To help ring in the new year, Brett Burney and I released a new episode of the In the News podcast, one in which we look back and look forward. We look back 25 years to when Apple first acquired NeXT … although in retrospect, it was almost like NeXT acquired Apple. We also discuss the rise and fall of BlackBerry. Looking forward, we talk about what might be coming to AirPods in the future, improvements to Apple Maps, and issues related to COVID.
In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for the Microsoft To Do app that you can probably use with any task manager. I provide tips for using the text replacement feature of the iPhone and iPad.
Just about 25 years ago, on December 20, 1996, Apple purchased NeXT, a company that made computer hardware and software. In retrospect, Apple didn’t get NeXT as much as it got the founder of NeXT, Steve Jobs. As the headline for an article by Dawn Kawamoto of CNet accurately stated at the time: “Apple acquires Next, Jobs.” Joe Rossignol of MacRumors recently discussed the significance of that acquisition with the benefit of hindsight. It is no exaggeration to say that this acquisition saved Apple from bankruptcy and led to the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and the iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS operating systems. Who knows what kind of smartphones and other portable technology we would be using today if things had turned out differently 25 years ago. And now, the news of note for the end of 2021:
New York attorney Nicole Black discusses the top five legal technology stories of 2021 in an article for ABA Journal. Perhaps obviously, the remote work revolution is #1 on her list.
Tom Parsons of What Hi-Fi? interviewed Gary Geaves, VP of Acoustics at Apple, to discuss Spatial Audio for the AirPods and related topics. It is an interesting interview. For example, Geaves explains that Spatial Audio works differently when you are listening to an Apple TV than when you are listening to an iPhone so that the virtual speakers seem further away on an Apple TV but closer on an iPhone.
Throughout this pandemic, one of the ways to keep track of the seriousness of the spread of COVID is to look at what local Apple Stores are doing. Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that Apple has closed all of its stores in New York City because of COVID.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported other Apple Store closings on Twitter. For example, here in New Orleans where I live, Gurman reports that our local Apple Store is closing temporarily starting today because of nearly 30 employees with COVID. Gurman also reported that two Florida Apple Stores closed because of potentially hundreds of positive tests or exposures.
COVID isn’t the only thing that we need to be concerned about. Hacking remains a constant problem for all of us—I just heard yesterday about a major law firm being hacked—and nothing is more scary that hackers breaking into a password manager. But as Michael Simon of Macworld reports, hackers were able to access some part of the LastPass password manager system, although LastPass believes that no individual accounts were compromised.
Have you ever typed 20 on your iPhone or iPad and had the device automatically change that to 2.0? It has happened to me, and I could never figure out why. John Gruber of Daring Fireball figured out what is going on and provides a workaround.
And finally (for this past week), Apple recently released three short videos to show off the iPhone 13 Pro’s video capabilities. One called Pavel addresses the 3x optical zoom. One called Basement addresses taking video in low light. But my favorite is called Detectives and it addresses Cinematic Mode in a very humorous way:
And finally (for this past year), Apple TV+ created a new Peanuts holiday special, this one for New Year’s Eve. And to celebrate that new movie, you can now have a For Auld Lang Syne sing-along with your favorite Peanuts characters:
As we start to get deep into the holiday season, it is time to gather your family around the fire and listen to the latest episode of the In the News podcast. Brett and I start with a deep dive on iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2. There is more in there than you might think. Then we discuss the new Pixelmator Photo app for the iPhone and why you should strongly considering using it, along with some other topics.
In our In the Know segment, we both have photo-related tips. Brett recommends an app called Stitch It! to create very long screenshot pictures, such as a string of text messages. I discuss the ML Super Resolution feature on Pixelmator Photo.
With the holidays approaching, many of us will be using an iPhone to take a lot more pictures of friends and family. And if you need to touch up some of those pictures, I have good news. This week, the fabulous Pixelmator Photo app came to the iPhone. I’ve been using this app on the iPad for a while now, and it is great. John Voorhees of MacStories shows off how the app works on the iPhone. And despite the small screen, it works quite well. For example, as Jason Snell of Six Colors points out, Pixelmator Photo has a particularly good retouch tool, a tool that doesn’t exist in the Photos app on the iPhone (although it does exist in the Photos app on the Mac). If you need to quickly fix a blemish on a face or remove a distracting object from the background, Pixelmator Photo’s eraser feature is what you need. The app is currently on sale for $4 (50% off the normal price), and if you already own the iPad app, you won’t get charged for the iPhone app. If you use your iPhone to take photos, I highly recommend the new iPhone version of Pixelmator Photo. And now, the news of note from the past week:
California attorney David Sparks discusses the new features that are in iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2, which were released earlier this week. One new iPad feature David noted that I missed is that you can now set separate actions for a swipe from the lower-right and lower-left corners of the iPad screen. On my iPad, the lower-left swipe only works when I’m using my Apple Pencil, not with my finger, but perhaps I have more to figure out on that.
Jordan Hobbs of Uptime Legal Systems shares tips on creating legal symbols—such as ¶, §, Π, Δ, and more—using the iPhone, PC, and Mac. I’ve addressed this topic in the past, but I now see that it was back in 2014. Time flies.
Readdle updated Scanner Pro this week to add a Magic Eraser feature, perfect for removing your finger or other marks that you don’t want to appear on your scans. In my tests, the new feature works well, and this tool for PDFs is similar to the tool I discussed above for photos in Pixelmator Photo.
Apple created an AirTags app for Android. The app is called Tracker Detect, and it is designed to be used by someone with an Android phone to check and see if they are being tracked, without their knowledge, by an AirTag. (iPhone users already get those alerts automatically.) Ian Sherr of CNet describes the Tracker Detect app—one of the rare Android apps developed by Apple.
Before there was an iPhone, there was the Palm and Handspring—pioneers of what would become the smartphone. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this high-quality 30-minute video on the history of Handspring by Dieter Bohn of The Verge. I especially recommend this to folks who, like me, used a Treo before using an iPhone.
And finally, Apple released a new episode of Ted Lasso this week! Well, a new short at least, featuring claymation versions of your favorite Ted Lasso characters. It is called The Missing Christmas Mustache. Enjoy:
Apple updated many of its operating systems yesterday, including iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2. There are some nice new features in this update. I’ll start with the one that wll be the most significant for some people: Legacy Contacts.
If you pass away and a family member or close friend knows your iCloud username and password, then they can access lots of information from your account such as photos, notes, email, and more. But what if they don’t? With the new Legacy Contacts feature, you can identify up to five people as your Legacy Contacts. When you die, once they establish that fact to Apple by providing a death certificate, then the person you designate will be able to access your iCloud data. Apple explains on this webpage what can be accessed.
To use this feature, both you and the other person must update to iOS 15.2 (or later). Then, in the Settings app on your iPhone, tap your name (very top of the Settings app) and then Password & Security. Then tap Legacy Contact. On the next screen, tap Add Legacy Contact.
You will need to provide that person with an access key that they will use, along with your death certificate, to get access. You can print that out, useful if you want to place it in a secure place like a safe. Or you can send it via text message, in which case your iPhone automatically drafts the message for you.
That’s just one of the new features added yesterday. Some of the others:
Apple Music Voice Plan. If you don’t want to pay for a full Apple Music subscription for $9.99/month, you can now purchase a $4.99/month plan that only works when you ask Siri to play songs. For most folks, I think that the full plan is well worth the extra money, but I guess it is nice to have options.
Communication Safety in Messages. For children in your family, you can optionally turn on a feature that blurs incoming text messages containing nudity and provides a warning, although the child can decide to view the picture anyway. When Apple originally announced this feature, it said that parents could also be notified if the child is under 13, but Apple decided against adding that in favor of privacy.
App Privacy Report. In Settings, go to Privacy, then App Privacy Report to see how apps are accessing private information such as your location, photos, camera, microphone, and contacts.
Track the Trackers. In the Find My app, tap Items. If there are nearby items (like AirTags) belonging to someone else that could be used to track you, you’ll see an option called Items That Can Track Me. Tap that to learn more.
Five More Hours to Find. If you lose your iPhone and the battery runs down to zero, the iPhone will go into Power Reserve mode. In iOS 15.2, even when in that mode, you can still use Find My on another device to find your iPhone for up to five hours.
Security Improvements. Every time Apple releases an update, they always enhance security, and I presume they have done the same this time.
The latest episode of the In the News podcast is now available. This is a really fun episode because Brett Burney and I discuss lots of interesting topics. First, we discuss the lawsuit between Epic and Apple and the impact of the stay that was just granted by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. Next, we talk about using your iPhone or Apple Watch as a hotel key. We then discuss the great pictures and information in this article by Jonathan Bell of Wallpaper, with photos by Jason Schmidt, regarding how Apple designs new products at its Apple Park campus.
Next, we discuss third-party tips for the Apple AirPods Pro, a new stylus from Adonit that works for the iPad and iPhone, putting a digital fireplace on your Apple TV, and the unexpected Razer Phone Cooler Chroma ($59.99 on Amazon).
In our In the Know segment, we focus on the web browser. Brett shares a tip for hiding your IP address when using the Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad. I discuss the first stand-alone web browser for the Apple Watch: the µBrowser (“Micro Browser”).
If you are looking for a present idea for anyone who has an Apple Watch (a growing population), I recommend finding a way to give someone an Apple Watch band—or, perhaps an Apple gift card so that they can pick out a specific color. Which band should you give? I recommend the Solo Loop, which I reviewed earlier this year. At $50, it is one of the least-expensive bands made by Apple, but it is also one of the best. I love wearing my Milanese Loop band at work and when I want to dress up, but after work and on the weekends, the Solo Loop is my go-to band because it is so comfortable. This week, Eric Brain of Hypebeast released an article based on his interview of Stan Ng (Apple’s VP of Product Marketing) and Evans Hankey (Apple’s VP of Industrial Design) to discuss Apple Watch bands. Hankey specifically praises the Solo Loop, saying that it is “without a doubt the most simple and most ambitious watch band we have made” because “[f]or possibly the first time in the history of watchmaking, we have eliminated all buckles, clasps, and the excess material necessary for size adjustment” and thus it is “the most comfortable band we’ve made.” I agree with this 100%. I love how comfortable this band is, and because there is no clasp, it feels incredibly secure on my arm. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Although Apple has been winning most aspects of the lawsuit filed against it by Epic arising out of Epic’s bait-and-switch (the company secretly added in-app payment options in violation of Apple’s rules), there was one aspect on which Epic prevailed, and because the trial court declined to grant a stay, there was a risk that Apple was going to have to change certain aspects of its in-app payment system this month. But as John Gruber of Daring Fireball reports, the federal Ninth Circuit granted a stay until the merits of that part of the trial court’s ruling are reviewed on appeal. if you haven’t been following this lawsuit closely, all that you need to know is that, for now, nothing is changing.
This one is really just for the appellate lawyer nerds like me, and this one has nothing to do with the iPhone (except that I learned the news while reading this tweet by Prof. David Ziff in the Tweetbot app), but Ziff reports in that tweet that the West publication Federal Appendix ceased publication this year after a 20-year run, with 861 being the final volume. Whether you cited it as F. App’x or Fed. Appx., it was nice to have a short and official-looking citation for those unpublished federal opinions. On well, now we have to use the long WL and LEXIS cites. (As Ziff also tweets, it doesn’t appear that West published an official announcement of this. So yes, that means that the decision to end the F. App’x is, ahem, unpublished.)
Speaking of Twitter and appellate nerds, I can’t stop laughing at this video by Alexis Gay praising the em dash.
OK, let’s get back to the iPhone. One of the features that Apple announced for iOS 15 is the ability to use your iPhone or Apple Watch as a room key at a hotel. Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that the feature is now starting to rollout at a few Hyatt Hotels. This reminds me of the early days of Apple Pay, and I look forward to this feature being widely available.
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone picks the 20 best TV shows of 2021, and it made me smile to see For All Mankind Season 2 grab the #1 slot. Ted Lasso gets all of the (well-deserved) acclaim on Apple TV+, but For All Mankind is truly excellent. There are lots of other good shows on his list, plus quite a few that were not previously on my radar screen.
Jonathan Bell of Wallpaper wrote an interesting article—featuring great photographs by Jason Schmidt—of the inside of Apple Park and some of the design folks who work there.
Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the Adonit Dash 4, a stylus that works with both the iPad and the iPhone.
Nicole Nguyen of the Wall Street Journal (Apple News link) compares the Apple Watch to other wearable devices to track your body’s trends over time.
The iPhone J.D. award for the craziest MagSafe-compatible accessory goes to the Razer Phone Cooler Chroma ($59.99 on Amazon), which adds a 7-blade fan to the back of your iPhone to keep it cooler even as you push the iPhone’s processor to the limits, plus 12 colorful LED lights to give your iPhone some bling. Thanks to Michael Simon of Macworld for noticing this critical product.
And finally, I love using asking Siri to perform certain functions in my house, such as turning on the lights on my Christmas tree. But I never expected to see Siri control a VCR. However, Siri can do that too, as this video from the Will It Work? channel demonstrates.
I love my AirPods Pro, and I use them every day. They work great for conference calls in my office (connected to my PC or my iPad), phone calls, listening to music, listening to podcasts, watching videos, and more. The noise cancellation feature is fantastic, as is the Transparency Mode for when I want to hear the outside world. Nevertheless, my one complaint has always been that the tips are not as comfortable as I would like for my ears. They work fine when I first put them in, but then they tend to move around and feel like they are going to fall out. Thus, over the years, I’ve tried many alternative eartips including adding memory foam to the Apple eartips and purchasing Foam Masters Hybrid Silicone-Memory Foam Ear Tips. The Foam Masters tips have been a good choice for me, but they no longer appear to be for sale on Amazon, and I’ve always been curious about other options.
One option I had heard good things about is COMPLY’s memory foam replacement tips. Unlike the prior replacement tips I had been using, which put memory foam inside of silicone, these tips are just memory foam. I’ve been using them for about six weeks now, and I like them about the same as the Foam Masters tips, which I say because they are both a little bit better and a little bit worse.
When you purchase the “assorted” version of this product, you get three different tip sizes, just like you do with Apple’s tips. That’s nice so that you can pick what feels the best for you.
These tips connect to the AirPods Pro the same way that Apple’s tips connect. They just snap on.
Because the COMPLY tips are virtually all memory foam, you need to use them in a special way. You cannot simply put them in your ears. Well, you can do that, but you won’t get the full effect. The correct way to put these in your ears is to squeeze them between your fingers so that the foam compresses. Then you put one in your ear and hold it there for a few seconds as the memory foam expands to fill your ear. Then you do the same thing with the second one.
This process of inserting them in an ear is my big complaint about this this product — this entire class of products, not just the ones made by COMPLY. A few seconds may not seem like much, but I often find that I want to put my AirPods Pro in my ears quickly. For example, when someone calls my iPhone and I want to wear them for the conversation, I don’t have time to pinch ear tips. And even if I am just listening to music, I don’t want to wait. I’ve gotten more use to this process over time, but it is still annoying.
On the other hand, the advantage if that once the foam expands to fill your ears, these tips work better than the tips that come with the AirPods Pro. First, I find them to be more comfortable. Second, the foam improves the noise cancellation ability of the AirPods Pro. And for what it is worth, my AirPods Pro pass the iPhone’s Ear Tip Fit test when I use these tips.
These replacement tips are about the same size as Apple’s tips. Thus, you can use these tips and you won’t have trouble fitting your AirPods Pro into the charging case.
[UPDATE 5-22-2022: After using a set of these ear tips daily for about seven months, they started to fall apart. Thus, I ordered a replacement pair, and they are working great. When I ordered my original set, I ordered the version with a small, medium, and large size so that I could figure out which size worked best. The large size worked best for me, so when I ordered the replacement, I made all three of the tips large. Hopefully, these three will last me another year and a half or so. The fact that I ordered replacements should tell you the most important thing: I really like this product, and I gave it a high recommendation. Everyone has different ears, but for my ears, these are wonderful.]
Conclusion
Everyone has different ears, so no one product will work best for everyone. Nevertheless, if you are looking for replacement tips for the AirPods Pro that provide a better fit, I consider these to be an improvement, and hopefully you will as well. And if you are looking for replacement tips to provide better noise cancellation, this is definitely a good product. Unfortunately, to get these benefits, you have to get used to spending a little more time putting your AirPods Pro into your ears.
After a week off for Thanksgiving, the In the News podcast that I co-host with Brett Burney is back with a great new episode. Brett and I start by discussing Apple’s new lawsuit against NSO Group, the company that sells hacking software to governments. Next we discuss my recent upgrade to a 4K HDR television. Finally, we discuss two recent examples of using technology to make things more convenient: using HomeKit to control your Christmas Tree lights, and ordering coffee from a CarPlay screen.
We also have a good In the Know segment this week. Brett recommends some somewhat hidden features in CarPlay, and I recommend some somewhat hidden features on the Apple TV.
In a press release, Apple announced the best and most popular podcasts of 2021. I’m thrilled that the In the News podcast that Brett Burney and I produce almost every Friday is on the list. At least, I assume that it is somewhere on the list, if the list runs from #1 all the way to last place. We didn’t make the Top 10, but if you want to see what did, click here. Apple also announced the best apps and games of 2021, including the excellent CARROT Weather app for the Apple Watch. It is funny to see Myst as the Mac game of the year considering that I played Myst the first time that it came out on the Mac, back in 1993. Apple also announced the most downloaded iPhone and iPad apps, and Juli Clover of MacRumors shared those lists. Apple also announced the Apple Music Award winners. I only recognize a few of the music winners, but I definitely know the Drivers License song by Olivia Rodrigo (who won Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year) because my daughter played it frequently in my car. And now, the recent news of note:
I’ve mentioned NSO Group many times this year, an Israeli company that sells hacking tools to governments. The company claims that the tool is only supposed to be used against even criminals, but there are many reports of it being used against civil rights activists and reporters. Apple has had enough and this week filed suit against NSO Group. John Gruber of Daring Fireball provides some details.
Apple’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. How does it have personal jurisdiction there over an Israeli company? As reported by Mitchell Clark and Richard Lawler of The Verge, the complaint alleges that NSO Group “created more than one hundred Apple IDs to carry out their attacks and also agreed to Apple’s iCloud Terms and Conditions (‘iCloud Terms’), including a mandatory and enforceable forum selection and exclusive jurisdiction clause that constitutes express consent to the jurisdiction of this Court.” Or, as John Moltz tweeted: “Finally a good use for a EULA.”
I may not recognize many of the songs that won an Apple Music Award, but Apple’s Shazam service certainly does. In fact, it now recognizes even more songs, as reported by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac, because Shazam will now spend more time trying to identify a song.
Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac provides tips for automating your Christmas decorations using HomeKit. My Christmas Tree is connected to a Lutron lamp dimmer, and it is nice to be able to ask Siri on any device, such as the HomePod mini in the same room, to turn the tree on or off.
Michael Simon of Macworld made a big switch. Literally. After using the iPhone 12 mini, he upgraded to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and he describes the experience.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball recommends Vinegar, a $2 Safari plug-in for Safari on the iPhone and iPad (and Mac) that replaces embedded YouTube videos on web pages with HTML 5 video tags, which means that it is easier to play videos right on the web page. I’ve been trying it for several days now, and it is a very nice improvement.
Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that we now have the first food ordering app for CarPlay. Using the Dunkin’ app you can order your favorite or recent orders using your CarPlay screen.
iOS 15 will eventually include the ability to store a state’s driver’s license in the Wallet app, but Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that this feature has been delayed until early 2022.
And finally, I always love watching the holiday ads that Apple makes every year, and this year is a great one. The video is called Saving Simon, it was filmed using an iPhone 13 Pro (using many features such as macro mode and cinematic mode), and it was directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking, Up in the Air, etc.) and his father Ivan Reitman (Meatballs, Stripes, Ghostbusters, etc.). The video is embedded below, and I also enjoyed watching the behind the scenes video.
