iOS and Android developments, and all those Apple updates

(1) Oleg Afonin for Elcomsoft: iOS 11.4.1 Beta: USB Restricted Mode Has Arrived – “As we wrote back in May, Apple is toying with the idea of restricting USB access to iOS devices that have not been unlocked for a certain period of time … Well, there we have it: Apple is back on track with iOS 11.4.1 beta including the new, improved and user-configurable USB Restricted Mode.”

(2) I haven’t paid much attention to news-recycling sites (apart from The Register, maybe)  in recent years, but these two ZDNet reports actually mildly impressed me. 

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for ZDNet: Your iPhone is tracking your movements and storing your favorite locations all the time. He says: “Now, you may be like me and not care about this data being collected, and might even find it a useful record of where you’ve been over the previous weeks and months. But if you’re uncomfortable for any reason with this data being collected, then Apple offers several ways you can take control over it.” Even if you don’t mind these data being collected by your operating system, you also have to think about the apps that may be accessing it at second hand.

Kind of weirdly, Larry Dignan (also for ZDNet) tells us that Apple, Google have similar phone addiction approaches with iOS, Android. Well, it’s always nice (if unexpected) when Big Business displays a sense of civic responsibility. However, Dignan is probably right when he remarks: “The research is just starting to be compiled on smartphone addiction and what happens when your life is overloaded by apps and notifications. Think of the digital health push from Apple and Google as a way to provide talking points before screen time becomes a Congressional hearing someday.” And here’s a related story from the South China Morning Post: New Apple tools to limit screen time, and stop Facebook tracking, revealed at developers’ conference – “Digital tool ‘Screen Time’ in Apple’s iOS 12 will show how long you spend on each iPhone app and let you set daily limits, while its web browser Safari will get security upgrades to stop users being tracked by other companies”

(3) Andrew Orlowski for The Register: You know what your problem is, Apple? Complacency – “Let’s praise the cosy mobile duopoly working so hard to make things so much better” So much cynicism around this week…

(4) For Help Net, Zeljka Zorz summarizes the latest crop of Apple updates to practically everything: Apple security updates, iOS and macOS now support Messages in iCloud

David Harley