Epic Games and Match Group now have a court date for their antitrust case against Google. A Northern District of California judge has set the start of a jury trial for November 6th. Both Epic and Match accuse Google of abusing its control of Android app distribution through the Play Store by establishing unfair fees and requirements for in-app purchases. This comes alongside a lawsuit from 39 attorneys general as well as a customer class action suit demanding $4.7 billion in damages.

Epic sued Google in 2020 after the Android creator kicked Fortnite out of the Play Store for letting customers use an alternative in-app payment system. Match sued Google last year over the "exorbitant" store fee. Epic and Match consolidated their case and a filed motion last fall to expand their allegations, accusing Google of further antitrust violations by paying major developers hundreds of millions of dollars to keep their apps in the Play Store. 

Unlike Epic's partially successful lawsuit against Apple, this case has to acknowledge that customers do have a choice. Where Apple requires that all regular app downloads go through the App Store, Android's sideloading option lets customers install software without downloading it from Google. The issue, as you might imagine, is that those apps are both harder to install and less likely to be noticed when the Play Store is included by default on many Android phones.

Google denies misusing its power, and argues that the fees are necessary to maintain and invest in the Play Store. It maintains that the incentive program doesn't forbid developers from launching third-party stores, and that its portal competes fairly. In December, Google called on the court to deny the expanded requests over timing and other issues.

Google has made some concessions, including a test program for Play Store billing alternatives. That pilot still gives Google a cut of each transaction, though, and it remains to be seen if moves like that will satisfy the court and regulators. As it is, the internet pioneer is facing a raft of other antitrust cases that include a Justice Department lawsuit from 2020. Even if Google prevails against Epic and Match, it may not escape unscathed.

In case there was any doubt about Twitter’s intentions in cutting off the developers of third-party apps, the company has quietly updated its developer agreement to make clear that app makers are no longer permitted to create their own clients.

The “restrictions” section of Twitter’s developer agreement was updated Thursday with a clause banning “use or access the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications.” The addition is the only substantive change to the 5,000-word agreement.

The change confirms what the makers of many popular Twitter clients have suspected in recent days: that third-party Twitter services are no longer permitted under Elon Musk’s leadership.

Twitter previously said it was “enforcing long-standing API rules,” but hadn’t cited which rules developers were violating. The company no longer has a communications team, and most members working on its developer platform were also cut during the company’s mass layoffs last year.

Twitter clients have long been a part of Twitter. Twitterrific, one of the most prominent apps affected by the API shut-off last week, was created before Twitter had a native iOS app of its own, and is credited with coining the word “tweet,” as well as other features now commonly associated with Twitter’s app.

Developing…

Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give users more control over the app, starting with a new Quiet Mode. The tool functions a lot like your phone’s Do Not Disturb setting. When active, Instagram won’t push notifications to your device. Your profile will also display a note that you’re “in quiet mode,” and anyone who attempts to message you will receive an automatic reply that you’re not available.

You can set Quiet Mode to activate automatically at certain times of day. Once you’re outside those hours, Instagram will send you a summary of your notifications. Anyone can use Quiet Mode, but the company says it will prompt teens to use the feature if it notices they’re spending a lot of time scrolling through their feed late at night. Quiet Mode is available starting today in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Instagram

Alongside the new mode, Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give people more control over the photos and videos they see on the platform. Specifically, you can now tell the app the types of content you don’t want to be recommended to you. Starting with the Explore tab, you can select multiple tiles and tap “Not Interested” to shape Instagram’s content algorithm. Doing so will also affect what you see when you search for posts. Additionally, in an expansion of a feature that was already available for comments and direct messages, you can list specific words, hashtags and emoji you want Instagram to filter for when recommending content. You can access that tool through the “Hidden Words” section of the app's privacy settings. One limitation is that filters will only work when the app detects the words you listed in hashtags and captions. Lastly, Instagram notes it recently added a feature that allows parents to see their teen’s app settings.

The subject of inappropriate recommendations came up during Adam Mosseri’s congressional hearing in 2021. Members of the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security grilled the head of Instagram about the content they saw the app steer them toward after creating fresh Instagram accounts designed to impersonate teens. Specifically, Utah Senator Mike Lee said he saw the Explore page of his finsta account change dramatically after following a single account recommended by Instagram. According to Lee, the app began recommending posts promoting body dysmorphia, sexualization of women and other content inappropriate for teen girls. “It went dark fast,” he said.

Whether the changes Instagram is introducing today will sufficiently address the concerns raised by lawmakers is hard to say, as Instagram is putting the onus on teen users to filter their feeds instead of doing that work itself.

We’ve known for a while that Sony planned to bring PlayStation franchises to mobile platforms, but we were hoping for something with a unique hook. Instead, Sony has partnered with the independent developer and publisher Exient (Lemmings, Planet 53) on a mobile game starring LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy. Ultimate Sackboy is an auto-running game for Android and iOS, launching globally on February 21st.

The title follows a well-worn formula: control a cute auto-running mascot, jumping and swerving lanes to avoid obstacles while snagging power-ups. Like Super Mario Run and other genre standards, you’ll play with your phone in portrait orientation. The plot revolves around the crocheted hero competing in the Ultimate Games, which we imagine as an Olympics for semi-retired video game mascots living in an artisan-crafted world. Unsurprisingly, the game’s Google Play listing mentions ads and in-app purchases, consistent with the trailer’s emphasis on acquiring costumes and cosmetics.

Although we’d love to see publishers like Sony bring something more unique to their phone-based spinoffs, an auto-runner starring a beloved mascot ticks the boxes publishers prioritize on mobile: maximum micro-transaction potential with minimal investment in unique gameplay.

The public launch will follow the game’s closed betas in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and Malta. You can sign up to pre-register on Google Play, and this page will notify you once it’s available on iOS (it will have iPhone and iPad versions).

Serato launched DJ Pro 3.0 in December last year with new stem separation tools and it was only a matter of time until the company's DAW would follow suit. It’s only about a month later and already stems have arrived with the latest update dropping today: Serato Studio 2.0.

The sampler section of Studio now includes small buttons above the waveform that allow you to target the vocals, melody, bass or drums from any track using Serato's own machine-learning algorithm. It does a great job isolating the respective stem segments quickly, at least once the system has a few seconds to analyze a track. You can then try out variations on-the-fly while a song is playing.

The company recommends an M1 MacBook or higher for the best performance when using stems on Serato DJ and that should certainly carry over here. Although Studio is less of a live-performance tool than the DJ app, it helps to have software that allows relatively seamless adjustments as you go — especially processor-intensive stuff like this.

Stem separation has been a trend over the last year or two and Algoriddim's djay Pro, one of the other leading apps in the market, has had a version of this in its own DJ app for a few years. The company even spun the tools off into a standalone app called Neural Mix Pro. That lets you extract stems for use in other apps, but isn’t a complete workstation for making beats on its own.

Serato has been growing Studio’s toolset into a more comprehensive DAW over time. It's a helpful tool for pros who want a way to sketch out track ideas quickly and it's an approachable introduction for those just getting started with beat making. The addition of stems makes this an especially useful complement to Serato DJ, rounding out the ecosystem to include a DAW and DJ app with deeper customization abilities than ever before. 

Serato Studio 2.0 is available today on the company's website with options including a free limited account, a $10 per-month subscription or you can purchase a full license for the app for $249.

The official Philips Hue app sucks.

You'd think that, being the oldest name in the smart lighting world, Philips would have the best app on the market. More than a decade of iterative improvements and a mature hardware world would see the app rise proudly above its competitors. Sadly for me, and every other Hue user, the company seems to have fallen asleep behind the wheel.

(Yes: I know that Philips Lighting rebranded itself as Signify, but let’s not confuse matters here.)

I picked up a Hue starter kit and some additional Lux bulbs back in 2013, and was very impressed with the setup for at least ten minutes. It very quickly became one of those gadgets that only really got used to show the power of your smart home to visitors. And they rather quickly tired of my ability to change my living room lights from white to purple, and back again. In fact, I mostly used the bulbs as glorified dimmer switches, which wasn’t enough to justify the high cost of the initial investment.

At some point, the app started insisting I replace the v1 (round) Bridge for the v2 (square) model. And I bristled, already feeling aggrieved that Hue was all mouth and no trousers, I resented having to pay when the existing system worked perfectly well. Especially since I could have used that money to buy more Hue bulbs and further lock myself into Philips’ ecosystem.

No tears were shed when the Bridge eventually got smashed by one (or both) of my kids when I was out of the room. I decided, in a tiny flurry of COVID-19 lockdown-induced Marie Kondo-ing, that I’d toss the box into the trash and be done with it. After all, it was broken, and changing the color of my bulbs did not spark the joy I was expecting, not to mention the fact that Philips loves to charge a lot of cash to sync your lighting to a movie playing on your TV.

Last month, my wife asked me why we weren't able to use Hue any more, and I explained the situation. She asked how much it would cost to fix it, and found a sealed, unused, second generation Bridge available on Facebook Marketplace for half the price at retail. So we snapped it up, obviously making the usual security checks about buying second hand IoT gear before plugging it into our network.

That was, however, when the troubles began, since you can’t just sign in to your existing Hue account, hook it up to the new Bridge, and be done. Nobody at Philips seems to have imagined that it might be worthwhile building out the ability to revive an account tied to a dead bridge. In fact, there’s no way to connect anything without a fresh login, and the bulbs themselves are tied to the old one. The app also doesn’t provide any way to hard reset a bulb, or in fact do anything beyond leave you staring at a splash screen.

For about half an hour, I did wonder if I’d just wasted some cash on a new Bridge but never to get things working again. I felt a frustration, a powerlessness, the sort that comes when you’re locked and bolted out of a building at 2am in an unfamiliar city and your phone’s out of charge. My login wouldn’t work, because my bridge wasn’t connected to the internet. A new login won’t even acknowledge the presence of the expensive hardware all over my house. My hands got very itchy.

This is the kicker: I’m not the first person to learn how bad Philips’ software development is, because there’s a whole army of third-party Hue apps out there. Much in the same way that charity is an indictment on behalf of the state, the depth and breadth of Hue apps available is a massive critique on Philips’ lackluster app development. You’re paid to do this, and there’s no available function in the app to be able to fix what could be a fairly common problem.

I opted to use Hue Lights, one of many independent apps that offered the ability to hard reset a bulb. All I had to do was bring each bulb close to the bridge (you’ll need a lamp handy), turn it on, and hard reset each unit individually. Then I could reconnect them to the new bridge and, as if by magic, could then start using them with the official Hue app. Not that, I’ll be honest, I really want to. Because this third-party, very simple app has more power than the official Philips app and it’s easier to use. If you haven’t tried it, I heartily recommend that you do. At least until Philips gets its act together.

Willow, a company that makes smart breast pumps, is looking to make it easier for users to monitor and control their pumping sessions. The Willow 3.0, a wearable wireless pump, now has an Apple Watch companion app. As such, you won't necessarily need your phone to manage pumping sessions (though your iPhone will still need to be within 30 feet of both the pumps and your watch).

The app enables users to start and pause sessions, switch between stimulation and expression pump modes and adjust suction levels, all from their wrist. Your watch will also let you know when your last session ended, display your per-pump milk output in real-time and show the battery level of each pump.

More than half of Willow users "regularly use an Apple Watch and many want to control their pumps with their smartwatches," the company's CEO Laura Chambers said in a statement. Chambers added that Willow designed the app to give users more "ease and control" over pumping sessions. You'll need an Apple Watch Series 3 or above and at least watchOS 8 to use the Willow 3.0 app.

As many in the accessibility community will tell you, inclusive design isn’t an endeavor that’s “one and done.” It’s a continuous, ongoing effort to ensure that as new products and services are made, people with different needs or disabilities aren’t left out. Over the last three years, Engadget has produced a report, in addition to our regular coverage, that looks back on the developments in the tech industry that impact the accessibility community, focusing on the largest companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta. Of course, there are plenty of other big companies to consider, like Uber, Airbnb, Netflix and more. But the six we’ve selected have an outsized impact and influence on the industry..

Last year, we saw significant developments that could pave the way for more accessible designs in future, such as the opening of Microsoft’s Inclusive Tech Lab. In October, the University of Illinois (UIUC) partnered with Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft on a Speech Accessibility Project to improve voice recognition for those with atypical speech patterns that AI algorithms rarely consider. But there were also major setbacks, such as Elon Musk dismantling the accessibility team at Twitter, amid everything else that happened in that hellhole.

All around the industry, we saw pieces of news that showed greater interest overall in accessible products and design. According to LinkedIn’s vice president of engineering, Erran Berger, there has been a 33 percent increase in the last year in “people sharing insights, ideas and problem solving together related to accessibility”. Berger said this corresponded with a “significant uptick in the total annual number of U.S. job postings with the word ’accessibility’ in the job title.” LinkedIn data shows that these postings have “spiked 171 [percent] since September 2019.”

This increased interest permeated all of tech. Comcast debuted its Xfinity large button voice remote last year, for example, while popular chat app Discord updated its Windows app to support high contrast mode, as well as enable alt-text for image in iOS. There were also plenty of startups and smaller device makers that are creating products like wearables and hearing aids to help those with disabilities better interact with the world.

As we continue to call for a more inclusive design process that follows the accessibility community’s mantra of “nothing about us without us,” it’s worth taking the time to see which companies have fared well and which have failed to consider people with different needs.

Amazon

Amazon

Like most companies on this list, Amazon updated a number of its products across various categories to offer better accessibility. For example, it added gesture support to Echo Shows, allowing users to dismiss timers by waving or holding up an open palm, so those who don’t want to or can’t use their voice to silence alarms can do so without touching the device. It also added support for audio streaming for hearing aids to its Fire TV platform, and brought the Tap To Speech (or Tap To Alexa) feature from its Fire tablets to the Echo Show displays.

Amazon also teamed up with a selection of organizations to bring its products to communities that could benefit from them. It donates products like Echos, Ring home security devices and more to Home For Our Troops and the Gary Sinise Foundation, which help get these to veterans. The company also works with the National Association of the Blind in India by giving local school districts Echo devices so they can be used as teaching aids for kids with vision disabilities.

Many new Alexa features also have accessibility benefits. The Person and Package announcements, for example, let you know through the Alexa mobile app, Echo Show, Fire TV or Fire Tablet when your compatible Ring camera or video doorbell detects a… you guessed it, person or package. This way, you can choose to be alerted by visual or audio cues. On the latest Echo Dot, an onboard accelerometer allows you to tap the top of the speaker to pause and resume media playback, snooze alarms or end timers and calls. This offers those with speech impairments an alternative means of interacting with the device.

It’s also worth noting that Amazon’s remote caregiving service Alexa Together also received updates that allow users to add more family members to care for aging loved ones, and enabled primary caregivers to remotely set up Routines for their wards.

In October, the company released a new campaign that included videos featuring an Amazon employee and people with disabilities using accessibility features across Alexa, Fire TV and more. It also redesigned its accessibility home page to make its tools easier to discover. And, as we’ve mentioned in previous editions of this report, the company’s venture capital arm — the Alexa Fund — invests in startups, some of which work on products to improve accessibility.

Apple

As an established leader in making accessible products, Apple continued to do well lastyear despite not doing a lot. On Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on May 19th, it announced a new door detection feature for iPhones that would help those who are blind or have low vision by identifying entryways and reading any signs or words on them.

At the same time, the company unveiled Apple Watch Mirroring, which lets people with motor and physical disabilities control their smartwatch using the iPhone’s assistive features. These include Voice Control, Switch Control, head tracking, sound actions and external Made For iPhone inputs.

Apple also brought Live Captions to iPhone, iPad and Mac, which would transcribe all content playing through the device, as well as the speech of people in the real world. Those using Live Captions for calls on Mac can also type a response and have that spoken aloud to their callers. It also added 20 new languages to its VoiceOver screen reader, as well as voices and locales.

Apple

Other features include Buddy Controller, which lets users ask another person to co-control a game character with them and Siri Pause Time to adjust how long the assistant waits before responding. The company also updated Sound Recognition so it will now identify custom noises like a unique doorbell or alarm and added new themes, font and line customizations to the Apple Books app for improved readability. A slew of other small updates were also announced on GAAD, which would be too much to exhaustively detail here, but a complete list can be found on the company’s website.

On Dec. 3rd, the International Day of the Person with Disabilities, Apple released a short film that showcases its assistive features. The video was well-received and not only helped highlight the ways people with disabilities can use their i-devices to live their lives, but also introduced some lesser known features to a wider audience.

Google

Google is basically the internet, so its contribution to accessibility is of particular importance. Because its product portfolio is so diverse, spanning smartphones, speakers, displays, browsers, apps, email, search and more, the company’s reach is immense. That also means that Google typically has a lot more updates than any other name on this list. Across Android, Pixel, Chrome, Search and more, the company rolled out improvements to its screen readers, captioning and alt-text support, among others. A lot of its work in 2022 was around expanding existing features to cover more platforms and languages. For example, in December, the company announced its Project Relate non-standard speech-recognition pilot would expand to include Hindi.

On Global Accessibility Awareness Day in May, Google also said it was building out-of-the-box support for braille displays into Android’s Talkback screen reader, eliminating the need to install a separate app. It also announced new education-related updates like support for alt-text in gmail and tweaks to the Docs experience for those using Braille readers. Chrome OS also got a little easier to use, with improved voice control and dictation, while Meet now allows users to pin multiple people on their calls, allowing those who use ASL to be able to see their sign language interpreters and other speakers at the same time. The company even looked at making fonts that were easier to read.

Notably, Google also introduced Guided Frames, a tool to help blind or low vision users take selfies, when it launched the Pixel 7. Instead of being relegated to a separate day or buried in a press release, it was nice to see such a feature share the stage with other highlights during a flagship phone reveal.

Google continues to engage the disability community, and appears to be reaching out via its Accessibility account on Twitter. As of August, it was looking to work with students with dyslexia for a research study on the Chrome browser. In December, it opened its first Accessibility Discovery Center in the UK. With this pattern of outreach and engagement, Google appears to have a meaningful approach to accessibility that adheres to the principle of “nothing about us without us.”

Microsoft

In 2022, Microsoft continued to display a thoughtful, holistic approach to accessibility. Not only did it launch its Inclusive Tech Lab this year to welcome and involve the disability community in design and ideation, but it also released a new Adaptive Mouse kit that offers ways for people with motor limitations to more easily use their computers and phones.

But where Microsoft tends to excel, at least compared to its peers on this list, is in considering a broader spectrum of disabilities and needs. This April, the company launched a Neurodiversity Career Connector (NDCC) in collaboration with the nonprofit Disability:IN. The NDCC is intended as a jobs portal “dedicated to neurodivergent career seekers,” Microsoft said. It will feature listings by US employers looking for applicants who are neurodivergent, including those who have autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and Tourette Syndrome. The program will connect neurodivergent people with “companies already committed to neurodiversity hiring programs”, and companies backing the NDCC include Microsoft, Dell Technologies, Google, HP, Dell Technologies, SAP, CAI, EY and Spectrum Designs Foundation.

Speaking of careers, LinkedIn also announced updates around helping people with disabilities “voluntarily self-identify on disability and other demographic features.” For example, it added “Dyslexic Thinking” as a recognized skill that people can add to their profiles. “This example showcases that disability can also be viewed as a strength and meaningful differentiator,” Berger wrote in a blog post announcing the updates.

Microsoft also rolled out automatically generated captions for videos on LinkedIn (English, for now) and enabled alt-text for images on the platform’s ads. Last year, it also updated its Seeing AI app, which lets the people who are visually impaired use their cameras to identify currency, read text and see faces. In October, in collaboration with healthcare company Haleon, Microsoft added the ability to scan the barcodes of products like Centrum, Emergen-C and Sensodyne. The app will then read out instruction, ingredients and other critical information.

Peter DaSilva / reuters

Meta

Since the company’s rebranding, there are two main ways to think about Meta — Facebook (and apps like Instagram and WhatsApp) and VR. In March, Instagram rolled out auto-generated captions for videos on the iOS and Android apps, and they’re enabled by default. In May, the company brought alt-text for stickers on Facebook and Messenger, while hosting an accessibility summit where it demonstrated a host of its existing assistive features.

On the VR side, Meta brought better disability representation to avatars, and otherwise had a very bad first year. The VR workout app it owns, Supernatural, did launch a new One Controller Mode in October that’s designed to help those who can only use a single device.

Meta also released a “guide on designing inclusive policies in programs” in February, with accessibility being the top consideration on a list of recommendations to consider. While these aren’t rules that the company will enforce when approving content that would exist on its various platforms, it’s a helpful resource for creators and developers who may not know where to start.

This year, the company was also named the best place to work for disability inclusion by the Disability Equality Index, marking the fifth year in a row it’s received the honor. Overall, it seems like Meta was distracted by the issues that plagued its Metaverse ambitions and launched few actual assistive tools.

Dado Ruvic / reuters

Twitter

Amid the chaos that happened to Twitter late last year, Elon Musk gutting the small in-house accessibility team might have dealt an outsized blow to the community. Formed in 2020 in response to very embarrassing blunders that left out the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Twitter’s accessibility team worked to address the platform’s shortcomings. In 2022 alone, Twitter introduced new icons for better readability, added reminders for users to fill in image descriptions and updated its emoji library to better represent people with disabilities.

It was also nice to see clear and consistent communication from the Twitter A11y account, with monthly updates on its feature roadmap and timeline. As of November, its final #TwitterA11yStatus post indicated that it was working on a setting to disable keyboard shortcuts on its web platform and toggles for closed captions. Unfortunately, that was the last check-in from the team since, and the future of accessibility at and on Twitter is currently uncertain.

Because of its reach, Twitter helped boost the voices of members of the disability community, helping spread awareness and education to the mainstream audience. With the elimination of A11y, improvements to make the platform more inclusive and accessible have come to a halt, and there may be no one around to address issues that break the service for people with disabilities. The outlook for Twitter users with disabilities (and the rest of the platform) is depressingly bleak.

Smartphones may mean never having to ask for directions, but it can still be tricky to relay exactly where you are at any given moment to friends and family trying to find you. iPhone users can share their current location using Messages, Apple Maps, Google Maps and Apple’s Find My app. While Apple makes it easiest to share locations with other iPhone users, there are a number of ways to send your position to someone who uses an Android device as well. We covered four different methods in the steps below, along with a way to share from your Mac and how to stop sharing your location when you need to.

How to share your location using Messages

This might be the easiest method, as you’re probably already texting the person with which you want to share your location. To text someone exactly where you are, follow these steps:

1. Open a conversation in Messages and tap the recipient’s name/image at the top of the screen.

2. Tap Send My Current Location.

3. A map thumbnail of your location will immediately appear in your conversation.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

If your recipient has an iPhone and they tap the map, an info screen will open with an option to get directions via Apple Maps. If your recipient does not have an iPhone, they will receive an Apple Maps link that will open in their browser.

If you want to share your location for a longer period of time:

1. Tap on your recipient’s name/image in your Messages conversation.

2. Tap on Share My Location.

3. Choose Share for One Hour, Share Until End of Day or Share Indefinitely (which remains active until you turn sharing off).

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

4. They will receive a notification that you are sharing your location with them and you will be added to their Find My app.

Just keep in mind that this only works with other iPhone users.

How to quickly share your home address in Messages

If you have your address saved under your own contact, you can send your home address via Messages by typing the words “my address is” Messages will auto-suggest your home address to fill in. This also sends your address as a link your recipient can tap on to open their default map app.

How to share your location using the Find My app

Find My lets you locate your Apple devices as well as other iPhone users. The app is a combination of two former Apple offerings, Find My iPhone and Find My Friends. As you may expect, this also only works with other iPhone users.

1. Tap on the Find My app from your home screen.

2. Tap on People on the bottom left.

3. Tap the + symbol at the top of the list of contacts.

4. Select Share My Location from the pop-up box.

5. Type the name of the person you want to share your location with. Note that only your contacts with iPhones or email addresses will appear.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

6. Tap the name of the contact and tap send. Select whether you want to share for an hour, the rest of the day or indefinitely until you turn location sharing off.

7. You’ll receive a pop up box that says you’ve started sharing your location and your recipient will receive a notification that you’ve shared your location with them and your information will appear in their Find My app.

A note about satellite location sharing

Currently, all iPhone 14 models have the ability to both message with emergency services and share your location when you are outside of cellular coverage areas. That means you can send your location via the Find My app even when you are off the grid. You can read more about the limitations and other factors in Apple’s press release.

How to Share your location using Family Sharing

Family Sharing is an Apple service that allows you to share things like subscriptions, media purchases and photo albums with up to five people in your family. This is also another way to let your family know where you are.

1. Go to Settings then tap your Apple ID, iCloud+, Media & Purchases button at the top.

2. Tap on Family Sharing.

3. Choose the friends or family members you want to use Family Sharing with from the list (note that Family sharing only works with other iPhones).

4. Tap the blue arrow to send. Your recipients will receive a text invitation to join Family Sharing.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

5. Once you are sharing with someone, you can enable Location Sharing at the bottom of the Family Sharing menu (Settings > Apple ID > Family Sharing).

6. Tap on Location Sharing at the bottom of the screen. 

7. You’ll see an information panel about Family Sharing and your location. Tap Share Location. 

8. The next time you tap Location Sharing from the Family Sharing menu, you’ll be directed to a screen that allows you to toggle location sharing on and off.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

9. People who are connected with you through Family Sharing (provided you have location sharing toggled on) will be able to see you in the Find My app and in your profile panel in Messages.

How to share your location using Google Maps

You can also share your whereabouts directly from the apps that many people use for navigation. To send a location via Google Maps, you’ll need to be logged in with your Google account within the Maps app. Once you’ve logged in, follow these steps to start location sharing:

1. Open the Google Maps app on your iPhone.

2. Tap on your account image in the upper right corner.

3. Tap Location sharing.

4. You’ll see a location sharing information panel. Tap the Share Location button.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

5. From here, you can choose to share with your contacts from within Google by selecting a duration and the icon of the person you want to share with. Your recipient will receive a Google Maps notification (provided they have Google Maps installed and notifications turned on for that app). They will also receive an email with a link to view your location on Google Maps.

6. Alternatively, you can tap More Options below your contacts to share your location with a link.

7. You’ll see a pop-up window asking if you want to share with a link. Tap Share. 

8. Select from the suggested contacts (the small icon at the lower right of each contact’s image indicates which method will be used to send the link). Or select an app, such as Messages or Gmail to open those apps and enter your contact’s information.

9. Your contact will receive a link via the method you chose. When they tap the link it will take them to the Google Maps app (if they have it installed) or to Google Maps within the browser.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

How to share your location using Apple Maps

If you prefer using Apple Maps for navigation, here’s how to use the app to send your location details:

1. Open Apple Maps

2. Tap the arrowhead icon to center the map on your current location.

3. Drag up on the panel at the lower half of the screen.

4. Scroll down to Share My Location and tap.

5. Choose the person you want to share your location with from the suggestions menu or choose an app, such as Messages or Mail. You can add a comment if you want, and press the blue send arrow.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

6. If you choose to send via Messages, your recipient will receive a map thumbnail of your location. If they tap that, it will open their Apple Maps app. If they don’t have Apple Maps, your location will open using Apple Maps in their browser.

How to share your location using a Mac

1. Click Launchpad from the Dock.

2. Open the Find My app.

3. Click on Share My Location in the lower left corner.

4. Type in the name of the person you want to share with. Similarly to the Find My app on an iPhone, the Find My app on a Mac can only share your location with other Apple devices.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

5. Your recipient will receive a notification that you’ve shared your location with them and your information will appear in their Find My app.

Troubleshooting location sharing

If you’re having trouble sharing your location, make sure Location Services is on for the app you want to use.

1. Go to Settings.

2. Tap on Privacy & Security.

3. Tap on Location Services.

4. Make sure Location Services is toggled on.

5. Ensure the app you want to use is set to While Using.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

How to stop sharing your location

If you’ve shared your location for a duration of time through Find My, Family Sharing or Google Maps, you can stop sharing at any point. If you’ve shared using a one time link to your location, via Messages, Apple Maps or the link option in Google Maps, you can’t undo that action, just as you can’t unsend a text or an email.

1. Via Find My: Open the Find My app and tap the name of the person you want to stop sharing with. Drag up on their info panel and tap Stop Sharing My Location.

2. Via Family Sharing: Open Family Sharing by opening Settings and tapping your Apple ID panel at the top of the Settings menu. Tap Family Sharing then Location Sharing and toggle off Automatically Share Location.

3. Via Google Maps: Open the Google Maps app and tap on your profile image at the top right. Tap Location sharing. You’ll see a list of people you’ve shared with. Tap the person you want to stop sharing with, then tap the Stop button at the bottom of the screen.

Several third-party clients for Twitter are having issues communicating with the social network, leading to issues that prevent users from being able to log in. As TechCrunch reports, Tweetbot and Twitterific have both confirmed that they're having problems and are trying to find the root cause of the issue. "We've reached out to Twitter for more details, but haven't heard back," Tweetbot announced. 

Fenix has also confirmed that its client for Android is experiencing problems but that its iOS app seems to be unaffected. Matteo Villa, the app's developer, said Fenix for Android was suspended with no communication from the company. Villa tweeted a screenshot showing a notification that says Fenix "violated Twitter Rules and policies" and can no longer be accessed as a result. The developer has temporarily pulled the app from Google Play while trying to determine the cause. 

Twitpane has posted an announcement in Japanese that says users have been getting errors, such as "account authentication failed," that prevent them from being able to access the app. Other clients that seem to be experiencing issues include Echofon, Feather and Talon. 

Twitter has yet to issue an announcement through any of its official accounts. On the Twitter Developer forum, a poster said users have been encountering a lot of bugs with the Twitter API for third party apps since December. It's unclear what exactly has been preventing third-party apps from accessing the social network, and since Twitter no longer has a communications team, even the affected developers have yet to hear from the company directly.