Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Apple Launches Audio Stories in Apple News, Adds Local News in Five Regions

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As part of the iOS 13.6 and macOS 10.15.6 updates, Apple is introducing new features for Apple News and its Apple News+ subscription service, including audio stories.


Audio stories include audio versions of the best stories from ‌Apple News‌, a daily audio news briefing created by ‌Apple News‌ editors, and curated local news collections launching in five cities and regions.

‌Apple News‌ editors plan to release about 20 audio stories per week across a wide range of interests, with the stories narrated by professional voice actors. Apple says we can expect pieces from Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and newspapers that include The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

‌Apple News‌ audio stories are a feature limited to ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers in the United States, but the daily audio news briefing, called ‌Apple News‌ Today, is free for all ‌Apple News‌ users.

‌Apple News‌ Today will feature highlights of some of the "most fascinating stories in the news" and will be available Monday through Friday in the ‌Apple News‌ app in the United States and in Apple Podcasts.

Along with audio stories, Apple is adding new local and regional news outlets for readers, including The Charlotte Observer, the Miami Herald, and The News & Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina, plus a curated local news experience available in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

The curated news feature will include coverage of topics that are important to local communities like dining and restaurants, weather, news and politics, and more.
"‌Apple News‌ showcases so much great journalism, and we're excited to help bring it to life in new ways with ‌Apple News‌+ audio stories and a new daily news show, ‌Apple News‌ Today," said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of ‌Apple News‌. "We also greatly value our many local news partners -- our new local news feature highlights their work for readers who live, and are interested, in those communities."
The new ‌Apple News‌ features are available today as part of the free iOS 13.6 update. Audio stories and ‌Apple News‌ Today can be accessed through the new "Audio" tab in the ‌Apple News‌ app. ‌Apple News‌ is free, while ‌Apple News‌+ costs $9.99 per month after a one-month free trial. Just today, Best Buy began offering a four month free trial for those who are new subscribers and a three month free trial for those who subscribed before.
Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS

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Apple Releases iOS 13.6 With Car Key, Toggle to Turn Off Automatic Update Downloads, Audio Apple News+ Stories and More

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Apple today released iOS and iPadOS 13.6, major updates that come more than a month after the launch of iOS and iPadOS 13.5.1. iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.6 introduce new Health, Apple News, and software update features.


The iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.6 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released an iOS 12.4.8 update for older devices unable to run iOS 13.

The software introduces a toggle for customizing updates, providing users with granular control over the downloading and installing of new iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ versions.


iOS users can decide if their iPhone or iPad should automatically download an iOS update when connected to WiFi, and when that update should be installed.

A Download iOS Updates toggle turns automatic downloads on or off, and an Install iOS Updates toggle lets users choose to install a software update overnight as a device charges. The new update feature will be a welcome change for ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ users who prefer to stay on older versions of iOS and do not want their devices to update automatically.

iOS 13.6 also brings support for Car Key, a feature available in both ‌iOS 13‌ and iOS 14. Car Key is designed to allow an ‌iPhone‌ or an Apple Watch to be used in lieu of a physical key to unlock an NFC-enabled vehicle.


Car Key needs to be implemented by car manufacturers to function, and BMW is one of Apple's first partners. BMW's Digital Key for ‌iPhone‌ feature will let ‌iPhone‌ owners tap to unlock their vehicles, start the car by placing the ‌iPhone‌ in the smartphone tray, place limitations on young drivers, and share keys with up to five other users.

Car Key will work in a wide range of BMW models, including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4 if manufactured after July 1, 2020. An iPhone XR, XS, ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 5, or newer is required, as is the iOS 13.6 update.

In the Health app, there's a new "Symptoms" section that lets users add symptoms of various illnesses, choosing from options such as body and muscle aches, appetite changes, coughing, dizziness, headache, nausea, and more.


For the ‌Apple News‌ app, iOS 13.6 adds a feature that saves your place in an ‌Apple News‌ article when you start reading something and then exit out of the article or app, handy for long-form content.

‌Apple News‌ in iOS 13.6 also includes new Apple News+ Audio feature where Apple will offer some news stories in an audio capacity, but this option was not activated during the beta.

Apple's full release notes for the update are available below:
iOS 13.6 adds support for digital car keys, introduces audio stories in ‌Apple News‌+, and contains a new symptoms category in the Health app. This release also includes bug fixes and improvements.

Digital car keys
- Unlock, lock, and start your compatible car with your ‌iPhone‌
- Securely remove digital keys from a lost device via iCloud
- Share digital keys easily with iMessage
- Driver-specific profiles so you can configure shared keys for full-access or restricted driving
- Power reserve lets you unlock and start your car for up to five hours after ‌iPhone‌ runs out of battery

‌Apple News‌
- Audio stories are professionally narrated versions of some of the best reads from ‌Apple News‌+, selected and produced by the ‌Apple News‌ editors as part of your ‌Apple News‌+ subscription
- ‌Apple News‌ Today is a new, free audio briefing on the day's top stories from the ‌Apple News‌ editors, also available in the Podcasts app
- A new Audio tab makes it easy to find ‌Apple News‌ Today and Apple

News+ audio stories
- CarPlay allows you to listen to ‌Apple News‌ Today and ‌Apple News‌+ audio stories while on the road
- Local news in your Today feed provides extensive coverage of San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City
- More stories available from local news providers with a subscription to ‌Apple News‌+
- Your daily newsletter from ‌Apple News‌ can now be personalized with stories that reflect your interests

Health
- New category for symptoms in the Health app, including symptoms logged from Cycle Tracking and ECG
- Ability to log new symptoms, like fever, chills, sore throat or coughing, and share them with third-party apps

This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements.
- Adds a new setting to choose if updates automatically download to your device when on Wi-Fi
- Addresses an issue that could cause apps to become unresponsive when syncing data from iCloud Drive
- Fixes an issue that could cause data roaming to appear to be disabled on eSIM even though it remained active
- Fixes an issue thats causes some phone calls from Saskatchewan to appear as originating from the United States
- Addresses an issue that could interrupt audio when making phone calls over Wi-Fi Calling
- Fixes an issues that prevented some ‌iPhone‌ 6S and iPhone SE devices from registering for Wi-Fi Calling
- Resolves an issue that could cause the software keyboard to appear unexpectedly when connected to certain third-party hardware keyboards
- Fixes an issue that could cause Japanese hardware keyboards to be incorrectly mapped as a U.S. keyboard
- Addresses stability issues when accessing Control Center when Assistive Touch was enabled
- Provides a mechanism for administrators to specify domains to exclude from traffic carried by always-on VPN connections
iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.6 could be one of the final updates to the ‌iOS 13‌ operating system as Apple shifts its focus to iOS 14, which is available for developers and public beta testers and set to be released this fall.
Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS

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Apple Releases macOS Catalina 10.15.6 With New Apple News Features and Fix for USB Issue

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Apple today released macOS Catalina 10.15.6, the sixth official update to the ‌macOS Catalina‌ operating system that was released in October 2019. ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.6 comes over a month after the launch of macOS Catalina 10.15.5 with Battery Health Management features.


‌‌macOS Catalina‌‌ 10.15.6 is a free update that can be downloaded from the Mac App Store using the Update feature in the System Preferences app.

No new features were found in ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.6 during the beta testing period, but the update adds local Apple News stories in San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City, plus it introduces customization for the daily newsletter from ‌Apple News‌.

Apple says the update also fixes an issue where certain USB mouse and trackpads could lose connection, which is a problem that was affecting USB 2.0 devices that were used with new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.
‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.6 introduces local news in your Today feed in ‌Apple News‌ and improves the security and reliability of your Mac.

‌Apple News‌
- Local news in your Today feed provides extensive coverage of San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City
- More stories available from local news providers with a subscription to ‌Apple News‌+
- Your daily newsletter from ‌Apple News‌ can now be personalized with stories that reflect your interests

This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements.
- Adds a new option to optimize video streaming on HDR-compatible Mac notebooks for improved battery life
- Fixes an issue where the computer name may change after installing a software update
- Resolves an issue where certain USB mouse and trackpads may lose connection

Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices.
For more detailed information about this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210642
For detailed information about the security content of this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222
‌macOS Catalina‌ may 10.15.6 may be one of the final updates to the ‌macOS Catalina‌ operating system as Apple shifts its focus to macOS Big Sur, the newest version of macOS set to be released this fall.
Related Roundup: macOS Catalina

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Apple Releases watchOS 6.2.8 With Car Keys Support

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Apple today released watchOS 6.2.8, the 10th update to the watchOS 6 operating system that runs on modern Apple Watch models. watchOS 6.2.8 comes a month after the launch of watchOS 6.2.6, a security update.


watchOS 6.2.8 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌.

watchOS 6.2.8 introduces Car Key, a feature also available on the ‌iPhone‌ with iOS 13.6. Car Key is designed to allow an ‌iPhone‌ or an ‌Apple Watch‌ to be used in lieu of a physical key to unlock an NFC-enabled vehicle.

Car Key needs to be implemented by car manufacturers to function, and BMW is one of Apple's first partners. BMW's Digital Key for ‌iPhone‌ feature will let ‌iPhone‌ owners tap to unlock their vehicles, start the car by placing the ‌iPhone‌ in the smartphone tray, place limitations on young drivers, and share keys with up to five other users.



Car Key will work in a wide range of BMW models, including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4 if manufactured after July 1st 2020. An ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 5 or newer is required, as is the watchOS 6.2.8 update.

No other new features were found during the watchOS 6.2.8 beta testing period, and according to Apple's release notes, the update also brings ECG support and irregular heart rate notifications to Bahrain, Brazil, and South Africa.
watchOS 6.2.8 includes new features and improvements:
- Adds support for digital car keys for ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 5
- ECG app on ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 or later now available in Bahrain, Brazil, and South Africa
- Irregular heart rhythm notifications now available in Bahrain, Brazil, and South Africa
watchOS 6.2.8 will be one of the last updates to the ‌watchOS 6‌ operating system that will be retired later this year in favor of watchOS 7, new software announced at WWDC.
Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 6, watchOS 7
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

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Apple Releases tvOS 13.4.8 for Fourth and Fifth-Generation Apple TV Models

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Apple today released tvOS 13.4.8, the fifth update to the tvOS operating system that runs on the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. tvOS 13.4.8 comes over a month after the launch of tvOS 13.4.5.


tvOS 13.4.8, a free update, can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the ‌‌Apple TV‌‌ by going to System > Software Update. ‌‌Apple TV‌‌ owners who have automatic software updates enabled will be upgraded to tvOS 13.4.8 automatically.

tvOS updates are almost always minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and small feature tweaks rather than major outward-facing changes.

There were no new features found during the beta testing period, so it's not know what's included in the update. Apple will share details on the tvOS 13.4.8 software release in its tvOS support document, but release notes often don't contain much more information than general performance and stability improvements.
Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 13, tvOS 14
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

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Apple Releases New 13.4.8 Software for HomePod

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Alongside of iOS and iPadOS 13.6, Apple today released new 13.4.8 software for the HomePod. According to Apple's release notes, the update brings no new features and instead focuses on "general improvements for stability and quality."


The new ‌HomePod‌ software comes two months after the release of the ‌HomePod‌ 13.4.5 software, which also included general improvements for stability and quality.

‌HomePod‌‌ software is installed automatically on the ‌‌HomePod‌‌, but the ‌‌HomePod‌‌ can also be manually updated by following the instructions in our ‌‌HomePod‌‌ update how to.
Related Roundup: HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Caution)

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[Update: Out of Beta] Firefox creator Mozilla launches standalone VPN for Android, Chrome OS and Windows


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