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Apple is reportedly working on a ChatGPT rival – but you won’t see it anytime soon
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Of course, Apple is working on its own generative AI, Large Language Model (LLM) and possible ChatGPT rival called, naturally, AppleGPT. Sure, the news is based on a Bloomberg report and Apple is predictably mum on the matter but, seriously, how could the Cupertino tech giant not be working on its own AI?

According to the Bloomberg report, Apple is basing its ultra-secret project on a learning framework known as Ajax, from rival and sometimes friend Google.

The effort to build some sort of chatbot and maybe other generative AI systems has been going on since late last year but, as someone who attended Apple's WWDC 2023 can tell you, Apple made no mention of chatbots of any kind at the June developer's conference.

Privacy roadblock

Apple's hyper-focus on user privacy has, as I see it, somewhat hamstrung its efforts to bring any kind of LLM-based chatbot to consumers. ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing are all cloud-connected and send queries out to distant servers for rapid interpretation and response (based on the LLM's vast knowledge of how actual humans might respond under similar circumstances).

That, of course, is not the Apple way. Its Apple Silicon A16 Bionic's Neural Network is local. It does Machine Learning on your best iPhone. Sending queries with all those possibly personal details is anathema to Apple's privacy principles.

And yet, Apple clearly cannot afford to stay away from the siren call of generative AI. It is a revolution that is consuming the tech industry and the interests of average consumers and businesses. Even with the intense scrutiny AI development is under and the lawsuits some of it is facing, no one believes AI development is suddenly going to stop or go away. 

Apple has even gone as far as, according to Bloomberg, creating its own chatbot, or AppleGPT. But that's basically a highly limited and internal test and apparently not one that's ever headed to consumer desktops.

What about Siri?

Where does Siri sit in all this? 

Bloomberg claims that the Ajax work has already been used to improve Siri. That may be so, but the only Siri improvement we're getting with iOS 17 (currently in public beta) is the ability to stop starting each voice assistant prompt with “Hey.”

I have no doubt that Apple is hard at work figuring out its place in the LLM AI sphere, but it's also clear from the report that these are early days. There is no overarching strategy, and I doubt the existential question of whether or not Siri could ever host AppleGPT (or whatever it's called) has been answered.

Ultimately, this is confirmation that Apple is just as aware of what's going on around it and with competitors as ever. It will sample and test, develop and test, scrap and develop, and then test some more. I don't expect Apple to tell us anything about this during the expected September launch of the iPhone 15. However, by the time WWDC 2024 rolls around, Apple might be ready to unveil a new platform. Maybe it'll be AppleGPT-kit, AppleLLM-Kit, or even AppleGPT. 

This assumes that Apple can solve its big privacy question. If not, AppleGPT could remain in Skunkworks indefinitely.

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WhatsApp is working on a new feature that could change how you use it
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WhatsApp has been in a real groove lately, consistently pumping out new feature after new feature since March. This time, the platform is rumored to be working on adding usernames to its Android app.

This information comes from WABetaInfo, which dug into the files of the latest Android beta where it discovered the update will be in the settings menu under an account’s Profile page. It appears you will be able to give yourself a unique moniker by tapping the pencil icon and then entering a name. Pretty simple stuff. WABetaInfo was also able to confirm “conversations initiated through usernames will still be protected by end-to-end encryption.” 

Beyond the few confirmations, very little is unknown about the feature. It is still in development although WABetaInfo does posit it could be used as “another layer of privacy”. Instead of having a phone number for all the world to see, you can hide it with a username. Plus, they can make it easier to identify and locate other people. No need to remember a phone number. This could be very useful in a WhatsApp Community which can be a verifiable sea of numbers since they can house over 1,000 members.

But, it's speculation at this point. We’ll just have to wait until Meta releases a more stable beta version of the feature to get some answers. Either way, this is definitely something to look forward to once it officially launches. 

Privacy focused

The latest beta is available for download from the Google Play Beta Program. While you won’t be able to create a unique username, you can check out the new group settings menu. The interface has been redesigned to be clearer and more intuitive. We don’t know if WhatsApp usernames will make their way to the iOS app. However, Meta is pretty good at making sure both sides of the mobile spectrum get the same update  –  even if it does take a while.

Privacy updates have been a major focus for WhatsApp this past month. Back at the beginning of May, Meta announced it was partnering up with Truecaller to stop spam calls from reaching users on its communications platform. For more personal control, the company also recently launched Chat Lock to keep your conversations away from prying eyes.

If you want to take your privacy protection to the next level, you may want to invest in a brand-new phone instead of just solely relying on software. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best secure phones for May 2023 for some recommendations.

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The IRS is working on a TurboTax alternative to make filing your taxes easier
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – America’s body responsible for collecting US federal taxes – is reportedly working on a new digital tax return system that’s set to be free of charge, representing a colossal threat to the tax-prep market dominated by the likes of TurboTax.

According to The Washington Post, the proposed government tax software is expected to be available to a select few to try out in preparation for the new year when the US tax year begins, though a full rollout could be months or even years away.

Currently, US citizens will typically pay around $ 200-300 annually for the privileges of filing their taxes, with only small pockets of the population eligible for free services.

Free tax return in the US

Key to the upcoming system is the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law fewer than 12 months ago, which places a heavy emphasis on the environment, technology, and the American workforce.

Among other tax-related announcements, such as changes to home energy credits, clean vehicle credits, and changes for businesses, was a $ 15 million pot of funding to create a new, direct filing system.

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A description on an IRS news page reads: “The Inflation Reduction Act changed a wide range of tax laws and provided funds to improve our services and technology to make tax filing easier for you.”

A report by the Government Acocuntability Office (GAO) indicates that 70% of US taxpayers could be eligible for free tax preparation under the Free File program, but just 3% of all taxpayers use it.

The GAO recommended that the IRS “work with relevant stakeholders to identify and develop additional options for free online filing of tax returns that would reflect current guidelines for federal digital services,” but as of April 2022 the IRS disagreed.

A year later, and several months after the funding had been revealed, and the IRS appears to have turned back on its decision by trialling a free tax filing system.

However, with the Inflation Reduction Act being a decade-long plan, the chances of seeing meaningful change in the near future are all but slim.

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Microsoft could be working on an AI-powered Windows to rival Chrome OS
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Microsoft is reportedly working on a new version of its ever-successful Windows operating system – but we’re not talking about Windows 12, no sir. Instead, this is ‘CorePC’, a new project from Microsoft designed to take on Google’s ultra-efficient Chrome OS.

That's according to the good folks at our sister site Windows Central, whose sources claim the idea is to create a modular iteration of Windows, which Microsoft could then tweak and customize into different ‘editions’ that better suit specific hardware. This new version of Windows would be less resource-intensive than previously, hopefully.

CorePC (bear in mind this is a codename, and will likely not be the name of the finished OS) is rumored to also have one more trick up its sleeve: AI. Of course it’s AI – we shouldn’t be shocked, given Microsoft’s current hyperfixation on shoving popular chatbot ChatGPT into everything from the Microsoft 365 suite to the Bing search engine. Details are thin on what exactly artificial intelligence will bring to the table here, but it’s claimed to be a focus of the CorePC project.

Opinion: This could actually be really good – if Microsoft stays the course

Though this is no more than a rumor at this stage, it makes a lot of sense. For starters, this wouldn't be the first time Microsoft had experimented with building a lightweight version of Windows. 

The Windows 10X program, for instance, was supposed to be a stripped-back version of Windows 10 that cut down on features in favor of faster operation and better system security. Unfortunately for us, it was eventually canceled in 2021 and the OS never made it to our devices. There was also Windows Lite, a 2018 effort to build a lightweight Windows, which also never really saw the ‘lite’ of day.

I genuinely hope that CorePC doesn’t meet the same fate; the idea of a low-system-requirement version of Windows is an attractive one right now, with Chrome OS slowly encroaching in the budget hardware space. Hell, half of the products on our best cheap laptops list are Chromebooks at this point, and I’m a lifelong Windows devotee – I even owned a Windows phone back in the heady days of 2015 (this one, for anyone interested).

If the CorePC project specifically has the aim of creating a modernized version of Windows that can be easily adjusted to run smoothly on any device, that would be welcome. While I don’t think it will lead to the glorious return of Windows phones (a man can dream though, right?), it’d be great to see Chromebook-esque Windows laptops and tablets.

What exactly can we expect from CorePC?

Digging into the details a bit, it seems that Microsoft has an internal version of CorePC Windows already in testing. It’s barebones, running only the Edge browser with Bing AI, the Microsoft 365 suite, and Android apps – similar to how Chrome OS got access to apps from the Google Play Store back in 2016. This version of Windows is designed for super-affordable PCs and laptops designed to be used in educational environments.

That might not sound very exciting, but here’s the good part: this test build supposedly uses as much as 75% less storage space than Windows 11 and uses a split-partition install process that allows for faster updates, safer system resets, and better security thanks to dedicated read-only partitions the user (or any third-party apps) can’t access. It’s unclear at this point whether this new version runs on a conventional 64-bit structure or if it’s a more limited ARM-based build.

Considering that Windows 11 already uses between 20 and 30 gigabytes of storage space and Windows 12 looks to be jacking up the system requirements even further, the idea of a super-compact Windows edition is quite attractive – especially for use cases in education and enterprise spaces, where security is vital and a limited feature set won’t be a hurdle to everyday usage.

We’ve already seen Windows 11 scaled down for low-end hardware in the unofficial ‘Tiny11’ OS, so it’s not entirely surprising that Windows is seemingly working on an official version. Though there’s no projected release date, speculation points to 2024 so the release can coincide with the expected launch of Windows 12. In any case, I've got my fingers crossed!

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Bing ChatGPT-powered AI not working for you? You’re not alone
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Microsoft’s Bing chatbot has run into trouble with an error popping up for some users, causing their queries to crash and burn – and apparently, this is down to the popularity of the AI.

Mikhail Parakhin, head of Advertising and Web Services at Microsoft, tweeted about the error, which informs the user that ‘something went wrong’ when making a query, a fairly unhelpful message (and the chatbot fails to produce any other response than this).

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There are quite a number of reports of users encountering this error on Twitter (which are still coming through), and Parakhin explains that there are multiple causes relating to ‘increased load’ on the chatbot. In other words, the volume of queries being flung at the ChatGPT-powered AI is causing Bing to capsize on occasion.

Of the five main causes, Parakhin says that Microsoft has fixes for three, and mitigation is in progress for the other two.

In short, the cure for this malady is in the pipeline, so if you’re one of the unfortunate folks who has run into this error – and perhaps keeps stumbling into it – then your troubles should be over before long.

Analysis: Something is being put right, and hopefully swiftly

Parakhin has been commendably transparent keeping us up to date with what’s going on with the Bing AI, with regular tweets letting us know about the work in progress with the chatbot.

Given that the root causes of this issue are seemingly nailed down and located, with fixes and workarounds sussed out, we’re betting there won’t be much of a wait for the solution to come through – hopefully. Doubtless we’ll hear about it from Parakhin when that’s the case, if speedy past updates are anything to go by.

Clearly, Microsoft is speeding up the rollout of the chatbot, and more users are doubtless being recruited to chat with the AI via the latest Windows 11 update, which puts the ChatGPT-powered Bing right on the taskbar. (Well, sort of – there’s been some controversy about the implementation as we discuss at length here).

The fact that this extra load on the AI’s shoulders has caused issues shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, with the chatbot still very much in its infancy.

There will likely be growing pains in evidence when it comes to the three new personalities which have just been introduced for Bing. These allow users to change the tone of responses from the AI to be more chatty and creative, or more precise and dry (or there’s a middle road of a balance somewhere in-between).

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Gmail will no longer harass you with notifications outside working hours
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Gmail is easily among the best email services; it offers safe, reliable, and secure email from one of the internet's largest companies.

But anyone who uses Gmail for work, through Google Workspace, knows the pain of out-of-hours emails from your boss that flash up on the screen and ruin your zen. 

Google is listening, though, and recently announced an update for Gmail that works with Apple's new Focus mode for iOS, one of the best features for getting digital peace and quiet. 

The idea is kind of like notification profiles on Android; you can set specific notifications, apps, and services to be silent in different times of the day, such as when you're at home. 

Gmail can now work with these profiles – either automatically generated by Apple or customized by the user – to make sure that you get the exact notifications you want. Aimless emails? Gone. Important, critical updates? Those get through. 

“You can now specify which Google Chat and Gmail contacts you still want notifications from when your iOS device is in Focus mode,” explained Google. “This is useful in situations where you need to limit screen time, but don’t want to miss an important message when other notifications are silenced.” 

The importance of digital peace 

After the pandemic forced everyone to work from home, or at least partially work from home, getting some digital peace became very important. 

When there is no obvious boundary between the office and home environment, making sure that notifications don't get through during “you” time is vital. 

Managing notifications, especially on iOS before the latest update, was a bit of a pain. You either had to silence them all or dive into Settings every single time. 

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Apple made the process a lot easier with iOS 15 and we really recommend setting up some different Focus profiles to get the ball rolling, especially if you don't have a work phone that can just be switched off. 

The set-up can be a bit of a faff, but once you get past that it's really simple – and perfect for keeping digital peace of mind without missing important updates. 

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It’s finally happening – Twitter is working on an edit button, but is this a good thing?
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If you've been wishing to edit those tweets with spelling mistakes without having to delete them, Twitter has announced that it's working on an edit feature.

This feature request has become a meme in itself, with many users asking for this for years. If you use Twitter, you've most likely been in a situation where you've posted a tweet from the previous evening, and you notice that there's a missing letter or a missing comma that skews what you were trying to convey.

Twitter has confirmed that the feature will first arrive as a test for Twitter Blue users, which is its subscription service that brings benefits such as undoing a sent tweet after a short amount of time.

But while this sounds like good news for many, it may be an example of being careful what you wish for.

Analysis: This may hinder rather than help users

Other social platforms have had this feature for years. If you posted something on Facebook for example and it's missing a word, you can quickly edit the post and add the word back in.

Instagram and Tiktok also have similar features, but for Twitter, it's not as simple as adding an edit button.

Many users have wanted an easy method to edit a tweet without deleting it, especially if it's about a topic that's long since finished for example. But Twitter has a slippery slope with this, as many use the platform as a news feed and as a way of conversing with followers on certain subjects. Editing these tweets could make your input worse.

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But there are other dangers to this feature if it's not implemented right. Twitter's Head of Consumer Product, Jay Sullivan, rightly said during the announcement, that editing a tweet could alter a topic of conversation that could be sensitive to many, and could construe different meanings.

Editing tweets is not something that I've wanted Twitter to focus on – it's rather a bigger focus on curtailing abuse and spam accounts that have been more prevalent since the pandemic began in 2020.

But this feature could stay as a test, or as an exclusive feature of Twitter Blue. However, the announcement has excited many, so it now depends on whether the feature measures up to the wishes of its users, or if it's used to alter conversations for the worse.

Regardless of what happens, Twitter clearly has another challenge on its hands now that editing tweets are finally official.

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It’s finally happening – Twitter is working on an edit button, but is this a good thing?
  • No Comments

If you've been wishing to edit those tweets with spelling mistakes without having to delete them, Twitter has announced that it's working on an edit feature.

This feature request has become a meme in itself, with many users asking for this for years. If you use Twitter, you've most likely been in a situation where you've posted a tweet from the previous evening, and you notice that there's a missing letter or a missing comma that skews what you were trying to convey.

Twitter has confirmed that the feature will first arrive as a test for Twitter Blue users, which is its subscription service that brings benefits such as undoing a sent tweet after a short amount of time.

But while this sounds like good news for many, it may be an example of being careful what you wish for.

Analysis: This may hinder rather than help users

Other social platforms have had this feature for years. If you posted something on Facebook for example and it's missing a word, you can quickly edit the post and add the word back in.

Instagram and Tiktok also have similar features, but for Twitter, it's not as simple as adding an edit button.

Many users have wanted an easy method to edit a tweet without deleting it, especially if it's about a topic that's long since finished for example. But Twitter has a slippery slope with this, as many use the platform as a news feed and as a way of conversing with followers on certain subjects. Editing these tweets could make your input worse.

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But there are other dangers to this feature if it's not implemented right. Twitter's Head of Consumer Product, Jay Sullivan, rightly said during the announcement, that editing a tweet could alter a topic of conversation that could be sensitive to many, and could construe different meanings.

Editing tweets is not something that I've wanted Twitter to focus on – it's rather a bigger focus on curtailing abuse and spam accounts that have been more prevalent since the pandemic began in 2020.

But this feature could stay as a test, or as an exclusive feature of Twitter Blue. However, the announcement has excited many, so it now depends on whether the feature measures up to the wishes of its users, or if it's used to alter conversations for the worse.

Regardless of what happens, Twitter clearly has another challenge on its hands now that editing tweets are finally official.

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Apple could be working on a whole host of financial and banking tools
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Apple is reportedly working on a multi-year plan to develop its own payment processing technology and infrastructure in an effort to further build out its portfolio of financial products.

As reported by Bloomberg, the move would allow the iPhone maker to reduce its reliance on outside partners but it could also enable the company to expand its payment features beyond the US.

According to people familiar with the matter that spoke with the news outlet, the multi-year plan would bring a number of financial tasks in-house including payment processing, risk assessment for lending, fraud analysis, credit checks and other customer-service functions like handling disputes.

Since Apple is reportedly investigating the idea of launching its own hardware subscription service, being able to run credit checks and risk assessments before providing customers with devices makes a great deal of sense.

Future financial products

Although Apple already offers a credit card as well as peer-to-peer payments for businesses, its efforts to develop its own payment processing technology and infrastructure  will be focused on future financial products.

Back in July of last year, news broke that the company is also working on a “buy now, pay later” feature for Apple Pay Transactions that would allow customers to pay for items across four interest-free payments every two weeks or across several months with interest. While the plan with four payments is known internally as “Apple Pay in 4”, the longer term payment plans have been dubbed “Apple Pay Monthly Installments”.

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While Apple will continue its partnership with Goldman Sachs according to Bloomberg, the company has been discussing using in-house technology for its “Apple Pay in 4” plan. 

At the same time though, the company’s in-house financial services could allow it to expand future services to additional countries. Currently Apple Pay is available in over 70 countries but other services such as peer-to-peer payments, Apple Card and Apple Cash are still US-only.

The news that Apple wants to bring more of its financial services in-house also aligns with a recent job posting looking for a hardware validation engineer to help upgrade its datacenters. Storing financial data and handling transactions could put a heavy load on its systems which is why the company wants to upgrade its datacenters with “next-generation” storage and server equipment from Intel and AMD.

Via 9to5Mac

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Massive Google Workspace update dials up the fight for hybrid working supremacy
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Google has lifted the lid on a series of updates for its Workspace suite of productivity and collaboration software designed to cater to the needs of the hybrid working era.

Some of the upgrades are small, like the ability to react with emojis during video meetings, but others could have a major impact on the way in which workers collaborate on shared documents, presentations and spreadsheets.

Most significantly, Google says it will integrate Meet directly into Docs, Sheets and Slides in the coming weeks, which will allow Google Workspace users to quickly spin up a meeting when collaborating on a project. Unlike traditional screen-sharing, video feeds will be housed within a dedicated sidebar, positioned alongside the content the team is working on.

Google Workspace for hybrid working

Since the birth of G Suite in 2006, Google has competed directly with Microsoft in the office software space, going up against the famous Microsoft 365 suite, which houses the likes of Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc.

One of the defining features of Microsoft’s offering is tight integration between apps and services, extending all the way out to the Windows operating system on which most business computers run. And although Google stole the march on Microsoft when it came to the cloud-based model, individual G Suite apps have historically felt much more isolated.

When Google rebranded its productivity suite as Workspace in 2020, however, the company announced it would make a concerted effort to create a more “deeply integrated user experience”, by improving the level of interoperability between its various productivity apps.

Google Docs

Google Meet will soon be integrated directly into Docs, Slides and Sheets. (Image credit: Google)

The latest round of Google Workspace updates take strides towards achieving this goal, capitalizing on the full breadth of the suite to create functionality that should help workers improve their productivity in a hybrid working setting.

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In addition to new synergies with Workspace office software, Google Meet will also receive a new picture-in-picture mode next month, which will allow Chrome users to bring up a floating meeting window that sits on top of other browser tabs.

And from a security perspective, Google is set to launch client-side encryption for Meet calls in May, with optional end-to-end encryption to follow by the end of the year, bringing the service on-par with Teams and Zoom.

To support asynchronous collaboration, meanwhile, Google is preparing a number of updates for its Spaces messaging platform. Most notably, the company is improving the search functionality to help users surface the most relevant conversations and rolling out Slack-like inline message threading, which is apparently a highly requested upgrade.

Google Workspace

(Image credit: Google)

“One of the hopeful signs of a return to normalcy is seeing many of our customers make plans to come back into their offices. And they’re asking for strategies that will make hybrid work a more equitable and productive experience for everyone. We’re also beginning our own transition to hybrid work in early April,” said Google.

“As we gear up for that, it feels like a time of optimism for new ways of working together and the potential for hybrid models to become the sustainable norm. When designed well, a hybrid model gives employees the flexibility to deliver their best from anywhere, while bringing them together thoughtfully for the power of in-person collaboration.”

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