MyAppleMenu - Thu, May 21, 2015

Thu, May 21, 2015The Give-The-Tongue-A-Try Edition

A Tech Reviewer And His iPad

David Letterman Licked My iPad, by Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times

My editors at the Sun-Times were in the loop, but nobody else (oh, the lies, lies, lies I was forced to tell for ten days!). I ran the Late Show’s request through Apple at my meeting. Yeah. They were completely fine with my letting the Letterman show in.

I didn’t know precisely what the show would finally do with the iPad. But Apple trusted that I wouldn’t let them drop it off a twelve-story building or put a Donald Trump wig on it or anything else doubleplus ungood. I sent a thumbs-up to my Letterman friend and we made plans for me to stop by the show’s offices with it for a basic orientation session after my meeting with Apple was over.

Stuff.

Spotify Now Will Build Custom Playlists Around Your Day, by Joseph Keller, iMore

Spotify has introduced a number of new features that help tailor the music your music listening to different parts of your day. The new Now section will serve up playlists tailored to activities and times of the day, like the early morning, for your commute, or when you go to bed.

Dave Pell: Among the new features, Spotify will match music to your running pace. I better get used to slow jams.

Hands On: Autodesk Sketchbook 3.1.2 (iOS), by MacNN

Sunrise Calendar Now Integrates Your Wunderlist Tasks And To-Do Lists, by Harish Jonnalagadda, iMore

MacItBetter Releases BetterZip 3 For OS X, by MacTech

Five OS X Automator Tips For Saving Time And Sanity, by Grant Brunner, ExtremeTech

With every Mac sold comes a powerful little app called Automator. By using a drag-and-drop user interface, this under-appreciated software allows anyone to quickly automate monotonous tasks, and get work done in a snap. Today, I want to show off some of my favorite Automator workflows that highlight exactly how powerful this tool is.

Resolving The “Unable To Download Item. Please Try Again Later” Error Message On iPhone, by OS X Daily

Develop.

PaintCode 2.0 Review: Helps Developers And Designers Create Great User Interfaces, by Marco Tabini, Macworld

ResearchKit, Apple’s Medical Data Experiment, Explained, by Katherine Boehret, Re/code

Apple, Android App Makers Cool To Microsoft Overtures, by Bill Rigby, Reuters

Notes.

Rumors: Apple Stores To Begin Stocking Apple Watch Bands This Week, by Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac

Apple Stores will begin stocking Apple Watch bands later this week in “limited” quantities, according to a message sent to retail stores, with the majority of bands being the fluoroelastomer Sport Bands.

Rumors: Apple Plans To Refresh iOS 9, OS X 10.11 Using New Apple Watch Font, by Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac

Apple is currently planning to use the new system font developed for the Apple Watch to refresh the looks of iPads, iPhones, and Macs running iOS 9 “Monarch” and OS X 10.11 “Gala,” according to sources with knowledge of the preparations.

Rumors: Apple’s Planned Ios 9 ‘home’ App Uses Virtual Rooms To Manage Homekit Accessories, by Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac

Apple’s plan to manage upcoming HomeKit-compatible accessories could revolve around a new iOS app called “Home,” according to sources familiar with the app. [...] Just as Apple’s HealthKit framework worked with the Health app to create a signature new iOS 8 feature, HomeKit will rely in part upon the Home app to securely manage a connected home full of accessories and data.

Anti-NSA Pranksters Planted Tape Recorders Across New York And Published Your Conversations, by Andy Greenberg, Wired

Dealing With That One-Third Of Our Lives

Less Is More: The Science Of An Effective Night's Sleep, by Gracie Lofthouse, The Guardian

Although we spend a third of our lives sleeping, we don’t seem to be very good at it. Compared to the targeted technologies and elaborate regimes we’ve got for exercise and diet, Gamble says, “Sleep is one of these areas we seem to leave to chance. We go to bed and close our eyes and hope for the best. I think we can do better than that.”

Parting Words

Over pic.twitter.com/dOVRgDbFiE

— George Schweitzer (@georgetv) May 20, 2015

Thanks for reading.