Thirty years ago yesterday, on June 20, 1994, at a time when most people had no idea what the World Wide Web or the Internet was (Netscape Navigator did not come out until late 1994), Apple opened the doors to eWorld, an online service that was a Mac-oriented competitor to AOL. I used eWorld during the two years that it was around. and I liked it. Nevertheless, it was always clear to me and others that so much more was coming from the Internet. Fast forward to today and the iPhone and other Apple products act as the front door to the Internet for many people, whether they are browsing the web in Safari or using Internet-based apps to pay for coffee, communicate with friends, work remotely, and so much more. As we now look to the future, beta versions (at least, the developer beta versions) of iOS 18 and other upcoming operating systems are now available for those who want to try things out early. You definitely won’t see me put an early beta on my iPhone or iPad because I need those devices to get work done, and I cannot have them quit randomly, overheat, or run out of battery. But if you have an extra device, or if you don’t mind living with the crazy ups and downs of the beta cycle just to be the first to try something new (for example, my son falls in that category), you can register yourself as an Apple developer for free and download the new software now. Or, you can sign up for the free Apple Beta Software Program to access the early beta versions when they are somewhat more polished. Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac speculates that the first public beta will be available in a few weeks. Or, perhaps best of all, you can let others be the guinea pigs and just read what they have to say. That’s the approach that I plan to take for the next few months, with the possible exception of my Apple Vision Pro—which is inherently a beta device so I might try the beta software on it. We’ll see. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Rajesh Pandey of Cult of Mac identifies 11 hidden iOS 18 features that Apple did not tell you about. I’ve already mentioned a few of them last week, like the ability to adjust the flashlight width and the screen bezel expanding when you press a side key on the iPhone, but there are some other good ones on that list.
- Patrick Holland of CNet shares lots of details about how text messaging via satellite will work in iOS 18. No pictures or videos, but you can send and receive text messages, emoji, tap backs, and even iMessage bubble and screen effects.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac previews what is coming to Apple Maps in iOS 18.
- We all have an Apple ID, and if you used the earliest versions of iTunes, you may even have two of them. Adam Engst of TidBITS reports that in iOS 18, Apple is changing the name to Apple Account.
- David Price of Macworld reveals that in watchOS 11, Apple is removing the Siri watch face, presumably because you will be able to get a similar feature from any watch face by just swiping up.
- I’m a big fan of the podcast transcripts feature now in Apple Podcasts. Ari Saperstein of The Guardian interviewed folks from Apple about the feature and learned that Apple has been working on this since 2018.
- As I’ve mentioned before, immersive content on the Apple Vision Pro is truly incredible, and I wish we had more of it. That is now starting to become more possible. Jeff Benjamin of 9to5Mac explains how you can purchase an Insta360 X4 ($499.99 on Amazon) and then convert the video so it will play on the Vision Pro. We also need to have a good website or app to watch immersive videos taken by others.
- In a post for Six Colors, Joe Rosensteel reveals how Sandwich Video pulled off the first live 3D stream for the Apple Vision Pro last week.
- If you use 1Password as your password manager and you are worried that you may one day forget your master password, you can now (optionally) create a recovery code that you can print out and store in a secure location that can be used, in connection with access to your email account. to get back into 1Password. Ryan Christofel of 9to5Mac explains how it works.
- Mitchell Bailey of Global News (Canada) reports that a firefighter in Canada started to have a headache when his Apple Watch warned him that he may be having atrial fibrillation. That led him to go to the hospital where he learned that he was having a heart attack. The man and his wife credit the Apple Watch for helping to save his life.
- On the other hand, sometimes the Apple Watch makes mistakes. Lexi Carson of Variety reports that Steven Spielberg was giving a talk on stage during the Tribeca Festival when his Apple Watch mistakenly told him that he had taken a hard fall. He responded by taking off his watch and throwing it on the ground—which wasn’t the best idea because that triggered the watch to begin to call 911.
- Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports on a new feature coming to Apple TV+. If you start watching a live MLS game after it has already started, you can watch a series of highlights, generated automatically using AI, to get caught up before you start watching live. I love this.
- Last year, Apple launched a buy now, pay later program. It was somewhat controversial since it seemed to encourage people to spend beyond their means. And this week, Chance Miller of 9to4Mac reports that Apple is discontinuing the program.
- Ben Lovejoy of 9to5 speculates that Apple may be discontinuing the program to avoid having to deal with regulations that date back to 1968.
- And finally, I enjoyed watching this 15-minute video in which Marquest Brownlee interviews Apple CEO Tim Cook. It begins with interesting Qs and As on Apple Intelligence and then ends with Cook discussing some of the greatest products in Apple history.