Enter our new international giveaway for a chance to win the brand new iPhone 16 Pro.
Kindle vs Apple Books on iPad Mini
I’ve long enjoyed reading on a Kindle (I have a PaperWhite model). I find the e-ink display a nice break from the usual screen I use. However, when 9to5 Mac‘s Bradley Chambers moved away from the Amazon device, he began reading on the iPad Mini, and soon decided Apple Books was the best service for him.
Once I sold my Kindle Oasis, I decided that the iPad mini would be the best device for reading books from Apple Books. While it’s more expensive than the 7th generation iPad, in the long run, it’ll be a more comfortable device to hold for reading. One thing I quickly noticed was that Apple Books has audiobooks built right into the app. With Kindle on iOS, you generally use the Audible app. I expected Apple’s audiobooks to be very expensive as I remembered from a few years back, but to my surprise, they were all in line with Audible’s pricing.
Russia Implicated in BGP Hijacking Incident This Week
Russian telecom company Rostelecom is implicated in a BGP hijacking incident which rerouted network traffic from Akamai, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and others.
BGP stands for the Border Gateway Protocol and is the de-facto system used to route internet traffic between internet networks across the globe…
BGPMon founder Andree Toonk is giving the Russian telco the benefit of the doubt. On Twitter, Toont said he believes the “hijack” happened after an internal Rostelecom traffic shaping system might have accidentally exposed the incorrect BGP routes on the public internet, rather than Rostelecom’s internal network…
But, as many internet experts have also pointed out in the past, it is possible to make an intentional BGP hijack appear as an accident, and nobody could tell the difference.
Totallee Launches UV Phone Sanitizer
Accessory maker totallee launched a UV phone sanitizer today, providing a safe, effective way to clean your phone without using harsh chemicals.
Store, Secure & Share Passwords/Logins Across Your Team with Zero-Knowledge Encryption: $29.99
We have a deal on a 1-year subscription to PassCamp password manager, a password manager aimed at teams. PassCamp password manager features zero-knowledge proof, end-to-end encryption and other security technologies intended to help you to safely keep and share sensitive information. A 1-year subscription to PassCamp is $29.99 through our deal.
Quibi Streaming Service Launches in the U.S.
Quibi, the short-episode, mobile-focussed, streaming service has launched in the U.S. offering a free 90-day trial.
New Listening Habits, Apple TV+ on Apple TV Apps – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-06
Dave Hamilton and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the trends in listening habits in the new age, and Apple’s (questionable) decisions about Apple TV+ within the Apple TV app.
Apple Acquires Irish AI Startup ‘Voysis’
Apple has acquired an AI startup called Voysis, which could be used to enhance Siri’s commerce capabilities.
Latest Version of macOS Catalina Causing System Crashes For Some Users
Some users are experiencing system crashes having updated to macOS Catalina 10.15.4. MacRumors reported that the issue mostly seems to arise when users are attempting to make large file transfers, although that’s not the only circumstances in which it happens.
The crashing issue appears to be most prominent when users attempt to make large file transfers… Other users on macOS 10.15.4 have experienced crashes after waking their Mac from sleep, with affected systems suffering a kernel panic and rebooting to the Apple logo, according to comments shared on the Apple Support Communities, MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and Twitter.
Behind the Scenes of 'Amazing Stories' on Apple TV+
A new video offers viewers a look at how Apple TV+ series Amazing Stories was made. In the clip, executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, who worked alongside original creator Stephen Spielberg, take us behind the scenes. You see scenes being shot and hear from some of the stars too. All episodes of the first seasons of the revamped Amazing Stories are available now to Apple TV+ subscribers.
Apple Producing Face Shields For Medical Workers Fighting COVID-19
Tim Cook has said that internal Apple teams and suppliers are working to design, produce, and distribute face shields for health care workers.
Fusion Drives and Folder Sharing – Mac Geek Gab 809
iCloud Folder Sharing works, and your two favorite geeks have tested it for you. Should you use your ISP’s mesh or your own? How about installing Catalina on a Fusion Drive? These questions answered, plus a LOT more. And John and Dave share your Cool Stuff Found, too. Press play and enjoy!
Amidst COVID-19, Disney+ Soars. Apple TV+ Not So Much
Analysis shows that Apple TV+ decisions about new content don’t seem to be resonating with viewers under lockdown.
Senators Question Tim Cook About Apple’s COVID-19 App
Several Democratic senators asked Tim Cook questions about the privacy of Apple’s newly released COVID-19 screening website and app.
Babbel Language Learning Lifetime Subscription (All Languages): $159
Have time on your hands to learn a new language or 14? We have a deal for you on a lifetime subscription for Babbel, the language learning software. With Babbel, you get to practice with 10-15 minute bite-sized lessons, and Babbel uses speech recognition technology to keep your pronunciation on point. And, it comes with 10,000 hours of online language education. A lifetime subscription is $159 through our deal, and it covers all 14 of their languages.
iPad at Ten Years On – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-03
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the iPad on the tenth anniversary of release. Looking back, and forward, at its impact and potential.
US Apple Store Closures to Remain Until Early May
According to a memo Apple sent to employees, it advised that retail store closures in the U.S. will remain until early May.
Deezer Data Reveals Need For Mood Music and Meditation
New data from Deezer revealed a growth in listening to radio, as well as mood music, and a shift in the types of devices used to stream audio.
Facebook Tried to Buy a Hacking Tool to Spy on iPhone Users
According to court filings, when Facebook was in the early stages of building its spyware VPN called Onavo Protect, it noticed that it wasn’t as effective on Apple devices as it was on Android. So Facebook approached a hacking group called NSO Group to use its Pegasus malware.
According to the court documents, it seems the Facebook representatives were not interested in buying parts of Pegasus as a hacking tool to remotely break into phones, but more as a way to more effectively monitor phones of users who had already installed Onavo.
How to Use iCloud Folder Sharing Across iOS and macOS
iOS 13.4 brought back iCloud Folder Sharing after Apple had removed it in a previous release. Here’s how to use it on iOS and macOS.
iPhone 8 Still Works After Two Months in The River Thames
A UK woman dropped her new iPhone 8 into the River Thames. Two months later she stumbled across it, the Mirror reported. After a spell in some dried rice, she and her fiance turned the iPhone 8 on… and it worked.
At two metres beneath the surface, the phone was difficult to reach so the pair returned home to look for something to retrieve it with. After looking on Amazon, the pair eventually decided to fashion a homemade fishing net by attaching a kitchen sieve to the end of a broom. They next day they returned to the site with the contraption and spent 40 minutes fighting against the current to reach the phone.
Apple Pays Hacker Who Found Seven Zero-Days $75,000
Apple paid hacker Ryan Pickren $75,000 via its bug bounty program (via Forbes). The former Amazon Web Services engineer found seven zero-day vulnerabilities and used three of them to hijack an iPhone’s camera.
During December 2019, Pickren decided to put the notion that “bug hunting is all about finding assumptions in software and violating those assumptions to see what happens” to the test. He opted to delve into Apple Safari for iOS and macOS, to “hammer the browser with obscure corner cases” until weird behavior was uncovered… To cut a very long and technical story short: Pickren found a total of seven zero-day vulnerabilities in Safari (CVE-2020-3852, CVE-2020-3864, CVE-2020-3865, CVE-2020-3885, CVE-2020-3887, CVE-2020-9784, & CVE-2020-9787) of which three could be used in the camera hacking kill chain.
![[UPDATE] Apple, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Laurene Powell Jobs Launch ‘America’s Food Fund’](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Americas-Food-Fund.webp)
[UPDATE] Apple, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Laurene Powell Jobs Launch 'America's Food Fund'
Apple joined Leonardo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs to launch America’s Food Fund, to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
iPad Pro Adds Mac-Like Microphone Disconnect Feature
MacBooks with a T2 Security Chip have their microphones disabled when the lid is closed. Now the iPad Pro 2020 models have the same feature.
Zoom’s Encryption is Linked to Chinese Servers
Researchers found that Zoom uses its own encryption scheme, sometimes using keys issued by China.
Some of the key management systems — 5 out of 73, in a Citizen Lab scan — seem to be located in China, with the rest in the United States. Interestingly, the Chinese servers are at least sometimes used for Zoom chats that have no nexus in China. The two Citizen Lab researchers, Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton, live in the United States and Canada. During a test call between the two, the shared meeting encryption key “was sent to one of the participants over TLS from a Zoom server apparently located in Beijing,” according to the report.
I don’t have further commentary on Zoom, other than asking, “How will this end?”