October 5 Tech news roundup: Windows 11 24H2 is out, Apple fixes iPhone Touch Screen issues, Mozilla’s big blunder could cost it dearly

PayPal data sharing policy sparks debate on digital privacy

PayPal has made a silent change to user settings that has raised some privacy concerns. The company has enabled an option that lets it share your shopping preferences with third-parties. What could possibly go wrong? The main problem is that it did not ask users for their permission to do so. Some users say they received an email about the change last month, but many users say they were not notified, and were alarmed to find the setting enabled by default.

The good news is that not everyone seems to be affected by this change. The majority of users that have this setting enabled appear to be from the U.S., however, some users in Europe also reported they had the option turned on despite protective laws such as GDPR.

iOS 18.0.1 Fixes iPhone Touch Screen Problems

Apple has released the iOS 18.0.1 update to patch some touch screen issues on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models. The problems came to light after users had reported about having trouble with their devices registering taps and scrolling. The latest version of the software also fixes some performance issues on certain iPhones, and this has been attributed to a memory allocation problem. According to some users, iOS 18 had been causing apps to lag when opening, jittery scrolling, etc.

Apple says it also fixed some bugs related to the Camera app’s macro recording mode. It also patches the Messages app, which was quitting when replying to texts with a shared Apple Watch face. The macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 update is now available for download, with fixes for compatibility with third-party security software.

Microsoft Overhauls Windows Recall Feature After Privacy Backlash

Microsoft has revealed that it has made some changes to Windows Recall. The AI-powered feature drew strong criticisms from privacy experts, who feared that taking a screenshot every five seconds and storing the data could result in malicious use of data by hackers.

The Redmond company has made Windows Recall an opt-in experience, so users will have the choice of enabling it during the out-of-the-box experience, or just ignore it. Microsoft says Windows Recall’s database will be encrypted, and key processes associated with it will run in an isolated environment. The company has also placed some rate-limiting and anti-hammering measures to prevent malware attacks. Windows Hello is required for actions such as changing Recall’s settings, or to access the app’s UI.

Windows 11 Update KB5043145 Triggers Blue Screens of Death, Users Report

Many users claim that they are experiencing a blue screen or green on their Windows 11 PCs. The culprit that has caused the problem appears to be the KB5043145 update. This update, which is available as a preview update, was released on September 24 with many bug fixes. However, it seems to have done more harm than good. Some PCs on which the update was installed would failed to boot to Windows. A few PCs booted into BitLocker recovery, or initiate an Automatic Repair after failed reboot attempts.

The Windows 11 KB5043145 update also prevents USB ports and accessories like the keyboard and the mouse from working. The update also broke WSL2 compatibility on users’ devices. Microsoft has confirmed that it has received reports from users who have been facing problems booting their PC. The company is currently investigating the problem, and expects to release an update to fix the bugs.

Mozilla’s Controversial Takedown of uBlock Origin Lite Sparks Developer Backlash

uBlock Origin Lite has been delisted from Firefox add-ons after a major blunder by Mozilla. The browser maker claimed that the popular ad blocker had violated its policies, by not asking user content for collecting data. Mozilla said that the add-on has no privacy policy, and that it contained minified, concatenated or otherwise machine-generated code. Based on these reasons, Mozilla disabled the extension from the Firefox add-ons repository.

Raymond Hill, the developer of uBlock Origin Lite, hit back at Mozilla’s allegations, stating that the add-on does not collect any data, there is no minified code, and that the extension has a privacy policy. Gorhill, as the developer is known on the internet, called Mozilla’s review process “nonsensical and hostile, as it burdens developers. Mozilla apologized to Hill and admitted that the previous decision was incorrect, and that it had restored his extension.

Hill did not seem pleased with Mozilla’s so-called “mistake”, and took down uBlock Origin Lite from the add-ons store. He has published a self-hosted version of uBlock Origin on his GitHub page. This drama has left users wondering whether Gorhill and Mozilla will work things out, hopefully the future of the main add-on, uBlock Origin, should remain unaffected by this incident.

Windows 11 24H2 feature update released

Microsoft has released the Windows 11 24H2 feature update for eligible devices. Notable features in the update include support for Wi-Fi 7, improvements to Energy Saver, HDR Backgrounds, and more. Copilot+ PCs are getting some new AI powered features such as click to do, search improvements, generative fill and erase in Paint, and the ability to turn low quality photos into super resolution photos.

The Windows 11 2024 update is available for PCs that are running Windows 11 version 22H2 and 23H2. However, there are six known issues in the update, so it may be wise to wait for a while before installing the latest update on your primary device.

Amazon Prime to Increase Ads Starting in 2025

Do you hate seeing ads on a streaming service that you pay for? Well, you are out of luck then. Amazon Prime will start displaying more ads from 2025, in its ad-supported plan. The VP of Prime Video International confirmed the news in an interview.

It was originally expected that ads in the paid subscription would drive users away, but that has not been the case. 38% of accounts that subscribe to Amazon Prime are for the ad-supported tier, which also drew about 50% of new users in the 1st quarter of 2024. Currently, Amazon Prime’s ad-supported plan displays ads that run for two to three and a half minutes per hour. But this will increase next year, though it is unclear how long the runtimes for the advertisements would be.