For a while now, Apple and other companies have been working towards a future in which we no longer need to use passwords. Apple—and others, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, MasterCard, Visa, and American Express—are part of the FIDO Alliance. FIDO means Fast IDentity Online, and with this system, instead of you needing to remember a username and password, and instead of the service needing to know your username and password (creating the risk of passwords being leaked if the service is hacked), FIDO uses something called public-key cryptography. The user has a secret key, something that you might store on your iPhone, and it matches one and only one public key, which the service uses. (The service does not need to worry about keeping the public key confidential because it is useless unless it is paired with your secrete private key.) Yesterday, as we were all of course celebrating World Password Day, the FIDO Alliance announced that they are taking major steps towards this future without passwords. As Corin Faife of The Verge reports, their proposal is that when you want to log in to a service, you simply authenticate yourself on your iPhone using Face ID (or Touch ID)—or other devices if you don't use an iPhone. No username. No password. Your web browser (or app or whatever you are using) talks to both the service and your iPhone (or other device) and then you are authenticated. Although no specific timetable was announced yesterday, apparently their hope is to have the first implementations in about a year. About two months ago, Lily Hay Newman of Wired wrote a good overview of how FIDO will work, and she says that it "will make phishing a thing of the past" which is great because the bad guys "have become masters at tricking users into unintentionally handing over their passwords, and even two-factor authentication codes or approval prompts can be exploited." Security is such an incredibly important topic for everyone—and especially for lawyers, who have a duty to keep certain information confidential—and thus I would love to see day when we will have an even more secure world without the headaches of usernames and passwords. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews The iOS App Icon Book, a book showcasing great app icon designs.
- For a good example of why the end of passwords cannot come soon enough, Adam Engst of TidBITS shares the stories of two friends of his whose email accounts were taken over by scammers because the bad guys figured out his friends' passwords.
- Josh Hendrickson of ReviewGeek reviews Eve MotionBlinds, smart shades that work with Apple's HomeKit technology.
- David Snow of Cult of Mac recommends accessories for your Apple Pencil, such as a cover that makes it look like a yellow #2 pencil ($11.04 on Amazon).
- Speaking of Amazon, a four-pack of Apple AirTags typically cost $99, but right now you can get them on Amazon for $84.55, which is as low as I ever remember seeing them priced.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball reports that the European Commission may impose new rules on how Apple uses ApplePay.
- On May 4 (Star Wars Day), Apple released a fantastic video showing how the incredibly talented people at Skywalker Sound use Macs to create sound effects for Star Wars and many other movies and TV shows. This video was great fun to watch.
- If you use an older AT&T plan, Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that AT&T is going to raise the plan price to encourage you to switch to an unlimited plan.
- Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge wrote a comprehensive review of the top-of-the-line Eero Pro 6E, which takes advantage of Wi-Fi using the new 6GHz band—which no Apple devices currently support, but I suspect that support will come soon, perhaps later this year in the 2022 version of the iPhone.
- Justin Meyers of Gadget Hacks has an interesting list of lesser-known iOS features. For example, I didn't know that when you are using the keyboard you can type a capital letter by tapping the Shift key and then sliding your finger over to the letter.
- And finally, if you use Apple Fitness+, you should enjoy this video from Justine "iJustine" Ezarik, who had a chance to visit the Fitness+ studio in Santa Monica, CA. I wish that she could have shown even more behind-the-scenes shots, but the views of the control room showing all of the different screens are really interesting. For example, one screen includes overlays for every different device that someone might use to watch a video — iPad, iPhone, TV, Mac — so that they can make sure that the action stays in an area that everyone can see. It is also interesting to see the countdown timer and "up next" information that the fitness coaches see as they lead a workout. Apple's Fitness+ videos have always been incredibly well produced, in addition to having useful content, so it is fun to see a glimpse into how they produce the videos. If you want to get even more behind-the-scenes access, check out this article by Robert Leedham of British GQ.