Originally published at: https://appletalk.com.au/2018/10/thursday-morning-news181018/
Apple has updated its privacy mini-site, telling us about all the ways Apple products are designed to protect your privacy. That increasingly means safeguarding all of the personal information that lives on your device, all the way through to allowing you to control what you choose to share. I especially like the part where Apple says it has proven time and time again that great experiences don’t have to come at the expense of your privacy and security, which seems like a minor poke at some other companies.
Apple’s Data and Privacy Portal now allows its customers in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to download a copy of the data Apple has on them starting from today. The portal was originally introduced as a measure of compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, but now customers in many of its major markets can see for themselves what Apple has stored about them.
MacRumors has information on the iPhone serial number reader used as part of Apple’s “zombie check” process to combat iPhone repair fraud. The tool originally started out being used in China, where rampant iPhone repair fraud was costing Apple millions, but has since been rolled out to Apple Authorised Service Providers worldwide. Like its name suggests, the iPhone serial number reader is capable of reading serial numbers straight from the logic board of devices with non-functional displays or with liquid damage, even in cases where the device does not power on.
Vienna resident Roland Borsky claims to have the largest private collection of Apple computers in the world, and with over 1,110 machines, he may be right. Borsky is now looking to sell off his collection that he amassed over the years of being a Apple repair technician since the 1980s. Unfortunately, he can no longer afford to pay the rent on the warehouse he keeps most of them in, so he’s hoping that he’ll be able to sell the lot for around US $30,000, otherwise they’ll be destroyed.
Some folks are making a big song and dance about Apple fixing its bagel emoji, but I never knew people were so passionate about their doughy delicacies. The new bagel emoji has improved bread texture on the outside and cream cheese on the inside, in case you’re wondering, and should be released with iOS 12.1, maybe at the end of the month.
The fourth developer beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.1 is now available to developers, and Group FaceTime continues to be the major feature release part of the build, as well as support for everything else coming to iOS and watchOS, including over 70 new emoji.
If the frosted glass and semi-transparent UI elements aren’t your thing, then you can turn on the reduced transparency setting to tone things down. The problem is, reduced transparency in macOS Mojave doesn’t work the way that you might think it should. For whatever reason, the desktop background continues to influence UI elements even when reduced transparency is turned on, which is kind of the opposite of what you want.
Two Canoes software shares 12 different customisations for the macOS Mojave login window that I did not know about. The best part is, they’re all in the form of defaults write commands that let you do all sorts of cool stuff.
MacStories tells us about Apple’s forgotten iOS apps. From the much-loved Texas Hold’Em that Apple released when the App Store was brand new (and remains Apple’s only first-party iOS game to date) to apps that just seemed to fall through the cracks (Cards) or for a specific purpose (the iPhone 4 Case Program), I’m almost surprised there aren’t more apps that have been left behind, given the lengthy history of the App Store.
The Mac mini turned four this week, and while that’s a long time between drinks, rumours claim we’ll see a new model before the end of the year. Although we’ve heard that story before, it’s said that this year’s Mac mini update will be more of a pro-focused update to the all-in-one originally billed as a great Mac for people switching from a PC.