News

Lebanon Postpones Daylight Saving Time Shift By 1 Month

The decision has left Lebanon waking up in two different time zones this morning.

Published

2 years ago

March 26, 2023

Nour Nasir

lebanon postpones daylight saving time shift by 1 month

AFP

In a last-minute decision, Lebanon’s government announced that the shift away from daylight saving time would be postponed by a month, extending DST until the end of Ramadan. As a result, while most Northern Hemisphere countries automatically advanced their times by an hour yesterday, the people of Lebanon were left confused about the exact time they should set their alarms on Sunday morning.

In an alleged video leak shown by news outlet Megaphone, Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, and parliament speaker Nabih Berri discussed the postponement, with Berri insisting on delaying the switch away from DST.

Most digital devices with network access, such as smartphones and computers, switch in and out of daylight saving time automatically, so Lebanese citizens were asked to adjust their clocks back an hour manually.

Also Read: A Line-Up Of Over 100 Shows Comes To Snapchat This Ramadan

Although public institutions are forced to abide by the government’s decision, many private businesses ignored the request and continued to follow the existing schedule. The confusion has left Lebanon — a small country that can be transversed east to west in less than two hours — with two separate time zones.

The chaos has resulted in missed appointments, TV channels displaying different times, and even Google searches with the wrong timestamps.

News

Truecaller For iPhone Gets Real-Time Caller ID And Auto Spam Blocking

The latest update integrates with Apple’s Live Caller ID Lookup framework, launched with iOS 18 last year.

Published

2 hours ago

January 23, 2025

Nour Nasir

Truecaller

Truecaller has rolled out a major update for iPhone users, introducing API support that brings real-time caller identification and automatic spam blocking. The upgrade aims to bring the iOS version of the app closer to its Android counterpart, which has long offered these advanced call-screening features.

The latest update integrates with Apple’s Live Caller ID Lookup framework, launched with iOS 18 last year. The technology allows third-party apps to cross-check incoming calls against a database of known spam numbers in real-time. Importantly, the process employs “homomorphic encryption,” ensuring user privacy by masking the caller’s number, concealing the client’s IP address, and using anonymous authentication.

With this update, Truecaller has also introduced global automatic spam call blocking for iPhones. However, the real-time caller ID feature is being released gradually and is available only to Truecaller Premium subscribers on iPhones running iOS 18.2 or later. Free users will still have access to ad-supported features, such as manual number searches and caller identification for verified businesses.

How To Enable The New Features

To activate the new features, follow these steps:

Update the Truecaller app to version 14.0 or newer via the App Store.
Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification on your iPhone.
Turn on all Truecaller toggles, then restart the app.

Also Read: “AI Seal” Certification Now Required For Dubai Gov Partnerships

While these features are new to iOS, Truecaller has hinted at this update for months. Following Apple’s iOS 18 update and the introduction of its Live Caller ID API last September, Truecaller Co-founder Alan Mamedi shared his excitement on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Truecaller finally works on iPhone”.

The global rollout of spam call blocking is already live, but users may need to wait for gradual access to the live caller ID feature.