Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

You need to be an iPhone and AirPods user to take advantage of the feature. With the AirPods in your ears, you will be able to listen and respond to incoming text messages. Siri transcribes the message so you can hear the text without looking at your phone or watch. You can then ignore or immediately reply without having to say ‘Hey Siri’.

The sense I get is that the H1 chip is required here, so the second gen AirPods or Beats headphones with H1 chip required.

The incoming message alert is accompanied by a special alert tone that differs from the regular text tone. Siri will introduce the message with a phrase like ‘Zac says’ before reading the message. If another text comes in from the same sender, it will adjust its description to naturally continue the conversation.

Time will tell if this feature makes it all the way to the public iOS 13.2 release.

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:

Apple has been rolling out HomePod support for live radio requests to Siri over the last few months, and now users in several countries are reporting success when asking their Apple smart speaker to play live radio stations.

This feature was announced back in June, and has been slowly rolling out since then. The issue is, how do you find what stations are available to listen to, and how do you tell Siri to tune them in.

I have not yet found a universal, HomePod compatible, radio station directory. Please ping me if you do know of one. And not just a list of radio stations. Needs to be a list of stations that Siri can play on HomePod.

There are some resources you can tap, though. Start off by firing up the Music App and tapping the Radio tab. Scroll all the way down to the Broadcast Radio section, and tap See All. Currently, for me, that list is a paltry 10 stations. They all work for me, but still, that’s a small sample.

To try one of these out yourself, tell HomePod Siri:

Play radio station WTOP

Note that I pronounced all the letters in the name, W-T-O-P. And the words “radio station” are critical.

Next stop, go to the Music App’s Search tab, and type the call letters of your local station. This is definitely hit or miss, but I did find options that were not listed in the radio tab.

Next up, try downloading one of the radio station aggregation apps, like Tune-in. Note that Tune-in has a monthly subscription in-app-purchase, but if you download the app, you can see the radio stations that the app supports on the free page. They all work for me, when I use the above format to request the station from HomePod Siri.

What I’d really love is a comprehensive, searchable directory from Apple of all the supported stations, especially a list of my local stations supported by Siri. Each entry would need the name Siri recognizes.

Federico Viticci:

A few weeks ago, I came across a post on Reddit claiming that Apple had restored the ability to launch specific sections of the Settings app via Shortcuts in iOS and iPadOS 13.1. I was inspired by that discovery to finish working on a project I had long been putting off: documenting all the URLs supported by the Settings app in iOS and iPadOS.

After some a lot of trial and error, I’ve collected 120+ URLs that can open individual pages and sub-sections of the Settings app. In this post, I’m going to share the complete list of URLs that are supported as of iOS and iPadOS 13.1 (specifically, iOS 13.1.2), as well as a custom shortcut to launch them.

This is an amazing effort. If you use Shortcuts, tuck this one away. Well done Federico.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Right now, when iPhone users ask Siri to call or message a friend, the system defaults to Apple’s Phone or iMessage apps. If you want to use WhatsApp or Skype, you have to specifically say that.

When the software refresh kicks in, Siri will default to the apps that people use frequently to communicate with their contacts. For example, if an iPhone user always messages another person via WhatsApp, Siri will automatically launch WhatsApp, rather than iMessage.

The article also contains a response from Apple on accusations that App Store search is tilted to prefer Apple apps. As the article says, feels like Apple is slowly loosening the reins.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

With the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, Apple did away with 3D Touch across its entire iPhone lineup, replacing the former 3D Touch feature with Haptic Touch.

In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about Haptic Touch and how it differs from the 3D Touch feature that’s been available since the iPhone 6s.

If you are confused about Haptic Touch, or want to learn about the settings, read the article. Well done.

And personally, I am very happy with this change. 3D Touch and Haptic Touch had too much overlap, confusing discoverability.

Sophie Charara, Wired:

Amazon’s new Sidewalk protocol and Apple’s experiments with ultra-wideband signal a new battleground that gets Amazon out of the house and Apple inside it

Apple is strong outside the house, weakest inside. The U1 Wideband chip hopes to give Apple very precise location information inside your house.

Amazon’s problem is the opposite. They have great reach inside the house, via Echo devices, but without a phone of their own, they depend on Android and iPhone to go where you are outside the house.

One core point:

For Amazon, in fact, that work has already begun as Sidewalk originally came out of the Ring team’s ambition to extend its connected security devices out into gardens.

There are already efforts by Amazon to share Ring doorbell footage with police departments to help fight crime. Clearly, privacy is a major issue here.

Interesting to watch these opposing solution sets unfold.

Halide:

We released a small lightning update on iPhone 11 launch day with basic support for the new cameras. Now we’re ready to release our big update.

In the past we’ve had a simple button that swaps between your wide angle and telephoto cameras. It served us well, but it was time to revisit it for the three cameras on the iPhone 11 Pro.

At a glance, our lens switcher looks the same as before; we kept it in the same spot so it doesn’t interfere with your viewfinder and is within easy reach. Keeping the viewfinder clear of any obstructions is one of our highest priorities.

I love these blog posts from the developers of the excellent iOS camera app Halide. Really good explanations of what they are doing and what they can’t do. Their new “Lens Guides” feature is brilliant.

MLive:

Two hoodie-wearing suspect scaled a 6-foot fence and forced their way into a building housing computer equipment in order to run a pornographic video on a digital billboard along I-75 late Saturday night, police said.

Another Saturday night in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

A short time after the suspects entered the building, Auburn Hills police began to receive calls from motorists saying the billboard on the east side of I-75, south of M-59, was showing pornographic images on both its north and south sides. Officers arrived to find the video still playing, and reached out to the billboard company’s emergency contact to shut down the board.

This feels like the plot to a movie, with blackmail video shown of some candidate, but it turns out to be fake at the end.

Apple Maps continues to get better and better. On my last few road trips, Apple Maps was spot on, no bad traffic or road info, and continued to more accurately predict arrival times than Google Maps, which I find to be too optimistic.

Props to the Apple Maps team.

Apple:

Join us here on October 30, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET to listen to the conference call live.

As per usual, Apple will announce ridiculous numbers of devices sold and metric buttloads of revenue generated.

5280:

Ten years ago this month, the country was captivated by a bizarre spectacle in Fort Collins that was colloquially dubbed the Balloon Boy Hoax. Although Richard Heene, the so-called Balloon Boy’s father, pleaded guilty to charges related to the prank, it was never fully clear whether it was the scam that police made it out to be. For the first time, we reveal the true story.

I remember this weird story from ten years ago. The facts and subsequent years are even weirder.

Independent:

The first Apple Watch had a heart rate monitor built in, not because the company wanted heart health to be the primary focus but simply because it would give much more accurate step counting than rival fitness monitors which worked it out from the user’s height, for instance. But then, things changed.

“The first letter that we got about it saving somebody’s life with just the heart rate monitor, we were surprised, because anybody can go watch the clock and get their heart rate. But then we started getting more and more and we realised we had a huge chance and maybe even an obligation to do more. That led us down the path to do everything including medically regulated apps. Health is such an important dimension. But it’s just one dimension of the Watch. It does so much more, from telling the time to sending messages or making calls and so on. If you tried to sell a heart rate monitor to alert you to problems, you know, 12 people would buy it.”

There are so many capabilities to the Apple Watch, by contrast, that it’s gone on to become a best-seller.

The Apple Watch may have started out as a fashion item but it has quickly become a device to help us check, monitor, and maintain our health.

Macworld:

The Apple Watch Series 5 is so far ahead of anything that professes to be a peer, there’s only one reason not to buy one: You want multi-day battery life. Otherwise, you’re not going to find a smartwatch with a better screen, more advanced sensors, nicer design, or stronger app support.

Apple haters will scoff at that notion, but the truth of the matter is, if Apple offered an iPhone-free version of the Series 5 watch, it would instantly become the best selling Android wearable.

If you have a Series 4, you’re probably not upgrading to the 5 unless you really want that always-on display and/or the compass. But, if you have a 3 or earlier, the Series 5 is a big step up and worth the price.

Tom’s Guide:

Visa really is everywhere you want to be. It’s not just a marketing slogan, but a cruel fact I learned when I tried to rely solely on my Apple Card during a recent trip to Italy.

I’ve been testing out Apple’s credit card since it launched in August. And that includes taking it overseas to see how this card performs away from the safety of an Apple Store. The verdict? The Apple Card isn’t always the best travel companion, at least when you head overseas.

The headline and body are misleading. There was likely no issue with the Apple Card itself but the way it was being used by retail staff. Regardless, something to keep in mind when traveling – have a backup card just in case.

The Verge:

Spotify is finally gaining the ability to play songs, albums, and playlists via Siri. The latest beta versions of Spotify include this support, and The Verge has been able to test playing songs via Siri on the latest iOS 13.1 update. It’s part of new capabilities that Apple has introduced with iOS 13, and it means music apps like Spotify are now on equal footing with Apple Music for requests via Siri, apart from the irritating “on Spotify” addition.

Spotify is currently testing this new functionality, and it will likely debut in the coming weeks in the main app.

Welcome news for those of us who use Spotify.

Engadget:

While the official 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s Alien was back in May, horror junkies and film buffs alike should mark their calendars for this October. The classic movie that started a hit-or-miss franchise of Xenomorphs, space jockeys and milk-blooded androids will be hitting the big screen in select theaters across the US.

Those of you lucky enough to live somewhere this is playing owe it to yourself to go see this in a theater.

CNET:

Are you tired of updating your iPhone or iPad yet? This year’s iOS release has been a whirlwind: Apple released iOS 13 and then iOS 13.1 and iPadOS in the span of just a few days. After you’ve updated your iPhone or iPad to the latest software and caught your breath, make sure to try out the new dark mode (huzzah!), the gesture keyboard and improvements made to Safari, along with anything else we cover in our complete guide to iOS 13. Those features are great and all, but we’ve also found a handful of features Apple didn’t announce that are just as good, if not better.

My favourite new features are the new volume indicator and being able to delete apps from the Update screen.

ZDNet:

A security researcher has released today a new jailbreak that impacts all iOS devices running on A5 to A11 chipsets — chips included in all Apple products released between 2011 and 2017, spanning eight generations of devices, from iPhone 4S to iPhone 8 and X.

The jailbreak uses a new exploit named Checkm8 that exploits vulnerabilities in Apple’s Bootrom (secure boot ROM) to grant phone owners full control over their device.

On Twitter, he described Checkm8 as “a permanent unpatchable bootrom exploit,” making the Checkm8 jailbreak one of the most extensive and efficient rooting tools of its kind.

This is moderately bad. It is said to be unpatchable but the attacker needs physical access to your phone and it doesn’t survive a reboot.

MacStories:

tvOS 13 is a surprising release. For years Apple has been pushing the TV app as the main draw of the Apple TV, then earlier this year it brought the app to Samsung TV sets with the promise of further expansion to Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, along with a smattering of other TV sets. The proliferation of the TV app made the Apple TV seemingly less important to Apple, but in fact with tvOS 13, available now, Apple has launched the biggest tvOS update ever. Before getting too excited, know that the bar for “biggest ever” is extremely low in the case of tvOS, but nevertheless in a year when the Apple TV felt more marginalized than ever, it’s great to see new life breathed into the device.

I don’t use my AppleTV to nearly its full potential but, if you do, there’s a lot to like in the latest tvOS.

Wall Street Journal:

Apple Inc. is looking to make a splash in Hollywood by bringing feature-length films to theaters before releasing them on its streaming TV service, according to people familiar with the plans.

The company has made overtures to cinema chains and consulted with an entertainment executive as it pursues a traditional theatrical-release plan that would keep its movies in theaters for weeks before becoming available on Apple TV+, these people said.

By reaching out to theater-industry representatives now and releasing films early, Apple is hoping to attract big-name directors and producers and avoid some of the tension created by another Hollywood newcomer, Netflix Inc., people familiar with Apple’s strategy said.

I’m always wary of stories that only refer to “people familiar with the plans” and the like and I’m doubly wary of any stories written by Tripp Mickle but this makes complete sense. The wider reach and greater visibility, especially for “awards contenders”, could help draw talent to Apple and better differentiate itself from Netflix.

MacRumors:

Apple in iOS 13 introduced a new Sign in with Apple feature, which is designed to let you create accounts for apps and websites using your Apple ID, so you don’t have to give away your personal information.

Sign in with Apple is an alternative to the existing sign in with Google and Facebook options that apps and websites often offer. Apple’s version protects your privacy and even lets you mask your email address.

I’ve seen some developers complaining about having to implement this but any developer who doesn’t want to give users this option is one whose software I wouldn’t trust or use.