Ricky Mondello works on app and website authentication as well as password management at Apple. They recently created a shortcut that lets you quickly access iCloud Keychain, so instead of opening Settings and scrolling down to tap on Passwords, it’s a one-tap method to directly open the Passwords section. Separately from that, this is also something you can do yourself using the Settings Shortcut Generator. You can quickly jump to a variety of different places within Settings. One that I recently created is jumping to Settings > Privacy > Photos to manage app access to photos.
Kurzgesagt is a science channel on YouTube that creates education videos for people. They recently partnered with Wait But Why to create the Universe in a Nutshell app. It lets people explore size by zooming between scales of 10^-35 meters to 10^26 meters (atomic scale to universe scale). It’s also filled with science facts that you can find by tapping on the objects you see. App Store: US$2.99
While the brief (for Apple) 1-hour broadcast focused on hardware, Bob LeVitus noted that it also included a couple of surprising announcements about Apple’s subscription service offerings.
Apple’s Books app in iPadOS OS 13 and iPadOS 14 has an interesting interface quirk that can display your book’s text in two narrow columns like a newspaper, and Bryan Chaffin has the quick fix.
We have a deal on TOKK CAM C2, a tiny camera that can be used as a security camera, a wearable body cam, or a dashcam for your car. With this portable, ultra-compact Wi-Fi camera, you can instantly stream and/or record crystal clear video in 1280x720P. And all of is controlled through an iOS or Android app. This device is $64.99 through our deal.
Widgetsmith lets you create iOS 14 widgets and customize them to suit your needs and Home Screen theme. The app includes a variety of widget categories like weather, calendar, timezone converter, and others. Widgets can even by scheduled to appear on your screen following rules you define. App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)
Through HomeKit, Velop users can choose to firewall off HomeKit accessories to prevent them from communicating with other WiFi devices on a home network and untrusted internet services to prevent hacking attempts and provide better security for connected home devices.
HomeKit-compatible Velop Tri-band model numbers that work with HomeKit include A03, WHW0301, WHW0301B, WHW0302, WHW0302B, WHW0303, and WHW0303B.
YouTuber Kaustubh Debnath dives into iOS 14 Spatial Audio to explain what it is, how it works, what devices it runs on, and where you can find content that supports it. Spatial Audio is a feature for AirPods Pro that can give you “surround sound” without needing multiple speakers. Em Lazer-Walker has a good write-up of it here but Mr. Debnath’s video is also a good resource.
Tim Cook was remotely interviewed as part of The Atlantic Festival, talking about privacy, Apple’s ongoing antitrust investigation, his views on the Trump administration, and more. “I think that big companies deserve scrutiny. And I think that’s not only fair but important for the system that we have in America. And so I have no issue at all in Apple being put underneath the microscope and people looking and probing […] My hope is that as people continue to hear our story, that it will become as apparent to them as it is to us, that we have no monopoly, there is no monopoly here. We’re in very, very competitive markets like smartphones and smartwatches and tablets and personal computers. These things are fiercely competitive.”
Dave Hamilton is the co-founder of The Mac Observer, publisher, and co-host of the legendary Mac Geek Gab (MGG) podcast, having done over 800 shows with our John Braun. He’s an Apple—and router—guru.
Dave and I opened the show with an extensive discussion of Apple succession planning. Who would replace CEO Tim Cook on an emergency basis? Who might succeed him when he retires? Who on the executive team is qualified? In segment II, Dave explained Wi-Fi 6 and its presence (and lack thereof) on various Apple products. That got us into new routers that support Wi-Fi 6. Finally, we looked at the ever-changing UI of Apple OSes, discoverability of features and the continuing need to remain practiced with each OS. As with his MGG, Dave is both informative and entertaining.
In a court filing in Dublin, Ireland, Facebook says if a decision by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is upheld, the company would have no choice but to abandon Europe because of its bad business practices.
If the decision is upheld, “it is not clear to [Facebook] how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU,” Yvonne Cunnane, who is Facebook Ireland’s head of data protection and associate general counsel, wrote in a sworn affidavit.
The decision Facebook’s referring to is a preliminary order handed down last month to stop the transfer of data about European customers to servers in the U. S., over concerns about U. S. government surveillance of the data.
We have a deal on AirBeamTV, a screen mirroring platform for streaming from your Mac to smart TVs. This Mac app package includes 14 different Smart TV screen mirror apps so you can cast your screen to different TV brands. With AirBeamTV’s screen mirroring apps, you can cast your MacBook, Mac, or iMac to the smart TV of your choice. All you need is one of the apps and to have your computer connected to the same local network as your TV and you’re ready to start mirroring. A lifetime subscription is $18.99 through our deal.
