MyAppleMenu - Sat, Apr 25, 2015

Sat, Apr 25, 2015The New-Experiences Edition

October: "OMG the 5s seems so small now! How'd I ever survive?" April: [pinkie pecks at wrist screen]
— megan quinn (@msquinn) April 24, 2015

It's Alive!

First Apps Give Apple Watch These Four New Talents, by Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Wall Street Journal

Now that the Apple Watch app store has launched, we’re finally getting an idea of what creative thinkers want to do with the smartest wearable around. No, the best early Apple Watch apps aren’t about a billion wrist-top notifications, and they’re not simply shrunken down smartphone apps, either. When developers get it right, they’re creating new experiences tailored to the Apple Watch’s postage-stamp-sized screen, and its convenient, always-visible position. They keep you informed, guide you on your way and help you achieve simple tasks.

Here are some of the best new uses for the Apple Watch available on Day One—and some cool apps that demonstrate them—along with some surprise apps that we did not see coming.

Skype For iPhone Brings Messaging To Your Wrist With Apple Watch Support, by Dan Thorp-Lancaster, iMore
Your Apple Watch Can Now Open Your Hotel Room Door At Over 100 Starwood Hotels, by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac
Apple Watch Straps: Expect Discoloration, Deformation Of Sport And Leather Bands Over Time, by Jordan Kahn, 9to5Mac

Hope you enjoy your new Apple Watch! https://t.co/CE6QJUnoQk
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 24, 2015

Security Matters

Critical HTTPS Bug May Open 25,000 iOS Apps To Eavesdropping Attacks, by Dan Goodin, Ars Technica

As was the case with a separate HTTPS vulnerability reported earlier this week that affected 1,500 iOS apps, the bug resides in AFNetworking, an open-source code library that allows developers to drop networking capabilities into their iOS and OS X apps. Any app that uses a version of AFNetworking prior to the just-released 2.5.3 may expose data that's trivial for hackers to monitor or modify, even when it's protected by the secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol.

Made For iPhone

No, Apple Isn’t Cutting Pebble Off From iOS, by David Pierce, Wired

An Apple spokesman confirmed to WIRED that this was a mistake and the company has not changed its policy toward Pebble. The SeaNav update, and others rejected under similar circumstances, will be accepted, and the company does not plan to reject apps that support Pebble.

Pebble’s products, CEO Eric Migicovsky says, always have been certified as Made For iPhone—including the new Time and Time Steel. Even now, dozens of apps in the App Store mention Pebble; there are even a handful of third-party apps for managing and connecting to your watch.

Notes.

The Death of the Comcast Deal, by Tim Wu, New Yorker

The Justice Department decided, conceptually, to turn things around, and in economic jargon, to look at the other side of the “two-sided market.” That meant noticing that Comcast sells both Internet access to customers and customer access to the Internet. Stated differently, anyone who wants to reach one of Comcast’s customers—like Netflix delivering a film or Spotify delivering a song—has to go through it, and it alone. Looking at the deal this way forced the Justice Department to think about Comcast as something much more than just a regional cable company.

It Looks Like You Are Writing A Review

Microsoft Word Spells The Names Of Game Of Thrones Characters Better Than You Can, by Jacob Brogan, Slate

Surprisingly, Microsoft Office’s spell-checker recognizes the names of virtually every Game of Thrones character, major and minor alike.

It Looks Like You Have A Gold Watch

Parting Words

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. Those who wear an Apple Watch Edition with a Sport band
— Federico Viticci (@viticci) April 24, 2015

Thanks for reading.