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Arlo Update Fixes Apple HomeKit Issue

Charlotte Henry ·

Arlo confirmed to AppleInsider that it has fixed a bug that prevented users adding its smart home devices to Apple Homekit. The fix came was included in the latest version of its iOS app – version 3.5.1

That version, which has a release date of August 6, is currently available from the App Store. “Arlo appreciates the patience of our loyal customers, and is excited to share that an iOS app release with a remedy to the HomeKit issue is now available,” the company said. Earlier in August, AppleInsider began receiving reports from users about issues adding new Arlo devices to HomeKit. The problem appeared to affect HomeKit tokens, which caused users to get stuck on the “Requesting HomeKit info” screen when adding devices to the Apple smart home platform.

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The Apple TV Box is Pointless

Charlotte Henry ·

The Apple TV, even the recently updated model, is pointless in its current form and price. That’s the view of Bloomberg News‘s Mark Gurman in his latest newsletter. I find it hard to disagree.

Apple, known for its closed ecosystem, is even embracing the shift by offering many services on smart TVs and boxes made by competitors. Those services include iTunes movie and TV rentals, the Apple TV app, Apple TV+, Apple Music and AirPlay. Of course, that was intentional on the part of Apple, which sought new revenue sources when iPhone sales slowed around 2018. That made the Apple TV a mostly pointless accessory, and consumers seem to agree: 2020 data from Strategy Analytics found that the Apple TV holds 2% of the streaming device market. The product isn’t without its benefits, though, for the Apple ecosystem’s most loyal users. Integration with HomeKit, Fitness+, AirPods and the iOS remote app is useful. The new remote control and faster chip in this year’s version are definite improvements, and the box is getting SharePlay and Spatial Audio support later this year. Still, I don’t see these enhancements moving the needle for most people. For further reading, check out how to set up your Apple TV 4K.

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Man Says Apple Watch Fall Alert Saved His Life

Charlotte Henry ·

Over the years, we’ve heard various stories about how the Apple Watch has helped save people in danger – sometimes it’s been about heart rate alerts, other times the ability to contact people, even when separated from the paired iPhone. In a new story, one man told People how the device’s fall alert system helped him be found quickly after collapsing in a hospital toilet.

At one point during his visit, Schneider said he asked to use the restroom — but the events that followed are a complete blur to him. “While I was in the bathroom I went unconscious and fell to the ground, where I apparently slammed my head, fracturing my skull and suffering an emergent brain bleed,” he explained. Luckily, Schneider was wearing an Apple Watch at the time — a smart device he believes was part of the reason that he survived. “I was only found unconscious so soon after the fall because my Apple Watch detected a hard fall, calling 911 and sent an emergency notification to my emergency contacts after I failed to respond to the prompt on my watch,” he wrote in the post.

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EFF Shares Statement on Apple Scanning for Illegal Content

Andrew Orr ·

This week we discovered that Apple plans to localize its scanning efforts to detect child sexual abuse material. The move has been widely criticized and the Electronic Frontier Foundation has shared its statement on the matter.

All it would take to widen the narrow backdoor that Apple is building is an expansion of the machine learning parameters to look for additional types of content, or a tweak of the configuration flags to scan, not just children’s, but anyone’s accounts. That’s not a slippery slope; that’s a fully built system just waiting for external pressure to make the slightest change.