Month: May 2022

After just releasing iOS 15.5 this week, Apple is seeding iOS 15.6 beta 1 to developers. This update is likely the last major iOS 15 version before Apple announces and rolls out iOS 16 in the near future.

YouTuber Aaron Zollo noticed that Apple was rolling out iOS 15.6 beta 1 to developers today.

As of now, we still don’t know what’s new with this update. Today’s build is 19G5027e. Here’s what Apple announced with iOS 15.5 early this week:

• Wallet now enables Apple Cash customers to send and request money from their Apple Cash card
• Apple Podcasts includes a new setting to limit episodes stored on your iPhone and automatically delete older ones
• Fixes an issue where home automation, triggered by people arriving or leaving, may fail.

Alongside iOS 15.6 beta 1, Apple is also seeding watchOS 8.7 beta 1, macOS 12.5 beta 1, and tvOS 15.6 beta 1.

In a few weeks from now, Apple will hold its WWDC 2022 event, where the company will announce the next milestone for iOS, macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Rumors so far believe iOS 16 will bring nice improvements.

According to recent rumors, iOS 16 is expected to bring significant improvements to notifications as well as a new interface for iPadOS multitasking. 9to5Mac reported earlier this year that Apple has been working on adding expanded settings for Focus Mode in iOS 16.

If you spot any changes in the new betas from Apple today, let us know in the comments below or on . Stay tuned for our full hands-on coverage with the new releases right here at 9to5Mac if we find anything new. 

WhatsApp for iOS will soon get an interesting feature: the ability to leave groups silently. With the app now offering up to 512 people in a group chat, it’s only natural people don’t want to see when every member leaves the group. With that in mind, in a future update, users will be able to leave a group chat without other users noticing.

As reported by WABetaInfo, only the group admin and the person who left the chat will be notified. Other than that, no other group members will be notified. WhatsApp will display the following message, according to the publication:

Exit this group?

Only you and group admins will be notified that you left the group.

As of now, this feature is under development, and WABetaInfo was able to give us a glimpse, thanks to a desktop version of WhatsApp. It will also be made available to Android and iOS users in a future update.

This feature is not the only one WhatsApp has in store for users. Previously, 9to5Mac reported that one of the features this new subscription plan would bring would be the ability to link up to 10 devices to the same WhatsApp account.

According to WABetaInfo, “WhatsApp is also planning to offer the ability to create a unique custom business link: businesses can already use short links to let customers contact them by opening a link that includes their phone number, but WhatsApp Premium will let business accounts create a custom link.”

We are still unsure when WhatsApp Premium will launch, or what additional features will be made available. However, we will let you know as soon as we get more information.

Are you excited about these features? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

After being mauled again by Malenia, Blade of Miquella, for the third time, I had a daydream. What if Malenia was fighting alongside me instead of against? This is finally possible in a new Elden Ring mod made by Satoshi98, which allows players to summon bosses and story NPCs like Melina, Malenia, Godfrey, Radagon, Sellen, Millicent, and Blaidd (among others). Initially shared by PC Gamer, the mod can be downloaded from Nexus Mods, after which players can simply head to Miriel at the Church of Vows to purchase these summons.

Satoshi98 has made a few changes: These summons won’t have the classic glowing appearance of the game’s other standard spirit ash ones, which will make them feel more like pals than temporary (and often disposable) assistance. Satoshi98 has also made a handful of modifications to NPCs that don’t fight, like Millicent and Ranni — Ranni will get the Carian Regal Scepter, for example — to allow them to be better backup. And rather than relying on the existence of nearby summoning pools, Satoshi98 has tweaked the range to allow these bosses and NPCs to function more like in-game companions or allies.

While they will not sworn that you carry your burdens, it is fun to picture yourself roaming the Lands Between alongside a boss or NPC. I wouldn’t mind exploring with tall wolf-man Blaidd by my side; he was a really good ally in the fight with Starscourge Radahn. Elden Ring can be a lonely experience. I’m sure summoning a friendly Crucible Knight would help assuage this feeling.

Apple is launching a new worldwide ad campaign today that yet again emphasizes the company’s focus on privacy. This time, Apple is taking on the topic of data brokers wugs a new ad called “Privacy on iPhone.” In addition to a 90-second ad that will run on social and YouTube, Apple is also running billboards and other forms of advertising prompting “Privacy on iPhone.”

Apple’s latest privacy ad push

The new ad campaign from Apple focuses on data auctions and data brokers. The emphasis is on how companies collect user data then sell it third-parties for advertising. Apple, of course, emphasizes how features built-in to iOS such as App Tracking Transparency, App Privacy Report, and Mail Privacy Protection help users combat these data brokers.

The ad takes a real-world approach to how these data auctions and data brokers operate. It shows the process of companies and advertising bidding for user data and what that data is eventually used for.

“iPhone has privacy features like App Tracking Transparency and Mail Privacy Protection that help you control who sees your data and who doesn’t,” Apple explains.

The details on the App Privacy Report feature:

With iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2, you can turn on App Privacy Report to see details about how often apps access your data—like your location, camera, microphone, and more. You can also see information about each app’s network activity and website network activity, as well as the web domains that all apps contact most frequently. Together with Privacy Nutrition Labels, App Privacy Report helps give you a more complete picture of how the apps you use treat your data.

And on App Tracking Transparency:

With iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, apps must ask for permission before tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. Tracking occurs when information that identifies you or your device collected from an app is linked with information that identifies you or your device collected on apps, websites and other locations owned by third parties for the purposes of targeted advertising or advertising measurement, or when the information collected is shared with data brokers.

Mail Privacy Report is a feature that prevents email senders from tracking information such as when and how many times you view an email, irfan forward it, your IP address, and other data

You can see the full “Privacy on iPhone | Data Auction” video below. In addition to the video itself that is running on Youtube, TV, and other channels, Apple is also rolling out a campaign that will place billboards in major cities emphasizing that “Privacy. That’s iPhone.”

GreedFall was a 2019 RPG release that flew under the radar for many people, but became enough of a cult classic to sell two million copies. The game found success due to its classic western RPG staples like dialogue trees, romanceable companions, and a complex, long-running narrative. GreedFall put the player in the role of De Sardet, a customizable protagonist who could be either male or female and who was on a quest to a new land called Teer Fradee. On Wednesday, publisher Nacon announced that a sequel is on the way for 2024 called GreedFall 2: The Dying World.

GreedFall 2 is set to focus on story and player choice, similar to the first installment, and has the player take the role of a native inhabitant of Teer Fradee. While in the first game, we played as a colonizer, this time we’ll play as an indigenous protagonist who has been brought to the continent of Gacane, which is ravaged by war, plague, and political conflict. You must help the colonizer to regain your freedom. This can be done through diplomacy or stealth.

Developer Spiders will be taking over the project. “In this new chapter, players will explore the old continent with its bigger and more diverse environments. In Wednesday’s announcement, Jehanne Rousseau, director and studio founder of the Studio, said that players will be able to meet new friends and factions. She also stated that she hopes they have memorable adventures.

It’s still a while yet before we’ll get to see more of a concrete look at GreedFall 2, but it’ll be interesting to see how the success of the first game influences the second iteration, which had both compelling elements and a myriad of small technical errors. This time, we may be getting a more polished and experienced take on the formula.

Evil Dead – The Game , Saber Interactive has created a new, asymmetrical horror video game that pays tribute to the classic Sam Raimi horror series. The game evokes the difficult balance of blood-soaked horror and sardonic humor of the original trilogy, which is no easy feat. It helps to be a friend, just as the characters of the title franchise.

Combining elements of survival horror games like Dead by Daylight and action horror games like Left 4 Dead, Evil Dead: The Game‘s main mode is called Survivor vs. Demon. In it, you either play on a team of four survivors or as the killer looking to pick them off one by one. This mode can be played in either PvP and PvE depending on how patient you are for online play. PvE includes playing against AI killers or human teammates. Either way, you’ll need an online connection.

Image: Saber Interactive

Survivor vs. Demon features nine starting survivors across four classes: the team-centric Leader and Support classes as well as the more offense-minded Hunter (the ranged specialist) and Warrior (a melee-focused option). Each class has an Ash Williams. Ash from Evil Dead acts as a support, while Ash from Army of Darkness serves as a Warrior. Bruce Campbell voices all Ashes, bringing his trademark charm to the franchise in many versions (including Evil Ash or Tiny Ashes). And Bruce isn’t alone; the voice cast is filled with actors from the movies and show. This all helps to immerse the players into the Evil Dead world.

As survivors, you must traverse the large map that the game launched. You will need to find the pieces scattered across the map and also look for useful loot or weapons. Once you have found the missing pieces, your goal is to capture the Necronomicon pages and Kandarian Dagger using two different king-of the-hill sequences. Then you will need to protect the Necronomicon against hordes. This involves a lot more than just using the map to find objectives. It also requires you to communicate as a group to ensure that no one is left behind. The game’s fear mechanic (which is similar to that in the excellent Phasmophobia), which makes players who are alone and/or in the dark more vulnerable to the Demon, further encourages sticking together. It is difficult to locate everything on the large map. However, there are some cars that can be used to alert the Demon of your position.

The experience of playing as a Survivor is different from many other games in the genre. For one, you can actually fight back, which adds both a sense of agency and dynamism to your attempts to make it out alive. You must also make time to loot and level up while you are completing other objectives.

As one of the four survivors in an online multiplayer game, you have to communicate and trust other players. If you have a group of friends to play with, that’s hopefully not a problem for you; the game lets you party up and queue together or set up a private lobby.

Image: Saber Interactive

If you don’t have a group of people to play with, Evil Dead: The Game still has options to support communicative multiplayer. Although the game supports voice chat, there is no push-to talk option. However, I was able to play with randoms and no one ever used it. Instead, players relied heavily on the game’s ping system as well as the general safety-in-numbers approach. Although we were successful in achieving our objectives together, it was difficult not to think about how much fun it would have if the entire party could voice-call with one another.

On the flip side, your goal as the Demon is simple: Kill the survivors before they complete their goals, or destroy the Necronomicon if they manage to find it. Although each of the Kandarian Demons can have unique abilities, they can all possess or control Deadites, which are basically zombie minions that are spawned onto the map, Survivors and cars. They can also attack nearby survivors with trees. All three can spawn portals to summon additional Deadites and place traps around the map. They also have the ability summon bosses. Demons earn the resources to use these abilities by collecting red orbs around the map, which they can only do while not inhabiting a body. In their soul form, they can zoom around the map at high speeds, recalling how the camera depicts the demons’ movement in the Evil Dead movies.

There’s enough depth in the gameplay on both sides of Demon vs. Survivor to reward experimentation digging into it. It’s a compelling environment with clear objectives and bloody combat that provides enough support to make it accessible for everyone. The inherent terror of this situation is what makes it so difficult. If you have a group of friends or don’t mind queuing up with randos, it can be a blast.

But there is also pure single-player content in Evil Dead: The Game beyond the PvE version of the online game mode. This comes in the form missions. These are separate scenarios which play out like more action-heavy scenes from movies and shows (the first involves you finding Ash’s head decapitated). Playing these missions unlocks characters you can use in the online game mode.

Image: Saber Interactive

The mission select screen presents each of these scenarios as VHS covers like you would see at a rental video store (remember those?). This is a wonderful fit and it’s great fun to put yourself in the movie scenes. But the missions are just long and difficult enough to make you wish there was some sort of a checkpoint system (too many times I would slog through 15-20 minutes only to die at the final encounter and have to start over). As it stands, the missions feel more like add-on content meant for unlocking characters rather than the pieces of a substantial campaign mode in and of itself.

All in all, Evil Dead: The Game is a solid addition to the asymmetrical horror genre, bringing in elements from adjacent genres to build a thrilling and fun group experience. It’s also got the blood and guts and creepy atmosphere you’d expect from the source material — one of the Demons has a mechanic that jump-scares a player like those old prank internet videos. When you’re playing as a Survivor, there’s always the sense that the Demon is lurking right around the corner (and the game’s audio certainly plays that up).

Crucially, the game nails the unique tone of the cult classics. Bringing back many of the actors (especially Campbell) goes a long way, but the sounds and sights of the game immediately evoke the movies, down to the eerie details in the infamous cabin in the woods (that cellar door!) or how the characters function mechanically (the Necromancer can summon a skeleton flautist to power up attacks, like in Army of Darkness). But before you dive in, double-check whether you have a crew that will help you make it out alive.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation details the monopolistic practices of Apple and Google app store in a new report . The report Towards Regulating Mobile App Stores , by The Quantum Hub and ADIF, discusses the global regulatory actions that both tech companies have taken to control the app ecosystem.

According the study , both Apple & Google have significant app store fees. Additionally, Google is soon prohibiting developers from taking any outside method of payments from customers, hence earning a commission. Indian developers objected to the policies of Google and called them unreasonable.

Developers are forced to agree to unfavorable terms by the app store monopolists and their misuse of market power.

Apple and Google app stores are scrutinized

Regulators around the world have expressed concerns about Apple’s policies and Google’s app store. Presently, Apple is under investigation in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and India. Google faces similar proceedings in India, Europe and the USA. The Competition Commision in India (CCI), is also probing Apple, Google and other market players for abuses of power.

The study scrutinizes policies from the world’s dominating app stores, the effects on the mobile app market, and antitrust regulation. The study points out the ‘urgent necessity’ of fair competition between app stores due to Apple’s and Google’s dominant market position. This idea of fair competition will also better the choices for developers and consumers; the monopoly over the mobile app ecosystem ignores India’s competition laws and has a harmful impact on its startup ecosystem.

The dominant market position held by gatekeepers in an app ecosystem can seriously hamper competition and innovation, as well as adversely impact the ecosystem in many other ways. It’s thus commendable that legislators are taking notice of such issues and actively taking steps to address the anti-competition practices of big players. A balanced approach is the best solution.

Sijo Kuruvilla George, Executive Director, ADIF

Earlier this year, Hearthstone developer Blizzard Entertainment won its fight to keep its Overwatch loot box lawsuit out of court, forcing the matter intro arbitration. Months later, another parent — on behalf of a minor — is looking to sue the company, this time regarding Hearthstone card packs.

According to court documents, Nathan Harris, from Arizona, and his lawyers filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in California court in early May on behalf of his child, suggesting that Hearthstone‘s card pack system deceives players, particularly minors, into making a non-refundable purchase. In the complaint, Harris’ lawyer says the minor spent more than $300 playing Hearthstone from 2019 to 2021, using her father’s linked credit and debit cards without permission. The lawyer argues that the minor didn’t know the odds of getting good cards, and didn’t know she couldn’t get a refund. Apparently, she “almost never received any valuable cards,” according to the lawsuit.

Card packs in Hearthstone function a lot like loot boxes, which have repeatedly been litigated in court and by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Hearthstone players are able to play the game for free, but have the option of buying card packs to obtain new cards — hopefully powerful or rare cards.

Harris’ lawyer suggests minors have the right to “disaffirm contracts,” i.e., get out of them or get a refund, under California Family Code. The complaint also takes issue with Blizzard Entertainment not disclosing odds for these packs, as well as its failure to implement “parental control features,” and the right for minors and their parents to get a refund. Harris and his lawyer are asking to court to award the case class-action status, meaning it could include any minors who’ve ever purchased a Hearthstone card pack with real money. According to Harris’ complaint, that would be hundreds, if certainly thousands, of people.

Blizzard replied to Tuesday’s complaint with its own filing, seeking to transfer the case from Orange County’s California State Superior Court to California’s Central District Court. It claims that it has jurisdiction. To argue that case, Blizzard’s lawyers revealed that Hearthstone has made more than $1 billion in revenue since it launched in 2014. This was done to show that Hearthstone has a large player base and that it’s impossible to know if minors purchased with parental consent or not. Though Blizzard disputes the complaint, it suggests the damages in a proposed class action would exceed $5 million — a fact it needed to prove to get the case moved to the new court.

Blizzard’s previous loot box lawsuit — the Overwatch one — ultimately ended in its favor, successfully moving the case to arbitration, arguing that the minor in question had repeatedly agreed to arbitration per Overwatch‘s user agreements. The Hearthstone lawsuit argues that those agreements aren’t valid when they’re agreed to by minors. Epic Games settled a similar lawsuit in 2021, after it was sued over its “loot llamas” that contained randomized items. Any Fortnite player that purchased a loot llama before the system was removed got 1,000 V-Bucks. Rocket League players, too, were awarded 1,000 credits to anyone who purchased loot boxes in that game, too. (Epic Games has owned Rocket League developer Psyonix since 2019.) Epic Games entirely removed blind-draw loot boxes from Fortnite in 2019. The settlement also included $26. 4 million for refunds for minors — available in $50 cash or 13,500 V-Bucks.

Neither Activision Blizzard nor Harris’ lawyer have responded to Polygon’s request for comment.