Apple in macOS Tahoe 26.2 introduced Edge Light, a clever new feature that turns your Mac's display into a virtual ring light during video calls. Instead of fumbling with external lighting equipment, your Mac can now illuminate your face automatically when you're sitting in a dark room.


Basically, Edge Light adds a soft glow around the edges of your display to brighten your face during video conferences. But it's far from just a simple screen border effect. Edge Light uses your Mac's Neural Engine to analyze your face, size, and position in the frame to deliver accurate lighting, while the Image Signal Processor fine-tunes brightness to match your environment.

The feature is even aware enough to know when your cursor approaches the display edge. When it does, Edge Light automatically recedes, allowing you to still access on-screen content without it interfering.

What You'll Need

Edge Light works on any Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). It's compatible with all video conferencing apps and even extends to external cameras and the Apple Studio Display when connected to an Apple silicon Mac.

How to Turn On Edge Light

Once you've updated to macOS Tahoe 26.2 or later, enabling Edge Light takes just a couple of clicks:

1. Open a supporting video call app (FaceTime, Zoom, or WebEx, for example).


2. Click the green video conferencing menu bar item at the top of your screen.


3. Select Edge Light from the drop-down menu.

To adjust the lighting intensity and color temperature, click the down chevron next to Edge Light. You'll see two sliders that let you customize the brightness and warmth of the effect to suit your preferences.

If you own a Mac released in 2024 or later, you can turn on automatic Edge Light activation. Once enabled, your Mac will detect when you're in a dimly lit environment and turn the feature on without any manual input. Simply look for the automatic toggle in the video call dropdown menu, immediately below the expanded Edge Light options.
This article, "Use Edge Light for Better Video Calls in macOS" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Russia has blocked Apple's FaceTime video calling app in an ongoing effort to eliminate private communication methods, reports Reuters. Russia claims ‌FaceTime‌ is being used for criminal activity, and that blocking the app is a legitimate law enforcement measure. Social network Snapchat and multiplayer gaming platform Roblox were also banned this week.


Multiple other apps and services have been blocked in Russia previously. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Discord, and LinkedIn are unavailable and can't be accessed without a VPN. Russia throttles YouTube heavily to make it almost unusable, and since 2022, TikTok has had a Russia-only feed that does not include content from other countries.

Viber and Signal are banned in the country, and Russians are not able to make calls through WhatsApp or Telegram as of earlier this year. Messaging on those apps is also restricted.

In a statement to Reuters, Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor said the following:

According to law enforcement agencies, FaceTime is being used to organise and carry out terrorist attacks in the country, recruit perpetrators, and commit fraud and other crimes against Russian citizens.

‌FaceTime‌ is now restricted nationwide, and has likely been blocked at the network level, so it may still be accessible through a VPN. Moscow residents are seeing a "User unavailable" message when attempting to use ‌FaceTime‌, which is the error displayed when a ‌FaceTime‌ call is unable to connect. The app still opens and activates, so Apple hasn't removed it.

Russia claims that the app is used for coordinating illegal activity, with no option for the Federal Security Service (FSB) to monitor calls. Apple has declined to allow the FSB to access ‌FaceTime‌ traffic, and the company has not budged on end-to-end encryption.

‌FaceTime‌ likely wasn't banned earlier because Russia initially focused on more widely used apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. When voice and video calling were banned in those apps, Russians transitioned to ‌FaceTime‌ as an alternative, making it a government target.
This article, "Russia Blocks Apple's FaceTime Amid Crackdown on Encrypted Apps" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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