Apple:

Apple announced that starting today, even more customers around the world can enjoy many of Apple’s most popular Services. The App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are now available in 20 more countries, and Apple Music is available in 52 additional countries.

This is important news. Apple is turning a massive, slow moving ship, from dependence on iPhone sales to more and more dependence on services.

Unusual to see an article like this in Apple’s knowledge base. But these are unusual times.

Justin O’Beirne:

Would Apple continue working on its new map during the pandemic?

We seemingly got our answer when Apple started testing a new map expansion last month and then released it a few weeks later.

And:

But Apple hasn’t just been expanding—it’s also been updating the areas it has already mapped, such as here in Chicago.

Follow the link to Justin’s excellent site, scroll through to see what’s new. The Maps team has been busy!

Post from Sebastiaan de With, founder of Halide, a best-selling (and for good reason) iPhone camera app.

If you are not particularly interested in the camera aspects of the new iPad Pro, skip down about halfway to the section titled, “The Depth Sensor”. That’s where, for me, this post really gets interesting.

Some great explaining, and some really clarifying animated GIFs. This is now my go-to post for passing along to folks who ask about Apple, AR, and LIDAR.

Great read.

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Apple offers two sets of small, medium, or large ear tips for $7.99 each in the United States, with pricing varying in other countries.

Here’s a link to the purchase page. Pick from small, medium, or large. Box of two sets, $7.99.

MacKungFu:

If you open an app you normally use with AirPods, your iPhone or iPad will automatically connect to your AirPods if they’re in your ears – essentially, “stealing” them from whatever they’re currently connected to (for example, your Mac). No need to manually select and connect to them!

This process requires a bit of Shortcuts work. But the steps are very well laid out. A fun project, if you’ve got some time on your hands.

Mark Gurman:

Apple Inc. and Google addressed questions about their upcoming Covid-19 smartphone contact-tracing solution on Monday, providing details about a partnership that has raised concerns among some privacy and cybersecurity experts.

One specific concern that was making waves was that of a bad actor seeding false positives. For example, imagine someone putting a device out there that made contact with your iPhone, then reporting it had tested positive, marking you as having had contact with someone who was infected. Much room for malevolent mischief here.

The companies said the tool will require users to verify positive diagnoses before putting that information into the system. Test results will be checked by public health agencies that are building mobile apps that will work with the contact-tracing technology, Apple and Google added. They also defended the privacy of the system, reiterating that users’ names and locations would not be shared or stored.

So far, so good. If the tests are accurate, this should be a good solution.

Enter CNN, with this article, titled Prominent scientists have bad news for the White House about coronavirus antibody tests:

First, the US Food and Drug Administration relaxed its rules, and now companies can sell antibody tests without submitting validation data that shows they actually work.

The American Public Health Lab Association says that has resulted in “crappy” tests flooding the market.

And:

There has been concern that some of the tests might confuse the coronavirus causing the current pandemic with one of several coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

“Lots of tests confuse the two,” Relman said.

Whether these third party tests are used as part of the verification process for Apple/Google contact tracing or not, need this fixed ASAP.

BBC News:

The BBC has learned that NHSX – the health service’s digital innovation unit – will test a pre-release version of the software with families at a secure location in the North of England next week.

And:

People who have self-diagnosed as having coronavirus will be able to declare their status in the app.

The software will then send the equivalent of a yellow alert to any other users who they have recently been close to for an extended period of time.

If a medical test confirms that the original user is indeed infected, then a stronger warning – effectively a red alert – will be sent instead, signalling that the other users should go into quarantine.

There’s been a lot of pushback on the idea of embedding contact tracing in your smartphone. At least some of this pushback seems based on faulty assumptions.

While this is not the actual Apple/Google API, this comic about COVID-19 contact tracing does a great job of laying out the mechanics. I think this is worth reading before you make any assumptions about contact tracing and privacy.