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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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Snapchat Competes With TikTok and Launches ‘Sounds’

Andrew Orr ·

Snapchat launched a new feature on Thursday called Sounds. It lets users add song clips to their snaps and stories, and it’s currently only available in the iOS app.

With Sounds on Snapchat, users of the iOS app worldwide can add music to their Snaps (pre- or post-capture) from a curated catalog of music. Snapchatters can add music before recording video by selecting the Sounds tool (with the music notes icon) on the right-hand side of the Camera screen and choosing a track from the Featured Sounds list. Alternately, they can select a track from the Sounds tool after taking a Snap.

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Snapchat Rolls out Lens Studio Update for iPhone 12 LiDAR Lenses

Andrew Orr ·

Snap, Inc. has updated its Lens Studio tool to let people make LiDAR lenses for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. It will bring a better AR experience for Snapchat users.

Version 3.2 of Lens Studio includes an interactive preview mode to provide an idea of how the LiDAR lenses work, even before the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max start shipping. Creators can also preview their LiDAR lenses in the Snapchat app if they have the most recent iPad Pro.

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Barnes & Noble Hack Revealed in Emails to Customers

Andrew Orr ·

A Barnes & Noble hack occurred on Saturday, October 10, customers learned in an email from the retailer. Data that was accessible included email addresses, billing/shipping addresses, and telephone number. Financial data like credit cards were safely encrypted.

According to Barnes & Noble’s Nook Twitter account, a “system failure” was responsible for the service interruption for Nook owners. The firm said it was “working urgently to get all NOOK services back to full operation. Unfortunately it has taken longer than anticipated, and we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and frustration.”

This Tool Compares the iPhone 12 Size With Your Current Phone
Cool Stuff Found

This Tool Compares the iPhone 12 Size With Your Current Phone

Andrew Orr ·

On Tuesday Charlotte Henry shared Apple’s comparison tool so you can quickly compare the specifications of different iPhones. Recently I found a helpful tool called Phone Sized that compares different phone sizes and tablets. Whether you’re switching to an iPhone or from an iPhone, Phone Sized gives you an idea of what size difference you can expect. “There is an option to add a credit card image which you can enlarge to match your credit card, which they will resize the other images so they will be presented in their real-life size.”

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Sony PS4 Update Will Monitor Your Party Chats

Andrew Orr ·

In a 8.00 PS4 update today, players must agree to have their voice chats monitored for moderation purposes. It’s a gross breach of privacy and fans are understandably upset.

Fans noticed that upon downloading PS4 update 8.00, they were greeted by a message telling them that voice chats can now be recorded and subject to moderation. Not only that, but anyone that uses the PS4 party chat system has to agree to their voice being recorded.

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Magnetic iPhone 12-Compatible PopSockets are Coming

Andrew Orr ·

Magnetic iPhone 12-compatible PopSockets are coming in the future that won’t require you to stick it on with adhesive.

Conversely, it could open PopSockets to more competition in the accessories market, as companies won’t have to out-engineer the Grips and their patent-protected technology. Instead, rivals could simply expand their existing product lines with MagSafe-compatible items for an upcharge and increase their revenues.

PopSockets says it has MagSafe products in development, but isn’t announcing details at this time.

I thought these might show up. I look forward to seeing other MagSafe accessories (I like Apple’s wallet).

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Pandora Will be Available on HomePod, HomePod mini

Andrew Orr ·

As we saw during Apple’s virtual keynote on Tuesday, Pandora joins other services by coming to the HomePod and HomePod mini.

With Pandora on HomePod, users will be able to easily play their favorite Pandora content and control their listening experience hands-free by using simple Siri voice commands, such as:

“Hey Siri, play some relaxing music on Pandora.”

“Hey Siri, play the Sway’s Interviews podcast on Pandora.”

Pandora will be available on Apple HomePod soon. Once available, users will be able to enable Pandora listening directly from HomePod by tapping this link via their iOS device

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Jordan Geary and Cody Talk ‘Helpsters’ Season 2

Andrew Orr ·

Sesame Workshop producer Jordan Geary and Cody the Helpster (puppeteer Stephanie D’Abruzz) talk about “Helpsters” season 2 and the overall goals of the show. New episodes arrive October 16.

Apple is just where storytellers go to tell their stories. And at Sesame Workshop, we pride ourselves on being the leading educational entertainment company for kids. When were talking about what we would like to do together, the biggest thing everyone kept on saying is, “We want to help people. We want to help kids.” What kind of content can we make that can help kids? Well, why don’t we just have a team of monsters called the Helpsters, and all they do is help people?

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Spotify Limits Music Transfer App ‘SongShift’ for its Platform

Andrew Orr ·

SongShift is an app that helps you transfer your songs between different streaming services. But Spotify is putting its foot down. Users can transfer songs from other services to Spotify, but not transfer them out of Spotify.

To continue to provide some level of support for Spotify, we’ll still be supporting transferring from other services to Spotify. We will continue to roll out planned features for SongShift. Some quality of life improvements, some new supported services, and other things best left a surprise.

*Any new features will have the same limitation of not supporting transfers out of Spotify.

You’ve heard of Spotify, the company that criticizes Apple for alleged anti-competitive behavior.

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Apple’s Chip VP Tim Millet Talks About Designing the A14

Andrew Orr ·

Tim Millet, Apple’s VP of platform architecture, and Tom Boger, senior director of Mac and iPad product marketing, talk about designing the A14 used in the iPad Air and upcoming iPhone 12.

“One of the ways chip architects think about features is not necessarily directly mapping [transistors] to a user feature in the product so much as enabling the underlying technology, like software in the graphics stack to be able to leverage a new capability in the GPU,” Millet said. “That will inevitably come as a visual feature in a game, or in a snappy transition in the user interface.”

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ARTBAT Drops ‘One Mix’ Exclusively on Apple Music

Andrew Orr ·

Ukrainian duo ARTBAT have recently released their hour-long One Mix and it’s exclusive to Apple Music.

This exclusive new mix features their trademark brand of melodic, emotive and atmospheric techno and comes hot on the heels of their massive No.1 track ‘Best Of Me‘ featuring Sailor & I on Metaphysical.

That tune is their third Beatport main chart No.1 in a row following the massive CamelPhat collaboration ‘For A Feeling‘ and their excellent ‘Keep Control‘ remix.

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Here’s Why the iPhone 12 Could Have a Smaller Notch

Andrew Orr ·

Spotted by @AppleSWUpdates and enhanced by 9To5Mac, design assets were found on the iCloud website that shows a newer iPhone with a slightly smaller notch. It’s not much but it’s noticeable.

These, of course, might also be placeholders to hide the official icons until tomorrow’s event. But the icons are identified as “iPhone13, x” which confirms that they were uploaded to represent iPhone 12, since iPhone 11 is internally identified as “iPhone12, x.”