Apple’s Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) saw some of their biggest announcements being made. These announcements included privacy and security enhancements that involved improvements made to Safari Private Browsing, Communication Safety, and Lockdown Mode, along with app privacy improvements. Apple also announced new features that are built with safety and security at their core. These include Check In, NameDrop, and Live Voicemail.
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One feature that stood out was “Check In.” This feature allows the user to let their friends and family know that they have reached their destination safely. When the user turns the feature on, Check In automatically detects when the user has reached their destination, and if something unexpected happens, the feature checks in with the user. In case the user is unresponsive, it will provide information like the last active time using the iPhone, battery level, and cell service to the contacts that were selected by the user. The user has full control over whom to share the information with. At any point in time, the user can end the Check In session. Further, Check In is end-to-end encrypted, which means that no one apart from the user’s selected friends and family members can access the information.
Notably, major updates have been made to Safari Private Browsing. Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections prevent websites from tracking and identifying users’ devices. Private browsing will be locked when not in use. This will allow the user to step aside from their tabs even when they are open. Further, certain improvements have been made to the privacy of photos. When an app wants to access the gallery, the user may select the photos they would like the app to have access to while keeping the rest out of the app’s reach.
At times, certain websites add extra information to their URLs to track the user. Now, this information will be removed from the links that the user shares over messages and mail and from the links that users run on Safari Private Browsing. Further, the Lockdown Mode is expanded to provide even more protection, especially to those who stand to be attacked by mercenary spyware. It hardens the defence mechanism of the device and places certain limitations on its functionalities. Lockdown Mode is also supported by WatchOS.
Additionally, Community Safety, which is designed to warn children about sending and receiving media that contains nudity, not only covers still images but also videos. Also, it sends a warning while sending and receiving an AirDrop, a FaceTime video message, a Contact Poster or using the Photos picker to choose content to send. These warnings can be turned on and off by the parent for the child’s accounts. With the same technology, the Sensitive Content Warning gives adults a heads-up about the media they send and receive. Both features, Community Safety and Sensitive Content Warning, take place on the device. This implies that neither Apple nor any third-party application can access the content.
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Furthermore, for more secure password and passkey sharing, the user can now create a group where each member can have access to the passwords and passkeys and update them accordingly. This is facilitated through iCloud, and it is end-to-end encrypted. Also, the one-time passwords received over the mail can now be auto-filled in Safari browsing.
A new AirDrop experience, NameDrop, allows the user to securely share the contact cards and only the selected information of any contact to another iPhone that is held close to the primary iPhone. Apple Watch users can also use this feature through the Share button on My Card. They can also tap the My Card Watch Face complication and then bring the watch face close to another watch face.
In addition to all this, Apple introduced the Live Voicemail. This allows the user to see the transcription of the message as soon as the caller starts leaving a message. When silence unknown caller is turned on, the unknown calls will go directly to live voicemails. Also, the calls identified as spam will not go anywhere and will be simply declined.
All these features give the Apple user a better sense of security and address the pertaining questions of invasion of privacy.
