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The Local-Paper Edition Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Apple News Launches Its First Daily Local Newsletter, Targeting Bay Area Readers – TechCrunch, by Aisha Malik, TechCrunch

Apple News is introducing its first daily local newsletter for the Bay Area and is actively exploring expanding the offering to other cities. The Bay Area daily local newsletter, which is reminiscent of a daily local paper, includes tops stories across local news, sports, politics, dining and more. The stories are compiled from numerous publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, SF Gate, Eater San Francisco, KQED, The Oaklandside and others.

Apple AirTags Can Be Used To Track You: How To Stay Safe, by Dalvin Brown, Wall Street Journal

Unwanted tracking isn’t unique to AirTags; other trackers could be used in a similar way. But AirTags’ pinpoint accuracy—and their high-profile maker—have put them in the spotlight.

Software Paper Cuts, by Matthew Bischoff

The more insidious thing about these bugs is that they’re rarely reported by users or caught by automated testing tools because they’re too small to complain about or too obscure to write tests for. Great QA testers can find and file these types of bugs, but they usually flounder at the end of a long backlog of new features.

Stuff

Apple Releases watchOS 8.4.1 For Apple Watch Series 4 And Later, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

It’s unclear what exactly changes with the update, but the release notes say that watchOS 8.4.1 comes to fix bugs that only affect Apple Watch Series 4 and later.

‘Ochi’ Blocks Websites And Apps So You Can Be More Productive On iPhone And Mac, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Ochi is based on the premise of creating different filters to help you stay focused. For example, if you’re working on writing, you can create a filter named “Writing” that blocks access to certain websites, apps, and even categories of websites. You can also do the inverse and only allow access to certain websites, applications, or categories.

Adobe XD, by Shelby Tupper, PC Magazine

Adobe XD wins the UI/UX design tool tussle not only because of the boost it gets from integration with Creative Cloud apps, but also because of its responsive design tools.

Apps And Gadgets To Help You Cope With Tinnitus, by Simon Hill, Wired

I play quiet music if tinnitus is bothering me during the day (I recommend the Lofi Work playlist on Spotify, but your favorite music streaming service likely has a similar offering), and I use the Calm or Rainy Mood app at night (check out our Best Sleep Sounds guide for more recommendations).

Another universally recommended option is the Resound Relief app. It allows you to create soundscapes by layering different sounds and you can set the right and left ear balance to tune the audio per ear.

Notes

Apple's Fashion Distortion Field Makes No Sense–unless You're In It, by David Price, Macworld

We are judging them by the wrong set of standards. Apple is deftly playing both sides of the game and based on this latest quarterly results, winning at both.

Bottom of the Page

I'm going back to work, from home, tomorrow. This year is probably the quietest Chinese New Year in my life.

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Thanks for reading.