Sunday Tech Journal (STJ): Ads on iPhones, Android 13, VPN leak on iPhones and etc.
The read you need to for major tech updates
1. More ads making way to iPhones
Bloomberg has reported that Apple is planning to expand its ad business, bringing ads to more of its stock apps. It is reported that Apple will be bringing ads to Apple maps, Books and Podcasts apps.
Source: Bloomberg
2. Google rolled out Android 13 beta to pixel devices
Google this week has rolled out the Android 13 beta to its pixel devices. While the Android 13 does not bring any major UI overhaul, it does bring some neat refinements to the already good Android 12 and a few security features.
Caution: Beware before you install the update. It is reported that Pixel 6 and 6 pro users are not allowed to roll back to Android 12 after installing Android 13. And many users on Reddit have reported that wireless charging is not working on their Android 13 updates devices. So if there are any bugs in the A13 beta, you are stuck until Google fixes them.
3. Twilio data breach affects Signal messenger
Last week, we saw that the communications giant Twilio has been compromised by hackers. Encrypted messaging app Signal has reported that this Twilio breach has exposed the phone numbers and SMS codes of roughly 1900 signal accounts. The attacker has managed to re-register the account of one user. As the company is E2E encrypted and does not store any data on its servers, none of the sensitive data has been leaked to the attacker. The company did not reveal the details of the affected users but it is taking steps to limit the damage.
This explains why you should use 2-Factor authentication for all your online accounts.
4. Apple bans caste-based discrimination
Reuters has reported that the tech giant Apple has updated its employee policy to ban caste-based discrimination. The rule sits among Apple’s existing policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ancestry age and religion. This step taken by Apple has been received by the netizens. Many people online have praised the company for taking such a progressive step.
Source: Reuters
5. iPhones have been VPN-leaking your data for 2 years
ProtonVPN in 2020 reported a flaw in iPhones that prevented the VPNs from encrypting all the traffic. Thus giving the attackers to know your IP addresses. Proton at the time said that Apple is aware of the issue and the company is looking for a solution. ProtonVPN has revisited the issue for a very few months to point out that the following iOS versions have the issue unfixed.
Recently, Michael Horowitz, a veteran software developer and consultant revisited the situation and found out that the issue still remained unfixed. he mentioned that “VPNs on iOS are broken”. He wrote a detailed article called “VPNs on iOS are a scam” on this situation. So do try to read that for more detailed information on the same.
6. Netflix planning to bring a cheap ad-supported plan: Details
After losing subscribers for 2 consecutive quarters (200,000 paid subscribers in Q1 and 970,000 paid subscribers in Q2), Netflix has decided to gain the market again by introducing a new cheaper plan with ads. The other streaming giants like Amazon prime and Hotstar also show ads in their apps. Netflix is likely to follow in its footsteps and not show ads in the middle of the movies and shows.
This plan is said to have some limitations like no offline support. Yes. You cannot download the content offline in this plan. iOS developer Steve Moser has discovered the text in the app code that says “Downloads available on all plans except Netflix with ads” and the code also suggests that the ads are unskippable which is not surprising.
This ad-supported plan is likely to be launched in early 2023, and the company haven’t announced anything about its pricing, resolution and other things. We’ll get to know more about that in the coming days.
Source: ArsTechnica