Apple

A Scottish grandmother received an obscene and insulting message thanks to a complete fail by Apple's voice transcription. It completely misunderstood a voicemail left by a local car dealership. The call was made to Louise Littlejohn by a worker at ... the garage who intended to invite her to a promotional event for a new car. The call went to voicemail so he left a message. Apple then "transcribed" the call with an AI-powered system and delivered a text message, something that's meant to save users time rather than have to listen to the message. According to the BBC, which listened to the audio ... (view more)

Apple has fixed a supposed bug that caused iPhones to mix up the words "Trump" and "racist". But a speech recognition expert says Apple's explanation was implausible. The issue was with the Dictation tool in iPhones that lets users speak and have ... their words transcribed ready to use as text, for example to send as a message. Numerous videos posted online by users showed them saying the word "racist" but their phone showing the word "Trump" before correcting the error shortly afterwards. Although Apple quickly fixed the issue after the videos went viral, it does appear the videos are genuine. ... (view more)

If you've used an Apple device which had the Siri assistant, you could be in for a cash bonus. Apple has agreed to pay $95 million compensation for recording users' conversations without their intentional consent. The case relates to the "Hey Siri" ... voice command to activate the assistant. In theory the device would be constantly "listening" but would only process a few seconds of data at a time, check whether it heard "Hey Siri" and then delete the data if not. The problem came with cases when the device misheard a user and began recording and analyzing the subsequent speech under the ... (view more)

The next generation of the iPhone could have no physical buttons at all. The volume and power buttons could be replaced with sensors similar to the touchscreen itself. The news comes from leaks in the component manufacturing market that are normally ... reliable, though it's not certain the changes will come quickly enough for the iPhone 16's release, expected this summer. Similar rumors came before last year's iPhone 15, but Apple reportedly dropped plans because of manufacturing challenges. The theory of the latest rumors is that the physical buttons will be replaced with capacitive input. That ... (view more)

Apple has confirmed some users will be able to download iOS apps from websites rather than an app store. But the relaxation of rules comes with a major limitation. The new policy applies to European Union countries and is part of Apple's response to ... the Digital Markets Act. That's a new rule that says operators of services with a very large number of users in Europe must remove some barriers to competition. These generally include opening services up to third party access. That includes iOS apps were historically Apple has strictly enforced a rule that users can only install apps from its ... (view more)

Major tech companies including Microsoft and Meta say Apple is trying to weasel out of a court ruling on the way it handles app payments. They've weighted in on a court dispute about how to enforce a judgment against Microsoft. The case centers on ... in-app payments where people who've already installed an app give extra money to the app developers. Common examples include subscriptions to a digital service or payments for additional content in games. Apple demands a cut of either 15 or 30 percent of such payments made through its payment handling services. Critics, including games maker Epic, ... (view more)

Apple has warned users not to dry an iPhone in a bag of rice. It says the popular "tip" won't repair water damage and could cause even more problems. Numerous online guides have suggested the fix in cases where a phone is dropped into water and ... stops working. They usually suggest putting the phone in a zip-lock bag with uncooked rice, the logic being that the rice will absorb moisture, eventually drying out even the inside of a phone. Apple has now updated its official advice to include examples of what not to do: Don't dry your iPhone using an external heat source or compressed air. Don't ... (view more)

Apple appears to be exploring loopholes in its recent agreement to allow iPhone users to install apps from sources other than its official store. It wants to continue reviewing apps and taking commission from developers, which could significantly ... undermine the effect of the changes. The company has until March 7 to comply with new rules in Europe. Rather than fight the rules or pull out of the market altogether, it decided to allow sideloading for users in European Union countries . Unlike with some physical device changes made to meet European rules, Apple won't be extending the policy to ... (view more)

Apple is reportedly planning to allow iPhone owners to use third-party app stores and "sideloaded" apps. But the move appears to be limited to Europe, complying with local regulations. Throughout the existence of the iPhone and iPad, Apple has been ... adamant about only allowing users to install software downloaded from the official Apple store. It argues that's necessary to maintain security and ensure compatibility and performance to make sure users get the best experience. Cynics counter it's actually about maintaining a monopoly on supplying apps, giving Apple more power to charge ... (view more)

Google has lost a major court battle with respect to the way people pay for mobile app services. It's a surprise verdict as Apple prevailed in an extremely similar case against the same opponent. Both cases involved antitrust cases brought by Epic ... Games, which makes the hugely popular game Fortnite. In both cases, Epic complained about the way Apple and Google take a cut of payments from app developers. In this case, Epic said Google's cut of 30 percent for apps in the official Play Store was too high. It said Google was able to set the rate because of a lack of alternative routes to ... (view more)