Apple Alerting Customers to Upcoming Discontinuation of Back to My Mac in macOS Mojave

Apple today began sending out notifications to customers letting them know that support for Back to My Mac is ending in macOS Mojave.

Back to My Mac was not present in the first developer beta of macOS Mojave and it has not been available in any subsequent beta, but many customers may have missed the news of its imminent sunsetting, which has now been confirmed by Apple.

Back to My Mac is a feature that is designed to allow Mac owners to connect to one Mac from another Mac for file transfers and screen sharing purposes. It lets users set up a network of Mac computers with two or more Macs, but it can be complicated to set up and use, which may be why Apple has decided to discontinue it in favor of simpler measures.

Apple is directing customers to a support document that outlines the changes coming to Back to My Mac, instructing them on how to transition to iCloud Drive, screen sharing, and Apple Remote Desktop.

Back to My Mac will not be available on macOS Mojave. You can get ready now by learning about alternatives for file access, screen sharing, and remote desktop access.

Apple’s support document suggests customers can access all of their files across devices with iCloud Drive, operate other Macs with screen sharing, and manage Macs remotely with Apple Remote Desktop, software available from the Mac App Store for $80.

Many Back to My Mac users are likely to be unhappy with Apple’s suggestion to transition to Apple Remote Desktop for remote management given its high price and the fact that it sees few updates, but there are other options like TeamViewer and LogMeIn.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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Unlike Costco, Walmart Has ‘No Plans’ to Accept Apple Pay

Costco, the world’s second largest retailer behind Walmart, recently confirmed that it now accepts Apple Pay and other contactless payment methods at all of its 750 warehouse locations in the United States.

Walmart appears to be unfettered by the move, however, as it remains committed to its own Walmart Pay platform in the United States.

“Walmart Pay is the exclusive form of mobile payment accepted at Walmart and we have no plans for that to change,” said Walmart spokesperson Erin Hulliberger, in a statement provided to MacRumors today.

Walmart Pay, built into the Walmart app for iOS and Android, works at any checkout lane with any major credit, debit, pre-paid, or Walmart gift card. To use it, a customer must tap on Walmart Pay and scan the QR code displayed at the checkout. An electronic receipt is automatically sent to the app.

Walmart was originally committed to the Merchant Customer Exchange consortium and its payments solution CurrentC, which was later postponed indefinitely, before launching Walmart Pay in 2015. As of July 2016, Walmart has rolled out Walmart Pay to some 4,600 of its locations in all 50 states.

In late 2015, Walmart’s senior vice president of services Daniel Eckert said Walmart Pay allows “for integration of other mobile wallets in the future,” which provided hope that the big-box chain may eventually accept Apple Pay and other contactless payments, but nearly three years later, that has yet to happen.

Walmart’s resistance to Apple Pay continues despite many other large retailers, including Best Buy, Rite Aid, and now Costco, reversing course and accepting the payments solution in stores. Apple recently confirmed that pharmacy chain CVS and 7-Eleven convenience stores will also accept Apple Pay starting later this year.

Last year, rival big-box chain Target likewise said it had “no plans” to make Apple Pay available in its stores, despite accepting it as a payment method in its app. Instead, Target launched a barcode-based solution.

Apple Pay launched in the United States in October 2014, providing tap-to-pay functionality with a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch after setting up a supported credit or debit card in the Wallet app. Apple Pay is now available in more than 20 countries, and is set to launch in Germany later this year.

Related Roundup: Apple PayTags: Walmart Pay, Walmart
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How to Customize Grouped Notifications in iOS 12

iOS 12 introduces Notification Grouping, a long-awaited feature that groups all of the notifications from a single app together in one neat bundle that prevents the Lock screen from becoming overly cluttered.

By default, all apps have an “Automatic” grouped notification setting, which groups up notifications by app, but does so intelligently. For example, if you have multiple iMessage conversations going on with people, the notifications might be grouped by app (Messages) but separated by person.

You can adjust your Notification Grouping settings to turn off grouped notifications entirely or to force your iOS device to sort all incoming notifications by app, regardless of whether or not certain notifications are coming from different people.

Open up the Settings app.
Choose “Notifications” from the main list of options.
Find the app with the notifications you want to modify from the list, such as Messages, and tap it.
Scroll down to Notification Grouping and tap it.
Automatic is enabled by default. Select “By App” or “Off” to change it.
As mentioned above, selecting “By App” instead of “Automatic” will make sure that all incoming notifications from a specific app are grouped together rather than sometimes being intelligently separated out.

Selecting the “Off” option will disable Notification Grouping for the selected app entirely, which means your incoming notifications for that app will all come in individually, like they did in iOS 11.

There is no option to turn off Notification Grouping for all apps at once, so it’s something that needs to be enabled on an app-by-app basis.

For more on all of the new notification features Apple is introducing in iOS 12, make sure to check out our iOS 12 Notifications guide.

Related Roundup: iOS 12
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Tinder wants to help you make friends at school this year with Tinder U

Going back to school not only means new classes, textbooks, and living arrangements — it also means new friends (for some, at least). To help make socializing less of a chore, Tinder is launching its first student-only platform — Tinder U.

The latest addition to the dating app is only available for iOS users attending a four-year accredited college or university in the U.S. To make sure you’re enrolled in school, you have to provide your verified .edu email address in order to gain access.

Once you’re on campus, you have to log in through the main Tinder app and provide your college email address. You will then receive an email asking to verify your email address by tapping the verification button. Users can also request to apply for Tinder U by going into their Settings on the app.

This will then bring you to Tinder U — allowing you to swipe, message, and match with students around you on campus. Your profile will display your name, age, and school. The interface looks the same and operates as it normally would — with buttons to “like,” “dislike,” “super like,” and more, when swiping through potential matches.

“Tinder proudly launched at USC in 2012, making the college spirit an important part of our history and brand DNA. Today, more than half of our users are between the ages of 18 and 24,” said Brian Norgard, chief product officer at Tinder, in a press release. “With Tinder U, we’re excited to honor our roots with a new experience that helps students meets other students nearby. It’s a fresh product that will make campus life even more entertaining.”

Of course, Tinder is first and foremost a dating app. But with Tinder U, it’s stepping outside the box by encouraging college students to use it as a way to find a study buddy or even a friend. The feature is reminiscent of Bumble’s BFF Mode — a feature that allows women to find platonic relationships rather than romantic ones.

But Tinder hasn’t completely ruled out using the new mode for dating either — mentioning that those who want to date outside their campus are covered, too. With Tinder U, you can swipe on students in nearby schools as well. That way, if sparks don’t fly in person, you don’t have to worry about running into them while going to class.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Tinder testing Bitmoji feature using Snap Kit
• Tinder is making it safer than ever for you to keep swiping
• Money can’t buy you love, but it may buy you more compatible picks on Tinder
• It’s over: Tinder won the dating wars. Swipe or stay home
• Tinder’s parent company Match Group swipes right on Hinge

Redesigned Google Fit uses Heart Points and Move Minutes to keep you active

Google Fit, the health-tracking app, is getting its biggest update since its launch in 2014. It’s not a simple redesign, though — Google said it has worked with the American Heart Association (AHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to make the app more proactive in keeping users healthy.

The update adds two new activity goals: Move Minutes and Heart Points, which have been created based on recommendations from the two organizations. They’re meant to optimize the amount and intensity of physical activity in a way that meaningfully improves health.

Move Minutes, as the name suggests, are minutes spent physically active. You can earn Move Minutes with any kind of physical activity, from taking the stairs over an elevator to going for an afternoon stroll.

Heart Points, on the other hand, are a little more targeted. You’ll get more Heart Points for more physically intense workouts. The new Google Fit app will reward you one point for each minute of moderate activity, and more points for workouts that are physically more intense. It’s not too hard to earn the recommended number of Heart Points either.

• 1.
  New Google Fit
• 2.
  Old Google Fit

“It takes just 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week to reach the AHA and WHO’s recommended amount of physical activity shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve sleep, and increase overall mental well-being,” Google said in its blog post.

As it always has, Google Fit continues to automatically track walking, running, and biking using the sensors in your phone, plus in the Google Fit app you can log more than 120 kinds of different workouts. Fit also integrates with apps like Strava, Runkeeper, MyFitnessPal, and so on.

“It takes just 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week to reach the AHA and WHO’s recommended amount of physical activity.”

It’s not all about tracking — the new update will also make the app more proactive in pushing users to earn more Heart Points throughout the day. You’ll now get customized tips and pointers on how to earn more points to keep you motivated throughout the day.

The app’s redesign is in line with various other Google app redesigns lately, with a stronger focus on white and more limited use of color. Your Heart Points and Move Minutes are front and center, and they’re also tracked in rings so you can see how close you are to meeting your goals. A double arrow on the ring indicates you have surpassed your goal for the day. You can still see your steps count, calories burned, and distance traveled right below the new activity goals. You can break all this data down further below, and compare it with data from previous days as well.

The update shows Google’s renewed focus on health, and it also suggests there’s likely more to come. Google is rumored to be working on a “Google Coach,” which sounds quite similar to the customized tips and pointers added in the new update, but it’s speculated to go further. Reports suggest Google Coach will keep track of nutrition and can recommend specific foods, whether you’re making a weekly meal plan or putting together a shopping list. The service may also be able to recommend a healthy meal based on your location. These features are likely paired to the rumored Pixel Watch running Wear OS set to be unveiled later this year.

The updated Google Fit app is gradually rolling out on Android, the web, and Wear OS this week. If you have an iPhone paired with a Wear OS watch, you’ll see the redesgin in the Wear OS app for iOS.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Motiv smart ring tracks ‘active minutes,’ because step counters are so 2015
• Is Google launching an A.I. fitness coach for smartwatches?
• Here’s how to track an Android phone, tablet, or smartwatch
• WatchOS 5 brings Walkie-Talkie, Podcast features, and much more
• Polar M430 review

Microsoft thwarts new Russian cyberattack on U.S. senators and think tanks

Microsoft has once again thwarted the efforts of Russian hackers ahead of the 2018 midterm elections in the United States in November. Through its Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), Microsoft was able to take down six malicious websites targeting political candidates, politicians, and think tanks. DCU traced the spearphishing campaign back to a group called Fancy Bear; the group is widely believed to have strong ties to Russia’s military.

For its spearphishing campaign, Fancy Bear created fake websites with similar domains to notable organizations, like the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute. The former counts high-profile Republicans in its leadership, including Senator John McCain and Governor Mitt Romney along with one Senate candidate, while the latter hosts talks on cybersecurity. Both organizations have been critical of Donald Trump and Russia in the past.

“Microsoft has notified both nonprofit organizations,” Microsoft wrote in a blog post. “Both have responded quickly, and Microsoft will continue to work closely with them and other targeted organizations on countering cybersecurity threats to their systems. We’ve also been monitoring and addressing domain activity with Senate IT staff the past several months, following prior attacks we detected on the staffs of two current senators.” The company said that there is no evidence that a successful attack was conducted, however.

This latest effort to stop Russian meddling in U.S. elections follows Microsoft’s announcement in July that it had stopped a group tied to Russia’s intelligence agency of using a phishing campaign to target three political candidates ahead of the midterm elections.

“It’s clear that democracies around the world are under attack,” Microsoft said, highlighting that cyberattacks are on the rise, especially when the attacks could be used to influence elections. “Foreign entities are launching cyber strikes to disrupt elections and sow discord.”

Microsoft claims that its DCU has taken down 84 fake websites over the past two years and that more work is needed. “An effective response will require even more work to bring people and expertise together from across governments, political parties, campaigns and the tech sector,” the company said.

As part of its efforts to combat election meddling, Microsoft launched a new AccountGuard service, which will be available at no cost to candidates running for federal, state, or local office. To take advantage of AccountGuard, political candidates must have use Office 365 for their campaign, and the service provides threat notification across accounts, security guidance, and the opportunity to trial new security features. Microsoft said that these features are “on a par with the services offered to our large corporate and account customers.”

Microsoft has been demonstrating that it wants to be an upstanding corporate citizen, and AccountGuard follows recent Microsoft initiatives like the Cybersecurity Tech Accord and its work on creating ethical artificial intelligence systems.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Microsoft stops a Russian attempt at hacking 2018 midterm elections
• New DHS cybersecurity command aims to protect U.S. from cyberattacks
• Facebook and Twitter introduce new tools regarding ad transparency
• Hackers allegedly used cryptocurrency in attack against Clinton campaign
• Google will warn businesses if state-sponsored hackers target G Suite users

What is ray tracing, and how will it change games?

Nvidia

Nvidia has announced its new RTX 2070, 2080, and 2080 Ti. These video cards offer an across-the-board performance leap above the GTX 1070, 1080, and 1080 Ti, but there’s more to it than cranking up the specifications. Nvidia has leapt from the “GTX” to “RTX” brand name for a reason.

Ray tracing is that reason. But what is ray tracing, and how will it make your games look better?

Ray tracing does what it says on the tin

Graphics technology is usually hard to explain, but ray tracing is rather simple. It works a bit how it sounds. Ray tracing creates an image by tracing the path of simulated light. Or, rather, millions of simulated lights. The light bounces of objects as it moves and interacts with their properties. If it bounces from a glossy green surface, for instance, its hue may change.

That’s essentially how light works in real life. A particle of light springs from its point of origin and travels along until it interacts with an object, at which point its path is determined by that object’s properties. It might be absorbed by a dense, dark object, or almost entirely reflected by a mirror.

Ray tracing’s fundamental similarity to real life makes it an extremely realistic 3D rendering technique. There’s just one problem: It’s hard to simulate. The world we see every day is made visible by millions upon millions of light particles bouncing about at, well, the speed of light. Simulating that isn’t easy, which is why modern real-time 3D graphics – including those used in 3D games – rarely use this technique. It’s typically reserved for movies and other pre-rendered graphics, where it’s possible to spend hours rendering just a single frame. Until now, that is.

Enter Nvidia

Graphics technology has improved, however, and Nvidia’s latest RTX 2000 series cards are the first to include hardware specifically built for ray tracing. The new Turning architecture uses the company’s new Tensor Cores to handle the technique in real time. Nvidia had a few specific demos to show at its press conference including Battlefield V, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Metro Exodus.

The Shadow of the Tomb Raider demo is probably the best demonstration because its slow and simple, giving you a chance to look closely at the details.

What’s interesting in the Tomb Raider demo is not just the light, but the shadow. You’ll notice that shadows are highly refined, extremely accurate, and offer excellent contrast. The dancers swaying in front of the neon lights, for example, are virtually silhouettes. Achieving that look without ray tracing is extraordinarily hard. Developers can only “fake” it through careful, controlled use of preset light sources. That takes a lot of time and effort – and even then, the result isn’t quite right.

The children with the firecrackers also offer a wonderful demonstration. You’ll notice how the shadows of people nearby flicker realistically as the firecrackers crackle and waver. This, too, is a look that’s almost impossible to achieve using current real-time 3D rendering techniques. The simulation of light simply isn’t complex enough to achieve it.

While the Tomb Raider demo focuses on shadows, the demo Battlefield V focuses more on reflections. You see the reflection of troops in water, the reflection of terrain on airplanes, and the reflection of explosions across a car’s paint. It’s of course possible to show reflections in modern 3D engines, but not at the level of detail shown in the Battlefield V demo. Gamers are accustomed to seeing mottled, dull, or pixelated reflections in even the most advanced 3D games. Ray tracing can eliminate those problems.

In addition, these reflections can now be seen even when the source of the reflection isn’t on screen. As demonstrated in the Battlefield V demo, something like an explosion seen in the reflection of an eye had to be simulated before — and remained static. Now environments feel more alive, which add a lot of realism in a game like Battlefield V where chaotic action is supposed to surround you in every direction.

How can you see ray tracing at home?

Nvidia’s new hardware is meant to accelerate ray tracing, but it’s not the first case of the technique being used on consumer-level hardware. A few games have tried to use ray tracing in the past. In 2008, researchers at Intel managed to create a version of Quake Wars that used real-time ray tracing. It was just an experiment, however, and the game only ran at 20 to 35 frames per second on an Intel quad-socket (yes, as in four processors) rig.

The new RTX 2000 series cards will finally let you see ray tracing at home, but less than two dozen games currently plan support. These include those previously mentioned and a few other anticipated titles, like Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries. Still, the list is rather slim, and we expect that developers will be slow to jump on board.

If you want to see ray tracing at home, though, it’s not that difficult. Just buy one of Nvidia’s expensive new video cards and a compatible game. After that, it (should be) as simple as flipping a switch in the game’s menu.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Nvidia’s new GPUs look amazing, but that doesn’t mean you should buy one
• Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20 Series starts at $500 and features real-time ray tracing
• Nvidia’s Turing chip reinvents computer graphics (but not for gaming)
• Here’s how to watch Nvidia’s GeForce event at Gamescom
• Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs are coming to Alienware and Predator gaming desktops

GTX 1080 graphics card prices plunge following Nvidia’s RTX announcement

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Unless you’re an enthusiast gamer chasing the latest graphics card, it pays to be patient. Now that Nvidia has announced its latest GeForce RTX 2080 flagship consumer graphics card at Gamescom, pricing for the current generation GeForce GTX 1080 cards are dropping, so if you don’t mind going with an “older” card — which is still today’s top-of-the-line graphics offering — you can save some money by going with the GTX series instead of jumping on the new RTX cards.

In addition to Nvidia’s improved performance claims, the highlight of the RTX series is a feature called ray tracing, which brings cinematic lighting effects to games. To take advantage of ray tracing, developers will need to build support into their games, and only a limited number of games with ray tracing will be available this year. For most, if not all, current games, a GTX 1080 card will more than serve most gamers’ needs.

While the flagship GTX 1080 Ti was priced close to $1,000 a few weeks ago, the pricing has dropped significantly since Nvidia’s announcement. Zotac’s GTX 1080 Ti is now priced at just $526.50 on Amazon. This is the AMP Edition with 11GB of video RAM. It was previously selling at $679. The standard non-Ti edition now sells for just $449, while the GTX 1070 with 8GB of RAM is now selling for $296.

In addition to standard games today, all these cards also come with support for virtual reality games. However, connecting to a VR headset requires getting multiple cables up and running. The new RTX card supports a newer VirtualLink interface over a USB-C connection. With VirtualLink, you’ll need just a single USB-C cable to drive power, display, and data, eliminating the need for a multi-cable VR setup. Keep in mind, however, that in order to take advantage of VirtualLink, you’ll need both Nvidia’s new RTX graphics card and a new VirtualLink-compatible VR headset to work.

The new RTX cards will be available next month, and we’ll likely see more discounts on GTX cards from other manufacturers in the weeks to come. If you prefer not to wait, Nvidia announced that the RTX cards start at $500, with the RTX 2080 Ti Founder’s Edition coming in at $1,199.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and choose what we cover carefully and independently. If you find a better price for a product listed here, or want to suggest one of your own, email us at dealsteam@digitaltrends.com.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20 Series starts at $500 and features real-time ray tracing
• Nvidia’s new GPUs look amazing, but that doesn’t mean you should buy one
• Nvidia teases new GeForce RTX 2080 launch at Gamescom next week
• Nvidia’s Turing chip reinvents computer graphics (but not for gaming)
• What is ray tracing, and how will it change games?

Score Amazon’s largest Fire HD Tablet for its smallest price today only

A tablet worth buying!

Amazon is currently selling its 10-inch Fire HD Tablet for just $99.99, which is $50 lower than its regular price. The price has only dropped this low a few other times before, one of which was back during Black Friday. This is the largest Fire HD Tablet that is sold right now and comes with a base of 32GB of internal storage. If 32GB isn’t enough, you can double the internal storage for $40 more.

The smarter thing to do would be to grab the base tablet for $100 and then add a 64GB microSD card for just $21, which is a far better value. This will give you 32GB more than if you purchased the more expensive option, and actually helps keep your cost about $10 lower!

Looking for more Amazon hardware? There’s a bunch of it on sale right now, so be sure to check those deals out as well!

See at Amazon

The best wireless charging hubs so you can charge all the things

Charge your gadgets in style, without all the messy cables.

There’s nothing more convenient and satisfying than wireless charging. Just drop your phone or smartwatch on a wireless charger and — bam! — it instantly starts receiving power, without you ever having to fumble with a cable in the dark. But sometimes you need to charge more than one device at a time, and in that event a cable can still be useful. Some wireless charging hubs

There are all kinds of great wireless charging hubs to choose from, and we’ve sorted through all the best ones so you don’t have to.

• Nomad Wireless Charging Hub
• Samsung Wireless Charger Duo
• HyperDrive Wireless Charger USB-C Hub

Nomad Wireless Charging Hub

The Nomad Wireless Charging Hub is a circular enclosure that’s capable of charging up to 5 devices at once thanks to its built-in USB ports. It’ll run you about $80, but it’s well worth it for the shopper with legions of device to charge.

See at Nomad

Nomad’s Wireless Hub perfectly blends form and function, with a sleek matte black aesthetic and a multitude of USB ports that feed neatly into a built-in cable organizer.

Two of the four USB ports output 1A, while the third outputs 2.1A and the fourth, a USB-C port, is capable of 3A out. Combined with the 7.5W wireless charging top, this is the ultimate charging hub for charging all of your devices at once — whether you have a tablet, a GoPro, or just a handful of phones.

Samsung Wireless Charger Duo

Samsung has always made some of the best wireless chargers on the market, and the Wireless Charger Duo is no exception. For $120, you can wirelessly charge two devices from a single wall outlet, and one gets propped up so you can still see notifications come in while your phone charges at your desk.

See at Samsung

Samsung’s exhaustingly long-named Fast Charge Convertible Wireless Charging Pad has a new, wider companion called the Wireless Charger Duo that can charge any two Qi-enabled devices simultaneously. Though it’s clearly intended for Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Watch, it works just as well with two phones.

The downside is that unlike the Convertible Charging Pad, you can’t fold down the standing side if you just want to lay both devices flat — say, if you’re trying to charge two smartwatches. Still, the Wireless Charger Duo is a great way to save a spot on your wall outlet.

HyperDrive Wireless Charger & USB-C Hub

The HyperDrive isn’t cheap at $120, but it’s the most functional product in this list, bringing a multitude of ports to your USB-C laptop in addition to offering a convertible wireless charging top.

See at Indiegogo

Remember Hyper, the company that made all of those USB-C hubs for the new MacBook Pros? Turns out they’re still making more of them, and their latest model happens to add in wireless charging with a convertible stand that outputs 7.5W.

When it’s not being used for wireless charging, the HyperDrive also functions as an 8-port USB-C hub, adding HDMI, Ethernet, SD and microSD, USB-A, and USB-C passthrough. You don’t have to use it as a USB-C hub, since it can still power your phone and other devices through a USB-C cable from the wall like every other charger on this list, but this might be the most useful overall product if you own a USB-C laptop.