twitter, Twitter’s computer systems, or the technical delivery systems of Twitter’s providers (except as expressly permitted by the Twitter Bug Bounty program).
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network, or breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures (except as expressly permitted by the Twitter Bug Bounty program).
• Interfere with or disrupt the access of any user, host or network, including, without limitation, sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, mail-bombing Twitter’s services, or by scripting the creation of content in such a manner as to interfere with or create an undue burden on Twitter

Source: Gizmodo

iPhone X Owners Complain About Keyboard’s ‘Wasted Space’

As early adopters began to experience the iPhone X for the first time this past weekend, many users took to the MacRumors forums, Reddit, and Twitter to discuss the gap that exists below the keyboard within iOS 11 on iPhone X. As some users pointed out, this space was likely meant as a way to more easily swipe up to go Home, and potentially for ergonomics reasons since a lower keyboard could be more difficult to type on, but many iPhone X owners are still getting used to the way the keyboard looks across all apps on the device.

The iOS keyboard on iPhone X
On the new keyboard, the Globe or Emoji icon and the Dictation icon both sit below the space bar at the very bottom of the screen. Between these two buttons is a wide, empty gray area that isn’t sitting well with some iPhone X owners, and which some early reviews of the device pointed out last week.

BuzzFeed, for example, wondered why Apple didn’t do more with this space, potentially including adding “common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything.”

It’s when the keyboard, in any app, is on screen (which, for me, is most of the time): There’s all this dead space on the bottom, where Apple could have put common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything, but instead left it blank. Other full-screen apps on other phones put navigation or other design elements in that area, and it doesn’t look crowded or crammed. It looks fine. It’s puzzling why Apple didn’t put something more useful down at the bottom, or why it didn’t add a row of numbers or emojis up top and push down the keyboard to make it more thumb-accessible.

Alex Muench, a UI/UX designer for apps like Todoist and Twist, went a step further and created a mockup of how this could look on future versions of iOS on the iPhone X. Muench likened this space on iPhone X to be a potential area for recently used emojis, “like Touch bar on Mac.”

Unused space on the iPhone X keyboard could be used for frequently used emojis like Touch bar on Mac. ‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/OZx48cSVWl

— Alex Muench (@alexmuench) November 6, 2017

Twitter user @Yespur asked third-party keyboard SwiftKey if the company will “fill the bottom part of the screen,” to which SwiftKey responded: “We’ll have to look into it. Nothing to comment on beyond that.” It’s unclear whether third parties will have any ability to design for this area of iOS on iPhone X. In the Human Interface Guidelines for the new smartphone, the only direct mention of the keyboard asks developers to not duplicate the Globe and Dictation keys.

Don’t duplicate system-provided keyboard features. On iPhone X, the Emoji/Globe key and the Dictation key automatically appear beneath the keyboard—even when using custom keyboards. Your app can’t affect these keys, so avoid causing confusion by repeating them in your keyboard

The iPhone X comes with a variety of new interface gestures, features, and interactions that take some time getting used to following years of the traditional iPhone experience. Without a Home Button, unlocking the iPhone X requires you to swipe up from the bottom edge of the device, and also rearranges some physical commands like taking a screenshot by pressing the Side Button and Volume Up Button. For more information on Apple’s newest smartphone, check out our iPhone X Roundup.

Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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Chipotle’s All-New Order-Ahead App Launches With Support for Apple Pay

Chipotle Mexican Grill today launched a significantly redesigned mobile ordering app for iPhone and Android smartphones.

The app has a streamlined user experience and several new features, including quick reordering of favorites or recent orders, a more user-friendly store locator, and the ability to receive, store, and redeem Chipotle offers.

The app’s order-ahead functionality also supports mobile payment services Apple Pay and Android Pay. To accommodate online orders, most Chipotle restaurants are now equipped with a dedicated line for customers using the app.

Chipotle’s new app was developed by Deloitte and is rolling out now on the App Store [Direct Link] for iOS devices.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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iStockNow Provides Bird’s-Eye View of iPhone X Availability at Apple Stores Around the World

Apple enabled an iPhone X availability tool on its website over the weekend, allowing customers to check stock at nearby stores, but those looking for more of a bird’s-eye view may prefer to use iStockNow.com.

iStockNow has a live map of iPhone X availability at Apple’s retail stores around the world, with filters that allow you to search for specific storage capacities, colors, and carrier-specific or SIM-free models.

Apple stores with the iPhone X in stock are marked with green pins, while locations that are out of stock have red pins. There is an option to hide stores that don’t have any availability at the time of your search.

iStockNow is not much different than Apple’s availability tool, but it may be useful to those looking for a visual look at iPhone X stock around the world, rather than only at nearby stores based on a ZIP or postal code.

On a related note, Apple has expanded its iPhone X availability tool to two more countries: Japan and Singapore.

Simply visit the iPhone X purchase page for your country from the list below, select a carrier if required, choose a color, and then click on “Pickup: Check Availability” below your desired storage capacity.

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• The Netherlands
• Singapore
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• United States

A window will pop open with iPhone X availability—if any—at nearby Apple stores based on your ZIP or postal code.

At stores where the iPhone X is available, customers can complete the checkout process and reserve the device for same day in-store pickup. We recommend bringing at least one valid government-issued photo ID with you.

Update: iPhone X availability can also be tracked on IsInStock.com.

Related Roundup: iPhone XTag: iStockNowBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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DisplayMate: iPhone X Has the ‘Most Innovative and High Performance’ Smartphone Display Ever Tested

As it does for each iPhone launch, DisplayMate has released a display shoot-out for the iPhone X, praising Apple’s technology in areas like the higher resolution OLED screen, automatic color management, viewing angle performance, and more. According to DisplayMate, the iPhone X has the “most innovative and high performance” smartphone display it has ever tested. DisplayMate also congratulated Samsung Display for “developing and manufacturing the outstanding OLED display hardware in the iPhone X.”

iPhone X matched or set new smartphone display records in the following categories: highest absolute color accuracy, highest full screen brightness for OLED smartphones, highest full screen contrast rating in ambient light, and highest contrast ratio. It also had the lowest screen reflectance and smallest brightness variation with a viewing angle.

New Aspect Ratio and Higher Resolution

The iPhone X’s 5.8-inch OLED display includes a taller height to width aspect ratio of 19.5:9, 22 percent larger than the 16:9 aspect ratio on previous iPhone models (and most other smartphones). Because of this DisplayMate noted that the iPhone X also has a new 2.5K higher resolution with 2436×1125 pixels and 458 pixels per inch.

The iPhone X’s display resolution provides “significantly higher image sharpness” than can be analyzed by a person with normal 20/20 vision at a 12-inch viewing distance. DisplayMate said this means that it’s now “absolutely pointless” to increase the display resolution and pixels per inch of the iPhone any further, since there would be “no visual benefit” for users.

As a result of its larger display size and larger Aspect Ratio, the iPhone X has a new 2.5K Higher Resolution Full HD+ display with 2436×1125 pixels and 458 pixels per inch, with 2.7 Mega Pixels, 32% more than an HDTV. The display has Diamond Sub-Pixels (see below) and Sub-Pixel Rendering with 458 pixels per inch (ppi), providing significantly higher image sharpness than can be resolved with normal 20/20 Vision at the typical viewing distances of 12 inches or more for Smartphones, so the display appears perfectly sharp. As a result, for Smartphones it is absolutely pointless to further increase the display resolution and pixels per inch (ppi) up to 4K (3940×2160 pixels) for a silly marketing wild goose chase into the stratosphere, with no visual benefit for humans!

Viewing Angle

DisplayMate noted that the iPhone X saw a smaller percent decrease in brightness at a 30-degree viewing angle when compared to LCD smartphones, also earning “Very Good” to “Excellent” ratings for categories related to color shifts with viewing angles.

While Smartphones are primarily single viewer devices, the variation in display performance with viewing angle is still very important because single viewers frequently hold the display at a variety of viewing angles. The angle is often up to 30 degrees, more if it is resting on a table or desk. While LCDs typically experience a 55 percent or greater decrease in Brightness at a 30 degree Viewing Angle, the OLED iPhone X display shows a much smaller 22 percent decrease in Brightness at 30 degrees. This also applies to multiple side-by-side viewers as well, and is a significant advantage of OLED displays. The Color Shifts with Viewing Angle are also relatively small. See the Viewing Angles section for the measurements and details.

Color Accuracy and Automatic Color Management

iPhone X supports two industry standard color gamuts: the sRGB / Rec.709 color gamut used for “most current consumer content,” and a new wide DCI-P3 color gamut found in 4K Ultra HD TV sets. The DCI-P3 — also found in the iPhone 7 last year — is 26 percent larger than the sRGB / Rec.709 gamut, and the iPhone X can automatically switch to the proper color gamut for displayed image content ranging in the wide DCI-P3 color space with an ICC profile.

DisplayMate said this results in images that automatically appear with “the correct colors, neither over-saturated or under-saturated.” In total, the publication said the iPhone X has the “highest absolute color accuracy of any display we have ever tested,” with a display that is “visually indistinguishable from perfect.”

Most Smartphones and Tablets generally provide only one to up to several fixed Color Gamuts. The iPhone X has Automatic Color Management that automatically switches to the proper Color Gamut for any displayed image content within the Wide DCI-P3 Color Space that has an ICC Profile, so images automatically appear with the correct colors, neither over-saturated or under-saturated. Color Management with multiple and varying Color Gamuts are a very useful and important state-of-the-art capability that all manufacturers will need to provide in the future.

The Absolute Color Accuracy of the iPhone X is Truly Impressive as shown in these Figures. It has an Absolute Color Accuracy of 1.0 JNCD for the sRGB / Red.709 Color Gamut that is used for most current consumer content, and 0.9 JNCD for the Wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is used for 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema. It is the most color accurate display that we have ever measured. It is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect, and is very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV that you have.

Ultimately, DisplayMate mentioned that what makes the iPhone X’s display truly impressive is something called “Precision Display Calibration,” which it says transforms the OLED hardware “into a superbly accurate, high performance, and gorgeous display.” More in-depth analysis of the iPhone X’s OLED screen can be found in DisplayMate’s shoot-out right here.

Related Roundup: iPhone XTag: DisplayMateBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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Apple Releases Second Beta of iOS 11.2 for Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 11.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the first beta of iOS 11.2 and a little under a week after releasing the iOS 11.1 update.

Registered developers can download the iOS 11.2 beta from Apple’s Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center. Apple already released beta 2 for the iPhone X, but this new beta will be available for all devices.

iOS 11.2 addresses an animation bug in the Calculator app that caused some numbers and symbols to be ignored when entered in rapid succession. The update removes the animations from the calculator app so calculations can be done quickly with no need to pause between entering numbers to obtain the correct result.

In addition to the Calculator bug, iOS 11.2 introduces a new Now Playing option for controlling content on the Apple TV in Control Center, redesigned camera emoji, and a new loading animation for Live Photos effects, and it appears to introduce the TV app for Sweden and Norway.

Several other promised iOS 11 features have not yet shown up in the current beta but could be added ahead of the update’s release, including AirPlay 2, peer-to-peer Apple Pay, and iCloud support for iMessages.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of watchOS 4.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.2 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after releasing the first watchOS 4.2 beta and a little under a week after releasing the watchOS 4.1 update.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4.1 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General -> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

watchOS 4.2 appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and security updates. No major outward-facing changes were found in the first beta, but should new features be found in the second beta, we’ll update this post.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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Apple Seeds Second macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Beta to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the first beta and also a week after releasing macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.

The macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

It’s not yet clear what improvements the second update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it’s likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren’t addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.31.1.

The previous update, 10.13.1, introduced fixes for some serious security flaws and brought new emoji to the macOS operating system. No new features were found in the first beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, but we’ll update this post should new features be found in the second beta.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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Apple Seeds Second Beta of tvOS 11.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.2 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the first tvOS 11.2 update and a little under a week after the launch of the tvOS 11.1.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

According to Apple’s release notes, the tvOS 11.2 update enables a new AVDisplayManager feature for developers, designed to allow the device to automatically switch video display modes to match the native frame rate and dynamic range of video content.

The update includes support for switching the Apple TV 4K display output to SDR for apps that are GPU-bound when running in HDR and it re-introduces the Unwatched category in Home Sharing for Movies, TV Shows, and Home Videos.

Apple says it also adds new features, bug fixes, and security improvements to the tvOS operating system.

Related Roundup: Apple TVBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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