Apple News+ to serve up thousands of recipes in new Food section

 Photo: Apple

Apple is expanding its News+ subscription service with a dedicated Food section, set to launch in April alongside iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. Subscribers will gain access to tens of thousands of recipes sourced from leading culinary publishers, including Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, and Serious Eats.

The new section will also feature curated articles on healthy eating, restaurant reviews, and kitchen essentials, all selected by Apple News editors. The recipe format within News+ is designed for ease of use, with clear ingredient lists and step-by-step instructions.

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YouTube reportedly revives Premium Lite with new focus

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YouTube is reportedly relaunching Premium Lite, a cheaper version of its paid service offering ad-free viewing for most videos, excluding music videos. This new tier targets viewers primarily interested in podcasts and non-music content, competing with platforms like Spotify offering ad-free video options.  

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American Airlines now supports AirTag tracking for lost bags

Image: Executive Traveller

American Airlines has integrated Apple's AirTag tracking service, allowing passengers to share the location of their misplaced bags with the airline. This new feature, activated in recent days, aims to expedite the return of lost luggage. Passengers can share their AirTag's location via a QR code at baggage service offices for trips to or from US airports.

American states that less than 1% of bags are mishandled, and most are returned within a day, but this integration should further shorten the wait time for affected travellers.

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Apple pulls encryption in UK after spying demands

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Apple has withdrawn its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, which provides end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, from new users in the UK. Existing UK users will be required to disable the feature in the future. This decision follows reports of UK security services demanding backdoor access to encrypted data, raising concerns about user privacy. Apple stated it is "gravely disappointed" that UK customers will lose this security feature, citing the increasing threat of data breaches.

ADP protects iCloud data, including photos, file backups, notes, and voice memos, with encryption that only the user can decrypt. While some iCloud data, like passwords and iMessage logs, remains end-to-end encrypted by default, the removal of ADP leaves other data vulnerable. Apple emphasized its commitment to user security but stated it has never and will never build backdoors into its products. The company is hopeful that ADP will be available again in the UK in the future.

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