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WhatsApp and Instagram Unification Under Facebook Messenger To Cause Serious Privacy Issues

WhatsApp is undoubtedly the best and the most popular instant messaging app for both Android and iOS. On the other hand, Instagram surpassed Facebook and became the most used social network. However, Facebook owns both WhatsApp and Instagram, and now, reportedly, the Zuckerberg’s company wants to unify WhatsApp and Instagram under Facebook Messenger.

While the idea to create a unified instant messaging app by merging WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger is not surprising since Facebook owns all of the before-mentioned apps, that might cause serious privacy issues for users. The problems might occur from the struggle to implement end-to-end encryption to the resulting app which would contain three different applications.

Among the three apps mentioned above, only WhatsApp enjoys end-to-end encryption, so, both Instagram and Facebook Messenger do not encrypt users’ messages. “Will the new platform impose default end-to-end encryption for all users regardless of which service they are actually using?” asked Davey Winder of the Forbes.

WhatsApp and Instagram Unification Under Facebook Messenger To Cause Serious Privacy Issues for Users

To unify WhatsApp and Instagram under Facebook Messenger and add end-to-end encryption to the resulting platform “is harder to achieve, at least in a way that could be thought of as being secure, than it sounds. Or at least it will be unless the plan is to completely re-engineer all three messaging services from the ground up,” Winder said on Forbes.

Now, more cybersecurity experts complained about the Zuckerberg’s decision to unite WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger into one big instant messaging platform. “Architecting early is easier than bolting features on artificially and messily later. At the very least, Mr. Zuckerberg should take advantage of the situation by leaning forward with a plan for privacy and be a hero instead of later suffering the consequences,” said Sam Curry, the chief security officer at Cybereason.

“This move [WhatsApp and Instagram unification under Facebook Messenger] could potentially be good or bad for security/privacy. But given recent history and financial motivations of Facebook, I wouldn’t bet my lunch money on good,” stated Matthew Green, a highly-respected cryptographer, on Twitter.

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New iPad and iPod Touch Models Hinted By iOS 12.2

Over the last few years, Apple has changed its iPad lineup with experimental designs and technical specs. The Cupertino-based company has finally reached a final version of iPad Pro. The last year’s iPad Pro 2018 models (iPad Pro 2018 12.9 and iPad Pro 2018 11) were both very performant devices on the insides and great looking on the outside, as well. Now, Apple seems to be working on new iPad and iPod Touch models, according to some references which say that the iOS 12.2 hints to that.

In the Apple store, we see the latest iPad Pro 2018 models, as well as the iPad Pro 2017 devices which boasts less performant components than their last year’s counterparts. Besides them, there is also the iPad Mini 4 which is already a little less than a 4-year-old tablet and packs even lower technical specs.

Now, however, a well-known iOS tinkerer thinks he discovered some references in the new iOS 12.2 version, which hint to four new iPad models and an iPod Touch device.

iOS 12.2 Hints To New iPad and iPod Touch Models, Reportedly

According to Steven Troughton-Smith, the one who discovered the iOS 12.2 references to new iPad models, the latest iOS version hints that Apple is planning to launch four new iPad devices. Most likely, there will be only two iPads, both of which would come out in their WiF-only and WiFi+Cellular variants.

“In theory, iOS 12.2 references four new iPads in WiFi & Cellular variants (perhaps mini, and 9.7″?), all without Face ID, and a (seventh-gen?) iPod touch with no Touch ID nor Face ID,” wrote Steven Troughton-Smith on Twitter where he also added the following pic:

Most likely, according to many Apple fans, the Cupertino-based company will roll out a new iPad 9.7-inch and the iPad Mini 5 (also mentioned in another recent leak), the direct successor of the iPad Mini 4 which launched in 2015. Besides, the iOS 12.2 also hinted to a new iPod Touch model.

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iPhone 11 Concept Buzz Keeps Going With A New, Realistic Vision Of The Triple Camera Setup

iPhone 11 (also dubbed XI by some) is the upcoming flagship device of Apple. iPhone 11 series would be the successor of the iPhone 2018 models, known as iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR. Users would love to see many improvements in the future iPhone 2019 models, but at the moment we only rely on rumors and leaks as Apple did not reveal anything official about the upcoming iPhones. Now, the iPhone 11 concept buzz continues with a new and realistic vision of the triple camera setup the iPhone 11 would boast.

In previous visualizations of the upcoming iPhone 11, we could see several renders showing a squared module for the three main cameras the device would boast. In the latest iPhone 11 concept (see the video below), however, we have a new, realistic vision of the triple camera setup.

iPhone 11 Concept Buzz Keeps Going With A New, Realistic Vision Of The Triple Camera Setup

We believe the new concept is much closer to the Apple’s design line for iPhone X series, so it is likely to see that iPhone 11 would launch with a similar design of the module of its three main cameras. Besides, the new iPhone 11 concept is not showing much of the rest of the phone but mentions some of the possible specs the upcoming iPhone 11 would come out with, such as Apple A13 SoC and in-display fingerprint sensor, among others. Besides, Guhno Lee, who came up with this new iPhone 11 concept, even mimicked the Apple’s standard iPhone marketing videos.

According to other rumors and concepts, iPhone 11 would come out with a notch, but that’s less likely to happen since smartphone manufacturers intend to ditch the notch and come up with thinner, almost inexistent bezels. Also, iPhone 11 might replace the well-known quad-LED flash of the current iPhone models with a flash ring surrounding the camera/cameras module, a feature also revealed in the new iPhone 11 concept.

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iOS 12 jailbreaks – Developers Are Making Progress

Some time ago it used to be a rage to liberate iOS devices from the walled garden of Apple to enjoy a bunch of new features. But it is increasingly difficult to jailbreak their devices because the Cupertino company does not like it when this happens. In addition to this, it also added dozens of features to iOS that they have seen people who jailbroke their iOS devices enjoyed. This way, people would have fewer reasons to liberate their device. Many iPad and iPhone users are concerned about security, so they gave about jailbreaking. However, there is still a big group of enthusiasts waiting to jailbreak iOS 12 devices.

Developers are making progress towards iOS 12 jailbreak

Hacker and developers have been working on iOS 12 jailbreaks since the new software was rolled out by the Cupertino company last year. However, there is still no full-fledged public iOS  12 jailbreak available. After the iOS 12.1.3 was released to the public by Apple a few days ago, some developers have dropped hints that the jailbreak for iOS 12.1.2 is being pulled together.

If you want to liberate your device and have not upgraded to iOS 12.1.3 yet, you should take into consideration keeping it this way. However, you can still downgrade to the 12.1.2 before Apples stops signing it because it can do that anytime, as well as other older firmware.

According to a developer well known within the jailbreak community, Brandon Azad, you should “keep an A12 research device on iOS 12.1.2” if you are interested in bootstrapping your iOS kernel security.  Min ‘Spark’ Zheng, an Alibaba security researcher, responded to Brandon’s tweet saying he is looking forward to seeing iOS 12 JB. Many vulnerabilities and bugs were discovered by Zheng in iOS software in the past.

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WhatsApp 2.19.17 Update Came Out With Improved Group Calls Feature

WhatsApp is the most popular instant messaging app at the moment. But the success of WhatsApp should be granted to the devs behind the application, who are always updating WhatsApp with new functions and content to make the users stick with the app. Group calls are not new to WhatsApp now, but the developers have been improving this functionality since it first rolled out. Now, WhatsApp 2.19.17 update came out with an improved group calls feature.

WhatsApp emerged on Android in 2010, about one year after the initial launch on iOS, in 2009. Designed by two former Yahoo employees, WhatsApp enjoyed a little success on both Android and iOS. In 2014, one year after the instant messaging app became free to use and totaled more than 200 million active users, Facebook purchased WhatsApp from its producers and turned it into the great success it is nowadays.

WhatsApp 2.19.17 Update Came Out With Improved Group Calls Feature

In May 2018, WhatsApp introduced group calls, a function that eventually rolled out to every user of the instant messaging app in July of the same year. However, many users either don’t know it exists in WhatsApp or are not interested in the feature. But that is not stopping the WhatsApp team to update the functionality and add more features to it.

The new WhatsApp 2.19.17 launched a couple of days ago (you can find it on APK Mirror) and already began to also roll out on Google Play Store for some users, depending on their devices. The WhatsApp 2.19.17 update brings several improvements under the hood, but also a new group calls feature. Now, WhatsApp shows a call button on the top right of all group chats. “Just tap the call button in groups or select ‘New group call’ when starting a new call in the calls tab. Group calls support up to 4 participants,” says the official WhatsApp 2.19.17 release notes.

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