Apple Is Saying Goodbye To iTunes With New Service

It’s the end of an era.  In 2001, Apple introduced iTunes, which transformed the music industry. For the first time ever, it was possible to buy individual songs, transfer files, and automatically sync data. It was safe and secure, and people flocked to it in droves.

The truth is that iTunes isn’t so much going away, as it’s being changed and broken into smaller pieces.

Apple is transitioning its music customers to its new Apple Music service.  Instead of buying individual songs, Apple Music has a monthly subscription fee, and it is much more modern than the app it’s replacing.

The company has assured all users that their iTunes song purchases will still be available in Apple Music, and all iTunes gift cards will continue to function just fine.  Apple also assured users that when they switch to the new TV app, all of their movies and TV shows will still be available.

While we completely understand what’s driving the company’s thinking on this front, it is a sad day indeed and a bittersweet moment in computing history.  iTunes was a transformational service that changed the way people interacted with the web.  In an age where there was relatively little faith and trust in digital transactions, Apple’s product offering changed the game. iTunes did much to build a culture of trust among the internet’s user base of that time.  If it had never existed, there’s no telling how long it might have taken for people to begin trusting online transactions.

If you haven’t already tried Apple Music, give it a go, if for no other reason than to confirm that all your old iTunes purchases made the journey with you.  It’s truly the end of an era.  iTunes is dead.  Long live iTunes!

New Microsoft Excel Feature Could Be Useful For Some

In the earliest days of the smartphone, there were only a few apps that people could use to perform genuinely useful work.  Sure, they were handy for keeping your contacts all in one place and reminding you of appointments, but beyond that, your pickings were fairly slim. That changed quickly with the explosion of apps that brought the smartphone into the mainstream.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, suddenly people found themselves able leverage their phones to do a broad range of work from anywhere.  While laptops are obviously still better for some things, the lines are continuing to blur.

Earlier this year, Microsoft took another step in that direction, adding an ‘Insert Data from Picture’ to Android devices, which suddenly opened a world of new possibilities for using smartphone users.  Unfortunately, Apple users were left out of the equation.

That, however, has changed.  Microsoft just announced that it’s porting the ‘Insert Data from Picture’ feature to the iOS system as well.  In fact, the process has already begun.

Whatever type of smart device you have, if you haven’t heard of the feature before now, here’s a quick overview:

  • Open Excel on your phone or tablet and tap the ‘Insert Data from Picture’ button
  • Tweak the capture field, zooming in on the data until a red border appears around it, then tap it to capture.
  • Excel will process the image data and convert it into a table.
  • From there, the software will give you an opportunity to correct any issues it discovered during the conversion process. You can choose to either ignore, edit, or correct it.
  • Once you’ve decided, press ‘Insert’ and Excel will finalize the data.

If you’re like most people, the first time you use it, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.  It is simply a superb addition to the software.

Hackers Using WhatsApp To Install Malware On Phones

If you’re among the masses of people using WhatsApp, for either Android or iOS, be advised that the Israeli hacking consortium known as the NSO Group may have installed spyware on the device you use WhatsApp on.

A massive security flaw identified as CVE-2019-3568 has been discovered and weaponized by the NSO Group.

This allows them to install spyware and steal a variety of data from impacted devices.  Worse, the group is installing their Pegasus spyware, which is among the most advanced on the planet. It’s very good at hiding itself, deleting incoming calls, and other log information in order to remain hidden.

The good news is that Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has patched the flaw with an update. As long as you’re using the latest version, you’re protected.  Unfortunately, not everyone keeps their apps up to date. Prior to the patch being released, all 1.5 billion of the app’s users were considered vulnerable.

According to the official company statement:

“The issue affects WhatsApp for Android prior to v2.19.134, WhatsApp Business for Android prior to v2.19.44, WhatsApp for iOS prior to v2.19.51, WhatsApp Business for iOS prior to v2.19.51, WhatsApp for Windows Phone prior to v2.18.348, and WhatsApp for Tizen prior to 2.18.15.”

Although millions of users have already updated their software, the sad reality is that for most people, keeping apps up to date generally ranks quite low on their list of priorities. That means there are still untold millions of users who are vulnerable.

If you use the app or if you know anyone who does, the best thing you can do is to update to the latest version right away and have your phone thoroughly scanned to be sure you don’t have the Pegasus Spyware already embedded in your system.

Apple Developers Will Make Apps Usable On All Devices

Apple recently announced an important strategic change in direction that’s great news for developers.  In their next SDK release, developers will be able to build a single app that will work on every iPhone, iPad, and Mac the company makes.

The benefits to developers are obvious, with the biggest being a general reduction of development time.

There will be no need to make three different variants of an app to cover the entire Apple ecosystem.  It will also mean more potential customers if a development group has been focused on only one segment of that ecosystem.

The change will also give Apple a powerful advantage in that eventually, the company will be able to merge the Mac App Store and the App Store for iOS. That will reduce their digital footprint and make managing their vast holdings easier. In addition to that, it will streamline the approval process, allowing developers to submit a single binary for all Apple devices.

According to a statement recently published by the company, the new development kit could be pushed out by as early as June, which is generating a tremendous amount of excitement in the Apple development community.

Obviously, consumers will see a big win here as well.  Once the changes are complete and the two app stores are merged, there will be a single official hub where Apple users can get all their favorite Apps. They won’t even have to worry about cross-device compatibility, which will improve the overall user experience.

The bottom line is that it will make things easier for developers, make managing the process easier for Apple, simplify things, and improve the user experience for the legions of end users in Apple’s ecosystem. Kudos to the company for making the move.  Exciting changes are ahead!

Safari On Mac Now Vulnerable To Browser History Theft

There’s a new macOS security flaw you and your staff need to be aware of.  It was discovered by Jeff Johnson, the developer of the Underpass app for both Mac and iOS, and the StopTheMaddness Safari browser extension.

Fortunately, the new flaw is not one that can be exploited remotely.  Users would have to be tricked into installing a malicious app via social engineering or other tricks.

On the other hand, the flaw is critical and impacts all known macOS Mojave versions.

Mr. Johnson had this to say about the matter:

“On Mojave, certain folders have restricted access that is forbidden by default.  For example, ~/Library/Safari.  In the Terminal app, you can’t even list the contents of the folder.  However, I’ve discovered a way to bypass these protections in Mojave and allow apps to look inside ~/Library/Safari without acquiring any permission from the system or from the user.  There are no permission dialogs.  It Just Works.  In this way, a malware app could secretly violate a user’s privacy by examining their web browser history.”

Johnson reached out to Apple privately and shared the full details of the flaw, but refused to provide more details than the above to the general public, saying that since the issue has yet to be patched, he does not want to put macOS users at risk.

Although Apple has formally acknowledged his report, the company has to this point provided no information on some things. This includes what level of importance they’re giving a fix for the issue, and what their time frame might be in terms of issuing a fix.

It’s a serious issue, no doubt, but there’s a lack of public details about it. The fact that it can’t be executed remotely suggests it’s not as big a threat as it could be.  Even so, be mindful of it until Apple issues a fix.