Those new features join an already impressive list of capabilities that Apple brought to its mobile devices with the release of iOS 14 in September. For example, you can completely personalize your iPhone’s home screen by creating custom app icons and placing new widgets wherever you want. For its part, a new Scribble feature in the iPad update now lets you use the Apple Pencil ($125 at Amazon) to write in any text field, and the tablet will convert it to text, instead of always pulling up the keyboard. And that’s just the beginning.
Everything Apple
CNET’s Apple Report newsletter delivers news, reviews and advice on iPhones, iPads, Macs and software.
Here are the best tips and tricks we’ve discovered for iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. We’ll frequently update this post, so check back for more fantastic tips.
The iPhone gained an app drawer-like feature called App Library, which acts as a warehouse to store all of the apps you don’t regularly use. You can access the App Library by swiping from right to left on your screen past all of your current home screens. Another first for the iPhone is the ability to place widgets on the home screen. Apple provided developers with the tools to create a new style of widget that’s sure to make your Android friends jealous. We go into more detail about the home screen changes here.
2. Create a custom Smart Stack widget
Speaking of widgets, you’re not locked into using Apple’s curated Smart Stack widget. You can create your own stack of widgets using the same technique you’d use to create an app folder. Seriously, it takes longer to decide which widgets you can include than it does to create it.
Just keep stacking widgets until you’re happy.
Animated image by Jason Cipriani/CNET
3. Make your own app icons
Apple also added new features to its Shortcuts app, with the most popular addition being the ability to create your own app icons and fully customize the look of your phone. So instead of the Apple Mail app icon, you can download an icon that replaces it with a picture of a cute cat or the Gmail icon and use that to launch the app. The process is somewhat tedious, but if you want a home screen that’s unlike any other, it’s well worth your time.
Custom icons are all the rage right now.
CNET
4. Use apps without installing them, thanks to App Clips
Think of App Clips as miniature apps that only show you a portion of what the full app can do. For example, a Yelp App Clip could show you business hours and the menu for a specific restaurant and nothing more. Want to try one? Open the Apple Maps app on your iPhone, search for Panera Bread, tap on a location and then select Order Food. Pretty cool, right? After using an App Clip, you can access it again in the App Library in the recently added folder.
iOS 14.3 brings with it ProRaw photo support on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. Once you enable ProRaw, you’ll see a new “RAW” button on the top right side of the native camera app.
Patrick Holland/CNET
5. iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max can take raw photos
This is surely a feature for photography buffs, but one that will hopefully pique the curiosity of those who are looking to get a bit more out of their iPhone camera. The release of iOS 14.3 adds Apple’s ProRaw photo format, which allows you to take photos using the “raw” photography format, and make changes to it without any image degradation, as is the case when the photo is converted to a JPG (the standard for Apple’s camera app).
Apple’s Fitness Plus app is available on the iPhone, iPad and AppleTV.
Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET
6. Work out at home with Fitness Plus
With gyms closed or running at limited capacity, now’s the time to work out at home. Apple’s Fitness Plus service is built directly into your iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, and it uses your Apple Watch to track your workout. The guided video workouts are released weekly, with options for all different fitness levels.
You’re no longer forced to decide whether you want to watch a Twitch stream or browse Reddit on your iPhone. With iOS 14, you can do both at the same time now that Apple has added picture-in-picture mode to the iPhone. The iPad has had this feature for a couple of years now, so it’s nice to see the iPhone get it as well. When you start watching a video you only need to leave the app and go back to the home screen to trigger PiP. There are some apps, like YouTube, that don’t support the feature. You can view a list of all the apps installed on your phone that support it by going to Settings > General > Picture in Picture. Read more about picture-in-picture to get a better idea of when and where it works.
Picture-in-picture is incredibly useful.
Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET
8. Deleting apps can be confusing now
With the addition of the App Library, there’s now an extra step when it comes to deleting an app from your phone and for long-time iPhone users, it’s not at all straightforward. But it doesn’t have to be too confusing; we walk you through the new steps.
9. Ditch Apple Mail and Safari
Apple added the ability to delete its own apps from your iPhone a few years ago, but you still couldn’t set apps like Gmail or Outlook as your default email app. Now you can, but Apple has limited this new feature to only the email and web browsers. It only takes a few taps to make the change, after which you won’t have to deal with Apple’s apps ever again.
It’s true, you can set some default apps on iOS 14.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
10. AirPods Pro has a new audio feature
The iPhone and iPad aren’t the only devices that received a big update. Apple’s AirPods Pro also got a small firmware update that added a new feature called Spatial Audio. You’ll, of course, need to use an iPhone or iPad running iOS 14 to use the feature. With both devices updated, whenever you’re watching a video the sound will follow the movements of your head, adjusting with each twist and turn. CNET’s David Carnoy described it as an “out-of-bud experience.” And he’s not wrong.
11. The iPad looks more like a Mac than ever
iPadOS 14 includes several new features and enhancements that bring its interface closer to looking and working like a Mac. Or is it the Mac that’s starting to look like an iPad with MacOS Big Sur? Either way, you’ll want to learn all you can about the new iPad features in iPadOS 14.
Can’t find that emoji you need? Search for it.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
12. Hidden features are the best features
Not to be left out, there are several hidden features in iOS 14 that do some truly amazing things. For instance, a new back tap feature lets you tap on the back of your phone two or three times, triggering a task like taking a screenshot or launching an app. We’ve found a total of nine hidden features worth sharing with you so far and plan to keep adding to the list.
13. New privacy features
Keeping your information private is one of Apple’s main marketing points, and iOS 14 is going even further to help keep your information private. There are new location sharing settings that will limit whether an app sees your exact location or a more general area. There’s also a new notification dot that will tell you when an app is using your phone’s camera or mic, and finer controls over which photos an app has access to. Check out all of the new privacy features and how to use them.
You don’t have to tell apps exactly where you are if you don’t want to.
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
14. New camera tricks
There are several subtle but important new features in the Camera app. For example, when taking a photo at night, there’s a new guide to remind you to keep still. You’ll see crosshairs that show you where to keep the camera. There’s also a new exposure adjustment dial, and you can snap multiple photos much quicker. Learn how to use and where to find the new features, complete with animated images.
iOS 14 makes is so you can take consecutive photos faster. There’s less time from one photo to another.
Patrick Holland/CNET
15. Up your selfie game
Another new feature in the Camera app is a new setting for the front-facing camera that is sure to help your selfies shine. The new mirror mode forces the camera to act more like a, well, mirror, which can make it easier to make sure your shot is framed and lined up the way you want. We show you where to find the new setting.
16. Still want more? We gotcha
As a bonus round, we’ve compiled a few more tips to do even more, like tag someone in a group conversation in the Messages app and use Apple’s new Translate app to carry a conversation in two completely different languages. We walk you through those two tips, plus a few more of our favorite features.
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
