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The Get-Stuff-Quickly Edition Wednesday, September 14, 2016

iOS 10 Reviewed: There’s No Reason Not To Update, by Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica

Most of the features are about giving you more ways to get the stuff you want more quickly. Why open another app when you can just do everything in Messages or Maps or directly from a notification? Plus, now you can just yell at Siri to do it for you. [...]

All in all, though, iOS 10 is a good update with a lot to offer and there’s really no reason not to install it on any hardware that can run it. It doesn’t murder your battery, it doesn’t hurt performance too badly. It takes up more storage space, but that’s been a fact of life for every iOS update for years now. I’ve been running it on my actual production iPhone and iPad for the last month and a half, and the GM build seems stable. App updates are already rolling out. There really isn’t much of a downside.

iOS 10: The MacStories Review, by Federico Viticci, MacStories

Looking at iOS 10's features in isolation, we can spot every shade of change that has steered Apple so far. The need to make iMessage a platform and rethink Control Center. The patient expansion of the extensibility framework, done gradually – some might say too slowly – to ensure good performance and security. The first steps towards AI as a feature of our devices, built in a unique Apple way around privacy and laying the groundwork for the future.

But these changes are more than discrete improvements. They're no islands. As the tenth anniversary of the iPhone and its software draws closer, it's time we take a holistic view of what iOS has become. iOS' changes are simply a reflection of our own changes – whether it's how much time we spend messaging with friends, how many pictures we take, the sensors we put in our homes, or the music we listen to. The memories we cherish, our conversations, the songs we listen to.

Getting iOS 10 Right From The Start, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

The biggest change in iOS 10, the thing that required the most retraining for me, happens right at the beginning of every interaction.

What’s New In Photos For iOS 10, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

By far the biggest change to Photos is the addition of a comprehensive machine-learning algorithm that scans the contents of your photos to automatically identify people, objects, settings, and other items in your images without any help from you.

Can’t Access iMessage Effects In iOS 10? Here’s The Culprit., by Dan Moren, Six Colors

The guilty party is, weirdly enough, an Accessibility feature that many folks enabled when iOS 7 and later added motion effects like parallax: Reduce Motion. For some reason, at present it also takes away that particular feature of Messages.

Apple’s iOS 10 Download Was Bricking iPhones. It’s Fixed Now, by Brian Barrett, Wired

Another iOS release, another slew of devices experiencing temporary death. But after a rash of Twitter users reported that the iOS 10 updatebricked their iPhones and iPads, Apple says it’s fixed the problem.

Take Two

Apple Watch Series 2 And WatchOS 3, by John Gruber, Daring Fireball

I think WatchOS 3 and Apple Watch Series 2 are a very simple story. Apple Watch had clear strengths but equally clear weaknesses. Apple identified what was flawed and went back to the drawing board. They identified what people liked best — health and fitness tracking — and made them even better. [...]

I’m not saying it was “easy” in any way for Apple to go from, say, the iPhone 6S to the 7. But they didn’t need to swallow any pride. They did with WatchOS 3, and that’s a good sign. The way to be right all the time is not to be right all the time, because that never happens. If you’re pushing the boundaries of any endeavor, mistakes are inevitable. If you convince yourself that you’re right all the time, you’ll slip into denial regarding your mistakes. Then the problems compound. The way to be right all the time is to be smart enough to be right most of the time, and humble enough to recognize your mistakes and address them.

The First Real Apple Watch, by Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch

The Apple Watch Series 2 is the first real Apple Watch. It delivers on the promise of a mostly passive device that can accomplish simple tasks in 1-3 seconds.

Review: Apple Watch Series 2, by Jim Dalrymple

For me, Apple Watch is about improving our lives and making us more efficient. It has done that for me many times over and Apple Watch Series 2 will continue that journey.

More From Apple

Apple Releases tvOS 10 With New Siri Features, Improved Search, Dark Mode And More, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

In tvOS 10, Apple has brought improved search, expanded Siricapabilities, a new dark mode, a Continuity option for using the iPhone for text input, automatic download of universal apps, and more.

Apple Releases iTunes 12.5.1 With Revamped Apple Music Design, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

iTunes 12.5.1 introduces a new Apple Music design, bringing Apple Music on the desktop in line with Apple Music on mobile devices just ahead of the release of iOS 10.

The update also brings macOS Sierra-specific features including support for Siri, allowing users to ask Siri to play songs on machines running macOS Sierra, and it includes support for Picture-in-Picture, another new Sierra feature.

Apple Releases Swift Playgrounds Coding App For iPad, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Apple today officially released Swift Playgrounds, a new app aimed at teaching both children and adults how to code through simple interactive coding exercises. It's meant to make learning to code "easy and fun" for everyone.

Good Morning Tim

Why Apple CEO Tim Cook Prefers Augmented Reality Over Virtual Reality, by Paul Blake and Ronnie Polidoro, ABC

Cook told Roberts that AR "gives the capability for both of us to sit and be very present, talking to each other, but also have other things -- visually -- for both of us to see. Maybe it's something we're talking about, maybe it's someone else here who's not here present but who can be made to appear to be present." [...]

Because of the more "present" nature of AR, Cook suggested that it may be more commercially viable than VR.

'I Dance With Them In': Apple CEO Tim Cook On Why He Knows For Sure That AirPods Won't Fall Out, by Stacy Liberatore, Daily Mail

In an exclusive interview with Good Morning America, the tech tycoon suggests it is the weight of the wires that pull the headphones out of people's ears, and by cutting the wires, the earbuds should now stay in place.

New iPhone 7 Ad Is Basically The Cursed Videotape From Ring, by Sam Byford, The Verge

Look, I'm not saying that this Apple ad was created by a terrifying psychic Japanese girl [...]

Stuff

Confide Brings Self-destructing Messaging To iMessage, by Jordan Crook, TechCrunch

As part of iOS 10’s new iMessage features, which incorporates apps right within the iMessage application, Confide users will be able to send self-destructing messages direct from their texts.

Confide for iMessage will support text and pictures, using Confide’s familiar wand functionality, where users can only see the text over which they drag their finger.

Newton Is A Great New Email App That Costs Way Too Much, by Nathan Ingraham, Engadget

CloudMagic has been an option worth checking out for a few years now. It's laser-focused on simplicity, but there are some powerful features lurking underneath the surface. Today, the app formerly known as CloudMagic is being reborn as Newton -- it's still a deceptively simple affair, but there are some noteworthy new features on board like snoozing messages, read receipts and a send later function.

Mophie Launches 'Power Capsule' Charging Case For Wireless Headphones, by Mitchel Broussard, MacRumors

The Power Capsule includes a 1,400 mAh battery, which Mophie said can provide up to eight full charges for wireless headphones. Inside the case is an integrated USB output, so earbuds aren't the sole beneficiary of the accessory. The company mentioned "small, compatible wireless devices, wearables and other accessories," like fitness trackers and other wearables, could also be used with the case.

Twitter Launches New Apple TV App For Streaming Live Video Including NFL Thursday Night Football, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

The new app will let viewers watch premium video content like the 10 NFL games that Twitter bought the rights to broadcast, and Twitter content like Top Tweets and Vines will also be accessible.

Notes

Apple’s Reaction To The Galaxy Note 7 Recall Was Brilliant, And We All Missed It, by Chris Smith, BGR

There was none. Apple didn’t make fun of Samsung in any form or fashion for the terrible design flaw that forced it to recall 2.5 million smartphones. Think about that for a second. Apple didn’t take a single free hit at Samsung. It didn’t make any jokes when presenting the battery improvements of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. And if there was a place to laugh at Samsung, that would have been it.

An Island No More: Inside The Business Of The Podcasting Boom, by Ken Doctor, Nieman Lab

When Jenna Weiss-Berman left her job as head of Buzzfeed Audio earlier this year, she hoped that she could attract a little startup capital for her new podcast startup. Indeed, she could: Within four weeks, no fewer than four venture capital firms began offering her and Pineapple Street Media cofounder Max Linsky funding.

How hot is podcasting? Stupid V.C. money hot.

Why Supermarket Bacon Hides Its Glorious Fat, by Paul Lukas, Bloomberg

Bacon is fatty. It’s the nature of the beast—literally—because bacon is made from pork belly, which is a naturally fatty section of a hog’s carcass. That’s part of why bacon tastes so good: Fat is flavor. But we’ve also been taught that fat is unhealthy and unappealing. And this tension may explain why bacon has one of the most unusual and underappreciated packaging formats of any supermarket product.

Bottom of the Page

Will Apple remove the headphone jack in the next MacBook too, replacing it with a lighting port?

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