There are countless features that I like on the iPhone, but there is one fantastic feature that has almost nothing to do with the iPhone's screen: CarPlay. I've been using CarPlay for over two years, and it vastly improves the experience of driving a car. Apple hasn't done much to improve CarPlay during those two years, but this Fall there will be a major refresh. Illinois attorney John Voorhees, a writer for MacStories, wrote an excellent and comprehensive review of the new features coming to CarPlay in iOS 13. I can't wait. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- California attorney David Sparks discusses some of the new features of Shortcuts in the upcoming iOS 13.
- Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories notes that PDF Expert — my app of choice for working with PDF files — was updated to version 7. You can now use the app for free, but you can access some interesting features of you pay $50/year for the pro version. After I try it out for a while, I'll post a review.
- David Notowitz of Law Technology Today discusses a recent California decision regarding the limitations on police forcing users to unlock their iPhone.
- Trevor Daughterty of 9to5Mac reviews Philips Hue Outdoor Lighting, concluding that it is expensive but the best HomeKit-compatible outdoor lighting.
- Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post does a great job of showing off and describing the new finger gestures coming to iPadOS this Fall, including the numerous three-finger gestures. It's going to take folks a while to get used to these new gestures to do things like cut, copy, and paste, but once you master them you can be much more productive with your iPad.\
- Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch reports that Apple has responded to concerns about how it uses humans to review recordings of Siri queries by suspending this practice and promising that, in the future, users will be able to choose whether the participate in the grading or not. I personally wouldn't have a problem with a human listening to a recording of something that I said after I said "Hey Siri," but the problem is that sometimes an iPhone or other device thinks that you said "Hey Siri" when you actually said something else — and thus the person might be listening to a part of something that I said in private. Of course, this problem isn't unique to Apple; Amazon (with its Echo devices) and others have the same issue.
- Last week, I reviewed the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Hub for iPad Pro, and I noted that it contains all of the ports that I might need to use except for VGA. Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the Inateck USB-C hub, an 8-in-1 hub that includes VGA and two USB 3.0 Type A ports.
- Speaking of USB-C, David Pogue recommends five USB-C adapters in an article for The Strategist.
- And continuing to speak of USB-C, Chris Welch of The Verge discusses USB-C hubs for the iPad Pro.
- And continuing further ... Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that Apple updated its USB-C to HDMI adapter. The new version supports 4K and 60Hz (HDMI 2.0), HDR video in HDR10, and Dolby Vision.
- And finally, autonomous sensor meridian response (ASMR) is a sensation that many people can experience by watching a video or listening to audio, and ASMR videos typically feature sounds which are normally quiet such as whispering or water drops isolated and louder. It helps to wear headphones to get the full ASMR experience. Many people find that ASMR helps them to relax and even experience euphoria. This week, Apple released four ASMR videos created with an iPhone: Tapping (featuring the sound of raindrops), Crunching (featuring the sounds of someone walking on a trail), Whispering (featuring a whispering voice which moves from the left to right ear describing and showing the Ghost Forest beach in Oregon), and Scraping (woodshop sounds). Here is Tapping, which I think is my favorite:
