Safari

A new report from Asian site TechNews.tw claims information from the Apply supply chain points to the next generation iPad Air doubling up on RAM from 1GB to 2GB. The additional memory would benefit system performance, especially during multitasking, when more memory-intesive tasks like browsing multiple websites in Safari and using other apps requires more RAM to function smoothly.

While most of the parts and component leaks out of the supply chain have centered around the next generation iPhone, which is expected to debut at an Apple event next month, the new report that the next generation iPad Air will double its memory follows a Bloomberg report earlier this month that new iPads with an anti-reflective coating over the display have entered production.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple today has released new versions of Safari for OS X Lion/Mountain Lion and OS X Mavericks that address security and WebKit issues. The Safari 6.1.6 update for the older versions of OS X and Safari 7.0.6 update for the latest OS X are available in Software Update on the Mac App Store. Here are the release notes from Apple’s support page:

Expand
Expanding
Close

The popular online service Wikipedia has re-launched its iOS app with a new native version that features editing and an offline mode. The free app has some unique features other than browsing through Wikipedia entires, as Wikipedia tells us:

• Fastest way to get into the content. Other highly-rated unofficial free iOS apps have hurdles to access the content. Either downloading some content, or just simply not being able to dive right in to it. That doesn’t happen with the official app.
• You can edit with this app, unlike other unofficial apps. And you can do it logged out, if you choose.
• Wikipedia Zero for developing and emerging countries. If you’re on one of the participating operators, you can use Wikipedia free of data charges.

Wikipedia also shared some other important features:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple today provided a few new seeds to developers. First on the list is the first beta build of the upcoming OS X 10.9.5. The build is labeled as 13F7, and it will likely come as the final update to OS X Mavericks, which will be succeeded by OS X Yosemite in October. The update is available for Mavericks users signed up for pre-release updates in the Software Update section in the Mac App Store.

It also now available on the official Developer Center. Apple asks developers to focus on Safari, USB, USB Smart Cards, and Graphics for this update…

Expand
Expanding
Close

http://vimeo.com/102142106

The popular password and security management app 1Password has already previewed its iOS 8 extension and Touch ID support for unlocking and accessing its content outside of its iOS app, and today AgileBits has announced its 1Password app extension for third party apps as you can see in the video above.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Earlier this month Apple seeded the first beta versions of Safari 7.1 (for Mavericks) and 6.2 (for Mountain Lion) to developers. Tonight a second beta has been published. Interestingly, aside from the focus areas outlined with the previous beta, Apple is also requesting that developers taking this beta for a spin try out the password and credit card auto-fill feature.

The 7.1 and 6.2 updates are expected to be the last big updates to those specific versions of Apple’s browser before the release of OS X Yosemite, which ships with Safari 8. The 7.1/6.2 update features big changes to the WebKit engine and extensions systems built into Safari. You can find the full seed notes for this beta below:

Expand
Expanding
Close

 

Apple has released a new beta version of Safari to beta testers in the AppleSeed program and Mac developers. The new version for Mavericks is 7.1, while Moutain Lion users will see version 6.2. The update includes several upgrades to the WebKit engine that powers the browser.

According to the release notes, the changes include support for WebGL, IndexedDB, and JavaScript tweaks, among other things. There is also apparently a change to the way the app handles extensions, as the beta disables all installed add-ons by default and the notes request that developers check for any compatiblity issues.

Version 7.1 will likely be the last major update to Safari for Mavericks before the launch of OS X Yosemite, which will include the all-new Safari 8. The full seed notes for this beta are below:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Two weeks following the 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference and the release of the first beta build of iOS 8 to developers, Apple has provided iOS 8 beta 2 to developers. The new release is available over-the-air in iOS 8’s Settings menu, and it’s available for supported iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches.

iOS 8 officially launches this fall and includes several new features for both consumers and developers alike. iOS Device users will experience a new Health app for integrating health and fitness data, improvements to Safari, enhanced Messages features, design tweaks in Mail, and significant changes to notifications, photo management, and the keyboard. Developers will now be able to create third-party keyboards, integrate the Touch ID fingerprint scanner into apps, and integrate third-party home automation products with iOS.

We’ll be updating this post (below) with new features in iOS 8 beta 2 as they are discovered, and you can share your findings with us via email at tips@9to5mac.com. 

Expand
Expanding
Close

In iOS 8, Apple is making the process of logging into apps a much smoother experience by allowing native iOS apps to access usernames and passwords stored in Safari. The new feature, which works by letting iOS apps tap into Safari’s AutoFill & Passwords feature, will allow users to login to apps with a simple tap rather than having to type login info. Imagine your username and password are stored in Safari’s AutoFill for Facebook, for example. When launching the native Facebook iOS app, the feature will let users select from passwords stored in Safari to quickly login (as pictured above with Apple’s demo “Shiny” app).
Expand
Expanding
Close

As we reported in May, Apple is working on a split-screen multitasking feature for iPad apps for a version of iOS 8. The feature, akin to the key productivity function on the Microsoft Surface, was not announced at WWDC last week, but code references to the feature have been found across the iOS 8 Software Development Kit.

Now, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has dug further into the upcoming split-screen multitasking feature and has hacked the iOS 8 iPad Simulator to make the function partially work. As can be seen  above, Safari is taking up half the display. The tweaking to the simulator is yet to completely unlock all functionality with two different apps running side by side, but this demonstrates that Apple has been definitely testing the feature internally.

Troughton-Smith has also put together a video showing the split-screen mode in action on the simulator. That video can be seen below:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Now you’ve had a chance to catch up on our coverage of the main new features of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, and seen our hands-on videos (iOS 8 overview, OS X Yosemite overview, iOS 8 Spotlight and iOS 8 interactive notifications), we’d like to hear your first impressions of each.

Whether you’re blown away by all the new features, disappointed by things you wanted but didn’t get, or just a bit underwhelmed, here’s your chance to let us know.

We’ve summarized the features Apple has chosen to highlight, and there are separate polls for each platform … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

With an estimated half a million sites vulnerable to the “Heartbleed” vulnerability revealed earlier this week, which allows an attacker to access user details of websites previously believed to be secured by industry-standard SSL/TLS, your favorite social networks, stores, and other services around the web could potentially be handing out your password or other personal information to anyone who exploits the issue.

The bug exists in a library called OpenSSL, which is an open-source SSL implementation that many—but not all—web services use to secure sensitive traffic. If a website you use is affected by the bug, your personal data could be given to just about anyone. Unfortunately, changing your password on an unsecure site won’t even help unless the site’s owners have installed a fix (because the attackers can simply exploit the bug again to get your new password).

This serious issue affects a number of high-profile sites, but it seems your Apple ID is safe. Today, Apple gave the following statement to Re/code:

Expand
Expanding
Close

 

After updating iWork for iCloud and its Mac and iOS counterparts, Apple has pushed out a new Safari update as well. The new version is 7.0.3 and contains mostly bug and security fixes. Apple has been beta testing this update with developers for the past few weeks. The two biggest parts of this update are changes to push notifications and the way URLs are handled.

For users who don’t want to be asked about push notifications from any site, there’s now a checkbox in the notification preferences that disables them entirely. Unchecking the box for “Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications” (seen above) will block all notification prompts in the future.

The second big change enables Safari to recognize new generic top-level domains (the .com bit at the end of the URL). The organization responsible for managing these has recently created several new ones for generic terms (like “.pizza”). Safari will now recognize these and go to the correct URL rather than trying to search for the term.
Expand
Expanding
Close

As usual, the annual Pwn2Own contest featured many hackers targeting the latest operating systems and browsers from the major vendors, including Apple. Threatpost reports that the “Keen Team” focused Safari on Thursday and exploited it with relative ease.

The team took home a $40,000 bounty for their efforts on Safari, as well as a share in a $75,000 prize for co-engineering a zero-day Flash exploit. They say they will donate some of their winnings towards charities representing missing Malaysian Airplane passengers.

The group say that for Safari, they used two different exploit vectors. One vulnerability was a heap overflow in WebKit that enabled arbitrary code execution. The team then used this opening to use another exploit to bypass the application sandbox and run code as if it was user privileged.

Expand
Expanding
Close