One of my favorite Apple devices is the Apple Pencil. I use it at work to highlight, underline, and annotate PDF documents. I also use it to take handwritten notes in the GoodNotes app. At home, whenever I have some old photographs that I have scanned to add to my Photos collection, I use the Pencil with a graphics app on the iPad such as Pixelmator Photo or Photoshop, or sometimes just the Photos app, with a spot healing brush tool to clean up specks of dust, stray marks, etc. And sometimes I’ll use it for various other purposes, such as doing a crossword puzzle. The original Apple Pencil was released in 2015, and the second generation added significant improvements in 2018. That release schedule makes me wonder if a third generation Apple Pencil might come soon, and if so, what might it contain. You can get some idea by looking at patents sought and obtained by Apple. Of course, just because Apple gets a patent that doesn’t mean that the feature will ever see the light of day. Nevertheless, I was interested to learn from posts on the Patently Apple website (1, 2) about possible new features. One idea is that sliding your finger up and down the barrel of the Pencil could trigger a function, such as changing color or thickness. Another idea is that in addition to tapping the Pencil near the tip, you could get a different result by tapping near the back. Another idea is that not only can you trigger an action by tapping the Pencil, but you can trigger a different action by pressing down on the side of the Pencil. Another idea is that the Pencil could use haptic feedback or another method to provide a different feel at certain points, such as perhaps if you get close to the edge of an object on the screen. Another idea is that you could circle a finger around the back of the Pencil to trigger certain actions, such as spinning a color wheel. Incorporating all of these ideas seems like too much, but incorporating one or two good ones—I especially like sliding a finger up and down the side of the Pencil—could give folks a reason to want to upgrade to an Apple Pencil version 3. Surely, another version of the Apple Pencil is coming; it’s just a question of when. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Massachusetts lawyer Bob Ambrogi of LawSites notes that New York is the first state to mandate that attorneys take CLE in cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection. Given the increasing number of threats to lawyers and their clients, this seems like a good idea.
- Tim Brookes of How-To Geek recommends using an Apple Watch to record quick voice memos.
- Lisa Eadicicco and Jason Cipriani of CNet recommend some settings on the Apple Watch that you might want to change.
- Tatum Hunter of the Washington Post discusses the pros and cons of staying on a parent’s cellphone plan even after marriage.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac notes that when NASA launches its uncrewed spacecraft to the moon in a few weeks, both an iPad and an Amazon Alexa will be on board for a tech demo.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes that the HBO Max app for iPhone and iPad is improved, adding support for SharePlay and stability improvements.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes that the Netflix iOS app now has a button that lets you go to a website to sign up for Netflix. This is the result of years of negotiations between Apple and other content providers and governmental entities. In the past, Apple wanted people to sign up for a subscription from within the app, which means that Apple would get a percentage of that in-app purchase. Now, for certain types of apps, the app can direct you to a website where you can pay money directly to the developer without Apple getting a cut.
- Gruber also discusses an interesting article by Nick Heer that examines whether Apple’s App Tracking Transparency requirement—the recent change where apps have to ask you to do things like share your personal information with third parties—is the real reason that Facebook is not making as much money as it used to, or if instead the problem is simply that Facebook is less relevant today than it was before.
- Brenda Ramirez of Gadget Hacks recommends using microphone effects that are built-in to the iPhone (on certain models) to change the way that you sound on FaceTime, Google Meet, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Zoom.
- In an article for iMore, automation expert Matthew Cassinelli suggests tips for using Shortcuts on an iPhone. The article discusses four types of shortcuts that you might want to use, with links to lots of sample shortcuts.
- If you use the Apple Card credit card, you can now get three months of Apple TV+ for free. Click here for more details. I think that this works even if you already subscribe to Apple TV+. However, it does not work if you currently get Apple TV+ included as part of an Apple One subscription.
- One reason to subscribe to Apple TV+ is to watch the series For All Mankind. The final episode of Season 3 just came out a few hours ago as I type this, and it is fantastic. Season 1 is great, Season 2 is better, and Season 3 is the best one yet.
- There is a new limited series on Apple TV+ called Five Days at Memorial that starts today. It is about a true event—the conditions at a hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina—which was a big topic in the local news here in New Orleans many years ago. According to Mike Scott of the local newspaper in New Orleans, The Times-Picayune, the show is “engaging and suspenseful” and “the epitome of prestige TV.” And in a follow-up article, he talks to some of the cast members about the show. I know that the show will not be uplifting, and it is likely to bring back some rough memories for those of us who lived through Katrina, but I’m curious to check it out, so this is on my list to watch.
- Eight months ago, I linked to a funny Apple TV+ ad that featured actor Jon Hamm complaining that every other star was on the service except for him. I figured that Apple running the ad would mean that we would see Jon Hamm on Apple TV+ in the future. Sure enough, the Apple TV+ Twitter account announced this week that Jon Hamm will be on Season 3 of The Morning Show.
- And finally, a new video from Apple featuring photographer Eddy Chen includes a number of great tips for taking and editing photos on an iPhone to take advantage of natural light, such as how to take advantage of shadows, the golden hour as the sun sets, and night mode. There are some great tips in this video: