Apple TV Plus is making a number of its original television series, kids shows and one documentary available for free as millions of families are cooped up indoors due to coronavirus-induced prevention measures. The streaming platform joins HBO, AMC and others in offering free content during the pandemic.
The following programs are currently available to watch without an Apple TV Plus subscription: Wildlife documentary “The Elephant Queen,” “Little America,” “Servant,” “For All Mankind,” “Dickinson,” “Helpsters, “Ghostwriter,” and “Snoopy in Space.”
Those in the U.S. can watch these Apple TV Plus originals for free starting Thursday evening, while users across 100 countries and regions will have access to them starting Friday through the Apple TV app.
If you haven’t watched any Apple TV+ content, this is a good sampler of what’s on offer. Shame they didn’t include “The Morning Show” though.
As of WatchOS 6, which was introduced last September, there is a new Solar watch face. This one is simply called the Solar Dial, and it is a remarkably charming thing. It has been described as a miniature sundial for the wrist, but it is rather more like having a sundial and the Sun itself on your wrist, both at the same time.
The Solar Dial consists of a 24-hour dial with 12 (noon) at the top and 24 (midnight) at the bottom. An hour hand moves once around the dial per day, and attached to the hour hand is miniature representation of the Sun. The portion of the dial that’s in light blue represents the number of daylight hours, and the portion in dark blue, night; the boundaries between each section mark sunrise and sunset. Opposite the Sun on the 24-hour hand is a smaller dial which shows the hours and minutes, in either an analog or digital format.
I love Hodinkee’s obsessiveness with watches. The article also includes an interesting discussion of the different Twilights – not the YA novels but of sunrise and sunsets.
Following many suggestions that Apple is bringing sleep tracking to the Apple Watch, the company appears poised to further delve into its Beddit purchase and develop bedding and blankets to monitor vital signs.
Apple’s proposed solution, then, is effectively to have bedding that tracks the sleep of anyone lying on or under it. This appears to be an extension of Beddit’s system, which saw a strip of material being placed under bedsheets and relaying data to an iPhone.
This extended version appears to suggest that instead of one short strip positioned under one part of a sleeping person’s body, at least a larger portion of the bed would become a sensor.
To be clear, this is a patent application only. This is not a product Apple has announced or even will announce. All the stories written about it are speculation based on the patent application.
But what if?
Would Apple get into the mattress business? Unlikely. But they might get into the mattress pad business. This makes more sense as a sleep tracker for many people than an Apple Watch. For example, I can’t wear my Apple Watch while I sleep but I do have an electric mattress pad for warmth on those cold Canadian winter nights.
And contrary to other reports, it’s unlikely to be a “sheet set” – those are too personal and “individualistic,” as anyone who has gone shopping for sheets with a significant other knows fully well.
I think the odds of this ever becoming a shipping product are next to nil but it’s an interesting idea to entertain.
Many governments are looking at Singapore where apps are playing a crucial role in finding contacts who may have been infected. This enables infected people to be isolated early, before they potentially infect many others.
Numerous initiatives have already sprung up to develop apps to anonymously track who you have been in contact with.
Apple and Google have a lot of experience with keeping sensitive data secure, likely far more experience than many individual developers or even governments have. We would even go so far as to highly recommend both Google and Apple make this an open-source project.
The question is: Will Tim Cook & Sundar Pichai get this done?
First of all, no, they can’t. And secondly, would you want them to by this method?
Star Trek. It’s one of the most quintessential pieces of science-fiction television around. And there’s a whole damn lot of it, even if you cut it down to the current eight different shows in the franchise (there’s even more on the way!). Want to start, but need a little guidance? We’ve beamed up to help you.
Just for the fun of it (or if you’ve got a 14 year old home to entertain), this is not a bad list to go through.
In this latest round of research, we found more than 30 apps we consider fleeceware in Apple’s official App Store.
Many of these apps charge subscription rates like $30 per month or $9 per week after a 3- or 7-day trial period. If someone kept paying that subscription for a year, it would cost $360 or $468, respectively. For an app.
Like we have seen before, most of these fleeceware apps are image editors, horoscope/fortune telling/palm readers, QR code/barcode scanners, and face filter apps for adding silly tweaks to selfies.
My 14-year-old is constantly asking for apps in this category. Thank God for the App Store Family Plan that allows me to approve or deny his downloads.
Disney’s new streaming service has almost doubled its global subscriber numbers to 50 million since the coronavirus outbreak took hold in February, as lockdown conditions prove a boon for streaming services.
Disney+, which launched in the UK and most major western European markets last month, with hits including the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian, has signed up 50 million subscribers just five months after launch.
It took its rival Netflix, which has more than 160 million subscribers, seven years to reach the same milestone after moving from DVD rental by post to streaming in 2007.
It’s interesting to see how much of the media is treating these numbers as just a horse race without acknowledging the huge advantage Disney has over Netflix, Apple TV+ and other services – a massive, well known and much loved back catalog. A cheap price point doesn’t hurt either.
Apple Inc. is organizing a company-wide virtual meeting for later this month to allow employees to ask questions of the executive team led by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.
The company sent a note to employees advising them of the plan on Wednesday in the U.S., which Bloomberg News has reviewed. It asked that questions be submitted by end of day on Saturday and also encouraged workers to share their experiences of working through the disruption to daily life that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about. The specific date of the meeting has not yet been disclosed.
Among its measures to smooth out work and life disruptions brought on by the novel coronavirus, Apple has put a particular focus on helping parents cope. The company is “working on options to make sure parents have the support and the flexibility to adjust their schedules as needed,” according to a note to employees from Senior Vice President of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien.
Apple is in the same position as much of Corporate America – just trying to figure out how to keep a company running in the face of a worldwide pandemic.
Watchsmith, the latest app from David Smith, was birthed from the inability to create third-party watch faces on the Apple Watch. As Smith has previously explained, while third-party faces may never be possible, several first-party faces already offer significant room for customization. The Infograph face, for example, contains eight different complication slots; if a rich array of third-party complications were available, you could build a highly customized watch face using the existing faces provided by Apple.
Watchsmith exists to provide that rich set of complications. The app offers 37 types of complications, each adaptable to different watch faces and complication slots, and all fully customizable so they can look exactly the way you prefer. Additionally, Watchsmith offers scheduling functionality to cause different complications to appear on your Watch at different times throughout the day.
This is a clever hack to get around Apple’s prohibition on third-party complications.
HBO today announced that its HBO GO and HBO NOW streaming services will no longer be available on second-generation and third-generation Apple TV models starting April 30, 2020.
HBO says this change is being made “in order to provide the best streaming experience.”
I hate that kind of weaselly PR speak. If you are affected by this, there are some options still available to you such as using AirPlay or an HDMI cable to connect.
Apple’s conference call to discuss second fiscal quarter results is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET.
Apple announced back in February it wouldn’t make its Q2 earnings range due to the coronavirus pandemic but this has been a brutal quarter for Apple and the numbers to be announced will reflect that.
I find these kinds of stories interesting, if a little “inside baseball,” for a lot of people. One source is suspect and offers nothing but opinion. The other uses the old trope of “sources have told us…” One of these stories must be wrong. But, who cares? For arguments’ sake, what do you think?
Personally, I don’t believe for a second Apple will kill off Beats. There’s way too much value to it, if only for the fashion market. That being said, I have no idea if Beats headphones are still widely popular among an important segment of Apple’s market – professional athletes. I think if Apple has lost those infuencers, then they may kill off the brand.
Similar to the ever-present Sign in with Facebook and Sign in with Google options, Apple’s solution is meant to allow you to sign up for apps and sign in with a single ID instead of creating new ones for every app and service in the world.
But it differs from those options in several important ways. Here’s what you need to know about the Sign in with Apple SSO option.
Here’s what you need to know – use it every chance you get because it’s safer and more secure than anything you’ll use with Facebook or Google.
If you’ve been meaning to catch up on such streaming TV hits as Narcos, Fleabag, The Good Fight, and Twin Peaks: The Return (a show I’ve long been meaning to check out), our current stay-home situation is the perfect time to start, and you won’t need to pay a dime for the pleasure.
Some of the biggest brands in streaming video are now offering 30-day free trial periods for sampling their TV and movie offerings. While you will (in most cases, at least) need to provide your credit card information to begin your free trial, you can always cancel before you’re charged. You might, however, lose streaming access as soon as you cancel if you do it before the trial has run its course, so be sure to read each service’s terms and conditions.
Along with this list, here are some more options. If I weren’t already a member, I’d get the free trial of Amazon Prime just to binge Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
BTW, the simplest way to not forget to cancel these offerings before the full price kicks in is to set yourself a Calendar “appointment” as a reminder to cancel.
Apple, along with a slew of major media platforms, will later this month air “One World: Together At Home,” a special broadcast featuring celebrities and musical performances in support of COVID-19 relief efforts.
Arranged by Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO), the multi-hour program will air globally on April 18 as part of a continuing initiative to drive funds to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Global Citizen said in an announcement. The project has raised $35 million over the past week.
Apple is due to stream a digital version of the special in tandem with television broadcasters ABC, NBC, ViacomCBS Networks, iHeartMedia. In Canada, Bell Media will host the show on its various platforms, while BBC One plans to air the program on Sunday, April 19. Where Apple intends to host “One World: Together At Home” has not been announced, though the company has in the past streamed similar special events on Apple TV and Apple Music.
If you listen to audio on your Mac, SoundSource is for you. It lives in your menu bar, and provides you with superior control over all your audio.
Get control of audio on a per-application basis. Now you can change the volume of any app relative to others, and play individual apps to different audio devices.
With the Magic Boost and Volume Overdrive features, you can hear your audio even in loud environments, and the built-in equalizer can sweeten the sound. More advanced users will love the ability to apply Audio Units to any audio.
SoundSource also provides fast access to all the settings your Mac’s Output, Input, and Sound Effects audio devices offer. Adjust input and output levels, tweak the balance, and even switch sample rates, right from the menu bar. You may never need to open the Sound System Preference again!
SoundSource is made by Rogue Amoeba, the masters of Mac audio who bring you Audio Hijack, Airfoil, and more. Download the free trial, then purchase today. Loop readers can save 20% with coupon code LOOP2020 (Good through May 10th).
The latest streaming-exclusive service: Quibi. Unlike most other streaming services of the past few years, which have largely battled over which classic TV exclusives they can secure, this one has been built out of new, celeb-filled series with one thing in common: the “mini-sode” concept. Every Quibi video clocks in at 10 minutes or less.
Quibi may not be for you, and I went into its preview catalog utterly skeptical. But I came out of it surprised by how charming its scattershot launch lineup has mostly turned out to be.
Jeffrey Katzenberg spent more than a billion dollars on launching this. I think he wasted his and his investors’ money.
Even if you don’t like Apple, or you think iOS is derpy and restrictive — which is, in my opinion, unarguably true — iPads really do offer the best big-screen tablet environment.
The first half of that sentence is what I expect from Android Police. But what I didn’t expect is the linked post’s rave about the iPad.
I closed out the mobile version of the Kindle website, and I reinstalled Apple Books. As I opened it, it felt like a breath of fresh air. The overall design is just stunning. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with the new interface that Apple released with iOS 12, but I was quickly blown away.
When I read this piece by Bradley Chambers, I. realized that I had been locked into the Kindle app on my iPad for a long, long time. So I fired up Books and dug in. Bradley is right. Apple Books really is a breath of fresh air.
Two things stand out in particular to me. First, the process of sliding the scrollbar to jump to a different location is so much better in Books. As you slide, a popup appears that shows both chapter number/title and page number. Much better than Kindle’s clunky navigation process.
Add to that, the process of searching for and purchasing new books. To be fair, Apple’s 30% fee makes it obvious why Amazon makes you exit the Kindle app and buy your books on the web. Definitely not their fault. But still. Buying new books in the Apple Books app is a pleasure.
Apple TV Channels, which like Amazon Channels, offers access to third party over-the-top video platforms, is offering extended free access to content during the coronavirus pandemic.
Apple is extending to 30 days free trials to ViacomCBS’ Showtime OTT and MGM-owned Epix (through May 2 with no subscription required), AMC Networks’ Acorn TV and Lifetime Movie Channel, among others.
Lots of great, binge-worthy content here. If you’ve not yet seen it, check out the excellent Pennyworth (on EPIX), a sort of Batman pre-history, but focused on Alfred.
And on Showtime, there’s Billions, Dexter, and Ray Donavon. My tastes do run a bit dark, don’t they?
Watch the video in the tweet below. Apple is working hard to help, ramping up a manufacturing chain to produce face shields for health workers, and getting those face shields into the hands of those who need them.
And sharing the details is Tim Cook, a calm, rational voice at the center of the storm. Well done Tim. Well done Apple.
Apple is dedicated to supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19. We’ve now sourced over 20M masks through our supply chain. Our design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers. pic.twitter.com/3xRqNgMThX
Have you watched Amazing Stories? If not, this will give you a taste. To me, this genre is interesting, sort of a palette cleanser between other shows. Like Little America, you can watch one, or binge the whole thing, stop any time you like.
I see this as the short story collection, a break from the commitment to a full length novel.
Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s digital comics subscription service, is now offering all fans FREE access to some of Marvel’s most iconic stories from recent years, including now-classic Marvel Comics events and critically acclaimed runs featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and more. Fans who are social distancing will be able to escape into the Marvel Universe and revisit their favorite stories from a curated selection of complete story arcs – completely free – on Marvel Unlimited, starting Thursday, April 2 until Monday, May 4.
To access Marvel Unlimited’s free comics offering, download or update the Marvel Unlimited app for iOS or Android at the respective Apple and Google Play app stores, and click “Free Comics” on the landing screen. No payment information or trial subscriptions will be required for the selection of free comics.
Sitting at home reading a bunch of comic books sounds like a great idea right now.
Of all the tech companies that have benefitted from the massive shift to telecommuting that the global pandemic has forced, Zoom stands at the top. The company’s multi-platform videoconferencing software was well known before, being a frequently used, market-leading choice mentioned in the same breath as Adobe Connect, Cisco Webex, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. But now Zoom has become a verb among businesses, schools, and people making social connections.
Any time we discuss Zoom and consider recommending its use or thinking about its future, we have to look at a series of bad programming, security, marketing, and privacy decisions the company has taken.
Let me put it bluntly: Zoom is sloppy.
There’s no doubt Zoom is and was shitty software that you really shouldn’t be using if you give a damn about your privacy and security. Unfortunately, many are forced, for various reasons, to use the software so this article may help you lock down your Zoom vulnerability.
Thanks to Oscilloscope and Mailchimp Presents, these SXSW 2020 official short film selections have been given new life.
The indie film community suffered a major blow after the cancelation of SXSW 2020. Hundreds of filmmakers, who worked so hard to get into one of the biggest film festivals in the world, wouldn’t see their films screened thanks to the COVID-19 crisis.
However, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Mailchimp have partnered with SXSW to give official short film selections “a digital home”, allowing anyone with an internet connection and a love of cinema to watch them for free online.
Personally, I’m all in favour of SXSW being canceled but it does hurt the indie filmmakers. If you’ve got the time (and who doesn’t now?), you might find a few cinematic gems in here.
It may seem as if the iPhone, iPad, and even Mac, have not changed their user interface in years, but in truth Apple is continually revising its software. Apple is also increasingly good at hardware surviving underwater, plus it continues to look into actually making devices remain usable when submerged.
These issues are revisited in two new patents, one of which will concern anyone who’s truly wanted to operate an iOS device underwater. And the other uses technology to solve a small but recurring annoyance.
I would absolutely love the ability to use my iPhone camera under water (without a special case). There are issues with waterproofing the phone itself, but beyond that is the complexity of interacting with a phone within the physics of water. Complicated problem.
Then there’s using your face to orient your device:
All iPads have always automatically rotated their screen so that you can hold them in landscape or portrait, and such that you can hold them any way up. However, every iPad user has also had the experience of having to physically rotate the device in order to get it to check again after it’s turned the wrong way.
Happens to me every single time I fire up my iPad. Every time. I’d love to see this problem solved.
John Voorhees wrote a terrific appreciation piece, for MacStories, on the under-appreciated iPad mini. Worth reading, especially worth scrolling through to see all the use cases for which the iPad mini is just perfect.
At the very least, I think the iPad mini is perfect for reading. It’s got the right screen proportion, bigger than iPhone, but still very light. And it supports trackpad and mouse input. Spot on.
This vulnerability allowed malicious websites to masquerade as trusted websites when viewed on Desktop Safari (like on Mac computers) or Mobile Safari (like on iPhones or iPads). > Hackers could then use their fraudulent identity to invade users’ privacy. This worked because Apple lets users permanently save their security settings on a per-website basis. > If the malicious website wanted camera access, all it had to do was masquerade as a trusted video-conferencing website such as Skype or Zoom.
And:
I reported this bug to Apple in accordance with the Security Bounty Program rules and used BugPoC to give them a live demo. Apple considered this exploit to fall into the “Network Attack without User Interaction: Zero-Click Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Data” category and awarded me $75,000.
If this sort of thing concerns you, put a post-it over your Mac and Mac display cameras.
All Mac portables with the Apple T2 Security Chip feature a hardware disconnect that ensures the microphone is disabled whenever the lid is closed. On the 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers with the T2 chip, and on the 15-inch MacBook Pro portables from 2019 or later, this disconnect is implemented in hardware alone. The disconnect prevents any software—even with root or kernel privileges in macOS, and even the software on the T2 chip—from engaging the microphone when the lid is closed. (The camera is not disconnected in hardware, because its field of view is completely obstructed with the lid closed.)
That’s the Mac side. On the iPad:
iPad models beginning in 2020 also feature the hardware microphone disconnect. When an MFI compliant case (including those sold by Apple) is attached to the iPad and closed, the microphone is disconnected in hardware, preventing microphone audio data being made available to any software—even with root or kernel privileges in iPadOS or in case the firmware is compromised.
The culture of camera and mic access on the Mac and iPad are very different. On my Mac, when the camera is in use, I see a light. And, as the note states, when the lid is closed, the camera is blocked.
Hardware disconnect does prevent the mic from working when the iPad case is closed. But what if I use my iPad without a case? And what about the camera without a case? There’s no hardware disconnect to rely on. Instead, Apple requires apps to ask for permission to access the camera and microphone.
After bringing the long-awaited feature to iOS last fall, Spotify has updated its app today to take advantage of Siri support on Apple Watch in watchOS 6.
And:
Spotify mentions in the release notes to use Siri with the music service on Apple Watch users can say, “Hey Siri, Play music on Spotify,” or just add “on Spotify” to any voice command to play content.
Works pretty much everywhere for me now, except HomePod. For that, you’ll need to use AirPlay.
