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Sling TV now works in Apple's Safari browser
You can now stream both live and on-demand Sling TV content within Apple's Safari browser for desktop. The Dish-owned over-the-top internet TV service already supports Chrome and Edge, but this additional feature means you don't have to use its Mac app anymore if Safari is your browser of choice and you're not particularly fond of the other options.
Apple promises hostile treatment for sites that break Safari privacy rules
Apple is taking a tough new stance on websites that attempt to monitor and share individuals' browsing history. In a new policy page, published on Wednesday, the company says it will treat websites and apps that attempt to bypass Safari's anti cross-site tracking features much like it treats malware. In some instances, Apple says it will implement new anti-tracking features that target the practices of specific bad actors. Additionally, the company notes it will implement those features without offering prior notice. We've reached out to Apple for further clarification on how it plans to restrict individual websites and apps.
Apple tests iCloud.com sign-ins with your face or finger
The iCloud website is handy when you want to check info from an unfamiliar device or just prefer to use a browser, but the need to enter your password could be enough of a pain that you might just pull out your phone instead. Soon, though, it could be relatively effortless. The company is testing a beta iCloud site that uses Face ID or Touch ID to sign you in. You'll need a beta version of iOS 13, iPadOS or macOS Catalina, but after that it's just a matter of using your face or finger to sign in with compatible Apple gear.
Indian streaming giant broke Safari support to deal with security hole
Websites tend to drop support for a particular browser due to obsolescence or just a lack of functionality, but India's biggest streaming service apparently had another reason: a piracy-friendly security hole. TechCrunch sources understand that Disney-owned Hotstar disabled Safari support (both desktop and mobile) on June 7th to limit the effects of a flaw that let people bootleg videos, including premium material.
Apple is trying to make web ads truly private
Apple's privacy push is extending to an area where you might not expect it: web ad tracking. The company's John Wilander has outlined a new system, Privacy Preserving Ad Click Attribution, that would help marketers track the success of ads without tracking individual users. Host sites would store generic ad clicks, while the advertisers' sites would match the number of conversions (people who went on to make transactions) with a 24- to 48-hour delay to prevent profiling. Your browser would send ad click attribution data for those matches, but only in a special, optional private browsing session that prevents cross-site tracking.
iOS 13 may include system-wide dark mode and undo gesture
With Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference less than two months away, more details about what iOS 13 might have in store are emerging. It could add a system-wide dark mode, deeper multitasking options, an undo gesture and updates for the likes of Safari and Mail, according to 9to5 Mac.
macOS update adds support for Apple's News+ subscription service
Apple may have left Mac users wondering where their update was after iOS 12.2 arrived, but it didn't leave them waiting for long. The company has released macOS Mojave 10.14.4, where the centerpiece is undoubtedly support for Apple News+ subscriptions (and, we'd add, Apple News in Canada). If you're the sort who'd want to catch up on magazines using your MacBook, you're set. There are other updates if you're not that enthused with News+, thankfully.
The web just got an official password-free login standard
Web Authentication (aka WebAuthn) has been a de facto standard for no-password web sign-ins for a while given that many tech giants are already using it, but now it's official. The World Wide Web Consortium and the FIDO Alliance have finalized the Web Authentication format, making it the go-to option for logging into accounts with potentially greater security and convenience than typing in your credentials. If a site supports it, you can get in using biometrics (such as fingerprints or facial recognition), USB security keys, or nearby mobile devices like phones and smartwatches.
Chrome's new cache will speed up your back button
Bouncing around the internet is set to get a whole lot faster in Chrome, thanks to a new feature called bfcache -- back-forward cache. Google is currently working on a system that will store a web page as you navigate to a new page. If you go back to that page, Chrome will then bring up that page rapidly, without having to build it from scratch. The same applies if you then hit forward.
Apple is withdrawing Safari's Do Not Track feature
The upcoming version of Apple's Safari browser will no longer come with "Do Not Track," but it's not because the tech giant doesn't care about your privacy anymore. As 9to5mac notes, Safari version 12.1's release notes come with a line that says it's removing "support for the expired Do Not Track standard to prevent potential use as a fingerprinting variable." It might not be obvious because of the implications of the feature's name, but Do Not Track actually just sends a voluntary signal -- a suggestion, if you will -- that websites don't have to follow.
Apple offers Safari users safer browsing with USB security key support
Apple's latest preview version of Safari features support for the WebAuthentication (WebAuthn) API that lets users login using USB security sticks, according to the release notes. Users can enable a feature that allows them to log in using USB-based CTAP2 sticks, which offer a higher level of protection than regular text-based passwords. The hardware devices are typically used in conjunction with passwords, a one-two protection punch that makes hacking and phishing exponentially more difficult.
Tim Cook defends Apple's search deals with Google
Apple's Tim Cook is always on hand to explain why his company is better at privacy than its rivals (read Google and Facebook), which have been mired in data scandals of late. When Cook said personal information is being "weaponized against us with military efficiency," while calling on GDPR-style rules in the US, it was clear who his targets were. Reality, however, is a lot more complicated than that. Though Apple doesn't have a targeted advertising business, it still stocks Facebook's apps in its App Store and receives billions from Google to make it the default search engine on its platforms.
UK high court throws out lawsuit against Google (updated)
In May, a group called "Google, You Owe Us" filed suit against Google in the UK for collecting sensitive personal data using tracking cookies in the iPhone's Safari browser. They were seeking from £1 to £3 billion in damages for an estimated 4.4 million affected users. Today, a UK high court threw out the lawsuit, according to The Guardian.
Security flaw left Safari and Edge users vulnerable to fake websites
A security researcher uncovered a flaw in both Safari and Microsoft's Edge browser that allowed the URL of a safe website to be displayed in the address bar while users were actually being taken to a different, and possibly malicious, website. Rafay Baloch spotted the security issue and notified Apple and Microsoft in early June. But while Microsoft issued a fix in August, Apple has yet to respond to Baloch's report.
Surprise! Some PC games have ad-tracking software installed
A smattering of PC games are tracking where you go and what you do on the internet when you aren't playing. Reddit sleuths have discovered that games including Civilization VI, Elder Scrolls Online, Kerbal Space Program (above), Hunt: Showdown and Warhammer: Vermentide II included a tracker called Red Shell.
What you need to know about Apple’s war on ‘digital fingerprinting’
Most everyone is aware of how tracking cookies work (or if you're not, you should be). They're little pieces of data added to your browser that track your behavior on the web. Usually, you notice them when you search for something like basketball and every ad you get for the next few days is about basketball.
How to watch Apple's WWDC keynote
It's already that time of year again: WWDC, Apple's annual developer conference. You can peep it live, as it happens, right here from wherever you are at 1PM Eastern/10AM Pacific. New this year? You'll be able to watch the keynote in Chrome and Firefox in addition to Safari and Microsoft Edge. It's like the future! Now, Apple says that for the "best" experience you should use one of its own devices (or Microsoft Edge). Of course, you can still watch on your Apple TV if you feel so inclined.
Google faces lawsuit in the UK over Safari data collection
Way back in 2012, Google agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle FTC charges over the company's use of tracking cookies in the Safari browser. Now the company is being sued in the UK for the same issue, according to a report in The Guardian.
Google gives users more control over the ads they see
Google announced today that it's rolling out a couple of new tools aimed at making online ads a little less irritating. Its Ad Settings and Mute This Ad features are both getting updates that let users have more control over what ads they do and don't see.
Reddit app update brings more of the website to mobile
Reddit launched its mobile app last year and today it's getting a major update. The iOS and Android versions are getting a bunch of new features for both users and moderators that will more closely align the app's functionality with that of the web version.
