Apple’s passkeys offer even better protection for your passwords

As part of the company’s ongoing efforts to improve user security, at WWDC 2022 Apple announced new digital passkeys that add an extra layer of security to your passwords.

Available on both iOS and macOS, Apple’s passkeys are designed to replace standard passwords by providing unique digital keys that are stashed locally on your device. Apple says that by not storing passkeys in the cloud, they are much less susceptible to being stolen in the case of a data breach or phishing attempt. 

Passkeys will feature integration with biometric security including Touch ID and Face ID, and can be synced to other Apple devices via your iCloud Keychain. They will also work with apps and on the web, allowing users to sign into their accounts using their iPhone instead of their password. 

The arrival of passkeys comes after Apple, alongside Google and Microsoft, announced a partnership with the FIDO Alliance and the WWDC earlier this spring. Apple’s passkeys look to be the company’s attempt to simplify and streamline the use of passwordless sign-on methods and will feature end-to-end encryption and compatibility with a wide range of Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV when it arrives sometime later this year. 

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

 

Apple will let you use iPhones for video chats on Mac (because its webcams stink)

iPhone users are walking around with great cameras in their pockets, so why not use that with their Macs? That’s the basic idea behind Continuity Camera, a new feature coming to macOS Ventura that’ll let you plop an iPhone on top of your Mac, and use those mobile cameras to power video chats in FaceTime, Teams and any other conferencing app. While cool, the feature is a bit clunkier than typical Apple offerings, since it requires a phone stand. It’s also a slight admission from Apple that its laptop and desktop webcams aren’t the best. (That’s something we noticed with the pricey Studio Display.) 

The entire Continuity Camera setup works wirelessly, and it also brings over features like Center Stage, which helps the camera follow you around the room. Additionally, it can tap into your phone’s ultrawide camera to show a top-down view of your desk. Mostly, though, it’s a nice way to get better background blur and lighting effects for all of your video chats. The only problem? You won’t be able to surreptitiously use your phone while you’re stuck in a work meeting. 

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

iPadOS 16 will feature overlapping windows for the first time

If you’re an iPad user who always wished your tablet could do more, Apple has you in mind this year. At WWDC, the company just unveiled iPadOS 16, the annual update to the company’s iPad software. Naturally, many of the new iOS 16 features are coming here as well, including big updates to Mail, Safari, Messages and more. Oh, and 12 years after the first iPad was released, Apple is finally bringing the Weather app to iPadOS. 

For the first time, iPadOS will allow you to have overlapping windows through a multitasking interface called Stage Manager that Apple is also bringing to the Mac this year. That said, some of these features will only be available on iPads with the M1 processor. When you use stage manager, you can resize windows, so you can easily tuck away other apps behind the main window. There’s also a view on the left side of the display that shows all your most recent apps. Based on the demo we saw during the keynote, windows dynamically resize and adjust their content view based on how big you make them. Some apps will update in the background, too, like chat apps — so if new messages come in while it’s not the main app in view, you’ll still be able to see updates depending on how you’ve placed your windows.

It’s very important to note, though that Stage Manager only works if you have an M1-powered iPad. So if you don’t have the iPad Air released last fall, or the 11- or 12.9-inch iPad Pro that was released in the Spring of 2021, you’re out of luck here.

The iPad also supports external displays for the first time, as well. Instead of just mirroring your iPad display, it fully extends your iPad experience to the second screen. You can have up to four distinct apps open on each screen at once, so an external display would let you have windows for eight different apps open at once. This is a massive change for iPadOS multitasking, something that people have requested for literally years now. 

One big new feature is called Collaboration; when you share a document from an app like Pages, you can immediately make it sometime that everyone can work on simultaneously. Before, sharing would just send a copy, but now you can share a document through the Messages app and everyone you send it to can start editing it. You can also jump right into a FaceTime call directly from the document, as well. Naturally, this will work first with Apple apps, but Apple is releasing a third-party collaboration API as well. Other examples of Collaboration that Apple showed off is sharing a tab group from Safari, and it’ll work in Notes as well.

Another collaboration-related feature that Apple has just announced is called Freeform. You can jump into a board from a FaceTime group call and it basically creates a shared notes document that you can type, draw or paste other content into. This feature will be coming to iOS and macOS, as well.

Game Center will also get some SharePlay features, but they’re coming later this year. When they do come out, you’ll be able to play multi-player games while keeping a FaceTime call going, for example.

This comes a year after iPadOS 15 added some major new multitasking features that made it a lot easier to access different apps in the iPad’s traditional split-view setup. That update also included the handy Quick Notes feature, a controversial Safari rdesign that was eventually rolled back, major updates to the Home Screen experience through a new set of widgets and the expected handful of other smaller changes. 

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

macOS Ventura offers new tools for efficient multitasking

Ventura, the next version of Apple’s Mac operating system, will make it easier for you to keep track of all your disparate apps and windows. New to macOS 13 is Stage Manager, a feature that will group windows to the side of your desktop, organizing the…

Apple’s Fitness app no longer requires an Apple Watch

You won’t need an Apple Watch to access the company’s Fitness app anymore. With iOS 16, Apple is bringing the software to iPhone, the company announced during WWDC 2022. Like its watchOS counterpart, the app will allow you to set daily activity goals, with a “Move ring” there to motivate you to stay active throughout the day. Your iPhone will use its sensors to track your steps and workouts and then convert that information into an estimation of the calories you’ve burned. At any time, you can share your Move ring with friends and family to push them to achieve their activity goals too.  

Follow all of the news from WWDC right here!

Google’s Pixel 6 Pro is $100 off at Amazon right now

While we know the Google Pixel 7 is on the horizon, that knowledge isn’t going to help you if you’re in need of a new smartphone immediately. But Amazon has a new sale on the Pixel 6 Pro 5G that may be just what you’re looking for. You can pick up the flagship smartphone from the online retailer for $799 right now, or $100 off its normal price. That’s the cheapest we’ve seen the smartphone, making it a good time to get all of the latest features a Google phone has to offer before the Pixel 7 comes out.

Buy Pixel 6 Pro at Amazon – $799

The Pixel 6 Pro earned a score of 91 from us and we consider it to be one of the best Android phones you can get. Its two-toned design with the horizontal camera bar may be polarizing, but it’s also striking and pretty slick. The 6 Pro has a 6.7-inch, 120Hz display that will automatically adjust refresh rates depending on what you’re doing. It also has an under-display fingerprint sensor that, while a tad slow, provides an extra layer of security. The 6 Pro runs on Google’s Tensor Processing Unit and we found it to provide excellent performance overall. Along with its strong performance, you can expect an equally strong battery life from the handset. We managed to get over 17 hours of use before needing to power up again.

One of the stand-out features of Google’s Pixel smartphones is the camera array, and that remains the case for the Pixel 6 Pro. It has a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12MP wide-angle lens and a 48MP telephoto shooter with a 4X optical zoom. These cameras work together to take lovely photos that are on-par with those taken by the iPhone 13 Pro’s camera array. Android 12 also brings a number of handy photography features including Magic Eraser, Face Unblur, Long Exposure and more.

Yes, you could save even more money and opt for the Google Pixel 6, but you’d be forging the 6 Pro’s 120Hz screen, telephoto camera and ultra wideband chip in the process. If you’ve had your eye on a Pixel phone for some time, now’s a good opportunity to pick up the best model available right now for less.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

‘Diablo Immortal’ is unplayable on some Samsung phones with Exynos chipsets

Nearly four years after it first announced the game, Blizzard released Diablo Immortal on Android, iOS and PC earlier this week. And shortly after the game made its way to mobile one day early, players with Samsung phones took to Reddit and other …

Apple is reportedly working on a major multitasking update for iPad

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference takes place next week and, as always in the lead up to the event, the rumor mill is churning away. A report from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman suggests that Apple will reveal some big updates for iPadOS 16. Apple has long been trying to position the iPad as a viable alternative to a laptop, and the software changes will seemingly nudge the device further in that direction.

Gurman’s sources say iPadOS 16 will have a revamped multitasking interface, including more resizing options. Currently, users can run apps in full screen or side by side in Split View. The Slide Over function allows you to bring in a narrower version of a third app as well. The next version of iPadOS will seemingly make it easier to move between apps and see which ones you have open too. 

To add fuel to the fire, developer Steve Troughton-Smith last week spotted code in WebKit which indicates that Apple may allow for freely resizable windows in iPadOS.

Improved multitasking options and resizable apps will be very welcome for many users. Folks have long been able to use keyboards with the iPad and Apple added full mouse and trackpad support two years ago. Whether the mooted iPadOS updates will actually help the device become a laptop killer remains to be seen, but it’s clear Apple hasn’t given up on the idea. 

Also during Monday’s keynote, we’ll surely get a look at what’s next for the iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch operating systems. Gurman previously reported that iOS 16 will introduce more health-tracking features, upgraded notifications and support for always-on displays (which is expected to only be available on iPhone 14 Pro models at first). A refreshed lock screen may include widgets, which Messages is believed to be getting more features as well.

Amazon to pull Kindle e-readers and bookstore from China

Chinese readers are about to lose some choice in e-books. Reutersreports Amazon is pulling Kindle products from China over the course of the next two years. The company will stop offering Kindle e-readers to local retailers as of today, and plans to shutter its digital bookstore in the country on June 30th, 2023. The Kindle app will leave Chinese online stores on June 30th, 2024, and customers will have until then to download any books they’ve already purchased.

Amazon will still provide warranty service and other help for Kindle e-readers, and will accept returns for “non-quality issues” for any device bought after January 1st, 2022. Hardware, apps and books will still be usable after the 2024 cutoff.

In its notice, Amazon stressed that this didn’t represent a withdrawal from China. The company had a “long-term commitment” that included online shopping and smart home devices. Amazon also told Reuters that this wasn’t due to censorship or other government pressure, and that it occasionally “make[s] adjustments” following reviews.

Poor sales might play a role. While Amazon is a frontrunner in the e-reader and e-book markets for numerous countries, it has struggled in China as of late. The country was once the Kindle’s largest market, with internal data (obtained by Reuters) showing that it represented over 40 percent of e-reader sales in 2017. The rise of Chinese competitors like Xiaomi andTikTok parent ByteDance eroded Amazon’s share, however, and iiMedia Research analyst Zhang Yi told Nikkei that the Kindle brand is now “relatively niche” in the region. The Chinese are more likely to read with their phones, and domestic e-book services like Tencent’s China Literature dominate where the Kindle app isn’t even in the top 10.

Amazon isn’t the only American company scaling back its Chinese presence. Airbnb, LinkedIn and Yahoo (Engadget’s parent company) have either limited services or withdrawn entirely. Amazon’s exit from e-reading is one of the more prominent examples, though, and illustrates how difficult it can be for US firms to court Chinese audiences.