Whether you only have the default and free 5GB of iCloud storage or you pay for additional storage, it is always possible to run out of space. In an article for Fast Company, Michael Grothaus provides three tips for deleting items in iCloud that you might not need: large attachments in the Messages app, large videos in the Photos app, and iCloud emails. But many other items use up space in iCloud, so if you haven't checked out what is using up your iCloud storage in a while, you should consider doing so now. In Settings, tap your name at the top, tap iCloud, tap Storage, and then see how your storage is being used. Because I subscribe to the Apple One Premier plan, I get 2TB of space for me and up to four others. That sounds like a lot, but I'm using about 75% of it. I'm currently using almost 1TB myself—primarily because of a large Photos library, but there are other large items on there like the backups for my iPad and Vision Pro—and the other three members of my family are currently using just over 0.5TB. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- It has been horrible to learn about the fires this week that have devastated many communities in the Los Angeles area, and my heart goes out to the people affected. When disasters like this occur, local officials often use smartphone alert systems to communicate with people in danger. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that an evacuation warning that was supposed to be sent only to residents of two communities was instead, by mistake, sent to all iPhone owners in Los Angeles last night. It took 22 minutes before an updated alert was issued to correct the error. That must have been a scary 22 minutes for a lot of people.
- Speaking of those fires, Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that Apple is making a donation to support the victims and recovery efforts.
- If you think you hear your AirPods Pro play a sound when they are in a case and you didn't do anything to cause that sound (like use the FindMy app to try to find them), apparently, that is a feature, not a bug. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that ‌at the same time that Apple gave AirPods Pro the ability to run a hearing test, it also made them occasionally play a sound while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers still work as intended. I don't think I've noticed this noise yet for my AirPods Pro, but perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention.
- There were many changes to the Messages app when iOS 18.2 was released on December 11, 2024. Jeff Carlson of CNet highlights the key changes in Messages.
- The big CES show took place this week in Las Vegas. It is an event at which many product manufacturers show off products that they plan to release this year—along with other products that are just concepts and will never see the light of day. Juli Clover of MacRumors discusses some of the new products announced by Belkin, a company with a great track record for creating good accessories for Apple products.
- Andrew Orr of AppleInsider discusses new iPhone chargers from Scosche that were previewed at CES.
- Hartley Charlton of MacRumors discusses new smart home devices previewed at CES by Aqara that work with Apple devices because they include HomeKit and/or Matter support.
- Lutron, which makes some of my favorite HomeKit products, makes window shades called Serena that can be raised or lowered using HomeKit. My wife and I seriously considered getting them a few years ago for our living room, but they were too expensive to justify the cost. At CES, Lutron announced new Casetta window shades. Andrew O'Hara of AppleInsider reports that Lutron "re-engineered the internals" and "streamlined the manufacturing," and as a result, this new line of window shades costs $399 for any size under 48", which can be half the cost of the Serena shades depending upon the configuration.
- Apple hasn't previewed any products at CES since the 1990s. (In 1992, Apple CEO John Sculley unveiled the Newton at a CES show.) However, William Gallagher of AppleInsider notes that Apple is very much in the minds of people at CES every year. I think that this has been true since the days of the iPod.
- Both Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac and Apple CEO Tim Cook recommend lying down on a couch to watch shows on the Apple Vision Pro. I've tried this out, and it is a comfortable way to watch a show. Another tip from me for cold winter nights: get under your cozy covers on your bed and watch a show on a giant virtual screen on your bedroom ceiling. If you use AirPods, you can enjoy a show without disturbing your spouse.
- Predicting music artists who are on the brink of going big is a job traditionally held by smart people in the music industry. Sometimes, artists become famous simply because many people hear a good song and then think, "I like this; I wonder who that artist is?" People often use Shazam to answer that question, so it can be a good source to predict which artists are about to become stars. Apple, which has owned Shazam since 2018, released its Shazam Fast Forward 2025 list this week. It's an interesting webpage that lets you hear previews of songs by the spotlighted artists. I guess we'll check back in a year and see how many of these artists hit it big in 2025.
- Two of my favorite Apple TV+ shows—Slow Horses and Shrinking—were nominated this week for Screen Actors Guild awards, as reported by William Gallagher of AppleInsider.
- Another of my favorite Apple TV+ shows is Severance. Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that you can now watch the first season for free on the Roku Channel as we await the launch of Season 2 on Apple TV+ on January 17.
- Andrew Webster of The Verge has seen half of Severance Season 2 and, without giving spoilers, states that the new season "hits just as hard as the original, pushing further into the dark, weird edges of the Severance universe, while expanding it in fascinating new ways." I'm excited!
- And finally, here is the trailer for Season 4 of the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest, which begins January 29. It looks like the new season will be just as funny and zany as the first three seasons.
