This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: rumors of a cheaper βMacBookβ coming soon, Vision products roadmap, iPad Pro redesign, and more. Here are this weekβs Apple rumors.
The maker of a phone app that is advertised as providing a stealthy means for monitoring all activities on an Android device spilled email addresses, plain-text passwords, and other sensitive data belonging to 62,000 users, a researcher discovered recently.
A security flaw in the app, branded Catwatchful, allowed researcher Eric Daigle to download a trove of sensitive data, which belonged to account holders who used the covert app to monitor phones. The leak, made possible by a SQL injection vulnerability, allowed anyone who exploited it to access the accounts and all data stored in them.
Unstoppable
Catwatchful creators emphasize the app's stealth and security. While the promoters claim the app is legal and intended for parents monitoring their children's online activities, the emphasis on stealth has raised concerns that it's being aimed at people with other agendas.
Appleβs Messages app got a lot of new features last year, but iOS 26 continues the trend of big upgrades, including a handy solution for all those unwanted spam texts you keep getting.
With its update coming next week, Google has now confirmed how much it will pay out towards a new phone for Pixel 6a owners who will be affected by an upcoming battery reduction.
The Information is out with an interesting report about how Apple has considered spinning up its own developer cloud services, in a move that would put it against some of its competitorsβ biggest revenue streams. Here are the details.
The company is now facing user backlash over the addition, as users, primarily women, are arguing that there should be a way to opt out of DMs entirely, citing harassment concerns.
As promised last month, Apple Arcade has just added four new titles to its growing subscription-based collection of ad-free games. Hereβs the full list
While itβs not fully available in the current stable Android 16 release, Live Updates are on their way, and Google has quietly released new documentation for developers looking to utilize the feature, while also offering a better example of the functionality with Google Maps.