Let’s say you followed my advice and calibrated your Apple Watch for better step count and distance accuracy, but something went wonky now it’s wrong again. That’s an easy fix, and a great excuse to get outside to walk some more. Read on to learn how to reset your Apple Watch fitness tracking calibration.
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TMO's Jeff Gamet Talks iOS 10, macOS Sierra at MacinTech Tuesday Oct 11
The Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, Jeff Gamet, will be speaking at Denver’s MacinTech Macintosh User Group on Tuesday evening, October 11th, in Centennial, Colorado. Jeff will be diving into iOS 10 for the iPhone and iPad, along with macOS Sierra.
UK Prime Minister Bans Apple Watch from Cabinet Meetings
Wearing your Apple Watch to a UK Cabinet meeting is off the table over concerns Russians are hacking smartwatches to spy on foreign governments. The ban comes from UK Prime Minister Theresa May who is extending the scope of the smartphone ban put in place by her predecessor David Cameron, and most likely has banned other smartwatches, too.
Samsung Has to Pay $120M for Apple's Unlock Patent After All
Samsung’s on-again-off-again fine for infringing on Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent is back on again. A U.S. Federal Appeals Court overturned its own ruling on Friday that Samsung didn’t have to pay the fine, so now the smartphone maker owes Apple US$119.6 million for infringing on the unlock and autocorrect-related patents.
TMO's Apple AirPods Earbud Alternatives Roundup
Apple’s AirPods wireless are set to ship some time in October, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait to get your hands on—or ears in—fully wireless earbuds. The Mac Observer found some options worth checking out, and they’re all available today.
Watch Out SoundCloud, Apple Music Just Got Remixes
SoundCloud is taking it on the chin because one of its standout features, DJ song remixes, just came to Apple Music and Spotify. The first to hit Apple’s streaming music service is DJ Jazzy Jeff’s remix of Room in Here from Anderson .Paak, and as more remixes roll out music fans will have fewer reasons to use SoundCloud.
Fujitsu Begins ScanSnap Fixes for macOS Sierra
Fujitsu announced a schedule for ScanSnap updates to correct issues in macOS Sierra. The company has been dealing with compatibility problems that threatened PDF content for Apple’s newest Mac operating system. Futjitsu pushed updates to some users on Thursday and unveiled a schedule for other devices later in October.
Facebook Messenger vs Apple Messages Encryption: Which is Better?
Facebook’s Messenger private chat feature now supports end-to-end encryption, much like Apple’s own Messages app. That said, there are differences in how the two handle keeping our chats private.
PDFpen Adds macOS Sierra Tabbed Window Support, More
Smile’s PDFpen and PDFpen Pro just got updates to version 8.2 that add support for macOS Sierra’s tabbed window feature. The update also adds iCloud file sync support for users for all users—a feature that previously was available only if you purchased PDFpen through Apple’s Mac App Store.
Siri Turns 5 Years Old, Feel Free to Sing to Her
Siri turned five years old Tuesday, having been launched on October 4th, 2011. She’s changed a lot in that time, grown up a bit. But she’s not too old to appreciate us singing to her.
New Apple Touch ID Patent Hints at iPhone Home Button's Demise
A just published Apple patent shows Touch ID sensors embedded throughout a device display, which means iPhone and iPad users could potentially touch anywhere on their screen to unlock with their finger print. Touch to unlock is currently a Home button feature, but if this patent finds its way into shipping products, it could be the demise for our little clickable friend.
macOS Sierra Now Auto-downloading, but not Auto-installing
If you haven’t upgraded to macOS Sierra yet, get ready for Apple to push it to your Mac automatically. That doesn’t, however, mean Apple is forcing you to upgrade because the automatically downloaded update isn’t auto-installing.
Apple Bumps Q4 Earnings Announcement and Call to Tuesday, October 25th
Apple announced Monday that it was rescheduling its fiscal fourth quarter earnings report and call to Tuesday, October 25th. The company cited an unspecified “scheduling conflict.” The call was originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 26th.
VirnetX Scores $302.4M Win from Apple in Patent Trial
The third time is a charm for VirnetX and its ongoing patent infringement lawsuit fight with Apple because a Tyler, Texas, Federal Court jury ruled the iPhone and iPad maker owes the company US$302.4 million. The patents in question cover secure communication and FaceTime, and now the case will head to the Appeals Court where VirnetX may have a harder time convincing a judge to let it keep the money.
CW Shows Come to Apple TV, No Cable Subscription Required
The CW made good on its promise to bring shows like Supergirl, The Flash, and iZombie to Apple TV for free. The network’s Apple TV app is available now, and doesn’t require a cable or satellite subscription to watch, or need any sort of login.
New Retina MacBook Pro Models Expected in October
That new MacBook Pro you’ve been holding out for may finally be only a few weeks away. A new report claims Apple plans to release updated models in the second half of October.
Fujitsu Plans ScanSnap Fix for Sierra by Middle October
Futjitsu issued another update for ScanSnap customers and macOS 10.12 Sierra. The company narrowed down the circumstances and features of ScanSnap that cause a problem in Sierra to three (below). More importantly, Fujitsu said, “A fix for the above problems is expected to be made available in the middle of October, 2016.”
ScanSnap on Sierra Update: Fujitsu Warns of Data Loss In 'Specific Circumstances'
Fujitsu updated ScanSnap users Friday on Sierra compatibility, warning of data loss in “specific circumstances.” This is an escalation from an earlier advisory that ScanSnap users should not update to macOS 10.12 Sierra.
iOS 10: How to Optimize Downloaded Music Storage
One of the many new features in iOS 10 is the ability to “Optimize Storage” of the locally-cached data from your iCloud Music Library. When turned on by the user, this feature instructs your iPhone or iPad to remove local copies of your music if your device gets low on storage space. Don’t worry, only the local copies of those songs are removed. They still remain in the cloud.
iOS 10.0.2 Fixes Headphone Audio Controls, More
Apple released iOS 10.0.2 Friday. The headline feature is a fix for an issue that kept some headphone audio controls from working. A Photos bug was also fixed, as well as a problem with app extensions.
TASCAM Users: Don't Upgrade to macOS Sierra Yet
As has become unfortunately typical from TASCAM, macOS Sierra-compatible drivers for much of their audio hardware are not yet available. Previous years have seen a three-to-six month wait after the release of each new build of OS X for TASCAM to finally put out even preliminary public beta drivers.
TL;DR: if you use TASCAM audio hardware, don’t upgrade to macOS Sierra yet. Check back around Christmas. Maybe.
Snapping Raw Photos in iOS 10: What You Need to Know
One of the cool new features Apple added with iOS 10 is support for capturing photos as Raw files—a favorite for photographers who want total control over their images. Snapping Raw photos isn’t as simple as flipping a switch on your iPhone, but it doesn’t have to be complicated, either. Read on to get up to speed on iOS 10’s Raw image support.
Apple Releases Safari 10 for OS X El Capitan and Yosemite
Apple released Safari 10 for OS X El Capitan and Yosemite on Tuesday. The release was timed with the release of macOS Sierra, and it includes several new features, as well as 21 security fixes. Bryan Chaffin explains what’s what.
Apple Ships macOS Sierra
Apple released macOS Sierra on Tuesday. The successor to OS X El Capitan, Sierra brings Universal Clipboard, iCloud Desktop and Documents, Auto Unlock and Apple Pay to the Mac. It also features Siri integration, as well as other improvements. The update is free.