Chrome Will Start Labeling All HTTP Websites as ‘Not Secure’ Starting July 2018

Emily Schechter, Chrome Security Product Manager writing on the Chromium Blog:

For the past several years, we’ve moved toward a more secure web by strongly advocating that sites adopt HTTPS encryption. And within the last year, we’ve also helped users understand that HTTP sites are not secure by gradually marking a larger subset of HTTP pages as “not secure”. Beginning in July 2018 with the release of Chrome 68, Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as “not secure”.

This is fantastic, and I whole-heartedly welcome this move.

If you have a website, there’s no real reason why you’re still not using https. Services like Let’s Encrypt make it super easy to do so, and if your host doesn’t support them (or any alternative) yet, it’s time to move.

At the very least, go sign up for CloudFlare and start using the Free SSL option.

February 9, 2018 ✚ Permalink

A Roundup of All the Good Apple HomePod Reviews

Apple HomePod Reviews

Apple’s HomePod goes on sale in just three days. The pre-orders have been open for a little over a week now and so far, very little has been known about this new category of device from Apple. Thankfully, the embargo for the reviews has lifted today and several HomePod reviews are now rolling out as I type this.

Here’s a roundup of some of the notable HomePod reviews I’ve come across so far:

(more…)

February 6, 2018 ✚ Permalink

Apple Puts Key Software Features On Hold to Focus on a More Stable Release This Year

Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg:

While core features like the combined apps platform are still on schedule to be introduced this year, some flashier changes like the redesigned home screen will likely be held back until the 2019 software update, a person familiar with the matter said. The company will also probably delay a revamped photo management application that used new algorithms to better automatically sort pictures, though some smaller upgrades to the Photos app will still appear this year.

I was really looking forward to the redesigned Homescreen.

I’m not a developer, but a combined iOS/Mac platform for third-party apps sounds a lot more complex than a redesigned arrangement of icons on the home screen.

January 30, 2018 ✚ Permalink

No Cutting Corners on the iPhone X

Brad Ellis, an Interaction Designer, writes about the corners present on the iPhone X:

Here’s where the nerd part comes in, iPhone X rounded screen corners don’t use the classic rounding method where you move in a straight line and then arc using a single quadrant of a circle. Instead, the math is a bit more complicated. Commonly called a squircle, the slope starts sooner, but is more gentle.

This is a fascinating look at the squircles seen on the iPhone and how Apple’s attention to detail comes about.

Also Read: Brad’s take on Why Reach Navigation Should Replace the Navbar in iOS Design.

January 23, 2018 ✚ Permalink

Apple is Hiring for 9 Different Positions for the Apple Online Store Engineering team in Hyderabad

Apple has updated its Jobs portal with a listing of 9 new available positions for its Apple Online Store (AOS) Engineering team based at its new development campus in Hyderabad, India. These listings were posted on the portal late evening yesterday, just days after the Indian Government approved 100% Foreign Direct Investment for Single-Brand Retail in the country, signaling a major win for Apple, who has been trying to open its own stores in India for a little over 3 years now.

Apple India is hiring for the following positions for the Apple Online Store team in Hyderabad:

  • Software Engineering Manager
  • Machine Learning Engineer
  • Software Engineer
  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Software Engineer in Test
  • DevOps Engineer
  • Engineering Project Manager
  • Platform Engineer
  • Senior Tech Lead

Some of the job descriptions included with these postings:

Today, the Apple Online Store (AOS) provides one of the best multichannel commerce experiences in the world, and operates in 37 countries worldwide.

At AOS, its Engineering team is responsible for the global eCommerce platform that serves millions of customers around the world. We are a team highly skilled Software Engineering Managers, Engineers, Analysts and Project Managers based in Cupertino, London and Singapore.

These nine job listings are specifically for the Apple Online Store Engineering team. There are other available positions currently listed for other teams and other departments, but these 9 jobs were all posted together late yesterday evening.

This development may or may not mean that Apple is preparing to launch an Apple Online Store in India, but one care surely hope. Whatever be the case, what’s certain is Apple is expanding its Apple Online Store Engineering team in Hyderabad, along with its Site Reliability Engineering team, Information Systems & Technology team, the Strategic Data Solutions department, and of course, the Apple Maps team.

January 20, 2018 ✚ Permalink

OnePlus Confirms Hack that Stole Credit Card Data; Up to 40k Users Affected

In an updated post on the official forum, OnePlus has today confirmed the previously reported data breach in which users’ credit card info was suspected to be stolen from the company’s website.

We are deeply sorry to announce that we have indeed been attacked, and up to 40k users at oneplus.net may be affected by the incident. We have sent out an email to all possibly affected users.

OnePlus says that the attackers injected malicious code into their website, which then read the credit card info that customers were entering while making a payment. Only customers who entered their credit card numbers directly on the OnePlus website between November 2017 and January 11, 2018 are affected, i.e. customers who used an existing ‘saved’ credit card, and users who checked out using PayPal are unaffected.

Props to the company for being transparent about the hack and laying it out so well on the forums.

January 19, 2018 ✚ Permalink

WhatsApp Introduces Its Business App for Small Businesses

People all around the world use WhatsApp to connect with small businesses they care about — from online clothing companies in India to auto parts stores in Brazil. But WhatsApp was built for people and we want to improve the business experience. For example, by making it easier for businesses to respond to customers, separating customer and personal messages, and creating an official presence.

So today we’re launching WhatsApp Business — a free-to-download Android app for small businesses. Our new app will make it easier for companies to connect with customers, and more convenient for our 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them.

WhatsApp Business is a separate app, currently only available for Android and only available via Google Play in four countries — Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, U.K. and the U.S. The wider rollout is said to begin “in the coming weeks”.

The app is built on top of the core WhatsApp app, so it looks and works exactly like the WhatsApp app. The only difference is that you can setup a Business Profile and enable Greeting Messages, Away Messages and Quick Reply Templates. You also get statistical data about messages sent and received, but it’s pretty basic.

WhatsApp did not mention when they plan to release apps for other platforms.

January 18, 2018 ✚ Permalink

Page Speed to be a Factor in Mobile Search Ranking

Zhiheng Wang and Doantam Phan, posting on Google’s Webmaster Central Blog:

The “Speed Update,” as we’re calling it, will only affect pages that deliver the slowest experience to users and will only affect a small percentage of queries. It applies the same standard to all pages, regardless of the technology used to build the page. The intent of the search query is still a very strong signal, so a slow page may still rank highly if it has great, relevant content.

You can check here whether your website is mobile-friendly. It’s time to start shedding that extra weight.

January 17, 2018 ✚ Permalink