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The Environmentally-Minded Edition Thursday, April 22, 2021

Apple Focuses On Environmental Justice And Education As It Celebrates Earth Day, by AppleInsider

Apple is placing an emphasis on education for Earth Day 2021. The company is, through its various platforms, offering new environmentally-minded content it hopes will serve as a catalyst for change and inform users about climate issues and other key matters.

Apple's AirTag Relies On A Feature No Competitor Can Match: One Billion iPhones, by Kif Leswing, CNBC

The product represents a new frontier for Apple: Using its install base of over 1 billion iPhones as infrastructure to build services that its competitors can't. Now iPhones are part of a physical network out in the world that's looking out for stolen goods — even if their users have never purchased an AirTag.

Security Vulnerability In CocoaPods Dev Tool Could Have Affected Millions Of iOS Apps, by Guilherme Rambo, 9to5Mac

The problem was that a maliciously crafted package that’s published to the CocoaPods repository could run arbitrary code on the servers that manage it. This could be used to replace existing packages by malicious versions with code that could end up shipping in iOS and Mac apps used by millions of people worldwide.

Apple Podcast

The Future Of Apple Podcasts, by Nathan Gathright

I read through the “Apple Podcasters Program Agreement” and related documentation so you don’t have to. Here’s a thread of 11 things that caught my eye that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere else.

Apple Podcasts Directory Currently Missing Some Shows Due To Backend Bug, Affecting Other Podcasts Apps Too, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

Some podcasts are missing entirely from Apple Podcasts search right now. In other cases, the shows are still being listed in the directory but their feed URL is missing in the catalog. This means the API isn’t reporting where to find the actual podcast episodes.

Stuff

New Touch ID Magic Keyboards Work With All M1 Macs, Not Just The iMac, by Jon Porter, The Verge

The catch is that, for now at least, the keyboard is only sold with the new M1-equipped iMac, which is available to preorder from April 30th.

AppleCare+ Now Available For Apple TV; Mac Coverage Can Now Be Extended Beyond Three Years, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

For the first time, there’s an AppleCare+ plan available for Apple TV, and customers can now extend Mac coverage beyond three years.

Apple Music Editorial Content Gets Its Own Apple News Channel, by Stephen Silver, AppleInsider

In an effort to amplify interviews, playlists, and other news surrounding Apple Music, Apple has created a dedicated channel in the Apple News app.

Apple Shares Two New 'Behind The Mac' Ads, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

The first new Behind the Mac spot features musical artist FINNEAS, who is Billie Eilish’s brother. The video walks through his creative process using the Mac to develop music, and he calls the Mac “the last instrument” that he learned.

Brydge Unveils Redesigned Keyboard With Trackpad For 12.9-inch iPad Pro, by Stephen Silver, AppleInsider

The Brydge 12.9 Max+ features a redesigned hinge, rear protection, and a truly massive multi-touch trackpad.

Notes

Apple To Boost Ads Business As iPhone Changes Hurt Facebook, by Hannah Murphy, Financial Times

Apple now plans to add a second advertising slot, in the “suggested” apps section in its App Store search page. This new slot will be rolled out by the end of the month, according to one of the people, and will allow advertisers to promote their apps across the whole network, rather than in response to specific searches.

Apple And Google ‘Hold Data Hostage’ And Stifle Competition, Senate Told, by Kari Paul, The Guardian

Apple and Google “hold data hostage” from small apps and force competitors to pay high commissions, stifling their ability to compete, a number of companies said in a US Senate hearing on Wednesday.

The hearing before the Senate antitrust committee offered a rare opportunity for smaller competitors – including Spotify, Tile and Match – to air their grievances against the tech behemoths before lawmakers. Representatives for the companies spoke about their experiences within Google and Apple’s app stores, where they claim to be subjected to high fees and copycat behavior.

In Epic Hack, Signal Developer Turns The Tables On Forensics Firm Cellebrite, by Dan Goodin, Ars Technica

The vulnerabilities could provide fodder for defense attorneys to challenge the integrity of forensic reports generated using the Cellebrite software. Cellebrite representatives didn’t respond to an email asking if they were aware of the vulnerabilities or had plans to fix them.

Following The Shortbread Crumbs, by David Smith

Apple teases that they are about to reveal Ted Lasso’s secret shortbread recipe. Just as it is about to scroll into frame it cuts off.

This sounds like an internet treasure hunt to me, which I’m always here for.

Bottom of the Page

I'm glad that Apple Music has all sorts of APIs that third-party apps can use. I hope Apple will start doing APIs for Apple Podcasts soon.

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Thanks for reading.