Samsung has been at the forefront of Android smartphones for quite sometime now. Samsung has also led the charge in getting iPhone users over to the Android boat. The employed many tactics for this. They poked fun at Apple in their own ads, they offer incentives for Apple users choosing to opt into Android, they made data transfer from an iPhone to Galaxy smartphone much simpler and hassle free than before, and they encourage iPhone users to try the Galaxy devices as much as they can. In their latest effort, iPhone users get to use the Samsung Galaxy S23 for free, on their iPhone that is.
They cheekily call it the Galaxy app. Yes, it is an app that will run the Galaxy S23 interface on your iPhone. It is not available on the Apple App Store, so you have to download it via web. It is also not a proper app that overlays your iPhone with Android 13 based One UI 5.1 interface. It is a web app, a web page that lets you test run the Galaxy S23 on the web.
But it is not just some web app that lets you scroll through the home page, the app tray, and nothing else. It allows you to try the camera interface too, through your iPhone cameras and experience things like Nightography and Night Mode. You can even try apps like Photo Remaster on the web app, allowing you to edit whatever photos you take on the app. All this is to show how powerful a Samsung Galaxy S23 camera system is. You can even try gaming on the Galaxy S23 to see how smooth it can be, although you are not technically playing a game.
Of course, you can customise your Galaxy S23 experience all on the web app. You can change the wallpaper, background, themes, icons, and even more that is available on One UI 5.1. The app is also designed specifically for iPhone, so it will not do anything if you try going on your web browser on your PC to test it out. If you are on an Android device, there will also be an attached warning for the web app. In that case, if you are on an iPhone, you can test out the web app and try out the Samsung Galaxy S23 yourself via their web app.
It is that time again, that time to update your iPhone. No, not buy a new iPhone, just update its operating system (OS). The iOS 16.4 is here!
Apple’s release notes should be a good enough indication of what you technically can expect from your iPhone once you update it. In this update, you get some bug fixes as expected, but you also get plenty of new emojis you can use for iMessage. Of course, it is not just about those.
New Emojis
Source Apple
That is the first thing they listed in their release notes for the new version of iOS. To be fair, they did release 21 new emojis for you to use. You get a new shaking head, pink heart, blue heart, grey heart, and a few new animals like a donkey or a moose now. There are also a few new objects you get like flute, maracas, a comb, and even a pea pod, for some reason. You get a few new hand gesture emojis too, like a ‘talk to the hand’ in left and right variations.
Push Notifications for Webs
Your websites now can send your iPhone a push notification if you add the webpage to your home screen. While it is something that just makes sense, the feature has never been a thing before for Apple’s iPhones. You can now opt in for notifications from your favourite websites. You can also easily opt out from notifications via the notification tab in Settings. Your notification can be received on the iPhone itself, viewed from the lock screen, or you can even get your web app to notify you on your Apple Watch. Since it is a new feature, not all websites might work with push notification.
The web push notification is also supported by Focus. You can choose which notifications appear at whatever appropriate time you set.
To be fair, the feature has been teased and mentioned when iOS 16 was launched. The feature was not included with the original iOS 16.0 release though. It is now, so you cannot say that Apple does not deliver on their promised features.
More for Podcasts
Source: Apple
iOS 16.4 has not just added a tonne of new emojis to the iPhone. It offers big update to Apple’s Podcasts app. Users can now see the channels that they are subscribed to on the top of their library. If users follow a show that is part of a channel, that channel will also appear in their library so that they can also explore other shows from the same channel.
They have also updated the ‘Up Next’ feature. Apple Podcasts helps queue new episodes from shows that users follow or channels that users subscribe to. The feature is not only for shows users follow though, it will also play other podcast shows or episodes they do not follow. Once the show is fully played, Apple Podcasts will remove it from your ‘Up Next’ list.
You have more overview of the podcasts that you have or have not played too. It is not a huge change in interface, but your followed, played, and unplayed podcasts now surface better. You can see more of your subscriptions and probably have a better overview to what you are paying for.
All of these functions mentioned will also go to CarPlay. Of course, you still have to access Apple Podcasts on CarPlay to access the new ‘Up Next and Browse’ interface. The Browse tab allows users discover even more shows they might like in the comfort of their car.
AppleCare Overview
You can also now see your AppleCare coverage right on your iPhone. You can go to Settings and find out what sort of warranty coverage that is available to you iPhone and even how long you have left before your iPhone goes out of coverage.
Emergency SOS via Satellite Expanded
Source: Apple
Emergency SOS is not necessarily a brand-new function to iPhone. It is not available everywhere in the world though. In the case that you live outside of the coverage area like North America, you are out of luck. The new iOS 16.4 expands its availability to six more countries though.
If you own an iPhone 14 with iOS 16.4 installed and you live in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal, you now can use Emergency SOS. It connects to Globalstar satellites where available and allows users to send text messages to emergency dispatch even without a cellular signal. It is a subscription-based service though, oddly enough. Users get to use the function for free for two years after activating their iPhone 14. For existing iPhone 14 users in newly supported countries, their two-year deal starts as soon as they update to iOS 16.4.
They have also expanded the emergency calling feature. Users will automatically connect to 112 in their emergency in case there is no cellular signal. Of course, since it is a satellite technology, you want to ensure that you have a clear line of sight of the sky at least to function it.
PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge Controller Support
The subheading should be an explanation on its own. Sony’s DualSense Edge is Sony’s answer to the high-end aftermarket controllers in the market. Since it is new, it is not supported on the iOS, until now at least.
Even More Security Patches
Source: Apple
Every new update should come with security updates. On The new iOS 16.4 there are over 30 security and bug fixes. Apple found possible exploits to accessibility feature that could allow third-party apps access to user information and patched that. They have also fixed potential exploits that affects Apple Neural Engine, Calendar, Camera, CarPlay, Bluetooth, Find My iPhone, iCloud, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari browser. There was also a kernel exploit that allows codes to be executed on your iPhone without your knowledge.
Time to Install iOS 16.4
iOS 16.4 is now available for your latest iPhones. You might not care about the PlayStation DualSense Edge, or the new emojis. You do not want to ignore the security concerns that your iOS device can raise though. Most updates bring not only new features to your smartphone, they also bring new security patches that can help protect you in the long run. The iOS 16.4’s full release notes are as below.
This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent’s device
Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models”
The INSTAX cameras are a lot of fun. In any social gathering, the INSTAX camera and printer can capture great memories and you can physically keep the photos for these occasions and start a collection. There is only one issue, with most INSTAX cameras, there is no way for you to digitally store the photos. This is where INSTAX UP! app comes in.
It is not another camera app. You do not need another camera app on your smartphone, since most modern smartphones offer better than ever camera experiences today. But it still does rely on using your smartphone’s camera.
Instead of capturing the regular things like portrait or objects in street photography, it captures your INSTAX print outs. It can even recognize the type of print you are using including mini, SQUARE, and WIDE films. To ensure that the digital copy is free of all sorts of blemish, the app automatically reduces glare on the photos in challenging conditions. You can even adjust the contrast, brightness, and even colour vividness and temperature after capturing the photos. All that is then stored in your smartphone digitally so that you can reprint the image using an INSTAX printer if you want.
There are more you can do with your INSTAX photos now with the INSTAX UP! app. There is a new ‘photo in photo’ mode. You can take the print and put it against a backdrop of a scenery or other photos to be shared across social media directly from the app itself. You can even compile your favourite photos within the app. While compiling your collection, you can shake the app to mimic the INSTAX films being tossed around in a box. You can even share this collection with your friends directly from the app.
The app even allows you to choose how you want to view your INSTAX photos. You can keep it neat and organized in the ‘list view’ mode. Or, if you do not mind a little bit of chaos, there is the ‘box view’ mode that makes it look like you tossed your INSTAX films all into a box. You can also find a few ‘tips and tricks’ from the app itself in taking photos and portraits that will look good on and INSTAX films or even how to spice up your home and room with INSTAX products.
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
Source: FUJIFILM
The app is now available for free on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. The app, as mentioned, is compatible with any INSTAX film and photos that has been printed. Again, it is not a camera app. You can find out more about the INSTAX UP! and other products from their website.
The Apple iPad, in our humble opinions, is still the best type of table device out there. Well, when you consider that the iPad is no longer just one tablet, and that Apple makes all kinds of tablets to suit different types of users, it is clear why we say that the Apple iPad range is the most versatile range of tablets out there. Even just the regular iPad offers a better tablet experience than most Android tablets.
There are plenty of reasons why the Apple iPad range is so successful and sought after. The one thing that really sets Apple’s iPad apart is the operating system, the iPadOS. While it did start out as a glorified and enlarged version of the iOS, it really is in a class of its own today, especially with iPadOS 16 that is just released today. So, what is new?
New Messages Feature
Source: Apple
While the most popular messaging app in the region (Malaysia) is still WhatsApp, Apple’s Messages app has gone from strength to strength with every new iteration. In their latest iPadOS 16, you can now edit, unsend, and mark conversations as unread. That also means you get a little more control over your messages, who you send the messages to, and how you send the messages. If you made a mistake, simply retract the message instead of explaining that you made a mistake.
Via the new Messages app as well, users can invite their friends and family to SharePlay. Simply send them a SharePlay invite via Messages, and they can also join into the fun of watching a movie or TV show together, game together, or even workout together. For work, collaboration invitations can be sent via Messages, and everyone tagged on that messages thread can be automatically added to a document or spreadsheet.
Smarter Mail
Source: Apple
No more missing your emails with iPadOS 16. You now can mark an email with ‘Remind me’ feature so that you can always come back to the email later. That way, you can put emails in backburners and not forget to respond to the email or act accordingly. At the same time Mail will now alert you if you forgot to include recipients and attachments into your email just before you send it out. If you feel like you have made a mistake, you can retract or cancel delivery of the mail before it even reaches the recipients inbox. If you need to, you can even schedule your emails to be sent out at specific times.
Share Your iCloud Library
Source: Apple
Sharing is caring, and that holds true especially when it comes to your family. Via iCloud Shared Photo Library, up to six family members can share, edit, contribute, and enjoy the photos within the library. Of course, all the shared photos will appear in each user’s Memories and Featured Photos as well. Family moments, after all, is meant to be shared.
Safer Safari
Source: Apple
Apple has also included passkeys with Safari with next-generation credential encryption feature. With passkeys, you can be sure that your credentials will never fall into the wrong hands. You simply use Touch ID or Face ID for all your verification needs. This function is synced across devices with iCloud Keychain. For better collaboration, Tab Groups allows you to share groups of webpages with your family and friends. Your friends and family can even add tabs to the group, and you can see what everyone is viewing.
Even Better Collaboration with Freeform
Source: Apple
The iPad is meant to be just more than an enlarged display for entertainment purposes. The iPad is also meant to be a productivity tool that offers a larger canvas to work with compared to smartphones. With Freeform, it becomes a powerful productivity and collaborative tool that allows users to share and work on the same canvas. With full support for Apple Pencil, the iPad takes collaborative productivity to the next level. Freeform also allows you to keep track of changes made by each user.
Weather App Comes to iPad
Source: Apple
Of course, with the larger real estate of the iPad’s display, you really want to fully take advantage. The Weather app does just that complete with immersive animations, detailed maps, and forecasts. With a single tap, users can check on precipitation, air quality, and temperature of the region. If there is a severe weather alert issued in the area, users will also be notified via the Weather app.
Drag and Drop
Source: Apple
With iPadOS 16 users can also pick up objects from within images to be put into apps like messages with Visual Look Up. The feature now also recognizes birds, insects, and statues. Live Text is also better at understanding texts in videos throughout the system. Users can easily transpose videos and audio to text and quickly copy and paste the texts.
Pro Workflow
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Exclusive to the iPad Pro, iPadOS 16 makes it an even more indispensable tool for the ones working in the creative industry. Taking advantage of the highly vivid and accurate Liquid Retina XDR display on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the OS allows users to use the iPad as a reference display for your editing workflow. This is especially useful for colour grading your work on or for visual approval work too.
Multitasking with Stage Manager
Source: Apple
Apple has teased Stage Manager for a while now and it has come to the iPadOS 16, finally. It works pretty much like custom widow groups in Windows OS. You can group apps that are open together and layer apps on top of each other and open all of them simultaneously so that you do not lose time switching from one task to another. You can even create a group of apps that can be opened together in the Dock area to save even more time on your workflows. At the same time, an update that will be brought forth to the M1 and M2 versions of the iPad Pro will allow the tablet to support external displays with up to 6K in resolution.
Availability
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Apple’s iPadOS 16 is now available for download over-the-air (OTA) for your Apple tablet. Of course, you want to make sure that you have an Apple iPad no older than the 5th generation. If you own a 5th generation iPad Mini and later, you get to enjoy iPadOS 16 too. All iPad Pro models will get iPadOS 16 update. More on Apple’s iPadOS 16 can be found on their website.
For the longest time, one of the biggest problems when it comes to moving from one smartphone platform to the other is data transfers and backup. To be fair, when you change from one Android manufacturer to the other, transferring your data can be as easy as setting up a Wi-Fi Direct connection with your older device today. It is a slightly different story when you shift from Android to an iPhone platform though. You tend to have to accept that most of your data will be gone and you must start building your own ecosystem from scratch. One of those databases that might be important to you is your messenger data, specifically WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is one of the only messengers currently active within both the Android and iOS ecosystem that relies on storing data locally. While that is better in terms of security, privacy, and encryption, it makes life a little difficult when you want to transfer your data between devices. For Android devices, WhatsApp can work with Google’s Drive platform to offer data backup and restoration. In iOS devices, WhatsApp relies on Apple’s iCloud service, which is a completely different platform entirely that has nothing to do with Google’s Drive cloud storage platform. That creates a problem when you shift from Android devices to iOS devices and vice versa.
Luckily, WhatsApp knows that this is a problem and has been working hard to rectify the issue, just so that users have more options in terms of choosing their next devices. Now, they have found a sort of solution. We say sort of because it currently only works one way and not the other.
WhatsApp has released an additional app that is available for free on the Google Play Store to make this shift happen. They call it the ‘Move to iOS’ app, which may be rather unoriginal, but straightforward. There are a few requirements to transferring your WhatsApp data from your old Android to your new iPhone though.
First, you need at least Android 5 installed on your device, which should not be too hard if you own a smartphone within the last 5 years. Second, you want to ensure that your new iPhone device packs iOS 15.5 and above, which also should not be too difficult if you go for the latest iPhone devices anyway. Of course, you need to install Move to iOS app as well on your Android device. WhatsApp must be updated too for this to work. You need at least WhatsApp version 2.22.7.74 for your Android device and WhatsApp version 2.22.10.70 for your iPhone. The iPhone device must also be a fresh unit or factory reset unit to pair with the Android app. Then you must ensure that both devices are being plugged in and charged, for some reason. Both devices need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi umbrella, or the Android device must be connected to the receiving iPhone’s hotspot. Of course, the phone number used must be the same.
Once you tick all those boxes, you want to head to the Move to iOS app on your donor Android device and start the process. The process itself is rather straightforward and easy to follow. Once you get on your iPhone, you simply have to log into WhatsApp with your attached phone number and sign in to the messages and other medias waiting for you.
There are no cloud backups, uploads, or download process in this process. Everything is done through Wi-Fi Direct to your iPhone. There is technically no way to monitor the data transfer progress via WhatsApp as well currently. At the same time, like with any WhatsApp transfer, your data is not moved to the new device, it is merely copied. So, if you sign into your Android device after the transfer, you will still have everything in place. There is also a few things you cannot transfer from the Android to the iPhone; namely your personal messages, and peer to peer payment messages (Not like this works in Malaysia currently anyway).
Like we said, the migration is a one-way street currently. There is no easy way for you to transfer your WhatsApp messages and data from the iPhone to an Android device currently. Obviously, transferring WhatsApp data from an iOS to Android devices can be a little complex given the various Android devices you get from differing manufacturers with different standards of complexity as well. If WhatsApp can be transferred from an Android to iOS though, you can expect the reverse to come soon.
Apple’s iPad ecosystem is one of, if not the most successful tablet line-up in the entire world. Even though we have always been fans of the Android ecosystem, even we must admit that the Android tablet experience pales in comparison to the modern iPad, especially when you consider the iPad Pro line-up. Sure, the Android tablet experience have improved tremendously over the years with more choices popping up at the same time. Even then, the basic iPad will still be our tablet of choice, if a decent basic tablet is what you are looking for.
Of course, every story today has a humble beginning. For the iPad, it started out as an oversized iPhone that runs on iOS. The iOS that was on the iPad evolved to become iPadOS though, and it started differentiating itself from the iPhone counterpart pretty much from the get-go. Now with iOS 16, we have iPadOS 16.
To be fair, the iPadOS 16 is not the 16th generation of iPadOS. The iPadOS was an adaptation of the iOS for much larger screen formats, hence its confusing yet dignified naming scheme. Still, the iPadOS 16 is most likely the most significant iPadOS that Apple has ever developed for modern Apple iPad devices.
The whole idea behind the iPadOS 16 is making use of the Apple M1 chips you can now find on the Apple iPad Pro devices from 2021. Since the iPadOS can take advantage of the bigger display of the iPad devices anyway, it is built with more multitasking functions than ever. To make the iPad more of a productivity beast than ever before, there are more collaboration tools and capabilities built into the interface too.
Messaging, but Even Better
Source: Apple
Messaging on the iPadOS should be a little more distinctive even compared to the regular messaging app you can find on iOS. On the iPadOS 16’s messaging app, you can edit or recall messages that are recently sent. If you have mistakenly deleted a message, you can even quickly recover them. In case you need to save your messages for later, you can even mark them as unread to remind yourself to come back to it later.
Work And Collaborate, but Smarter than Ever
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Apple introduces Freeform, a new collaboration tool that gives users the ability to see, share, and collaborate within a single space and with full support for Apple Pencil. You can contribute to the board and edit the contents of the board at any given time, in real-time. You can even create and start a board right from FaceTime and see real-time updates in your messages thread.
Mail is even better too. Like the iOS version of the Mail app, messages can be recalled and cancelled before it reaches the recipient’s inbox. You can even schedule emails to be sent at your desired time. If you so wish to, you can even set your emails in your inbox folder to ‘Remind Later’ just so you can look at it again at a more appropriate time. If you need to pull up older messages, the new search algorithm also ensures that you can easily find your older emails quickly and accurately.
Check the Weather on iPad, Finally
The weather app for the iPad is now here and is much better than before. Well, it is a weather app, there is no running from its basic functions of telling you the current weather and other weather predictions. Instead of a plain image or background though, the weather app tells you weather with interactive animations that changes according to the current weather and weather predictions. Users who live in high-risk areas can even get notified if a severe weather alert is issued for their area. At the same time, users can even check the air quality in a particular area with easy to read, color-coded scale.
Professionally Adapted
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
The iPad Pro can now become another rather useful tool in a content creator’s arsenal. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro comes with a brilliant Liquid Retina XDR display that is rather wasted if not properly utilized. With iPadOS 16, users can now use the 12.9-inch display of the iPad Pro as a reference display for colour grading purposes and even compositing images.
There is also something called Display Zoom. It allows users to increase the pixel density of their display so that they can see more in their apps. When needed, Virtual Memory Swap can also adapt the iPad’s storage to expand available memory for differing application (up to 16GB) depending on their demands.
Apple also introduced Stage Manager, an iPadOS exclusive feature. It is a unique multitasking interface that automatically organizes apps and windows on top of one another so that users can easily and quickly switch between tasks. Windows can be stacked and overlapped atop one another in a single view too for more versatility in multitasking. Apps can also be grouped together if needed so that they can be quickly accessed when needed. Stage manager can also be used with external displays thanks to the power of Apple’s M1 chip.
More Mac Like that iOS Like
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
The biggest thing we think that Apple did not elaborate on with the Apple iPadOS16 is the fact that you can now run desktop, Mac class apps on M1 powered iPads. While there has not been too many examples or apps that is meant to run on the iPadOS and iPad devices, the potential of having a full desktop app like Adobe’s suite or even their own Final Cut Pro is a huge deal, considering that many are looking to replacing their current laptops and desktops with an iPad Pro.
Every year at WWDC, Apple always says that their latest update to iOS is the biggest one ever. To be fair, iOS has come a long way since we first saw it in the first Apple iPhone. It got an App Store a few generations later and never looked back. But the modern iOS is more than its app store, it is the updates that Apple has added to the iOS that makes it such a versatile interface we know today.
Apple is not technically wrong to say that the iOS 16 update is the biggest ever for the iOS interface. In terms of visuals at least, iOS 16’s interface could be the most visually distinct iOS ever. It also seems like Apple is finally going into a completely different direction with making the iOS better than ever. The update, technically, is the most feature packed major update ever.
Lock Screen – Not Just a Screen Anymore
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Lock screens have always been the most plain looking part of the iOS experience. It is basically a transitional screen before you get to your main home screen. Most of the time, you probably use it as a sort of clock or watch replacement too, a quick glance to tell you the time of day and date.
The thing is, there is a lot more you can do with the lock screen. It is technically a blank canvas for quick glances. That is what they implemented on the iOS 16.
They say that it is an inspiration from the Apple Watch. The home screen is now an information throve but designed in such a way that you can absorb everything by just quickly glancing through it. It now updates you on your next calendar agenda, battery levels, the weather, upcoming alarms, time zones, and even your activity ring progress. Of course, your essential time and date information will always be the front and center of your lock screen notification center. Of course, there is only a limited amount of space for information as well, so you get to choose which widgets go on your lock screen.
At the same time, users get to work with multilayered effects to really personalize their lock screen. You can artfully choose a lock screen image and iOS can cleverly layer your clock and widgets behind the art subject to create this rather interesting 3D layering of your lock screen. It is not really a Live Wallpaper kind of thing, but it is still rather interesting to work with.
Focusing on the Important Stuff
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Not much here, but Apple have claimed that they have improved Focus on the new iOS 16. To activate different focus modes, all you need to do is to swipe to differing lock screens you have on your iPhone. Different focus modes can also be customized to notify and show different notifications to ensure that users are given relevant information at whatever focus mode they choose to work with at any time.
A Shared Library
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
With the power of iCloud, you can now share your photo library with your family. The Shared Photo Library feature gives users the ability to collaborate or share the library with up to five other people. Each user can also share photos from their own personal library to be included in the shared library. Each user in the library can also add, delete, edit, and favourite their photos or videos in the library.
Unsend Stuff on Messages
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Usually, when you send messages, once it gets through, you can hardly retrieve it. With the introduction of new messenger apps like Telegram, you can now unsend messages that you sent to unintended parties. WhatsApp also recently introduced the same “delete message” feature with a certain time limit to it. Now the feature to unsend a message is available of the iOS native messaging app. They did not stop there/
You can now mark messages as unread, just so that it still can appear on your message list as unread, just so you can come back to it later. You can also recover recently deleted messages if you accidentally delete an important message. SharePlay is also new on iOS Messages. You get to enjoy synced movies or songs and even control their playback all while through messaging via Messages.
Mail Better
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
With the Mail app, you can now schedule your emails ahead of time, just so that you have a lot more control over your working time. Just in case, the Mail app gives you time to cancel the delivery of emails before it hits the recipient’s inbox. With Remind Later and Follow Up features, Mail can remind users to follow up on emails they might have missed after a while. Search is also now better on the Mail app than ever. Apple claims that the Mail app’s search algorithm is much more accurate and relevant compared to its predecessors to help you find older emails.
More Intelligent, Even On-the-Go
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Live text is now cleverer than before. You can use the feature in videos now by just pausing the video and interact with texts within the image or frame. You can even use Live texts as your personal translator or currency converter.
Beyond that though, Visual Look Up is also now improved. Instead of just recognizing a subject, users can now duplicate the subject and place it in other messenger apps. It also now recognizes birds, insects, and statues.
Apple’s Pay app is also improved at least in the United States (U.S.). They just introduced their very own microfinancing service in Apple Pay Later. If you have used Grab’s Pay Later wallet, it works very similarly there. The Pay Later feature also allows you to pay for your items in monthly instalments with no additional charges for now.
CarPlay is also improved with new features that makes it a powerful and versatile interface for in-car infotainment systems. CarPlay can now provide for multiple screens in a car to ensure that the CarPlay experience is consistent throughout a vehicle. There is more integration as well with CarPlay. Other than climate controls, CarPlay can also provide readings from multiple sensors in the car like fuel level, engine temperature, and even speed. Users can completely change what they see on their dash as well, if they choose to do so.
And more …
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
There are plenty of minor updates and improvements done on Safari, Apple maps, Siri, and even the Fitness app. For example, the Fitness App no longer requires users to own an Apple Watch to track their fitness goals. Apple News also now has My Sports section to allow users to easily follow their favourite sports teams in their favourite games. Spatial Audio is also improved on the iOS 16 to allow for a more precise and immersive audio with TrueDepth camera for a more personally tuned experience.
Availability
Apple’s iOS 16 is now available as a preview for members of Apple’s Developer Program. You can find it on their developer website. A public beta of the iOS will be available in the coming month. iOS 16 and its features will be available for iPhone 8 and later. For more information on iOS 16, you can visit their microsite for it.
Quite recently Google has updated their Play Store policy and practices to start removing apps that has been sitting idle without updates. When they say remove though, it will still sit in the database, but will not appear to users while users who are already using the app will still get access to the apps. It is a good way, in our opinions, to clean up their app databases while giving users the flexibility to choose the apps they use on their devices.
It seems like Apple wants to also do the same, except they are making the implementation more immediate in nature. This was not an announcement from Apple really, just a social media posting captured by The Verge mentioning an email received from Apple. The email is for an independent developer for a free game sitting in the Apple App Store. The email pointed out that the app has not been updated for over two years and Apple will remove the app from the App Store if the app is not updated in the next 30 days.
That is not the only developer to receive a warning email from Apple though. From The Verge’s coverage, it seems like there are more than just a few developers that received an email just because they have not updated their app for two years or so. To be fair, there is a good reason why Apple wants to ensure that apps featured on their App Store is up to date. The way Apple has been implementing it though, is a little odd.
Apple and Google, both largest app ecosystem platforms in the world, work very hard to keep their marketplaces as safe as they can be. The update security features all the time, and within their updates, they would require developers to also comply to their newer guidelines set within their updates. Understandably, most of the updates would require developers to patch their apps to match the guidelines set by both Google and Apple, in the name of protecting their users too. In that case it can be understandable for both Google and Apple to start enforcing a stricter “outdated” regulation for their app stores.
This is not technically the first time that Apple removes apps from their App Store. They had a similar exercise back in 2016 where they removed apps that has been sitting without updates for over two years in the App Store giving developers only 30 days to submit an update for the App Store. While the practice seems to have gone on for a while, Apple has made no attempts in reporting or documenting their attempts so far other than the emails sent to developers. There are currently no clear guidelines as well on what Apple considers to be “outdated” in their App Store.
As we mentioned, Google is sort of doing the same thing; they are trying to ensure that their developers keep their apps up to date to meet the security requirements set by Google. Google is giving developers until the end of October 2022 to at least submit an update for their apps. Google will also grant six-month extension requests if developers cannot meet the deadline.
Smartphones are great. Since the introduction of the first Apple iPhone and its App Store, the growth of this tiny handheld device has been quite exponential. We now live in a world where having a smartphone is not just a luxury, it is a requirement to getting most things done. We also live in a world where this piece of handheld electronics has become the most important personal equipment of ours.
Apple may be the first to introduce a smartphone ecosystem the world has never seen before. Their early dominance in the space inspired some lookalike products that were quite unsuccessful. But it also brought competition from some of the biggest players in the industry. It brought Android to the world as well and the battle for smartphone supremacy ensued to this day.
Being the two biggest players in the industry currently gives you two choices when you want to upgrade your smartphone. You can choose between an iPhone or pick from the sea of Android smartphones available to you. It sounds simpler than it is though.
If you are an Android user looking to upgrade your device, you are given plenty of choices. Swapping between one brand to another, while not without a small learning curve, is entirely possible and made very simple. It goes without saying, swapping from an Android system into the iOS ecosystem is also not very difficult. In fact, Apple introduced a “Switch to iOS” app into the Google Play Store back in 2015 to make their transition much easier.
The reverse is hardly true though. While swapping between one iOS device to the next can be made seamless with iTunes, there is still a small level of complexity involved. Everything is proprietary as well; you need to have an Apple account to backup and restore everything. In concept, it is very similar to what you already have in Android’s Google account requirements. It locks you into the system, making it difficult for you to port out of iOS and into Android.
There are plenty of apps and service providers that have attempted to make switching out of iOS much simpler than before. You have developers who specifically developed apps to help you transfer WhatsApp data from an iOS device to an Android device. Samsung themselves also developed the Smart Switch that can recover most of the data from your old iPhone when you switch to a Samsung device specifically. Now Google is also in that fight to bring more iOS users out of Apple’s ecosystem and into Google’s Android world.
The app is called ‘Switch to Android’, and it is available in Apple’s App Store in certain regions currently. Of course, the app will be made available globally as time passes, but for now a few regions is what we get. It also seems like the app is not a complete app just yet with limited access, something Google will be rectifying as well in future iterations, we assume.
Source: Apple App StoreSource: Apple App StoreSource: Apple App StoreSource: Apple App Store
It is a relatively straightforward app to work with. It is essentially a porting tool on an iOS device meant to transfer as much data as possible from the iOS device to any Android device of the user’s choice. How the app ports the data off to an Android device is by first establishing a connection between the iOS device and the Android device of choice. After the network is made, the app is supposed to allow you to transfer things like contacts, messages, photos, and even videos from your iOS device. Some early preview also shows that the app will prompt you to turn off iMessage to ensure you get text messages on your Android device since it is one of the most common issues plaguing users switching out of Apple’s platform. Of course, all the data that is to be copied must be stored on the device itself. Anything within Apple Cloud will not be copied over.
While the app is now available for iOS device on the Apple App Store, you want to keep in mind that there are still plenty of missing features. The app is also sitting as an unlisted app in the App Store currently, which might also mean that you might not be able to simply find the app via search. Google will be sure to update the app with more complete features in the coming iterations. For now though, if you are planning to switch from an iOS device to an Android device, the Samsung Galaxy devices with Smart Switch are still your best bet of retaining most of your data.
Switching digital platforms is still a thing in the modern world. Switching platforms today though is harder than ever before, especially when you buy a smartphone. You get to choose between an Android or iOS smartphone if you go out to the market today to buy yourself a new one. Most of the time as well, you are going to stick to what you had before.
There is a reason why it is difficult for you to change platforms when it comes to smartphones. A lot of times, your operating system (OS) and its apps require you to have a functioning account with its particular provider to take full advantage of the system and its ecosystem of apps and services. For example, if you are on an Android smartphone you are required to have a functioning Google account to access Google’s Play Store and their own apps like Gmail and Calendar. Likewise, if you are on an Apple iOS device, you are required to have a functioning Apple account.
There is an added complexity on Android devices too, because Android devices come from different manufacturers. Different manufacturers have their own unique ecosystem too that requires you to have a functional account that could be tied to their ecosystem. One of the most famous ecosystems outside of Apple and Google right now is Samsung’s ecosystem which requires you to have a functioning Samsung account.
Of course, there are ways manufacturers have made porting from one platform to another easier over the years. The most notable effort of all is Samsung’s Smart Switch which makes porting and transferring data over any Android or even Apple device a breeze. It is not perfect though.
For the longest time, one of the most popular messenger apps that is available on both iOS and Android has been the biggest obstacle to switching platforms. That app is WhatsApp. There is a clear problem why too.
WhatsApp stores its data on your device. It regularly backs your messaging data into a cloud storage. On an Android device, the cloud storage of choice is Google Drive, which requires you to run a Google account anyway. On an Apple iOS device, you are relying on Apple’s iCloud storage services, which incidentally requires you to have an Apple account. You can see the problem here in itself.
While transferring your WhatsApp data over from platforms has been impossible if you are doing it over wifi, Samsung has rectified that with the latest Smart Switch version in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 announcement. But what if you are not on a Samsung Galaxy device? Or, what if you want to switch from an Android to an Apple instead?
That function is now hitting other Android and iOS devices. The service now allows you to transfer your entire chat history and conversations from one smartphone to another, no matter the platform. The transfer also includes your entire WhatsApp media library for good measure.
Of course, there are some caveats. Your WhatsApp can only be transferred over from one platform to another via a wired connection. At the time of writing, your Samsung Smart Switch will require a USB Type-C connection with the donor Apple device to extra all its data, including WhatsApp data. While WhatsApp have not specified the transfer method, we are assuming that a cabled connection is the most viable way to data to be shared between an Android and iOS device without having to merge and mash Google Drive and Apple iCloud services together.
This opens up a whole other world of possibility for smartphone users though. Since transferring data between platforms are becoming easier, changing your smartphones is a simpler affair than ever before. That also means that the power to decide is now in the hands of the users more than ever. You get to choose which platforms works best for you every single time you want to upgrade your device, and that should mean more competitive pricing on even more powerful devices, especially in between platforms.
