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The Simple-Life Edition Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Buying An Apple Watch For The ECG App? Read This First, by Danielle Kosecki, CNET

If you're healthy and haven't been diagnosed with AFib or any conditions that put you at risk for it -- such as high blood pressure, diabetes or heart failure -- Murthy says the best thing you can do to take care of your heart is to follow what the American Heart Association calls Life's Simple 7. "Exercise, eat right, stop smoking and lose weight. If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or elevated blood sugar, manage that under the care of a doctor."

If an Apple Watch can help you or motivate you to do those things, great. If not, using one isn't necessary.

Here's How To Stop Sharing Your Private Siri Interactions With Apple, by Mike Peterson, iDropNews

Earlier this week, The Guardian reported that Apple contractors do listen to user interactions with Siri to improve accuracy. And although those interactions are anonymized and make up only a small percentage of all Siri requests, Apple’s contractors can sometimes hear extremely private situations or sensitive data.

Now, security researcher Jan Kaiser has created an iOS configuration profile that puts an end to Siri requests being sent to the server.

Here’s how to get it (or make your own).

Google Researchers Disclose Exploits For 'Interactionless' iOS Attacks, by Catalin Cimpanu, ZDNet

Two members of Project Zero, Google's elite bug-hunting team, have published details and demo exploit code for five of six "interactionless" security bugs that impact the iOS operating system and can be exploited via the iMessage client.

All six security flaws were patched last week, on July 22, with Apple's iOS 12.4 release.

Details about one of the "interactionless" vulnerabilities have been kept private because Apple's iOS 12.4 patch did not completely resolve the bug, according to Natalie Silvanovich, one of the two Google Project Zero researchers who found and reported the bugs.

Coming Soon

Apple Will Let You Choose ‘Bigger’ Or ‘More’ App Icons On Your iPad’s Home Screen, by Nick Statt, The Verge

Apple’s latest iOS 13 beta version was released earlier today, and with it came a few surprises. The most notable is that the company is planning a previously unannounced feature that will let users, for the first time, resize app icons on the home screen.

At least, that’s how Apple refers to it. It’d be more technically accurate to say grid layout customization, as the smaller or larger app icons are a product of adding an extra two columns to the overall grid layout. But “App Icon Size” is how it’s labeled in Settings. So it goes.

Stuff

Apple Announces New 'Art-based' Augmented Reality Experiences Coming To Apple Stores, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

Apple has announced a new addition to the Today at Apple session lineup. In a series of “art-based Today At Apple augmented reality experiences”, customers can go on an interactive walk to see AR set pieces from leading digital artists.

There’s also a new in-store session which walks customers through using Swift Playgrounds to create their own AR experience. And, Apple will be debuting an AR art installation in every Apple Store.

Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2019), by Tom Brant, PC Magazine

Dig deeper, though, and you find an exquisitely designed ultraportable that performs very well on everyday computing tasks, has good looks to spare, and will almost certainly last all day without being plugged in. Here in 2019, this is the best general-purpose Apple laptop for most users.

This Feature On The iPhone Can Actually Help You Sleep Better — I Swear By It, by Brittany Natale, Popsugar

But it's actually the Do Not Disturb setting that has had the greatest impact on my sleep. When this is on, the lock screen dims, all text messages and calls are silenced, and any notifications received are stored in history. I find that having my phone silenced during the hours I'm supposed to be sleeping helps prevent me from waking up during the night.

Over 20 Apps Every College Student Should Know About, by Shelby Brown, CNET

As summer draws to a close, you can almost hear the collective groans of some college students and the longing anticipation of others. It's time to head back to campus, and having the right tools in your educational toolbox can make a big difference in how your school year shakes out. Whether you're a freshman trying to figure out the campus map or you're a seasoned senior ready to wrap up your degree, check out these apps to optimize for the most successful college experience.

Highland 2 Is A Screenwriting App That Can Handle All Kinds Of Text, by Josh Ginter, The Sweet Setup

Highland 2 is a screenwriting app first, and a novel or blog post writing app second. From this lens, Highland 2 can quickly become a catch-all text editor for a large swath of people.

Notes

It’s Past Time For The iPad To Support Multiple Accounts, by Leif Johnson, Macworld

It’s 2019 and yet iPads remain married to the person who set them up. Apple may chatter a lot about privacy, but the fact that Apple insists on its tablets tied to a single Apple ID means there’s little that’s private about sharing an iPad.

Your Next iPhone Might Be Made In Vietnam. Thank The Trade War., by Raymond Zhong, New York Times

Negotiators for the United States and China are meeting in Shanghai this week to try to find a way forward in resolving their bruising trade war. But for some companies, spooked by what now appears to be a definitive darkening in America’s relations with China, the appeal of working in the world’s second-largest economy may already be tarnished for good. With smartphones, video game consoles and other consumer favorites potentially next on Mr. Trump’s tariff list, gadget makers in particular are feeling pressure to find new low-wage places to make or finish their products.

Apple has homed in on Vietnam and India as it intensifies its search for ways to diversify its supply chain.

Bottom of the Page

It seems like Apple is still messing around with the app icons on the home screen in the latest beta, so I'm holding out hope that maybe the iPhone will somehow also get the new feature where apps and widgets exist together on the same screen.

(Okay, maybe not.)

~

Thanks for reading.