I hope that everyone reading this is happy and healthy right now, but of course, none of us is immortal. Thus, it always makes sense to make plans now so that it is easier for your friends and family after you move on from this world. Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors discusses the Legacy Contact feature of an Apple account and other tools that you can use today to prepare for the innevitable. Although Fleishman is not an attorney, his article quotes from and links to the American Bar Association’s website—the first time I have ever seen a link to the ABA on Six Colors. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Harry McCracken of Fast Company disucsses the numerous improvements in the upcoming visionOS 26 that indicate that “VisionOS 26 is part of a longer-term bet.” I agree with him. I installed the beta on my Vision Pro earlier this week, and there are some great new features—such as the ability to attach a widget to a wall—that are cool and useful today but will become even more important when visionOS is available for a device that is the size of a regular pair of glasses.
- Matt Daley of the iPadProductivity website identifies some of the lesser-known features of the upcoming iPadOS 26. For example, not only can it run a task in the background, but it can even handle multiple background tasks.
- As AI increasingly becomes a part of all of the technology that we use, here is an uplifting heading from Maxwell Zeff of TechCrunch: Anthropic says most AI models, not just Claude, will resort to blackmail.
- When you get to a certain age, a colonoscopy is something that you need to do—but that doesn’t mean it is a pleasent experience. But maybe I’ll be happier about my next colonoscopy if I know that it involves an Apple Vision Pro. Amber Neely of AppleInsider reports that doctors are studying the use of Apple Vision Pro devices during colonoscopies to better detect cancer.
- Twenty years ago this week, the first podcasts debuted in iTunes. That was a hugely significant event in making podcasts more popular. I listen to podcasts every day, and I’ve had great fun during the last four of those twenty years recording the In the News podcast every week with Brett Burney. Apple celebrated the 20th anniversary on its website and listed 20 podcasts that have left a lasting impression during those 20 years.
- Glenn Hendry of INsauga reports that a mother and her 13-year-old son were seriously injured by a tree that fell on them during a major thunderstorm as they were camping in Canada. Fortunately, the mother was able to send an SOS alert that included a GPS location, and as a result, they were rescued from their very remote location. This story was sent to me by an attorney in Canada who says that it appears that the mother used the satellite SOS feature on the iPhone to call for help, and the attorney added that he was in a nearby forested area during that same storm and he noticed the satellite icon appear on the screen of his iPhone 16 Pro. Even if you decide to go camping in the woods to get away from all of the screens, having your iPhone with you can be a life saver!
- Apple TV+ debuts a new crime drama today called Smoke. The show is about tracking down serial arsonists, and it was created by Dennis Lehane, who also created the excellent Apple TV+ limited series Black Bird. Benjamin May of 9to5Mac has more details about this new show.
- July begins next week, and that means new shows on Apple TV+. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac tells us what is coming. It includes Season 3 of Foundation, Season 4 of Acapulco, and new episodes of Stick, The Buccaneers, and Smoke.
- William Gallagher of Apple Insider reports that if you have an extra $5 million in your pocket, you can purchase the farm in Oregon that inspired Steve Jobs to name his company Apple.
- And finally, I like this ad for Apple Arcade called Hold That Train! because of all of the iconic characters that make an appearance: