How to set up Apple Pay

How to set up Apple Pay

Apple pay is a very convenient way to purchase items. It allows you to have your credit cards virtually on your phone so that you can make in-store purchases with only your iPhone. It also allows you to make online purchases with just a touch of your finger to your iphone or ipad. All you need to do for it to work is to set up!

How to add a card to Apple Pay

  1. Open the Wallet app from your homescreen
  2. In the right hand corner of the app there is a button. Tap that button.
  3. Hit Next on the Apple pay screen
  4. You can take a photo of your card to add it or manually enter the information
  5. Hit Next again as long as your information is correct
  6. Manually enter your card’s expiration date and Security code 
  7. Agree to the terms and conditions
  8. Select your verification method this could be an email, text, or call
  9. Tap Enter Code and enter verification code that was given to you.
  10. Hit Done 

You did it! Now your credit card is connected to Apple Pay. If you ever want to add more credit or debit cards just go back and repeat these steps.

Setting up Medical ID on iPhone

Setting up Medical ID on iPhone

Phones can be a valuable tool in an emergency especially since we are always carrying them. In an unfortunate event that you get in an accident or something happens to you, having information that allows responders to vital information about you as well as have an emergency contact is incredibly important. The iPhone now has a built-in system for this exact reason. It is called Medical ID. It is a good idea to take a few minutes and fill it out. Here is a step by step guide on where to find it and fill it out.

Your medical Id can be found in your health app. If you haven’t opened the health app yet you will be immediately prompted to fill it out. If you have opened the health app but haven’t set up the ID yet here are the steps to do so.

  1. Open the Health App and select the Medical ID tab
  2. If prompted, tap Create Medical ID
  3. Otherwise, tap Edit
  4. Enter any information you want to be available to emergency responders.
  5. Make sure Show When Locked is turned on. This will allow your Medical ID information to be accessed from your iPhone’s lock screen. This is important so that first responder can access your information without a passcode
  6. At the bottom of the Medical ID, there is a section to add emergency contacts. These contacts need to already be listed in your contacts and then you will be able to add them. The health app will then prompt you to add your connection to them.

Also if you use the IOS 11 SOS feature your emergency contacts will get a message saying that it was triggered and will have your current location. 

If you are ever in a situation where you need to see someone else’s emergency information, go to the lock screen and swipe up or on older iPhones, you need to double-tap on the home button to get the screen to enter a pin code and then hit the emergency button in the bottom left. That button will then be replaced with a medical ID button.

No more iTunes in the New Mac Fall Software Update

No more iTunes in the New Mac Fall Software Update

The newest version of the Apple operating system was just announced to be released in the fall. It is called Catalina based on the Catalina Islands off of the South Carolina coast. One of the big changes coming to the mac in the fall is the separation of the iTunes application based on function. The app will now be split into three apps: Music, Podcast, and TV.  The iTunes app has been available to the mac since 2001. Device management capabilities will now be housed in Finder which was different than before where it was controllable through iTunes.

Apple Music

This app will now hold everything to do with the music and also has adopted the same logo as the old iTunes. The music app has been designed for apple music but still retains the older features for non-subscribers. Your iTunes music library will be accessible through the Music App.  Now all of your Music will be in one spot, organized by artists, albums, songs, playlists, and recent additions via a new menu in the sidebar.

Apple Music subscribers will also see “For You”, “Browse”, and “Up Next” .

The Itunes Store to purchase music will still be available. You can also still import music from third-party sources like from CDs.

Apple Podcasts

The standalone Podcast app will replace the podcast function in iTunes. The “Listen now” feature will be how you continue to listen to podcasts as well as see if a new episode was released, and a spot for new recommendations.

There will be a Browse Tab that shows picks from Apple Editors plus podcasts focusing on current events, New & Noteworthy selections, Curated Collections, Categories, and more.

The Library will contain all the podcast you have subscribed to as well as episodes you’ve downloaded for offline listening. The podcasts will be sorted into Recently Updated, Shows, Episodes, and Downloads.

Apple TV

This new app will include a “Watch now” feature offers personalized recommendations of things that you might want to watch along with keeping track of shows that you’re currently watching through an “Up Next” feature.

You can start a show on any other Apple device and then pick it up on any other device now that the  TV app is available on your Mac. The app has a Channels feature, that allows you to subscribe and watch subscription content right in the Apple TV app, and later this year, the app will also house Apple TV+ content.

Another feature houses all of the TV shows and movies that you’ve purchased from iTunes, along with Movies, TV Shows, and Kids tabs for both discovering new content and making movie and TV show purchases or rentals.

 

A Bluetooth flaw allows most Apple devices to be Tracked

A Bluetooth flaw allows most Apple devices to be Tracked

A flaw was just discovered in bluetooth that would allow a bad actor to track a wide range of devices. These devices include  iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches.  Other devices are any laptops running windows 10 and fitbit wearables. However Andriod devices are not at risk.

A reported by TNW, Boston University researchers, Johannes K. Becker and David Starobinski,  discovered the vulnerability.

Researchers from Boston University (BU) have discovered a flaw in the Bluetooth communication protocol that could expose most devices to third-party tracking and leak identifiable data […]

The vulnerability allows an attacker to passively track a device by exploiting a flaw in the way Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is implemented to extract identifying tokens like the device type or other identifiable data from a manufacturer […]

To make pairing between two devices easy, BLE uses public non-encrypted advertising channels to announce their presence to other nearby devices. The protocol originally attracted privacy concerns for broadcasting permanent Bluetooth MAC addresses of devices — a unique 48-bit identifier — on these channels.

However, BLE tried to solve the problem by letting device manufacturers use a periodically changing, randomized address instead of their permanent Media Access Control (MAC) address.

The vulnerability discovered by BU researchers exploits this secondary random MAC address to successfully track a device. The researchers said the “identifying tokens” present in advertising messages are also unique to a device and remain static for long enough to be used as secondary identifiers besides the MAC address.”

Basically, it is possible to link the current address to the next one and therefore identify as the same device. This allows someone to be able to track the device indefinitely. However only at the short range of bluetooth signals.

The researches  have propsed a solution.

To protect devices from address-carryover attacks, the researchers suggest device implementations should synchronize payload changes with MAC address randomizations.

With Bluetooth device adoption growing at a massive scale, they caution that “establishing tracking-resistant methods, especially on unencrypted communication channels, is of paramount importance.”

They didn’t explain if Apple would even be able to fix this vulnerability and implement this change in an over the air update. However in the meantime there is a simple workaround.

“Switching Bluetooth off and on in the System Settings (or in the Menu Bar on macOS) will randomize the address and change the payload.”

If you want to read the full paper that contains the findings, you can read it
.

Apple gives a peak at the new emojis coming to iPhone this fall

Apple gives a peak at the new emojis coming to iPhone this fall

Today was world Emoji day so to celebrate Apple releases a  sneak peak to the collection of emojis coming this fall. The newest designs aim to bring more diversity as well as more fun emojis to categories like food, animals, activities and smiley faces.

One of the major updates came to the holding hands emoji. This emoji typically represents couples and relationships now with the update their will be over 75 combinations since you can customize the gender and any combination of skin tone.

Based on Apples proposal to the Unicode Consortium last year to introduce more disability themed emojis this release will include a hearing aid, a  guide dog,  wheelchairs a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg. These new emojis will accomplish the diversity that Apple is pushing for.


Many emoji categories are getting new updates by adding a new smiley face for yawning, a one-piece swimsuit, new food items including a waffle, falafel, butter and garlic, and new animals like the sloth, flamingo, orangutan and skunk.

In total, there will be 59 new emoji designs in the fall. These will be added with a free software update to iphones, ipads, Mac, and apple watches. New emojis are created by being approved by Unicode 12.0.

Apple Issues Silent Update that Removes Zoom’s Hidden Server

Apple Issues Silent Update that Removes Zoom’s Hidden Server

Apple has recently silently released an update to Mac users that removed a security vulnerability in the platform Zoom. Zoom is a popular video conferencing platform with over 4 million users across 750,000 companies using the platform around the world.

The vulnerability allowed websites to automatically add users to video conferences without their permission. Jonathan Leitschuh explained in a public vulnerability disclosure that, “any website [could] forcibly join a user to a Zoom call, with their video camera activated, without the user’s permission.” Even if a user uninstalled Zoom the undocumented web server remained installed on the computer. This allowed Zoom to reinstall without any user interaction or approval.

Apple’s update to resolve this issue does not require any user interaction and is deployed automatically. Zoom also released their own updated app that should fix the vulnerability as well as allow you to manually uninstall Zoom completely. Apple’s update is said to protect all past and future uses of the app for its users.

The update will now prompt the user whether or not they want to open the application or not. This is different than before where Zoom would open automatically.

Components of the Apple Watch Series 4

Components of the Apple Watch Series 4

The Apple Watch Series 4 evolution provided a whole new different outlook and point of view on the product. There were many obstacles in creating and improving a well known device. The challenge was to attempt increasing the size of the case without making it noticeable or come to an agreement in terms of saving battery. Having narrower boarders authorizes a viewing area that is over 30% larger, while a new backplane technology known as LTPO improving on saving battery percentage. All of the dimensions have been redesigned to provide information with richer detail allowing you to see more and do more at a glance. 

The Digital Crown

The Digital Crown inducted within Apple Watch Series 4, provides a much easier way for customers to navigate around. It was designed so that it delivers a click-like feel easily perceived, as we scroll. With the Apple Series 4 mechanics totally re-engineered, the Digital Crown adds more ability and components into a significant less amount of space.

The entire components of the Digital Crown is 30 percent smaller than the previous Apple watch, yet it included 21 percent more components. The titanium electrode included on the top of the watch also allows you to use the ECG app, which is able to provide information about your heart rate and heart rhythm just by touching the Digital Crown!

 

The S4

The newest released Apple watch 4 could be used up to 18 hours with a single charge! The S4 chip included in the inner portion of the apple watch 4 is more than what it seems, it’s a System in Package (SiP). This latest apple watch have its entire system fabricated onto this tiny space! In fact Apple Watch is the one, and only product that completely runs on SiP.

The CPU and Speaker

The central processing unit(CPU) in the fourth-generation has been the fastest compared to before. Up to 2x speed, apps opens more quickly and performance is also leveled up. The speaker provides up to 50 percent louder speaker, significantly larger sounds for Siri and Walkie-Talkie. Changes have also been made to the microphone which, it has been relocated to the opposite side to reduce echoes.

Overall, the Apple Watch Series 4 has a variety of new developments that are beneficial. From having a proactive health monitor to becoming your ultimate workout partner. The Apple Watch Series 4 doesn’t only have one function. Throughout their partnerships with Nike plus and Hermes, they can be designed to demonstrate an active appearance and a professional appearance by changing the bands. There is an Apple Watch Series 4 for anyone.

Apple watch fall detection saved an 87 year olds life

Apple watch fall detection saved an 87 year olds life

The Apple Watch series 4 has an interesting feature that allows for emergency services to be called if it detects a hard fall. This fall detection looks for the three most common types of falls, straight down, a trip or a slip. If one of those falls are detected it will alert the wearer that a fall was detected and then if no movement is detected by the wearer it will call emergency services and send a message to the wearers emergency contact. This feature is very useful for older people who may be prone to falls. 

For example, in Kennebunk Maine, an 87-year-old woman, Dotty White,  got in a car crash on her way home from the grocery store. She was unable to reach for her phone or call for help. The Apple Watch she was wearing detected a hard fall, triggering the fall detection feature. After the warning feature, it called emergency services as well as alerted her emergency contacts.

Dotty White explained to News Center Maine, “The watch dialed my son in Florida, it dialed my daughter in Massachusetts and my daughter in Maine. So they knew something had happened and they knew where it happened.”

Because her family members were notified of her location they were able to immediately go to where to go to help Dotty White.

She came out of the incident mostly ok with only a few broken bones.”It’s pretty nice to just have it on your wrist,” she added said.”You have the time, the weather and help.”

By default, the fall detection feature is disabled. You can manually enable the feature if you go to Emergency SOS.  To learn more on how to set up the feature click here.