Apple Releases iOS 12.1.4 With FaceTime Privacy Fix

As we all know by now, there was a bug discovered in FaceTime where an un-consenting user could have their conversation listened to. After a bit of delay, iOS 12.1.4 was released today, which contains "important security updates." That being said, you will have to update in order to use group FaceTime again. Group FaceTime has been disabled for all iOS versions prior to this update. Be sure to update if you plan to use group FaceTime.

Major FaceTime Bug Causes Apple To Disable Group FaceTime

Group FaceTime has been a long awaited feature for years now. However, a new bug has been discovered that could violate the privacy of people. To do this, all a FaceTime caller needs to do is to call someone using FaceTime, and add their self into the call. This, for whatever reason, causes the other person's audio to be streamed into the call, even though they never accepted the call. Apple has disabled group FaceTime to prevent this from occurring. It's obvious to see how this could be abused very quickly. Apple plans to send out a fix later this week [Source: Axios]. 

Improved Search Suggestions Coming to Safari in iOS 12.2

Search suggestions are pretty useful for short search queries. However, for longer queries it can be annoying. Say you wanted to search for "How to sell an iPhone on eBay." As you type, the results would show up as "How to," "How to sell," "How to sell an iPhone," and finally "How to sell an iPhone on eBay." To search what you wanted, you'd have to type all of that out. However, with new search options coming in iOS 12.2, you can tap on the arrow next to the search suggestion to complete your current query. This would help typing out searches in Safari. It's been a feature in many other apps, like YouTube and Google Chrome, so it's nice to finally see the native iOS browser get this treatment.

Image Credit: MacRumors

New iPod Touch All But Confirmed

Thanks to Steve Troughton-Smith on Twitter, we now have evidence that a new iPod Touch is in the works. Datamining iOS 12.2 shows that a new iPod Touch has been listed. Interestingly enough, the iPod Touch does not seem to feature Touch ID nor Face ID. This begs the question if it will be a notched-iPod without Face ID? I could definitely picture it, as the iPod Touch has never had any alternative to using a passcode for security. If so, this would be a great way for Apple to offer an iPod Touch that's distinct from iPhone, yet much cheaper.

In theory, iOS 12.2 references four new iPads in WiFi & Cellular variants (perhaps mini, and 9.7"?), all without Face ID, and a (seventh-gen?) iPod touch with no Touch ID nor Face ID pic.twitter.com/xiJN6kmmTe

— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) January 25, 2019

iOS 12.2 Adds Support for New Smart TVs

Apple recently announced that select popular TVs will be compatible with AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. HomeKit will add this functionality in iOS 12.2, which had its first beta released today. Usually, we can expect the golden master to release a little over a month later. Most of these TVs will be expected in Spring of 2019. It will be interesting to see what controls are introduced in the Home app.

The Problem with Control Center

Control Center has changed constantly over the past few years. It used to be simple. Swipe up and toggle Wi-Fi or something. Later, you'd have to swipe over a page to control volume. Then that was scratched and we have the tile view we have today. On the iPhone X and later, along with all supported iPads, you have to swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to get to Control Center. But on iPhone 8 and earlier, you have to swipe up from the bottom. While change can be hard to accept for some, I think we can all agree that change is easier to swallow when it's a consistent change. iPads have no notches, so it seems weird that only iPhones with notches follow the new swipe down rule. What's worse is that iPhone 8 and earlier owners are likely unaware of this change, so if Apple makes it consistent now, between major updates, there will be riots in the streets. Apple needs to make sure that iOS has a consistent ruleset across all devices.

iOS 12.1.1 Released, With No Signs of watchOS 5.1.2

iOS 12.1.1 was released today, which brings eSIM support to the latest iPhones. It also adds support for ECG data on the iPhone's side. This isn't useful unless you have an Apple Watch Series 4 with watchOS 5.1.2. Despite so many minor updates from Apple being released today. There hasn't been any sign of watchOS 5.1.2. It will likely come out in the next few days. If it is delayed, it may be to iron out the updating process. watchOS is notorious for bricking Apple Watches. While it's not super common, we do hear of quite a few cases from time to time.

iOS 12.1 Add Battery Performance Management to More Devices

Battery Performance Management was introduced earlier this year in an update following controversy about performance throttling. iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus were not affected by this change. However, iOS 12.1 added Battery Performance Management to these devices. This is interesting because this feature is only relevant for older devices, so we now see when Apple sees fit for devices to have this feature.

iOS 12.1 Releases Tomorrow

Apple announced that iOS 12.1 will release Tuesday, October 30. This is timely considering that the October Apple event is the same day. iOS 12.1 brings group FaceTime, dual-SIM, and enhanced depth control for the latest iPhones. There's also a slew of new emoji that no one will notice. We can expect this update to drop at about 10:00 Pacific Time.

iPhone Emoji Will Be Updated

If you hate the mainstream nature of emojis as much as I do, you'll likely find yourself slowly zoning out scrolling through articles about how Apple is adding an additional 20 million emojis with each update. However, buried in the pile of new emojis is a small detail being added to an existing emoji. The iPhone emoji is currently an iPhone 8, however, in iOS 12.1, Apple will be updating it to an iPhone X-style model [Source: MacRumors]. Given the radical change in design, this is another step to say that this design is the future, which I think is a nice touch. Take a look at the change below.

Image Credit: MacRumors

iOS 12 Overtakes iOS 11

iOS 12 released about two weeks ago and Mixpanel has some interesting information about the iOS install base. iOS 12 is sitting about neck and neck with iOS 11 in terms of installation percent. As of writing this, iOS 12 barely takes the cake with 47.49% install, over iOS 11 with 45.65% install (the remaining percent being an older operating system). Today was the day where iOS 12 overtook iOS 11. That's definitely a perk for iOS developers, as Android's install base has historically been scattered. When I got my Moto G for Android development about five years ago, Android Lollipop made up a few percentage points at best of the install base. Today, it is the default version of Android to develop for due to its install base.

The Shortcuts App

One of iOS 12's headlining features is Shortcuts. Shortcuts, in my eyes, is Apple's alternative to giving us a SiriKit, which would let developers make Siri commands freely, without the restrictions Apple puts on today. Shortcuts do not pull this off well. If I start laundry and I need a timer for 25 minutes, I could ask Siri to set a timer for 25 minutes. If I make a shortcut so all I need to say is "set a timer for the laundry," then that sounds cleaner on paper. Apple's own example recipe for this consists of sending a notification through the Reminders app to let me know my laundry is done. There is no function to set a timer, so their solution is to send a reminder. Really? With a timer, I can see how much time is left on the lock screen, and I get an alarm that keeps beeping until I acknowledge it. With a Reminder notification, I get a buzz in my pocket and nothing else. A buzz that is no different than a Twitter update. Given that Apple has access to the whole operating system, and that they made this workflow, you'd think they would make a timer. I think what's more boggling is the fact that this is one of the more practical use cases, and it is still terrible. Here are just a few impractical use cases: downloading a file from a URL copied to your clipboard, creating custom date format patterns, and playing the entire album of the song you are currently listening to. Most of these are either redundant or so impractical, I would never create a shortcut for them in the first place. Why would I need a shortcut to take a picture if I can already get to the camera from the lock screen? And all of this is disregarding the sloppy execution of it all. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go ahead and try it out for yourself. The app is riddled with discontinuity when running slightly more complex workflows.

iOS 12 Golden Master Available

iOS 12's Golden Master was released Wednesday. If you're a beta tester or a developer, this means you can download iOS 12 today and it will be in the same state as the seed released to the public Monday. The Shortcuts app is also in its Golden Master state. Getting today can be a time saver since the servers will be less clogged than they will be on Monday. In addition, it's the weekend and if something goes wrong, you don't have to work it out during the week, which can be frustrating. For everyone else, iOS 12 is available to the public on Monday, September 17.

watchOS and iOS Timers

When doing something like laundry, I like to put a timer on my phone. But when I put it on my phone, my Apple Watch won't sync up. In the leaked image of the Apple Watch Series 4, the Timer complication is visible. This is nothing new, but I'm hoping Apple would make the obvious choice to have timers set on iPhone sync up to timers on Apple Watch. This would let a user set a timer on their phone, and look at their watch to see it ticking down on the main watch face. Hopefully, this small change makes its way into watchOS 5.

iOS 12 Beta Pulled

Apple has decided to pull beta 7 for iOS 12 due to performance issues. Given that this is the update that is supposed to work out many bugs and issues, it is a bit worrying to hear reports of 10 second app load times. Granted, Apple is clearly taking steps to ensure that this is resolved and affects as few people as possible. Keep in mind that this beta is for developers and not public beta testers. As such, developers are always told the risks that come with betas and should install on a secondary device. The public beta will be delayed until these issues are ironed out.

iOS 12 Makes Closing Apps on iPhone X Easier

In iOS 11, the iPhone X had an exclusive “feature” that made it easy to close many apps in a row, but tedious to close just one. You would hold your finger on the icon and tap the red icon to close it. In iOS 12, this is revised to the simple swipe up without holding down on the icon. This is much easier, especially when you only have one hand free. This was confusing to many iPhone X users who didn’t read up on all of the new gestures. 

Critical Alerts in iOS 12

A really useful notification feature coming in iOS 12 is Critical Alerts. With all the talk about silencing and cleaning up notifications, Critical Alerts bypass these to deliver important or urgent information to the user. These alerts will play a sound and appear on the lock screen no matter what. Critical Alert usage in an app will have to be approved by Apple, so not every app gets to use it. They are meant primarily for health, security, and public safety.

Apple Executives as Memoji

In celebration of World Emoji Day tomorrow (I don't know why either), Apple has changed the portraits of its executives by replacing the faces with Memoji. A good publicity stunt, but it doesn't change my opinion on the feature. Although it is great to see Jony Ive staring into my soul, ripping every secret out of my being. Also, it's good to know that iOS 12 will be worth it on the soul idea alone that we can all get to visualize our Memoji with Craig Federighi's hair, which took the combined force of the entire Apple engineering team to fully capture.

iOS 12 Public Beta Available

iOS 12 now has a public beta available. This beta is roughly the same as the second beta given to developers. I myself do not recommend updating at this time yet, as there are bugs and compatibility issues that likely need to be worked out still. Especially, given the lack of compelling features in this update. To get the update, you can go to Apple's beta testing website. No developer account is needed for this.

iOS 12 and 911 Calls

Apple announced that iOS 12 will allow iPhones to automatically share location data with first responders through 911 calls. Apple is using a technology that estimated a mobile 911 caller’s location using cell towers and GPS. This will allow for quicker response times when it’s needed most. Only the 911 center will have access to your location during the call. This is another nice feature not talked about at WWDC that I think is very useful, even if you don’t necessarily want to be put in the situation where you need to use it.