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The Innovation-and-Exploration Edition Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Vision Pro Accessibility In The Real(ish) World, by Shelly Brisbin, Six Colors

Though Macs got the VoiceOver screen reader first, the modern era of Apple access really began in 2009 when basic accessibility features came to the iPhone. Through the introductions of the iPad and Apple Watch and AppleTV models running software based on iOS, the accessibility suite has advanced, always building on the baseline, with just a few hiccups along the way. And once a feature debuts on one platform, it generally finds its way to all of them, with tweaks included to account for differences in the way you use a watch, a tablet or a computer.

So it isn’t surprising that Vision Pro accessibility builds on what’s gone before. What is surprising is the mix of real innovation here, along with some decidedly version 1.0 explorations of what’s possible.

Apple Shares An In-depth Look At Vision Pro Privacy In New Paper, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Following this month’s release of Apple Vision Pro, Apple has shared an in-depth overview on how Vision Pro and visionOS protect your data. The new “Apple Vision Pro Privacy Overview” covers things like Optic ID, cameras and your surroundings, Persona, EyeSight, and more.

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Things For visionOS Is A Familiar, Intuitive Task Management Experience, by Federico Viticci, MacStories

The biggest compliment I can pay to Things for visionOS is that it doesn’t feel like a compromised version of the iPadOS experience at all. In fact, thanks to the spatial nature of multitasking on the Vision Pro, I’d venture to say that Things for visionOS is a better version of the iPad app, at this point second only to its Mac counterpart in terms of functionalities and overall flexibility.

Apple Says There Are Now Over 1,000 Vision Pro Apps, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

There are more than 1,000 apps available for the Vision Pro, Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak said today. There are also more than 1.5 million iPad apps that are compatible with the Vision Pro and that are able to run on the device.

Apple In EU

Apple Won’t Be Forced To Open Up iMessage By EU, by Jon Porter, The Verge

Apple’s iMessage is not being designated as a “core platform service” under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Commission announced today. The decision means the service won’t be hit with tough new obligations, including a requirement to offer interoperability with other messaging services.

[...]

The decision is the culmination of a five month investigation which the Commission opened when it published its list of 22 regulated services last September. Although it designated Apple’s App Store, Safari browser, and iOS operating system as core platform services, it held off on making a final decision on iMessage until an investigation could be completed. A similar investigation into iPadOS is ongoing.

Coming Soon

iOS 17's AirPlay Feature For Hotel Room TVs Rolling Out 'This Spring', by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

A spokesperson for LG today informed MacRumors that the company expects the first hotels to install AirPlay-enabled smart TVs "later this spring," meaning that the feature should be available by mid-June at the latest. LG last year announced that it would be the first manufacturer to offer this capability on both new hotel room TVs and models released in "recent years," suggesting it could also be enabled with a software update on some existing models.

Stuff

Memorizer Is A Movie And Book Tracking App That Also Helps You Find Inspiration, by Romain Dillet, TechCrunch

There are quite a few apps that let you log the movies, TV shows and books that you have watched and read. Some of them are indie apps that take advantage of various online databases. Some of them, like Letterboxd, Goodreads and Trakt, are full-fledge services with large communities of users.

Memorizer starts with that same idea and shows you that it’s always nice to write a list of the things you’ve enjoyed to revisit them later. But it goes in another direction. This mobile app also helps you find inspiration and encourages you to discover new things.

Notes

Apple Researchers Unveil ‘Keyframer’: An AI Tool That Animates Still Images Using LLMs, by Michael Nuñez, VentureBeat

Apple researchers have unveiled a new AI tool called “Keyframer,” which harnesses the power of large language models (LLMs) to animate static images through natural language prompts.

This novel application, detailed in a new research paper published on arxiv.org, represents a giant leap in the integration of artificial intelligence into the creative process — and it may also hint at what’s to come in newer generations of Apple products such as the iPad Pro and Vision Pro.

Behind HAL: Apple’s Last Super Bowl Ad, by Ken Segall

With Kubrick’s approval, Steve was ready to go full speed ahead. As usual, he didn’t “direct” us to do anything. He trusted us to apply our talents, and only ask for help or an opinion if needed.

There were only two main elements in this spot: the visual and the voice. But both were absolutely critical. Falling short in either effort would make the commercial fail.

Apple’s Longest-Serving Designer To Depart Company, Adding To Exodus, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

Bart Andre, who joined Apple in 1992 alongside Ive, told colleagues this month that he is retiring, according to people familiar with the matter. Andre was one of the last remaining designers from the Ive era and helped create the aesthetic for Apple products released over the past three decades — even prior to Steve Jobs returning to the helm in the late 1990s.

Bottom of the Page

I am not sure if it is nostalgia speaking, or if it is because Apple was very much the underdog. But I find that I liked many of the commercials put out by Apple under CEO Steve Jobs a lot more than those by CEO Tim Cook. They seemed more fun, and more interesting.

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Thanks for reading.