Apple’s 65-page response to the FBI in the San Bernardino case is a bit of a read, but the summary isn’t anything you don’t already know if you’ve been following along with the saga so far. Apple mentions that assisting the FBI by intentionally compromising the security of one device sets a dangerous precedent and opens the doors to unofficial copies of iOS without the usual security safeguards in place, among other things.
In an interview with ABC News, Apple CEO Tim Cook has likened the creation of an intentionally compromised version of iOS as the “software equivalent of cancer”. IOS is currently secure due to the way the inbuilt protection mechanisms work against unauthorised access, but breaking down those walls is something Apple doesn’t want to do, and for good reason.
The New York Times reports Apple is beefing up iOS security in the wake of the recent privacy debate, possibly starting with encrypting iCloud backups. Not only that, but iOS security is being improved as well, if not to make circumvention impossible, then very difficult.
Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell will testify before US Congress on the topic of encryption on March 1. Encryption is what currently makes it impossible for law enforcement to gain access to the contents of any iOS device, but the big debate around encryption is about finding the balance between customer privacy and ensuring national security.
After hosting Apple TV Tech Talks in cities all around the world, Apple has now released the Tech Talks videos on their website.
9to5Mac shows off what they claim is the design of the iPhone 5se, which mostly looks like an iPhone 5 with slightly curved edges. Commentators have panned it as being too similar externally to the iPhone 5, but maybe not spending any R&D cash is the way to ensuring a cheaper design makes it financially viable.
The good news is, the fourth beta of iOS 9.3 fixes the issue where an iOS device requires a battery disconnection if the date was set to 1970. The bad news is, I guess, that it’s still a beta.
In what I’d term as “more obvious news”, both iOS 10 and OS X 10.12 will feature improvements to the Photos app. Live Photos are already present on both platforms, so it’s unclear what these improvements will be, but maybe Apple will show us something great in iOS 10.
Spark seems to be the current flavour of the month, at least when it comes to email apps, and the popular email client is now available on every iPad, including the iPad Pro.
Today in iOS puzzle games, Six Colors tells us about Blackbox, a curious creation where no touching is required.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/02/friday-morning-news260216/