We finally have the winner of our iPhone 16 Pro international giveaway! Congratulations to Oliver T., and a huge thank you to everyone who participated.
Apple Silicon Ruminations – TMO Daily Observations 2020-08-31
John Martellaro and Jeff Butts join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the transition to Apple Silicon and what we might learn from Apple history.
Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special Coming to Apple TV+
Apple announced on Monday that “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” is coming to Apple TV+ this holiday season.
Researchers Find Critical Slack Bug
A critical bug found in Slack could allow an attacker access to users’ private channels and conversations. Threatpost broke down the details of the flaw in the popular messaging and collaboration app.
To exploit the bug, attackers would need to upload a file to their own HTTPS-enabled server with a payload; then, they could prepare a Slack post with an HTML injection containing the attack URL pointing to that payload (hidden in an image). After that, they need only to share that post with a public Slack channel or user. If a user clicks on the booby-trapped image, the code will be executed on the victim’s machine. As for accomplishing the HTML injection, the issue lies in the way Slack posts are created, according to the researcher. “[Creating a post] creates a new file on https://files.slack.com with [a specific] JSON structure,” according to the writeup. “It’s possible to directly edit this JSON structure, which can contain arbitrary HTML.”
Apple Silicon Might Mean Major Mac Mini Improvements
The first Apple Silicon devices are imminent, but we’re still waiting to really see what it all means in reality. Rene Ritchie at iMore thinks the Mac mini could benefit from the shift away from Intel. I certainly hope so!
My biggest hope with Apple Silicon is that we start getting Mac mini updates every 12-18 months, just like iPad Pro updates. Whatever the next-generation equivalent to the AX-Series for iPads is, put it in the Mac version of that. 14X, 15X, 16, and on. Other than that, I expect we’ll see the same type of improvements from Apple Silicon in the Mac mini they we’d see from Apple Silicon in the MacBook Air — way better performance, especially for graphics, and especially for anything and everything Apple includes custom accelerators for, like 4K and above video rendering, H.265 encode and decode, hypervisor acceleration for virtual machines, and a few other things to make developers and power users alike just smile just a little or a lot wider.
Apple’s Notarization Security Accidentally Approved ‘OSX.Shlayer’ Malware
Security researchers say they have found OSX.Shlayer malware disguised as an Adobe Flash installer and contained code notarized by Apple.
Files is One of The Most Relied Upon iOS Apps Around
For many of us organizing documents and the like on our iPhones is dull and something we’d rather the device did. As Bradley Chambers noted on 9to5Mac, the often overlooked Files app makes that possible.
Before the release of the Files app, I had my documents in separate buckets. I kept personal documents in iCloud Drive, shared folders in Dropbox, and work files in Google Drive since my school uses G Suite. After the Files app’s release with iOS 11, it became the app I used 99% of the time to search for and open files regardless of which cloud provider they were stored in. For people who live and breathe technology every day, I could generally tell you where my files are stored, but for people who see technology as a path to getting something done, trying to locate files is a chore. Thanks to Apple’s Document Provider API, the Files app becomes a centralized place to search for, manage, and open files.
First Apple Silicon MacBook Coming in 2020
If you’re anxiously awaiting the first Apple Silicon MacBook, your wait might only be until the end of the year.
Apple Opens App Review Process for Developers to Suggest Changes
Apple announced Monday that it has updated the app review process as announced at WWDC 2020, with a new way to suggest changes.
Apple to Ship 63-68 Million iPhone 12 Units in Second Half of 2020
Apple is set to ship between 63 and 68 million units of the expected iPhone 12 in the second half of 2020, according to Digitimes Research.
iOS 14: Classic iPod Music Quiz Set to Return
Good news for fans of Apple nostalgia – the Music Quiz game from Click Wheel era iPods looks set to return as a Shortcut in iOS 14.
Networking Fun and Naughty Macs — Mac Geek Gab 831
It’s time to get your geek on, and John and Dave are right there with you. Today your two favorite geeks dig into some networking issues, aiming to solve your problems, and help make sense of them so you understand even if you’re not a networking geek!
Of course, there’s plenty of time left for your Apple/Mac/iPhone questions, too. Press play and enjoy! And send your questions in to [email protected].
Glenn Fleishmann Introduces Free Book ‘Take Control of Zoom Essentials’
Glenn Fleishman has released a free version of his book called “Take Control of Zoom Essentials” as well as updated the paid version called “Take Control of Zoom”. Take Control shared the news in a blog post:
Yesterday, we released two Zoom-related books by Glenn Fleishman: a new, free book called Take Control of Zoom Essentials and a gigantic version 1.1 update to the comprehensive Take Control of Zoom. We know a lot of people are using Zoom for work and school, and we hope you find these books helpful.
Zoom usage has skyrocketed now that more people have been working and learning from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider these books to know everything you want to know about using the video sharing platform.
Mintegral Denies Malware Allegations
The software development company says the malware allegations against its advertising kit are false, and that even Apple agrees.
News Publishers Join Facebook in Worry Over iOS 14 Anti-Tracking Feature
Many news publishers are joining Facebook in worrying about an iOS 14 anti-tracking feature that could affect advertising.
Security Friday: Malware, Ad Tracking, also Bill and Ted – TMO Daily Observations 2020-08-28
Andrew Orr joins host Kelly Guimont for the latest Security Friday news from ad network hijacking to Facebook (with a side of Bill and Ted).
How Scribble and Smart Selection Improve Apple Pencil
Two of the features I’m really looking forward to with iPadOS 14 are Scribble and Smart Selection. They are designed for the Apple Pencil, but the Logitech Crayon (which I have,) will support Scribble too. Cult of Mac has a good rundown of how they help improve productivity.
With iPad, Scribble allows you to write with the Apple Pencil in text-entry fields all over iPad. Whether it’s in the search bar of Safari, an iMessage conversation or the Spotlight search box, Scribble lets you enter text with your handwriting… The second huge improvement to Apple Pencil is Smart Selection in the Notes app. This feature allows you to take fully handwritten notes, and keep them in their original handwritten form, but easily share them as text by highlighting and sharing the “text.”
Apple Silicon : Power PC to Intel Transition Gives us Timeline Hints
We’re at the start of the Intel to Apple Silicon transition. William Gallagher at AppleInsider has an editorial on how previous Apple processor transitions can give us some indication release dates.
That new Intel Mac was released 43 days after Apple Silicon was announced. For comparison, the first PowerPC Mac to come out after the Intel announcement was the Power Mac G5 dual core 135 days later. You can argue that this is one measure of how different Apple is today, that it’s got the resources to move quicker. What you can’t argue, though, is what happened next. “We’ve got some great PowerPC products still to come,” repeated Jobs during the 2005 transition announcement. But they hadn’t. That Power Mac G5 dual core was the last PowerPC Mac to be released and the sole one to come out during that transition. We’re not saying Jobs lied and we’re definitely not saying Cook did, but both men unquestionably knew what they needed to say — because of the Osbourne effect. Apple today isn’t going to fall over if everyone stops buying Macs while they wait for Apple Silicon, but it was different in 2005.
Epic Blames Apple For Latest Version of Fortnite Not Being Available
Epic Games has continued its PR campaign against Apple, emailing Fortnite players blaming the company for updates no longer being available.
Tim Cook Backs Sports Boycott After Jacob Blake Shooting
Tim Cook said “we stand with those who refuse to accept the status quo,” backing basketball players who refused to take the court this week.
Apple AI/ML Residency Program Invites Experts to Collaborate
Apple has launched an AI/ML residency program that invites experts to build machine learning and AI powered products and experiences.
Apple TV+ Film 'On The Rocks' to Premiere at New York Film Festival
Apple TV+ movie ‘On The Rocks’, from Sofia Coppola and starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones, will premiere a the New York Film Festival.
Apple, Google Blocked Facebook Update With Message About App Store Fees
Facebook revealed on Thursday that Apple blocked an update to its app that displayed a message to users about App Store fees.
US Teen Wrote 27,000 Wikipedia Entries in Language he Doesn’t Speak
Consider this filed under “wacky Friday news”. A teenager in the U.S. created or edited 49% of the Scots language Wikipedia, despite having no understanding of the language.
[…] Michael Dempster, the director of the Scots Language Centre based in Perth, takes a more ameliorative approach and says he is now in conversation with the Wikimedia Foundation about the prospect of properly re-editing the teenager’s contributions.
“We know that this kid has put in an incredible amount of work, and he has created an editable infrastructure. It’s a great resource but it needs people who are literate in Scots to edit it now. It has the potential to be a great online focus for the language in the future.”
macOS Troubleshooting Checklist Part II
Dr. Mac is back with more things to try when good Macs go bad…