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TikTok's latest effect: customizable avatars that can star in your videos
TikTok will allow users to create and customize animated avatars to star in their videos.
Apple buys a VR company that put real faces on virtual avatars
The company offered free-roam VR experiences, as well as a way of making virtual avatars that used your real face.
Apple's revamped Messages focuses on groups
As part of its WWDC 2020 reveals, Apple announced that it is revamping Messages with new group messaging features in iOS 14.
Apple may offer tighter iOS parental controls this week
Apple's flurry of iOS updates might include one more substantial tweak before the holiday break. Vietnamese carrier Viettel has posted a page that hints at a release for iOS 13.3 (plus a minor watchOS 6.1.1 update) this coming week, most likely on or before December 11th. The new software could represent a big deal for parents thanks to the ability to limit access to contacts in Screen Time -- you can specify who your kids can talk to and when. This only applies to voice calls, FaceTime and Messages, but it could be helpful if you'd rather not let your child hold all-night video chats with their friends.
Apple brings Memoji and Animoji to its Clips video creation app
Memoji and Animoji haven't seen much outside of Messages since Apple introduced them, but you'll be able to get a bit more out of your creations. Apple is bringing them to its Clips video app.
Xiaomi subtly clones Apple's Memoji with 'Mimoji'
Xiaomi has a long history of shadowing Apple's moves, and that now includes one of its cutesier inventions: Memoji. As part of the launch of its CC9 phone series, Xiaomi has introduced human "Mimoji" (it previously had animals) that are a not-so-subtle riff on Apple's 3D avatars. While Apple doesn't have a lock on the concept -- ask Samsung -- the art style is uncannily close, right down to the giant eyes and tiny tongues. It's just a matter of different hat and hair styles.
iOS 12.1 beta hints at a new iPad this year
If you were bummed that Apple didn't release a refreshed iPad Pro at this month's event, then code from the iOS 12.1 beta might brighten your day. According to 9to5Mac, there's a daemon embedded within the code that could contain the ability to sync Memoji via iCloud. There aren't a lot of reasons you'd need to store a Memoji in iCloud unless an iPad capable of supporting them was on the way.
Apple's iOS 12 beta is driving everyone crazy
Apple promised a lot of bells and whistles with its iOS 12 update -- better performance, grouped notifications and the coveted Pixar-like Memojis, for example -- but its pre-launch spiel never mentioned the surprise feature everyone on the public beta is talking about today. Thanks to, presumably, a bug, iPhones are showing update notifications every time you unlock your phone, without an option to actually install the update.
Samsung's AR Emoji will soon be a little more realistic
Samsung's unsettling AR Emoji were the standout feature during the Galaxy S9's reveal last year, and now it's giving them an update. The company promises more granular adjustments for facial features like smiles, noses, ears, eyes and cheeks are en route. "This means that, for instance, when a child creates an AR Emoji, they'll be able to adjust the shape of their face so that it more closely mirrors their own," Samsung claims. Maybe Elastigirl will look more natural, too.
iOS 12 code hints at iPad with Face ID
Apple's iOS 12 has hinted from the outset that an iPad with a notched display was in the works (the status bar conspicuously made room for it). If you were wondering whether or not that meant an iPhone X-style TrueDepth camera and Face ID, though, you can rest assured after today. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith has discovered that AvatarKit, the framework behind Animoji and Memoji, now supports the iPad. Given that you need a TrueDepth camera for these face-tracking personas to work, and the iPad Pro hasn't been updated in over a year... well, you do the math.
iOS 12 public beta is available right now
Did Apple's teases of grouped notifications and digital wellness efforts at WWDC last month make you swoon? Well the beta for iOS 12 -- the software those features and countless others will run on -- is available to the public starting today. The Cupertino company has promised that the software's finished version will significantly speed up older phones in addition to adding fun new features like Memoji for iPhone X owners and FaceTime group chat for up to 32 people.
Apple lets you create your own personalized Animoji
Animoji were a surprisingly fun part of the iPhone X experience, and Apple just stepped things up significantly with the announcement of Memoji. As you might expect, this lets users create their own Animoji characters based on your own look. It's a pretty huge addition that users will likely have a blast with.
