Maccast 2016.06.29 - Show #576
Links
V Opening
V Opening Music
* Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
V Sponsor: Atlassian
V Atlassian
* Today, nearly anything is possible, and if we can dream it, teams can build it. So how do you bring everyone together to create what’s next?
* Team Up with Atlassian - makers of collaboration software that lets teams work and communicate better, together.
* Assign, track, and manage tasks for any project, no matter how complex. That's the clarity of JIRA.
* Create and share content, organize results and bring team members up to speed. That's the flexibility of Confluence.
* Instant message or video chat with your team from any device. That's the freedom of HipChat.
* Test, review and manage code in real time. That's the power of BitBucket.
V I've used Atlassian's BitBucket to work on a project with a remote team
* It allowed me to easily collaborate, see and track changes, and deploy and test my code easily.
* It's a huge benefit to be able to see the changes others are making remotely and to be able to solve any code conflicts quickly and easily.
V I think a huge advantage of Atlassian is that you can get all these products and service from a single source
* You get a consistent user experience for your team across a range of tools that integrate well together
* From project management and tracking, to communication, content sharing, and code management it's all in one place.
* Your also dealing with one source for billing and support as well.
* Visit [Atlassian dot com]( http://www.atlassian.com) and see how Jira, Confluence, HipChat and Bitbucket give your team everything you need to organize, discuss, and complete shared work.
* Atlassian, helping teams - everywhere – Team Up - to create what’s next.
V News
V Next OS updates, the more we know
V macOS Sierra
V Rearrange 3rd part menubar extras. Yeah!
* I've been using the awesome app [Bartender]( https://www.macbartender.com)
V Storage
V New Storage Management window, located in the System Information app (In About This Mac…), that provides ways to help you free up disk space
* Adjust setting like how Mail stores attachments
* Or automate iTunes removal of movies that you've already watched.
* Control automatic removal of trash items after 30 days.
* Tools to find and locate large files
* Safari can now replace older downloads of the same file with new ones instead of making copies, thank the gods.
* System more aggressive at cleaning up log files.
V Security
V Gatekeeper now only has App Store and Developer signed app options
* Can still install using the right+click "open" technique
* Non-signed apps will appear to be in the Application folder, but their real locations are random. This is to prevent a repackaging attacks, where one app pretends to be another one an then tap it's resources.
V Accessibility
* Dwell control for users that need headband or eye control tracking
* Ability to color tint the entire screen to add in color blindness issues (macOS, iOS, and tvOS).
* iCloud supports non Mac App Store apps
V iOS 10
V Non 64-bit app warnings, may experience system performance issue.
* Shaming devs to update their apps in iOS 10
* Support for 64-bit processors has been required for both new and updated apps since June of 2015.
V Print to PDF, friggen print to PDF. FINALLY.
* Use the share button on the print screen to send to any App that supports PDF sharing.
* Raise to wake requires an M9, so iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and SE. iPads Pro's have M9s, but the feature seems to currently be iPhone only.
V Photos
V That cool face, object, and scene recognition stuff
* Will happen in the background when you're charging and not using your device.
* The device performs over 11 billion computations per photo
* Will be able to "recognize and distinguish" 7 total facial expressions: greedy, disgust, neutral, scream, smiling, surprise, and suspicious.
* Will also recognize and detect 432 searchable objects and scenes like "Amusement Park" or "Cauliflower" or "Whiskey "
* Each library on each gets indexed separately for now (security and privacy)
* New images get processed by the image signal processor (ISP) when taken.
V iPad can now work as a 'HomeKit Gateway', like the Apple TV to allow outside hoe access and control of HomeKit devices.
* The iPad will also be able to to handle automation like event and time triggers
V Messages
V Walt Mossberg confirmed from a "senior" Apple executive that Apple has no plans to bring Messages or the iMessage service to Android
* Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to provide a large enough data set for any possible AI learning the company is working on.
* Having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those devices
V I get this, but it also seems a bit short sighted. I know many Android users who would probably never buy an iOS device, but who would love to use the iMessage service.
* We've seen iTunes, iCloud, and now Apple Music act as 'halo' software that moves people to Apple products.
V iMessage Apps, extensions will work with 3rd party keyboards
* Many 3rd party keyboards will like become iMessage app extensions.
* 3-pane Control center. Adds Music controls and Home as left swipes
V TextEdit icon spotted on an iOS device used in during the "What's New in Metal, Part 1' session.
* There have been rumors of TextEdit and Preview coming to iOS in the past.
* Apple is known to have several internal apps for use by software engineers and employees only.
* GameCenter was seen in that same demo and Apple has already confirmed it's removal from iOS and OS X as a stand alone app.
V Security & Privacy
V Apps must now explicitly ask permission to access your Music Library.
* Settings > Privacy > Media Library.
V Differential privacy in Messages app will be opt in and limited at first
* New words that users add to their local dictionaries, emojis typed by the user (so that Apple can suggest emoji replacements), deep links used inside apps (provided they are marked for public indexing) and lookup hints within notes.
V Accessibility
V iOS Magnifier. Use the iPhone camera to zoom in on objects. Many already do this using the Camera app.
* Adds color filters too
* Software TTY support that supports legacy TTY hardware and offers TTY-specific QuickType predictions.
* Learning, enhanced typing feedback that can use Voice Over to read back text typed into iOS.
V watchOS
V Accessibility
* Taptic Time, uses haptic feedback to tell you the time.
V tvOS
V Accessibility
* Switch control support for Apple TV
V Where are the new Macs?
V Touching your Mac more and in new and exciting ways
* French site Mac Generation noticed many new "touch" like references in macOS Sierra
* mysterious ‘kHIDUsage_LED’ references and "biometric" references were discovered
* Plays into other rumors of Macs and accessories gaining TouchID support and the idea of Macbook Pros with an "touchbar" LED display replacing the function keys.
V 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple might incorporate a Touch ID sensor into the power button.
* I had thought that Apple may return back to the old round design button integrated into the metal of the top case.
* This rumor seems to indicate integration into a power button on the OLED touch bar?
V Apple has confirmed it is discontinuing the Apple Thunderbolt Display
V It will be available through Apple.com, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last, so buy 'em while you can.
* Or not since Apple's offering is now and overpriced dinosaur. Frankly this was way overdue.
* There is no word or sign of any replacement from Apple anytime soon.
* Some thought Apple might introduce a 27-inch 5K display based on the same design used in the 5K iMac.
V In their announcement Apple said, "There are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users".
* Seems to dash cold water on any hopes of an updated display from Apple
V But wait…
* Some are still reporting on rumors that Apple is still working on a new external display to replace the Thunderbolt Display
* It's the same rumor that it would have an integrated GPU and use Thunderbolt to carry the bandwidth needed.
V Why Tim says, "don't trust the supply chain"
* DigiTimes says, based on supply chain checks, Apple is planning an Apple Watch 2 along the new iPhone 7 in September
V They claim Orders for the upcoming Apple Watch have been higher-than-expected with Apple possibly looking to ship 2 million units a month
* Seems aggressive since KGI estimates this years shipments at just 7.5 million units down from and estimated 10.6 million in 2017
* The more optimistic numbers might be placing a lot of weight on consumers reacting well to the speed and usability improvements in watchOS 3.
* Expected to look mostly the same with a larger battery and a display with improved outdoor visibility.
* Could gain cellular data connectivity. and maybe even GPS
V Possibly be waterproof and support swimming workouts which would be awesome.
* Craig Hockenberry regularly does swimming workouts with his current Apple Watch.
* Biggest issue is you cannot reliably use the touch screen when you and it are wet.
V Apple Watch might get a new display technology
* DigiTimes is reporting Apple is looking into micro-LED panels that could be ready in the second half of 2017
V The fact that Apple acquired micro-LED display maker LuxVue in May of 2014, adds some juice to this rumor.
* Plus Apple also opened a facility in northern Taiwan last year that some believe is focusing on micro-LED technology.
* micro-LED displays are currently more expensive to produce then OLED, but carry a big energy advantage, which might be critical in increasing the battery like of a next gen Watch.
* They can be thinner and lighter and allow for improved color gamut, increased brightness, and higher resolutions.
* It's still expected that we might see an Apple Watch 2 this fall, so the micro-LED displays would likely not hit until the Apple Watch 3.
V A story from Mac Otakara says Computex sources told them the iPhone 7 will ship with Apple's EarPods with a 3.5mm headphone jack
* Rumors are still strong that the iPhone 7 will ditch the headphone jack, so it seems odd.
V Prior rumors had mentioned a possible move to a Lightning-based or Bluetooth-based new Earpod design
* Some new rumor seems to think Apple would then include a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter with the iPhone 7
* Same report reiterates the possibility of a 256GB model and says the design will have dual speakers, but be a monaural system
V Still more recent reports seem to still indicate the possibility of Lightning earpods
* Weibo supposedly has images of Apple EarPod headphones with a Lightning connector
* And supplier Cirrus Logic this week announced the release of a new development kit that will enable companies to make Made for iPhone-certified Lightning headphones
* And 9to5Mac is continuing to report that Apple is working on its own fully wireless EarPods.
V More recent camera rumors show a larger opening for the iPhone 7 camera and it being moved closer to the corner of the device suggesting improvements there too.
* I don't like the look of the new camera "bump"
V The Wall Street Journal is reiterating reports that the 2016 iPhone 7 won't have any major design changes
V They say Apple will move to OLED displays and remove the TouchID Home button with a display integrated solution next year.
* A conflicting report from Cowen and Company says the iPhone 7 will remove the physical home button and replace it with a Force Touch home button using haptic feedback.
* Samsung and Sharp are both indicating they plan to expand OLED shipments before the end of 2017
V Other iPhone 7 rumors
* Is that new color Space Blue or Space Black?
* Major camera system updates, with dual-lenses on the Plus.
* KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said the iPhone 7 could be 1mm thinner than the iPhone 6s, but that's not confirmed by any other rumors.
V Ambient light sensor moving from left to right on the front plate and a slightly longer earpiece hole.
* Only maters for some cases and older screen protectors
V Apple seem to be taking a conservative approach when ordering iPhone 7 components
* Many do not believe the iPhone 7 will do much to slow declining year over year iPhone sales
* Especially if the reports of no major design change are true.
* I imagine the removal of the headphone jack might even cause some users to NOT upgrade.
V Your iPhone 7 upgrade may cost you more
* Apple made changes to their iPhone Trade-up program
* Apple has reduced the maximum credit that you can get from trading in your old iPhone, from $300 to $250.
* The interest-free Trade-Up with Installments program from Apple is gone.
* You can apply your phone credit toward your carriers installment plan, like AT&T Next.
V Spotify has double Apple Music's paid subscribers
* Spotify told the The Telegraph they now have 100 million monthly active users worldwide and about 30 million monthly paying subscribers.
V Apple said during WWDC that they now have 15 million paying subscribers. Apple doesn't offer a free level of service.
* Apple seems to be adding paid subscribers at a rate of about 2 million per month.
V It's important to also remember that Spotify was launched six years ago and Apple Music has been around for only a year
* The comparison is not 100% fair either way, but show more generally that streaming music subscriptions is becoming more mainstream
* Spotify even notes that they've seen their paid subscriber rates go up since Apple launch Apple Music
* One final note is that, despite the large numbers and growth, Spotify continues to operate at a loss. We don't know about Apple, but after last quarters number services revenue was up 20 percent at around $6 billion which was more than revenue from the Mac.
V Apple has been doing well with securing exclusive content to promote their service
* Reports are that part of securing those deals with artists is funding for music videos.
* Apple is apparently getting more creative about what they are offering artists in exchange for exclusivity
* They have also been doing other artist related content creation deals like the Dr, Dre and Vice video series.
V Apple pays out on iBooks settlement
* Both Amazon and Apple customers started to receive credits from the settlement of the alleged iBooks price fixing scheme
* Customers are getting varied amounts depending on the publisher and books purchased.
* In general it's $1.57 per e-books and up to $6.93 for every New York Times bestseller. Titles from Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan (Holtzbrinck Publishers), Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster purchased between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012 qualify for the program.
* I saw a $4.63 credit magically appear in my account this past week.
V Internet freaks over iOS 10 kernel
* After Apple released iOS 10 to developers MIT Technology Review noticed and reported that the OS kernel was not encrypted
V Not long after their report the internet did what it does and freaked out
* There was rampant speculation. Was it intentional? Did someone screw up? Who's getting fired?
* The more rational reporters out there talked with experts who said leaving iOS unencrypted doesn't leave the security of iOS 10 compromised, but it makes it easier to find flaws in the operating system.
* So the reason did appear to be intentional and likely to help Apple and beta testers more easily find and close any future security vulnerabilities.
V Apple later put the whole issue to rest when they explained it was done for performance reasons
* A spokesperson told TechCrunch that the iOS 10 does not contain sensitive information, so it doesn't need to be encrypted.
* By leaving it unencrypted Apple claims they can better optimize the OS performance without compromising security.
* Security expert Jonathan Zdziarski, also thinks it's likely that Apple has made this shift to prevent groups from "hoarding" vulnerabilities like the one used to hack the iPhone 5c in the FBI's San Bernardino case.
V Sponsor: Smile
V PDFpen 8
* Stop and think how many PDF documents you interact with in a month, week, or maybe even daily.
V For me there are two big areas where I wind up with PDFs
* Scanned documents, with my own or someone else's or forms
* I use the word "forms" generously. Typically a form someone has "scanned" by taking an image of it with their phone.
V On my Mac, iPad, or iPhone the tool I turn to to deal with all of those PDFs is PDFpen
* I can search, edit, and annotate
* I can turn those annoying "fake" forms into real ones
* I can fill out those forms and sign keeping my work flow paperless and 100% digital
* I use iCloud syncing, so I have all the PDFs I need on every device and Mac.
V And Smile just released PDFpen 8 for Mac
* Export PDF to Microsoft Word offline
* Preview and extract file attachments and annotations
* Record and playback audio annotations (not in Preview, come on Apple)
* Support for AATL digital signing certificates
* New measurements tool for determining the distance between objects in your document.
* and more
* PDFpen for Mac is just $74.95 and upgrades are just $30 bucks.
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V Feedback, commentary, opinions
V How is watchOS 3 faster?
V For Apps there are two main tricks. Caching and background refreshing
* Apps in the 'Dock', which replace glances (sort of), are kept in memory
* Apps can update their data in the background so when you access them you don't wait while they refresh their data.
* The third trick, is native apps that run on the watch, but we had that already, just so far not many apps have been updated to support it.
V What about battery life
* Apple is being smart about this and using a lot of the techniques they've learned on the Mac and iOS
* Apps are not constantly refreshing. Developers use schedules based on the needs of the app.
* Snapshots also allow a lunch to feel faster and have more recent, if not most recent, data.
V Syncing Photos App
* John is somewhat new to the Mac and has just completed the process of setting up Photos and getting all his images in there.
* He has questions
V Should I use iCloud Photo Library?
* The answer is it depends.
* I have used it and continue to use it, but I do find it frustrating.
* There are also other options that work well. For me I also use Flickr and the Flickr Uploader (they give you 1TB free storage)
V Do I select it on my Mac and on my iOS devices too?
* This is a really important question and the answer will depend on what you want to do.
* I really recommend setting up a single Mac to me the "master"
* On that Mac you want to have it set up to also backup your local 'Photos Library.photoslibrary' file
* Then make sure in Photos > Preferences > iCloud that you set the 'Download Originals to this Mac' option
* That will ensure that all photos added to other Macs and iOS devices in the iCloud Photo Library end up on the master Mac.
V On all other devices and Mac you want to share this library you will choose the 'optimize storage' option.
* The exception would be only if you want to have the full sized images on that device or Mac as well.
V If I make changes to my photos in one location, do they automatically update on all of my devices?
* Yes. And you can still always "Revert to original" on any device or other location. Just be aware that ANY edit you make, including reverting to original, will be sync'd
* If you don't want that I suggest making a copy first and then editing that.
V What about Photo Stream, or iCloud Photo Sharing?
* Photo Stream is a completely separate feature and you can use it with iCloud Photo Sharing, but if you do I think it's redundant.
* It syncs the photos you've taken over the last 30 days and up to 1,000 images at a time. It also doesn't count against your iCloud storage
V iCloud Photo Sharing is a bit different. It is for sharing your photos online or with other iCloud users
* You can share images and albums.
* When you turn it on anything that you shared will show up in the "shared' tab in Photos on the Mac or in iOS
* Inside Shared album you have setting to invite others to the shared images. You can allow others to to post to the share as well, if they are on iCloud. You can also set up a "public website" and it will give you a semi-private URL you can share.
* People can also comment on and like images in a shared album.
V Accessing the shared album settings
* On iOS you go into the shared album and tap the 'People' tab at the bottom
* On Mac you go into the shared album and tap on the letter "person" icon at the top.
V Finding an removing duplicates
* Still a somewhat manual process.
* You take the dupes and move them into Albums that you can then review and delete.
V iPhone lifehacks
V James wrote in on the case for wireless charging
* He has had issues with charging via the Lightning connector because he keeps his phone in his front pocket.
* The port can become jammed with lint and then doesn't work
* you have to carefully clean it out with a toothpick.
V So are you a head-in or head-out iPhone packet carrier?
* I have generally not had this issue because i always tend to go head in with the lightning port pointed toward the top of my pocket.
* Using a paper cup or empty toilet paper tube roll as an analog speaker. Simply placing it into an empty glass also works.
* Use a cheap drug store lenticular reading magnifier as a macro lens. Also works with jeweler's loops
* Place the spring from a cheap "click" style ballpoint pen around your lightning cord connector to help lessen stress
* Use extra large binder clips as a make-shift stand
V I'm sure you have some daily tips or lifehacks you use with your Apple devices, send them in.
* maybe a DIY lightning port cover for James?
V Drive issues and failures
V Since I upgraded to my new 15-inch Macbook Pro I started having an issue where my external USB drives are unmounting and remounting
* Review the "why" new Macbook Pro story quickly
* Mention the 15-inch warranty extension program expires soon.
V Research yielded [this 41 page Apple Discussion Board]( https://discussions.apple.com/message/24719739) thread going back to 2014
* There many theories on why.
* Some say it's related to migrating your data and a clean install can fix.
* Some say that removing your external drives from Spotlight search will fix it.
* Some say that unchecking the 'put hard disks to sleep when possible' option in Energy Saver fixes.
* Some think it's and external USB hub issue. Plugging direct into the Mac seems to make the issue go away for some.
V Many commenters say they only have the issue when waking from sleep
* The theory here is that some drives have built in firmware that will put the drive to sleep when not in use
* When the Mac wakes the drives don't respond fast enough and the Mac thinks they were ejected.
V Some report using 'caffeine' or [Jettison]( http://www.stclairsoft.com/Jettison/index.html)
* On wake Jettison will remount the drives if they have not been disconnected.
V Thing is my drives would sometimes unmount (or appear to unmount) even when the Mac wasn't sleeping.
* I even lost a backup and Time Machine drive to corruption and had to re-format them.
V One fix that worked for a little bit:
* 1. Open Finder, go to your computer and then select you Macintosh HD (or whatever you have renamed it).
* 2. Go to Macintosh HD - Library - Preferences
* 3. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and you will see a folder called SystemConfiguration
* 4. Pull this folder onto the desktop.
* 5. Go to System Preferences - Sharing and change the name of your computer, even just a little bit.
* 6. Reboot
* That fix lasted about two days for me then the issues returned.
* I'm trying again, but this time I disabled the 'put hard disks to sleep when possible' and 'Enable Power Nap' settings in Energy Saver settings.
V My unmountable hard drives also got me thinking about that issue
* Well that and two emails from listeners who lost drives and were looking fro possible recovery apps.
* This is where I remind you back-up, back-up, back-up
* Also, check your backups. These guys had them, but some didn't work for recovery.
V If the drive shows up in OS X and just doesn't mount then you might have luck with a tool like [Disk Warrior]( http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/) or [Drive Genius]( https://www.prosofteng.com/drivegenius-defrag-mac-software/).
* On drives that don't show up in Disk Utility at all I've had almost no luck with those tools
* The ONLY app I know of that might save a seemingly dead HDD is Steve Gibson's [SpinRite]( https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm). It's Windows only and you have to run it on a PC. VMs will not work.
V Thing of the Moment: Prisma
* A really simple and cool free app to apply art style effects to your photos. [iTunes]( https://appsto.re/us/aEK6cb.i)
* It makes your images look like they were hand drawn in a variety of artistic styles.
* There is line art styles, mosaic styles, pop-art, comic book styles, etc.
* Does an incredible job.
* Images are put into a square format only, so it's optimized for sharing on Instagram.
* You can use the 'Share' button to save the images to the camera roll or share on other services.
* It's free. Want the one called "Prisma - art filters and photo effects" with the blue triangle logo by Alexey Moiseenkov. (beware the Knock offs)
V Closing
V Podcast Marketplace
V Thanks to my sponsors
* Smile
V Gazelle
* Gazelle. The fast and simple way to sell your used gadgets! Find out what your used iPhone, iPad and other Apple products are worth at Gazelle.com.
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