Apple Maps EV routing is now available for the Ford Mustang Mach-E

It’s about to get easier for Ford Mustang Mach-E drivers to find the nearest charging station, thanks to a new iOS 15.4 update for Apple Maps. According to 9to5Mac, EV routing can now be activated on the Mach-E through Apple Maps on CarPlay, Apple’s in-car system. The feature was first previewed during WWDC 2020, and now it’s finally been released to the public. Right now, only this current year’s vehicle and versions of the 2021 model with specific software versions have the new feature, but Ford hopes to roll the feature out to all Mach-E drivers before 2023.

Mach-E owners in need of a charge usually find the nearest station using the Apple Maps or Google Maps app on their phone, Ford’s built-in charging station finder or the FordPass App. This is likely cumbersome for many, especially when embarking on a long road trip. Now, Apple Maps on CarPlay can generate a route and identify charging points along the way.

Ford has full instructions on its website for how to activate EV charging on Apple Maps, but it should be as simple as pressing “OK” on a pop-up message that says “Get EV routes for your Mustang Mach-E” the next time you fire up Apple Maps through CarPlay and enter a new destination.

Apple service outages affect App Store, Maps and more (updated)

Notice Apple that several Apple services are unavailable? You’re not alone. As Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman notes, Apple’s system status page indicates outages across several major services, including the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, on-device AppleCare, Find My, the iTunes Store, Maps and radio. The alerts note that some users are affected, and that problems may be “intermittent” (the App Store) or lead to slowdowns. We’ve asked Apple for comment.

Apple appears to be recovering. Gurman initially observed problems with the Podcasts app as well as school- and work-oriented services like Apple Business Manager and Schoolwork. Those products had come back online as of this writing, however, and Apple also marked iOS device activation as a “resolved outage.” Corporate and retail systems were reportedly down and have started bouncing back.

This isn’t the first time Apple has dealt with a significant service outage, and it isn’t as severe as in the past. The company grappled with multipleoutages in late 2020, including one on Christmas that may have stemmed from a flood of new users. Still, this isn’t exactly thrilling if you need to grab an app or navigate to a mid-day meeting.

Update 3/21 3:45PM ET: Apple now says all the outages have been resolved, including one with Fitness+ that surfaced after initial reports.

Windows 11 will add a watermark if you use unsupported hardware

Microsoft isn’t just reserving watermarks for unactivated or bootlegged Windows copies. The Verge has learned that the most recent Windows 11 Release Preview build (22000.588) applies a watermark to the desktop if you use a workaround to run the operating system on unsupported hardware. Try it and you’ll see a “system requirements not met” notice that asks you to visit settings to learn more. There don’t appear to be any feature limitations, however.

The company started testing the watermark in rough Windows 11 builds released in February. Its inclusion in the Release Preview indicates Microsoft is ready to bring the alert to a completed software update in the near future.

Windows 11 officially requires either an 8th-generation Intel Core CPU or an AMD chip based on a Zen+ or Zen 2 architecture. Many believe the cutoff is arbitrary, and have used a Microsoft-sanctioned registry tweak to bypass a CPU check and install the OS without a rejection message. Microsoft has warned it might not provide updates to these PCs, but the software should still work.

In practice, a purely cosmetic mark like this is more a disclaimer than a deterrent — it’s a reminder that Microsoft won’t help you if the software misbehaves on an unsupported machine. If you’re comfortable bypassing the CPU check in the first place, you can likely remove the watermark as well. Still, this might prove annoying if you’ve been running Windows 11 on an out-of-spec PC without hassles.

Snap bans anonymous messaging from third-party apps

Snap is taking more action against bullying and harassment on Snapchat. It will no longer allow anonymous messaging from third-party apps that hook into its platform. The company said that while most people used these features in “fun, engaging, and entirely appropriate ways,” it acknowledged others might take advantage of anonymity “to engage in harmful behavior.”

From now on, third-party apps that want to let folks communicate through a Snapchat integration will need to have registered users with visible usernames and identities.

Last May, Snap locked two third-party apps that allowed for anonymous messages out of its developer platform and began a review of Snap Kit standards and policies. The decision came soon after the filing of a lawsuit related to the death of a teenager who was allegedly bullied through the apps, Yolo and LMK. The teen’s mother sought to hold the makers of all three apps liable.

Of the more than 1,500 developers with access to Snap Kit, two percent will be affected by this policy, according to The Verge. Another rule change will impact three percent of Snap Kit developers: friend-finding apps will be restricted to those aged 18 and older. Snap is enacting that change to protect younger users and make things “more consistent with Snapchat’s use case — communications between close friends who already know each other.”

Android 13 DP2 requires apps to ask permission for notifications

Google has released the second Developer Preview for Android 13, and it includes a big change in how the platform delivers alerts. Apps built for Android 13 will need to ask for permission before they can send notifications. Apps made for Android 12 or lower won’t face this obligation, but this could still be very helpful if you’re tired of having to disable notifications for apps that enable them by default.

Developers, meanwhile, can establish “downgradeable” permissions that scale back once they’re no longer required. An app that needed access to your location before might switch it off if a relevant feature was disabled, or if the permission is no longer necessary in Android 13.

After that, Developer Preview 2’s biggest upgrades mostly apply to audio. You’ll find Bluetooth LE Audio support that promises “high fidelity” sound without a big hit to battery life. Musicians will find MIDI 2.0 compatibility that lets you use higher-resolution and more expressive USB instruments. The newer Android 13 build is also better at handling non-Latin languages like Japanese and Tamil.

You’ll need a Pixel 4, Pixel 4a or newer Google phone to load the Android 13 DP2 system image outside of an emulator. As with past previews, you won’t want to install this on your main phone — there are likely to be plenty of remaining glitches and compatibility headaches. Google is still targeting platform stability between June and July, and the polished release isn’t due until sometime after that. If you can afford to experiment, though, it should be clear the new OS is quickly taking shape.

Slack’s updated iPad app has a redesigned interface and new sidebar features

Slack has furnished its iPad app with a much-needed update. The highlight of the release is a redesigned interface that introduces a two-column layout to the app. If you’re already familiar with the desktop version of Slack, you know what to expect. Yo…

Instagram is getting ‘parental supervision’ features

Meta is introducing new “parental supervision” features for Instagram and virtual reality. The update will be available first for Instagram, which has faced a wave of scrutiny for its impact on teens and children, with new parental controls coming to Q…