In the interest of protecting children, a new iOS application called AppCertain has debuted a monitoring application aimed at parents. The app, whose goal is to alert parents about the nature of the applications their kids are downloading, involves the use of a “configuration profile” – special software Apple originally intended for enterprise use, not consumer-facing apps sold through its App Store marketplace.

But Apple reviewed the application – for longer than most, founder and CEO Spencer Whitman tells us – and subsequently approved it. For how long that will remain the case, however, is unknown.

“We think we are on a gray line with respect to Apple, but we don’t really know,” Whitman admits.

Configuration profiles, for those unfamiliar, were designed for the enterprise environment, allowing I.T. departments to manage the iPhones and iPads used by a company’s employees. They’re typically employed by Mobile Device Management solutions which use the software to configure, track and/or restrict a number of system-level settings like Wi-Fi, VPNs, app settings, permissions, and more.

But more recently, a handful of startups have started using these same profiles to work around Apple’s App Store’s restrictions in order to accomplish tasks which wouldn’t otherwise be possible. Apple is aware this is happening, and seems to be handling each app submission on a one-off basis for now.

We’ve seen mobile data compression utilities like Onavo and Snappli take advantage of the technology to intercept, re-route, and compress web data in order to save users’ bandwidth, for instance. Social search engine Wajam also uses a configuration profile to inject its own search results into Safari, though this is done outside of the Apple App Store.

Onavo is still live on the Apple App Store today, though Snappli has since disappeared. (We reached out to the company for details, but have yet to hear back. It’s possible that Apple simply didn’t care for the fact that Snappli had publicly shared data showing how iOS users were dumping the then newly-launched Apple Maps application.)

But frankly, it seems odd that Apple would knowingly ever let these types of applications into its consumer-facing app store in the first place, given the security risks they could pose. If used unscrupulously, a malicious configuration profile could remote control a user’s device, manipulate user activity, and hijack their sessions, or so explained security researchers at Skycure back in March.

AppCertain isn’t a malicious developer, though, and its intentions are not to control or restrict how an Apple device is used, which would then be stepping on top of Apple’s own, built-in Parental Control features. Instead, it only monitors app downloads and reports back to parents via email that an app was downloaded, explaining what the app does, as well as what sorts of permissions it requests, and more.

The idea is to alert parents about the apps their child uses, including whether or not they have educational value. It doesn’t prevent the child from actually downloading or installing apps.

The service, staffed by a number of Carnegie Mellon University alumni, first launched to the web in February after being incubated by seed and studio fund Birchmere Labs.

Whitman explained at the time that the company wanted to help busy parents, who often have a hard time keeping up with what their children are installing and using. It’s not only a problem that affects tech novices, he had said. Even savvy parents often forget or get too busy to keep a close eye on their children’s devices. And these devices, little mini-computers that they are, are not without risks.

Parental Controls Outside Of Apple’s Control

While AppCertain is trying to go the official, Apple-approved route with its creation, another company, a small German app consultancy called Mocava, is not. Its new Parental Control application is an over-the-air install only, knowing that Apple would never approve it for App Store download.

Mocava owner Vinh Phuc Dinh says that he created the app to address a situation he found himself in all the time. “I have many nephews, and would pass on my device for them to play,” he tells us. “Unfortunately, there is no easy way to restrict access on the iPhone and save the desired preferences. So we built it ourselves.”

What he means is that though Apple offers parental control features, it’s not the right solution for those who only need controls on occasion. With his Parental Control App, you can quickly turn on restrictions without having to reconfigure them from scratch them each time you hand your phone or iPad to a child. Even if Apple’s restrictions are turned off, the tool will remember your settings.

You can restrict certain default apps from being accessed or certain content from being viewed. You can disable in-app purchases, or specify that an App Store password is always required, and more. To get started, you configure your settings on the web, then download the profile the company provides.

The mere fact that this app and AppCertain even exist speaks to one of the problems with Apple’s strict control over its OS. Unlike on Android where apps like  KIDO’Z, Kytephone, Play Safe, Kid Mode and others allow parents more granular control and insight, Apple’s settings are cumbersome. If you turn on age restrictions, for example, the child can’t watch Netflix. You can disable the web browser, but not whitelist websites, and so on.

These devices are computers, and while parents may disagree on what level of involvement on their part is necessary, it’s fair to say that as with “real” computers, children – especially young children – shouldn’t be given free rein with no parental oversight. Too many parents think of iPads as toys, blindly typing in their password every time their kid begs for a new app. They, perhaps, put too much trust in Apple’s “family friendly” policies – just because apps are rated and ranked, pornography or gore-free, that doesn’t make everything appropriate for every child.

It will be interesting to see how far Apple allows these companies to push into this new territory, before it decides to crack down or otherwise change its policies.

AppCertain is available for download here on iPhone and iPad.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Today on its staff blog, Tumblr shared that it is rolling out real-time notifications to people’s dashboards, so that you can have even more cat- and fashion-related content thrown in your face. It’s a smart move and surprising that it took so long.

The thing that has kept Tumblr from being seen as a blogging platform is the fact that it stands pretty still, so an infusion of real-time will be interesting.

Check this out! We’re testing real-time notifications from people you follow.

You should start to see them in the next few hours (and can toggle them on your Settings page).

Enjoy!

The demo only shows interactions with our posts from people that you follow, but once it’s live it’s definitely worth checking out to see if it’s for you:

So yes, you’ll be able to load up your Tumblr dashboard and watch the interaction happen before your eyes. This might actually kick up some engagement for Tumblr, as it’s always interesting to see what your friends are liking on the service. This is very similar to Facebook’s News Ticker on the right-hand side of the page, and there’s no telling how well that’s doing. It’s just always there and once in a while I’ll catch something and click it. Perhaps Tumblr is hoping for the same effect.

Luckily, you can turn it off if it annoys you. Similarly, you can hide Facebook’s Ticker if real-time annoys you. Both companies hope that you’re a fan, because it means more clicks.

[Photo Credit: Flickr]

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

As Amazon’s continues to add more tools to its Web Services (AWS), the Management Console that provides a graphical user interface to services like S3, EC2 and CloudFront started to look a bit unwieldy. Today, Amazon is making a number of design changes to make the Management Console a bit easier to use for developers. In addition, Amazon is also launching a tablet-optimized view of the AWS Console and an Android app for managing EC2 cloud computing instances.

The new design, says Amazon, will offer more customization options and improve “information display on your screen of choice.” The new design now allows users to customize the Console navigation with shortcuts to the services they use most often (you can just drag and drop them into the menu bar), for example, and allows developers to easily select and compare the settings of different AWS resources.

The Console now also features a new “Monitoring View” that allows users to see statistics for their resources like CPU utilization, database connections, read latency etc. Other improvements include endless scrolling and larger buttons (especially useful for tablet users), as well as the ability to collapse sidebar menus.

As for the EC2 Android app, Amazon notes that it will allow you to see your EC2 metrics, stop and reboot EC2 instances, receive CloudWatch alarms and view CloudWatch Graphs. While the app currently just supports EC2, Amazon says that it plans to support additional services “very quickly.” Support for other mobile operating systems is also in the works.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

It looks like Twitter has started rolling out the option to let users download all their tweets — with some Twitter users reporting they are seeing an option to ‘request your archive’ appearing in their settings (h/t to TNW for spotting).

Twitter user Navjot Singh tweeted the following screengrab of the option as it appears on the Settings page of the Twitter web client — which states that users can request a file containing every tweet they’ve ever made, starting with the first one, and will be emailed a link to the file once it is ready for download

Another user @Psilosophy is also apparently able to see the option. I’ve checked my own Twitter account and the option does not appear so it’s presumably being rolled out in waves. We’ve reached out to Twitter for more on the rollout and will update this story with any response.

Twitter confirmed it was planning to add a download option for all tweets before the end of the year back in September when CEO Dick Costolo was asked about it at an Online News Association conference and said it would arrive before the end of the year. He reiterated this end of year promise last month — saying the download option would arrive in a matter of weeks, although he also said it was ultimately down to Twitter’s engineers to get the feature up and running.

Last month Costolo said: “By the end of the year I’ve already promised this, so the engineers – when I promised it publicly they’re already mad at me so they can keep being mad at me. Now, again, once again, I caveat this with the engineers who are actually doing the work don’t necessarily agree that they’ll be done by the end of the year, but we’ll just keep having that argument and we’ll see where we end up year-end.”

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Today at the Windows Phone 8 press conference, Microsoft unveiled a new feature for the operating system. Kid’s Corner is specifically targeted at your children who are so attracted by the vivid screen of your phone. In that mode, they can safely use certain games or apps.

“It’s a phone within a phone, but it’s a phone for your kids,” Joe Belifore said. In the settings, you choose the games, apps, music or videos for Kid’s Corner. The phone app or browser can’t be selected. From the demo, it seems simple.

Kids can then make custom tile sizes, add their name and customize it just like you can on your phone.

Even though smartphones are becoming great gaming platforms, they are still very personal devices. By building Kid’s Corner, Microsoft is answering the critics that keep asking for a guest mode on smartphones.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

It’s not much, but it’s a start: NotifyMeNot is a small, compact site dedicated to helping you and yours stop annoying emails from reaching your inbox. By focusing on the hows and whys of notification emails, the site aims to make your inbox a cleaner place and to calm your monkey mind.

The brainchild of AwayFind’s Jared Goralnick, the site contains tips and instructions for turning off notifications for multiple services. For example, I’ve used the site to turn off notifications from Facebook and Linked In and I’m much happier now that I don’t have to learn that it’s Joe Fromhighschool’s birthday or that Jane Weirdofromcollege is pregnant again.

The site is part of the Awayfind family and acts as a sort of advertorial for the service. Awayfind helps you take back your inbox by reducing the number of unimportant messages that pop up on your phone’s notification screen. By reducing your mailbox to a few select people, you can ensure you’ve got at least a fighting chance at clawing back some of your hard-won mental capacity.

“On NotifyMeNot, we’ve create a central place where we not only link to these kinds of notifications settings, but where we provide very specific guidance and explanations for which options to choose,” said Goralnick. He and his team are now scouring the web to find instructions and settings pages for various services to shut them up once and for all.

The service is similar to sites like UnsubscribeDeals.com but it is not yet as automated. “It’s tricky stuff,” he said. Scripting the unsubscribe system would be nice, but doing manually helps change behavior.

“We want people to understand the settings, not just go to the pages, and not just click a button,” he said.

The site is live now and all those horrible notification emails are just waiting around to die so get shootin’.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Apple’s UDID replacement for iOS 6, a more private and tool dubbed the Apple Advertising Identifier that users can opt out of, isn’t working according to mobile app marketing platform Trademob. I spoke with Trademob CEO Ravi Kamran, who explained that any iOS 6 users who updated over Wi-Fi are showing IDs that are all zeros, instead of the unique number sequences being sent by those who plugged their devices in and updated via iTunes or Xcode.

Here’s the problem with that: Advertising on iOS is big business, and part of that big business involves being able to monitor the success of campaigns at the level of the individual user, in order to be able to provide ad content more likely to trigger a conversion or sale for that particular person. Without some way of knowing what kind of individual you’re serving ads to, the whole thing becomes a lot less likely to work in any meaningful way.

“The identifier is something that everybody was waiting for, and many were happy that it finally came,” Kamran said. “Many of the networks that we work with have already introduced a new SDK that takes the identifier from the publishers, so that it’s transmitted to the advertisers, and it’s actually very important that that work for the sake of the industry overall.”

According to Kamran, most advertisers were eagerly awaiting the new replacement of the UDID, which he says is overall much better in terms of protecting user privacy, since it’s non-personal and non-permanent in nature. The UDID came under fire after it caused some privacy problems with apps including Path. It also offers users the ability to turn it off complete, through an option in the General > About > Advertising section of the Settings app. I asked whether it might be the case that users simply had switched off the option, and if that might account for what Trademob was seeing, but Kamran said they’ve run extensive checks and compared notes with partners to make sure the actual cause of the problem was updating over Wi-Fi. It also doesn’t seem to matter where in the world users are; anyone updating via wireless network is sending unusable data.

It’s unclear what the percentage is of users that upgrade over-the-air versus via physical connection, but much higher early adoption rates than when iOS updates still required users to plug in suggest it could be a considerable amount. Users may not care (and in fact some might welcome the problem), but the iOS advertising ecosystem is bound to feel the pain until a fix is on the way.

We’ve contacted Apple to see whether a fix is in the works, and will update with more info when we hear back.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Updated. Earlier this month, Q&A site Quora unveiled a new feature, Views. One of the most noticeable aspects of Views was that it displayed information about the exact posts that other users of the site had looked at in its user feeds. At the time, we noted that it could certainly rub some folks the wrong way — Quora is a site that definitely plays into natural human curiosity, but what you view on the web is a pretty personal thing.

After a significant uproar from users (documented quite well on Hacker News) Quora has opted to shut off the feature in Views that shows data about what others are viewing in the main Quora feed. Other parts of Views, such as viewership data inside posts themselves and analytics reported to post authors, will remain active.

In some ways, this could be seen as a failure of communication more than anything. Many people who objected to the feature did not seem to be aware that from the get-go, topics such as adult content were omitted from Quora’s Views feature, and Views were only tabulated on topics that people were following — posts that users came across via search, for example, were never public. But Views in feeds omitted the “via” details that let others know why that view was being shown to others — so the folks at Quora are taking it out altogether.

“A big part of Views was having that ‘via’ reason that says, ‘Mark viewed this thing because he’s following ‘Movies’ or ‘Personal Finance.’ If you see anything [as a View on Quora] the ‘via’ should show you that it’s a result of that,” Quora product manager Sandra Liu Huang told me in a phone call today. “Our feed stories didn’t show that ‘via’ reason, and that confused people.”

This is breaking news, and we’ll update this post with more information as it is available. For now, here is the official blog post from Quora:

We launched Views a couple weeks ago to offer a new way of discovering content on Quora and to let writers get a sense of who they can reach through Quora. While many were really interested in these new stories, we also got a lot of feedback that people weren’t comfortable having what they viewed shared broadly with people following them. So we’re going to stop showing stories in feed about what people are viewing.

The rest of the Views product remains the same — when Quora shows you content in feed (based on the topics and people you publicly follow), we record those views and display them on the question, answer or post page.

The topics and people you follow are displayed as the “Via” reason next to each of your views. E.g. if I follow “Job Interviews and see What are the best questions to ask a potential employer in a job interview? in my feed then my name will be listed as seeing this question “Via Job Interviews.”

The only views we ever record are: views from feed, topic pages you follow and clicks on digest emails.

Not included: anything you get to from searches; looking at other user’s profiles; and any adult content. Read more.

You can still delete any individual view or turn off views from your Settings (www.quora.com/settings) page.

We’ve appreciated your feedback and interest in Views as well as your encouragement to the writers who create great content on Quora.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Yesterday, Apple revealed the latest version of its iOS operating system, iOS 6, which promises over 200 new features. On stage, Apple presented a subset of these, touting new additions like an improved version of Siri, Facebook integration, a new phone app, FaceTime over 3G/4G, an updated version of Safari with iCloud Tabs, a new version Photo Stream, the introduction of PassBook, Apple Maps, and more.

But now folks are uncovering a few more gems, as screenshots and videos from developer builds of iOS 6 leak into the wild. Below are some of the more minor (but still notable) features we’ve found.

Privacy Settings

iOS 6 has introduced a whole new “Privacy” section under the Settings app, where users can control which apps have access to location services, contacts, calendars, reminders and photos. It’s a surprisingly simple fix to the whole “address book-gate” issue from earlier, but also comes at a time when Apple and other mobile players are under increasing scrutiny from government regulators about how mobile apps are accessing personal data. The solution, for now at least, is to put the burden of privacy management on the user. Don’t want apps digging into your data? Just head into the privacy section and switch access off. (via/image via Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog)

Privacy Dialog

Related to the above, apps also ask the user’s permission before allowing third-party apps to access contacts, calendar, reminders, or the photo library. (Sounds like there will be a lot more first-launch pop-ups, unless developers will be permitted to combine the dialogs.)

A New Share Widget

There’s now a new widget in the Notification Center (the pull-down menu) that lets you Tap to Tweet or Tap to Post (to Facebook) without having to launch the respective app. The interface for Twitter posting looks familiar – it’s the same dialog box you saw when tweeting from apps in iOS 5, but now it and Facebook are available in the Notification Center for easier access. (via/image via Applenapps)

Status Bar Changes Color

A subtle, but cool little feature here – the status bar in iOS 6 now changes color to match the theme of the app you’re using. Not all apps are supported yet, so this appears to be a feature a developer has to enable on their end. Looks good, though. (via/image via Cult of Mac)

iPad Gets World Clock, Weather

The iPad now has access to the World Clock and Weather apps and widgets, which had previously been iPhone-only. (via/image via iPadJailbreak)

Stream Music From iTunes Match

Previously, music stored in iCloud via the iTunes Match service would play, but it wasn’t technically “streaming” because the song downloaded to your device. In the iOS 6 beta, the song immediately begins playing, but downloading is a separate option. This essentially means that iTunes Match is now a cloud streaming service, not a download service. (via/image via Applenapps)

App Store, iBooks Store and iTunes Store Apps Revamped

All three of Apple’s on-device stores have gotten a makeover, and include a sliding top banner with sliding sections for their featured apps or media. The theme is now black, and for apps, the reviews, app details and related apps now appear at the top of the listing. You can also see in-app purchases, share apps via email, Facebook or Twitter, copy the store URL and Facebook “like” items. Another nice addition – you can finally purchase an app without leaving the store. The download just begins and shows its progress, while you continue to browse. Apps also have a tiny “new” banner until their first launch.  (via Applenapps)

VIP Mailbox

This was briefly mentioned by Apple, but here’s a little more. The new VIP mailbox which lets you whitelist certain contacts as “VIPs” (the boss, e.g.) also lets you customize your notification settings to only alert you when a particular person sends you mail. You can configure this by email account too, or allow certain mail alerts through the Do Not Disturb feature. (via/image via Cult of Mac)

Maps & Routing Apps

Here’s something interesting directly from the developer documentation:

“Apps that do not incorporate their own map support now have an easier way to launch the Maps app and display points of interest or directions. Apps that offer routing information, such as turn-by-turn navigation services, can now register as a routing app and make those services available to the entire system. Registering as a routing app gives you more opportunities to get your app in front of users. Routing apps are not limited to just driving or walking directions. Routing apps can also include apps that provide directions for the user’s favorite bicycle or hiking trail, for air routes, and for subway or other public transportation lines. And your app does not even have to be installed on the user’s device. Maps knows about routing apps in the App Store and can provide the user with the option to purchase those apps and use them for directions.”

In-App Content Purchases

Apps can now offer purchases of iTunes content directly within their own interface (no more redirects). This includes apps, music, books or other iTunes content. Developers will identify which items they want to make available for purchase in their apps, but the transaction will be handled by the Store Kit framework.

iAd Banner for iPads

iAd, Apple’s advertising platform, allow developers to earn revenue by displaying advertisements within their apps. The ad will take over a part of the app’s user interface and will help generate income when users view or click. Now in iOS 6, there’s a new medium-sized rectangle banner size designed for iPad.

Geofenced Reminders

Reminders can now included both proximity or time-based alarms. A geofence is a virtual border around a geographic region that, when crossed, can now trigger an alarm for an event. For example, you can now set reminders to go off when you leave your office to remind you to pick up milk from the grocery store.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch

Roku is back with yet another update for the company’s tiny media streamers. This update adds a bunch of welcomed features to the Roku 2 and Roku LT including games and system enhancements.

Roku introduced games to its platform with its latest generation of streamers. But so far the only official game has been Angry Birds, which, you know, is also playable on your smartphone, browser, tablet, and probably some refrigerators. However, this update brings Downhill Bowling 2, Castle Warriors and Frisebee Forever and are all designed to work with the motion control Game Remote.

Update 4.2 also adds MKV playback from USB sources and improved WiFi performance. It also address the battery life of the Bluetooth Game Remote and intermittent audio drop-outs. Lastly, the new firmware paves the way for iOS and an Android remote with the former launching relatively soon.

The update is slated to roll out within the next 48 hours and notes in its official release that users can check for the update through the Software Update option in the Settings menu.

Article courtesy of TechCrunch