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Andrew Orr

Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.

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Articles by Andrew Orr

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Adobe Capture Adds Color Shapes and Pattern Builder

Andrew Orr ·

Adobe added two big features to the Adobe Capture app. Color Shapes lets you add colors vector shapes to a document in the app, then save to your Creative Cloud library. Pattern Builder lets you create patterns from those vector shapes in your library.

Capture in action. Use your mobile device to turn photos into color themes, patterns, type, materials, brushes, and shapes. Then find those assets in CC Libraries, located right in your favorite desktop and mobile apps — including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Dimension, XD, and Photoshop Sketch — to use them in all your creative projects.

Download the app here.

Logitech Offers 4K Magnetic Webcam for Pro Display XDR
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Logitech Offers 4K Magnetic Webcam for Pro Display XDR

Andrew Orr ·

Logitech created a 4K magnetic webcam specifically for Apple’s Pro Display XDR you can use with the 2019 Mac Pro. Apple didn’t include a webcam in the display, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It will be used in environments like music studios where people cover up the webcams anyway. But Logitech’s solution is elegant, with an anodized aluminum finish that won’t look out of place with on Apple device. The magnet is strong enough to stay on even if you put the XDR display in portrait mode, and the screen image will automatically rotate along with it. You can buy it for US$199.

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Apple Shares ‘Little America’ Trailer Coming to TV+

Andrew Orr ·

Premiering on January 17, 2020, Little America is an anthology series to share the true stories of immigrants. Apple shared a trailer for the series on its YouTube channel.

“Little America,” is written and executive produced by Lee Eisenberg (“The Office,” Good Boys), who serves as showrunner, and executive produced by Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, “Silicon Valley”), Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick), Alan Yang (“Master of None,” “Parks and Recreation”), Sian Heder (Tallulah, “Orange Is the New Black”), Joshuah Bearman (Argo), Joshua Davis (Spare Parts) and Arthur Spector (The Shack). Heder also serves as co-showrunner alongside Eisenberg.

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FBI Shares 7 Tech Tips to Keep You Safe

Andrew Orr ·

The FBI’s Oregon office shared seven tech tips to keep people safe over the holidays, like not letting devices auto-connect to free Wi-Fi. It’s well worth the read.

The kids are getting out of school this week and you are packing your bags for the big trip to the in-laws. Now is not the time you want to talk about cyber security, but we do have a few travel tips to keep you safe while you are on the go.

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An Interview With the COO of the Recently Acquired Private Internet Access VPN

Andrew Orr ·

Popular VPN Private Internet Access (PIA) was recently acquired by a company called KAPE, now called Private Internet. PIA COO did an interview.

Private Internet is positioned to lead the movement for a private and secure online experience for all. The internet as we now know it is a place where data is harvested and identities do not belong to the users but are traded by privileged few. Private Internet changes that. The new name also reflects the fact that we will now be offering four new privacy products to our product suite.

I’m interested, and wary, of the future of PIA. I’ve seen accusations of KAPE that include malware, but Mr. Sagi does say the app will be open-sourced. Although this quote sounds odd to me: “We’re building an internal roadmap to create a transparent and verifiable infrastructure, in which no one, including ourselves, is permitted access to the servers through which VPN traffic flows.” They had shown in court they can’t produce information regarding user data, so they already shouldn’t be able to access server traffic.

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MusicBot is the Shortcuts Companion to Apple Music

Andrew Orr ·

Federico Viticci recently announced his shortcut called MusicBot, which he says is the all-in-one assistant to Apple Music.

I created MusicBot for two reasons: I wanted to speed up common interactions with the Music app by using custom actions in the Shortcuts app; and I also wanted to build a series of “utilities” for Apple Music that could be bundled in a single, all-in-one shortcut instead of dozens of smaller, standalone ones.

I haven’t used this yet but Mr. Viticci is a master of shortcuts so I’m confident it’s a great tool to use.

Notability 9.2 Changes the Highlighter and Supports the Files App
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Notability 9.2 Changes the Highlighter and Supports the Files App

Andrew Orr ·

Notability 9.2 didn’t bring a lot of changes, but the changes it did bring are important. Here are three things that were changed: Highlighter color now appears more vivid and behind text, making the text pop; Added ability to identify and troubleshoot unsearchable notes that have not been indexed properly; Can now import documents from the Files app.

Notability is among the best note-taking apps for the iPad, especially if you like handwriting your notes with an Apple Pencil. This update should be a welcome one for users.

Twelve South Launches AirPods Pro Case ‘AirSnap Pro’
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Twelve South Launches AirPods Pro Case ‘AirSnap Pro’

Andrew Orr ·

Available for US$39.99, Twelve South announced pre-orders will begin for its AirPods Pro case called AirSnap Pro. It’s expected to start shipping the week of December 30, 2019. The case is made of leather and comes with a removable clip to attach it to your backpack, purse, or attack keys to it.

Meticulously made of premium top-grain leather, this little leather AirPods cocoon has a metal snap to keep the case closed and your expensive AirPods Pro Wireless Charger safely inside. AirSnap Pro gives you three ways to keep your coveted AirPods Pro within reach. Use the included S-clip to attach AirSnap Pro to a backpack, purse or keychain. Remove the S-clip and carry AirSnap Pro in your pocket. Or, use the included wrist strap to hold your AirPods Pro Wireless Charging Case on walks or runs.

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Facebook Thinks California Privacy Law Doesn’t Apply To It

Andrew Orr ·

The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) goes into effect January 1. Despite it being state-created it’s expected to affect all Americans. Some companies have been following Microsoft’s example and plan to voluntarily apply it to all states. Facebook however, disagrees (to no one’s surprise).

Facebook is taking a different tack for its web tracker, Pixel. Pixel’s name comes from its physical appearance on a website that installs it: literally, one square pixel. But behind that pixel is a code that that installs cookies on your browser, allowing it to track your activity across the internet.

Facebook provides this code to businesses free of charge, and those businesses can then purchase ads based off the information that Pixel collects…According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook will claim that it doesn’t sell the data that its web trackers collect; it simply provides a service to businesses and websites that install Pixel on their sites. Because of this, it believes its web trackers are exempt from CCPA’s regulations…

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VICE Tests Amazon Ring’s Security, and it’s Not Good

Andrew Orr ·

Journalists at VICE tested the security of Amazon Ring security cameras, and they call it “awful.”

Ring is not offering basic security precautions, such as double-checking whether someone logging in from an unknown IP address is the legitimate user, or providing a way to see how many users are currently logged in—entirely common security measures across a wealth of online services.

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Apple Removes ‘Rewound’ App That Made Your iPhone Look Like an iPod

Andrew Orr ·

Apple has removed the music app called Rewound that let people download skins to make the app look like old iPods.

To be fair, the iPod skins didn’t come pre-installed with the Rewound app—users had to download them separately once the app was installed. Though, you only have to look at tweets from users to see that the skins did in fact, look very much like the iPod Classic. However, Apple also reportedly took issue with the fact Rewound charged users for Apple Music features. Rewound says this was “less unreasonable” but noted that Apple had already approved in-app purchases before click wheel skins became popular.

”Less unreasonable.” I’d say that charging people for another company’s service is a big NO NO.

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Walt Mossberg Looks Back on a Decade of Tim Cook

Andrew Orr ·

Apple journalist Walt Mossberg looks back at the past decade of Apple and how it fares under the leadership of Tim Cook.

Apple remains what it has been for many years: the single most important consumer tech hardware company, a major force not only in its industry but in society at large. And now, it is huge and rich to boot. But it’s still unclear if it can be anybody’s favorite music provider, TV network, or news service.

Or if it can launch another blockbuster device.

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Camera+ 2 Adds 12 Features for the Holidays

Andrew Orr ·

Camera+ 2 is a good camera for iOS, and LateNiteSoft added 12 new features just in time for the holidays. Here’s one feature that I like:

Sometimes the mood just isn’t quite right, and a bit of lighting makes all the difference. Enter, torch mode. But sometimes that little light on your device is just too bright. We want mood not glare right? Well we’ve got mood to spare now that we’ve given you a wheel to customize the brightness of your torch anywhere between 10 and 100%. So whether you’re roasting chestnuts by the fire or skating in the park, you’ll always have perfect lighting.