WWDC 2024 earlier this week saw the big reveal of macOS Sequoia, and of course, Apple’s new AI platform – with the further revelation that Apple Intelligence would not be available for Mac owners with Intel CPUs running Sequoia.
While Apple had previously stated that macOS Sequoia will run on the same Mac models as macOS Sonoma, whether they had Intel or Apple CPUs, Apple Intelligence requires an M1 processor (or better) to work – and that fact likely left Intel-powered Mac owners wondering if they’d be left out in the cold with Sequoia regarding other features. Well, the good news is this isn’t the case, and in fact there are only two pieces of functionality that’ll be exclusive to Apple silicon-powered Macs.
Those are Apple Intelligence, as already mentioned, and also live audio transcription in Apple Notes is only supported for devices which have Apple silicon. This feature will enable the recording of audio right in the Notes app, and will also swiftly generate transcriptions of that audio (which are fully searchable).
Other than that, all the other features in macOS Sequoia will come to Intel Macs (and M-series Macs too, of course).
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Mirroring magic and more besides
This includes the hotly anticipated iPhone Mirroring feature, allowing you to view and control your iPhone’s screen using your Mac keyboard and trackpad. On top of that, macOS 15 ushers in the ability to receive iPhone notifications on your Mac, new window layout functionality that enables you to drag and ‘snap’ windows into a grid arrangement on your screen (just as in Microsoft’s Windows OS), the Password app replacing Keychain to manage and sync passwords more easily, and an improved Safari browser.
In short, that’s a pretty good haul even if your Intel-powered Mac can’t run Apple’s new AI features. How much that’ll matter to you is doubtless a subjective thing, and it’ll also depend on how well Apple Intelligence is realized when it actually arrives – although the Mac maker is certainly putting a lot of stock in it going by the initial launch, and has some well thought out ideas behind the AI system.
As 9 to 5 Mac, which spotted this info, observes, Apple Macs with Intel CPUs have at least one more year of support with macOS.
You may remember that Microsoft introduced a new Outlook app for Windows 11 (and Windows 10) at the end of last year, though plenty of users have stuck it out and held onto the ‘classic’ Outlook email app. If you aren’t willing to move over to the new app but don’t want to be left behind, don’t fret – Windows Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, is finally coming to the older app.
Yes, this is a major feature that diehard old Outlook users won’t miss out on. According to a blog post, Microsoft stated that the classic Outlook app will get a trio of Copilot features: Summarize, Coaching, and Draft.
The Summarize option will be available in the top-right corner when you’ve got an email thread open. As you might guess, it gets Copilot to summarize the main points of that thread.
Coaching will offer tips on how to write the perfect email and hit the right tone in the message, as well as considerations such as clarity of the writing. That’s about honing an email you’ve already written, whereas Draft will let Copilot take the reins and create the entire email on the basis of a few prompts. You can then edit the results naturally as necessary.
(Image credit: Microsoft )
With these AI-powered features on tap, you can still cling to the original Outlook app without missing out on some very useful time-saving functionality.
In the blog post, Microsoft also noted that there are plans in place to add more Copilot features to the classic Outlook app for Windows in the near future. We assume these inbound features will debut on the new Outlook app first, then possibly the Mac version and even the mobile app, before reaching the classic Outlook app.
The reason for this is doubtless to persuade people to move over to the newer app by holding off on introducing new features to the old client. So, if you are planning to stay rooted in the classic Outlook, you may be in for a long wait as fresh features are drip-fed into the other app versions.
Microsoft says that new Copilot features are expected to arrive in the classic Outlook app in the next 3 to 12 months, so at least you’ve got something to look forward to in the next year or so!
It seems Microsoft really doesn’t want you to be using Windows 11 with a local account – meaning one that doesn’t require signing in to your Microsoft account – as the company just closed another well-known loophole that enabled users to bypass that sign-in process.
The loophole in question could have previously been used when Microsoft prompted you to sign in to the account during Windows 11 setup. It worked by using a blocked email, such as [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]. If you used such an email address, and typed in any random password with it, you’d get past the sign-in page and end up with Windows 11 having a local installation (with no Microsoft account attached to it).
Unfortunately, according to a post shared on X by Zac Bowden of Windows Central, Windows 11 now redirects you back to the sign-in page if you try to enter an invalid email address when asked to sign in to a Microsoft account.
It looks like Microsoft has blocked the bypass that allowed you to create a local account during Windows 11 setup by typing in a blocked email address. Now it just loops you back to typing in a different account 🙁 pic.twitter.com/mKnHToLLQVJune 3, 2024
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Apparently, if you try this now, you’ll be met with an ‘Oops, something went wrong’ message and be made to restart the sign-in process again. In short, the fake email isn’t accepted any longer, and you’re forced to enter a genuine one for your Microsoft account.
One workaround to get you in without a Microsoft account
That’s the bad news, then, but not all hope is lost if you’re installing Windows 11 and want to start using it without logging into a Microsoft account.
Tom’s Hardware reports that there is another existing workaround, albeit it’s a more complicated affair. Should you wish to try, it goes like this:
1. During Windows 11 setup, at the ‘Choose a country’ screen, press the Shift + F10 keys together.
2. At the command prompt that appears, type in OOBE/BYPASSNRO and press Enter.
3. The PC will reboot and you’ll return to the same screen, then you need to again press the Shift + F10 keys together.
4. This time at the command prompt that appears, you must type in ipconfig /release and press Enter. This disables your internet to allow for creating a local account.
5. Close the command prompt and continue Windows 11 setup as normal. When you reach the ‘Let’s connect you to a network’ panel, click on ‘I don’t have Internet.’
6. At the next screen click ‘Continue with limited setup.’
7. In the next panel, when prompted for a name, enter one you’d like for your local account, then enter a password (or leave it blank and press Enter if you don’t want any password for when Windows 11 starts up, but that isn’t recommended for obvious security reasons).
Then you can proceed with the rest of the Windows 11 installation as normal, but you’ll end up with a local account.
However, you’ve got to wonder how long Microsoft will leave this particular loophole working – although it is quite convoluted, and most users probably don’t know about it, so it could remain an option that’s present going forward.
A good many Windows 11 users have expressed their frustration that they are forced to sign into a Microsoft account to use the OS. This strategy is one of several that Microsoft has been pushing that has seemingly rubbed users the wrong way, and yet that doesn’t seem to have discouraged the company from continuing in this direction.
The new File Explorer section is included as part of the Windows 11 Preview Build 22635.3640, available through the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program. Even if you install this preview build, the feature is disabled by default and has to be enabled using ViveTools, an open-source software that allows you to test out experimental features.
The addition of this new section to File Explorer was discovered and shared by X user and occasional Windows leaker @PhantomOfEarth who described their experience of the upgrades that Microsoft is toying with introducing for File Explorer, including ‘fancy visuals’ for sections (even if they are empty) and the introduction of the ‘Shared’ section.
File Explorer’s Home page will be getting some updates soon! The way sections appear is being updated (complete with fancy visuals if there is nothing in them) and a new “Shared” section is being added. (disabled by default, Beta 22635.3640.) pic.twitter.com/kamy1T4sSNMay 17, 2024
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The first of these discoveries indicates that Microsoft is currently testing changes to the File Explorer user interface (UI), specifically three sections appearing in a sort of horizontal ribbon layout below your file folders: ‘Recent,’ ‘Favorites,’ and ‘Shared.’ Formerly (well, currently, for those of us not using a preview build of Windows 11), these appeared in a vertical list below your file folders.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
How you can set up and try out the new 'Shared' section for yourself
If you’re absolutely itching to get the newly introduced ‘Shared’ section, as well as the changes to the UI, Windows Report recommends that you download ViveTool from its official GitHub page. You’ll have to install Windows 11 Preview Build 22635.3640 first, and then download ViveTool. ViveTool is a third-party app, but it’s widely used and I don’t see any immediate issues that strike me as cause for concern on its GitHub page.
Once you’ve downloaded ViveTool, you’ll want to open Command Prompt or PowerShell, which are easiest to find by typing either one of those into the search bar in the Windows Taskbar. Then, copy and paste the following code into the window that opens:
vivetool /enable /id:45130483
Again, this is a feature that’s currently in the testing stage; it’s not even enabled by default in the preview build, and this tracks with what users who have used it have been reporting – the new section appears to not be fully integrated into File Explorer yet and can be buggy at times. One user reported a bug that affected the whole of File Explorer, with the left-hand menu being automatically populated with copies of pinned shortcuts.
The new section’s bugginess is probably why it’s currently disabled by default, and as Windows Report cautions, you should only enable it at your own risk. You can disable the new features and changes by modifying the ‘enable’ part of the above code to ‘disable,’ so you don’t have to panic even if you do choose to try this out and end up encountering some glitches.
The new functionality for File Explorer seems useful, and I hope Microsoft continues to work on it to sharpen it and make it functional. It’s easy to see how a ‘Shared’ section would make it easier to collaborate with others your device is connected to. Also, these are the kinds of changes that I think users welcome, as they’re not too big, but have the potential to become part of how we use Windows in our regular routines.
There's a certain allure to smart glasses that bulky mixed-reality headsets lack. Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses (formerly Stories), for instance, are a perfect illustration of how you can build smarts into a wearable without making the wearer look ridiculous. The question is, can you still end up being ridiculous while wearing them?
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses' big upcoming Meta AI update will let you talk to your stylish frames, querying them about the food you're consuming, the buildings you're facing, and the animals you encounter. The update is set to transform the wearable from just another pair of voice-enabled glasses into an always-on-your-face assistant.
The update isn't public and will only apply to Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and not the Ray-Ban Meta Stories predecessors that do not feature Qualcomm's new AR1 Gen 1 chip. This week, however, Meta gave a couple of tech reporters at TheNew York Times early access to the Meta AI integration and they came away somewhat impressed.
I must admit, I found the walkthrough more intriguing than I expected.
Even though they didn't tear the glasses apart, or get into the nitty gritty tech details I crave, the real-world experience depicts Meta AI as a fascinating and possibly useful work in progress.
Answers and questions
In the story, the authors use the Ray Ban smart glasses to ask Meta AI to identify a variety of animals, objects, and landmarks with varying success. In the confines of their homes, they spoke full voice and asked Meta AI. “What am I looking at?” They also enabled transcription so we could see what they asked and the responses Meta AI provided.
It was, in their experience, quite good at identifying their dogs' breed. However, when they took the smart glasses to the zoo, Meta AI struggled to identify far-away animals. In fact, Meta AI got a lot wrong. To be fair, this is beta and I wouldn't expect the large language model (Llama 2) to get everything right. At least it's not hallucinating (“that's a unicorn!”), just getting it wrong.
The story features a lot of photos taken with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, along with the queries and Meta AI's responses. Of course, that's not really what was happening. As the authors note, they were speaking to Meta AI wherever they went and then heard the responses spoken back to them. This is all well and good when you're at home, but just weird when you're alone at a zoo talking to yourself.
The creep factor
This, for me, remains the fundamental flaw in many of these wearables. Whether you wear Ray-Ban Smart Glasses or Amazon Echo Frames, you'll still look as if you're talking to yourself. For a decent experience, you may engage in a lengthy “conversation” with Meta AI to get the information you need. Again, if you're doing this at home, letting Meta AI help you through a detailed recipe, that's fine. Using Meta AI as a tour guide when you're in the middle of, say, your local Whole Foods might label you as a bit of an oddball.
We do talk to our best phones and even our best smartwatches, but I think that when people see you holding your phone or smartwatch near your face, they understand what's going on.
The New York Times' authors noted how they found themselves whispering to their smart glasses, but they still got looks.
I don't know a way around this issue and wonder if this will be the primary reason people swear off what is arguably a very good-looking pair of glasses (or sunglasses) even if they could offer the passive smart technology we need.
So, I'm of two minds. I don't want to be seen as a weirdo talking to my glasses, but I can appreciate having intelligence there and ready to go; no need to pull my phone out, raise my wrist, or even tap a smart lapel pin. I just say, “Hey Meta” and the smart glasses wake up, ready to help.
Perhaps the tipping point here will be when Meta can integrate very subtle AR screens into the frames that add some much-needed visual guidance. Plus, the access to visuals might cut down on the conversation, and I would appreciate that.
The Epic Games Store has followed in the footsteps of Steam in dropping support for Microsoft’s desktop operating systems which are older than Windows 10 – although this hasn’t happened quite yet.
Epic gave notice in an announcement that support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 (or 8.1) will cease from June 2024, so just over two months’ time. Note that Windows 10 32-bit will also be dropped, but not the 64-bit version of the OS that the vast majority of folks run. There's no 32-bit version of Windows 11, of course.
So, support from June will be limited to Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11 – and for macOS, version 10.13 or newer of Apple’s OS.
As mentioned, Epic is a bit later than Valve in closing down support for these older operating systems, because Steam enacted this measure at the start of 2024. As you might expect, there weren’t many PC gamers that were affected, going by Valve’s stats – fewer than 1% of Steam users had Windows 7/8 installed at the time. And the same is likely true for the Epic Games Store.
Analysis: Time to upgrade?
For the small niche of gamers who will be hit by this move, this will obviously be somewhat disappointing. Mind you, when June rolls around, this doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use the Epic Games Store at all. It’ll still work, it just won’t get any updates going forward, or be supported in any way. This means that after a while, bits of functionality might fail and the launcher will eventually probably start to misfire or stop working entirely.
Naturally, without updates, you’ll also be open to any vulnerabilities in Epic’s client, but then if you’re still running Windows 7 or 8, that’ll be the least of your worries – the exploits open to leverage in those systems will be far more worrying in nature, of course.
And that’s exactly why you shouldn’t be running Windows 7 or 8 any longer, anyway. It’s time to upgrade, one way or another – by which we mean make the move to Windows 10 (or Windows 11, if your PC spec is up to it), or take the obvious alternate route, a Linux distro (there are some solid Windows-like choices out there, after all).
What about Windows 10 32-bit users? Well, Microsoft does still support them, but there are very few of these folks out there now (certainly in the gaming world – Steam’s hardware survey doesn’t even list Windows 10 32-bit anymore, and hasn’t for a long time).
Windows 11 users holding out on version 22H2, rather than upgrading to 23H2 which was released late last year, just got a reprieve that means if they stick with the older incarnation of Microsoft’s OS they’ll still get feature updates – at least for a time.
Previously, Microsoft had stated that as of February 27, only monthly security updates would be provided for Windows 11 22H2 – meaning feature updates (non-security efforts) wouldn’t be piped through.
However, Neowin noticed that Microsoft just updated the release info for the February patch for Windows 11 22H2 to change the dates for those feature updates ceasing to be applied for 22H2.
What this means is Windows 11 Home and Pro users will now continue to get these non-security updates going forward, but the deadline has only been extended slightly – to June 26, 2024. (Although enterprise users will get these updates until June 24, 2025).
Analysis: Listening to feedback
So, in other words, Windows 11 Home and Pro will get non-security updates for March, April, May and June (when they weren’t going to previously). After that, though, it’s just security updates only, going forward.
This is an interesting move by Microsoft as the company isn’t in the habit of making such extensions to support deadlines. It does happen, but not often, and not usually in this kind of last-minute fashion.
What’s revealing is that in the blurb announcing the new end date, Microsoft says the change was made based on user feedback. Which would seem to suggest that Microsoft had some unhappy punters on their hands with the end date as it was.
Whatever the case, all updates will be halted by October 8, 2024, including security patches, as that’s when support ends for version 22H2.
The long-simmering dispute over Apple’s App Store commissions and practices has just resulted in some pretty substantial alterations to the ways you’ll now be able to pay for apps. But in some respects, not a whole lot has changed – and you might not end up saving any money at all.
Recently, a judge dismissed any ongoing appeals in Apple’s legal case with Epic Games. The end result is that both sides have to comply with the original judgement, and that’s overturned a major App Store practice that caused a lot of contention among developers.
Previously, devs were forbidden from allowing users to sign up for in-app purchases (IAPs) on their own websites (or anywhere other than in the app itself). In fact, the developers weren’t even allowed to tell users that they could save money by paying elsewhere.
Now, as noted by Apple Insider, app creators can apply to Apple for an entitlement to include a link that goes to a payment portal on an external website they control. Apple must approve of the link, and it only applies to iPadOS or iOS apps in the US App Store.
In theory, those sound like pretty big changes, as previously you were forced to use Apple’s own IAP method for purchases. One of the complaints with this process was the 15-30% cut Apple charges to developers for in-app sales. If users no longer have to pay via IAPs, that means they can avoid higher prices prompted by these fees, right?
Well, not quite. The latest change actually makes very little difference to this situation – and the prices you pay are unlikely to drop any time soon.
High fees and hurdles
(Image credit: Apple)
While developers can now direct users to pay using a system outside of Apple’s control, they still have to pay a sizable commission to Apple on these payments. One of the conditions of the link entitlement is that IAPs must remain as an option within the app. That means developers can’t prevent users from paying with a method that gives Apple a slice of the pie.
There’s another caveat. Even when a user pays via a link entitlement, Apple takes a commission of between 12% and 27% on the purchase. That’s slightly lower than the standard 30% and 15% rates, but not by much.
The only exception is if a user purchases something to be used in the app through a method that does not involve either the link entitlement or IAP. So, developers can make direct sales that were generated through online advertising or email marketing, for example, without paying a commission. In that case, we might pay a lower price for apps.
There are a lot of other hurdles for developers. While they can mention that an external payment method might be cheaper, they can’t actively discourage anyone from using Apple’s IAP method. The external link can only appear once in the app and cannot be displayed using a pop-up or modal window either.
There’s more. App developers cannot include their external link as part of Apple’s IAP process, and must also show a “system disclosure” sheet when a user selects the link that tells them they’re leaving the Apple ecosystem and are heading to an external website. External links can’t contain tracking measures and can’t open in an in-app browser. The App Store info page can’t mention the external payment method, and the linked website cannot mimic Apple’s IAP system, which Apple says is to minimize fraud and user confusion.
In other words, there are a lot of hoops for developers to jump through. Even if they manage that, the benefit to going external isn’t that great at all. While some developers had hoped that overcoming Apple’s IAP stranglehold would reduce the cut Apple took from their proceeds, the most likely outcome is that little will change in this way.
And with all these requirements, actually using the link entitlement method might be a hassle for users, too.
What’s Apple’s motivation?
(Image credit: Apple)
Why is Apple insisting on taking a large commission, despite the unpopularity of this move? That’s simple: Apple views its commission as a fair compensation for the service it provides to both users and developers. That includes enabling developers to get their apps seen, the distribution of the apps, ensuring a secure environment for users to download and pay for apps, marketing, support, and more.
With these changes in effect, users might not save very much money since developers are being charged almost exactly the same rates by Apple, whether they use the IAP system or not. In fact, the user experience will probably be worse, since paying externally will involve more taps and might require additional account registrations.
Developers are likely to be frustrated with the way Apple has rolled out these changes, as it also means more work for them (to both implement external payment methods and to avoid falling foul of Apple’s rules) without much tangible benefit to their users.
Yet we probably shouldn’t be too surprised that it turned out this way. For one thing, Apple believes it has put a lot of work into its operating systems and App Stores, and that it should therefore be allowed to monetize those systems. For another, the judge in the Apple vs Epic trial clearly ruled that Apple’s charging of a commission was not a problem.
So don’t expect major changes to the way you pay for apps or their contents any time soon. Things might appear different on the surface, but underneath they’ll largely remain the same.
Google announced around this time last year that it was working on the addition of Live Activities support to the Google Maps app for iPhone and iPads, and slated it for release later in 2023, but so far it still hasn’t been released. However, new assets found in the latest version in the app indicate that Google is still working on this feature, and the wait may soon be over.
The feature will display turn-by-turn directions on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 series handsets, providing users with real-time ETAs, directions for driving, biking, walking, public transit, and more kinds of navigation. Users can look forward to all of that in easy-to-read live notifications without having to unlock their phones and opening the app.
I wonder if this feature will also be present on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models’ Dynamic Islands, and would assume this would become standard for future iPhone models. It would also be nice to see a similar feature for Android devices (Dynamic Islands is a feature that’s exclusive to modern iPhones).
(Image credit: Getty Images)
A sign to keep your hopes up
A contributor at MacRumors, Aaron Perris, looked into the app’s assets after its most recent update, and found signs that users can remain hopeful that Google hasn’t given up adding these features to Google Maps on iPhone, despite the delay.
This is reassuring, as while the new features were still in development as of August of last year, after that there were no strong indications that Google was pushing forward with it until now. MacRumours says that this recent discovery suggests that we might see the new feature soon.
Apple has also opened up the Live Activities API for third-party iPhone app developers in iOS 16.1’s release. Developers have since made some handy apps and added some useful support features to existing apps, like DoorDash and United Airlines, thanks to the Live Activities API.
As an Android device user, I’m pretty jealous – this sounds like an awesome feature that makes it easier to get up and go, and stay on the move. It will make commuting with the help of your iPhone safer and more convenient, as well. I understand why iPhone users might be getting antsy after such a long delay and limited communication from Google, but it’s worth it for the Google Maps team to get it right.
Google has delayed a series of top-secret artificial intelligence (AI) events that were set to showcase the company’s Gemini generative AI tool, according to The Information. If true, it's another blow to Google’s efforts to compete with the likes of ChatGPT in the AI world – although Gemini is still expected to launch soon.
As detailed in a paywalled report from The Information, the Gemini event was due to take place just days from now, with the first one kicking off next week. Yet Google CEO Sundar Pichai has apparently taken the decision to push it back to January 2024, according to “two people with knowledge of the of the decision.”
The reason for the delay? Google was not confident that Gemini was able to “reliably handle some non-English queries,” The Information claims. Google wants to ensure its AI tool works well in a number of languages, and it’s clearly not quite there yet.
The events – due to be held in California, New York and Washington – would apparently have been “Google’s most important product launch of the year” owing to how keen Google is to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That means that delaying them could be a sizable blow to Google, even if they do ultimately take place in early 2024.
In ChatGPT’s shadow
(Image credit: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash)
Despite their imminent dates, Google hadn’t done much promotion for the events (perhaps due to concerns over Gemini’s abilities). In the end, that meant the company managed to avoid an embarrassing retraction or cancellation of already-announced events.
Yet Google isn’t likely to be very happy with the situation. The delay demonstrates how much the company is struggling to get on level terms with OpenAI, despite its vast wealth and engineering abilities. It’s also the second time in recent weeks that Google has reportedly had to delay its Gemini events.
It comes shortly after OpenAI reportedly had a major breakthrough with its own generative AI efforts. This tool is supposedly able to solve problems it has not been trained on, something that AI has traditionally found difficult, thereby ramping up the pressure on Google to hit back.
Google is likely to weave Gemini’s AI capabilities into its other products, such as Search, Google Assistant, Google Docs and more, The Information believes, so keep an eye out for AI updates if you regularly use the company’s apps. Just don’t expect to see these changes until early next year.
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