Technologies

Freeform on iPadOS 16.2: Apple’s Stab at a Collaborative Workspace

Apple’s new app is a shared whiteboarding tool you can drop files into.

This year’s updates to Apple’s iPad system software have largely focused on multitasking ideas like Stage Manager, but the newest iPadOS 16.2 update adds compatibility for a new Apple app, Freeform, that aims to be a sort of collaborative whiteboard across iPhones, iPads and Macs. Based on what I’ve seen so far, it could also possibly be a lot more.

Freeform looks like a whiteboard tool, and for the most part, that’s what it is: collaborators can join in and add to a project or see how it’s progressing. I’ve looked at Freeform, but haven’t been collaborating with others using it. I’m curious, now that it’s live, whether I will.

Freeform’s most interesting quality is how flexible it could become. It can have files attached to it, making it a sort of collaborative desktop of sorts, or a shared file system. There are already other ways you could do this with other apps or services, but after Apple’s efforts to extend collaboration with SharePlay for music and movies over FaceTime and in Messages, it looks like part of a common theme to knit together Apple’s products into a multiuser ecosystem.

Freeform is also just a free whiteboarding tool, which could be helpful by itself for laying out a flowchart or presenting some ideas.

The first thing I thought of while using Freeform was of actors, directors and designers sharing scripts, story and design notes, and production updates in some sort of collaborative interface. That sounds exciting, but the problem with Freeform’s collaborative dreams is you need an Apple device to access it. This isn’t a cross-platform tool outside of iOS and MacOS.

When Apple eventually debuts its long-expected VR headset next year, it’ll need some sort of collaborative infrastructure. Will Freeform be part of that picture? It’s way too early to tell, but for now it’s a free bonus tool in iOS 16.2 that you should at least try out.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

Technologies

Watch SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 11

Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.