I did not expect to have new Apple announcements to discuss this week, but here we are. First, we have Apple’s announcement of the new Apple Music Classical app, coming out in a few weeks. Second, we have a new color of the iPhone 14: yellow. Third, we have new colors and styles for Apple Watch bands. Brett Burney and I start this week’s episode of the In the News podcast by discussing the new news from Apple. After that, we discuss the popularity of the iPhone, using the Google Photos app on an iPhone, setting your Apple Watch ahead to make sure that you stay on time, the evolution of ringtones on the iPhone (and why we may be due for a new default ringtone), and more.
In our In the Know segment, Brett and I both discuss advanced features of the Overcast app—a popular app for listening to podcasts. Brett explains how you can share an entire podcast, or better yet, a specific part of a podcast with others. I explain how you can use the Overcast app to listen to audio that you download from just about any other source. I used it earlier this week to listen to a recording of a U.S. Fifth Circuit oral argument, and it made the listening experience far better than it would have been without the Overcast app.
If you enjoy listening to classical music, you are going to love being an Apple Music subscriber in just a few weeks. Back in 2021, Apple acquired a classical music streaming service called Primephonic that had a large collection of classical music and had search features customized for that genre of music—such as searching music not just by artist (like Bach) but by composer, conductor, soloist, etc. On March 28, Apple will launch Apple Music Classical, a service provided at no additional charge to Apple Music subscribers. To use the service, you will use a special Apple Musical Classical app. Hartley Charlton of MacRumors created a good list of the features and limitations. For example, while an Android app is promised, there is no iPad app—which seems odd. But if you have an iPhone and you use Apple Music, you can prepare to get Hooked on Classics in just a few weeks. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
New color is not reserved for just the iPhone. Oliver Haslam of iMore reports that Apple has also released new colors and styles for Apple Watch bands and iPhone cases to complete the new Spring collection. Apple Watch bands from Apple can be tricky because, as I’ve learned in the past, if you find a color that you like and then you need to replace it a year or two later, you are likely to find that the color you purchased is no longer available. Or to look at it from a more glass-half-full angle, if the currently available Apple Watch band colors don’t appeal to you, give it a few months and you’ll likely have more options.
What were the best smartphones in 2022? Pretty much just the iPhone, assuming that you want something nice. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports on research by Counterpart Research that concludes that the best selling smartphones in 2022 were: (1) iPhone 13, (2) iPhone 13 Pro Max, (3) iPhone 14 Pro Max, (4) Samsung Galaxy A13, (5) iPhone 13 Pro, (6) iPhone 12, (7) iPhone 14, (8) iPhone 14 Pro, (9) iPhone 13, and (10) Samsung Galaxy A03. It is interesting that there are no high-end Android phones on that list. The Galaxy A13 is only $249, and Allison Johnson of The Verge calls it a “fine budget device that makes sense for those who are more concerned with day-to-day performance and long battery life than a high-quality screen or a versatile camera.” The Galaxy A03 is only $160; Melanie Pinola of Consumer Reports says that it “ranks near the bottom of CR’s smartphone ratings” and it is “the least expensive phone in Samsung’s Galaxy series, so you can expect some compromises.”
Philip Michaels of Tom’s Guide explains that you can now use the Google Magic Eraser feature to delete unwanted people and objects from photos by just tapping them. I’ve heard that this feature works well, so I downloaded the Google Photos app to try it out, but I haven’t yet seen the Magic Eraser feature as an option. Apparently, it is supposed to show up if you tap the edit icon and then tap tools. Maybe it needs time to analyze my library first? Well anyway, this feature is supposed to be out now, or soon, I guess.
I’ve always known of a small number of people who like to set a watch or an alarm clock ahead by a few minutes to help them stay on time. I didn’t realize that you could do that with an Apple Watch, but Ankur Thakur of iDownloadBlog explains that it is pretty easy to do.
A little show called Ted Lasso—perhaps you have heard something about it?—returns to Apple TV+ for its third and last season on Wednesday, March 15. New episodes will come out every Wednesday through May 31, a total of 12 episodes. To celebrate, Apple announced that you can come to an Apple Store and participate in a Today at Apple program in which you make your own Ted Lasso poster using an Apple Pencil and an iPad. Seems like a quick project since you only need to write one word.
And finally, as much as I’ve loved using an iPhone since 2008, the piano is one of my first loves. Thus, I was thrilled to see that Canadian pianist Tony Ann turned the Apple ringtone called “Opening”—trust me, you know it—into a short piano ballad. Take it away, Tony…
Brett Burney joined me from Chicago, where he is presenting at ABA TECHSHOW, to record the latest episode of the In the News podcast. The major topics we discuss this week include iPhone security, Steve Jobs in New Orleans, whether it makes sense to try to use iMessage on Windows, AirPods tips, a new and interesting iPad dock, and the recent investigative journalism by Reuters using AirTags in old shoes.
In our In the Know segment, Brett discusses scanning QR codes, and I discuss gestures to quickly switch apps on the iPad.
A great picture of Steve Jobs has been circulating the Internet this week after it was released by The Steve Jobs Archive in a newsletter. (You can see the picture here.) It was taken in February 1984 when Steve Jobs was in New Orleans on O’Keefe Avenue, just a few blocks from my law office, and the picture shows Jobs peering into a store window to try to figure out what a woman was doing as she worked on a Macintosh computer. The Macintosh was brand new at the time. As Apple’s famous Super Bowl commercial announced, it was introduced on January 24, 1984. What was Steve Jobs doing in New Orleans just weeks after the Mac was introduced? Despite all of the coverage of that photo over the past week, I haven’t seen anyone else report on that, but I think I have it figured out. According to an old issue of Inc., there was a software convention at the Superdome in New Orleans on February 21-23, 1984, that featured “more than 1,000 exhibits of software products for home, school, and office computers, as well as seminars and workshops on new software techniques, emerging trends, and hot topics in the industry.” And apparently, this was the first computer convention at which the Macintosh was shown off, according to a fantastic story that I located on a blog written by Tom Evslin, a pioneer in the computer industry. His short story is full of great nuggets and I don’t want to spoil it for you, so instead I just encourage you to read the three-part story yourself (1, 2, and 3) to learn about how Tom and his wife Mary ended up doing work for Dow Jones on the first Macintosh. It’s a fantastic read. While all of this was going on in the Superdome, I was just a few miles away, being a Ninth Grade student at the same school where my daughter is currently in Ninth Grade. And now, the news of note from the past week:
You would think that at some point during the recording of 88 episodes of a tech podcast with Brett Burney I would have learned that he has two folders on his iPhone home screen with clever icons, but no, he doesn’t tell me about that, and instead Brett saves that for California attorney David Sparks, who reports on Burney’s home screen in this post that is worth reading. I also see that Brett shared with that guy in California—not yours truly, who lives in New Orleans—that Brett has a nice picture of the French Quarter on his home screen, even though the picture shows the actual New Orleans French Quarter, not the pretend version in Disneyland close to where David lives.
Earlier this week, I discussed critical security issues and recommended that folks consider using 1Password. Later this week, I came across this article in PC World that picks Dashlane as the best password manager. While I still prefer 1Password, especially on the iPhone/iPad, if you are currently picking a password manager, you should look at Dashlane too to see if it seems like a better fit for you. For example, while Wirecutter picks 1Password as its favorite password manager, the authors say that Dashlane is “as polished as 1Password” so that is something.
Earlier this year, I reviewed Belkin’s iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Desktops and Displays, and I really like it. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac wrote this review of the Belkin mount.
One thing I like about the Apple Watch is that it does a good job of encouraging you to be more active. While that alone is unlikely to translate into losing weight, Kristen Rogers of CNN reports on a new study that finds that 11 minutes of aerobic activity per day could lower your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.
If you were a paying subscriber of the Tweetbot or Twitterific apps, you are about to get a partial refund because Twitter abruptly banned those apps. But most of the refund is coming not from Apple but from the small indie developers. Attorney John Voorhees of MacStories encourages you to take a simple step to show some support for all that those developers did over the years by declining the refund, and I second his recommendation.
There have been reports this week—such as this one by D. Griffin Jones of Cult of Mac—that Microsoft is coming out with a way that you can use Apple’s iMessage text messaging system on a Windows computer. But the limitations are severe: no pictures, no videos, no file attachments, no group chats, and you can only see messages sent and received while special software is running on the Windows computer, so you don’t see earlier messages in the conversation. Nevertheless, if you are just awaiting a notification and want to do so on a Windows computer instead of an Apple device, I guess this could work.
If you have a HomePod or HomePod mini, you know that different lights are sometimes displayed on the top of the product. Until this week, I didn’t know exactly what the different lights meant, but Zac Hall of 9to5Mac wrote a great post that shows off and explains the different status lights.
Fernando Silva of 9to5Mac reviewed an interesting dock for the iPad made by Plugable. It holds your iPad in various angles, provides lots of different ports (USB-A, headphone jack, HDMI, USB-C, SD card slot, MicroSD card slot), and looks nice.
Reuters conducted an investigation of whether a program that was supposed to turn old sneakers into playgrounds was actually doing what was advertised. To do the investigation, Reuters put AirTags into sneakers and then contributed the sneakers to the recycling bin so that it could track where they ended up months later. Spoiler alert: the sneakers did not end up where they were supposed to go. It’s an interesting use of AirTags to do a journalist investigation.
And finally, in less than two weeks, one of my favorite Apple TV+ shows returns: Ted Lasso. A trailer was released this week, and it looks like this season—which is likely to be the last for the series—is going to be a lot of fun.
We all know that an iPhone passcode is supposed to remain private. However, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal recently published an alarming story, and accompanying video, that highlights just how critical this is. In this post, I want to describe the problem, then discuss some steps you can take to protect yourself.
The scam
Stern’s investigation revealed that access to a short string of numbers—your iPhone passcode—can unravel your entire digital life. Criminals working in teams, around the country, have come up with ways to cause a victim to unlock their iPhone by typing in their passcodes. Perhaps someone talks to the victim in a bar and volunteers to take a picture with the victim’s iPhone, pressing the buttons on the side of the iPhone to put the iPhone in the mode where it must be unlocked with a passcode instead of FaceID or TouchID. Next, a different criminal watching over a shoulder or taking a video recording from across the room watches the victim unlock the iPhone with a passcode, thereby learning the passcode. Finally, the criminals grab the victim’s iPhone to steal it.
The consequence of having both your iPhone and your passcode stolen are more dire than you probably realized. First, a criminal with your passcode can not only change your passcode (blocking you from using it even if you recover the iPhone) but, far worse, can change your Apple ID password, even without knowing your current Apple ID password. With the new Apple ID password, the criminal can turn off Find My iPhone.
Think about that. The first thing that you would probably think to do if your iPhone was lost—track it with Find My iPhone—becomes impossible almost immediately after your iPhone is stolen.
The criminals might then use your iPhone and passcode to pay for items (using the credit cards in the wallet on your iPhone) or send money to themselves (via Apple Cash). Even worse, if you use Apple’s built-in password management tool to store passwords for things like your bank, the criminals might access your bank account online and transfer money from you to them. Joanna Stern learned of many people who had $10,000 stolen from their accounts.
A criminal with your Apple ID password can also easily delete a lot of your information—perhaps most notably, all of your pictures. And with your Apple ID password changed, this can result in you losing access to all of your photos on all of your devices—computers, iPads, etc.—as one of the victims interviewed by Stern described.
These are the highlights from this story, but I encourage you to read the story for more details. (If you hit a paywall, remember that you can read the Wall Street Journal in the Apple News app if you subscribe to Apple News+) And whether or not you read the story, I recommend that you watch the excellent video that Stern created, which I’ll embed right here:
Steps you can take to protect yourself
Stern discusses some possible solutions in her video. I have similar advice.
First, you need to keep your passcode private. We all already know this, but perhaps knowledge of this specific scam will encourage us all to be more serious about it. Anytime that you type your passcode in public, shield the screen in a way that someone looking ever your shoulder cannot see what you are typing. The scam described by Stern in her article may not work on all iPhones, and you may have other protections if your iPhone is subject to Mobile Device Management, but play it safe. Keep your passcode private, at all times.
Second, consider using a more complex passcode. The default iPhone passcode is six digits. It is possible to change that to only four digits, but you should not do so. In fact, consider doing just the opposite: more than six digits, or a combination of numbers and letters. Apple explains on this page how to use a more complex passcode. That’s what I do, and I got used to it very quickly.
Third, be very careful about giving your iPhone to someone else—especially someone who you don’t know. If you do so anyway, and if they hand your iPhone back to you and suddenly you need to enter your passcode, that should be a red flag. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a criminal; it could just be that your iPhone tried to unlock with their fingerprint or their face and put itself in the mode where a passcode is required, but be safe and treat this as a sign to proceed cautiously.
Fourth, you should strongly consider using a third-party password manager instead of Apple’s built-in password manager—not only for passwords, but for other information and photos. And in light of the recent troubles at LastPass, the only one that I recommend right now is 1Password. Stern’s story notes that criminals were able to access passwords using Apple’s built-in password manager and could access pictures in the Photos app of items like social security cards, passports, driver’s licenses, and other confidential documents. A password manager can store not just passwords but also confidential information, confidential photos, confidential documents, etc. Even if a criminal has physical access to your iPhone andthe passcode, the criminal still cannot access items in your password manager because they are locked behind a different password.
Fifth, use two-factor authentication (“2FA” or “MFA” for multi-factor authentication) when you can, and avoid using a text message as the second form of authentication if you have a choice. When there is a choice, it is much better to use another app like 1Password to store the one-time passcode (one that changes every 30 seconds). I’ll be honest: this is a little complicated to set up, especially the first time you do so, but it gets easier every time. And if you have read this far into this post, I suspect that you appreciate the value of security, so the trouble is likely worth it for you. Unfortunately, some banks and other institutions don’t give you a 2FA option other than text messages, which of course offers you zero extra protection when the criminal has access to your iPhone.
It would not surprise me if Stern’s story and similar news of these scams prompts Apple to make some changes to the iPhone that make some of the steps being used by criminals either impossible or more difficult. But then again, Apple may not do so because this scam has still only impacted a very small percentage of iPhone owners, and Apple knows that almost every step taken to increase security can also make life more difficult for innocent iPhone owners in some other way. Plus, even if Apple makes changes, clever criminals may find new workarounds. Fortunately, the steps that I recommend above can help to protect you regardless of whether Apple, or the criminals, change their approaches.
After taking a week off, Brett Burney and I are back this week to discuss a large variety of interesting topics. We start by taking the long view towards technology, then shift completely to discuss some of the interesting new Emoji coming soon to your iPhone, including a Moose and a Shaking Face. We discuss lots of different Siri commands that you probably did not know about. We discuss Uber live notifications, medication notifications, AirPlay alternatives, creative charging, and then finish up by wishing that we had kept a shrink-wrapped iPhone from 2007.
In our In the Know segment, Brett explains how to temporarily mute notifications from the Lock Screen and why you might want to do that. I discuss the fantastic Photo Shuffle Lock Screen and explain what to do when a picture comes up that you really like, or you really hate.
This week, longtime tech journalist Harry McCracken showed on Twitter the remarkable difference between a picture taken by a Palm Treo in 2005 and a picture taken by an Apple iPhone 14 in 2023. John Gruber links to that post and correctly remarks: “One of tech’s truisms that has no exceptions: We overestimate how much progress we can make in a year, and underestimate how much we can make in a decade.” Ten years ago, the topics being discussed here included Siri Eyes Free, which was technology that made it easier to get information from your iPhone while you are driving (in the days before CarPlay), speculation on how popular a version of Microsoft Office for the iPad might be if Microsoft ever released it, and my first time using an app called 1Password, now one of the most essential apps on my iPhone. And now, the news of note from the past week:
When iOS 16.4 is released, we will get new Emoji on the iPhone. Keith Broni of Emojipedia previews some of the new Emoji including Shaking Face, Donkey, Moose, Wing, Folding Hand Fan, Flute, and Khanda (the symbol of Sikhi, an Indian religion and philosophy).
The Uber app got a major update this week. As Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac explains, the home screen of the app has a new, clean look, and Live Activities support is expanded.
Tim Hardwick of MacRumors reports on the legal battles between Apple and medical device company AliveCor about patents that allegedly relate to the ECG feature of most Apple watches. Because of a December ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission, there is a risk of a ban on Apple Watch imports. Although I’m a lawyer, this is way outside of my area of expertise, so I don’t know enough to predict what might happen here, but it certainly could be interesting.
An original iPhone from 2007, never opened from its box, was just sold at an auction for $63,356.40, as reported by Michael Simon of Macworld. I presume the main reason that the owner auctioned it off is that the original iPhone used AT&T’s Edge network, which AT&T shut down on January 1, 2017.
And finally, Apple TV+ released a trailer for a new show called Extrapolations, which comes out next month. Apple says that the series has “Eight interwoven stories about love, work, faith and family from across the globe” that take place in the near future when climate changed has caused huge problems. What jumped out at me is the cast: Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Kit Harington, Daveed Diggs, Edward Norton, Diane Lane, Tahar Rahim, Yara Shahidi, Matthew Rhys, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, Adarsh Gourav, Keri Russell, Marion Cotillard, Forest Whitaker, Eiza González, Murray Bartlett, Indira Varma, Tobey Maguire, MaameYaa Boafo, Hari Nef, Heather Graham, Michael Gandolfini, Cherry Jones, Gaz Choudhry, Ben Harper, Judd Hirsch, and Neska Rose. That is an incredibly impressive cast. Wow. Here is the trailer:
Today is Mardi Gras day, the culmination of many weeks of festivities in New Orleans. This past weekend, the weather was great for the parades, and it looks like the same will be true today. I had great fun getting together with friends and family as we yelled “throw me something” to the floats and enjoyed good food and drinks. Whether you are here in person or just in spirit, have a great day, and Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Mardi Gras is now in full force here in New Orleans. Multiple parades will go by my house tonight for the third night in a row, and that will continue every day until Mardi Gras day on Tuesday, with some of the biggest parades this weekend. This season has been full of King Cakes, beads, parties, costumes, and a whole lot of purple, green, and gold. As has been true for many years now, a parade app is a great way to use your iPhone to see the schedule and find out where the next parade is and how long it will take to get to you. The free WDSU Parade Tracker app has been working well for me this season. If you haven’t experienced Mardi Gras yet, I recommend that you take the time to check it out one year. Whether you are enjoying time with kids and family on St. Charles Avenue or experiencing the craziness of the French Quarter, it is a fun experience that you won’t forget. And now, the news of note from the past week:
A quick programming note: there will be no episode of the In the News podcast today.
Apple released iOS 16.3.1 for the iPhone and similar updates for other devices this week. Juli Clover of MacRumors says that this is an update that you should install if you haven’t done so yet because it fixes a security vulnerability that was actually being exploited in the wild.
Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that Ivory, the Mastodon client for iOS, added a number of improvements this week including the ability to edit prior posts.
1Password for the iPhone and iPad was updated this week to add a number of new features, as noted in this post on the 1Password blog. One that I particularly look is the ability to reorder fields and sections. It is also nice that when you are looking at any list of passwords or other items, there is now a search tool at the top (swipe down to make it appear) that you can use to search just that list.
Jason Snell of Six Colors reviews the new HomePod. He likes the sound, but is frustrated by the limitations of Siri and some bugs that he encountered, so much so that he concludes that he “can’t in good conscience recommend them to anyone who isn’t well-versed in troubleshooting misbehaving Apple technology.”
Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that the new Apple Watch crash detection feature played a critical role in rescuing people in a car crash in Germany because it contacted emergency services and was able to provide a precise location for the car.
Justin Meyers of Gadget Hacks came up with a list of Siri commands for the iPhone that you might not already know. Many of these were new to me.
And finally, here is a short compilation of the Apple TV startup screens used from the first version introduced in 2007 to the version used today. Spoiler alert: only the first two versions were interesting. I myself would not want to waste time with a startup animation on my iPhone, iPad, or computer, but I have to admit that there was something fun about seeing it on the first two generations of the Apple TV, and I sort of miss it.
One of the unfortunate consequences of our increasingly digital lives is a need for more plugs, cords, routers, hubs, etc. And as they accumulate, they become more unsightly. I have a set of shelves in my living room, and on one shelf I have a lot of electronics: an eero Pro to provide great Wi-Fi in my living room, the cords for a HomePod mini, a hub for my Lutron Caséta system (connected to the extra Ethernet port on that eero Pro), a cord for a diffuser, etc. It makes sense to have all of those electronics on a single shelf because I have a wall outlet there, but it makes the shelf ugly to look at. Fortunately, I recently found a solution: CovoBox. CovoBox is made from real books, but they are cut out at the back to create a hidden compartment for your cords. It is a wonderful solution that looks great, and as a bonus, I prevented some unwanted books from going into a landfill.
Before and After
Rather than describe CovoBox, this is one time when a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is what my shelf looked like before the CovoBox:
Here is what it looks like with the CovoBox:
Ordering a CovoBox
Each CovoBox is custom-built for you. There is the regular CovoBox (which I got) which has a height of up to 9.5". There is also the Tall CovoBox which has a height of up to 11.25" (if you get the large) or up to 12" (if you get the oversize) or 13" (with the MAXXI). Once you choose the height that you want, you choose the length, in two-inch increments, with different prices for each increment. Then you choose the color.
For example, I have the regular CovoBox, which has a starting price on Amazon of $29. If I get a length of only 3" there is no extra charge. But 5" adds a $20 charge, 7" adds a $40 charge, etc. The version that I got is 17" so that added an extra $140 to the $29.
If you select the Multicolor option, which is what I got, you will a variety of books without paying extra for color. But if you want a color theme for the books, you need to pay more. Black adds an extra $49. Blue adds $99. Orange and yellow add $139. Or select a custom color for $159.
The version that I purchased is open at the top.
However, if you are using a lower shelf, or placing the CovoBox on a table, you may want to order the CovoBox2 or the Tall CovoBox2. With this version, you can see the tops of the books. That adds to the price; not only is the starting price different ($57 for CovoBox) but there is a larger price increase for each increase in length (such as $40 for each two inches of length for the CovoBox). For example, for a 17" version that I got, instead of paying $169 for my CovoBox, you would pay $337 for the CovoBox2. But the result seems nice if that is what you are looking for:
When you look at my CovoBox from the back, the cuts on the books are obvious. But from the front, on my shelf, it is virtually impossible to notice that the books are cut:
Yet another option is the Horizontal CovoBox, which has books laying on their side:
If you want even more options, like a tall version that you might place on the floor next to a coach, check out the CovoGoods store on Etsy. The Etsy shop even has a few discounted, pre-made selections—perhaps items ordered by people who later changed their minds after they were made.
Conclusion
The CovoBox is not an inexpensive product, especially if you select a larger size. But because it is made using real books, it looks great, just like books on a shelf. On my shelf, it is virtually impossible to tell that it is hiding a bunch of ugly electronics and cords. And as a bonus, it is nice to know that some unwanted books are getting a new life.
If you are looking for a good way to hide ugly electronics, cords, routers, plugs, hubs, etc. on a shelf or some other location where it would look better to see books, CovoBox is a great solution.
