iCloud

Apple is delaying the launch of its controversial child safety features, postponing the system which would scan iCloud Photos uploads and iMessage chats for signs of illegal sexual content or grooming. Announced last month, the system would use a third-party database of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) to look for signs of illegal photos uploaded to the cloud, but met with instant push-back from privacy advocates.

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For the longest time, Apple snubbed rival platforms and locked its users into its own walled gardens. Times have changed, however, and Apple was left with no choice but to support its customers that are sometimes forced to use Windows or Android devices every day. It has been slowly expanding the availability of its exclusive apps and features, and the latest to arrive is a more stable and more reliable version of iCloud Passwords that finally lets Mac and iOS users manage their keychains even on Windows.

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A high-profile Apple exec has conceded that its big reveal of new child protection tools could've gone more smoothly, with software chief Craig Federighi admitting that "in hindsight" confusion was inevitable. Apple announced plans to scan iCloud Photos uploads for illegal images of children, as well as build new grooming protections into iMessage, earlier in August, and was met with instant pushback from privacy advocates and others.

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Apple has published a new FAQ on its child abuse scanning system, having prompted controversy last week with the announcement that it would use AI to spot potentially harmful or illegal material on iPhone and other devices. The system aims to identify signs of possible child grooming, or shared illicit photos and videos, though it caused concerns that the technology could eventually be misused.

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Apple's much-lauded privacy efforts hit a sour note a few days ago when it announced a new feature intended to protect children by reporting illegal content that has been stored on a user's iCloud Photos account. While those on both sides of the argument agree that kids have to be protected by cracking down on Child Sexual Abuse Material or CSAM, critics argue that this system could be potentially abused by other governments. Apple now clarifies that it won't be the case since it will consider the CSAM detection's rollout on a case-to-case basis per country.

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Apple is increasing the stakes in its big privacy push, extending anti-tracking systems to apps as well as websites, and shutting down so-called "invisible pixel" tracking in emails. It's part of an ongoing war on data sharing - or, more accurately, data sharing that happens when users aren't aware it's taking place - which has set Apple at odds with some heavyweights in the tech world.

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The big Google Photos change is almost upon us, and if you've been enjoying free, unlimited uploads since the cloud storage service launched then you're about to get an unpleasant surprise. Switching to a paid model will help keep Photos around, Google argues, but the good news is that there's a decent chance you could already be paying for an alternative.

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Apple is currently experiencing outages of the App Store and issues with iMessage, iCloud, and other services, the company has confirmed. The problems have seen some users unable to access the App Store and Mac App Store altogether, while the two download stores are still available but much slower to respond than normal for others.

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Many computer software, be it locally or on the cloud, are designed to take into account ways that people, intentionally or not, could break the system. Programmers tend to account for potential errors in human input or intentional methods of gaming the system, but it's statistically impossible to be prepared for all of them. One strange case, in particular, has seemingly locked an Apple iCloud user from her account for months, just because Apple cloud storage software wasn't prepared to handle someone whose last name happens to be "True".

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Apple is making it easier for iCloud users to transfer their images and videos to Google Photos. The ability is made possible using a newly launched Apple service for iCloud users, one similar to the transfer option Facebook offers for shuttling content to a Google account. Images transferred to Google Photos will remain available in the user's iCloud account.

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If you've been having trouble with some of Apple's online services today, you're not alone, with the company confirming numerous ongoing outages as well as more that have been fixed. Issues are being reported across iCloud in particular, with Backup, Mail, Notes, Calendar, and Keychain all among the services affected.

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Apple has been slowly but surely bringing some of its apps and services on Windows, allowing Apple users to stay within the security of their chosen platform even while on someone else's operating system. Cupertino's latest offer was an extension for the Chrome web browser on Windows that allowed it to access passwords stored on Apple's iCloud. Now that extension is temporarily unusable because the version of the iCloud app on Windows that it requires has been suddenly pulled out.

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