WOW Weekly – Apple Brought Down by The XcodeGhost

Welcome to this weeks edition of WOW Weekly. Apple were brought back down to earth this week after hackers tricked developers into downloading a modified version of Xcode (XcodeGhost) which was used to create the iOS apps. Apple ended on a high releasing the iPhone 6s to the public and pushed out a minor update to their latest iOS 9. Gnome has released a new version of their popular desktop and tool of the week is pretty useful if you are a blogger.

XcodeGhost Malware

Apple removes iOS apps, including the popular WeChat, from the app store due to both the app developers and Apple were apparently unaware that the apps had been infected with malware, which mainly infected users in China. Hackers succeeded by tricking the app developers into downloading a modified version of Xcode (XcodeGhost), the software that developers use to create iOS apps. This fake version of Xcode included the malware, which then made its way into the apps, which were then uploaded to the App Store for users to download. As for the damage it’s caused we will have to wait and see.

Tool of the Week

The tool of the week is a tool that I couldn’t live without. If you are a blogger you are more than likely to have a clipboard manager in your arsenal. There are a few around for all different platforms but personally I like CopyClip for the Mac. CopyClip has 2 versions. The 1st version is available for free and the 2nd version which comes with an embedded search bar, the ability to pin clippings to the top of the list and edit them is available for £3.99. You can get both from the Mac App Store.

New Releases in Brief

iOS 9 was released last week and already they have pushed out an update which fixes several bugs. The minor update, 9.0.1 fixes several issues with the setup assistant, a bug where alarms and timers fail to play, also fixes an issue with custom APN setup would lose mobile data and a bug in safari and photos where the video frame appeared distorted when pausing video.

Gnome have released version 3.18 of their popular desktop for Linus distros. The new desktop comes with Google Drive Integration, a new calendar application which comes fully integrated into user accounts. File improvements, firmware updates, automatic screen brightness, and a host of new features for people with touchscreens and touchpads.

If you are looking for an office application then this week Microsoft released Office 2016 and if your budget doesn’t stretch that far you can always test drive the latest release candidate of Libre Office 5.02