Technology

On Saturday, I pointed out how Microsoft force-restarting Windows 10 computers to install unwanted web apps was the latest proof you don’t own your own Windows PC. Today, the company says it was at least partly a mistake — and will be pausing the “migration” that brought web apps to your Start Menu this way. Originally, Microsoft tells The Verge, the idea was that any website you pinned to the Start Menu would launch in Microsoft Edge. If your website of choice had a PWA web app version, the Edge browser could automatically launch that as well. But — in what Microsoft seems to be calling a bug, though we’re trying to get clarity as to which part was the bug — the change also made it look like existing web shortcuts to its own Microsoft Office products had installed a web app on your PC as ...

iPhone icon customization is booming, thanks to new features in iOS 14, but there’s still some big catches. The workaround for a bespoke iPhone homescreen requires routing through Apple’s Shortcuts app every time you want to open an app, and the process of customizing all your apps one-by-one is a time-consuming and frustrating task. But Launch Center Pro — a popular tool for customizing and creating quick shortcuts on iOS — has solved both of those issues with its latest update. With a clever workaround that uses Apple’s own Profiles system to install custom “web clip” profiles that directly link out to your selected apps, users can finally make custom icons that work just like regular apps. Plus, they can be installed in a batch, allowing users to easily add custom icons for almost all t...

Apple’s latest iPhone supports 5G networks, but not if you use the device in dual SIM mode, according to an internal Apple training document revealing the issue that began circulating on Reddit over the weekend. Dual SIM mode is a feature introduced on the iPhone line with the iPhone XS, and it’s useful for those traveling or staying abroad (or people who maintain work and personal lines on the same device) by allowing both a physical Nano SIM line and data-only service from another carrier using an eSIM simultaneously. But that apparently interferes with the iPhone 12’s ability to run on 5G networks, at least for now. Here’s the wording from the Apple document: “Does 5G work with Dual SIM?” When using two lines in Dual SIM mode, 5G data isn’t supported on either line and will fall back to...

The Justice Department has charged six Russian intelligence officers with involvement in an extensive hacking campaign, including the notorious Petya ransomware attacks that targeted Ukraine in 2015. According to the indictment, the efforts also targeted the country of Georgia, the French elections, the 2018 winter Olympics, and investigations into the poisoning of former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal. Many of the specific incidents in the indictment have been previously reported, but no law enforcement agency has publicly charged Russia’s GRU with orchestrating the attacks. Russia’s primary military intelligence agency, the GRU has previously been associated with a wide range of cyberattacks dubbed “Fancy Bear” by private-sector researchers. In this case, prosecutors even pin th...

If you buy an iPhone in the future, you’re not getting an included charging brick or earbuds. Apple says the reasons are environmental. Giving out fewer “free” accessories with every phone means using less materials, the company claims, and also makes for smaller boxes that can be shipped more efficiently. So going forward, those boxes will just come with a phone and a Lightning to USB-C cable. I think Apple’s approach is generally a good thing, but it should have gone further by switching away from its proprietary Lightning port entirely and fully embracing USB-C. Right away, that Lightning to USB-C cable would turn into a much more useful USB-C to USB-C cable that could charge basically all of your electronics. Or better still, Apple could remove the cable entirely and just ship the phon...

Pakistan has lifted its ban on TikTok, just 10 days after blocking the app on the grounds that it hosted “immoral” and “indecent” videos. Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority (PTA) now says that TikTok has “assured” the agency that videos will be moderated “in accordance with societal norms and the laws of Pakistan.” TikTok had not been fully responsive in the past to Pakistan’s demands for restrictions on accounts and videos. The company’s latest transparency report showed that TikTok acted on only two accounts out of 40 from which Pakistan requested content be restricted. The PTA’s statement suggests that TikTok moderation may be stricter in the country going forward. A disproportionate amount of videos are already removed in Pakistan Pakistan is TikTok’s 12th largest market in terms o...

Google is updating the look and functionality of the software on its Assistant smart displays in a significant way. Starting this week, smart displays such as the Nest Hub and those made by third-party companies will be updated with a new home screen experience: dark mode, and finally, the ability to see calendar events from more than one Google account. The biggest change is the new home screen, which is designed to provide contextual information to you depending on your habits and the time of day. Instead of the endlessly scrolling horizontal list of before, Google now divides the information into five distinct sections — time of day, Home Control, Media, Communicate, and Discover — accessible from tabs at the top of the screen. The time of day tab will change its title depending on when...

Apple TV Plus will be getting the beloved Peanuts Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holiday specials added to its catalog this year, and they’ll each be available for free to non-subscribers for a short period of time. The Halloween special, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, will be hitting Apple TV Plus today for subscribers and will be available for free from October 30th until November 1st. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be available on November 18th and watchable for free from November 25th until November 27th. And my personal favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas, will be out on December 4th and can be watched for free from December 11th through December 13th. A new season of the Apple TV Plus-exclusive Snoopy in Space and new specials celebrating Mother’s Day, Earth Day, N...

Tomorrow, a US spacecraft more than 200 million miles from Earth will sneak up to an asteroid larger than the Empire State Building and snag a handful of rocks from its surface. If all goes to plan, the spacecraft will store the precious cache of rocks inside its belly, and will eventually transport the materials to Earth, where they can be studied by scientists in a lab. The spacecraft stealing these rocks is called OSIRIS-REx, part of the first-ever NASA mission tasked with returning samples of an asteroid back to Earth. Launched in September of 2016, OSIRIS-REx spent two years traveling to an asteroid named Bennu. Since it arrived in 2018, the spacecraft has been circling the asteroid and mapping it in excruciating detail, in order to find just the right spot to scoop up a sample. Now, ...

Apple has announced how much it’ll charge to repair the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. For the iPhone 12 Pro, the $279 screen repair price is unchanged compared to the iPhone 11 Pro last year, despite using new ceramic-hardened glass. However the $279 cost of repairing the base iPhone 12’s display has increased by $80 compared to the iPhone 11, and the cost of repairing “other damage” has increased by $50 to $449. Repair prices for the iPhone 12 Pro Max and 12 mini are yet to be announced. For the base iPhone 12, that’s a substantial price increase compared to the $199 you’d pay to repair the iPhone 11’s screen, likely because it now has an OLED rather than an LCD display. However for the 12 Pro this $279 price is the same as what Apple’s charged for screen repairs since 2017’s iPhone X....

The USA’s largest cinema chain AMC is making its screens available for private hire, allowing groups of up to 20 people to watch a film on the big screen without having to share an auditorium with strangers. The move joins cinema chains Cinemark and Alamo Drafthouse, which SlashFilm reports started offering similar screenings earlier this summer. AMC is offering a selection of new and old films to watch, with auditorium rental prices starting at $99 plus tax. AMC’s new offering comes as its business has been hit hard by the pandemic. Locations have been forced to close, major films have been delayed, and cinemagoers have been wary of attending even when new films have been released. Last week, AMC warned investors that the situation means it could run out of cash by the end of the year, af...

Xiaomi has announced its next salvo in the fast charging wars, a new 80W wireless method that the company claims beats out any other competitor. The 80W solution is said to be able to charge a 4,000mAh battery up to 50 percent full in eight minutes and 100 percent full in 19 minutes. The video above shows it in action on a modified Mi 10 Pro. Xiaomi already has the fastest wireless charging on a shipping phone; the Mi 10 Ultra has 50W wireless technology that can fully charge its 4,500mAh battery in 40 minutes. Oppo recently announced a 65W solution that is said to be able to charge a 4,000mAh battery in 30 minutes, but the tech is yet to ship in a commercial device. Fast wireless charging is much less common outside China, where companies like Huawei and Xiaomi have been working to outdo ...