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The Viewing-Experience Edition Friday, May 21, 2021

We Talked To Apple To Break Down Why The New Apple TV 4K Is More Than Just A Streaming Box, by Jacob Krol, CNN

As we gleaned from our experience, the new Apple TV 4K on its own isn’t an entirely new product. Similar to the iPad Pro, it’s all internal hardware changes alongside a few new features. It delivers 4K resolution (something its predecessor did as well) but brings added support for high-frame-rate content, which is made possible by the new A12 chip. “Delivering that best viewing experience at the TV is really what Apple TV is all about,” says Twerdahl. “We want to make sure that whatever specs you care about, to get the absolute best picture quality to have that most cinematic experience to really enjoy all the amazing content that’s out there.”

New Apple TV Adds ARC Support For Universal TV Audio Passthrough To HomePod Speakers, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

With the new Apple TV 4K, tvOS supports HDMI ARC and eARC for the first time. This means that all audio from all input sources can now go out over the HomePod speakers, assuming you have an ARC-compatible TV set.

The New Siri Remote (And Updated Apple TV 4K), by John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Seriously, if you’re an Apple TV user, break out the champagne. This new Siri Remote is good. It’s easily my favorite Apple TV remote ever, and Apple TV has been where I watch the vast majority of my TV for over a decade.

Coming Soon

Apple Expanding 'Air Quality' Weather App Feature To More Countries With iOS 14.7, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

As reported by multiple users on Reddit and Twitter, iOS 14.7 beta 1 brings the Air Quality feature in the iPhone Weather app to more regions. This includes cities in the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain. Other comments also mention that the feature is working in Canada as well.

On App Stores

Apple Accuses Microsoft Of Using Epic In Legal Attack, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

The iPhone maker made the accusations Wednesday night in a filing asking a judge to make an adverse credibility finding against Lori Wright, an Xbox executive who testified in the trial on behalf of Epic. That would mean the judge could ignore her testimony.

Apple asked for such a ruling earlier, but upped its accusations in the new filing. “A reasonable observer might wonder whether Epic is serving as a stalking horse for Microsoft,” Apple said. “Microsoft shielded itself from meaningful discovery in this litigation by not appearing as a party or sending a corporate representative to testify.”

Stuff

iPad Pro M1 For Photographers, by Austin Mann

As any photographer knows, one of the most time-consuming parts of the photo creation process is culling through thousands of images, making selects, and editing the images. Thanks to the M1 chip, faster internal storage, and a few other improvements, the new iPad Pro with M1 is the fastest image sorting tool I’ve ever used.

The new iPad Pro with M1 is, without a doubt, the fastest device I’ve ever used to review and select photographs.

Apple Releases New App Tracking Transparency Video, by John Voorhees, MacStories

The latest spot starts with the lead character purchasing a coffee and then being followed around all day by a growing crowd of people that intrude on his privacy. Back home at the end of the day, the protagonist is prompted by his iPhone to ‘Ask App Not to Track’ or ‘Allow’ tracking, and as soon as ‘Ask App Not to Track’ is chosen, the mob of people crowding his apartment pop like balloons, disappearing in puffs of smoke.

Apple Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness With App Store, Fitness+, Shortcuts Gallery, More< by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac

Apple previewed some exciting new accessibility features yesterday and today, it is celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) across many of its platforms like the App Store, Shortcuts app, TV app, Maps, Fitness+, Today at Apple sessions in its stores, and more.

PopSockets MagSafe-compatible PopGrips And PopWallet+ For iPhone 12 Now Available, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

The magnets are incredibly strong (much stronger than Apple’s MagSafe Wallet), and I have no worries that my iPhone will fall when holding it with a PopGrip.

Twelve South Reveals iPhone 12 BookBook Vol. 2 With MagSafe Shell, by Wesley Hilliard, AppleInsider

With the MagSafe shell, users can remove the outer case and attach the iPhone to MagSafe chargers and mounts. The BookBook has a more robust wallet than Apple's MagSafe Wallet with space for multiple cards and cash.

Belkin’s $99 SoundForm Connect Audio Lets You Add AirPlay 2 To Any Speaker, by Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge

Belkin’s new SoundForm Connect Audio is a $99 dongle that lets you turn any pair of speakers with either a 3.5mm or optical port into an AirPlay 2-compatible setup.

Spotify Expands Into The Audiobooks Market By Partnering With Storytel, by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

The company today announced a new partnership with audiobooks platform Storytel, which will allow existing Storytel subscribers to connect their account through Spotify to access their audiobooks within Spotify’s app. The partnership is the first notable example of what’s possible with Spotify’s recently introduced Open Access Platform (OAP), which aims to give creators and publishers a way to extend their reach.

Notes

Apple Launches An Affiliate Program For Paid Podcast Subscriptions, by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

The company’s “Apple Services Performance Partner Program,” which already exists to help market other Apple services like Apple TV, Apple News, and Apple Books, is today expanding to include paid podcasts.

[...] When users convert by clicking through one of the links and subscribe to a premium podcast, the partner will receive a one-time commission at 50% of the podcast subscription price, after the subscriber accumulates their first month of paid service.

Apple Employees Call For Company To Support Palestinians In Internal Letter, by Zoe Schiffer, The Verge

Apple employees are circulating an internal letter calling on Tim Cook to put out a statement supporting the Palestinian people. Nearly 1,000 workers have signed.

The writers, who are part of the Apple Muslim Association, specifically ask the company to recognize that “millions of Palestinian people currently suffer under an illegal occupation.”

Bottom of the Page

Apple broke up the iTunes app so that music, podcasts, audiobooks and television all live in separate apps.

Spotify, it seems, is now doing the reverse. Soon, I'd bet we will get lectures and courses (remember iTunes U?) and television shows from the one-and-only Spotify app too.

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I've just taken my second Moderna dose. My arm has started to ache.

Oh, and then I read that Coronavirus outbreaks "will likely occur every decade or so".

Yipee.

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Thanks for reading.