This decision came out in late October but I just heard about it. In G.A.Q.L v. Florida, No. 4D18-1811 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018), a Florida trial court had ruled that the police could force a minor involved in a car accident to disclose his iPhone passcode, but the appellate court reversed, finding that this would violate the Fifth Amendment. It gets more complicated than that so you need to read the opinion to get the full details, but this is a fascinating issue. I often joke that my iPhone is like my second brain — a place for me to store the information that folks with a better memory might just remember. I'd rather not waste my brain space remembering passwords, dates, numbers, information about friends and family that can be stored in a contact entry, etc. I feel that when I offload this data from my brain to my iPhone, I can instead use my brain for more complicated tasks like figuring out creative solutions to problems. I don't know if there is true scientific merit to that way of thinking about it, but it is one of the reasons that my iPhone is so valuable to me — and also a reason that I wouldn't want anyone else looking around in there without my permission. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- California attorney David Sparks discusses the 3.0 update to Launch Center Pro, an app that you can use to launch automated actions. One of the new features is the ability to support NFC stickers. Place the sticker (you can purchase five for $5) someplace in your house, office, etc., and when you put your iPhone near the sticker, it causes a notification to appear on your iPhone screen, which you can tap to start a series of actions. If you want an alternative to using Siri and your voice to trigger actions, NFC stickers might be just what you need. There are lots of other new features too, including a black mode which looks fantastic on an iPhone X or iPhone XS.
- Virginia attorney Sharon Nelson of Ride the Lightning discusses the worst passwords of 2018.
- Attorney Jeremy Horwitz discusses the best and worst Apple moments of 2018 in an article for VentureBeat.
- Federico Viticci of MacStories posted the 2018 edition of his must-have iOS apps.
- If you are looking to become a cord-cutter, DirecTV Now is one of a few top optics for streaming TV. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that the DirecTV Now iOS app was updated to support the new 2018 iPad Pro models, plus it improves cloud DVR support.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that you can now play Apple Music on your Amazon Echo speakers and use Alexa to select and play songs.
- Ellen Lee of Wirecutter recommends apps for managing your child's phone.
- You can now buy an iPhone cookie from Eleni's as part of its Travel Essentials Set.
- And finally, in this short video, Apple shows how you can use your Apple Watch to locate your iPhone. Hopefully you already know this tip, but if not, it is darn useful and worth knowing:
