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If you’re having problems accessing Meta’s Instagram and Threads apps today, you’re not alone. Both services appear to be suffering from an outage that affects your ability to post and interact with content.

Want to be featured on the App Store? Develop a new feature that uses Apple’s latest technologies. Looking for a similar featured spot on Apple Podcasts? Consider charging listeners for your podcast.

Siri has recently been attempting to describe images received in Messages when using CarPlay or the announce notifications feature. In typical Siri fashion, the feature is inconsistent and with mixed results.

Nevertheless, Apple forges ahead with the promise of AI. In a newly published research paper, Apple’s AI gurus describe a system in which Siri can do much more than try to recognize what’s in an image. The best part? It thinks one of its models for doing this benchmarks better than ChatGPT 4.0.

Many iOS apps ask for precise location tracking permission by default the first time you open them. But it can be easy to forget how many or which apps you’ve given that permission. Here’s how to turn off precise iPhone location tracking.

Over the years, there have been a number of smartphones with built-in kick-stands. I always thought they were somewhat gimmicky. After spending some time various iPhone kick-stands, I am now in the “I wouldn’t hate an iPhone with a built-in stand. I’ve been testing the MOFT Phone Tripod for the past week or two, and it’s great device to keep in your travel bag.

Apple launched the new M3 MacBook Air last month, offering more powerful performance, a more durable Midnight finish, and other upgrades. In a new interview this week, Apple product marketing exec Evan Buyze offered an interesting look at how Apple optimizes the MacBook Air for travel – specifically on a plane.

A new rumor today reiterates the expectation that iOS 18 will be compatible with all the same devices as iOS 17. For iPadOS 18, however, Apple is planning to drop support for several older generation devices.

These deals are no joke. You can bring home a 15-inch M2 MacBook Air with 16GB of memory at the all-time low of $1,499 – or $400 off today. Apple’s iPhone 14 Plus is an even better value as it falls to $540, and the beloved Lutron Aurora smart bulb dimmer switch is finally on sale for the first time in ages at $33. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Siri launched with the iPhone 4S in October 2011, replacing Voice Control with a more capable virtual assistant. A dozen years later, Siri has evolved into the primary way we interact with our Apple products.

Wait, no, I’m being told Siri sounds more natural but the core technology is roughly the same. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence now means generative AI and chat bots are based on large language models.

Siri and the rest of iOS 18 will join the AI revolution in June, ending our long national nightmare of Siri being somewhere between hot garbage and kinda useful sometimes. At least that’s what’s being reported, but we don’t really have a great sense of what to expect yet.

Apple will soon release iOS 17.5 with build number 21F5048f, according to information shared on social media by a private account with a strong track record.

This account generally posts this information just before an update is released, so it’s possible iOS 17.5 beta 1 is released sometime this week. 9to5Mac has also seen growing evidence of iOS 17.5 in our Google Analytics data.

During an analysis of various splinter samples of a noteworthy macOS stealer, security researchers at Moonlock discovered one with an alarming level of sophistication. Under the disguise of the unreleased video game GTA 6, once installed, the malware executes rather clever techniques to extract sensitive information, such as passwords from a user’s local Keychain.

In typical Security Bite fashion, here’s the breakdown: how it works and how to stay safe.

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Apple is offering its employees a deep discount on two of the most expensive Apple Watch bands. According to a new report today, the Link Bracelet for Apple Watch can be had for $209 (down from $349), while the Milanese Loop price has been cut to $59 (down from $99).

Jeff and Fernando discuss WWDC and iOS 18, Home Screen customization, Siri AI, and the biggest feature that still has yet to come to iOS. We also chit-chat about Jeff’s Studio walkthrough, and the best travel tech items.

AT&T is resetting customer account passcodes after acknowledging a 2019 data leak. As reported by TechCrunch, the leak included customer records affecting 70 million current and former AT&T users. This marks the first time that AT&T has “acknowledged that the leaked data belongs to its customers.”

The leaked data includes customer names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and social security numbers.

More details here

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A few weeks ago, an IT manager I know called me out of the blue to chat. Our conversation naturally led to the state of his Apple fleet, their management challenges, and what they were working on for the future. Outside of security challenges and concerns, he came back to an issue that I think many companies are dealing with: tool sprawl.

iOS provides developers with an API to lock apps with Face ID or Touch ID. However, not every app has this option, and there’s no way to completely hide apps from your device. Luckily, “App Lock” is a simple but powerful app that helps users protect and even hide any apps on their iPhone and iPad. Read on as we detail how the app works.

As WWDC 2024 approaches, Apple this week launched a new webpage with tutorials for developers learning the first steps on how to develop using Xcode, Swift, and Swift UI. Named “Develop in Swift Tutorials,” the webpage is now live with guides showing new developers how to install Xcode and start their first Swift project.

Apple Vision Pro is currently only available in the US, but there have been a lot of rumors recently about the international expansion of the new headset. Now a report from WatchGeneration claims that Apple has been inviting employees from its retail stores in France for Vision Pro training this summer.

Aqara makes some really fantastic smart home (that are usually HomeKit compatible) accessories at really incredible prices. Last year, they launched the Aqara Smart Lock U100 with Home Key support. They’ve long supported HomeKit and, more recently, Matter. This week, Aqara introduced a new HomeKit/Matter-compatible Smart Ceiling Light.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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The iPhone 16 is widely expected to feature vertically-aligned cameras on the back, likely in order to enable spatial video recording. Newly-leaked images today give another look at this design, showing one of the first iPhone 16 cases.