The 2021 version of the iPad Pro will be out a week from today, and I recently received a notice from Apple that mine has shipped from China. But for now, the newest Apple device is still the AirTag, and there were lots of stories about the AirTag this week as more folks have started to try them out. For example, Kirk McElhearn of Intego ran an AirTag through some stress tests — extreme heat, extreme cold, the washer and dryer — and reports that they are very durable. I do fear that there is now some small part of me that actually wants to lose my keys or some other item just so that I can use the Find My app on my iPhone to relocate the item in a game of hide-and-seek. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- If you read the original version of my review of ExhibtsPad earlier this week, you should take a second look at the bottom of the post because I added to the end of the post a bunch of new information provided by Ian O’Flaherty, who created the app.
- Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews a new feature in the Darkroom app called Clarity that lets you use a single slider to make a picture pop, or in the other direction, smooth out details and make the picture appear more flat.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors wrote about some of the new holders for an Apple AirTag.
- David Price of Macworld UK wrote a good review of the AirTag.
- David Price of Macworld has some pretty good ideas for how Apple might improve the AirTag.
- Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac notes that Atlanta is the 29th location to gain support for the Look Around feature in the Apple Maps app. Thirty years ago yesterday, my wife and I graduated from Emory in Atlanta, so we took advantage of the new Look Around feature on my iPad last night to take a virtual stroll through campus. I’m embarrassed to admit that I got disoriented a few times because the campus has changed so much since I was there. It is annoying how some things change when you are away for a few decades.
- In a video for CBS Sunday Morning, David Pogue goes behind the scenes on the creation of emoji.
- Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the Belkin Wemo Stage Scene Controller ($50 on Amazon), a small remote that you can use to control HomeKit accessories in your home without needing to use an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.
- I saw an interesting post on the Mac Power Users forum this week of a new way for a restaurant to handle the check. Mitch Wagner of San Diego posted that instead of bringing a normal check, the waitress brought a paper receipt with a QR code. Scanning that code with an iPhone launched the App Clips feature — meaning that his iPhone immediately downloaded a tiny version of an app for the restaurant. In that App Clip, he could see his full itemized receipt, add a tip, and pay the bill. Sounds like a nice way to handle a restaurant check — fast and easy.
- Dave Mark of The Loop notes that your iPhone has a feature where the iPhone can describe out loud what it sees in the camera lens. The feature is designed as an accessibility feature, but it is also just a neat use of technology.
- Bryan Wolfe of iMore shows of Apple’s newest bands for the Apple Watch.
- Sam Whiting of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that legendary architect Art Gensler passed away this week. Apple users know his work because he and his firm designed the first 100 Apple Stores.
- And finally, in a fun video for the Wall Street Journal, tech reporter Joanna Stern compares Apple’s new AirTag with a drug-detection dog to see which could find an item faster: