Apple News+

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Apple News+ Now Available in Australia, UK

Andrew Orr ·

News+ is Apple’s new subscription service for news, and today it’s available for customers in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Apple News+ subscribers can access more than 150 publications in Apple News+, with a one month free trial available to test the service before having to pay the £9.99 (UK) or $14.99 (Australia) monthly fee.

Available magazines and publications in the UK include The Times and The Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan UK, more.

Magazines and publications in Australia include The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, more.

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News+: Don't Give Money to Ransomware Scammers

Andrew Orr ·

In the latest issue of PCMag, Max Eddy writes that you shouldn’t give money to ransomware attackers when they ask.

First, most cyberattacks—including ransomware—don’t last long. The command and control servers that issue the unlock commands and receive payment can be found and taken offline…In either case, anyone who has been infected and not paid the ransom can no longer get their system unlocked, even if they pay.

This is why keeping several backups is important, one online, one offline. And keep your operating system up to date with the latest security patches and improvements.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

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News+: Bad Behavior in the VPN Industry

Andrew Orr ·

Max Eddy reviews VPNs for PCMag. Although he believes most vendors have good intentions, he highlights several examples of bad behavior in the VPN industry.

From my experience working with VPNs, I can say with certainty there is a culture of sabotage and paranoia among some vendors. Anonymous dumps of damning information about one VPN vendor get blamed on another VPN vendor. Tips come in suggesting that corporate ownership is tied to the Russian mafia or some other criminal operation. Commentators hold up one VPN review site as an example of rectitude; others say the same site is secretly run by a VPN vendor with an agenda. When there is this much disinformation and counter-disinformation (which may also be disinformation), it’s impossible to tell who is telling the truth.

Before I came to The Mac Observer, one of my freelancing gigs was writing for a VPN company. I saw some of the same things as Mr. Eddy. In both privacy and security circles, there is a tint of paranoia and conspiracy thinking, at least with some people.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

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News+: 9 Long Press Shortcuts for iOS

Andrew Orr ·

In the latest issue of Mac|Life, Carrie Marshall writes about nine long press shortcuts for iOS. These are especially useful on the iPad. Warning: This magazine is a PDF, and the article can be found on page 96.

We think long presses and 3D Touch are great, but we also think Apple has dropped the ball with them a little bit: there’s no way of knowing whether
a particular icon or keyboard key does anything until you actually hold a finger on it. Some apps use it, some don’t.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

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News+: Stories of Being the Neighborhood Tech Support

Andrew Orr ·

In CNET’s latest issue of its magazine, Dan Ackerman shares some stories from his days as the neighborhood tech guy. Warning: This is a PDF magazine, and the story starts on page 42.

It’s a big responsibility being the first responder for domestic technology emergencies, but most of us secretly relish knowing that our friends and neighbors think we’re so smart (especially when we usually just Google the answer, like they should have done in the first place).

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

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Apple News is Better for Big Publishers Than Small

Andrew Orr ·

Digiday reached out to five publishers participating in Apple News+, and so far it sounds like there is a lot of confusion. Plus there’s the reality that the service seems to favor big publishers over smaller ones.

All participating publishers were given an email address where they were encouraged to send pitches, and sources said that by and large, Apple’s representatives were responsive to their outreach.

But a smaller, select group of publishers were invited to join a private Slack channel where they could connect with Apple more directly, a move that exasperated several sources when they were informed of the channel’s existence.

So far that’s the way Apple News has been, and this isn’t a News+ specific problem. Hopefully the service will improve over time.

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News+: Fixes and Enhancements With Affinity Photo

Andrew Orr ·

I’ve been using Affinity Photo for several months now, and I’m still getting used to using it. In the latest issue (May 2019) of MacFormat magazine, they share photo fixes and enhancements with Affinity Photo.

As well as using Affinity Photo to fix common problems, you can produce more creative results using selection and compositing tools such as layers and masks.

Unfortunately, this magazine is in PDF form instead of using Apple News Format. So you’ll have to swipe to page 28 (As opposed to me being able to share the singular article).

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

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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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Inside Apple's Private Media Cocktail Party Celebrating News+

Andrew Orr ·

Joe Pompeo provides some insider info about Apple’s private cocktail party for the media. Eddy Cue and other Apple execs schmoozed their way around the room.

Eddy Cue and other Apple executives worked the room, among editors and business-side people from participating publications like New York, GQ, Time, Esquire, The Atlantic, and others—a casual cocktail reception to welcome Apple’s new publishing partners. But as the guests munched on mini empanadas and potato bites, some of them couldn’t help but wonder if there was a Trojan horse in their midst. As one attendee later joked, “Are we at a party, or a wake?”

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Publishers are Driving Readers to Apple News

Andrew Orr ·

What’s good for publishers isn’t necessarily good for readers. Josh Constine writes about how Apple News+ is bad for publishers.

Readers visit Apple’s app, not the outlet’s site that gives it free rein to promote conference tickets, merchandise, research reports, and other money-makers. Publishers don’t get their Apple News+ readers’ email addresses for follow-up marketing, cookies for ad targeting and content personalization, or their credit card info to speed up future purchases.

This is exactly why people install adblockers. No one wants to be harassed by endless pop-ups, marketing or cookies, autoplaying videos, and they don’t want you to have their credit card info or email address so it can get leaked in a data breach. You can’t blame Apple for that.