Earlier today, third-party app store AltStore PAL, announced that a porn app called Hot Tub was now available to iOS users in the European Union. The marketplace, which enables people in the EU to sideload apps outside of Apples App Store, described it as the first Apple-approved porn app.
Now, Apple says its deeply concerned about Hot Tub, which as TechCrunch noted, is the first time a porn app has been available natively for the iPhone. We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids, an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world. Contrary to the false statements made by the marketplace developer, we certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store.
As Apple has pointed out, its notarization guidelines state that app makers shouldnt suggest or imply that Apple is a source or supplier of the App, or that Apple endorses any particular representation regarding quality or functionality. AltStores statements would seem to go against that guidance.
An image shared on AltStore's Mastodon account.AltStore
But in a statement to Engadget, AltStore creator Riley Testut denied making "any false statements. Hot Tub, he says, was submitted to Apples own notarization process where it was then approved by Apple employees for distribution with alternative app marketplaces such as AltStore PAL. He said it was this approval that AltStore was referencing in its marketing. The DMA also does not require that Apple approves apps for distribution, they have chosen to do so themselves, he added, referring to the EU's Digital Markets Act.
Apple has made little secret of its frustration with the DMA, which requires it to allow third-party app stores in Europe. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed by marketplace operators like AltStore and Epic who may not share our concerns for user safety, the company said in its statement about Hot Tub on Monday.
In addition to AltStore, Fortnite maker and longtime Apple foe Epic, recently announced plans to bring third-party mobile games to its Epic Games app in the EU. Though AltStore Pal and Epic arent officially affiliated, Epic gave the alternative app store a MegaGrant last year to help fund the core technology fees third-party app stores are required to pay Apple.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-is-deeply-concerned-about-altstores-porn-app-005013457.html?src=rss
Nuance Audio, new "hearing glasses" from EssilorLuxottica, have received FDA clearance and "a CE marking under the Medical Devices regulation in the EU," making them officially ready to sell in the US and Europe.
The smart glasses are essentially prescription frames with an over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid built-in. Using open-ear speakers and a beamforming microphone array, Nuance Audio can raise the volume of whoever you're speaking to, while attempting to cancel out whatever noise is going on around you. You can control the glasses with a companion app or a dedicated remote.
The glasses come in only two shapes, two colors and three sizes, far fewer options than EssilorLuxottica's traditional glasses brands, or the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, but the tech seems like it could be ported to new frames down the road. Engadget deputy editor Cherlynn Low was able to try on Nuance Audio during CES 2025 and found them to be very comfortable and lightweight, though she wasn't able to adequately test their capabilities as a hearing device.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget
Nuance Audio is just the latest in a wave of new hearing aid-like devices that have been released since the FDA introduced its ruling on OTC hearing aids in 2022. Similar to Nuance Audio, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 now offer software-enabled hearing aid functionality, along with a built-in hearing test and a hearing protection feature for loud environments. While turning every pair of AirPods Pro 2 into a hearing aids is great from a cost-saving perspective, getting a pair of Nuance Audio frames that can also double as your prescription glasses seems potentially even more convenient.
EssilorLuxottica says Nuance Audio will be available in the US in Q1. "Certain European countries" will also get the glasses in the first half of 2025, starting with Italy in Q1, and then France, Germany and the UK. The company hasn't shared official pricing for the Nuance Audio.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/the-fda-and-eu-clear-nuance-audio-smart-glasses-with-built-in-hearing-aids-for-sale-211053856.html?src=rss
Uber rolled out a new set of features on Monday that could remove some friction for people with service animals. The company now lets handlers automatically notify drivers that they ride with a service animal.
In a blog post, Chris Yoon, an Uber Product Manager, wrote that he joined Uber with a singular mission: to help expand accessibility in rideshare, including for those who rely on service animals. He says he and other blind travelers often message drivers in advance to let them know about their service animals. Todays new features can automate that for them if they choose.
Uber
Drivers who consider refusing rides will have to think twice and then some. If the driver requests a cancelation after learning about the service animal, Uber will automatically send an in-app reminder that doing so is against not only company policy but also the law. Uber says drivers refusing rides with service animals may permanently lose access to the platform.
Passengers who opt into the new features will automatically receive a message after a driver cancels, asking what happened and offering additional support. Those who dont use the feature can contact the company through the app or over the phone.
Uber
Riders can set up the feature through the Uber app. Go to Account > Settings > Accessibility, and tap Service Animal. It will then prompt you to fill out an eligibility form and pick which parts of the feature (like notifying the driver in advance) you want to turn on.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-wants-to-make-rides-easier-for-people-with-service-animals-210958456.html?src=rss
EA is ready to take the wraps off the next Battlefield early. The publisher shared a brief glimpse of footage from an alpha version of the game as part of an announcement video for Battlefield Labs, a new early access program that will give fans a taste of in-development Battlefield before it launches.
Battlefield Labs is designed to let Battlefield's developers "test concepts and experiences" before the next Battlefield game is released, according to a press release announcing the program. Developers hope to collect feedback on what the release describes as a critical part of the game's development. Anyone participating in Battlefield Labs will be under NDA and will "test (almost) everything" in the game. That includes "core combat and destruction," things like "weapons, vehicles and gadgets" and "maps, modes, and squad play."
EA is running a similar playtesting program for the next Skate game appropriately dubbed "Skate Insiders" ahead of that game's early access release in 2025.
Battlefield is currently being developed by a collection of EA studios under the umbrella of "Battlefield Studios," including DICE, the creators of the franchise, Criterion, a former Need for Speed developer that was shifted to Battlefield in 2023, Ripple Effect and Motive, the developer of Star Wars Squadrons and the recent Dead Space remake.
There's not a ton to go off of in the footage EA shared, but the game's developers did confirm that the next Battlefield will include a single player campaign, a notable omission from multiplayer-only Battlefield 2042.
You can sign-up to participate in Battlefield Labs right now on EA's website if you're in Europe or North America. The test will be limited to "a few thousand participants" to start, but the company plans on expanding the program to other regions and players in the future. Even if you're not playing the early access version of the game, EA says you'll also be able to track Battlefield's development through "work-in-progress public updates" and the game's Discord.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ea-is-giving-fans-a-chance-to-test-the-next-battlefield-early-192527209.html?src=rss
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario and a former staunch supporter of President Trump, has announced that the Canadian territory will be ripping up a $100 million contract with Elon Musks Starlink. The contract was signed in November of last year and tasked Starlink with providing internet service to remote parts of the province.
This comes after Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Canadian imported goods. This spurred Canada to announce its own 25 percent tariff on American imported goods. It looks like we are heading into a trade war for, uh, reasons? Trump says its about fentanyl, even though less than one percent of the drug arrives in this country via Canadian routes. This is data that has been confirmed by both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts. Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
So where do Musk and Starlink come in? The richest man in the world is a close confidant of Trump and now has control over the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a group within the administration tasked with cost-cutting and deregulation. Musk, who was not elected and is essentially just some guy, has access to the federal payment system and some of the levers of the US Treasury.
In the eyes of Ford, this is enough to link Musk to Trumps tariffs. He said that Ontario wont do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy" and that Musk wants to take food off the table of hard-working Canadians. The premier indicated that the contract will remain null and void until US tariffs are removed. Additionally, Ontario is banning all American companies from provincial contracts, which will cause domestic businesses to lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues.
Ford also commanded the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to remove American-made spirits from store shelves. He joins several other premiers across the country in this effort.
Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore," he said in a statement. Ontario has a population of over 16 million people and includes cities like Toronto and Niagara Falls. Musk responded to Fords decision by posting oh well on X.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ontario-cancels-100-million-starlink-contract-as-a-response-to-those-tariffs-192310546.html?src=rss
Who hasnt sat up at night, pondering what it would be like to play a musical mobile game about peanut butter and jelly, performed in faux Shakespearean verse and animated in the style of Terry Gilliams Monty Python shorts? Well, wonder no more: The absurdist PBJ - The Musical (first previewed at Day of the Devs 24) heads to the App Store on March 26.
Kamiboxs PBJ - The Musical is a collaboration between studio founder Philipp Stollenmayer and English musician and comedian Lorraine Bowen, famous for the delightfully whimsical The Crumble Song. When I saw Lorraine performing on Britains Got Talent in 2015, getting the Golden Buzzer from David Walliams, I knew I wanted to make something with her, Stollenmayer said. The quirkiness of her songs totally resonated with the vibe of my games, which include Sometimes You Die and the thematically similar Bacon - The Game.
Kamibox
PBJ - The Musical borrows elements of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, blending it with musical theatre (performed mostly by children!) and animated paper landscapes from actual cutouts. (When he isnt designing deceptively zany games, Stollenmayer is also a papercraft artist.) Peanut Boy, hailing from a black and white post-war America, steps in for Romeo, while Strawberry Girl, from a colorful and sweet world that raves of royalty, tackles the games equivalent of Juliet. You control characters through simple taps and drags as you push and pull cutout figures through the diorama.
The developer says that, unlike the Bards version, this is no tragic play culminating in dual suicides. (Or, at least, not the kind to be sad about.) Kamibox says the games happy ending involves surprise! the creation of the beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which a modern-day Shakespeare may have called The brightest heaven of invention as he packed little Susannas lunchbox.
You can catch a snippet of the zany PBJ - The Musical in the trailer below. It arrives for iPhone and iPad on March 26 for $4. You can preorder it now in the App Store.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-weirdly-whimsical-pbj---the-musical-hits-the-app-store-on-march-26-175725209.html?src=rss
The Apple Watch SE is on sale via Amazon for $169. This is a discount of $80, which represents a savings of over 30 percent. If youve been on the fence regarding Apples entry-level smartwatch, this could be the perfect excuse to, uh, get off that fence. Or climb it. Im not exactly sure how that idiom works.
The Watch SE easily found a place on our list of the best Apple smartwatches. Despite being the companys bare-bones model, it still offers plenty of bang for the buck. It can do crash detection, heart rate monitoring, emergency calling and more. Theres a reason why we called it the best smartwatch for the money in our official review.
It uses the same chip as the original Ultra and the Series 8, so the performance is on point. Its covered in durable Ion-X glass and offers 50 meters of water resistance. The screen isnt quite as bright as with the pricier models, but we still found the display to be crisp and easy to read. The watch is also lightweight and comfortable.
There are some trade-offs here when compared to Apples more extravagant smartwatches. The SE doesnt support the new Double Tap feature for Siri requests and it doesnt include a blood oxygen monitor or a temperature sensor. The final caveat? This watch came out in 2022, so a refresh is likely on the horizon.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-se-is-80-off-right-now-162845944.html?src=rss
The Anker Charger (140W, 4-Port, PD 3.1) launched during CES 2025 with a discount of $10 off the original $90 price, and now that discount is back again. The only difference is you dont need to enter a coupon code since Anker is tacking on the discount immediately. Theres also a time-limited deal on the Anker 100W Laptop Power Bank, so youll have to move fast if youre interested.
The Anker Charger has three USB-C ports and one USB-A port. Two USB-C ports can charge a 15-inch MacBook Air to 50 percent within 30 minutes. The built-in display also shows temperature, port-specific wattage and current maximum output. At less than 10 ounces, its a brick you can take anywhere.
As for the Laptop Power Bank, it has a maximum single output of 100W and charges up to four devices at once thanks to its 25,000 mAh capacity. The retractable cables prevent the possibility of a tangled mess of wires. While capable of charging a MacBook Pro to 50 percent in 33 minutes, this power bank can be recharged to 30 percent in 20 minutes, allowing for frequent use.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/ankers-newest-charger-and-power-bank-have-dropped-to-record-low-prices-151555595.html?src=rss
Middleby Outdoor added smart grilling features to its Kamado Joe ceramic grills in 2023 with the Konnected Joe. Now, the company is introducing a larger model with more cooking space. With the Big Joe Konnected Joe, you get all the features from the Konnected Joe, but with an additional 200 square inches of cooking space. And since this is still a kamado-style grill, you'll get all the benefits of the ceramic construction, including fuel efficiency and heat retention.
The Big Joe Konnected Joe is the continuation of the Big Joe line. The dimensions of this new grill match the Big Joe II, but the smart model is 60 pounds lighter. Like the Big Joe II, you can expect a temperature range of 225-700 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the Big Joe Konnected Joe has a digital controller and fan to maintain your desired heat level. The cooking area is also the same as the other Big Joe models at 450 square inches.
With the Kamado Joe app, the company offers the ability to monitor and control temperatures from anywhere since the grill has Wi-Fi connectivity. That software also shows food probe temperatures, displays progress graphs, sends cooking notifications and hosts a wealth of recipes. There are multiple cook modes, so you can employ Automatic when you want a hands-off session or Classic when you want to maintain the temperature the old fashioned way. There are also dedicated modes for Kamado Joe's various accessories, like the JoeTisserie.
Kamado Joe
The so-called Kontrol Board on the front of the Big Joe Konnected Joe houses a digital display where temperature, graphs, alerts and cook modes are viewable. The grill allows you to use up to three wired food probes simultaneously and there's a dedicated button for the Automatic Fire Start (AFS) feature. That latter tool debuted on the Konnected Joe and returns here. It's a heating element in the bottom of the grill that ignites charcoal without the need for lighter fluid or fire starters. Honestly, it's the best feature on the Konnected Joe and I have no doubt it will come in handy on this model too.
Since this is a Kamado Joe product, you get a lot of the trademark features from this brand of grills. The Kontrol Tower top vent maintains the correct airflow per guidance from the on-board display and app, while the Air Lift hinge raises the lid with ease. Inside, there's a two-tier cooking setup so you can prepare foods are various temperatures at the same time. A slide-out ash drawer makes clean up a breeze and the whole thing sits on a sturdy powder-coated steel cart with four locking wheels. There are also folding shelves on both sides of the grill.
The Big Joe Konnected Joe is available from retailers and the Kamado Joe website for $2,999. That's the same price at the Big Joe III and $1,300 more than the smaller Konnected Joe.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/kamado-joe-debuts-the-big-joe-konnected-joe-a-larger-smart-charcoal-grill-150013634.html?src=rss
Convenience has always been the big promise of robot vacuums. Dont clean your house yourself instead, push a button and have a little robot putter around your home, sucking up all the dirt and debris in its path. Indeed, they are convenient, but they havent fully replaced a manually operated cordless vacuum.
Chances are, you have either a robot vacuum or a cordless vacuum in your house right now. Ankers home brand Eufy wants us to live in a world where you can have both without spending money on two separate devices that need two separate spots in your home. Announced at CES 2025, Ankers Eufy E20 is a first-of-its-kind robot vacuum that turns into a cordless stick vacuum and comes with all the necessary attachments to do so, plus a self-emptying base. It even comes in at a midrange price of $600 (or $50 less if you pre-order before it comes out on February 10), which made me believe that it has to be too good to be true. Ultimately, it succeeds at all three of its intended jobs, but really shines with only one of them.
Design and setup
Despite being a 3-in-1 device, the E20 sets up primarily as a robot vacuum. It comes in two main parts: the robot and the self-emptying base. Theres really no assembly required the base is fully put together in the box and only requires you to attach a transparent mat (onto which the vacuum docks) and plug the whole thing into the wall. Sit the robot vacuum on the base and itll charge up, and it pairs quickly over Wi-Fi with the Eufy Clean mobile app.
Two of the three in one modes come as accessories included in the box. For the cordless stick vacuum, you get a retractable stick and a floor cleaner head, and for the handheld vacuum, you get a smaller, more precise brush attachment thats ideal for couches, chairs, cars and more. The only thing you dont get is a place to store those accessories; Eufy will sell a wall-mounted bracket that you can buy for an additional $30. Its great that its such an affordable add-on but annoying that it is, in fact, a separate purchase. If you have the space, you may be better off storing the stick-vac accessories in your laundry room or a nearby closet.
Yes, this is a smart device, but all of the smart features of the E20 are limited to its robot-vaccum form. Thats not entirely surprising; robovacs literally depend on features like customizable cleaning schedules, auto-docking, self-emptying and home mapping to be valuable. Thats not the case for cordless vacuums, which remain manually operated devices. Some of the cordless vacuums Ive tested have companion apps, but those typically just tell you when a filter needs to be cleaned and how long until the device is fully charged. Nice, but not necessary.
The Eufy E20 as a robot vacuum
Valentina Palladino for Engadget
Since the E20s default form is robot vacuum, I tried it out as such first. This model supports smart home mapping, so the initial run included creating a map of the main floor of my home. It took around 10 minutes for the robot to scoot around the house and create an accurate map, and then it immediately got to work cleaning. Editing the map in the Eufy Clean app was a breeze, allowing me to match auto-generated rooms to the rooms in my home, label them properly and set no-go zones around my cats food and water bowls.
Every robot vacuum app will tell you to pick up anything on your floors that shouldnt be there before starting a cleaning job, and Eufys does this as well. I purposefully do not follow these instructions so I could test out a devices obstacle avoidance features. The E20 impressed me on this front: it avoided a bunch of small boxes on the floor of my family room, shoes in the hallway and my cats bowls before I even set a no-go zone around them. It only got stuck and called for help (via an error message) once when it got caught on a wonky corner of the mat that sits in front of the door leading out to my deck. Extricating the robovac was easy (with no damage to either it or the mat) and the machine continued to clean after that as if nothing had happened.
The E20 has four cleaning modes you can choose from in the app before you start a job: Quiet, Standard, Turbo and Max. Theres also a BoostIQ setting you can turn on which will kick up the suction power when the robot vacuum is cleaning long-pile carpets. I kept this setting on at all times, even though the main level of my house has only tile and hardwood floors. Overall, as a robot vacuum, the E20 is great at cleaning and avoiding most objects in its path. Its also one of the most responsive robovacs Ive tried in that, within a second of, say, telling it to go home from within the Eufy Clean app, it starts heading to the base station.
During a job, its also smart enough to know when its dustbin is getting full and it will return to its dock to auto-empty before continuing to clean. It did so about four times when it cleaned the main floor of my house, and that was consistent every time I used it. Usually at the end of a job, the E20 had about 40 percent battery left before it went home on its own. The self-emptying bin is a bit smaller than others Ive used with competing robovacs, but Eufy claims it can hold up to 75 days worth of debris.
The Eufy Clean app has come a long way since I first started testing Anker robot vacuums. Its still not as simple as apps like iRobots or Sharks, but I mostly chalk that up to the fact that Eufy stuffed a lot of features into the app. You can quickly tell the robovac to start cleaning, return to its dock or change the cleaning mode with a press of a button on the main page, or tap into the devices profile to access the home map and even more settings.
Two charming things this app has that most others dont are manual directional controls, so you can treat the robot almost like an RC car, and a little robot avatar that appears on the home map while its moving, so you can see exactly where it is in your home an where its already cleaned. Admittedly, the latter is likely more practical for most people than the former, but both are features that arent as common in robot vacuums even the high-end ones.
The Eufy E20 as a cordless stick vacuum
Valentina Palladino for Engadget
Its easy to transform the E20 from a robot vacuum into a cordless stick vacuum. Just press the large red button on the robot vacuum to eject its cleaning module (which includes the filtration system, fan motor and dust cup), lift it up and out of the robot shell and attach the stick vacuum arm to its underside. The arm extends and retracts so you can use it to clean your floors with the included roller brush head or to tackle hard-to-reach spots with the precision head. Theres an elegance to this that impresses me: its so simple to do and requires very little tweaking by the user anyone whos used a regular cordless stick vacuum with multiple attachments will be very familiar with this process.
But how good is it as a cordless vacuum? The answer is: just ok. If the E20 were only a stick vacuum, it probably wouldnt be a top pick in our guide. This device is clearly a robot vacuum first, stick-and-hand vac second, and its just not as powerful or efficient as other cordless vacuums Ive tested. It does have four cleaning modes, each with different levels of suction power, and I always found myself using the strongest to get the deepest clean both on carpets and hard floors. It didnt choke at the first sign of pet hair, though, and it actually captured a lot of my cats fur hiding in my carpet. But it took at least two passes on carpets in particular to grab the biggest pieces of debris in its path.
The E20 as a cordless stick vac does get points for being a single-button start device and having attachments that are easy to swap. While most of these machines are made mostly of plastic, the E20 feels noticeably cheap when compared to a stick vac from Tineco or Dyson. That may have to do with the fact that the overall design is quite small the guts have to fit into a compact robot vacuum, after all and it has a small dustbin.
Valentina Palladino for Engadget
Some might appreciate that, though, since it means you can more easily take it out to your car or somewhere else while it runs on battery power. Its also worth noting that, despite the small dustbin, I never received an alert that the dustbin was too full and needed to be emptied before I could continue vacuuming. I also never had to stop in the middle of a manual cleaning to recharge; most often, the vacuum had around 30 percent battery left after I cleaned all three floors of my home (which usually takes me between 20 to 30 minutes). According to Eufy, the vacuum takes only 2.5 hours to charge up from 0 to 100 percent, too.
The machine also has a nifty feature that will auto-empty the dustbin after a cordless-vac cleaning job, which means you dont have to empty it yourself even when you opted to actually clean yourself. Just pop the module back into the robot vacuum and press the Home button for a few seconds and it will auto-empty just as it would if the robot did all the hard work.
Wrap-up
All told, the Eufy E20 is an impressive machine. While Eufy isnt a stranger to making solid robot vacuums, this device is still a first-gen product in my mind and a solid one at that. But you have to know what youre buying upfront: an above-average robot vacuum that can turn into a just-average stick and hand vacuum.
Ultimately, the convenience that comes from its 3-in-1 design may be enough to overlook the just-average performance of two of the three uses. The E20 isnt the best stick vac on the market, but honestly, I never expected it to be. Its good enough that it handily supplements the robot vacuum portion of the machine, allowing you to buy just one device that can vacuum autonomously for you most of the time and let you clean tricky spots manually when you need to.
The price is also quite decent when you consider the machines convenience mixed with its good performance. Some robot vacuums come in at $600 and provide only a self-emptying base as their main perk. Other similarly priced devices include mopping capabilities and that may be more useful for folks who have a variety of floor types in their home. Also consider this: youd spend roughly the same amount if you got both our top budget cordless stick vacuum (the $300 Tineco Pure One S11) and our favorite budget robot vacuum (the $250 Roomba Vac), but youd be missing a self-emptying base and youd have to house two separate devices in your home.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/anker-eufy-e20-review-a-robot-vacuum-that-transforms-to-do-more-150005198.html?src=rss
