Today happens to be the 15th anniversary of iPhone J.D. (woo-hoo!), but let's hold off on the fanfare for a few days; I'll have more to say about that next week. Instead, today's In the News post is focused on the news of the past week. Perhaps the most surprising news of this week was that Apple revealed to Chance Miller of 9to5Mac yesterday that Apple is going to support the RCS messaging standard by the end of 2024 to improve the quality of text messages between Android and iPhone devices—something that many people have been requesting for years. I know that for many people, text messaging is a top use for the iPhone, and getting all of the advantages of Apple's proprietary iMessage network is a key reason to use the iPhone over Android: encrypted messages, stickers and effects, read receipts, the ability to send large photos and videos, live typing indications, support for long messages, group chats, etc. Plus, for some folks, there is a status associated with being a blue bubble person instead of a green bubble person. Apple's upcoming support for RCS won't change some of those differences. For example, the current RCS standard is not encrypted (although that could change over the next year), and when an iPhone receives an RCS message, just like a traditional SMS message, it will still come in a green bubble. But after the details get ironed out over the next 12 months, it will be nice for everyone to get at least some of the advantages of iMessage even when texting with green bubble friends. For example, I'm sure that it will finally become much easier to share large images and videos with folks using an Android device. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
- As we talk about iMessage versus RCS, one cannot help but think about the competition between Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating system, as if Apple and Google are polar opposites in the smartphone world. But that's not really true. This week, during the ongoing antitrust trial between the U.S. Department of Justice and Google, it was revealed that Google gives Apple a 36% cut of search ad revenue generated through Safari, as reported by Leah Nylen of Bloomberg. (Apparently, the witness wasn't supposed to reveal that percentage in open court, and Bloomberg reported that Williams & Connolly antitrust partner John Schmidtlein visibly cringed when the number was revealed during testimony.) As Rohan Goswami of CNBC reports, one estimate is that this 36% cut will net Apple a staggering $19 billion in revenue in 2023. That means that Google, at 64%, stands to make almost $34 billion in search revenue from people using an iPhone. So you don't need to lose any sleep over buying an iPhone and depriving Google of money; Google is still making plenty of money off of you even if you purchase an iPhone instead of Android.
- When Apple introduced the iPhone 14 last year, one of the key new features was the ability to contact emergency services using satellites even if you don't have a cellular connection. This feature is also in the iPhone 15 models. Apple said last year that the service would be free for the first year. Dan Moren of Six Colors reports that Apple is now extending the iPhone 14 free access for a second year. That means that between now and November of 2024, all iPhone 14 and 15 users can access the satellites in an emergency. What will Apple do after that? Will Apple charge folks to continue to have access to a service that nobody wants to have to use but that can be life-saving if you do need to use it? Tune in this time next year to find out.
- iOS 17.2 is still in beta but will come out in the next few weeks. As reported by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, one of the new features of iOS 17.2 will be the ability to take spatial video that you will be able to view in 3D on the Vision Pro when it comes out in early 2023. Gruber got to test it out on a prototype of the Vision Pro, and he said that it was "astonishing." When you turn on this mode, the iPhone takes video using both the main (1x) and ultra wide (0.5x) lenses to capture the perspective from your left and right eye. You can view the video on an iPhone or a computer and it looks like normal video (in 1080p, 30 fps format). But when you view the same video on a Vision Pro, you will feel almost like you are there again. I'm not sure that iOS 17.2 will be out for Thanksgiving, but certainly for all of the December holidays, people with an iPhone 15 Pro will be able to preserve memories of times with friends and family that will come to life in a brand new way starting next year.
- Other people who were able to record spatial video with an iPhone and view it using an Apple Vision Pro include Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal, Jacob Krol of TheStreet, Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar, and Scott Stein of CNet.
- The ability to record spatial video is just one of 43 new features coming with iOS 17.2 that are identified by Justin Myers of Gadget Hacks.
- One of my biggest gripes with watchOS 10 is that I cannot simply swipe left and right to change watch faces. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that the beta version of watchOS 10.2 includes the ability to turn that feature back on. Which I will do so immediately, assuming that the feature is included in the final version of watch OS 10.2.
- Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac reviews the Aqara E1 camera ($60 on Amazon), an indoor camera with an adjustable viewing angle that works with HomeKit Secure Video as well as storing to a local micro SD card so you don't have to worry about video of the inside of your home ending up on a website that can be easily hacked.
- Apple announced the 2023 App Store award finalists this week. There are some great apps on the list that I know and love, and many, many more that I'll have to check out.
- Do you like word games, like Scrabble or crosswords? (I do!) How about jazz music, like the Vincent Guaraldi soundtrack to a Peanuts movie? (Love it!) And are you OK with being a little silly? (That's me!) Then you should check out a new game called Gubbins, which was reviewed by Brent Dirks of AppAdvice. I've only spent a few minutes with the game so far, so I haven't yet figured out all of the features, but it definitely looks to have potential.
- And finally, Apple released a cute video called On with the Show to demonstrate that the iPhone 15 Pro is so powerful that it can be used to shoot a big budget Hollywood movie. There is so much going on in this video that once you watch it you'll probably want to watch it again:
