Hey Siri, what's that song? Apple announced this week that Shazam--the technology that uses an audio fingerprint to identify songs—has now recognized over 100 billion songs since the service launched in 2002. The original Shazam was only available in the UK; users would call a phone number, hold up their phone for Shazam to identify a song, and then Shazam would send a text message with the result. Shazam's popularity vastly increased when it released an iOS app in 2008 when the App Store debuted. I raved about Shazam on February 9, 2009, in one of the earliest posts on iPhone J.D. Ten years later in 2018, Apple purchased the company, and Shazam is now fully integrated into the iPhone. I can only imagine what the smart engineers behind Shazam are working on for future projects in this age of AI. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Amazon has begun its Black Friday sales, and if you are looking for gifts for someone else or something for yourself, you can get some really good deals right now. The new Apple Watch Series 10 starts at only $329, a $70 discount for a fantastic device. (My review.) Or if you want the current version of the Apple Watch SE (the second generation), it starts at $169, an $80 discount. That's a great gift for a teen or pre-teen or anyone else who only wants the basic features of an Apple Watch. (My write-up.) The top-of-the-line AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C are at an all-time low price of only $159.99, a $90 discount on what would be a fantastic present.
- Amazon also has some great deals on certain models of the iPad. If you know someone who would be OK with the entry-level iPad, the iPad 10th generation is $279, which is an $80 discount. (My write-up.) There are also some discounts on high-end iPads, such as the iPad Pro 11" (M4) with 2TB for $1799, which is a $200 discount. (My write-up.)
- And finally, if you want a portable battery that can charge not only your iPhone but also a refrigerator, the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station, which normally costs $799, is on sale on Amazon for only $399, a $400 discount.
- If you prefer to buy directly from Apple, the company announced that sales of certain products on Black Friday (Nov. 29) through Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) will come with an Apple Gift Card in amounts that range from $25 (for the iPhone SE) to $200 (for a 15-inch MacBook Air (M3)). My experience from past years is that you typically can get a bigger discount with Amazon, but remember—as I noted last week—that when you buy directly from Apple, you have until January 8, 2025, to return the product for a full weekend. So if you want the flexibility of letting your gift recipient exchange the product for something that suits them better or the comfort of knowing that you can bring it back, Apple is your best bet.
- Dan Moren of Six Colors recommends using head gestures while you are wearing AirPods.
- iOS 18.1.1 and similar updates for other platforms were released this week. If you haven't upgraded yet, you should do so because it patches a zero-day vulnerability, as noted by Lance Whitney of ZDNet, which means that hackers were actively taking advantage of the vulnerability. My understanding is that the version of the hack that was being actively used only worked on Intel-based Macs, but in theory, the same hack could also be targeted at other Apple platforms. Be safe, and install the update.
- When Apple releases iOS 18.2 in a few weeks, it will contain another Apple Intelligence feature called Image Playground, which lets you create original images in just a few seconds based on your description of what you want. David Sparks of MacSparky has been playing with the beta version, and he notes that the pictures are very unrealistic (presumably to avoid the technology being used for Deep Fakes) and there are many guardrails on what the app allows you to create. I understand Apple's desire for caution in this area, but David notes that the limitations can limit the usefulness of the technology.
- The summarize Apple Intelligence feature in iOS 18.1 can be interesting, but clearly needs more work. As Lila Shroff notes in an article for The Atlantic, the summaries can be quite misleading. I tried out the feature this week on an email chain discussing some revisions to a document. The summary feature told me that a certain person said that she had no more revisions, but when I read her actual email, it said that she only had the following additional revisions and then listed three of them. Despite what Apple suggests in its advertisements, you cannot rely on these AI summaries to be accurate. Not yet, at least. Maybe one day.
- Apple announced this week that the editorial team behind Apple Music selected Billie Eilish as Apple Music's Artist of the Year for 2024. She also received the award in 2019, the first year that Apple Music began these recognitions.
- We have all now had about two months with iOS 18. What do you think about the new layout in Photos? It took me a little while to get used to it, but now I prefer it. Tim Hardwick of MacRumors says that users are divided on the redesign.
- I understand the popularity of Apple's own Podcasts app, but my podcast player of choice has long been Overcast. And around 60% of the downloads of the In the News podcast are from Overcast, so I know that it is the app of choice for many of you as well. The app saw some big updates this week, as noted by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac. You can quickly see which podcasts you have listened to for the most hours, which is fun. (When I record this week's episode of the In the News podcast with Brett, I'll talk about which ones made my list.) There is also a great history and undo feature which lets you recover a podcast if you accidentally skipped to the end of it even though you were not done listening to it.
- Ann-Marie Alcántara of the Wall Street Journal discusses how people use the Notes app as an extension of their brains. I know that I certainly do.
- If some of your notes in the Notes app have been disappearing, Joe Rossignol of MacRumors explains that Apple has acknowledged the issue and has instructions for how to fix it.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac recommends his favorite HomeKit accessories for this holiday season. First on his list is Lutron Caséta, which get my highest recommendation for the reasons I explained in this post.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac recommends using the Enhance Dialogue feature on the Apple TV 4K, now that it is available even if you don't use a HomePod for your speakers.
- And finally, here is a silly video from Apple called All Systems Pro that seeks to emphasize the power of the A18 Pro processor in the iPhone 16 Pro.
