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.

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.

App Store offers 10% more

App Store offers 10% more

If you are an Apple user, adding money to your iTunes and App Store accounts may end up benefiting you in the long run. On Sunday, March 10th, Apple launched a promotion allowing customers to obtain a 10% bonus when adding to their Apple Funds. This bonus will be valid until March 14th, 2019 and is being offered to customers adding between $1 and $200 to their accounts.

The promotion can be found on the iPhone by visiting the app store and clicking on the account icon in the top right corner. After clicking on the“AddFunds to Apple ID” tab located right above the“SignOut” tab, customers will be brought to a list of possible dollar amounts to add to their accounts ranging anywhere from $10 to $100 including the option to choose an unlisted amount by clicking on the tab labeled“Other”.All preset amounts include information regarding how much of a bonus would be received if the amount was added to their accounts(by adding $10 a $1 bonus is added, by adding $25 a $2.50 bonus is added etc.) and the same information is added to the“Other”option once it is picked and a dollar amount is added. The process works similarly on a MacBook with the main differences being that customers seeking out the promotion need to click on their icon at the bottom left corner of the app store and click on the link entitled“ViewInformation” in the upper right hand corner of the screen in order to add additional funds to their Apple accounts and get the bonus. 

This promotion is beneficial to Apple customers who find themselves generally spending a decent amount of their money on apps and music through both the App store and iTunes store considering it allows customers to buy more with less of an impact to their own personal funds. 

The promotion is available to Apple customers only in the United States, however similar promotions have been offered in various countries including Germany where Apple is offering a 15% bonus with the addition of funds to Apple accounts instead of a 10% bonus.  

 

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Siri Gets Much Smarter as Apple’s Investments Pay Off

Siri Gets Much Smarter as Apple’s Investments Pay Off

Apple’s digital assistant, Siri just vaulted past Alexa and Cortana in an 800-question test.

Siri
HomePod / Apple

 

Over the recent few years, voice-controlled digital assistants, like Siri, have popular in our everyday life. For more examples there are Amazon’s Alexa, Alphabet’s Google Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana inhabit all kind of electronic devices.

When Siri got back in 2010, this digital darling was revolutionary, but other companies started to follow this new sensation. Plus, Apple didn’t move fast to adapt the artificial intelligence (AI) that powered its digital assistant. On the other hand, competitors invested aggressively and gained acceleration from the beginning.

Over the past couple of years, however, Apple has been working to restore Siri to her former glory. New data released by Loup Ventures shows that Siri is quickly gaining ground.

A comprehensive exam

Longtime Apple follower Gene Munster and fellow analyst Will Thompson set out to test the performance of the digital assistants. These are four of the most widely used smart speakers: Amazon Echo (Alexa), Google Home (Google Assistant), HomePod (Siri), and the Invoke (Cortana) by Harman Kardon, a division of Samsung Electronics.

The process of the test was asking a series of 800 questions to each. They observed how the digital assistants answered the questions which held in five categories.

  • Local: Where is the nearest coffee shop?
  • Commerce: Can you order me more paper towels?
  • Navigation: How do I get to uptown on the bus?
  • Information: Who do the Twins play tonight?
  • Command: Remind me to call Steve at 2 p.m. today.

Dramatic improvement

Siri took second place, and this was just right behind Google Assistant. Also, the report revealed that Siri’s score improved by more than 22 points — more than any other competitor. Siri answered 74.6% of questions correctly, and it is an improvement from the 52.3% tested in February 2018.

The report cites HomePod’s tight integration with Siri on the iPhone and its ability to access email, calendar, and messaging as contributing to its victory in that category. It took second place in three of the remaining four categories, but came in last in the Information segment.

Those investments are paying off

Earlier this year, Apple hired John Giannandrea to let him take the lead its recently reorganized AI, machine learning, and Siri teams.  Also, Giannandrea had got promotion to the  executive team, as senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy.

Apple has long been behind in the AI field, because the company primarily had rigid stance on user privacy. AI uses  large data sets but at the same time, involves transferring user data to the cloud. Apple has been trying to develop alternative ways. For instance, they can process data at the device level, which keeps user data more secure by keeping it out of the cloud.

This article is written by reference of: here

Spotify App Launches for Apple Watch

Spotify App Launches for Apple Watch

On November 13, Apple launched its Spotify app for the Apple Watch. Now, users can control their music and playback options. The only downside is that users are not able to sync songs for offline playback on their watch. Because they have claimed it to be their “first version,” it is expected to roll out more advanced features in the future.

Features of this first version Spotify app include playback, choosing music to play, playing to Spotify Connect devices, and creating a favorites list for your music.

To choose music, simply swipe to the left and it will show you recently played music from your Spotify account. Here, you can scroll with your finger or the digital crown and swap albums or playlists. The negative side to this is that you only get to choose recent items and cannot select songs within those items, only skip through.

With a shortcut to Spotify Connect on the Apple Watch, you are also able to play your music to any compatible devices, including your smartphone, Amazon Echo or Sonos speaker.

A great feature with the app is that you have the ability to favorite and add music to your library right from the Apple Watch screen; just tap the heart and the track will be added to your music library. To retrieve the list, just go to the Songs list in your Spotify library.

Although the Apple Watch Spotify app offers no LTE streaming straight from the Apple Watch to a pair of headphones, there is potential in the future versions that will offer this feature.

 

What Could be Apple’s Next Smash Hit?

What Could be Apple’s Next Smash Hit?

Former iPhone engineer Ken Kocienda, developer of the on-screen keyboard on the original iPhone and the autocorrect feature, figures Apple’s next big hit will probably surround AR, or augmented reality. AR allows its users to see information overlying on their surroundings via their smartphones or other devices; this technology is used in Nintendo’s popular mobile game “Pokemon Go.”

“You can take your phone and you could point its camera at something in the world,” said Kocienda. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Apple‘s move into augmented reality could boost iPhone and App Store sales. This could result in as much as $8 billion in revenue for Apple. Last quarter, Apple reported $3.74 billion in revenue from its “other products” division, which includes sales of Apple Watches, iPods and home products.

Apple’s Next Big Event

Apple’s Next Big Event

Well, it’s about that time of year again for Apple’s event, where we’re all excited to find out about the latest version of Apple’s hottest product – top being the iPhone. On September 12th, we’ll hear about the redesigned version of last year’s iPhone X, new Apple Watch, and upcoming software.

iPhones: First up, the iPhone XS is an updated version of last year’s iPhone X,  having the same size 5.8-inch screen, but with improved internal specs, such as the other -S class updates Apple has had in the past. Next, the iPhone XS Max, also rumored as the iPhone XS Plus, is a larger, 6.5-inch version of the XS that offers a bigger screen and larger battery. Both XS phones will have the same features as last year’s X, with the new changes coming internally. There is, however, the chance that Apple will have some new feature for the XS models as previous -S class updates. Lastly, the new iPhone is said to be a cheaper, 6.1 inch version of the iPhone X/XS, and would still offer the bezel-less display and Face ID. Instead, it would possibly cut some of the X and XS phone’s more premium features like the OLED screen, stainless steel frame, and possibly the 3D Touch system. 

Watch:  It has been rumored that Apple will be offering a bigger display on the new Series 4 Watch for a nearly edge-to-edge design, along with a slimmer size than the previous versions since it had been introduced in 2015. Similar to last year’s Series 3, the new version will also have LTE capability, with a more subtle red ring on the digital crown to indicate the cellular status. The new version will come with watchOS 5, which adds automatic workout detection, a walkie-talkie mode, and better notifications.

Software: Although we’re all looking forward to seeing Apple’s latest products at this year’s event, we will also likely to be getting some final release dates for iOS 12, watchOS 5, tvOS, and possibly macOS Mojave. New features to be seen this year include Screen Time for tracking your time spent on your phone, better notifications, and a new custom emoji called “Memoji”.

We all know anything can happen at an Apple event, so we’re ready for some surprises too!

Apple Puts Together the 16 Best iOS Apps With “Dark Mode”

Apple Puts Together the 16 Best iOS Apps With “Dark Mode”

https://www.gsmarena.com/apple_ios_10_may_finally_allow_the_long_awaited_dark_mode-blog-18873.php

 

Apple’s release of iOS 11 has been nothing less than successful. With the release of their new update, Apple has also launched several apps that compliment the new update’s feature. Ever since the release of these apps, there has been an influx in Apple’s app downloads. The soar in app downloads is according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower. Since Apple has created ways to feature apps, more and more Apple users are downloading them.

Apple’s “daily stories,” is in reference to a single app, which includes its daily games and apps.  These apps include becoming a better cook and entertaining kids. By having apps that reach multiple audiences, Apple has increased its amount of downloads.

In more recent news, Apple’s App Store editors made  a daily list called “Does this App Come in Black?”, which highlights the 16 iOS apps which offer a “pure black mode.” This “pure black mode” helps create darker features for the iPhone.

Darker themes are known as being easier to look at. Instead of staring at a bright white background, the darker features are easier on the eyes. This is especially helpful at night or when you are looking at your iPhone in dimmed lighting.

Apple also includes a pure-black mode that serves as an excellent way to take advantage of the gorgeous OLED screen on the iPhone X. This screen has the ability to display far greater contrast than the LCD displays on previous iPhones. The colors appear as being more vibrant, whereas blacks and dark colors appear as being much deeper. If you own the new and latest update for the iPhone, you should try these darker features. They are becoming more and more popular worldwide so make sure you get in on in the action ! For more information on this topic, click here.

Apple Music Will Release Exclusive Kesha Documentary

Apple Music Will Release Exclusive Kesha Documentary

 

https://www.bandsintown.com/a/12324703-kesha

 

Apple Music is going to release a documentary that will feature the popular artist, Kesha. The documentary mainly focuses on how Kesha creates her last album, Rainbow, and includes new footage of Kesha performances.

As reported by Engadget, Rainbow – The Film gives the artist a creative space to explain her struggles. It also highlights the people who stood by her through the rough experiences in her life.

Kesha’s Input

Kesha comments on her experience saying,

“Making Rainbow the album was such a therapeutic process. Being given the opportunity to turn it into a three dimensional piece of art has helped me find even deeper healing and catharsis,” Kesha said in a statement. “I hope this film inspires others to never give up even if you feel full of hurt or lost, because after the storm comes a rainbow. Depression, anxiety and mental illness are things we all need to talk about more, and there is no shame in asking for help. Making the decision to work on yourself is the bravest thing you can do. I hope this film helps bring light and love to everyone.”

Apple Music chose to include Kesha’s documentary because they are trying to expand their following.  From documentaries with Major Lazer and Pink, to exclusive live concerts from Taylor Swift, the streaming service has the desire of using its leverage to give artists a platform that will reach a wide-range of audiences. Apple wants to give artists a voice and Apple Music is the perfect way to do so. People will be able to use Apple Music to listen to an artist’s album and have access to exclusive documentaries. They will even have access to interviews of their artistic process. The film is set to release exclusively on Apple Music on August 10 so be ready and be one of the first to learn more about Kesha!

More information from www.9to5mac.com.

Apple Maps comes with a new look for iOS 12

Apple Maps comes with a new look for iOS 12

Here are some new features on maps that comes with the newest iOS update:

  • Better at identifying road changes and construction
  • Better for walkers, with more information on pedestrian pathways, foliage, etc.
  • Directs you to the front entrance instead of the side of the building
  • More information on local and regional landmarks
  • Licensed typefaces used on subway signs
  • More bodies of water show up on the map
  • Data comes from anonymized iPhone data, Apple Car collected information, and satellite images
  • 3D maps, including human-edited accurate 3D renderings of places
  • New measuring tools tell you how many floors a building has
  • Will be made available across all supported versions of its OS.