callkit
Latest
Apple clamps down on calling apps in China to obey local laws
China has been giving Apple grief over more than VPN apps, it seems. The 9to5Mac team has obtained messages telling iOS developers to remove CallKit (a framework that uses an Apple-made calling interface for other apps) from their apps if they want to continue offering those apps in China. The move reportedly followed "newly enforced regulation" from the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, although the message isn't specific about the law. We've asked Apple for more details.
Hangouts calls on iPhones now appear as regular voice calls
It took a while, but Google Hangouts has finally followed in Facebook Messenger's footsteps and started taking advantage of iOS 10's Callkit. That means calls you receive on Hangouts will appear as regular voice calls on your iPhones' lock screen -- but only if you want them to. Callkit gives VoIP services the ability to use Apple's stock Phone app, so you can ring people through Hangouts from within the stock app itself. If you're the recipient, the only indication that it's a VoIP call is a small mark underneath the contact's name telling you that it's using Hangouts audio. That way, you won't wander to an area without coverage by mistake while talking on the phone.
Ask, and Siri will make Skype calls for you
When Skype updates on desktop and gives the "improving your experience" message it's usually pretty easy to dismiss that as a bald-faced lie. But the latest iOS update actually sounds really useful. The VoIP service will now tap into Siri for making calls, pull contact information from the app into your contact list and, like Facebook Messenger before it, make incoming calls look like regular ones. It all sounds genuinely useful. As always, if the update hasn't hit your iOS 10 device yet, that's what the source link below is for.
Facebook Messenger calls look like regular calls on iOS 10
It won't be long before mobile networks become just another dumb pipe through which services are handed down from internet companies. Don't believe us? Then receive a call via the updated Facebook Messenger on iOS 10 and notice that they behave exactly the same as one made over the cellular network. The only difference between the two is that the VoIP call will be labeled as such in tiny text below the caller's name.
