It has been all over the news that as a part of the investigation of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, the FBI has obtained messages that were sent and received in apps such as WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram — apps normally thought to be fairly secure. How is that? Seth Hallem is the founder and CEO of Mobile Helix, a company that makes the LINK encrypted app for lawyers, and he explains in an interesting article on CSO the most likely scenarios for how the FBI has accessed those messages — and also explains how you can protect your own secure data. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Attorney John Voorhees of MacStories explains how the Documents app by Readdle can transfer files using WiFi between a Mac and an iPhone or iPad.
- Rene Ritchie of iMore wrote an interesting article explaining the original reason for the heart monitor on the Apple Watch, and how that has turned the Apple Watch into a healthcare device.
- Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider shows off 24 iPad-specific features in iOS 12.
- A blog post on the TripIt website explains how the TripIt iPhone app can now give you safety scores for neighborhoods around the world.
- Ed Baig of USA Today explains that when iOS comes out this fall, your iPhone will automatically share your location with first responders when you call 911.
- AppleInsider shows off the new Walkie-Talkie feature that will be added to the Apple Watch this Fall. I don’t see using this feature very much when I’m in the office, but I can see this being very useful for quickly communicating with friends and family after hours and during the weekend.
- If you have kids, then I presume that you know what Fortnite is. Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac reports that after three months on iOS, the company made $100 million on the Apple platform alone. What makes this particularly amazing is that the app itself is free to play; my understanding (from my kids) is that the in-app purchases are mostly cosmetic, just ways to make your character look cooler and do things like dance around. But unlike some other games, you can win without spending any money. My daughter has certainly won a ton of games without paying anything, although she has to use my iPad because the hand-me-down iPhone 6s that she uses can’t run the game.
- If you are a fan of Westworld on HBO like I am, you might want to check out the free episode of Apple’s Carpool Karaoke which will come out today. According to Christian Zibreg of iDownloadBlog, it will feature Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden — the actors who play Dolores and Teddy. You can watch the episode in the TV app or the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
- According to Juli Clover of MacRumors, in the future, your iPhone will be able to act as a digital key for your car.
- And finally, if you have had a long and busy week like I have, then you deserve something silly and fun to end the week. And what could be better than combining an iPad with magic and cute monkeys? Take it away, Simon Pierro (video link):