Apple

Overcast 3: Marco’s walk through a huge design update

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Marco Arment, on the design remake of Overcast:

Overcast 3 is now available, and it’s a huge update, mostly in the design and flow of the interface. I’ve been working on it since last summer, informed by over two years of testing, usage, and customer feedback.

I designed Overcast 1.0 in 2014 for iOS 7, and it was a product of its time: it used ultra-thin text and lines against stark, sharp-edged, full-screen white sheets and translucent blur panes, with much of the basic functionality behind hidden gestures. That fundamental design carried through every update until today.

Marco clearly went over every inch of this app with an interface updater. The app still feels familiar, but there are a ton of nuanced changes.

If you are a podcast fan, take a few minutes to make your way through this post, learn about the tweaks, bells, and whistles.

Here’s why Apple isn’t building an Amazon Echo rival

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Tim Bajarin, writing for Time:

Despite Amazon’s success, Apple has no apparent interest in copying the Echo. After talking with Apple executives, I’ve come away with the impression that they’re more interested in turning Siri into an omnipresent AI assistant across devices, rather than designing a single device specifically to serve as a Siri machine.

Interesting point. The Amazon Echo exists simply to listen for, and fulfill, Alexa requests. Every other Apple device serves many purposes and also serves the ecosystem. More bang for the buck.

Apple’s new iPad Pro campaign

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[VIDEO] These four spots (embedded in the main Loop post) started running on Friday. As Rene Ritchie points out, these spots have that “I’m a Mac” feel to them.

The difference is that there is no character carry, no one who appears in all the ads. The design and tone is what carries from spot to spot.

See what you think.

How to free up space on your Mac by deleting old backups

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Did you know that Time Machine stores a backup on your local hard drive if it can’t connect to your laptop’s backup drive? Those backups can consume a fair amount of space (say, 100GB or so) over time.

If you use Time Machine, take a few minutes to read this post from Lory Gil. You’ll learn how to disable and re-enable those locally stored Time Machine backups.

And if you are wondering where on your machine those backups are stored, start here. That article is a few years old but, as far as I know, still accurate.

Samsung chief Lee arrested as South Korean corruption probe deepens

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Reuters:

Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal rocking the highest levels of power in South Korea, dealing a fresh blow to the technology giant and standard-bearer for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The special prosecutor’s office accuses Lee of bribing a close friend of President Park Geun-hye to gain government favors related to leadership succession at the conglomerate. It said on Friday it will indict him on charges including bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury.

Samsung’s leadership has failed them. Thanking the stars above Apple has Tim.

Apple to kickstart Indian dream with the iPhone SE

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Economic Times:

Apple will kick off its India manufacturing plans by initially assembling 3-4 lakh units of its iPhone SE model at the Karnataka plant being set up by contract manufacturer Wistron, as the maker of the iconic iPhones looks to take a deeper bite of a key market amid slowing global smartphone growth.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is likely to go ahead with the Bengaluru assembly plan without waiting for the government’s nod for the list of tax concessions that it had sought along with other demands. The company wants to “experience manufacturing in India”, a person familiar with the company’s plans told ET.

And:

The iPhone SE, launched amidst much fanfare in April 2016, was widely anticipated to be aimed at emerging markets, including India, as it was priced lower than all other iPhone models. But even the lower price tag of Rs 39,000 for a basic model of SE was too much for the mass market.

The handset is currently retailing at less than Rs 30,000 in India and would become cheaper still if produced here.

Makes sense. Start with the SE, get a sense of response, tweak follow-on models aimed to grow that market.

Google and fact checking the news

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Last October, Google introduced something called the Fact Check tag. The idea is, publishers include the tag in a story for it to be considered for the tag. When the story is posted on Google News, a fact check-approved story will appear with the Fact Check label.

Here’s the original post about the Fact Check tag. And here’s an update from Google on the current state of Fact Check.

This is a great start. But it is far too limited. We need fact checking to spread beyond the Google News bubble. We need a Fact Check standard to spread to every single source of news, across the political spectrum.

When you go food shopping, you know you can check the standardized ingredients label to see how much sodium or fat is in a product. We need a reliable, verifiable label like that for the news. Sites could achieve an “All Fact” label if they achieve a set minimum percentage of fact checked stories.

Apple has an opportunity here. Join with Google to spread the fact check concept to Apple News. And beyond. My two cents? This is incredibly important.

Apple vowed to revolutionize television. An inside look at why it hasn’t

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Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Earlier this month, Apple Inc. poached the chief of Amazon’s Fire TV unit to run its television operations. Timothy D. Twerdhal brings hardware and content experience to his new gig, and his hiring suggests a renewed focus on the Apple TV set-top box.

Twerdhal’s arrival comes as the company tests a new, fifth-generation Apple TV that it may release as soon as this year. Internally codenamed “J105,” the new box will be capable of streaming ultra-high-definition 4K and more vivid colors, according to people familiar with the plans.

A bit of a doom and gloom take, but worth the read. Apple is clearly feeling their way here.

Ticketmaster for iOS adds Apple Music integration for easily tracking upcoming concerts

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Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

Ticketmaster for iOS was today updated with Apple Music integration, allowing users to more easily find upcoming concerts based on what’s in their Apple Music library.

The update pushes the app 1.10.2 and makes it significantly easier to quickly know when an artist you love is touring.

A terrific idea. I wish that Apple Music had a tour date interface built in, the ability to send me notifications when a band I specify announces tour dates. They could no doubt sell tickets to the concerts from within the notification. This exist?

Future iPhones might notify users when their coverglass cracks

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Mikey Campbell, Apple Insider:

Display damage due to drops, impacts and other sudden shocks is the bane of many a smartphone user. Apple is working on technology to help users determine when a device is cracked and perhaps prevent such events from occurring in the first place.

Described in Apple’s filing for “Coverglass fracture detection,” the proposed system utilizes a comprehensive network of sensors and software to detect the formation of cracks, or potential cracks, in a protective display cover.

What I find most fascinating is the idea of crowdsourcing crack detection. When a crack is detected, the theory goes, Apple could contact the user to verify. The user would verify the crack (perhaps tracing it on the screen) and Apple could follow up to learn what type of impact caused the crack. Pretty cool idea.

J.P. Morgan: Next iPhone may have facial recognition instead of a fingerprint reader

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CNBC:

Apple may replace its fingerprint scanner with a face scanner on the next iPhone, according to JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall.

A front-facing 3-D scanner could replace the home button, which could be phased out if Apple goes with a full-glass front this year, Hall wrote in a research note this week. Biometric facial scanning would be more secure for Apple Pay and could work better in “wet conditions” if the iPhones are more water resistant, JPMorgan wrote.

Don’t have a link to the original research note. If anyone has it, please tweet it at me, I’d like to read the original text. And I’ll add it here as an update.

UPDATE: Johannes Schaller points out that the Surface Pro 4 ships with Windows Hello, which is designed to read fingerprints but can also work with certain camera configurations to do facial recognition. So there’s the consumer starting point.

[UPDATE] Source: Apple will fight ‘Right to Repair’ legislation

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Jason Koebler, Motherboard:

Apple is planning to fight proposed electronics “Right to Repair” legislation being considered by the Nebraska state legislature, according to a source within the legislature who is familiar with the bill’s path through the statehouse.

And:

The legislation would require Apple and other electronics manufacturers to sell repair parts to consumers and independent repair shops, and would require manufacturers to make diagnostic and service manuals available to the public.

Nebraska is one of eight states that are considering right to repair bills; last month, Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Wyoming introduced legislation. Last week, lawmakers in Illinois and Tennessee officially introduced similar bills.

And:

The bills nationwide are being pushed by Repair.org, a trade organization made up of independent repair shops who say that their companies have been harmed by an attempt by manufacturers to gain a monopoly over the repair business. Even without readily available repair parts or service manuals, a healthy DIY repair hobby has thrived thanks to online crowdsourced instruction manuals on sites like iFixit and grey market parts that are available directly from factories in China or can be salvaged from recycled devices.

The idea that it’s “unsafe” to repair your own devices is one that manufacturers have been promoting for years. Last year, industry lobbyists told lawmakers in Minnesota that broken glass could cut the fingers of consumers who try to repair their screens, according to Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of Repair.org.

First things first, this is a one sided post, almost a marketing piece from Repair.org. That said, repairability has become more and more of an issue. I’d like to hear Apple’s side of this. Macs, iPhones, and iPads have certainly become harder and harder to repair yourself.

But I think the claim that self-repair is unsafe is disingenuous. I think most self-repairers would agree to voiding their warrantee in exchange for self repair, and also be willing to hold Apple harmless for damage done doing a self-repair.

That said, let’s see what happens on March 9th:

According to the source, an Apple representative, staffer, or lobbyist will testify against the bill at a hearing in Lincoln on March 9. AT&T will also argue against the bill, the source said. The source told me that at least one of the companies plans to say that consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire.

Until then, this is just a sourced rumor.

UPDATE: A little birdie told me about an Apple Store that had to be evacuated when a trained technician accidentally put a tiny screwdriver through the battery of an iPhone, starting a lithium fire that required special chemicals to stop. In another incident, those same chemicals were used in the repair room when someone punctured a MacBook Air battery.

Points well taken. Assuming these anecdotes are documented, I hope they are presented at that March 9th hearing in Lincoln.

Say “Hey Computer” to Siri

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If you say “Hey Computer” to Siri, she’ll respond as if you are Lego Batman. Is this just humorous content, or a new paid marketing/advertising path for Apple?

Apple shareholders demanding more diversity

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Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge:

Silicon Valley has a long way to go on diversity, but most tech companies would argue that they’re making progress. Intel beat its initial hiring goals; Microsoft is tying executive compensation to diversity success; and Google says it’s made changes to remove pay inequality, even though the diversity of its workforce has remained flat.

Apple also claims to have removed pay disparities and has made slight gains on hiring women and people of color. It’s even launched an “Inclusion & Diversity” page with visualizations of its hiring data.

But a small group of Apple investors believe the company isn’t making progress fast enough, and they’re trying to force the company to pick up the pace. “Some of the excuses given by Apple and others — there’s not sufficient people in the pipeline, this and that,” says investor Tony Maldonado. “Excuse my language, it’s bullshit.”

And:

Maldonado is leading an effort to mandate that Apple accelerate its work toward becoming a more diverse company. For the second year in a row, he’s submitted a shareholder proposal asking that Apple “adopt an accelerated recruitment policy … to increase the diversity of senior management and its board of directors.”

From Apple’s point of view:

In a filing with the SEC, Apple’s board wrote a note recommending that shareholders vote against the proposal. The company argues that it already has “much broader” diversity efforts at work and, in the past three years, has made “steady progress in attracting more women and underrepresented minorities.” The proposed policy, Apple concludes, “is not necessary or appropriate because we have already demonstrated our commitment to a holistic view of inclusion and diversity.”

Is Apple doing enough on their own? They have certainly proven that they think well beyond the boundaries of profit and revenue, leading their corporate cousins in issues like clean/renewable energy and supply chain ethics. That doesn’t mean they always do right, but my sense is that Apple listens on issues like this and, when they listen, change is sure to follow.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri comments on Apple, growth

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Apple CFO Luca Maestri spoke at yesterday’s Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. Jump to the main Loop post for a link to the audio comments as well as one particular chunk of conversation that makes me bullish on future iPhone growth.

Eddy Cue, live on stage, talks Apple Music and original TV content

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[VIDEO] Interesting that Will.i.am planned the show Planet of the Apps with his production company, then pitched and sold the concept to Apple (as opposed to the show being a brain-child born inside of Apple).

Also interesting is that the show is being designed around an app which will let you pause the show and dive deeper into a specific app or concept. This is very non-linear. I think it would be a mistake to pigeonhole this as a traditional reality show.

Watch the video, embedded in the main Loop post.

Apple’s Planet of the Apps trailer

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[VIDEO] From the info page:

Planet of the Apps celebrates the world of apps and the talented people who create them. Hosted by Zane Lowe and featuring advisers Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk and will.i.am, the series highlights developers who have the vision to shape the future, solve real problems, and inspire change within our daily lives.

This feels like a mix of Shark Tank and The Voice. As a developer and investor, I’m intrigued by the concept. The hard part is to straddle the channel between broad entertainment and entrepreneurial detail. Keep it fun while still teaching some skill or lesson.

I’ll definitely give this a watch. Trailer is embedded in the main Loop post.

Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke: New trailer

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[VIDEO] A sign of things to come. Note the Planet of the Apps reference (no way that’s accidental) at 2:08 in. Video embedded in the main Loop post.

Apple Music Carpool Karaoke series trailer

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[VIDEO] Solid trailer. The energy feels about the same as the ones in the Late Late Show with James Corden. From the video’s info page:

Based on the segment that has become a global, viral video sensation on The Late Late Show with James Corden, the new CARPOOL KARAOKE series features 16 celebrity pairings riding along in a car together as they sing tunes from their personal playlists and surprise fans who don’t expect to see big stars belting out tunes one lane over.

And:

Featuring James Corden, Will Smith, Billy Eichner, Metallica, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Ariana Grande, Seth MacFarlane, Chelsea Handler, Blake Shelton, Michael Strahan, John Cena, Shaquille O’Neal, and many more.

Here’s a link to the series home page.

Jump to the original Loop post for the embedded video.

The first Mac clone

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[VIDEO] This is a fascinating bit of history. Start with this Twitter thread by Steve Troughton-Smith:

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/830356789002657794

The main Loop post has a video showing the Daydream ROM Box at work. Nice find, Steve.

UPDATE: Loop emeritus Peter Cohen brought up the Outbound laptop and the fact that it deserved consideration as the first Mac clone. Fair point. Though the Outbound required you to bring your own ROM, which (at the time) meant removing the ROM from an existing and expensive Mac. I’d argue that the Outbound was more of a repurposing of an existing Mac, rather than a clone, but interesting nonetheless.

How to set up your Mac for Wi-Fi Calling

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Chris Hauk, MacTrast:

You can, in fact, make phone calls from your Mac. Wi-Fi (WiFi) calling is one of the perks you get when you choose to go with Apple’s complete eco-system. If you own an iPhone 5c or newer devices and one of the “Wi-Fi Calling” compatible devices (Mac, Apple Watch, iPod touch or iPad), you’re one step closer to making what Apple named “Wi-Fi calls on other devices.” It’s imperative that all your devices are properly registered under one Apple ID connected to one iCloud account.

If you own a Mac and an iPhone, this is worth setting up. It may already work and, if not, getting this to work may solve some other problems for you.

I actually prefer the audio quality of calls on my Mac. I find the sound subtle, nuanced when compared to my iPhone.

Tim Cook: Fake news is killing people’s minds

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The Telegraph:

In an impassioned plea, Mr Cook, boss of the world’s largest company, says that the epidemic of false reports “is a big problem in a lot of the world” and necessitates a crackdown by the authorities and technology firms.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, he calls for a campaign similar to those that changed attitudes on the environment to educate the public on the threat posed by fabricated online stories.

And:

“It has to be ingrained in the schools, it has to be ingrained in the public,” said Mr Cook. “There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic.

“We need the modern version of a public-service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will.”

Read the post, watch the embedded video, which shows Tim being asked some pointed political questions, handling each with some truly deft diplomacy.

How Apple can make music sound sweeter

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Dan Moren, Macworld:

Even as the company continues to push its Apple Music venture, there are a few places where Apple would be better served by re-examining the way it approaches music. From services to software to hardware, Apple’s gotten pretty comfortable about where it stands with music—but not necessarily because it has the best solutions out there.

Dan digs into three specific areas: Fixing iTunes and Music apps, improving AirPlay, and improving the speaker situation.

One particular snippet I found intriguing:

Granted, perhaps it would be more effective to just snap up Sonos—especially if Apple could find a way to integrate Siri.

I can’t imagine this isn’t on an Apple drawing board somewhere.

Apple joins Qi Wireless Power Consortium. Inductive wireless charging coming to iPhone?

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Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac:

While early rumors suggested that Apple was holding out for long-range charging, without the need to place the iPhone on a charging pad, those hopes appear to have been dashed by more recent reports. These suggest that Apple will, like other manufacturers, use simple inductive charging.

Apple is now listed as a member of the Qi Wireless Power Consortium. Qi is an inductive wireless charging standard that is already in use in more than a thousand products.

Ben quotes IHS Technology analyst Vicky Yussuff:

The success of wireless charging adoption from Apple’s competitors is something that Apple can no longer ignore. IHS Technology consumer survey data shows over 90% of consumers want wireless charging on their next device.

Note that the Apple uses Qi charging for the Apple Watch:

Apple already uses Qi charging for the Watch, but as The Register noted back in 2015, it uses a tweaked version that means you can’t use other Qi chargers. It seems likely it will do the same with the iPhone.

Conjecture, but reasonable conjecture.

How to type the trademark and copyright symbols in iOS

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Interesting tip. The QuickType solution doesn’t seem to work for me. This a setting of some kind? Seems to me, the (c), (r), and TM shortcuts used to work, at least on the Mac. But no more.

The emoji solution always works. Copy and paste works too, especially if I do the copy on my Mac and paste on my iOS device.

UPDATE: Thanks to a big wave of Twitter response, I can see that there are some iOS installs with default text substitutions for (c), etc. But others do not have these substitutions. Perhaps they were replaced? Regardless, you can add them back in via Settings > General > Keyboards > Text Replacement.

On the future of the iPad

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Jason Snell, writing for Macworld:

Look out to 2025 and imagine a futuristic computing device made from Apple that’s larger than a phone, filling the ecosystem that currently is filled by laptops and iPads (and maybe even desktop Macs). This is a thin, light device, with battery life and sensors and other features that we can only dream about today.

And:

Apple seems to see the Mac as a rock-solid platform for laptop and desktop computers that people depend on to do their jobs. The Mac is, in many ways, defined by the fact that it’s a keyboard-and-trackpad-driven system with a windowed user interface. If you take that away and simplify the Mac, you might be able to get to something a bit closer to the iPad–but you risk losing some of the key attributes that make the Mac what it is.

And:

The iPad, on the other hand, seems not too far away from that 2025 device already. What’s required is an evolution of the very simple touch interface pioneered by the iPhone in order to provide the tools that sophisticated and demanding users need to get their jobs done. With the addition of iCloud Drive and support for other cloud services, Apple basically gave the iPad a browsable file hierarchy.

For the iPad to get there, however, Apple will need to up its game when it comes to growing iOS. After all, 2025 is only eight years away; a new iPad feature or two every other year between now and then won’t get it done. iOS needs better peripheral support, more sophisticated windowing and multitasking, improvements to file handling, better support for application and system automation, and a whole lot more. But if Apple puts the work in, the iPad could be that device in 2025–and still clearly be recognizable to a visitor from 2017 as an iPad.

Is the iPad the future? Will we continue to live in a hybrid world, with the Mac on the desk, the iPhone in pocket, and the iPad the larger portable device in between? Or will the iPad evolve into a device capable of filling its current slot as well as replacing the need for the Mac?

Interesting questions. Clearly, the answers will depend on the technology that comes our way over time. Will we see power sipping flexible screens that can fit into our pockets and unfold into large screens as needed? Will battery life become indefinite? Will quantum computing significantly raise the performance bar? Will gesture detection become sophisticated enough that our computers will allow us to type even if our hands are in our pockets?

If the answer to those questions are true, the computing devices of the future might bear little resemblance to what we have now. Though I’d bet that the Apple brand will still be just as strong.

The myth of Apple’s great design

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Ian Bogost wrote an article for The Atlantic with the provocative title The Myth of Apple’s Great Design.

Here’s a quote:

Apple has great design is the biggest myth in technology today. The latest victim of this ideology comes in the form a remarkable report on the late Steve Jobs’s final project, still in production: a new, $5 billion Cupertino headquarters for Apple Inc.

And:

But if Apple designs at its best when attending closely to details like those revealed in the construction of its spaceship headquarters, then presumably the details of its products would stand out as worthy precedents. Yet, when this premise is tested, it comes up wanting. In truth, Apple’s products hide a shambles of bad design under the perfection of sleek exteriors.

There’s a lot more of this. Luckily, I will not have to take this article apart, point by point. Nick Heer, keeper of the blog Pixel Envy, does this job nicely, in a post titled Sufficiently Great.

Read ’em both.