Apple Will Proxy Safe Browsing Traffic on iOS 14.5 To Hide User IPs from Google

Apple’s upcoming iOS 14.5 release will ship with a feature that will re-route all Safari’s Safe Browsing traffic through Apple-controlled proxy servers as a workaround to preserve user privacy and prevent Google from learning the IP addresses of iOS users. From a report: The new feature will work only when users activate the “Fraudulent Website Warning” option in the iOS Safari…

Pebble Founder Says His New App Brings iMessage To Android With a Little ‘Trickery’

Beeper is a forthcoming app from the founder of Pebble that claims to be a hub for all your messaging services, including support for iMessage on Android. Gizmodo reports: Instead of managing half a dozen apps for keeping in touch with friends, family, and co-workers, Beeper allows you to funnel everything to one interface. According to its website, the app supports…

Facebook’s Small Advertisers Say They’re Hurt by AI Lockouts

Small advertisers that rely on Facebook to spread marketing messages are up in arms over the social network’s automated ad systems, complaining that inflexible account blocking tools and a lack of customer assistance are hurting business. From a report: One digital marketer, Chris Raines, was setting up an advertising campaign on Facebook last week when his account abruptly stopped working. Raines…

Twitter’s Launch of Fleets: Lag, Some Crashes, Bugs, Skepticism and Cat Pics

CNET reports on Twitter’s rocky rollout of “fleets” which disappear after 24 hours: In a blog post, Twitter said global tests of the feature indicated the tool helped people feel more comfortable joining public conversations on the service. “Those new to Twitter found Fleets to be an easier way to share what’s on their mind,” the company said. “Because they disappear…

Xbox Game Streaming Will Land on iOS in 2021 Using Web Workaround

Project xCloud, the Microsoft game-streaming service that comes packed as a bonus in certain Xbox Game Pass subscription plans, may finally have a path to working on Apple’s range of iOS devices — well after a public row between the tech giants that put the possibility into question. From a report: The news comes from a report by Business Insider, which…

Cellmate: Male Chastity Gadget Hack Could Lock Users In

A security flaw in a hi-tech chastity belt for men made it possible for hackers to remotely lock all the devices in use simultaneously. The BBC reports: Qiui’s Cellmate Chastity Cage is sold online for about $190 and is marketed as a way for owners to give a partner control over access to their body. Pen Test Partners believe about 40,000…

Microsoft Warns Workaround Preventing Lenovo ThinkPad BSOD Increases Risk

An anonymous reader quotes ZDNet: Microsoft has finally published a support document detailing its workaround for the August 2020 Patch Tuesday update for Windows 10 version 2004 that caused blue screens of deaths (BSODs) on newer Lenovo ThinkPads and broke Windows Hello biometric login… It’s the same as Lenovo’s earlier workaround but comes with a stern security warning from Microsoft. Microsoft…

Picture-In-Picture Mode On iOS 14 No Longer Working With YouTube’s Mobile Website Unless You Pay For Premium

An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Apple in iOS 14 added Picture in Picture to the iPhone, a feature designed to let you watch a video in a small screen on your device while you continue to do other things on the phone. The YouTube app doesn’t support Picture in Picture, but up until yesterday there was a functional…

Belarus Has Shut Down the Internet Amid a Controversial Election

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Internet connectivity and cellular service in Belarus have been down since Sunday evening, after sporadic outages early that morning and throughout the day. The connectivity blackout, which also includes landline phones, appears to be a government-imposed outage that comes amid widespread protests and increasing social unrest over Belarus’ presidential election Sunday. The ongoing…

What Ban? Huawei is Launching ‘New Editions’ of Existing Smartphones With Support For Google Services

Huawei has found a neat workaround to keep bundling Google apps on its smartphones: Launch new variants of old smartphones. From a report: The way the export ban has worked in practice is that Huawei devices that launched before the export ban (and some that launched even slightly after) can still be sold with Google apps. Devices that launched well after…