Sometimes, good things come to those who wait. Other times, well… As John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, the Instagram app first shipped in 2010, the same year that the iPad debuted. It has taken 15 years, but Instagram finally noticed that iPads exist and updated its app to support the iPad. But the Instagram app is different on the iPad. The default view, what you see when you start the app, is Reels, not the pictures from the people you follow. And the default view is not even videos from the people who follow, but instead just the random videos that the algorithm thinks that you might want to see. It’s like the company thought that it was releasing an iPad app for TikTok instead of Instagram. I’ve already heard people say that it would have been better if they had kept it the same as before, where you could use the app on an iPad in iPhone mode. But have no fear, I’m sure that they will fix this in, umm, maybe in 2040? And now, the news of note from the past week.
- “Awe Dropping” is the tagline for Apple’s September 9 iPhone announcement event. Is there any hidden meaning in there? To try to figure that out, Alex Blake of Macworld takes a look back at the teasers for every prior iPhone announcement, starting in 2007.
- If you are watching the show Dexter: Resurrection, currently streaming on Paramount+, then you saw an episode this season in which someone is able to track the location of a car by intentionally leaving their AirPods in the car. That would definitely work. AirPods are a little expensive as a tracking device, but for someone who is up to good, they may be easier for a victim to overlook than a dedicated tracking device like an AirTag. In an interesting article for Six Colors, Glenn Fleishman discusses how to remove tracking from AirPods, an issue that arose when someone bought a used AirPods Max from Amazon but learned that they could still be tracked by the prior owner, who didn’t disable Find My before selling the device.
- I’m a big fan of the relatively new Anker charging devices that feature screens on them so you can get all sorts of useful information, such as how much power is going in and out. The Anker Laptop Power Bank (my review) has become an essential item for me, and it is currently only $94.99 on Amazon. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that Anker has announced new products in its Anker Prime lineup that provide lots of different charging options, all of which feature a useful display.
- Although I’ve never owned any Philips Hue smart home devices, I know that there are lots of fans. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that a number of new Philips Hue devices are coming out this Fall.
- Microsoft Excel is the #1 spreadsheet program, and it is more powerful than Apple’s Numbers app. Nevertheless, there are some features that work better in Numbers. William Gallagher of AppleInsider compares these two spreadsheet apps.
- Apple recently announced that it has now shipped over 3 billion iPhones. Based on that number and other historical data, Horace Dediu of Asymco was able to estimate the sales numbers over time and create some interesting charts.
- David Sparks of MacSparky released his first app. It is called The No List, and it helps you to track the occasions when you turned down a project as a way to help you distinguish opportunities that are worthwhile from those that are not. It is an interesting idea. In this post, he explains the thinking behind the app and how he created it.
- Arin Waichulis of 9to5Mac reports on some of the new privacy features that are coming soon in iOS 26.
- I use Eero devices (my review) to provide mesh WiFi throughout my house. I virtually never have any issues with the Eero units, but it is frustrating that my internet connection sometimes stops because of issues with my Internet provider (Cox). Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that a new product called Eero Signal gives you a cellular backup for whenever your wired internet is down. It appears that the product costs either $99.99 for 4G LTE or $199.99 for 5G, and then you also need to pay for a data subscription that costs either $99.99/year for 10GB of data each year or $199.99/year for 100GB of data each month. You will be able to buy it on Amazon, and I’m thinking about it.
- Do you feel like you use your iPhone too much? If so, Christina Caron of the New York Times shares a number of tips from different people on how to curb your smartphone use.
- Dan Moren of Six Colors notes that it was almost six years ago (September 19, 2019) when Apple launched its Apple Arcade service: pay one subscription price to get lots of games. Although Moren is right to question how deeply committed Apple is to games, I’ve actually been impressed by Apple Arcade over the years. Now to be fair, I play very few games on my iPhone and iPad, but I like that there is always something new to try in Apple Arcade. For example, just this week, Apple released a new title called Jeopardy! Daily, a daily puzzle game with clues written by the folks who make the Jeopardy! TV show, and I think that the game is fun. And some older titles that I still enjoy playing are Flipflop+ and Good Sudoku+. Apple Arcade is part of the Apple One service, and it is certainly a part of the reason that I consider Apple One to be worth paying for.
- Steven Rosenbush of the Wall Street Journal reports that while the Apple Vision Pro is currently too expensive for many consumers at $3,500, there are certain businesses where the device is gaining traction. I don’t think that law is one of those right now, but I see tons of potential for lawyers in the future using a next-generation version of the Vision Pro.
- There will soon be twice as many options to get Apple’s new CarPlay Ultra, in the sense that two is twice as many as one. When Apple announced CarPlay Ultra earlier this year, the only car to support it was an expensive model from Aston Martin. But Paul Horrell of Top Gear reports that Hyundai will launch a new small EV car, the Ioniq 3, on September 9 at the IAA Mobility car show in Munich, Germany, and it will include CarPlay Ultra.
- It could be even more than that. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that it is possible that other car manufacturers may make the same announcement in Munich. It is interesting that the Munich car show begins on September 9, the same day as Apple’s new iPhone announcement.
- And finally, this week, Apple released the trailer for Season 5 of the fantastic Apple TV+ show Slow Horses. The first four seasons were incredible, and this trailer makes me think that the next season will be just as much fun. The new season starts on September 24.