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Apple has released its updated Safari Technology Preview 33 for macOS Sierra and High Sierra today. The preview browser is specifically designed for developers to get an upcoming look at the new web technologies that macOS and iOS will eventually receive. As with all of the Safari Technology Preview releases, today’s update focuses on changes that directly impact developers and the work they do. Preview 33 includes a long list of updates that address performance, bug fixes, JavaScript, WebRTC, Media Streams and Capture, media, CSS Grid, Web API, Rendering, and Web Inspector....

Apple today has added a ‘Remembering Robin Williams’ feature section in the iTunes Store following news of the actor’s passing yesterday afternoon. The section features a collection of movies, TV shows, and other performances with the incredibly talented actor including Mrs. Doubtfire, Flubber, Hook, and Dead Poet Society, which inspired Apple’s recent ‘Your Verse’ campaign featuring ordinary people using the iPad in interesting ways. Williams’ famous line from his role in Dead Poet Society can be heard in the initial ‘Your Verse’ ad from earlier this year....

Wells Fargo promised cardless ATM withdrawals using Apple Pay back in March, and has today announced that the facility is available at more than 5,000 machines across the USA. Weirdly, however, you’ll use your ATM PIN rather than Touch ID to authenticate … The bank began offering a clunky first step in cardless ATM usage back in March, and amazingly says that this notched up almost 3M transactions. Wells Fargo says that its remaining 8,000 ATMs will be upgraded with contactless technology by sometime in 2019....

We’ll be following along with Apple’s earnings call in a few minutes here. Also expect some separate posts for the “Best Quarter Ever” Press Release and any other news that comes our way. Apple’s summary of the earnings data: Update: Apple announces Q4 earnings Live blog archived below: -AAPL down to 397, it’s jumping around. -Call has started. -Opening remarks from Senior Director of Investor Relations. -Tim Cook making introductory remarks: discussing Steve Jobs....

– Toggle for Handoff on iOS 8 beta 3 – Setup toggles for App Analytics and upgrading from Documents in the Cloud to iCloud Drive. – A few new wallpapers on iPad and iPhone – UI tweaks in Weather – Shared Photo Streams are now called Shared Albums – QuickType is now an option in Settings – Option to automatically keep photos and videos sent/recieved in Messages – Tweaked Clear button in Notification Center...

Apple today has quietly released a new collection of colors for its iPhone XS silicone cases and Apple Watch sport bands. The new colors include Hibiscus, Mellow Yellow, and Pacific Green. Further, Apple has also started selling the new Nike Sport Loop colors that originally launched through Nike earlier this month. For the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, Apple has introduced three new silicone case colors. The new colors, Hibiscus, Mellow Yellow, and Pacific Green, cost the same as other Apple cases at $39 for both iPhone XS models....

Following Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement last month that the company would soon begin providing diversity data, today the company is releasing its first report. While disclosing numbers on the gender and ethnicity of its employees, CEO Tim Cook has also published a letter alongside the report on the company’s website (full version below). In the letter, Cook highlights some of the progress the company has made in recent years, but also notes that he’s “not satisfied with the numbers” and that Apple plans to do more to improve them....

[Update: Bloomberg adds additional details including iOS & macOS cross platform apps still on track, new parental features are coming, tvOS and watchOS won’t be affected, and more.] Axios is reporting that Craig Federighi instructed the software division to put aside some major iOS projects in order to focus on performance and reliability issues for iOS 12. The publication says a refresh of the Home screen and other features have been shelved to dedicate more resources to bug fixing, smaller tweaks and platform finesse....

This tidbit from New York Post: So money after all was that major roadblock Eric Schmidt hinted at during his D9 chat with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher… Asked to explain what happened with the Google Music service which does not scan-and-match users music library and prevents people from downloading files once they’re up in the cloud, Schmidt wouldn’t elaborate beyond saying that Google and labels “couldn’t come to terms”. All is not lost for the search firm, however....

The Economic Times reports that Apple executives in India recently hosted executives from top retailers in the country and laid out plans to open store-in-store locations and 100 standalone stores in smaller Indian markets: The new marketing vision for India was unveiled on Monday evening at a meeting with 20 CEOs and senior executives of the country’s top multi-brand telecom and electronic retail chains. Apple India’s senior executives spelt out plans to enter the top 50 tier II and III markets in India by selling its phones, tablets and portable music players at their outlets in an exclusive corner or a shop-in-shop, said three people who attended the meeting....

Apple today released its Environmental Progress Report for 2021 with a central focus on its previously-announced goals to reach net carbon neutrality for all of its supply chain and products by 2030. Apple’s own operations have been carbon neutral since April 2020 (h/t setteBIT). The 2021 report reviews the significant steps towards lowering environmental impacts of its products over the last year, and projects Apple’s progress towards net zero emissions from now until 2030....

Apple has updated its Apple Seed website to include many references to iOS device management. It has also updated the name of its program to ‘Apple Beta Software Program’, dropping the specificity of it being for OS X only. Apple is now offering iOS 8.3 as a public beta. Interested customers can sign up to be part of the program on this website. After signing up, you can enroll into the iOS public beta program....

Now it’s Apple’s turn. A zero-day flaw has been discovered in older Apple devices that would allow malicious websites to perform nefarious tasks in the background. The good news is there is now a fix for the issue. Read on for details about this scary bug and how to get the fix. Here’s the backstory Zero-day flaws come to a developer’s attention after hackers have discovered them. Translation: These vulnerabilities are a big deal, and once there’s a fix, installing it as soon as possible is vital....

Apple today released iTunes 12.4.2 with a fix for an Apple Music playback bug related to short songs and the app’s “Up Next” feature. Apple described the issue in its release notes: The new iTunes version lands today alongside OS X El Capital 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.3, tvOS 9.2.2 for Apple TV, and watchOS 2.2.2 for Apple Watch. This update resolves a playback issue with short Apple Music songs in your Up Next queue...

New banks and credit unions across the United States, Italy, Russia, the UK, and China have joined Apple’s list of participating partners since the last refresh earlier this month. Check out the latest Apple Pay banks below: In the United States: Almena State Bank American Bank & TrustCompany N.A. Associated SchoolEmployees Credit Union Bank of Star Valley Bofl Federal Bank Caprock Federal Credit Union Central Bank (AR) Central National Bank ofPoteau City First Bank Continential Finance Co....

An Apple patent granted today suggests that a future version of the Apple Pencil could have an interchangeable tip that sees it become an Apple Paintbrush too. The patent also shows how haptic feedback could be used to simulate the feeling of using different implements like pens, pencils, marker pens, and paintbrushes … Apple starts by acknowledging the limitations of the existing Apple Pencil as an artistic implement. It then describes how an interchangeable tip could be the solution, with a paintbrush attachment measuring the degree of flex in each bristle....

Following the release of iOS 13.5 developer beta 4 yesterday, Apple today has released the fourth developer beta macOS Catalina 10.15.5 as well. The new update is rolling out now via System Preferences. The biggest change in macOS 10.15.5 is a new Battery Health Management feature. The goal of the change is to reduce the chemical aging of a MacBook’s battery and extend its lifespan, but without comprising battery life....

Apple Pay support is still slowly rolling out from more banks, retailers, and apps, and two notable updates added Apple Pay in-app checkout options this week. First up is Priceline, the app that aims to save you money on flights, hotels, and car rentals anytime you’re traveling. While the app allows you to book plane tickets and reserve rental cars, Apple Pay checkout is currently limited to “Express Deals” for paying for hotel reservations....

Via email, Apple is now promoting Xcode 5.0.1’s new automated continuous integration feature to developers. Continuous integration via automated bots in the new Xcode will multiple developers working on different aspects of a software product to integrate their code with the other projects in development. This eases up the development procedure of pulling parts of an app together to make the final copy… Additionally, to go along with this promotion, Apple is now (for the first time) offering iOS App Developers a free copy of OS X Server....

Seemingly through a server-side change, Apple is quietly updating some of the international Siri text-to-speech synthesizers. Last month, some readers commented that the British male voice had been upgraded and we can confirm that the British female voice has also been updated as of this week. The change can be heard on iPhone and iPad as well as the HomePod. Unlike when Apple upgraded the US female voice in iOS 11, the raw human voice talent does not seem to have changed....