Great piece from Above Avalon on Jeff Williams’ role in keeping the Apple machine running smoothly, and a great piece from John Gruber on CEO succession.
Apple
The developer iTunes connect snafu
Dave Verwer, writing for iOS Dev Weekly:
From what I can determine from the tweets, there was about a 30-45 minute period when people logging in to iTunes Connect were seeing other random accounts instead of their own.
The thing Apple and Microsoft do not get about Gmail
Every time I hear about a new email client that will support multiple services, I get excited. Is this finally the one that will free me from gmail’s native iOS app? And time after time, I am disappointed, all because of one missing feature.
Remember when Apple was going to change the world?
Kirk McElhearn:
I’m reminded of the famous question that Steve Jobs asked Pepsi CEO John Sculley in the 1980s, in order to convince Sculley to join the company: >
“Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?”
Is Apple selling sugar water?
Apple takes top gifting spot in China
Apple’s star is rising as other luxury gift brands are falling.
Don’t stress about Apple Watch battery life
Kit Eaton, writing for Medium, addresses the recent rumors about Apple Watch battery life, calling the whole discussion silly. A solid read, especially the exploration of the history of the watch.
Tim Cook on iPhone sales
A quick walkthrough of Apple’s numbers, plus some thoughts on Tim Cook’s respond to an analyst question on the iPhone
Transcript of yesterday’s Apple call
Links to the webcast, if you’d like to listen to Tim Cook’s mellifluous voice, or a hand crafted transcript, if you prefer.
Angela Ahrendts recruiting U.S. employees for China
9to5mac:
In video messages to employees in recent days and weeks, Ahrendts has been recruiting employees from United States-based Apple Retail stores to relocate to China to help build up Apple’s retail efforts in the region.
Free on iTunes
Apple recently shelved their free “Single of the Week” on iTunes, but it has been replaced by a new “Free on iTunes” link on the iTunes Store home page.
On the public nature of your personal iPhone contact info
Apple makes your contact info available via Siri, even on a locked screen.
Apple first quarter results conference call webcast or dial-in info
Here’s how to listen to or watch Apple’s FY15Q1 fiscal results conference call.
Apple’s original Apple Watch
Twenty years ago, Apple introduced the Apple Watch.
Apple’s forking brands and incredibly efficient ad spending
Writing for Monday Note, Jean-Louis Gassée discusses Apple’s brand-forking strategy when it comes to Beats, as well as Apple’s incredible ad efficiency numbers.
Help return a lost iPhone with Siri
Good tip from OSXDaily.
Leatherman should bring this new bracelet to the Apple Watch
Dave Aiello spotted this new bracelet from Leatherman, makes the pitch that Leatherman should turn this into a watchband for the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch battery life
9to5mac reports on rumored battery life for the Apple Watch.
Latest iPhone 6 to 6 Plus sales ratio numbers for China and the US
The latest numbers showing relative sales of the iPhone 6 versus the 6 Plus.
iTunes features that have been retired
Kirk McElhearn walks us through some iTunes features that have since been retired.
The Apple Watch and staged notifications
Rene Ritchie, writing about the process of receiving a notification on the iWatch. Apple, per usual, gets it spot on right.
Be My Eyes – An app that lets you help a blind person
Be My Eyes pairs visually impaired and sighted people in video link sessions that let the sighted person help sort out a specific problem.
Watch the video below. Brilliant.
A collection of About Boxes from vintage Mac applications
These really take me back. Nicely put together.
Android Lollipop adoption rate is too small to appear on Google’s distribution chart
Google, like Apple, posts their OS adoption rates. Here’s how Lollipop (Android 5.0) is faring.
On multi-user access to your iOS device
Have you ever wanted to share your iPhone or iPad with someone else? If you share your Mac with someone, you can each have your own account. OS X is designed for multiple users. But iOS is not.
Here’s an idea for a short term fix.
The architecture of an Apple Watch extension
Curt Clifton from Omni Group gave a talk on developing for Apple Watch. Even if you are not a developer, there’s lots to learn here.
How your favorite apps might look on the Apple Watch
This is a really well done piece with some thoughtful Apple Watch mockups for Uber, Foursquare, Instagram, and others.
Here come the Apple Watch ads
Wall Street Journal:
Early this month, mobile ad exchange TapSense announced a product it said will allow marketers to place ads in applications created for the Apple Watch by third-party developers.
Winter is coming.
Bringing audio source switching to the menu bar
Nice tip from Peter Cohen shows you how to bring your volume control to the menu bar and, more importantly, switch between audio inputs with a single click.
A car key embedded in your watch
Imagine if a standard emerged that allowed Apple to embed your specific car key in your iPhone and Apple Watch.
Apple patents next generation, GoPro-like wearable camera
Yesterday, Apple was granted a patent for a Digital camera system having remote control. GoPro stock drops about 15%.