Apple updated iOS to version 10.3.3 this week. You should update your iPhone and iPad for the same reasons I mentioned back when 10.3.2 came out; iOS updates always improve security. In fact, Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that one of the things fixed is the potential ability of a hacker who is close enough to your iPhone to exploit a flaw in the iPhone's Wi-Fi chip and wirelessly gain control of your iPhone. Yikes! Glad that one was fixed. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- South Carolina attorney Justin Kahn discusses a recent update to the iAnnotate app (version 4.3) which lets you annotate two documents side-by-side.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball explains why you should not manually quit apps in iOS. Sure, you can do it occasionally if an app is frozen or otherwise isn't working properly, but if you believe that you are saving memory or making your iPhone faster by quitting apps, you are wrong.
- Jonny Evans of Computerworld shares over 50 iOS 10 tips, and there are some good ones on that list.
- Cella Lao Rousseau of iMore reviews portable Apple Watch chargers.
- When I purchased a 2017 Honda Accord earlier this year, I made sure to select CarPlay as an option. I love CarPlay and I use it every time I drive. Reese Counts of Autoblog reports that this Fall, Honda will start to sell the 2018 Honda Accord, with Apple CarPlay included in every model and a larger 8" display (up from 7" on the 2017 model). It will also include a physical knob to control the volume instead of touchscreen volume controls (which can be hard to use).
- There was a time when I would carry an iPhone, and iPad and an iPad mini all at the same time, but apparently that is nothing. Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that Chinese customs agent stopped a woman coming in from Hong Kong who had 102 iPhones strapped to her body. (iPhones are cheaper in Hong Kong than in mainland China.)
- David Pogue of Yahoo explores the idea of charging an iPhone wirelessly, and interviews the CEO of Energous, a company trying to do this. The charge would be very slow (a trickle charge), and the technology seems far off, but someday this might actually work.
- Ryan Christoffel of MacStories reviews the new CARROT Weather app, an app that gives you both the weather forecast and snarky banter.
- We all like free WiFi, but at what cost? Rheet Jones of Gizmodo reports that 22,000 people agreed to clean toilets to get WiFi ... because they didn't read the terms of service.
- And finally, yesterday Apple updated its Clips app to version 1.1. This first update to Clips adds some neat new features like new posters (an animated background on which you can place text), but the big new feature is the ability to add Disney/Pixar characters to your videos. Here is an 11 second demo I created at my desk which didn't take much more than 11 seconds to make:
