Technology
New iPhone feature reveals if someone is STALKING your exact movements
APPLE is working on a new feature for its Find My app that could let you know if someone is stalking you.
The setting is called “Item Safety Alerts” and tells a user if an unknown device travelling with them is being tracked on Find My.
The feature then lets you disable the suspicious device.
It’s thought the ‘unknown device’ could be referring to rumoured AirTag products that Apple hasn’t announced yet.
AirTags are rumoured to be tile like devices that you can attach to items you lose often and then you can use your phone to find them.
However, there have been some concerns that a device like that could be used to stalk and track a human if you attached an AirTag to them without their knowledge.
The new feature was spotted in the beta version of the Find My app[/caption]
The potential safety feature to stop this issue was spotted in the beta version of iOS 14.5.
The setting is reportedly enabled by default in the test version of the Apple software.
You can turn the setting off but you’ll get a warning about unknown devices being able to see your location without your knowledge.
Apple blogger Benjamin Mayo tweeted: “Something I hadn’t considered before: new beta includes a Item Safety setting in Find My.
“This is how Apple is trying to prevent ‘stalking’ with AirTags.
“If someone secretly hides a tag in your possessions, your phone will notice and warn you about it.”
Mayo and other Apple fans think the feature means AirTags could be on their way.
However, Apple could just be creating the safety feature to protect people from being tracked with devices that can already be found with the Find My app.
Those include iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.
As with all Apple rumours and features tested in beta, we can’t be sure that the feature or the long suspected AirTags will be coming to market until official word from Apple.
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best…
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen (or swipe left to right on an iPhone X or later model), then tap in the bar and type a currency (like $200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
Most read in Phones & Gadgets
In other news, Bill Gates has said he only uses Android phones because they make things “easier” for him.
Samsung has launched a “try before you buy” scheme for its most expensive mobiles to date.
Apple is rumoured to be working on a foldable phone to rival Samsung.
Are you a big Apple fan? Let us know in the comments…
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