It happens to every single iPhone user… you are being inundated with spam texts, and you can’t handle it anymore. Indeed, it’s been an ongoing and frustrating problem for quite some time now.

For some people, it’s only gotten worse recently. What makes the issue particularly irritating is that spammers have become more clever and sophisticated with time. Spoofing not only your area code, but the prefix so it seems as if it’s a really local caller? Not cool at all, spammers.

This trick is also done with spam text messages, too, so those iMessages or texts on your iPhone originate from numbers that look eerily close to your own phone number.

This is done to trick users into thinking that the text itself is legitimate. And taking things even further, scammers are now texting unsuspecting users from their own numbers.

This issue, we should note, only impacts Verizon users, and the company claims that they’ve “made a significant effort to limit the current activity” of the scheme. But even if you’re not a Verizon subscriber, you could still probably stand to receive fewer spam texts. Here’s how to block spam text messages.

Read: Our article on How to lock any iPhone app so no one else can get in

How iPhone users can stop spam texts

Filter unknown senders

One option to limit iPhone spam texts is to filter messages from unknown senders. With this option, spam messages originating from a number not part of your contact list will go to a separate folder.

To turn this toggle on, follow the below instructions. Before doing so, we should highlight that this filter might also catch non-spam texts from companies like Uber and Door Dash. In other words, if you turn this filter on, make sure to check the “Unknown Senders” tab in the Messages app often.

1. Open the Settings app, and head to “Messages.”
2. Turn on the “Filter Unkown Senders” toggle.

Unfortunately, the same technology that allows individuals worldwide to communicate is being leveraged by scam artists looking to take advantage of unsuspecting users.

To this point, scammers sent upwards of 11.6 billion spam messages during March. The New York Times notes that this represents a 30% increase from the previous month.

Block specific senders

While there’s no bulletproof way to block spam messages, iPhone users can take steps to limit their frequency and visibility.

One thing you can do upon receiving a spam text is to block the number. This will prevent spam messages from that number in the future. Follow the below instructions to do so.

1. Tap on the spam message from the sender you want to block.
2. Next, tap on the phone number at the top of the message.
3. Tap “Info.”
4. At the bottom of the list of options, tap “Block this caller.” Then tap “Block Contact.”

The number should now be blocked and unable to send you spam messages.

Report spam texts or junk messages in Messages app

When you use iMessage, Apple’s messaging platform, you can report spam messages. If the sender is not in your contacts and has other spam criteria, Apple sometimes offers a flag that says these messages might be Junk or spam. You can just tap that, tap the Report Junk button, and tap Delete and Report Junk.

When you do this, the person sending you the message is reported to Apple, and the message is then permanently deleted from your phone.

Get rid of calls and spam texts from unknown numbers

On a somewhat related note, there’s also a way to silence incoming calls from numbers not in your address book. The calls will still go through but will go straight to voicemail instead. Incidentally, phone calls from numbers you’ve previously texted with will be able to go through.

Go to Settings > Phone and toggle the Silence Unknown Callers option to turn this feature on.

How to block calls and spam text messages using your carrier

In the U.S., virtually all major carriers offer apps and services that can alert you to spam/unsolicited calls and messages. Some of these are free spam calls and text blockers, and others require a subscription.

AT&T Call Protect:

• 24/7 Automatic Fraud Call Blocking: Detects and blocks calls from likely fraudsters before your phone even rings
• Block Spam Risk labeled calls (in-app feature): Block or send to voicemail calls identified as Spam Risk
• Send Unknown Callers to voicemail (in-app feature): Send callers, not in your contact list to voicemail.
• Get a heads up on potential nuisance calls*: See warnings of telemarketers, nonprofits, surveys, account services, and private or political callers.
• Personal Block List: Add individual unwanted callers to your block list from the app or with Siri shortcuts.
• Report Spam Calls: Help identify suspected spam and likely fraud calls from the app or with Siri shortcuts. Your reports help everyone.

AT&T Call Protect Plus:

• Caller ID*: Gives you incoming caller details.
• Custom Call Controls: Block or send entire Categories (Telemarketer, Account Services, etc.) of callers to voicemail.
• Reverse Number Lookup: This Shows caller details when you enter a U.S. number. Up to 200 queries per user within a 24-hour period.

Verizon Call Filter:

• Identify suspected spam calls with alerts.
• Automatically block spam based on their risk level and send them to voicemail (Call Filter automatically blocks high-risk callers)
• Report phone numbers as spam.
• Use filters to block other unwanted callers, such as robocalls.
• Adjust spam filter settings any time, e.g., filter unknown senders.
• For added security, upgrade to Call Filter Plus*. Features such as Caller ID and blocking entire area codes give you even more control over incoming calls.

T-Mobile Scam Shield

• Scam Block – Our network will automatically block calls from likely scammers when you turn it on, helping to keep them off your phone entirely.
• Scam Reporting – Help identify suspicious callers or fraudsters and prevent their calls from being received by you—or others—in the future.
• Caller ID – See who’s calling before you answer.
• Allow list – Calls from numbers on your Allow list will never be blocked by our network and always ring your phone.

Premium features such as:

• Personal Number Blocking – Block specific numbers and contacts as soon as they hit the T-Mobile network.
• Category Manager – Tired of telemarketers? Or survey calls? We’ll identify and block call types you don’t want to see anymore.
• Reverse Number Lookup – Not sure who a number belongs to? We’ll do a reverse phone number lookup and show you anything about who is calling.
• Voicemail to Text – Get text messages containing readouts of blocked calls sent to voicemail.

If you use Google Fi as your carrier, Google offers a bunch of options built-in to your subscription plan and available in the Google Fi app.

Our favorite third-party apps for call and spam blocking

Robokiller spam call & text blocking app for iOS

While there are tons of great third-party apps to help filter messages and calls on iOS and Android, our favorite is RoboKiller for $4.99/mo and Nomorobo for $1.99/mo. They have access to your call lists and contact, but these two are reputable, and we use them here ourselves. If you’re going to install an app like this, make sure it’s one you trust due to the sensitive nature of the access involved and know what information they request and share. If you’re asking if RoboKiller blocks texts, the answer is yes! These apps offer phone call and text message blocking and integrate into Apple’s Messages app.

Bonus spam texts message blocking tips

Report the spammer to your carrier

This isn’t going to halt all incoming spam texts and calls immediately, but it benefits others, and if everyone reported these messages, there would be fewer spammers. Here’s how you can do it.

Take the original spam text and forward it, so it’s reported to your carrier. If you’re on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint, use this number: 7726 (SPAM).

File a complaint with the FTC

Under U.S. law, sending unsolicited text messages of a commercial nature without your consent is illegal. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversees a complaint assistant you can use here to report spammers and scam texts and calls.

What are Robotexts?

A robotext is similar to a spam text message, but it’s an automated text message rather than a robocall. Sometimes robotexts are part of a larger play by spammers and scammers, hoping to reel you in so you provide some personal information that can later be used in a spam onslaught.

Some of these texts can lead to higher cell phone bills, identity theft, and even malware installed on your phone.

What’s the reason I’m suddenly getting spam texts and calls?

Spammers use any trick in the book to reach as many phone numbers as possible. They purchase lists of numbers available on the dark web and use software to automatically create and generate lists of numbers. Changing your number won’t prevent spam texts and calls because of this.

Should I reply to spam messages and robotexts?

The answer is no unless you signed up for a specific service that you’re trying to cancel. Usually, if you reply with “STOP,” it can unsubscribe you from the messaging list with reputable businesses and vendors.

Suppose you reply “STOP” to a scam text. In that case, it can actually notify the sender that this is a valid number and a person is replying, giving them more of an opportunity to try and scam or phish your information. Additionally, since the number is valid, it can be added to more spam lists and increase your spam texts and calls.

Thanks for reading, and we hope this guide helps!

FAQs

Does iPhone have a spam blocker?

You can set up an app that lets you filter and detect spam calls. Go to Settings, then Phone. Select “Call Blocking & Identification”. Under “Allow These Apps To Block Calls And Provide Caller ID”, turn the app on or off.

What happens if I open a spam text on my iPhone?

You have nothing to worry about if you open a spam text. The only time to worry is if you’ve entered any information into the website the spam text led you to.

How do I remove my number from spam lists?

You can do this by dialing 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to remove. By the next day, your number will be off the Registry.

How do I block spam texts on my iPhone without a phone number?

Go to Settings, then Messages. Turn on Filter Unknown Senders to filter iMessages. A new tab for Unknown Senders will appear in Messages but you won’t get notifications for these iMessages.

How do I know if my phone is hacked?

If you notice that there have been texts or calls from your phone that you didn’t make, then it’s possible your phone may be hacked.

Can Apple check if my iPhone is hacked?

According to Apple, you will be notified via an iMessage or email when Apple detects that a user has been targeted by state-sponsored hacking. A Threat Notification will be displayed when the user signs into Apple ID.

Does resetting an iPhone delete hackers?

Yes, it does. If you restore your system to its original factory settings, any back door hackers established into your device will be wiped out. However, restoring your phone to a backup where the back doors were already installed could preserve the hacker’s way into the device.

Does airplane mode block hackers?

This is only a temporary solution as hackers can’t have access to your device while it isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

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With WWDC 2022 now firmly in the rearview mirror, developers have been busy getting their hands dirty with iOS 16. The second beta of iOS 16 dropped just this week and, as is typically the case, developers are fast discovering all sorts of cool and nifty features Apple didn’t have time to cover during its keynote address.

As a prime example, iOS 16 will make it easier for users to bypass annoying CAPTCHAs and verify their identity using their Apple ID instead.

Autofill your CVV when using a credit card online

Another iOS 16 feature Apple didn’t have time to cover involves the ability to autofill your CVV number when using your credit card online. As it stands now, most people who use credit cards online are familiar with how autofill works.

If you have a credit card number saved, you can simply enter in the CVV (the 3-digit number on the back) and the rest of your credit card information will populate. Adding the CVV isn’t exactly a headache, but sometimes people don’t have it memorized.

With iOS 16, you can now have the CVV saved automatically when using your credit card.

To get this to work, you’ll have to make sure that iCloud Keychain is toggled on. This tip first came to light via Mark Gurman who notes that “Apple had been reluctant to store that [information] previously.”

We’re not sure what prompted Apple to change its mind, but some suggest there may have been some regulatory hurdles that prevented Apple from doing this sooner. Either way, we’re definitely not complaining.

If you have the iOS 16 beta, you can access this by opening up the Settings app. From there, go to Safari> Autofill> Saved Credit Cards.

Other iOS 16 features

Apple with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura is really trying to reduce any type of online friction. To this end, one iOS 16 feature Apple did mention during its keynote is passkeys, a new feature that will make it easy to sign in to websites and apps without typing in a password.

One of the benefits of passkeys is that it relies upon a unique key that can only be unlocked via FaceID. As a result, Apple is all but making it impossible for malicious websites to steal sensitive login information.

Apple notes:

Passkeys introduce a new sign-in method that is end-to-end encrypted and safe from phishing and data leaks. This makes passkeys stronger than all common two-factor authentication types. 

Another iOS 16 feature worth mentioning is the ability to see your WiFi network password. This is a welcome feature that is long overdue. In short, iOS 16 will allow users to see WiFi passwords for saved networks.

This will make it easier to share WiFi passwords with non-iPhone users. It will also make it easier to enter WiFi password information on devices like smart TVs and video game consoles.

More iPhone coverage: For more iPhone news, visit our iPhone 14 guide.

The post This new iOS 16 feature is so useful, but no one knows about it appeared first on BGR.

After more than a 2-year hiatus, Uber Pool is finally coming back. The ridesharing feature which allows passengers to split the cost of a trip with individuals traveling in the same direction was temporarily suspended in early 2022 right as the coronavirus pandemic began. Today, Uber announced that Uber Pool is back, albeit with a new name: UberX Share.

Uber Pool is now UberX Share

As part of a rebrand, the Uber Pool name is being tossed aside and is being replaced with UberX Share. UberX Share originally debuted a pilot program in Miami and is now coming to 8 cities across the US: New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Portland, Oregon, and San Diego.

Uber details how a typical UberX Share trip operates below:

1. Accept a trip, as you would with UberX for your first rider. The Driver app will search for ways to pick up more riders along the way. 
2. You’ll be notified when another rider is added, your route will update automatically.
3. If a rider doesn’t arrive at the pickup location within 2 minutes, you’ll have the option to cancel and receive the cancellation fee. 
4. Riders only get the full UberX Share discount on their price if you pick up a co-rider. We designed it this way so riders would be welcoming to each other while in your car.

How the new service works

While similar to Uber Pool, UberX Share does incorporate several minor changes gleaned after months of research and customer feedback.

With the new service, riders who choose to use UberX Share will get a discount upfront. Passengers can enjoy additional savings — up to 20% off the total ride — if another passenger joins the trip.

Thankfully, Uber is addressing a longstanding frustration with Uber Pool, namely that shared rides can sometimes add an exorbitant amount of time to a given trip. To streamline matters, UberX Share will only match riders with passengers heading in the same general direction. Uber notes that the new service is designed such that no more than 8 minutes will be added to a trip relative to a standard UberX ride.

Notably, Uber didn’t mention when UberX Share will expand to additional cities. That said, we imagine it won’t be long before the rollout goes nationwide.

Incidentally, Lyft earlier this year also brought back shared rides. Similar to Uber, Lyft is rolling out the feature slowly. As it stands now, shared rides on Lyft are only available in a handful of cities. That list includes San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas, and Atlanta.

With gas prices soaring, it’s nice to see that shared rides are finally coming back.

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It’s no secret that Facebook, with Mark Zuckerberg steering the ship, has long been attuned to rival products capable of diminishing its social networking dominance. Put simply, if people are chatting or sharing media content, Facebook desperately wants it to happen under its own umbrella.

This all-encompassing strategy became evident when the company purchased Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. Though the purchase at the time was widely mocked, it quickly became apparent that it was an unabashedly brilliant move on Facebook’s part. Just a few years later, Facebook doled out a whopping $16 billion for the messaging service WhatsApp.

The impetus for both acquisitions was simple: people were increasingly spending time on other social networking applications. Naturally, Mark Zuckerberg viewed this as a threat.

Facebook’s most dangerous rival yet

These days, Facebook faces a new and arguably more potent rival: TikTok. The popular video service, currently the most visited website in the world, is a haven for influencers, celebrities, brands, and of course, everyday individuals across the world.

With people spending more time sharing and consuming videos on TikTok, Facebook is worried about people spending less time on its apps. Just as concerning, from Facebook’s perspective, is that users may abandon Facebook altogether.

There is, after all, only so much time in the day. Put simply, users don’t have time to be active on every social media platform.

The solution? Copy TikTok

Consequently, Facebook is looking to take on TikTok head-on. Rather than acquiring TikTok outright, Facebook will instead look to mimic many of its core features. This, of course, is simply par for the course given Facebook’s willingness to liberally borrow popular features from other apps.

For instance, Instagram Stories and Instagram Reels are essentially carbon copies of existing features taken from Snapchat and TikTok, respectively.

However, with TikTok becoming an ever-dominant force in the social networking and media space, Facebook is ready to put its foot on the gas. In a leaked memo obtained by The Verge, company executives laid out a plan to prioritize posts that are likely to spur engagement at the expense of posts from individuals people actually follow.

The Verge notes:

Here’s how the future Facebook app will work in practice: the main tab will become a mix of Stories and Reels at the top, followed by posts its discovery engine recommends from across both Facebook and Instagram. It’ll be a more visual, video-heavy experience with clearer prompts to direct message friends a post.

In effect, Facebook will try and mimic TikTok’s For You Page, a discovery engine that expertly doles out videos while keeping consumers engaged for hours on end.

Facebook’s risky strategy

The business strategy behind Facebook’s approach makes sense on a surface level. However, it has the potential to destroy the very thing that made Facebook popular in the first place — actual connections between friends, family, and acquaintances.

Facebook is a place where people go to share updates, photos, and videos with their social network. Restructuring the app such that people interact more heavily with people and creators they have no connection to seems shortsighted and, in my opinion, will only serve to push more people away.

Facebook’s approach also misses a key component — namely that TikTok itself isn’t necessarily a social network. Whereas people on Instagram and WhatsApp routinely interact with people they know, the opposite is true of TikTok.

Sure, users can send TikTok videos and engage in chats on the side. However, the main thrust of the app is the ability for users to watch engaging content from creators across the world.

TikTok’s inherent advantage

To this point, Blake Chandlee, a former Facebooker who now serves as TikTok’s president of global business solutions, recently articulated that TikTok is more of an entertainment platform than a social network.

“Facebook is a social platform,” Chandlee said during an interview with CNBC. “They’ve built all their algorithms based on the social graph. That is their core competency. Ours is not. We are an entertainment platform. The difference is significant. It’s a massive difference.”

Chandlee is spot on. One of the reasons TikTok works so smoothly is precisely because it doesn’t operate as a social network. TikTok isn’t a place where I can keep tabs on everything my friends on the app are doing. It’s a place where I can see what interesting people across the world are doing.

Now is it possible that users are using Facebook differently and the company is simply responding to the changing current? Certainly. Especially because video is a huge component of how people spend time on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and co. may be simply leaning into a shift that is already ongoing. This, however, doesn’t make the plan to copy TikTok any more workable.

Personally, I think Facebook may be flirting with danger here. One of the reasons the app is as “sticky” as it is is because of the personal and social connections that can’t be found elsewhere. Where else, after all, am I going to keep up with an old college friend I haven’t seen in years?

If Facebook becomes more of a haven for viral videos, that’s great. But then it’s no different from TikTok and even more expendable.

Pressure from Wall Street

The reality is that Facebook is unfortunately a slave to Wall Street. Remember, analysts are constantly analyzing metrics relating to user growth and how much time users spend on the site. As a result, even in fiscal quarters when Facebook delivers impressive earnings and strong profit growth, investors will hammer the stock if the aforementioned user metrics aren’t growing sufficiently.

In turn, Facebook now finds itself pushed into a corner. Now it effectively has to try and copy TikTok but risk alienating users in the process.

This tweet from a few months back perfectly encapsulates Facebook’s predicament.

By design, Facebook tries to foster and enhance real-world connections. It’s why the company pushes Groups so aggressively. The company is trying to be all things to all people. But the reality is that this simply isn’t a workable long-term solution.

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With Apple and Android handset makers constantly jockeying back and forth to one-up each other, the gap between the iPhone and Android user experience has only narrowed in recent years. Admittedly, the days when the iPhone was undoubtedly a superior platform relative to Android are long gone. Today, comparing the iPhone to Android is a far more nuanced affair. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see iPhone users clamoring for Apple to bring some Android features to the iPhone. One such example is the ability to create a Secure Folder on Samsung devices.

If you want to keep specific photos, videos, or any type of file or app free from prying eyes, setting up a Secure Folder is a pretty workable solution. The implementation isn’t exactly as elegant as what you’d see from Apple, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

How to create a Secure Folder

To set this up on your Samsung device, open up the Settings App and then select Biometrics and security. From there, tap the Secure Folder option.

Once you do that, you have the option to set up what type of security you’d like to use to protect the folder. For example, you can set up a PIN, use a password, or even set up a pattern. It’s also possible to use fingerprint authentication to unlock your Secret Folder.

Once you’ve done this, you can now add apps or files to the Secure Folder, which should appear on your Home and Apps Screen. From here, all you have to do is open the folder, hit the “plus” icon, and select “Add apps.” You can use this same process to add selected files to the folder by tapping the three vertical dots.

Samsung adds:

When you move an app you already have installed on your phone into the secure folder, a copy of the app is created. You will be able to log in to the copy of the app in the Secure Folder using a different account to the original version. If you wish to have the app only in the secure folder, you will need to uninstall the version of the app on your apps screen.

How to hide your Secure Folder

If you want to add an extra layer of privacy, you can hide your Secure Folder. You can do this by accessing the Settings pane and then selecting Biometrics and security. Next, hit Secure Folder and toggle the “Show icon on Apps screen” into the off position. You’ll see a prompt asking if you’re sure you want to hide it. Select “Hide” to confirm and you’re good to go.

An obvious question: how can you access the Secure Folder if you hide it? To do this, Samsung advises swiping “down from the top of the screen with two fingers to reveal the Quick Panel.” Upon doing so, now swipe right and tap the “plus” icon. Now swipe right again and drag it into the Quick Panel.

Again, Samsung’s implementation does leave a little to be desired, but it’s nonetheless a nice option. Apple doesn’t have a completely parallel solution, though it is possible to lock the Notes app to keep sensitive information private.

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Apple finally unveiled iOS 16 last week and not everyone is thrilled. Although iOS 16 introduces a slew of new features, not all iPhone users will be able to enjoy them. With iOS 16, the list of supported devices only includes the iPhone 8 and models released afterward. In other words, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and original iPhone SE owners are out of luck.

The fact that Apple dropped support for these iPhone models is arguably somewhat surprising. Note that iOS 15 supported iPhone models going back to the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE.

This year, Apple dropped support for not one, but three generations of iPhone: the 2015 iPhone 6s and the 2016 iPhone 7, in addition to the SE. And even though these devices are six and seven years old, and even though their user base isn’t too high, impacted users are none too happy about being phased out.

iPhone 7 owners are upset

Apple traditionally does a great job of supporting older iPhone models when it releases a new iteration of iOS. Especially compared to some Android manufacturers, Apple puts a lot of work into ensuring that its next-gen software can run on devices that are years old.

But at a certain point, it’s simply not practical to maintain support for antiquated hardware. Additionally, there are instances where older iPhone hardware simply can’t run modern software smoothly.

That said, some point out that there are no technical limitations preventing a device like the iPhone 7 from running iOS 16, especially given that it has an A10 and that the 5th-gen iPad runs on an A9.

Still, that doesn’t make the frustration any less for users.

While I can see the frustration, there’s also a bit of entitlement at play. Especially when you consider how short the lifespan is for software updates on Android, the fact that Apple’s 2017 iPhone 7 models can still run iOS 15 is remarkable.

Sure, it would be great for iPhone 7 users to enjoy some of iOS 16’s new features, but Apple designs software looking forward, not backward.

The most exciting iOS 16 features

Now if you’re running an iPhone 8 or a more recent device, there’s a lot in iOS 16 to look forward to.

iOS 16 features roundup. Image source: Apple Inc.

Of course, one of the more exciting iOS 16 features is the ability to customize the iPhone lock screen. In typical Apple fashion, it’s easy for users to play around with different templates and customize the lock screen exactly to their liking with different fonts, colors, and screen elements.

Other iOS 16 features to look forward to include a new notification design, an updated Messages app with the ability to unsend messages and recover deleted messages, Live Text in videos, improved dictation, Apple Pay Later, and much more.

One new feature I’m excited about is Live Activities. With Live Activities, users can keep tabs on sports scores from the lock screen in real time. It also makes it possible to track the progress of your Uber or food delivery service from the lock screen.

You can read about how to download the iOS 16 beta over here, or check out Apple’s preview page for iOS 16.

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Now that the WWDC keynote is behind us, the next big event to look forward to is Apple’s iPhone 14 unveiling this coming September. Interestingly enough, data strings found in the first developer beta of iOS 16 seem to confirm one iPhone feature we’ve seen floating around in recent weeks, namely iPhone 14 Pro support for an always-on display.

Beyond that, several other iPhone 14 rumors we’ve seen point to a slightly tweaked form factor on the Pro models, along with what may very well be a huge leap forward in camera performance. All the same, sometimes the iPhone features Apple delivers are different from the features people actually care about.

As a prime example, iPhone users for years indicated that they would rather have a thicker device with better battery life. Apple, meanwhile, spent years prioritizing a svelte form factor before reversing course once Jony Ive left the company.

The post These are the iPhone 14 features people wish for most, and some might surprise you appeared first on BGR.

Apple today introduced macOS Ventura, the latest incarnation of its operating system for the Mac. Hot on the heels of macOS Monterey, macOS Ventura offers up a slew of interesting new features. Of course, it goes without saying that the days of Mac updates brimming with hundreds of compelling new features are long gone. That notwithstanding, there are enough new features in macOS Ventura to make this an intriguing update and well worth a download once it arrives in October.

Stage Manager

Stage Manager in macOS Ventura is a new framework that makes it easier to manage your Mac when you have multiple windows open at the same time. Specifically, it helps keep your Mac organized by moving windows you’re not using to the side and letting you focus on the app you are using.

Mail

Apple’s Mail app is also getting some updates with improved search functionality. More notably, the revamped Mail app now supports reminders and the ability to schedule emails to send at a specific time. You can also undo a sent email. The new Mail app also features support for rich links.

Apple notes:

In the biggest overhaul to search in years, Mail now uses state-of-the-art techniques to deliver more relevant, accurate, and complete results. Users can quickly find what they are looking for as soon as they click into search, including recent emails, contacts, documents, photos, and more, all before they even start typing. Users can also schedule emails and even cancel delivery after hitting send, and Mail now intelligently detects if items such as an attachment or cc’d recipient is missing from their message. In Mail, users can set reminders to come back to a message at a particular date and time, and receive automatic suggestions to follow up on an email if there has been no response.

It’s no secret that the Mail app on macOS isn’t exactly a fan favorite amongst power users, but these updates should definitely help.

Safari

With the new iteration of Safari, it’s now possible to share tab groups with friends. This is helpful for things like planning trips or research projects.

The new Safari also includes Passkeys to help keep accounts safe. Apple notes that this might replace passwords because they can’t be leaked and nothing is kept on a webserver. They are synced across devices using iCloud keychain.

Apple adds:

Passkeys are unique digital keys that stay on device and are never stored on a web server, so hackers can’t leak them or trick users into sharing them. Passkeys make it simple to sign in securely, using Touch ID or Face ID for biometric verification, and iCloud Keychain to sync across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV with end-to-end encryption. They will also work across apps and the web, and users can even sign in to websites or apps on non-Apple devices using their iPhone.

Continuity Camera

This is a particularly cool feature of macOS Ventura. It allows users to use their iPhone as a makeshift webcam when video chatting on the Mac. There’s also a Desk View which allows for a split screen mode. This mode shows a front-facing view and also a view of your desk using the iPhone’s Ultra Wide camera. It’s pretty slick, as evidenced above.

Messages

Of course, many of the features Apple introduced for Messages on iOS are coming to the Mac as well. This includes the ability to unsend a message and the ability to edit a message after it was sent. It’s also now possible to enter a SharePlay session directly on your Mac straight from a Messages notification.

Other new MacOS Ventura features

Additional macOS venture features include support for Live Text, Metal 3 for improved gaming, expanded Visual Look Up capabilities, new accessibility tools, optimized Weather and Clock apps, a brand new design for System Settings (formerly System Preferences), and enhanced security tools.

Availability

macOS Ventura is available to all developers starting today. A public beta of macOS Ventura will arrive sometime next month. If history is any indication, the full-fledged release will happen this coming October. Per usual, the update will be free to download for all Mac users.

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It’s been a busy day for Apple. After introducing new iterations of iOS and watchOS, which are chock full of new features, Apple took the wraps off its next-gen M2 processor. The M1 was an absolute game-changer that offered up unrivaled performance without sacrificing battery life in the slightest. With the M2, Apple is taking its in-house Apple Silicon to the next level.

M2 processor is blazing fast

Apple’s M2 processor has 20 billion transistors, which is 25% more than the M1. All told, Apple’s M2 offers nearly 2x faster performance while using the same amount of power. This is impressive and especially intriguing given how blazing fast the M1 processor was.

It’s also worth noting that the M2 boasts a next-gen GPU with a 25% increase in graphics performance. The M2 supports 24GB of unified memory.

During its presentation, Apple added that the M2 can also go head to head with top-tier PC laptop chips while using far less power.

As expected, Apple’s brand new MacBook Air will be the first Mac to boast the M2. Incidentally, the existing MacBook Air with the M1 will stick around at a $999 pricepoint.

Looking ahead, it stands to reason that the entirety of Apple’s Mac line will get the M2.

Developing…

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WWDC 2022 is slated to kick off this Monday and, as in years past, the week-long developers’ conference will begin with a keynote address where Apple will show off the next iterations of iOS, macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, and tvOS. If we’re lucky, we might even see some new hardware announcements as well. 

Like the last two years, this year’s WWDC keynote will be an online-only affair due to a recent surge in COVID-19 infections in California. Naturally, the notion of bringing thousands of people together for a multi-hour indoor event simply doesn’t make sense at this point.

That notwithstanding, Apple’s WWDC keynote should be chock-full of interesting announcements and we’ve recently pored through dozens of Apple rumors to bring you a comprehensive rundown of everything Apple will likely introduce this coming Monday.

WWDC 2022 Keynote

Apple’s WWDC keynote is the draw of the entire event because this is where the company announces all of the new products, services, and developer tools. This year, we’re expecting iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and hardware updates to lots of popular products. There also is a strong possibility Apple announces a refreshed MacBook Air, which a ton of people have been asking for.

iOS 16

A slew of minor but interesting enhancements

As always, iOS will be the main event of Apple’s WWDC keynote. While the days of new iOS releases introducing game-changing features are arguably long-gone, that’s not to say that iOS 16 will be a boring release. There are some interesting iOS 16 rumors floating around and, of course, it’s also possible that Apple this year has managed to keep some iOS 16 features from leaking out.

All that said, here’s what we know about iOS 16. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is usually reliable with respect to Apple rumors, iOS is poised to be a “fairly significant upgrade.”

iPhone 13 Pro Front Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

To this point, iOS 16 may offer up some interesting changes to the Lock Screen. What these changes remain to be seen, but Gurman notes it may include “wallpapers that have widget-like capabilities.”

We can also expect some improvements to the Messages and Health app. With respect to the Health app, the expected changes include fleshed-out features for sleep tracking. There’s also a good chance we’ll see new features pertaining to women’s health and medicine scheduling and management. There are also rumblings that iOS 16 will allow users to scan their pill bottles and subsequently receive reminders about when to take their medication.

There’s also a rumor that iOS 16 may introduce a new car crash detection feature. Similar to how fall detection works on the Apple Watch, the car crash detection feature will recognize when a crash has occurred by detecting a sudden stop in movement. When an accident is detected, the iPhone will automatically call 911. This is an intriguing feature but it’s worth noting it already exists on some other smartphone models.

And lastly, Bloomberg adds that we might see some “new audio and social-networking features to Messages.”

Always-On Display

Another, and in my opinion, more interesting iOS 16 feature is an Always-On display. We saw this rumor sprout up last year but it was reportedly pushed back for reasons that remain unclear. Still, we can expect iOS 16 to support an Always-On display for iPhone 14 Pro models.

The implementation of this Always-On display will be limited in nature to the extent that it will only show the time, new notifications, and the battery life percentage.

Noted leaker Max Weinbach said the following last year:

Always-On Display will have minimal customizability. Current design basically looks like a toned-down lock screen. Clock and battery charge is always visible. Notifications seem to be displayed using a bar and icons. Upon receiving, the notification will pop up normally except that the screen will not entirely light up. Instead, it will display it just like you’re used to right now, except dimmed down and only temporarily.

iPadOS 16

iPad Air 5th-generation. Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Rumors regarding iPadOS 16 haven’t been too plentiful, but we’ve certainly seen a few crumbs of information in recent weeks. Most notably, there’s a good chance the new iteration of iPadOS will introduce a completely redesigned multitasking interface. According to Bloomberg, the revamped design should “make it easier to see what apps are open” and to switch between active applications.

Additionally, the new iPadOS may allow users to resize windows themselves. If this WWDC 2022 rumor pans out, it would further point to Apple’s intention of bestowing the iPad with more desktop-like functionality. To this point, it stands to reason that the line between macOS and iPadOS will only get blurrier in the years to come.

watchOS 9

It’s crazy to think that we’re already on watchOS 9, but time flies, as they say. Bad jokes aside, watchOS 9 should include some intriguing updates, even though there’s no denying that the release of new Apple Watch hardware is always more compelling.

Closeup of Apple Watch Series 6. Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

One watchOS 9 rumor is that the software update, when paired with Apple’s new Apple Watch, will allow users to ascertain their body temperature. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple initially wanted this feature to be part of the Apple Watch 7 and watchOS 8 releases.

Problems with the feature’s algorithm, however, reportedly forced Apple to delay its release. WWDC 2022, however, might be when it’s finally ready for prime-time.

Kuo writes:

The challenge in implementing precise body temperature measurement is that skin temperature quickly varies depending on outside environments. A smartwatch can’t support core temperature measurement in terms of hardware, so it needs an excellent algorithm to work together.

Beyond body temperature monitoring, we’ll likely see expanded fitness tracking functionality. This will reportedly include more workout options and more granular data for run tracking.

Similar to iOS 16, watchOS 9 will also include the aforementioned crash detection feature. We’ve also seen rumblings of an enhanced low power mode.

watchOS 9 will reportedly run on Apple Watch models going back to the Apple Watch Series 3.

macOS

Ironically, WWDC used to be all about the Mac, and now macOS updates are something of an afterthought. Apple will assuredly introduce a brand new iteration of macOS at WWDC 2022, but there really haven’t been any substantive rumors about what new features this update is going to introduce.

The lone macOS rumor is that we might see a revamped System Preferences pane and “redesigned apps”. So yeah, it may not be a monumental update, save for some performance and under-the-hood enhancements.

Brand new MacBook Air

While there’s no guarantee, it would certainly be exciting to see Apple announce new hardware during its WWDC 2022 keynote. Don’t get your hopes up that we might see Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR headset, but there is a chance we’ll see Apple introduce a brand new MacBook Air.

One of Apple’s newest MacBook laptops Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Rumors of an updated MacBook Air have been floating around for quite a while now.  And seeing as how the last major update was nearly two years ago, the timing makes sense.

According to rumors, Apple’s revamped MacBook Air will boast a brand new design. Specifically, the wedge design which has defined the MacBook Air form factor since its inception may be on the way out. Additionally, we might see the MacBook Air available in a variety of colors.

The specific colors remain unknown. Some speculate we might see a range of pastel-inspired colors like the recent iMac release. There’s also a chance the new MacBook Air models will feature white bezels and a white keyboard. 

Additionally, the new MacBook Air will probably boast a notch, similar to the latest MacBook Pro models. This would allow Apple to include a slightly larger display. Specifically, the new MacBook Air display may measure 13.6-inches as opposed to 13.3-inches on the current models.

What remains unclear is if the new MacBook Air will boast a next-gen M2 processor. We’ve seen conflicting reports about this and we’ll have to wait for Apple’s official announcement to know for sure.

Lastly, there’s also a chance the new MacBook Air will boast an improved front-facing camera along with a MagSafe connector.

Apple’s Mixed Reality Headset

Apple mixed reality glasses render – side view. Image source: Ian Zelbo

While not a sure thing, there is plenty of reason to think we are finally going to get to see Apple’s Mixed Reality (MR) headset. This, as has been written about, should in effect be ski goggles that offer augmented reality overlaid into the analog world, and if it has the horsepower and content that we would think Apple is capable of, it should be a groundbreaking device.

More iPhone 14 coverage: Read our ultimate guide on the iPhone 14 here

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