Those lucky few iPhone users grandfathered into AT&T’s unlimited data plans will see a monthly rate increase starting next month. A support article on AT&T’s website informs subscribers that, starting in July, the monthly rate will increase to $45, up from the current $40.
Jim Tanous
Articles by Jim Tanous
This $2 App Brings Amazon Alexa to Your Apple Watch...Sort Of
An Apple Watch app called Voice in a Can is seeking to satisfy the desires of those who love Apple hardware but rely on Amazon Alexa for its home automation capabilities. As a standalone app, Voice in a Can runs entirely on the Apple Watch without needing to pair with the iPhone. With just a Wi-Fi or LTE connection you ask Alexa to control your home lights, unlock the door, or set your thermostat. However, since Apple prevents third party apps from replacing Siri, you can’t use Voice in a Can to have Alexa make calls or control the audio playback on your watch. It’s by no means a perfect solution, but it’s the best Alexa users have thus far until Amazon and Apple work out an official solution. Grab it now on the App Store for $1.99.
The Awesome Insanity of Rackmounting the iMac Pro
Do you have a powerful new iMac Pro? If so, do you want to rackmount it? No, of course you don’t, because that would be bananapants crazy. But there’s at least one company that has need for such a monstrosity: MacStadium, the Mac-based hosting provider. Spotted by Zac Cichy on Twitter, the iMac Pro rack lets MacStadium offer remote access to the powerful capabilities of Apple’s newest Mac in a way that fits their existing equipment infrastructure. Of course, this isn’t the first time that a company has laughed in the face of Apple’s mission to destroy industry standard form factors.
New Class Action Lawsuit Claims All Apple Watch Models Have Defective Screen Design
A new class action lawsuit has been filed against Apple alleging the existence of a defect in all Apple Watch models that causes the display to crack, shatter, or detach from the watch body, and further claims that Apple knew about the issue from the start.
Apple Maps Now Embeddable on the Web With MapKit JS Beta
Apple is expanding the use of Apple Maps on the web with the release of the MapKit JS API to developers. With access to this API, developers can embed interactive Apple Maps directly into their websites and web applications.
Safari Technology Preview 58 Introduces Icons in Tabs, Strong Password Generation
The Safari 12 features Apple announced at WWDC, including favicons and strong password generation, are now available in Safari Technology Preview 58 for both macOS Mojave and macOS High Sierra.
Apple Orders Dramedy 'Little Voices' Produced by J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles
Apple is continuing to expand its catalog of original TV shows by ordering a new dramedy called ‘Little Voices’ from producers J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles. The music-heavy show will focus on 20-somethings finding their way in New York City.
The First Investors Summit Dedicated to Long-Term AAPL Investors
Are you long on AAPL? Hate how the mainstream market analysts never seem to “get it?” Well, then be sure to check out the first annual Apple Summit, a first-of-its-kind investor summit dedicated to long-term investors in Apple.
Quickly Change Between Light and Dark Mode in macOS With a Custom AppleScript App
It’s easy enough to change between light and dark modes in recent versions of macOS, but you still need to waste a few clicks heading to System Preferences. For those who want to change modes frequently, here’s how to build an AppleScript app that can do it with a single click!
iOS 12 Adds a Thesaurus to the Word Look Up Feature
iOS 12 includes the ability to add a thesaurus alongside your dictionary definitions when using the “Look Up” feature to examine a word. This is great because it, you know, helps you write good and stuff.
Apple Podcasts Now Hosts More Than 550,000 Active Shows, 18.5 Million Episodes
Apple this week announced that it now hosts more than 550,000 active podcasts with a total of 18.5 million episodes that have been downloaded or streamed 50 billion times.
iPhone Accessibility Feature 'Live Listen' to Support AirPods in iOS 12
An accessibility feature for the hearing impaired will receive a notable upgrade in iOS 12. “Live Listen,” a feature originally introduced in 2014 to enable hearing aid integration in iOS will soon be able to work with Apple’s AirPods in addition to MFi hearing aid devices.
Craig Federighi Doesn't See a Touchscreen Mac in the Future
Even though Apple announced that iOS apps will soon be ported to the Mac, Apple exec Craig Federighi doesn’t think that a touchscreen Mac makes sense, stating that the explosion of touchscreens in the Windows world may end up as a failed experiment.
Apple Pulls First watchOS 5 Beta After Installation Issues
Did you try to update your Apple Watch to the watchOS 5 beta last night but couldn’t find any available updates? You’re not going crazy. Apple late Tuesday quietly pulled the first watchOS 5 beta as large numbers of users began to report installation issues.
iOS 12 Wants to Help You Stop Taking Accidental Screenshots on Your iPhone
The use of the side and volume up buttons to take screenshots on the iPhone X results in many accidental screenshots due to their position on the sides of the device where users normally grab onto. Here’s how Apple is hoping to improve the iPhone screenshots experience in iOS 12.
This Dead Macintosh SE/30 is Transformed into a RetroPie Gaming Station
When reddit user EvilAlbinoid picked up an old Macintosh SE/30, he had hopes of restoring the little guy to its former glory. But when he discovered that the system was damaged beyond repair, he did the next best thing to restoring an old Mac: converting it into a RetroPie-based classic gaming system! Check out his Imgur album for the build process and final design, and stay tuned because his next project is to give his “Raspintosh” a battery for truly portable use!
Watch the WWDC 2018 Keynote On-Demand
If you missed the livestream yesterday and want to see all of Apple’s announcements for yourself, you can now watch the complete WWDC 2018 keynote on-demand over at Apple’s special events page. The keynote clocks in at 2 hours and 16 minutes, so make yourself comfortable.
Brace Yourselves, the iPad is Getting a Notch
The launch of iOS 12 beta this week indicates that we’ll see more than a simple performance upgrade to the iPad this year, with several changes pointing to a new design that looks a lot more like the iPhone X, including Face ID, no home button, and a notch.
Automatic System Updates Coming to iOS 12
Automatic updates may soon be available to iPhone and iPad users as part of iOS 12, enabling system and security updates to install without user intervention. But the risks of having your iPhone unexpectedly unavailable may mean that this will be an exclusively opt-in feature.
macOS Mojave Moves Software Updates From Mac App Store to System Preferences
Apple is splitting up system and app updates in macOS Mojave. Mojave’s new Mac App Store will display updates for apps only, while system and security updates will be available in a new pane in System Preferences, a change that mirrors how updates are handled in iOS.
Apple Updates App Store Review Guidelines to Address Steam Link, Cryptocurrencies, and Free Trials
Apple this week updated its App Store Review Guidelines to address recent questions about mirroring apps like Valve’s Steam Link, free trials for non-subscription apps, cryptocurrency mining, in-app ad behavior, and more.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Returns to Predict More Aggressive iPhone Pricing
After leaving KGI Securities, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is back to predict “more aggressive” iPhone pricing for the upcoming 2018 models. Kuo believes that Apple wants to reassure investors concerned with the iPhone X’s $1,000 base price, as well as make technologies like Face ID more accessible.
Leaks Show Dark Mode, Apple News App in macOS 10.14
Apple this weekend leaked a Mac App Store preview video of a new version of Xcode, which happened to also show off new features in the upcoming macOS 10.14 update, including a new dark mode, Mac App Store video previews, and a strong suggestion that the next version will be called macOS Mojave.
Apple Enabling Apple Music Web Player to Stream Full Tracks for Subscribers
Apple is launching web support for Apple Music, allowing users to play back full tracks without the need for iTunes or an iOS device. But it’s not yet clear if this feature will give subscribers full access to their libraries or simply allow the streaming of full tracks from preset embeddable widgets.