Google Earth Now Works in Firefox, Edge, and Opera Browsers, Safari Support Coming Later

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Google has announced that Google Earth can now be accessed in browsers other than Chrome. From today, the new version of the interactive mapping app on the web fully supports Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers.


Earth launched on the web in 2017, but there wasn't an open web standard available at the time that could support its advanced features, so it exclusively relied on Google's Chrome-only Native Client (NaCl) technology.

The new support for other browsers was made possible by moving Google Earth for Chrome onto WebAssembly (Wasm), which Google has helped develop for the last three years. It's now the leading W3C open web standard for bringing native code to the web.

Google still aims to bring Earth to Apple's Safari browser, but admitted in its blog post that "we still have some work to do" before it can make that happen.

Google said last year that Earth would support Safari once Apple adds "better support for WebGL2" in the browser. That's still in development, according to WebKit's online Feature Status report.

In the meantime, iPhone and iPad users can check out the dedicated Google Earth iOS app, which lets you explore world from above with satellite imagery, 3D terrain of the entire globe, and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world.

Tag: Google Earth

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Apple Pulls Shadow Cloud Gaming Service From App Store for Violating Guidelines

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Cloud gaming service Shadow has had its apps removed from the App Store after it was found to be in violation of Apple's guidelines.


For those unfamiliar with the service, Shadow allows subscribers to play triple-A titles on their smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes and computers, while high-end remote servers take the burden of processing the graphically intensive games.

The French company that runs the service confirmed via a Reddit post that Apple has removed its streaming apps for iOS and Apple TV from the ‌App Store‌ for a "failure to act in accordance with a specific part of the Apple ‌App Store‌ Guidelines." The Shadow app for Macs was unaffected by the other apps' removal and remains available on the Shadow website.

In the announcement, the company said it was "currently investigating the situation" and would be working on a plan to bring Shadow back to Apple device users as soon as possible.

It's unclear what aspect of Apple's ‌App Store‌ policy the service has contravened, but the situation sounds similar to when Apple rejected Valve's Steam Link app in May 2018 due to ‌App Store‌ review guideline violations related to in-app purchases.

Valve's app eventually returned to the ‌App Store‌ a later, but only after it removed the option to purchase games from within the app.

Tag: Shadow

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Apple Seeds Third Beta of watchOS 6.2 to Developers

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Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the second beta and a month after the release of watchOS 6.1.2 with bug fixes.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.


To install the update, the ‌‌‌‌‌Apple Watch‌‌‌‌‌ needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the ‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌.

watchOS 6.2 introduces ‌Apple Watch‌ App Store support for in-app purchases, which will allow developers to create and sell ‌Apple Watch‌ apps that offer in-app purchase options and subscriptions.

Code in iOS 13.4, the companion update to watchOS 6.2, suggests that both the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌Apple Watch‌ will in the future have a “CarKey” feature that will let them be used in lieu of a car key to unlock NFC-capable vehicles. It’s not clear if this feature will be available when watchOS 6.2 launches, but it is in the works.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 6

Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

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Apple Seeds Third Beta of Upcoming tvOS 13.4 Update to Developers

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Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 13.4 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the second beta and a month after the release of tvOS 13.3.1.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 13.4 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌Apple TV‌ using a profile that's installed using Xcode.


tvOS updates are typically minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes.

The tvOS 13.4 update introduces some minor design changes to streamline the look of the TV app interface, plus it introduces Family Sharing integration so users can access iTunes content purchased by family members without having to leave the app.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 13

Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

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Apple Seeds Third Betas of iOS and iPadOS 13.4 to Developers

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Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.4 updates to developers, one week after the release of the second betas and a month after the release of iOS and iPadOS 13.3.1.


iOS and ‌‌‌iPadOS‌‌‌ 13.4 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer center or over the air once the proper developer profile has been installed. On the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, Apple requires the beta to be installed over the air using the configuration profile.

iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.4 are major updates, bringing several major new features to the iPhone and the iPad. There's a new toolbar in the Mail app that's available when viewing an email, featuring a more logical design to address complaints about the Mail layout in iOS 13.

The update design moves the reply icon away from the delete icon, making it much harder to accidentally delete an email, and it adds Folder and Compose icons.


iCloud Folder Sharing, designed to let users share folders in iCloud Drive with other people, is available as of iOS 13.4. ‌iCloud‌ Folder Sharing was first announced at WWDC last year, but it has taken Apple several months to implement it. The feature shows real-time updates so file changes will sync across the devices of all people with access to a specific folder.


There are nine new Memoji and Animoji stickers included in the update, featuring emoji-style poses like shocked face, face with hearts, eyes rolling, and more.


There are new Settings in the TV app that are designed to allow users to control streaming and downloading over WiFi and cellular, introducing new data saving options for those without unlimited streaming plans.


There are hints of a new CarKey API in iOS 13.4, which would allow the ‌iPhone‌ to be used to lock, unlock, and start a car that has NFC capabilities. This functionality hasn't been announced by Apple as of yet, but it will ‌iPhone‌ owners to use their devices in lieu of a car key. Sharing features will also be available for assigning keys to friends and family members through the Messages app.

Though not an iOS specific feature, Apple with iOS 13.4, macOS 10.15.4, tvOS 13.4, and Xcode 11.4 is allowing developers to create apps with universal purchase support, which means Apple device users will be able to purchase one app that works across multiple platforms.

There are new controls for calls and third-party navigation apps in CarPlay, along with keyboard shortcuts for the Photos app, changes to location requests for apps requesting user location, a new Shazam Shortcuts action, options for remapping hardware keys of a keyboard connected to the ‌iPad‌, and more.


For a full list of all the new features that have been found in iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.4 so far, make sure to check out our dedicated what's new articles for beta 1 and beta 2.

Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS

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Eero Mesh WiFi Routers Gain HomeKit Support

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Eero's lineup of routers now support HomeKit, eight months after Apple announced Amazon-owned Eero as one of the companies adding HomeKit support back in June at WWDC.

Any Eero, Eero Pro, or Eero Beacon running the eeroOS 3.18.0 update or later is now able to be added to the Home app using a setup process in the Eero app.


‌HomeKit‌ for routers is a feature that was added in iOS 13, and it is designed to firewall off smart home devices for a more secure ‌HomeKit‌ experience. With ‌HomeKit‌ for routers, smart home products are not able to communicate outside the home without user permission, so if one ‌HomeKit‌ device becomes compromised, others remain safe.

There are multiple security settings that can be enabled for HomeKit-connected routers, as outlined by Eero.

- Automatic: allows an accessory to communicate to the devices and services approved by its manufacturer, preventing access by unauthorized services.

- Restrict to Home: allows an accessory to communicate only to ‌HomeKit‌ on your Apple devices. You will be able to manage your accessories through the Home app, but this may reduce some functionality, such as firmware updates.

- No restriction: allows an accessory to communicate with every device in your home, and any website or service on the internet, much like other devices on your home network.

After a HomeKit-connected router is added to a ‌HomeKit‌ setup, Apple recommends all WiFi-based ‌HomeKit‌ devices be removed and re-added to your setup to ensure that the connections are secure.

Eero is the first router manufacturer to add support for ‌HomeKit‌ to its devices, but ‌HomeKit‌ support is also coming to Linksys and Charter/Spectrum routers.

Tags: HomeKit, eero

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