iPhone

After launching a pilot program for digital contact tracing last month, the state of California has made contract tracing available today, December 10. That’s about half a year after Apple/Google made the feature available on iPhone and Android. But better late than never as the support will allow the almost 40 million people living in California to stay safer amid the pandemic.

Earlier this year, before the announcement of the iPhone 12, Apple surveyed some users about how they use the USB power adapter that used to come in the iPhone box. The company is once again asking for the opinion of its consumers, this time to find out if iPhone users are unsatisfied with Face ID and if they use the USB cable that comes with every iPhone.

Yesterday, Apple issued the release candidate for iOS 14.3 to developers, signifying that its widespread release to the public is imminent. With this in mind, we take a look at the top iOS 14.3 RC features, a release full of new changes, and support for upcoming products like AirPods Max and services like Apple Fitness+. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough for an overview of what’s new in iOS 14.3.

The original Snake game first showed up in 1976 and it evolved and rose to even greater popularity when Nokia started including the game (Snake II) on its cellphones starting in 1998. Since then we’ve seen a variety of versions across lots of platforms. Now the original Snake II has landed on iPhone with the same number key controls thanks to widget support with the Retro Widget 2 app.

Right after the Apple event in October, Samsung mocked the company for not including the power adapter in the iPhone 12 box and also removing it from the older models. Now, as some rumors have predicted, the Galaxy S21’s documentation suggests that it will also not come with a charger included in the box.

Apple is reportedly dropping iPhone camera supplier O-Film, following accusations that the company used forced labor.

O-Film was one of three companies making triple-lens camera modules for Apple, alongside LG InnoTek and Sharp …

While Apple has basically removed all accessories that come with new iPhones in the box, it was reported in October that the company had to keep shipping them with EarPods in France due to local laws. Something similar will happen in Brazil with the power adapter, as the Brazilian state of São Paulo decided that Apple is now required to sell new iPhones with the accessory.

It turns out Apple included a stealthy update with iOS 14.2 that didn’t appear in the release notes. With the latest public release, iPhone 8 and later have gained support for 1080p FaceTime HD video calls on Wi-Fi and for iPhone 12, on 5G and Wi-Fi.

Nurvv Run provides an edge to runners who are looking to shed time and improve running technique by delivering premium coaching and performance metrics directly to your iPhone and Apple Watch.

A second report says that Apple is working on using periscope lenses in future iPhones, which could enable up to 10x optical zoom without increasing the thickness of the phone or the size of the camera bump.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first saw supply chain indications of the plans last summer, predicting that the technology would be used in 2022 iPhones …

Italian regulators have fined Apple €10M ($12M) for making misleading and unfair claims about iPhone water resistance.

The Italian antitrust authority found that Apple was guilty of two things, one of them more serious than the other …

The coronavirus crisis has changed many things. People working from home, school closures, hospitality restrictions and more. It’s no surprise, then, to find that smartphone usage has also changed.

A Kantar study found that some of these changes were temporary, shifting back and forth in line with lockdowns – but other changes appear permanent, or at least longer-lasting …

With iOS 14, Apple lets users customize their iPhone home screens with widgets for the first time — which has become extremely popular. New research by Sensor Tower reveals that nearly 15% of iPhone users in the U.S. have already installed at least one app to change the look of the iOS 14 home screen.