The CDC says that fully vaccinated people can “[v]isit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.” But how does a venue know whether people coming indoors are fully vaccinated? About a month ago, I linked to an article by Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post in which he describes vaccine passport apps from states such as New York. I live in New Orleans, and this week, Louisiana became the latest state to provide digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination on an iPhone so that you can prove vaccination to any establishment asking for that verification. It is part of the LA Wallet app, which I reviewed back in 2018, an app that you can use as a substitute for your physical driver’s license. That app is especially useful if you forgot to pick up your wallet before you jumped in the car; as long as your iPhone is with you, you still have your driver’s license. You can now use that same app to verify through the State of Louisiana Department of Health that you have been vaccinated. Using the app, you can show others, in a verified way, the date that you were vaccinated. (For two-dose vaccination, it lists the date of the second dose.) Time will tell when and where proof of vaccination will be necessary, and I realize that some states, such as Florida this week, are going the opposite direction, banning bars, businesses, schools, and government entities from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination — at the same time that Florida is enacting other laws that leave me, and other fans of democracy, rolling our eyes. But for those folks who desire to prove that they are vaccinated, and for those establishments that want to take advantage of that to provide a safer environment for patrons, Louisiana and other states now have a mechanism in place. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- In the latest episode of the Mac Power Users podcast, California attorney David Sparks and his co-host Stephen Hackett discuss apps that you can use to be productive with an iPhone. It’s a great episode full of lots of tips. As they noted in the podcast, because of the small screen of the iPhone, it is often not the platform of choice for most tasks (although there are a few where it excels). But when you are away from your computer and iPad, the iPhone is so powerful that you can get lots of serious work done with the right app, sometimes with the aid of an external keyboard.
- Legal technology consultant Brett Burney discusses Apple’s newest iPad and the other new product announcements in a post and accompanying video on the Apps in Law website.
- This week, the trial between Apple and Epic regarding the removal of Fortnite from the App Store began before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California. Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories wrote this overview of the issues in the trial before the trial began.
- Unlike Tile and other manufacturers of tracking devices, Apple has emphasized privacy as a part of its development the AirTag and thus has many methods in place to discourage the improper use of an AirTag to track another person. Nevertheless, Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post reports that there are still ways that an AirTag can be used to track another person without their consent, at least for a period of time. Apple has the ability to update the AirTag, so I would not be surprised to seek Apple update AirTag settings over time as it improves its privacy protections.
- Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac posted this review of the AirTag.
- This week, Apple issued an important security update for the iPhone (iOS 14.5.1) and other platforms. It fixes a flaw in Webkit, used by Safari and other apps, and Apple is aware of a report that the flaw had already been exploited by someone. If you haven’t updated your devices yet, do so now. Roman Loyola of Macworld has more details on the update.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors reviews the Brydge 12.9 MAX+, a cheaper alternative to Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad.
- James Titcomb of The Register reports that Apple could be working with a UK company to develop a way for the Apple Watch to monitor blood sugar and alcohol.
- Amber Neely of Apple Insider reports that a woman recently gave birth to a baby on an airplane. Fortunately, there was a doctor on board to help the premature newborn. And fortunately, there was an Apple Watch on board because the doctor used it to keep tabs on the baby’s heart rate.
- And finally, a person on YouTube who calls himself AirTagAlex mailed an AirTag to himself in the Netherlands to see how the device would track the journey through the mail system, and created this interesting video: