As Jason Cross of Macworld reports, iOS 15.4.1 was released yesterday. It contains bug fixes and security patches, but what caught my eye is that it fixes a security flaw that, according to Apple, “may have been actively exploited.” Thus, if you have not yet updated your devices, you may well be vulnerable right now. You should update your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and anything else sold by Apple that has the ability to install an update. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories discusses a major new update to Overcast, my favorite app for listening to podcasts. There are new features (such as a great In Progress list), but my favorite part is the improved interface, which looks fantastic and works great. It also looks better in CarPlay. For more on the new version of Overcast, the developer of the app, Marco Arment, wrote this blog post.
- Speaking of podcasts, the next episode of the In the News podcast that I co-host with Brett Burney will come out this weekend instead of today.
- John Voorhees discusses the new features added to CARROT Weather this week.
- Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post tested how his baby stroller could be tracked by a stalker using an Apple AirTag, the Tile, and the Samsung SmartTag. Only the AirTag resulted in Fowler receiving a privacy alert, and only on his iPhone. For the other trackers on an iPhone, and for all three trackers for someone using an Android phone, the person must manually launch an app to check and see if the person is being tracked.
- It has been a dozen years since the iPad was first introduced, and 12 years ago yesterday, the first reviews were released, according to Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac. Time flies.
- Jason Snell of Six Colors reports that Apple has launched its Business Essential Service. When a business signs up, Apple provides device management tools, support for technical issues, repair for Apple products, and expanded iCloud storage. Snell says that the service seems particularly valuable for businesses that have limited or no in-house IT staff.
- I haven’t seen this yet myself (perhaps because my iPhone uses AT&T), but John Gruber of Daring Fireball reports that many Verizon customers are now seeing spam text messages that appear to come from your own phone. That’s both annoying and creepy.
- CODA, the Apple TV+ movie that won the Oscar for Best Picture, is now back in 600 U.S. theaters starting today, according to Brent Lang of Variety. Although I enjoyed watching the movie at home, I can imagine that some of the funny moments might be even more enjoyable if you are with a crowd.
- Troy Kotsur, who played the father in CODA and also won an Oscar, is interviewed by Clayton Davis of Variety, and the article is a good read.
- Apple TV+ has a reputation for having a small number of offerings. That was certainly true when the service started in 2019, and the service will always have fewer offerings than Netflix since it emphasizes quality over quantity. But that doesn’t mean that there still just a few shows. I see a tweet from the company stating that the new episodes airing today are (1) the premier of Slow Horses, a spy series starring Gary Oldman, (2) episode 4 of Pachinko, a show about a family of Korean immigrants that has received good reviews and is based on a New York Times bestseller, (3) episode 8 of Severance, a show that I have been loving, (4) episode 5 of WeCrashed, a show about the rise and fall of WeWork, (5) episode 5 of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, and (6) season 2 episode 15 of Central Park, an animated show with lots of songs. That’s not bad for a Friday, and demonstrates the growing variety of shows on Apple TV+. Indeed, Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac says that Apple TV+ has debuted a new series or film every Friday of 2022.
- Shane Ryan of Paste reviews Slow Horses, and says that “Apple TV+ has a hit on its hands” because it is a “genuinely funny comedy, and above all, a terrific spy saga.” And I see that Mick Jagger wrote the theme song. I look forward to watching it this weekend.
- A week from today, Friday Night Baseball begins on Apple TV+. Jason Snell of Six Colors explains what we know and don’t yet know about the broadcast.
- Chuong Nguyen of Digital Trends reviews the new Eero Pro 6E.
- In an article for TidBITS, Julio Ojeda-Zapata discusses using a 5G service for home internet instead of a wired interest service provider.
- Justin Meyers of Gadget Hacks recommends using Spotlight Search on an iPad as a calculator. That did not occur to me.
- Braille Scanner is a new app by Aaron Stephenson that lets you take a picture of a document containing braille and have it translated to text. Click here to download the app for free.
- I play Wordle on my iPad every day. If you do too, you may be interested in this article by Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica, which shares what the game’s creator, Josh Wardle, had to say about the development of the game and sale to the New York Times during a presentation at a game conference.
- If you have been using Apple products for a long time, as I have, you’ll appreciate this Easter Egg in the Messages app that is discussed in this tweet from Jason Robinson.
- And finally, here is an inside look at the Slow Horses series that debuts today on Apple TV+: