But as much as there were software and hardware improvements to the Series 2 and Series 3, the most important refinements were to the Apple Watch’s purpose. It gained clarity. It was for fitness and notifications. Eventually, when it was ready, Apple added better connectivity.
Now, with the Series 4, Apple is iterating again. And, importantly, it’s learned how to iterate the product’s hardware and its purpose at the same time. The Series 4 has finally achieved something like the original goal of the Apple Watch. It’s not quite a do-anything computer on your wrist, but it can be different things to different people now.
Back when George was a newborn and I wasn’t working out much, it was the cool productivity features like the texting from my wrist, Apple Pay and feeling blissfully untethered from my iPhone that won me over. But now that life has gotten even bigger, fuller and, yep, sweatier—from #ownyourmorning runs to marathon days at the office—I could not be more thrilled that the Watch has evolved into a powerful health and fitness accessory.
This year's watchOS 5 update, released today for all Apple Watches Series 1 and later, fills in the gaps of the watchOS audio feature set. Third-party audio apps can now run in the background, and full audio controls including volume adjustment via the Digital Crown have been made available to them. watchOS 5 also introduces the first-party Podcasts app, which supports automatic syncing of new episodes that you're subscribed to and streaming of any show in the iTunes podcast directory.
Beyond audio, watchOS 5 also builds on the solid fitness foundation with activity competitions, expanded Workout types, automatic workout detection, and advanced running statistics. Siri has continued to receive attention as well, introducing third-party integrations to the Siri watch face and a raise-to-speak feature which truncates the inveterate "Hey Siri" prefix for the first time on any platform. A new Walkie-Talkie app marks the first return to novelty Apple Watch communication methods since Digital Touch, but this time I think Apple might have tapped into a legitimate, albeit niche use case. Top things off with improved notifications, the introduction of web content, and NFC-powered student ID cards and we have a substantial watchOS update on our hands.
If you’re missing a couple of Activity achievements after upgrading to iOS 12, you’re not alone. Specifically, a few of the limited edition achievements are missing.
Until yesterday, I was thinking of turning my old iPad mini 2 into a digital photo frame. The tablet worked, but it was painfully slow. Launching an app always had an unacceptable lag, and any serious multitasking was near-impossible.
Then I updated it from iOS 11 to iOS 12, and suddenly the little guy was nearly as good as new.
Digging into assets used by the Setup app, which is the app that runs when you set up a new device, we found a new identifier for a “2018 fall” iPad. The previous version of the app only included identifiers for the 2018 iPhones. This means the app is being updated to teach users how to use the new gestures on a new model of iPad to be released this fall.
By swiping right, you can start a workout with the app. There are four different types to select from – walking, running, hiking, or other. The hiking option now offers a more accurate track of a hike and its the best option to select from when encountering significant elevation changes.
Google Maps on CarPlay lacks voice control with Siri, but within the Google Maps app is Google-powered voice search. The navigation app also works with your Google account so you can have saved addresses like work and home.
Halide can now be used on the new iPhone Xs, Xs Max, and Xr, and the new Siri Shortcuts support will be great for shooting when your iPhone is mounted to a tripod.
The takeaways are this: designing a product is not just about pixels or even the code in the 1.0. It’s also about the business model and understanding of where you fit on a technology or platform’s lifecycle.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has been one of President Trump’s staunchest critics in Silicon Valley, opposing the White House on everything from immigration to climate change.
But the 57-year old tech leader has also become one of the technology industry’s savviest political operators -- a behind-the-scenes Trump whisperer, able to shape some of the administration’s economic policies in ways that benefit Apple and some of its tech peers.
Those efforts seemed to pay off Monday, after Trump unveiled tariffs on roughly $200 billion in goods imported from China, the latest salvo in the trade war Washington is waging against Beijing. The initial list of imports the White House had threatened to penalize included some of Apple’s most well-known products, the company said earlier this month, such as its recently updated Apple Watch smartwatch, HomePod home assistant and AirPods wireless headphones (but not the iPhone). On Monday evening, though, those products were spared. Thousands of other imports weren’t so lucky, and Americans could soon be paying more for things like refrigerators and toys.
The two alarm clocks running the newly-installed iOS 12 did wake me up this morning on time. Success!
~
Thanks for reading.