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Andrew Orr

Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.

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Articles by Andrew Orr

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News+: What Kind of an iPad Homescreen Redesign Will iOS 13 Bring?

Andrew Orr ·

Writing for the Macworld magazine, Jason Snell shares some ideas for a rumored iPad homescreen redesign in iOS 13.

After more than a decade using more or less the same old app-launching interface Apple introduced with the original iPhone, it takes some effort to imagine how Apple could reinvent the concept of a home screen for the iPad. But reader, I’ve managed to make that effort. Here’s a look at some directions I hope Apple will go, assuming Gurman’s sources are right, when we first see this feature this summer.

One: I cannot wait for WWDC this year to see what iOS 13 brings. I hope the rumors are true that it will be an iPad-heavy release like iOS 11.

Two: This is the first of an occasional magazine article I’ll share as one of our Linked Teasers. Just a way to help people find cool content in Apple News+.

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Amazon Alexa HIPAA Skills Come to the Device

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon announced six Alexa HIPAA-compliant skills are coming today. They will be for patients and caregivers.

Now Atrium Health patients in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia can ask Alexa to schedule same-day appointments, while Express Scripts members can check the status of a home delivery prescription and can request Alexa notifications when their prescription orders are shipped. Meanwhile, the Livongo Alexa skill lets people check recent blood sugar readings and monitor their blood sugar levels. Other developers or healthcare companies that are interested in adding skills to Alexa must apply to an invite-only Alexa program to participate.

Nothing will go wrong, right?

BBEdit Returns to Mac App Store after Four Years
Cool Stuff Found

BBEdit Returns to Mac App Store after Four Years

Andrew Orr ·

Popular productivity app BBEdit left the Mac App Store in October 2014. Today it’s back. As the “go to” tool for web site designers, web application developers, writers, and software developers, this award-winning product provides an abundance of high-performance features for editing, searching, and manipulation of text, code, and HTML/XML markup. An intelligent interface provides easy access to BBEdit’s best-of-class features, including: grep pattern matching; search and replace across multiple files; project definition tools; function navigation and syntax coloring for numerous source code languages; code folding; FTP and SFTP open and save; AppleScript and Automator support; Unix scripting support; text and code completion; a complete set of robust HTML tools; and more. Mac App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)

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Ting Mobile Launches Right to Repair Campaign

Andrew Orr ·

Ting Mobile is launching a right to repair campaign, and released a survey called ‘Epic Phone Fails’ showing that 78% aren’t aware they have a right to repair their devices.

One of the least surprising results from the survey is that 78% of people have never heard of ‘Right to Repair,’ which is the sometimes contested right for people to repair the things they own without being required to go through the item’s manufacturer. We are encouraged by the opportunity to make consumers more aware of the options they have when it comes to repairing their smartphones.

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Apple Cuts HomePod Price by $50, Now $299

Andrew Orr ·

Apple is cutting the price of the HomePod a bit. It used to be US$349 but now it costs US$299.

Apple today cut the price of HomePod on its online store by $50, with the smart speaker now listed for $299, down from $349. The price drop follows recent promotional discounts at several third-party retailers across the U.S.

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Apple Offers $9.7 Million to Cupertino for Transportation

Andrew Orr ·

After the city of Cupertino agreed to hold changes to a business tax that would have cost Apple over US$9 million, the company has offered US$9.7 million on five transportation projects for cyclers and pedestrians.

[Last year’s proposal] would have generated $10 million in annual revenue, most which would have come from Apple, the city’s largest employer with 24,000 workers…The city decided to postpone a ballot measure to change the business tax until 2020, giving them time to work with Apple and other businesses on private funding to relieve commuter traffic. City staff have been meeting with Apple representatives once every two weeks since October.

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Manage Faces in Apple’s Photos App

Andrew Orr ·

David Murphy has a nice tip out on how to organize photos by Faces on iOS. It’s a great way to manage photos of people.

On the three platforms you’re most likely to use to store your smartphone pictures—Apple Photos, Amazon Photos, and Google Photos—machine learning can categorize your photos by the faces in them, rather than rudimentary details like when or where they were taken.

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Google Duplex Rolling Out to Google Assistant on iOS

Andrew Orr ·

Google Duplex is a feature that lets the Google Assistant make reservations on your behalf. The company is starting to roll out the feature to iPhones and other non-Pixel phones.

The support site for Duplex lists the iPhone as being part of this rollout, with Android phones simply requiring Android 5.0 or higher to use the automated calling service. iOS users simply need to have the Google Assistant installed to get started.

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Eva Galperin Wants to Eliminate Stalkerware

Andrew Orr ·

Eva Galperin is the head of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) Threat Lab. Her latest project? Ending stalkerware once and for all.

In a talk she is scheduled to give next week at the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit in Singapore, Galperin will lay out a list of demands: First, she’s calling on the antivirus industry to finally take the threat of stalkerware seriously, after years of negligence and inaction. She’ll also ask Apple to take measures to protect iPhone users from stalkerware, given that the company doesn’t allow antivirus apps into its App Store.

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Have You Seen iPad Screen Stuttering on Your Pro?

Andrew Orr ·

iPad screen stuttering is a growing concern among iPad Pro owners. Some 2017 and 2018 models may be affected. Juli Clover shares some reader stories.

Affected users have iPad Pro models that sometimes refuse to register touch gestures, stutter when scrolling, miss keystrokes, and have other similar issues. We here at MacRumors have not been able to replicate this issue, but the sheer number of complaints suggests something may be going on with the iPad Pro’s display.

I haven’t been able to replicate this issue either. *knocks on aluminum*

Clips 2.0.6 Updated With ClassKit Support
Cool Stuff Found

Clips 2.0.6 Updated With ClassKit Support

Andrew Orr ·

Apple has released an update to Clips, which lets people create short video clips to share on social media. Clips 2.0.6 brings the following features: Use the new camcorder filter to give your videos a retro video camera look; Choose from 8 new posters including options with solid backgrounds, colorful vintage designs, a classic blue camcorder recording screen, and an animated globe to celebrate Earth Day; Create titles and captions with 3 new Live Titles styles featuring static text that appears all at once or animated text that highlights each word as it’s spoken; Apply new 8-bit and 3D-styled stickers to add emphasis to your videos; Create songs in GarageBand and other music apps, then add them directly to new or existing Clips projects; Duplicate and rename projects; Share projects with friends via AirDrop or email, save them to Files, or upload them to cloud storage services with share extensions; ClassKit support lets students deliver video assignments to teachers using the Schoolwork app. App Store: Free

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An Inside Look Into a Recent Spam Operation

Andrew Orr ·

Millions of people were affected for 10 days in March by a spam email operation. But the spammer didn’t set a password for their server (via TechCrunch). [Apple Support Scam is a new Voice Phishing Trick] Email Spam It’s a fascinating story. Security researcher Bob Diachenko found the server after the operation. The spammer had…

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Pixelmator Photo iPad App Available for Preorder

Andrew Orr ·

The team behind Pixelmator, an alternative to Photoshop, is coming out with an iPad app called Pixelmator Photo. You can preorder it today for US$3.99, and it will launch on April 9 for US$4.99.

With powerful, nondestructive color adjustments like Levels, Curves, Hue & Saturation, Selective Color, and Black & White, it lets you edit the colors of your photos in any way you want. And the Repair and Crop tools let you perfect all the details.

I have to say, I’m kind of disappointed with this. I use Pixelmator Pro every day, and I was hoping it would be ported to iOS. But Pixelmator Photo is just another photo editor, and the graphic design features won’t be available.

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Mark Zuckerberg Ruined the Internet. Now He Pretends to Care About It

Andrew Orr ·

Mark Zuckerberg is at it again with another essay. This time he says that the internet needs to be regulated and thinks Congress should focus on four areas first. Roger McNamee gives his thoughts on it.

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent opinion piece in the Washington Post is a monument to insincerity and misdirection. The essay offers proposals to address four important issues – harmful content, election protection, privacy and data protection, and data portability – but each proposal is transparently self-serving.