Apple Plans to Let Developers Release Universal Apps That Work Across iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Apple aims to allow developers to release universal apps that work across iPhone, iPad, and Mac as early as next year, according to Bloomberg News.
Starting as early as next year, software developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac hardware, according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple tentatively plans to begin rolling out the change in iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 next year, and it could announce the news as soon as WWDC 2018 in June, according to the report. The exact timeline is subject to change.
Apple typically previews the next major versions of its iOS and macOS operating systems at WWDC in June, with beta versions of each platform available to developers and public testers until September, so it’s possible the universal app functionality will begin rolling out in the pre-release software.
Apple currently requires developers to design separate apps for iOS and macOS, but Mac apps often receive less attention than their iPhone and iPad counterparts. It’s unknown if Apple will go one step further and eventually merge the less-popular Mac App Store with the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
The project is reportedly codenamed “Marzipan” and is considered to be one of the biggest changes on Apple’s roadmap next year. The report speculates that universal apps would make it easier for Apple to one day create a single operating system for all of its devices, should it ever go down that avenue.
Apple would be following in the footsteps of Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform, aimed at helping developers create universal apps that run across Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, the latter of which is being phased out.
Tags: macOS 10.14, iOS 12
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Trump removes climate change from national security strategy
It’s no secret that the Trump administration has a sceptical view of all things science-based — earlier this week it banned the CDC from using that very term — and now, in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary, it’s taken climate change out of the US national security strategy (NSS) claiming it’s not a threat. And in an unprecedented move, Trump broke with normal protocol to launch the new NSS with a speech.
According to a senior White House official: “Climate change is not identified as a national security threat but climate and the importance of the environment and environmental stewardship are discussed.” The revised document instead focuses on the impact of economic security, a marked change from the NSS under the Obama administration, which emphasised the national threat of climate change. The paper is allegedly the work of 11 months of collaboration between leading security, foreign policy and economic agencies.
The new NSS follows Trump’s decision in June to take the US out of the Paris Agreement, when he declared that he “was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris”, and that the agreement “hamstrings the United States while empowering some of the world’s top polluting countries”. Climate change has consistently been deemed a threat to countries around the world, and while one of the biggest nations on the planet fails to take it seriously, that threat becomes even more devastating.
Source: Guardian
Samsung’s Bixby assistant loses its former development chief
Samsung’s very own voice assistant continues to evolve and bolster itself with new acquisitions and staff, but it’s now losing Rhee In-jong, the original head of Bixby development and Samsung’s chief technology officer. This isn’t a case of the CTO being kicked out of the company due to the challenges of making the voice assistant a proper competitor against Alexa, Siri and the rest, however.
According to a statement sent to the Korea Herald by Samsung, Rhee In-Jonh said that he wanted to leave Samsung back in July, citing personal reasons. That doesn’t mean Bixby is without a lead: Last month, Samsung merged its software and hardware divisions for mobile, appointing Executive Vice President Roh Tae-moon as the chief of the combined division, including Bixby.
Rhee was subsequently made chief technology officer covering multiple projects for the company’s mobile devices. He had previously worked on security software Knox before leading the development of Bixby.
It’ll now be up to Roh Tae-Moon to ensure Bixby 2.0 fixes some of the issues we’ve had with the virtual assistant. The update promises more natural language skills and better hooks into our smart homes — for those of us that actually live in them.
Source: Korea Herald
Waze adds Liam Neeson as its latest navigator
Liam Neeson seems like the kind of guy you’d want around in a crisis, and while the chances of him appearing when your pipes have burst or someone’s fallen down the stairs are slim, you can now rely on him to help you navigate a killer traffic jam. Waze users in the US can enjoy Neeson’s confident, dulcet tones until January 14, thanks to a promotion for his upcoming flick The Commuter. Just make the switch through voice directions, under settings, in the app. This isn’t the first time Waze has introduced celebrity voices to its services, but having Neeson ride shotgun has got to be less stressful than Arnie.
Source: Waze
This is Magic Leap’s mixed reality headset
We’ve been following the development and rumors surrounding Magic Leap’s glasses for awhile. Now, we finally have something official: The company revealed the Magic Leap One headset on Twitter this morning. The mixed-reality glasses will ship in 2018, and while preorders aren’t yet open (and there’s no price point), you can sign up to be the first to know when it’s available.
World, meet Magic Leap One. Magic Leap One, meet the world. More at: https://t.co/LbHY82tYUC pic.twitter.com/2iXgyPs21K
— Magic Leap (@magicleap) December 20, 2017
Developing…
Source: Twitter
Amazon Has Both Physical and Digital $100 iTunes Cards on Sale Right Now for $85
It’s just a few days before Christmas and Amazon is back with the latest discount on App Store and iTunes gift cards, this time marking down both physical and digital versions worth over $100 by 15 percent for United States customers. The best deal here is for the $100 card, which you can get for $85 in a physical copy, and early access is available now if you have a Prime membership. This is a lightning deal so it will disappear fast.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The digital version is also available at a 15 percent discount, and requires you to enter the promo code ITUNES15 at checkout to see the savings. One card is available to purchase per customer, and you should receive the code within minutes after you checkout.
Visit our Deals Roundup for more information on holiday sales going on this week.
Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: Amazon
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How to set up and use Google Assistant on Huawei Watch 2
Google Assistant at your wrist is one of Android Wear’s best features.
From a design and performance perspective, the Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic are both compelling smartwatches in an increasingly dwindling market. Each runs Android Wear 2.0, offering a variety of useful features including Google’s powerful Assistant AI. Though Assistant originated as a secondary feature of Allo, it’s since grown into one of Google’s largest services, handling everything from simple queries to smart home controls.
One of the best parts of Google Assistant is its presence in almost every Android-powered device these days, making it easy to summon from anywhere. Here’s how to set it up on the Huawei Watch 2.
How to set up Google Assistant
Press and hold the power button on the Huawei Watch 2.
When prompted, tap Set up on phone to initiate the setup process.
On your phone, you’ll be prompted to activate Google Assistant. Scroll to the bottom and tap Yes, I’m in.
Once you’re all set up, press and hold the power button again on the Huawei Watch 2 to launch Google Assistant and begin speaking.
How to set up “Ok Google” detection
A great way to quickly activate Google Assistant is by using the hot phrase “Ok Google.” Just like Google Assistant itself, it’s simple to set up.
Press and hold the power button to launch Google Assistant.
Swipe up from the bottom of the display to access the info panel.
Scroll to the bottom of the list and tap Settings.
Tap “Ok Google” detection and make sure the dot to the left is blue.
That’s it! With Google Assistant up and running on the Huawei Watch 2, you can begin asking questions (“what’s the weather?” or “how tall is the Empire State Building?”) and giving voice commands (“text Daniel” or “set a reminder for tomorrow”). It works almost exactly as it does on your phone or Google Home, though of course, you won’t get voice feedback.
Android Wear
- Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
- LG Watch Sport review
- LG Watch Style review
- These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
- Discuss Android Wear in the forums!
Do you turn your phone off at night?
To turn off or not to turn off, that is the question.
As smartphones have matured and become more powerful over the years, use habits with them have also changed. We stream more video content than ever before, play a ton of extra games, and don’t have to worry about charging overnight like we once used to. Along with this, a lot of people seem to be on the mindset that there’s no real need to turn phones completely off anymore.
I can remember doing this with my first couple of phones, but it’s not something I’ve done in the past few years.
Our forum users recently got into a discussion about whether or not they turn off their phone at night, and most of them seem to be on the side of not turning off their device.
Tim1954
12-16-2017 04:08 AM“
No moving parts, nothing to wear out..
I never turn mine off except on planes on long hauls…. However, if it makes sense to you, then turn it off by all means 🙂 🙂Reply
saffy77
12-16-2017 08:51 AM“
I put mine on airplane mode. I’m a light sleeper, so will always look over at it on the charging pad to see what the time is on the always on display (and to find out if I still have those precious few hours left in bed until the alarm goes off!)
Reply
12-16-2017 12:51 PM“
I have no landline so my phone is always on in case there’s an emergency call. Even aside from that consideration, I wouldn’t go to the trouble of shutting it down daily. My DND settings prevent the phone from ever ringing for any caller who’s not on my contact list, and I trust my contacts not to call at unreasonable times.
Reply
With that said, there are still some folks who do make use of that power button.
Heavens1
12-16-2017 07:39 AM“
I turn my note 8 off every night. Allways turn off my mobile phone, someone wants to get in contact with me, they wait till morning, lol.
I use one of my old BlackBerry phones as my alarm clock.
Reply
kitmo
12-16-2017 12:37 PM“
Yes I turn mine off after 8 PM. I need a break and so does everyone else. However, I do have a land line and a computer. I need to resolve to turn the computer off after 8 PM too. Life is so much less frantic when you turn off the technology imo.
Reply
How about you – Do you turn off your phone at night?
Join the conversation in the forums!
Best Android Phone With a Headphone Jack
- Best overall
- Best alternate
- Best with huge screen
- Best for less
Best overall
Samsung Galaxy S8
See at Verizon
See at AT&T
See at T-Mobile
See at Sprint
See at Best Buy
The Galaxy S8 has slick hardware with tiny bezels that let it have a big screen in a relatively small body, but inside it still offers everything you want: a high-end processor, lots of storage, an SD card slot, full waterproofing and a top-end camera. And of course, Samsung has kept the headphone jack around.
Though its software can be a little overwhelming, you can’t argue that Samsung continues to pack in hundreds of features to a single phone, making sure there’s something in here for everyone’s needs. Samsung continues to take this approach of offering more more more with just a few compromises — and it continues to work.
Bottom line: The Galaxy S8 gives you piles of features in a beautiful body, and is a great choice for a wide range of potential buyers.
One more thing: Consider the option of paying a little extra and get the larger Galaxy S8+ for a bit more screen and battery life.
Why the Galaxy S8 is the best
There’s a reason why Samsung is where it is today: it makes the phones the market desires by filling it with the features that are in demand. The Galaxy S8 has stunning metal-and-glass hardware, with an “infinity display” that curves off the sides and small bezels that put a big screen in a relatively compact body. The display itself is one of the best in the business, and lets you experience the loads of features Samsung has packed into its software.
Samsung’s known for packing its phones with all of the most appealing hardware features.
One of Samsung’s hallmark principles is packing its phones with all of the most appealing hardware features. That means you get an SD card expansion slot, wireless charging, waterproofing and yes a headphone jack. There’s no indication that Samsung’s going away from this strategy, either, as it makes its phones appealing to the widest possible market.
The Galaxy S8 offers a pretty well-rounded experience, doing a whole lot of things pretty well and managing to not miss out on anything important. That can lead to a little bit of software “bloat” and too many features for some people’s taste, but the company has managed to refine its software over time to hide the more advanced features and make the GS8 easier to pick up and get started with right away.
The only complaint here is the software being a bit busy and overbearing.
Between the standard Galaxy S8 and the larger Galaxy S8+ with more screen and battery, it’s a one-two punch that can cover a huge portion of the market and be a go-to decision for millions of people. Keeping the headphone jack around while much of the industry moves away from it is just a perfect example of where Samsung’s motivations are in making phones for the masses.
Best mainstream alternative
LG V30
See at AT&T
See at Verizon
See at Sprint
See at T-Mobile
See at B&H
LG’s V series has traditionally been a big and brawny phone, but in 2017 the V30 is just a great overall device that has handily taken over from the G6 launched earlier in 2017. It stuck with a metal-and-glass build, but slimmed down the sides and integrated subtle curves to make it rather easy to hold despite a 6-inch 18:9 display on the front.
On the bottom you get a headphone jack that plugs into a high-quality DAC, so not only can you use all of your existing headphones but you can get the most out of them.
Internally you get top-notch specs you’d expect from any flagship, and around back LG continues to impress with a fantastic pair of cameras. The standard shooter does well despite its smaller pixels, and the secondary wide-angle camera is the best implementation LG has ever made. It offers an extremely unique perspective you just don’t see anywhere else.
LG’s software is capable and smooth, if still a bit clunky and uncoordinated in a few areas — but that can still be said about most phones nowadays.
Bottom line: LG does all of the basics amazingly well, and accents it with a nice body and super-capable pair of cameras.
One more thing: Keep an eye out for a “V30+” model with increased specs depending on your market and carrier.
Best with a huge screen
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
See at Verizon
See at AT&T
See at T-Mobile
See at Sprint
See at Best Buy
See at Amazon
Take everything that makes the Galaxy S8 great, and scale it up — that’s what also makes the Galaxy Note 8 compelling. A very familiar glass-and-metal body is wrapped around a larger 6.3-inch display, but a panel that’s even better in terms of brightness and colors.
For this top-dollar phone you’ll find top-end specs, great performance and super-capable software. Plus a new dual camera setup that offers you 2X zooming without losing resolution and a new “Live Focus” mode that mimics the background blur of a professional camera. None of the camera changes come at a cost of reduced primary camera quality, either.
Then you get the S Pen, of course, offering fine input, drawing abilities and new productivity tricks you simply can’t get from any other phone out there. The stylus isn’t for everyone, but you’ll find plenty of people who swear by its capabilities.
Bottom line: For the biggest, most powerful and most capable phone Samsung makes, look no further.
One more thing: Be ready to spend the big bucks — the Note 8 is far and away Samsung’s most expensive phone ever at nearly $1000.
Best for less
OnePlus 5T
See at OnePlus
See at Amazon
When it comes to getting specs and hardware for money, it’s hard to find a better value than the OnePlus 5T. It packs the same top-end specs as the rest of the phones on this list, including Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 835 chipset and a modern 2:1 display, all at a lower price and with the company’s highly acclaimed OxygenOS software to boot.
That lower price does come with some trade-offs; the OnePlus 5T lacks wireless charging and water resistance, and its secondary camera is underwhelming. Still, no other phone offers the same kind of performance as the OnePlus 5T in its price range, and it keeps all of the core features that even some high-end phones now lack, like a headphone jack.
Bottom line: The OnePlus 5T gives the rest of the phones in this list a run for their money at a lower price with few compromises.
One more thing: Though the 5T ships with Nougat, OnePlus has committed to releasing an Oreo update by January of 2018.
Conclusion
When it comes to keeping the headphone jack around, Samsung still takes the cake with the combination of the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8. The LG V30 and OnePlus 5T deserve mentions here for keeping the port around, but Samsung’s phones deserve praise for offering more as overall devices.
Best overall
Samsung Galaxy S8
See at Verizon
See at AT&T
See at T-Mobile
See at Sprint
See at Best Buy
The Galaxy S8 has slick hardware with tiny bezels that let it have a big screen in a relatively small body, but inside it still offers everything you want: a high-end processor, lots of storage, an SD card slot, full waterproofing and a top-end camera. And of course, Samsung has kept the headphone jack around.
Though its software can be a little overwhelming, you can’t argue that Samsung continues to pack in hundreds of features to a single phone, making sure there’s something in here for everyone’s needs. Samsung continues to take this approach of offering more more more with just a few compromises — and it continues to work.
Bottom line: The Galaxy S8 gives you piles of features in a beautiful body, and is a great choice for a wide range of potential buyers.
One more thing: Consider the option of paying a little extra and get the larger Galaxy S8+ for a bit more screen and battery life.
The Morning After: Wednesday, December 20th 2017
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
What’s the connection between chocolate and tech? If you don’t know yet, we can answer that for you, as well as provide some impressions of Google’s latest smart speaker and a new hybrid from Honda.
Does the company provide rides or just information?EU decides to treat Uber like a taxi company
Europe’s highest court has ruled that Uber is a transportation company and not some kind of middleman between passengers and drivers, like it has often claimed. The much-anticipated decision opens the door for member nations to impose stricter regulations on the company, especially where it operates the UberPOP service with non-professional drivers.
No other smart speaker sounds this good.Google Home Max review: an assistant for music lovers
Google upgrades the sound quality for its latest smart speaker. The Google Home Max is expensive, but you get a lot for your money. If you want great audio and don’t want to mess around with more complicated speaker setups, the Home Max is a solid option — with all those Google Assistant smarts.
Its lane-keeping skills need work, though.Honda’s Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is a luxury car at a bargain price
The Honda Clarity line is now complete. After introducing the lease-only pure EV back in July, the Plug-In Hybrid and Fuel Cell models are here; Roberto Baldwin got to test-drive both and came away impressed. While the Clarity vehicles look identical, their inner workings are different enough that it’s like driving three different cars.
Even though Google… sells… adsChrome starts blocking annoying ads on February 15th
In June, Google announced Chrome would get a blocker to filter out ads that blare loud music or hide the webpage, and now the feature has a launch date. We’re about two months away from finding out how some skeevier parts of the ad industry respond to this change.
Can we learn to get along with our robotic pals of tomorrow?This year we took small, important steps toward the Singularity
Artificially intelligent robots already walk, roll and occasionally backflip among us. They’re on our streets and in our stores. AI is adopting physical form to multiply the capabilities of the humans it serves. As robots gain ubiquity, friction between these bolt buckets and we meat sacks is sure to cause issues. So how do we ensure that the increasingly intelligent machines we design share our ethical values while minimizing human-robot conflict? Warning: may contain science-fiction references.
Check the fine print.Proposed net neutrality bill would ban blocking and throttling
The FCC only just decided to undo Title II net neutrality protections; however with a court battle over the move still pending, Congress is considering its next step. Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn has introduced a net neutrality bill that would contain language banning ISPs from blocking and throttling, but it is largely similar to the FCC’s new rules.
The president of the Free Press Action Fund called it fake net neutrality and said: “This cynical attempt to offer something the tiniest bit better than what the FCC did and pretend it’s a compromise is an insult to the millions who are calling on Congress to restore real net neutrality.”
A future X-plane.NASA will take images of its quiet supersonic jet’s shockwaves
The photo above was captured during NASA’s latest round of tests wherein a US Air Force Test Pilot School T-38 aircraft traveled in supersonic speeds between the cameras and the sun at an altitude of 10,000 feet.
But wait, there’s more…
- White House temporarily shuts down ‘We the People’ petition site
- UPS is Tesla’s latest electric semi-truck customer
- Samsung’s mega-wide gaming monitor is first to be HDR certified
- Bean-to-bar chocolate is fueled by the tech world
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