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Today — 17 September 2024Main stream

Setapp Mobile’s open beta adds more apps for European iPhone users

17 September 2024 at 10:00
Two iPhone models displaying the Setapp Mobile app marketplace.
Setapp Mobile is now available in open beta in the EU following invite-only testing. | Image: Setapp

The Setapp Mobile alternative app store is now available in open beta for iPhone users in the European Union, featuring 50 different productivity- and lifestyle-focused apps at launch. While most of these apps, like the Tripsy itinerary planner and MindNode mind mapping tool, are already available on the official iOS App Store, Setapp creator MacPaw says its own platform provides a simplified user experience and a fair, performance-based compensation model for app developers.

Setapp was originally released as an app marketplace for macOS before the company launched a mobile version for iOS users. Setapp Mobile launched as a closed beta in May, shortly after the European Union’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to start allowing iPhones...

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Before yesterdayMain stream

European iPad users can soon download apps from third-party stores

13 September 2024 at 14:33
A screenshot from Fortnite.
Fortnite maker Epic has already committed to supporting its iOS app store on iPads. | Image: Epic Games

Apple will let iPad users in the European Union download apps from alternative app marketplaces starting next week, coinciding with the release of iPadOS 18 on September 16th. The change comes after the iPad operating system was designated a “core platform service” in April under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), the same rules that forced the company to allow third-party app stores on iPhones earlier this year.

Apple had six months to ensure iPadOS was compliant with DMA obligations, which include allowing users in the EU to download apps from outside of the Apple App Store, uninstall preloaded iPad apps, and choose their own default apps like browsers. It also opens up iPadOS, like iOS, to apps that use alternative browser engines...

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Netflix is ending support for some older iPhones and iPads

13 September 2024 at 11:16
An illustration of the Netflix logo.
The latest Netflix app update will require Apple devices to run iOS 17 or later. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Netflix app is dropping support for older iPhones and iPads that are stuck at iOS 16. 9to5Mac reports that Netflix is showing an alert to users on some iOS 16 devices that says “We’ve updated the Netflix app! To use the latest version, install iOS 17 or later.”

The change only impacts devices that can’t be updated to iOS 17, such as the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus handsets, and Apple’s first-generation iPad Pro and iPad 5 tablets. These devices will be unable to receive further Netflix updates, such as important patches for bugs and other security concerns. Apple is rolling out iOS 18 on September 16th.

Netflix users stuck on iOS 16 can still access their accounts in the current version of their app, for the time being, as...

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Facebook and Instagram are making AI labels less prominent on edited content

12 September 2024 at 20:04
An image showing the location of the new AI Info label on Facebook
Meta will hide the “AI Info” label in a menu if an image has been edited with AI. | Image: Meta

Meta is updating how it labels content on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads that has been edited or manipulated using generative AI. In an updated blog post, Meta announced that its “AI Info” tag will appear within a menu in the top-right corner of images and videos edited with AI — instead of directly beneath the user’s name.

Users can click on the menu to check if AI information is available and read what may have been adjusted. Meta previously applied the “AI Info” tag to all AI-related content — whether it was lightly adjusted in a tool like Photoshop that includes AI features or fully AI-generated from a prompt.

The company says the changes are being introduced to “better reflect the extent of AI used” across images and videos on...

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Meta fed its AI on almost everything you’ve posted publicly since 2007

12 September 2024 at 17:04
Meta logo on a red background with repeating black icons, giving a squiggly effect.
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta has acknowledged that all text and photos that adult Facebook and Instagram users have publicly published since 2007 have been fed into its artificial intelligence models. Australia’s ABC News reports that Meta’s global privacy director, Melinda Claybaugh, initially rejected claims about user data from 2007 being leveraged for AI training during a local government inquiry about AI adoption before relenting after additional questioning.

“The truth of the matter is that unless you have consciously set those posts to private since 2007, Meta has just decided that you will scrape all of the photos and all of the texts from every public post on Instagram or Facebook since 2007 unless there was a conscious decision to set them on...

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Sony’s latest PS5 update can help protect controller batteries

12 September 2024 at 13:30
A shot of the cable and locking mechanism being mounted to the Sony DualSense Edge controller.
The new adaptive charging feature could help to save power and preserve the life of controller batteries. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Sony has released a batch of features in its latest PlayStation 5 system update, including support for adaptive controller charging, party link sharing, and a new widget hub. The adaptive charging feature, which monitors and automatically adjusts the power supplied when controllers are connected to the console’s USB ports, is being released globally starting today — but only for the latest PS5 models.

In its announcement, Sony says adaptive charging is only available on the PS5 Slim and its upcoming $700 PS5 Pro. The feature will work on PS5-era DualSense and DualSense Edge wireless controllers, alongside PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, and the Access adaptive controller kit. Charging is adjusted based on the controller’s current...

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Apple’s latest iPhones charge faster over a wire

12 September 2024 at 11:20
A photo showing the iPhone 16 Pro
The entire iPhone 16 lineup also supports faster 25W MagSafe charging. | Image: The Verge

All the new iPhone 16 models unveiled this week can reportedly charge more than 50 percent faster through a wired USB-C connection than the previous series. That’s according to a Chinese certification posted on Weibo indicating that Apple’s latest iPhones can support up to 45W of wired fast charging.

The certification from the China Quality Certification Centre regulatory body, also posted to X by user ShrimpApplePro, shows all of the new iPhone 16 models were tested at 5-15 volts and 3 amps, which equates to a 45W maximum. The iPhone 15 lineup maxed out at 29W. As noted by 9To5Mac, it’s not unusual for Apple to neglect announcements around wired charging.

The 45W max of the iPhone 16 easily bests the Google Pixel 9’s 27W capabilities...

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Adobe previews its upcoming text-to-video generative AI tools

11 September 2024 at 15:02
A screenshot taken of Adobe’s Firefly video model demonstration, showing footage generated from a text description.
Adobe’s new text-to-video and image-to-video AI features will be available in beta later this year. | Image: Adobe

Adobe has teased some of its upcoming generative AI video tools, including a new feature that can produce video clips from still images. This latest preview builds on the in-development Firefly video model that the software giant demonstrated in April, which is set to power AI video and audio editing features across Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications.

The new promotional teaser shows footage produced by Firefly’s text-to-video capabilities that Adobe announced (but didn’t demonstrate) earlier this year. The tool allows users to generate video clips using text descriptions and adjust the results using a variety of “camera controls” that simulate camera angles, motion, and shooting distance. An image-to-video feature was also demonstrated...

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