It’s an in-person event for some members of the media (including me), so the event is at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino. It appears that just as at WWDC, a negative COVID test before the event will be required. But unlike WWDC, it seems that masks are optional at this event.
But if users turn on Lockdown Mode, they will be easy to fingerprint and identify, according to a developer who created a proof of concept website that detects whether you have Lockdown Mode enabled or not.
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This issue, which is technically not a bug but just a specific drawback of how Lockdown Mode is designed, could paint a massive target on the back of users who are likely Apple's most vulnerable users. There unfortunately may be no way around it.
While gut wrenching, this experience has been a come-to-Jesus moment. After exhausting all options of retrieving my lost notes, including downloading questionable iPhone rescue software, I immediately backed everything up, twice. I severed ties with my family’s iCloud account so I could have sole control over, and sole responsibility for, any repeat event of this nature.
But like finishing a really good book and not wanting to dive straight into a new read, I couldn’t face the blank canvas of the app in the days that followed. Almost a week later, I reflexively opened it to write down a list of things to do on the weekend. I need not keep that one forever, but I might think of something on the bus to work tomorrow that is worth preserving.
In macOS Ventura, users will finally get access to the full complement of AirPods settings, just like in iOS. The AirPods settings will appear in Ventura’s System Settings when the AirPods are connected–when they’re disconnected, the AirPods settings disappear.
There aren’t a lot of good options here. Either Apple ships an embarrassing app, or it rushes back to the old System Preferences app and tries to prop it up for another year, which would require integrating all the new settings added in macOS Ventura.
My guess is that Apple will go ahead and ship whatever it has with 13.0, and users will have to deal with the replacement of an old and outmoded Preferences app with a buggy and frustrating Settings app. That will be bad. What would be worse is if Apple then abandoned the project and walked away.
Apple appears to be preparing for future devices with Bluetooth 5.2 support, according to a filing in the Bluetooth SIG products database earlier this month. Among other possibilities, this could serve as evidence of future AirPods Pro with LE Audio support.
The spelling puzzle app phenomenon Wordle is making its debut on The New York Times Crossword application, The Times announced today. After tons of doppelgangers and wannabes of the infamous app, the NYT Crossword app is now appearing at the top of iOS and Android app store searches.
The crackdown on third-party tracking has given rise to a new breed of “digital attribution” startups—Triple Whale, Northbeam, Hyros, Wicked Reports, and Rockerbox, to name just a few. They promise to track and sync conversions (sales, signups, etc.) across all of your marketing channels, and to accurately credit each touchpoint in the customer journey, all without using cookies or other third-party tracking.
If Apple opens the Sept 7 event with Apple Music, I'll probably be very happy.
Unless this is yet another HomePod that I cannot buy.
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Thanks for reading.