APPLE: Users Get More Control Of Their Data

New updates have been announced to the safari browser by Apple. It was announced at the Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WDC) that Safari would soon lock Private Browsing windows when not in use, protected by your password and Face ID or Touch ID. It was also announced that the new privacy feature would allow the users to leave their private browsing windows open, even when they are not near their device. Models like Ios 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma would get these features in the later months of 2023.

This article gives you an insight on the details of new features added to safari private browsing. Here are the details:-

• Greater protection against the trackers as users browse the web and from people who might have access to their device.
• The new features help prevent websites from using the latest techniques to track or identify a user’s device.
• Safari private browsing windows now automatically gets locked if they have not been in use recently.
• A new embedded Photos picker can help users share specific photos with apps while keeping the rest of their library private.
• The Photos permission prompt now tells users how many photos and videos they would be giving access to, as well as providing a sample of those photos.
• The new feature provides link tracking protection in messages, mails, and safari private browsing.
• New tools give developers more information about the data practices of third-party software development kits (SDKs), which they use in their apps, and allows them to provide even more accurate Privacy Nutrition Labels.
• The new features are designed to help protect users’ safety.
• Communication Safety has been designed to warn children, when receiving or sending photos in Messages that contain nudity and now covers video content in addition to still images.
• A new API lets developers integrate Communication Safety right into their apps.
• Communication Safety now protects children receiving or attempting to send videos or photos containing nudity in AirDrop, a contact poster in the phone app, a FaceTime video message, and when using the Photos picker, in addition to Messages.
• Sensitive content warning helps adult users avoid seeing unwanted nude images and videos when receiving them in messages, AirDrop, FaceTime video message and the Phone app when receiving a Contact Poster. It is an optional feature.

• Users can now share passwords and passkeys with groups, so everyone can stay up to date with access to shared accounts.
• The lockdown mode on iPhone is enabled to turn on Lockdown Mode for their paired Apple Watch.
• New protections encompass safer wireless connectivity defaults, media handling, media sharing defaults, sandboxing, and network security optimizations.
• ‘Check In’feature makes it easy for users to let friends or family members know that they have reached their destination safely. It will also give an alarm in case of any mishap by sharing the user’s precise location, battery level, cell service status, and the last active time using their iPhone — with the contacts the user selected.
• Safari will also allow the users to pin a website added as a WebApp to the dock on the next version of macOS.
• The users will also be able to create profiles on Safari. These will allow you to switch between profiles for work, school, or personal use. Each profile will have its own browsing history, cookies, tab groups, and favourites.
• With Name Drop feature, which is a new Air Drop experience, a user can hold his iPhone near another to share their contact information with only their intended recipients.
• Users can also choose the specific contact details that they want to share and what information they don’t want to share.
• ‘Live voicemail feature’ makes the users understand when to answer a phone call. When someone calls and starts to leave a message, users will see a live transcription as the caller speaks. If the user wants to talk to the caller, they can pick up the call at any time.
• When ‘silence unknown callers’ feature is turned on, calls from unknown numbers will go directly to ‘live voicemail’ without ringing. Calls identified as spam by carriers won’t appear as live voicemail would instantly decline it. This feature would give the user more peace of mind from spam, scam calls.

WebKit, the browser engine that Safari is based on, will also receive a notable upgrade allowing WebApps to be pinned to the dock on macOS. This means that the users would soon be able to use the ‘Add to Dock feature’ for websites saved as WebApps, making them much easier to access.