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The Discontinued-in-April Edition Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Apple Updates AirPort Express Firmware With AirPlay 2 Support, by John Voorhees, MacStories

Apple has released version 7.8 of the firmware for compatible AirPort Express WiFi routers to add AirPlay 2 support. Although there had been hints in iOS betas that the latest iteration of Apple’s peer-to-peer streaming technology was coming to the Express routers, its addition still came as a surprise since the routers were discontinued in April.

AirPort Express Adds AirPlay 2 Support, by Benjamin Mayo

What I hope Apple introduces is a rebranded/redesigned AirPort Express for $49, that ditches all of the wireless networking stuff and just acts as an AirPlay 2 audio repeater. Maybe it will be manufactured by Apple’s new best friend, Logitech. Perhaps Beats will make one. If such a product existed (and maybe it will in a couple weeks), I would be less riled up. At least then, you could point people to something that serves the same role as the Express. The status quo is ridiculous.

13 Easy Ways To Fix Your iPhone Or Mac With Common Household Items, by Kif Leswing, Business Insider

Over the past eight years, Apple users have found all sorts of clever hacks to fix your iPhone without going out and buying pricey parts or accessories.

Some hacks can even make your iPhone better than it was out of the box.

So the next time you're having iPhone issues, try a DIY solution first. Not only will it save you a trip, but it could also save you some cash.

Designing An App That Helps Doctors Prescribe The Right Drugs Quickly, by Sarah Dawood, Design Week

The British National Formulary (BNF) reference book, which is published by the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), is like a bible to medical professionals. Sent out to doctors regularly across the UK, the book is used to look up drugs, as well as the conditions they are used to treat (indications), to see when drugs should not be prescribed such as when a patient is on other medication (contraindications), and to understand side effects, doses, legal classifications and prices.

While having a physical book to flick through has its merits, the BNF realised that the prescribing time could be cut with the use of an app that does the searching for you.

This App Lets Seniors Book “Grandkids On Demand”, by Adele Peters, Fast Company

When an octogenarian in Florida uses a new “grandkids on demand” app called Papa, the service will send a carefully-vetted college student help with whatever the senior needs–someone to drive to the grocery store and help shop, help with chores, or give them a simple training in how to use Instagram or an iPad. But unlike Uber or Taskrabbit, the app aims to address a larger problem: loneliness.

“We believe [the problem of loneliness] is a big portion of what we’re solving,” says Andrew Parker, Papa’s founder. “I think this is going to be a bigger problem over time, even more so than we realize now.”

Stuff

Apple Releases Second Supplemental Update For 2018 MacBook Pro Owners Running macOS 10.13.6, by Peter Cao, 9to5Mac

The initial supplemental update, if you recall, was to fix the alleged throttling issues with the latest generation MacBook Pros, which Apple said was a firmware bug.

Apple Details Changes Coming In Mojave And iOS 12 For System Administrators, by TidBITS

The company outlines changes that system administrators in charge of managed devices might need to know or deal with.

My iPad Photography Workflow, by Shawn Blanc, The Sweet Setup

This article is about my mobile photography workflow — the process I use to get images onto my iPad, how I edit them, and why there are a lot of best practices that I’m intentionally bypassing.

Adobe XD Adds Third-party Plugin Support, New Integrations With Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, by Michael Steeber, 9to5Mac

The biggest addition to Adobe XD is support for plugins. Using Adobe’s APIs, community members and partners will be able to develop new features and automations for the application that users can install. Adobe plans to make the platform available later in 2018.

Notes

Tim Cook Nets $58M In Sale Of Vested AAPL Stock Bonus, by Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cook's batch of 560,000 RSUs was granted last Friday after the Apple chief satisfied performance goals set forth by the company's board of directors. The granted stock was worth some $123 million at the end of trading on Tuesday.