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Another Designer Leaves Apple

2025-11-18 08:16:21

The designer who introduced the iPhone Air at Apple's September event left the company, reports Bloomberg. Abidur Chowdhury recently departed Apple to join an AI startup, a move that apparently "made waves" internally because he was a rising star on the design team.


Chowdhury worked on the ‌iPhone Air‌, and he described its feature set in a two-minute presentation in September. His departure was not related to the ‌iPhone Air‌ or the disappointing sales of the device.

Chowdhury joined Apple's industrial design team in 2019, the same year that Jony Ive left the company to create a new design firm. After Ive departed, several other members of the design team left, either joining him or moving on to other companies.

There are very few designers remaining at Apple who worked under Ive, and Apple has lost several high-profile designers over the last six years.

Former Apple operations chief Jeff Williams had been overseeing the product design team since 2023, but he retired from Apple last week. Apple's design team will now report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
This article, "Another Designer Leaves Apple" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iPhone Car Key Support Coming to Select Cadillac Vehicles

2025-11-18 07:44:56

Apple appears to be gearing up to add car key support to select Cadillac vehicles, based on backend code found by MacRumors. Cadillac is now on an internal Apple list of vehicles that offer car key integration.



Apple has supported NFC-based digital keys in the Wallet app since 2022, and vehicle manufacturers have been adopting the feature since then. Digital keys allow users to lock, unlock, and start their vehicles with an iPhone or Apple Watch using NFC.

At WWDC 2025, Apple confirmed that 13 vehicle brands would "soon" add support for digital car keys, and Cadillac was on the list. Other brands included were Acura, Porsche, GMC, Chevrolet, Rivian, Smart, Lucid Motors, Tata Motors, Hongqi, WEY, Chery, and Voyah.

Apple has now added backend support for GM, Voyah, and Smart vehicles, but car manufacturers have yet to add support. For car key to come to Cadillac vehicles, GM will need to add the functionality.

GM has not yet provided details on which Cadillac models will support car key.

Some newer vehicles from BMW, Genesis, Kia, Audi, Hyundai, Lotus, Mercedes, Volvo, and more offer car keys support, with a list available on MacRumors.com.

This article, "iPhone Car Key Support Coming to Select Cadillac Vehicles" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 3

2025-11-18 07:20:21

Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3.

AirDrop

Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts.


iOS 26.2 includes an option to generate a one-time AirDrop code, which can then be shared with someone who is not in your contacts list. The code allows file exchanges over AirDrop for a 30-day period.

People you have shared a one-time code with can be managed by opening up the Settings app, selecting the General section, choosing AirDrop, and tapping on "Manage Known AirDrop Contacts."

Hypertension Notifications

According to Apple's developer notes, Hypertension Notifications are now available for reading with a new API. Apps can request authorization to read notifications resulting from the Hypertension Notification feature on Apple Watch.


This suggests a third-party app can read data from the Health app, so your medical app could be alerted if you receive a hypertension alert.

Privacy

When you access your Apple Account for the first time after installing iOS 26.2, you'll see an alert letting you know that Apple's privacy information for Apple Accounts has been updated to better explain how personal information is collected and used by Apple.

Side Button

Apple is laying the groundwork for a new option that will let iPhone users in Japan choose a different default voice assistant. A press and hold gesture on the Side Button only activates ‌Siri‌ in the current version of iOS 26, but there are multiple references to new Side Button behavior in the beta.

The wording indicates that Japanese users will be able to select a new app to activate with the Side Button, potentially allowing alternative assistants like Gemini or Alexa to be used on the ‌iPhone‌. Developer documentation confirms that it will only be available for Japanese Apple Accounts owned by people living in Japan.

Liquid Glass Settings

When using the new Liquid Glass "Tinted" option that reduces transparency, there's a warning that the Tinted option cannot be used in tandem with the Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast Accessibility settings.


Turning on Tinted mode is able to turn off Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast automatically. In the prior betas, there was no option to turn on Tinted mode without turning off these features manually.

Games App

There is a new splash screen that confirms features coming to the Games app in iOS 26.2, including options to filter the games library, better support for navigating the Games app with a controller, and real-time updates challenge scores during gameplay.

Alarms in Reminders

There's now a small reminder about the option to mark a reminder as urgent to get an alarm, functionality that is new in iOS 26.2. The reminder shows up when you go to add a new entry in a list for the first time.


There's also a splash screen that lets users know about the new feature.

iPadOS 26.2 Multitasking

In the third iPadOS 26.2 beta, Apple added an option to drag and drop apps from the App Library, Dock, and Spotlight into Slide Over and tiled views, restoring some functionality that was removed in the iPadOS 18 to iPadOS 26 transition.

More Features

Know of a new feature in iOS 26.2 beta 3 that we left out? Let us know in the comments.
This article, "Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 3" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 26.2 Lets iPhone Users in Japan Replace Siri With Third-Party Assistants on Side Button

2025-11-18 06:06:17

Following signs of new Side Button functionality in the iOS 26.2 beta 3 update, Apple developer documentation has confirmed that assigning a third-party voice assistant to the Side Button will be a feature available to iPhone users in Japan.


Developers are able to set up an App Intents framework that will allow voice-based conversational apps to be launched directly from the Side Button in Japan.

Right now, a long press on the Side Button activates Siri, and there is no option to change that. Japanese ‌iPhone‌ users will soon be able to select a new default, opting to activate Alexa, Gemini, or another voice assistant instead. App developers will need to expressly adopt this functionality for Side Button access to be available to consumers.

From Apple's developer documentation:

In Japan, people might place an action on the side button of iPhone that instantly launches your voice-based conversational app. People expect the voice-based conversational functionality to be instantly available when they launch your app with the side button, so make sure to let them immediately use it by starting an audio session - for example, with AVFoundation.

Apple makes it clear that the option to activate a third-party personal assistant using App Intents will only be available on the ‌iPhone‌ in Japan, not in other countries. To use the feature, the country or region of an Apple Account must be set to Japan and a user must be located in Japan.

iOS 26.2 also adds support for third-party App Stores and provides a Safari Search Engine choice screen during setup in Japan. With these features, Apple is complying with Mobile Software Competition Act Guidelines established by the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

When we initially shared details of the Side Button code, it looked like it might be available to ‌iPhone‌ users in the European Union under the Digital Markets Act. It's possible that might still happen eventually, but it's clear that the initial implementation will be limited to Japan.
This article, "iOS 26.2 Lets iPhone Users in Japan Replace Siri With Third-Party Assistants on Side Button" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iPadOS 26.2 Beta 3 Adds New Drag and Drop Multitasking Functionality

2025-11-18 05:50:11

In the initial version of iOS 26, Apple removed Slide Over and Split View multitasking in favor of a new window-based multitasking system. A replacement for Split View was available in an added tiled mode, but Slide Over was entirely gone.


iPad users missed Slide Over, so Apple brought basic Slide Over functionality back in iPadOS 26.1. In the latest beta of iOS 26.2, Apple is further tweaking Slide Over to make it work more like it did in iPadOS 18.

As long as you have at least one app open on the Home Screen, you can drag and drop other apps into various multitasking views, including Slide Over. You can drag an app from the Dock, Spotlight search, or the App Library to the far left or far right of the display to enter Slide Over mode, or to the left or right sides to enter a tiled view that's similar to Split View. You can also drag an app to the middle to open up a bigger or smaller window. There are visual indications that let you know when an app is in a left, right, or Slide Over position.

If you already have an app open in Slide Over or two apps in a tiled view, you can drag an app over the top of one of the existing apps to put the new app in its position. Unlike iPadOS 18, the prior app stays open so you can go back to it if you close the new app.

iPadOS 26 users who missed how multitasking worked in iPadOS 18 will now have options to use the ‌iPad‌ in much the same way. iPadOS 26.2 is expected to launch to the public this December.
This article, "iPadOS 26.2 Beta 3 Adds New Drag and Drop Multitasking Functionality" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 26.2 Will Let Some iPhone Users Replace Siri With a Third-Party Assistant [Updated]

2025-11-18 03:53:03

In iOS 26.2 beta 3, Apple is laying the groundwork for a future option that will let iPhone users in Japan choose a different default voice assistant. Right now, a press and hold gesture on the Side Button only activates Siri, but there are multiple references to new Side Button behavior in the beta.


The wording suggests that the ‌iPhone‌ will permit users to choose a different app to activate through the Side Button, though Apple has confirmed this will be limited to iPhone users in Japan. Some of the code snippets:

- Press and Hold to Speak is not available while the Side Button is assigned to %@.
- Side Button Settings
- Select Another Default Side Button App
- The default Side Button app cannot be hidden. You can change your default apps in Settings.
- The default Side Button app cannot be locked. You can change your default apps in Settings.
- %@ is no longer eligible for use with the Side Button. Contact the app developer for more information.
- %@ is not available for use with the Side Button in your region.

The code is in Apple's private ‌Siri‌ frameworks, which implies that the change is related to virtual assistants, plus it references a long press. The updated functionality will let users in Japan to set Gemini, Alexa, or another voice assistant app to launch instead of ‌Siri‌ when the Side Button is held down.

Back in August, Japanese regulators passed the Mobile Software Competition Act, requiring Apple to provide third-party apps with access to core operating system functions, including voice assistants. There is specific language that says platform holders cannot preference their own services for virtual assistant access or hardware-level user interactions.

Japan's new guidelines go into effect in December 2025, so it makes sense that the functionality will be added in iOS 26.2.

In an earlier version of this article, we said that the functionality would be available in the European Union, and while it may also launch in the EU in the future, activating an assistant other than ‌Siri‌ with the Side Button will only work in Japan, according to Apple's current documentation.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg said that Apple would soon give users in the EU the option to set a default voice assistant other than ‌Siri‌, and there are interoperability requirements in the Digital Markets Act that could require Apple to make the change there, too.

The DMA says that gatekeepers like Apple have to provide app makers with access to the "same hardware and software features" that are available to the operating system or virtual assistant run by the gatekeeper. There's also wording that says users must be able to "easily change the default settings on the operating system, virtual assistant and web browser of the gatekeeper that direct or steer end users to products or services provided by the gatekeeper," which can be interpreted as requiring Apple to support third-party voice assistants at the system level.

If Apple does have plans to bring the same voice assistant flexibility to the EU, it's not clear when it might happen. iOS 26.2 will limit the feature to users with a Japanese Apple Account located in Japan.
This article, "iOS 26.2 Will Let Some iPhone Users Replace Siri With a Third-Party Assistant [Updated]" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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