Connect with us

Technology

How Apple is trying to make Final Cut Pro a “touch-first” video editing app

Published

on

How Apple is trying to make Final Cut Pro a “touch-first” video editing app

For the past two weeks, I’ve been editing in the newest version of Final Cut Pro for the iPad. For many professionals, the original release of this app last year missed the mark. Its tools have just been too limited to use on a daily basis. The new version doesn’t necessarily change that — but despite my many frustrations, I’m finally discovering the joy of using it.

The new version of the app, confusingly named “Final Cut Pro for iPad 2” (it is for all current iPads, not the iPad 2), came out this week. And perhaps the biggest new feature in this year’s release isn’t entirely a Final Cut Pro feature: it’s a brand-new app that integrates with it.

The new Final Cut Camera is a standalone app for your iPhone that offers advanced camera controls. If you’ve seen the Blackmagic app or the recently released Kino app, you’ll know what to expect: peaking, manual focusing, and audio metering. You just won’t be able to add custom LUTs like you can in the other two.

The Final Cut Camera app can be used in unison with Final Cut Pro on the iPad to record Live Multicam sessions with footage streaming in from up to four iPhones or iPads. In Final Cut on the iPad, you assume the role of director. You can monitor footage coming from iPhones, zoom in, and change the white balance, focus mode, and more on the fly. I can see this new feature being particularly popular for video podcasts.

Final Cut Camera is telling me all that red stuff is way too overexposed and I should adjust my backgrounds.
Advertisement

The previews you’re seeing are compressed, but they still look great. Once you stop the recording session, the full-quality files get transferred over to the iPad running Final Cut Pro and rendered. The whole process is a lot faster than I anticipated. My 10-minute session with three iPhones was available for editing minutes later. A new transfer indicator window on the top of the UI shows you the progress. 

There’s one upgrade I’d love to see for this feature in the future: live editing. Currently, you’ll still need to end the recording first before syncing up all files and jumping into the edit. 

Multicam support is a great new feature, but it contrasts with how little else Apple has done to improve the Final Cut Pro for iPad experience. The standout feature in this year’s update is external hard drive support. That’s important — this feature was oddly absent last year. But its addition instantly reminded me of how poorly Final Cut Pro for iPad (and iPadOS) handles file management. 

All of your media files have to live within the FCP Library files, and that same library file has to be stored on either the internal or external drive. That means you can’t split your media across multiple drives or cloud storage. One side effect of this method is that it means you’re just constantly duplicating files from one place to another. 

The M4 iPad Pro comes with support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 connectivity.
Advertisement

And there are other issues that haven’t changed from last year. For example, you still can’t import complete folders into Final Cut Pro, just individual files. And once they’re imported, you still can’t organize the files into separate folders or bins like “A-roll,” “B-roll,” “Music,” or “Graphics.”

Another new feature that’s unique to the iPad version of Final Cut Pro is Live Drawings. Using an Apple Pencil, you can draw animations directly onto your clips. Apple’s latest Pencil Pro tricks are supported here, but aside from that, there’s not much to do with the Pencil Pro itself. I wish there was a way to program the haptic squeeze to do something more on the editing front — maybe selecting multiple clips while hovering, or just make it a right-click. I feel like that would be useful and would speed up working with a pencil.

There are still a lot of serious video editing features that I’m waiting on Apple to add: compound clips, folders, adjustment layers, post stabilization, coloring tools like curves, project sharing between machines, the ability to add new LUTs, 360 video support, object tracking, linear keyframes — the list goes on and on. If you read my review from last year, you’ll find the exact same list there.

All of those missing things really catch you off guard when you are in the flow. Ultimately, I found myself making creative decisions based on bad software limitations.

Meanwhile, the market for mobile video editing apps is more competitive than ever. CapCut has been extremely popular among TikTokers. “Why I’m switching to DaVinci” videos are all over my YouTube feed. And folks still stan the OG iPad app Lumafusion. In fact, three of the features I desperately need are already on the DaVinci’s iPad app. 

Advertisement

The M4 iPad Pro running Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.

But even after trying all of the other apps I just listed and even with all my frustration with the missing features, I keep coming back to Final Cut on the iPad. Because there is one thing Apple is doing right here, and that’s the overall experience. 

Apple calls this a “touch-first” app, and I finally understand what that means. Once you’re past the learning curve and once you get a hang of the controls and once you’re aware of its limitations, you start to actually enjoy it and have fun. Apple isn’t trying to replicate the Final Cut desktop experience — it’s building toward a new one. And you can see in the way you interact with the jog wheel and the way that the sidebar comes in so you can edit with your left hand.

I found that using the Final Cut Pro with my hands is by far the most immersive way to edit. It’s all right there at your fingertips, literally. There is something about this more tangible approach that I’m starting to find charming, even if it’s not as efficient as a mouse and keyboard.

If Apple can check off those easy wins, then its vision of a capable and touch-first Final Cut Pro could really thrive.

Advertisement

Photography by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Technology

Samsung is adding Perplexity to Galaxy AI

Published

on

Samsung is adding Perplexity to Galaxy AI

In addition to summoning Bixby or Gemini, Galaxy S26 users will be able to call on Perplexity by saying “hey, Plex.” The integration of Perplexity into Galaxy AI is just one element of the company’s embrace of a “multi-agent ecosystem.”

Often, people will use different AI agents for different tasks, depending on where their strengths lie. So Samsung is opening up the ability to integrate different agents into the OS. Hey, Plex isn’t just some transparent version of the app baked into a Galaxy phone to quickly get answers to questions. Perplexity will have access to Samsung Notes, Clock, Gallery, Reminder, and Calendar, as well as select third-party apps, though which ones specifically Samsung didn’t say.

Samsung seems to believe that people will increasingly use AI to interact with their phones. But, as we’ve learned, people can develop strong attachments to particular AIs. So the company is betting that giving people the freedom to put whatever agent they want at the heart of their phone will help differentiate them from competition like Apple and Google.

Of course, Samsung’s next Unpacked event is just around the corner. I’m sure we’ll hear more about Galaxy AI and Samsung’s vision for a multi-agent future on the 25th.

Continue Reading

Technology

Conduent data breach hits millions across multiple states

Published

on

Conduent data breach hits millions across multiple states

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A ransomware attack on government technology giant Conduent is turning out to be far bigger than first reported. What initially sounded like a limited incident now appears to affect tens of millions of people across multiple states. In Texas alone, at least 15.4 million residents may have had their data exposed. Oregon has reported another 10.5 million affected individuals. And notifications have also gone out to hundreds of thousands of people in states like Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you rely on state healthcare programs or government services, your data could be part of this breach.

Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide — free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter

What we know about the breach so far

149 MILLION PASSWORDS EXPOSED IN MASSIVE CREDENTIAL LEAK

What started as a “limited” ransomware incident now appears to impact tens of millions of people across multiple states. (Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Advertisement

The cyberattack happened in January 2025 and was later claimed by the Safeway ransomware gang, which says it stole more than 8 terabytes of data. Conduent first disclosed the incident publicly in April, months after hackers disrupted its systems and caused outages to government services across the country.

The company initially said about 4 million people in Texas were affected. That number has since jumped to 15.4 million, nearly half the state’s population. Oregon’s attorney general reported another 10.5 million impacted residents. Combined with other states issuing notifications, the total could reach into the dozens of millions.

The stolen data includes names, Social Security numbers, medical information, and health insurance details. That combination is particularly dangerous because it can be used for identity theft, medical fraud, and highly targeted scams.

Conduent processes data for large corporations, state agencies, and government healthcare programs. The company says its systems support services for more than 100 million people nationwide. However, it has not confirmed whether the breach affects that many individuals.

In a filing with the SEC, Conduent acknowledged that the stolen data included a “significant number” of individuals’ personal information tied to its clients’ end users, meaning people who rely on government agencies and corporate services powered by the company.

Advertisement

RANSOMWARE ATTACK EXPOSES SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AT MAJOR GAS STATION CHAIN

Why this breach is especially concerning

Unlike a retail breach, where credit card data might be exposed, this incident involves deeply sensitive personal and medical information. Social Security numbers and health records are long-term identifiers. You cannot simply cancel or replace them like a debit card.

Healthcare-related data is especially valuable on the black market because it can be used to file fraudulent insurance claims, obtain prescription drugs, or open financial accounts. And because Conduent works behind the scenes for state agencies, many people may not even realize their data was stored by the company in the first place.

Conduent said it is still in the process of notifying affected individuals and expects to complete those notifications by early 2026. The company did not provide a clearer timeline or confirm how many total people will ultimately be alerted. Many people could be waiting months before knowing whether their information was compromised.

Conduent responds to January 2025 data breach

We reached out to Conduent for comment, and a company spokesperson provided CyberGuy with the following statement:

Advertisement

“As previously disclosed in its April 2025 Form 8-K filing with the SEC, in January 2025, Conduent discovered that it was the victim of a cybersecurity incident. With respect to that incident, Conduent has agreed to send notification letters, on behalf of its clients, to individuals whose personal information may have been affected by this incident. Working in conjunction with our clients, we expect to send out all of the consumer notifications by April 15. In addition, a dedicated call center has been set up to address consumer inquiries. At this time, Conduent has no evidence of any attempted or actual misuse of any information potentially affected by this incident.

“Upon discovery of the incident, Conduent acted quickly to secure its networks, restore its systems and operations, notify law enforcement, and conduct an investigation with the assistance of third-party forensics experts. In addition, given the nature and complexity of the data involved, Conduent worked diligently with a dedicated review team, including internal and external experts, and conducted a detailed analysis of the affected files to identify the personal information contained therein, which was a time-intensive process.

“Both Conduent and our third-party experts monitor the dark web regularly and have no evidence of any personal information being released on the dark web.

“Rest assured, we have followed all of the right protocols and have assured our clients that we have secured the necessary data. Conduent has been working with law enforcement and takes this matter seriously. We regret any inconvenience this incident may have caused.”

How can I check if my information was sold on the dark web?

To check if your information was sold on the dark web, you can go to haveibeenpwned.com and enter your email address into the search bar. The website will search to see what data of yours is out there and display if there were data breaches associated with your email address on various sites.

Advertisement

If you find your data is out on the web, remove it with a data removal service. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com

Hackers claim they stole more than 8 terabytes of data, including Social Security numbers and sensitive medical information. (Philip Dulian/picture alliance via Getty Images)

8 steps you can take to protect yourself after the Conduent breach

When a breach involves Social Security numbers and medical data, you need to think long term. Here’s what you should do.

1) Place a credit freeze

A credit freeze prevents lenders from opening new accounts in your name without your approval. It’s free and can be placed with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This is one of the strongest protections you can put in place after an SSN exposure. You can temporarily lift it if you need to apply for credit.

2) Monitor your credit reports regularly

You’re entitled to free credit reports from all three major bureaus. Look for unfamiliar accounts, credit inquiries, or address changes. Early detection makes it much easier to shut down fraud before it snowballs.

Advertisement

3) Use a password manager

If attackers obtained personal details like your name and email, they may try credential-stuffing attacks against your other accounts. A password manager creates strong, unique passwords for every account, so one breach does not unlock everything else. Many password managers also include breach alerts if your credentials show up in known leaks.

Also, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our #1 password manager (see Cyberguy.com) pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials.

Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com

4) Secure your email account first

Your email account is the gateway to nearly everything. Protect it with a strong password and two-factor authentication. Review recovery settings and recent login activity to make sure nothing has been altered.

5) Enable two-factor authentication everywhere possible

Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds another barrier, even if someone has your password. Use an authenticator app rather than SMS whenever possible for stronger protection.

Advertisement

6) Install strong antivirus software

Strong antivirus software can help block malicious links, phishing attempts, and ransomware. After a major breach, scammers often target victims with follow-up attacks pretending to offer help or compensation. Security software adds another layer of protection.

Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com

7) Consider identity theft protection

Identity theft services monitor your Social Security number, financial accounts, and even dark web marketplaces. If your information is misused, they can alert you quickly and help you recover faster. When SSNs are exposed, ongoing monitoring becomes especially important.

See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft at Cyberguy.com

8) Reduce your digital footprint with a data removal service

Scammers often combine breach data with personal details found on data broker sites. A data removal service works to remove your phone number, address, and other exposed information from hundreds of databases. While no service can erase everything, reducing what’s publicly available makes targeted fraud much harder.

Advertisement

Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com

Because Conduent powers government and healthcare services behind the scenes, many affected people may not even realize their data was stored there. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com

Kurt’s key takeaway

The Conduent breach highlights a growing risk that many people never see coming. When large government contractors are hit, millions can be affected at once. And because these companies operate behind the scenes, you may not even realize they hold your data. If your information was exposed, taking action now can prevent long-term damage. The sooner you lock things down, the harder it becomes for criminals to profit from your data.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

Do you think companies that process government data are doing enough to protect it? Let us know your thoughts by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide — free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter 

Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com.  All rights reserved. 

Continue Reading

Technology

This magazine plays Tetris — here’s how

Published

on

This magazine plays Tetris — here’s how

Tetris has been immortalized in a playable McDonald’s plastic chicken nugget, a playable fake 7-Eleven Slurpee cup, and a playable wristwatch. But the most intriguing way to play Tetris yet is encased in paper.

Last year the Tetris Company partnered with Red Bull for a gaming tournament that culminated in the 150-meter-tall Dubai Frame landmark being turned into the world’s largest playable Tetris installation using over 2,000 drones that functioned as pixels. Although the timing was a coincidence, Red Bull also published a 180-page gaming edition of its The Red Bulletin lifestyle magazine around the same time as the event, with a limited number of copies wrapped in a less grandiose, but no less technically impressive, version of Alexey Pajitnov’s iconic puzzle game.

To create a playable gaming magazine, Red Bull Media House (the company’s media wing) enlisted the help of Kevin Bates, who in 2014 wowed the internet by creating an ultra-thin Tetris-playing business card. In 2015, he launched the $39 Arduboy, a credit card-sized, open-source handheld that attracted a thriving community of developers. Over the course of a decade, Bates also created a pair of equally pocketable Tetris-playing handhelds that cost less than $30, and the shrunken-down USB-C Arduboy Mini.

The GamePop GP-1 Playable Magazine System (as it’s officially called) is the latest evolution of Bates’ mission to use existing, accessible, and affordable technologies to reimagine what a portable gaming device can be. It took “most of last year” to develop, Bates revealed during a call with The Verge. He wouldn’t divulge the exact details of how his collaboration with Red Bull came to be. But if you’re looking to make an officially licensed version of Tetris that’s thin enough to flex, Bates has the experience, and he shared with us some of the technical details that make this creation work.

The game’s screen is made up of 180 tiny RGB LEDs on a custom circuit board that can flex and bend.
Advertisement

While OLED display technology has given us tablet-sized devices that fold into smartphones, they’re still expensive and fragile. To make a display that can survive being embedded in a flexible magazine cover without reinforcement, Bates created a custom matrix of 180 2mm RGB LEDs mounted to a flexible circuit board just 0.1mm thick. While the display and coin-cell batteries make it thicker in a few places — nearly 5mm at its thickest point — you genuinely feel like you’re playing a handheld made of paper. The flexible circuits are bonded between two sheets of paper to create the sleeve that wraps around the book-sized magazine, and it feels satisfyingly thin and flexible.

Flexible circuits aren’t a new idea. They’ve been used in electronics for decades. You can find them in flip phones old enough they now feel like antiques, and nearly every laptop. They’re also frequently used to miniaturize devices that don’t fold or flex at all, connecting internal components where space is extremely limited. But it’s only in the past five or six years that the technology has become available to smaller makers, and Bates says he’s been “messing around with the flexible circuits for about as much time.” This collaboration was an opportunity to use what he’s learned to create a device that would live outside his workshop.

The GamePop GP-1’s display resolution pales in comparison to the OLED screens used in folding phones, but Bates’ creation is far more durable. The game has not only undergone the typical safety tests, but Bates even “hit it with a hammer a few times” to test its durability. His display survived, but don’t try that with a folding phone. They’re still far less durable.

The front cover of the Red Bull GamePop magazine.

To keep it as thin as possible, the Tetris game uses embedded touch sensors instead of physical buttons.

Instead of buttons, the game uses seven capacitive touch sensors that are directly “printed in the copper layer of the board,” Bates says. There’s no true mechanical feedback when pressed, but the paper’s flex helps them feel a bit like a button when you press down. Bates says the responsiveness of the sensors was specifically tuned to account for the thickness of the paper stock and the glues used in the final print run. You’re not going to be chasing Tetris world records on the cover of a magazine, but the controls are satisfyingly responsive and the game is surprisingly much easier to play than other Tetris devices I’ve tested.

The Red Bull magazine’s cover illuminated from behind revealing some of its internal components.

Most of the game is made using flexible electronics, but there is a thin rigid PCB housing its processor and rechargeable batteries.

How much does a flexible Tetris game cost to manufacture? Neither Bates nor Red Bull would divulge the total price tag for all the off-the-shelf and custom components you’ll find sandwiched inside the magazine’s cover. But to help keep costs down, not all components are flexible. Inside the edge of the cover, next to the magazine’s spine, you’ll find a long but thin rigid PCB where an ARM-based 32-bit microprocessor is located, along with four rechargeable LIR2016 3V coin cell batteries.

Advertisement
A close-up of a USB-C cable plugged into a charging port on the bottom of a magazine cover.

The magazine features a deconstructed USB-C charging port along the bottom edge of its cover.

Like most devices now, the game can be recharged using a USB-C cable, but it’s not immediately obvious where. Hidden along the bottom edge of the magazine’s cover is a deconstructed USB-C port. Instead of a metal ring, its socket is a small paper pocket containing a pin-covered head inside. It doesn’t feel quite as durable as the charging port on your phone, but it’s a welcome alternative to making the game disposable when the batteries die.

Bates did have to cut some corners. The GamePop GP-1 saves high scores, but modern Tetris gameplay features, like previews of upcoming pieces and being able to save tetrominoes for later, aren’t included. There’s sound effects, but when starting a game you only hear a small snippet of the iconic Tetris theme. The game’s piezo speaker “uses about as much energy as it does to run the rest of the system,” Bates says, so this helps prolong the life of the small rechargeable batteries. He tells us you can play for an hour or two that way, and the battery should last many months when not in use.

Red Bull made around 1,000 copies of the magazine. It’s only available online in Europe, but can also be found in some stores and newsstands, including Iconic Magazines in New York and Rare Mags outside Manchester in the UK. However, only 150 copies with the playable cover were produced, and none were made available to the public. They were distributed to Tetris competitors, those featured in the magazine, influencers, and select media.

The playable cover isn’t going to revolutionize the print industry, or pave the way for smartphones we can roll up and stick in our back pockets. The goal was to use existing tech in a way that gamers haven’t seen before.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge

Advertisement
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending