Apple CEO Tim Cook is part of President Trump’s committee advising on re-opening the economy following the coronavirus lockdown.
Eve 4.2 Update Improves Support for HomeKit Cameras
Version 4.2 of Eve’s app brings automatic syncing of Eve settings across your iOS devices, improved support for HomeKit cameras, redesigned appearance controls for your Rooms, and more. The company is also preparing for the release of Eve Cam which will starting shipping May 2020.
Eve Cam exclusively taps into HomeKit technology to deliver state-of-the-art privacy by design, with no parallel data sharing, no account or registration, and no tracking or profiling. And even when you’re at home and have disabled all video features, you can still use Eve Cam as a full-blown motion sensor to control your other HomeKit-enabled accessories.
App Store: Eve for HomeKit – Free
Portable Second Monitor for Your MacBook: $179.35
Our deal for the Mobile Pixels DUEX Pro portable dual monitor is back. This device is a portable monitor designed to be hung off the side of your MacBook or other laptop. It’s a 1080p resolution display, and it works through USB-C. It’s $249.99 through our deal, but coupon code SAVEDUEXPRO brings it down to $179.35 at checkout.
Insanely Cool Concept Shows Apple Card With AR Features
Volodymyr Kurbatov recently created a concept video for the Apple Card that imagines how it could work with augmented reality.
All GitHub Features are Now Free for Everyone
GitHub announced today that it’s making all of its core features free for everyone starting today. Here are the new changes.
How Apple and Google Apple Will Get us to Use COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Tech
One of the big discussions around Apple and Google’s partnership on COVID-19 contract-tracing apps is how they were actually going to get people to use them. Casey Newton of The Verge joined a call in which the firms explained that the important is the second phase – baking the technology into a device’s operating system so people don’t have to install a health authority app.
The companies said that by phase two of their effort, when contact tracing is enabled at the level of the operating system, they will notify people who have opted in to their potential exposure to COVID-19 even if they have not downloaded the relevant app from their public health authority. My understanding is that the operating system itself will alert people that they may have been exposed and direct them to download the relevant public health app. This is significant because it can be hard to get people to install software; Singapore saw only 12 percent adoption of its national contact-tracing app. Putting notifications at the system level represents a major step forward for this effort, even if still requires people to opt in.
Apple Releases Mobility Data, Replies to Senate – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-14
Andrew Orr and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Apple’s release of (anonymized) mobility data, and their reply to a Senate letter inquiring about the COVID-19 website.
Apple Making Mobility Data Available in Latest Coronavirus Fighting Effort
Apple is making aggregated navigation data from Apple Maps available to support public policymaking and help tackle the coronavirus.
WeChat Poses Threat to Apple in China
WeChat, a mix of a messaging, social media, and e-payment app from Tencent, seems to flout App Store rules. But it is so ubiquitous in China that Apple has to let this slide. AppleInsider, picking up on reporting from The Information, looked at the problems this could pose for Apple in the country.
WeChat itself is an app, but within it, users can open what maker Tencent calls mini-programs. Right from the start, it appears that Apple recognized the potential for mini-programs to offer App Store-style services without playing by App Store rules. According to The Information, a team from Tencent visited Apple around 2017 specifically to reassure Tim Cook that mini-programs were not apps. That mini-programs were not a threat. The argument then was that these mini-programs were limited in functionality and did not even attempt to compete with full-blown apps. Now, however, they do. Some mini-programs include live video streaming, and even augmented reality.
Zoom Account Credentials Are Being Sold Across Hacker Forums And The Dark Web
Credentials for at least half-a-million Zoom accounts have been sold across the dark web and hacker forums for negligible amounts of money.
Zoom: Don’t Want to Get Routed Through Chinese Servers? Fork Over Your Cash
One of Zoom’s controversies is how it routes some of its network traffic through China’s servers. If you’re privacy conscious, you can opt out of specific data center regions starting April 18. But this is only for paying customers.
This feature gives our customers more control over their data and their interaction with our global network when using Zoom’s industry-leading video communication services.
I can’t say I agree. It’s not about making privacy a paid feature, it’s that Zoom is exploiting its own insecurity to create a paid feature. Next step: Making end-to-end encryption a paid feature, and leaving free users to fend for themselves.
Two-And-a-Half Million iPhones Shipped in China in March
As retail outlets in China reopened, Apple shipped 2.5 million iPhones in the country in March – a three-fold increase from the month before.
As of HomePod OS 13.4, Apple’s Speaker Now Runs tvOS
As of the latest 13.4 software update, the HomePod runs tvOS, Apple’s operating system for its TV set box.
Novelist Christopher Moore - TMO BGM Interview
Christopher Moore is the author of 17 novels, including Lamb, Coyote Blue, The Serpent of Venice, The Stupidest Angel, and NOIR. Chris published his first novel, Practical Demonkeeping in 1992, and his latest novel, Shakespeare For Squirrels, will be released on May 12th.
We chatted at length about how Chris came to be a very successful novelist. I asked about the influence of author Harlan Ellison as well as his favorite and best selling novels. We explored his writing technique as we delved into two of my own favorite novels, The Stupidest Angel and NOIR. ( He writes on his Mac and uses Scrivener to outline and MS Word to compose. ) If you love Chris’s work, you’ll be entranced by his charming anecdotes in this stellar interview.
Apple Responds to Senator Questions About COVID-19 App
Several Democratic senators had sent a letter to Tim Cook, questioning the privacy and security of Apple’s COVID-19 app. Today we have Apple’s response.
UK Government Memo Discussed De-Anonymizing Contact Tracing App Users
On today’s episode of Daily Observations, we explained what contact tracing is. Now that I understand the technology, I’m okay with it at this early stage. But of course there are still privacy implications, this being one of them. The UK is planning to build an app that works with contact tracing, but a leaked memo shows a discussion about de-anonymizing users.
However, the memo stated that “more controversially” the app could use device IDs, which are unique to all smartphones, “to enable de-anonymisation if ministers judge that to be proportionate at some stage”. It did not say why ministers might want to identify app users, or under what circumstances doing so would be proportionate.
Stunning iPhone 12 Pro Concept Video Looks at What Could be on The Way
There have been loads of iPhone 12 rumors. What features will we see? When will we see it? Well, I don’t have the answer to those questions, but Donel Bagrov and Anton Panton have created a stunning concept video for an iPhone 12 Pro. The clip looks at what we might expect in the next generation of pro-level Apple smartphones. The concept includes things like a pro retina XDR display, an under display camera, the A14 Bionic 5nm chip, and reverse charging.
Quibi Got 1.7 Million Downloads in First Week
Mobile-focused streaming service Quibi was downloaded 1.7 million times in its first week, according to CEO Meg Whitman.
Apple Registers Coronavirus Domain Name
Apple has registered the domain AppleCoronavirus.com, although it is not currently pointing at a website.
Apple and Google Team Up, Contact Tracing – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-13
Andrew Orr and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Apple teaming up with Google on new technology for contact tracing, what exactly contact tracing entails, and what sorts of questions come up as a result.
SaniCharge Phone UV Sanitizer: $37.99
We have a deal on another smartphone UV sanitizer called SaniCharge. This device fits Apple iPhone 11 Pro, X, Xs, and 8 Plus, as well as Google Pixel 2 XL, or Samsung Galaxy S10 Note 9 if Android is your thing. It will sanitize your keys, earbuds, jewelry, and anything else that fits. This device is #37.99 through our deal.
The Best Documentaries and Dramas About Apple to Watch While Self-Isolating
We all have a bit more time on our hands to sit and watch films. AppleInsider has compiled a nice list of some of the best ones about Apple.
If there is a movie or feature-length documentary about Apple that is entirely, completely accurate, then still someone depicted will say it isn’t. There’s a lot of ego involved in the history of Apple, but then that’s part of why there is so much drama in it. Maybe you could make a drama out of any company’s history, but it has to be a very special corporation before anyone would watch it. Since movie makers are as aware of the interest in Apple as anyone else, though, there are a lot —a lot —of very poor documentary films attempting to catch your eye. We watched so you don’t have to: here are the movies about Apple that are more than worth your time.
iPhone 12 Could Have Flat, Stainless Steel Design
A report today suggests that the iPhone 12 could have a flat design similar to the iPhone 5 with stainless steel edges.
App Sale: EXIF Viewer by Fluntro is Currently Free
Normally US$2.99, EXIF Viewer by Fluntro is free right now. As the name suggests it lets you view the EXIF metadata of photos, which can include location, time stamp, device model, and more. You can delete the metadata using the app as well, which is useful if you don’t want websites like Facebook to read your location from the photo. Most importantly you can bulk edit metadata if you’re working with multiple photos.