I previously reported that Apple was attempting to stop the distribution of a book by a former German App Store manager, which purports to ‘tell-all’ about life at the company. Reuters offers more details about the row, and the legal arguments being made by both sides. The information largely comes courtesy of a letter by Ralph Oliver Graef, publisher Murmann’s lawyer.

“Apple is trying to obstruct the publication of a book that addresses its business practices, but is written very sympathetically,” Graef said. Murmann said a first print run of 4,000 copies was selling well and, rather than pulling the book, it was rushing out a second print run. “It’s No. 2 on the Amazon best-seller list in Germany – everyone is talking about it,” said Peter Felixberger, an executive at Murmann.

This week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced he was donating $10 billion to help fight climate change. Wired science editor Matt Reynold’s suggests he might want to look closer to home if he’s serious about making a difference.

While Bezos has – belatedly – stepped-up to the plate with big gestures of climate support, this shouldn’t distract from the more mundane ways that Amazon continues to avoid its climate responsibility. A 2019 investigation from Greenpeace found that in Virginia – where Amazon houses the core of its cloud infrastructure – the firm’s data centres were powered by only 12 per cent renewable energy.

iOS is adware for Apple’s services, according to Tumblr software engineer Steve Streza. William Gallagher of AppleInsider, does not agree, at least for now.

The key part though, is in the argument that iOS is nothing more than adware. The argument turns on the words “nothing more,” and it turns both ways. On the pro-Apple side, “nothing more” is practically an insult because iOS is so very much more than an advert platform. However, on the anti-Apple side, disputing the phrase “nothing more” means accepting that iOS is at least a little like adware. But we are in a world where waiting 6 seconds before we can skip a YouTube ad feels a long time. And speaking of which, you try persuading YouTube that you will never want its Music service, or that you’re fine without music continuing after you’e left a tab. Apple is doing what you would, too, and it’s probably doing what it must. That doesn’t mean we have to like it, but the notion that everything is over, iOS is just adware now, is pointless hyperbole.

Future versions of the Apple Pencil may include a haptic system that will monitor the user’s grip. That’s according to AppleInsider, who noticed a recently granted patent.

In a patent granted by the USPTO to Apple on Tuesday titled “Touch-based input device with haptic feedback,” the filing details how a system could be used to perform two jobs: providing haptic feedback to the user, while also being able to read force measurements from the user’s grip. Apple’s proposal involves the use of a piezoelectric device attached to the inside of the housing, one that would be connected to the user grip region of the housing. The grip section would be deformable, both inwards and outwards, allowing it to be used for providing information to the user as well as taking in grip data. The piezoelectric device would theoretically push out the housing in the grip region when it needs to alert the user via haptic feedback.

A mother in Oklahoma says that an Apple Watch saved her 13-year-old son’s life, 9to5 Mac reported. It adds to the growing collection of stories whereby the wearable has helped people by highlighting major health issues.

13-year-old Skylar Joslin was sitting in class when his Apple Watch detected a heart of 190 beats-per-minute. Local news outlet KFOR tells the story: Skylar was sitting in class in April of 2018, when he got an alarming notification on his two-week-old Apple Watch. “I got a text message along with a screenshot of his heart rate that was 190,” said Skylar’s mom Liz. “The following message saying, ‘Mommy, there’s something wrong. I’m not doing anything.’” Liz then came and picked up Skylar from school and took him to the emergency room — his heart rate peaked at 202 bpm during the drive and as high as 280 bpm at the hospital. Doctors then diagnosed Skylar with supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, which is a disease that forces the heart to speed up. Skylar then underwent a seven and a half hour cardiac ablation to help fix his heart’s rhythm.

Rumors began recently that Apple was set to release so-called “AirPod Pro Lite” headphones in the not too distant future. However, their launch could be delayed. MacRumors picked up on a report from DigiTimes that suggested production is unlikely to start in the second quarter of 2020.

While we still don’t have a full picture of what to expect with these upcoming earphones, DigiTimes today published another short paywalled blurb specifically describing ‌AirPods Pro‌ Lite as an “entry-level version of Apple’s ‌AirPods Pro‌ series” and saying that production will not kick off in the second quarter of this year as originally planned. Production of the ‌AirPods Pro‌ Lite, an entry-level version of Apple’s ‌AirPods Pro‌ series, is unlikely to kick off in the second quarter as originally planned, according to industry sources.

Pandora users Apple Watch can now stream music and podcasts directly from the wearable device, without needing their iPhone. It became a standalone app via an update on Thursday, AppleInsider reported.

Pandora’s official update reads, “Leave the phone at home and bring all of your listening with you thanks to our updated Apple Watch app. Now you can stream your favorite music and podcasts, straight from your wrist – no phone required.” Other services, like Apple Music, need users to pre-load music on an Apple Watch for a run or other exercise, when the iPhone isn’t in range. The feature requires the watch in question to be running watchOS 6 or greater.

Apple Shipped 2.6 Million HomePods during the last three months of 2019. That is a long way behind its competitors, especially Amazon. David Watkins, director at Strategy Analytics, told Cult of Mac why he thinks that is.

“The price is still very high…That closes the door to a huge swathe of potential customers.” “I think there’s also a reasonable amount of consumer skepticism over the usefulness of Siri as a voice platform,” Watkins continued. “Amazon and Google have done an amazing job of building out their ecosystem around Alexa and Google Assistant, in partnership with so many smart home companies. Apple doesn’t have that strength of ecosystem around Siri.”