iOS
iOS was created by Apple, and is used exclusively on Apple products, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
by: Apple
Apple Launches Tool to Copy Your Photos from iCloud to Google Photos
Apple has taken the unusual step of making it easier to switch from an iPhone to Android by launching a new web tool that helps you copy photos and videos stored in iCloud Photos to Google Photos. Available at privacy.apple.com, the service supports photos, videos, and basic albums, including a variety of file formats and "some" RAW files. The service does not support Smart Albums, Live Photos, and certain RAW files. Also unsupported are shared albums, photo stream content, and certain metadata. The process takes three to seven days, and Apple renames albums and videos to start with "Copy of ".
Qualcomm Takes on Apple's Bluetooth Performance with Snapdragon Sound
Qualcomm has introduced a new initiative called Snapdragon Sound that aims to improve sound quality, battery life, and latency of Bluetooth earbuds powered by new Qualcomm chips when used with phones that are also powered by new Qualcomm chips. Snapdragon Sound also promises to improve the robustness of the Bluetooth connection and make pairing easier. Snapdragon Sound is a suite of many tweaks and optimizations made at nearly every level of hardware and software, from end to end of the phone+earbuds system. Snapdragon Sound seems to be Qualcomm's answer to the improved Bluetooth performance that Apple has been able achieve with its custom Bluetooth chips in AirPods and iPhones. Qualcomm says Snapdragon sound will offer better sound quality in the form of double the sampling rate compared to Apple for both music (96 kHz instead of 48) and voice calls (32 kHz instead of 16). Qualcomm also claims 45% lower latency compared to Apple. Devices bearing the Snapdragon Sound branding must pass a series of quality, performance, and interoperability tests in a new facility Qualcomm has established in Taiwan. The first Snapdragon Sound devices should hit the market "before summer".
San Francisco's Clipper Transit Card Coming to Apple Pay, Google Pay
Clipper Card — the universal transit fare card for all 24 San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies — will be supported in Apple Pay and Google Pay digital wallets "this spring". Residents and visitors will be able to add a stored-value Clipper card to their digital wallet and tap their phones to ride transit, replacing a physical Clipper card. The system differs from those in cities (such as New York and Chicago) offering "open" fare payments made directly from a credit or debit card in Google Pay / Apple Pay. Apple has launched a page where people can sign up to be notified when Clipper is available for iPhone and Apple Watch. Separately, Google announced a new feature of Google Maps that lets users buy and present transit fare payments — including Clipper, when available — without leaving the Maps app, as part of turn-by-turn directions that include transit.
Google Photos Gains New Video Editor, Plus Extra Features for Google One Members
Google today announced a new video editor as part of Google Photos. The company also announced that some advanced, AI-powered features previously available only on Pixel phones will now be available on more phones, but only for Google One subscribers. The new video editor adds features to "crop, change perspective, add filters, apply granular edits (including brightness, contrast, saturation and warmth) and more." This is in addition to existing features to trim, stabilize and rotate videos. It's available now in Google Photos for iOS, and "will be rolling out to most Android users in the coming weeks". In the coming months, iOS users will also get the revamped photo editor that rolled out to Android users late last year. Google One subscribers on Android will also get several new features that were previously restricted to Pixel phones. In the coming days, those users will see an updated Google Photos app that includes Portrait Blur, Portrait Light, and new "Dynamic" and "sky" filters. All of these new feature use machine learning to apply advanced effects in a realistic way to any photo, including those captured without depth information. Google One memberships start at $2/month.
Google Fi Extending Free VPN to iPhones
Google Fi today announced that its free VPN service is exiting beta for Android, and will "roll out ... to iPhone starting this spring." The VPN service protects against IP address tracking and hacking while using unsecure Wi-Fi networks.
Visible Revamps Plans, Launches 5G and eSIM
Visible just launched a variety of new service offerings and revamped plans. Customers with compatible phones can now access Verizon's 5G network at no extra cost. The company's unlimited voice service now includes calling to Canada, Mexico, US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Visible also now supports phone activation via eSIM on iPhones launched in 2018 (Xs and Xr) and newer, "with Android devices coming soon". Finally, the company has tweaked its Party Pay plans and added a referral program. Whereas Party Pay shared plans were previously capped at four people, they are now unlimited, with groups of four or more paying $25/month each. The company has also launched a community forum to help people find Party Pay groups to join. (The company does not require that groups be related, and in fact nearly one third of all customers using Party Pay are in a group with someone they don't know.) The referral program reduces your bill to $5 the month after you refer a new customer.
iOS 14.5 Offers a Way for Face ID to Work With a Mask
A beta version of iOS 14.5 introduces the ability for Face ID to unlock your phone even when wearing a lower-face mask, provided the user is also wearing an Apple watch. Face ID by itself offers reduced security in this new mask mode, but the presence of an authenticated, unlocked Apple Watch provides enough of an extra security signal to compensate. In the beta version currently available, the feature must be enabled manually in Settings. The beta software was first made available to developers on Feb. 1st, then to consumers on Friday, Feb. 5th. Apple has not announced when iOS 14.5 will exit beta testing.
New Unified Messaging App Promises to Bring iMessage to Android
Beeper is a new $10/month app and service that unifies over a dozen different messaging services into one unified, searchable chat interface. It supports iMessage, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Android Messages (SMS), Telegram, Twitter, Slack, Instagram, Skype, Discord, Signal, and more. It's available for iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, and Linux. The service supports iMessage via one of two "bridge" methods: 1. the Beeper app running on a Mac that is always connected to the internet, or 2. "we send each user a Jailbroken iPhone with the Beeper app installed which bridges to iMessage". Beeper offers an open API called Matrix that enables bots, extensions, plugins, and integrations. The various "bridges" that power Beeper are open-source, enabling security audits as well as free self-hosting.
