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Tuesday, 6 October 2020

We Need More Movies Like Vampires vs. the Bronx

Director Osmany Rodriguez’s Vampires vs. the Bronx is the sort of coming-of-age movie that there simply aren’t enough of. It’s about a bunch of Black and brown kids from a part of New York City that doesn’t get nearly enough love, who all know that there are plenty of important life lessons to be learned from comic…

11 Things You Can Do in watchOS 7 That You Couldn't Do Before

WatchOS 7 finally launched, which means not only a freshly updated operating system for the recently launched Apple Watch 6, but also new features for Apple smartwatches stretching all the way back to the Apple Watch 3 from 2017. These are the new features you can make the most of once you’ve got the new software…

HomeKit Adaptive Lighting Feature Appears for German Beta Testers

HomeKit's new Adaptive Lighting feature has appeared for Philips Hue beta testers in Germany, according to iphone-ticker.

At WWDC earlier this year, Apple announced a new HomeKit feature called Adaptive Lighting, which allows smart lighting to dynamically adapt according to the time of day, with warm hues fading in around sunset, and cooler hues fading in around midday.

At any given time of day, the color of smart lights with Adaptive Lighting would be slightly different and change as time passes, similar to Apple's Night Shift feature on iOS, iPad OS, and macOS. Although this behavior was theoretically possible before, albeit not as effectively, via complex automations, the Adaptive Lighting feature offers a single button to turn the feature on or off.

Adaptive Lighting was not present in any of the iOS 14 betas before its public release, and was instead promised to arrive later in the year as smart lighting manufacturers such as Philips Hue implement it. Adaptive Lighting will only be available where manufacturers actively support the feature via a firmware update, so its absence in the ‌iOS 14‌ betas does not seem to be due to a delay at Apple's end.

Philips Hue has now reportedly rolled out a bridge firmware update to support Adaptive Lighting to its own beta testers in Germany. Only White and Color Ambiance bulbs support the feature at this time, according to Philips Hue.

Not much has been known about how Adaptive Lighting will work in practice until now, and it seems that users simply need to tap and hold on the specified light in the Home app, and in the color picker, one of the six saved colors has been replaced by an icon to activate Adaptive Lighting.

A number of other ‌HomeKit‌ features were announced alongside Adaptive Lighting, such as activity zones and face recognition for cameras, doorbell announcements, and camera feeds on Apple TV.

It is unclear when Adaptive Lighting will be publicly released for Philips Hue users, but the news of a firmware update for beta testers in Germany suggests that the company is on track to deliver the feature as planned.

Related Roundups: iOS 14, iPadOS 14

Tags: HomeKit, Philips Hue

This article, "HomeKit Adaptive Lighting Feature Appears for German Beta Testers" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Gmail to Get New Icon as Part of G Suite Rebranding

The Gmail app is set to get a new icon as part of a broader rebrand of Google's G Suite software, which includes Gmail, Docs, Meet, Sheets, and Calendar.

Replacing the classic Gmail envelope logo is an M made out of Google's blue, red, yellow, and green brand colors. The new design aligns Gmail with Google's core brand as well as Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Chrome, and other Google products.

According to Fast Company, Google considered dropping the M altogether or fully removing the red color from the Gmail icon, but user research studies showed that people weren't happy with those changes.

Google has also redesigned its Calendar, Docs, Meet, and Sheets logos to match the new Gmail design, while G Suite has become "Google Workspace" in an attempt to merge Gmail, Chat, and Docs into a more integrated whole.

Tags: Google, Gmail

This article, "Gmail to Get New Icon as Part of G Suite Rebranding" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Instagram Celebrates 10th Birthday With Stories Map, New Icons, and More

Instagram is ten years old today, and the photo-based social platform is celebrating by introducing an easier way to find old Stories, custom icons, and new tools to prevent online harassment.

As reported by TechCrunch, a new private Stories Map and calendar offers users a retrospective of the Stories and photos they've shared over the last three years so they can look back at their favorite moments and re-share them if desired.

Users can access the new Stories Map and monthly calendar view from the "archive" menu under their profile.

Instagram has also announced new anti-bullying features that aim to automatically hide potentially abusive comments. Hidden comments aren't completely deleted, however, and can still be viewed by tapping a "View Hidden Comments" button.

Instagram is also expanding its comment warnings when people repeatedly attempt to post potentially offensive comments.

The platform already has a feature that notifies users when their comment may be considered offensive by giving them a chance to reflect and make changes before posting it. Now this feature will target repeat offenders and suggest that they take a moment to step back and reflect on their words and the potential consequences of posting them.

Lastly, to celebrate 10 years, Instagram is allowing users to switch up the app's icon on their Home Screen. Users can choose between a range of new and classic icons in shades of orange, yellow, green, purple, black, white and more.

To access the new icons, open the settings section within the app and do a long swipe down on the screen. A column of emojis should appear at the top of the menu, after which the icons will be revealed.

To get the new features, make sure you've updated to the latest version. Instagram is a free download for iPhone on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Instagram

This article, "Instagram Celebrates 10th Birthday With Stories Map, New Icons, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2F4a89t