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The Missing-Components Edition Thursday, May 5, 2022

Testing Out Apple's Self Repair Program With An iPhone 12 Mini Battery Fix, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

It's not really cost effective to do that repair on your own.

[...]

As for the actual repair process, Dan found it to be difficult, even with Apple’s instructions and tools. It was frustrating to get into, and there were components missing from the kit that were required by the manual, such as tweezers and heat protective gloves.

Apple Reaches Settlement To Pay $15 To Some iPhone 4S Owners Who Experienced Buggy Performance After iOS 9 Update, by Sami Fathi, MacRumors

Apple has agreed to settle a long-lasting six-year class-action lawsuit that accused it of knowingly slowing down iPhone 4S devices following the iOS 9 update in 2015, agreeing to pay some ‌iPhone‌ 4S owners who had experienced poor performance $15 each for their claims.

On Apple Pay

Noted Interaction Design And Security Expert Margrethe Vestager Redesigns The iPhone’s NFC Support, by John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Whose third-party wallet app is being stomped upon by iOS today? Who’s the aggrieved party here? To me it’s clear that the wallet itself belongs as part of the system. It’s the elements inside the wallet that should be open to third-party apps, which is exactly how Apple Wallet works. That NFC card readers in retail point-of-sale terminals only work with credit and debit cards isn’t Apple’s fault or responsibility, and Apple Pay integrates with any and all credit and debit cards that choose to support Apple Wallet. The E.C. complaint would make more sense if Apple Card was the only card Apple Wallet supported, but it’s not.

What, exactly, should Apple have done differently that would have appeased the E.C.? I genuinely can’t come up with an answer for this.

Yield, by Nick Heer, Pixel Envy

It seems like the European Commission has good reasons to be inquiring about this, but it also seems to be self-serving and I wish it would be more honest about that angle. I am most worried about the unintended effects of permitting widespread NFC use. It means Apple controls the platform less, but that seems to require giving more control to companies that people generally do not like. As much as I think NFC payments should be something usable by any developer, I can foresee how that seemingly simple change would make mobile payments a hell of a lot worse as banks will do what banks are wont to do.

Stuff

Learn How To Make 'Star Wars' Creature Vocals In Virtual Today At Apple Session, by Wesley Hilliard, AppleInsider

"Star Wars" sound designer Leff Lefferts will walk participants through creating creature vocals in GarageBand for Mac in a May 9 Today at Apple online session, sign up today.

Apple's 3 Meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro Cable Is Now Available, by William Gallagher, AppleInsider

First announced alongside the Mac Studio, Apple's 3 meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable is now available to order online, and for pickup later in the month at some Apple Retail locations.

Ulysses 26 Brings Modernized WordPress Integration And More Blogging Tools, by José Adorno, 9to5Mac

Three months after its latest update, the writing app Ulysses is now in version 26 with a handful of new features for those who are using the software to publish blog posts from it.

Satechi X3 Slim Keyboard Review: A Fantastic Alternative To Apple's Magic Keyboard, by Amber Neely, AppleInsider

Sporting a similar layout to Apple's own Magic Keyboard, it's a reasonably-priced alternative for those who still want a keyboard that feels sturdy.

Develop

Notes

Apple, Google, And Microsoft Announce Their Commitment To Expand Standard-Based Passwordless Sign-Ins, by John Voorhees, MacStories

Today, Apple, Google, and Microsoft committed to expand the use of passwordless sign-in technology developed by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium. The companies say that the standard will ‘offer consistent, secure, and easy passwordless sign-ins to consumers across devices and platforms.’

Bottom of the Page

Today, on my way home from office, the Find My service decided to go crazy on me: I kept receiving notifications that I've left both my AirPods and AirTags behind.

Of course, I can understand that there can always be network latency. In fact, I can see that the notifications on where I have left the devices behind kept changing locations, following the path that I am traveling.

But, my iPhone could have easily see -- via Bluetooth -- that the AirTag is less than one meter away. And it also definitely should know that I have not left my AirPods behind, because I am literally listening to my audiobooks on my iPhone using the very AirPods that it claimed I have left behind far far away.

Oh, Apple. So close, but yet so far.

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Is Netflix worried enough about its losing of subscribers to join Apple TV app?

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Thanks for reading.