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The App-Based Edition Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Apple Hearing Study Shares Preliminary Insights On Tinnitus, by Apple

Through the study, University of Michigan researchers reviewed a cohort of more than 160,000 participants who answered survey questions and completed app-based assessments to characterize their experience of tinnitus. This research aims to improve understanding of tinnitus characteristics and inform future research on potential treatments.

“Roughly 15 percent of our participants experience tinnitus daily,” said Rick Neitzel, University of Michigan School of Public Health’s professor of environmental health sciences. “Tinnitus is something that can have a large impact on a person’s life. The trends that we’re learning through the Apple Hearing Study about people’s experience with tinnitus can help us better understand the groups most at risk, which can in turn help guide efforts to reduce the impacts associated with it. The Apple Hearing Study gives us an opportunity that was not possible before to improve our understanding of tinnitus across demographics, aiding current scientific knowledge that can ultimately improve management of tinnitus.”

How BBC’s Breaking News Alerts Are Giving Voters – And Political Parties – An Electoral Buzz, by Jim Waterson, The Guardian

The most powerful person in British media during this election, in terms of having the most direct access to voters, is no longer the editor of BBC’s News at Six or the person who chooses the headlines on Radio 2. Nor are they a newspaper editor, a TikTok influencer, or a podcaster. Instead, they’re the anonymous on-shift editor of the BBC News app, making snap judgments on whether to make the phones of millions of Britons buzz with a breaking news push alert.

The BBC does not publish user numbers, but external research suggests about 12.6 million Britons have its news app installed. BBC newsroom sources say the actual number is higher and the assumption is that about 60% of users have notifications enabled. This means that on a conservative estimate, a typical push alert is reaching the phones of 7 million Britons – more than any other broadcast news bulletin in the UK.

My Desire To Kill iPadOS Has Been Greatly Exaggerated, by Matt Birchler, Birchtree

None of my desires for a touch-based Mac should be taken to imply that I think iPadOS should be abandoned. iPadOS is a distinct operating system with different choices, different limits, and different freedoms than are on macOS. Adding touch to Mac would not take anything away from iPad users, nor would it take anything away from Mac users who are happy already, it would simply add more flexibility and accessibility to people who aren’t perfectly served today.

Coming Soon?

New Beats Pill Speaker Listed On Apple's Regulatory Website As Launch Approaches, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

After appearing alongside athletes and celebrities, in iOS 17.5 code, and in the FCC database over the past month or so, a next-generation Beats Pill speaker has now been listed on Apple's regulatory compliance website for Europe.

Stuff

Jumping Between Zoom, Teams, Webex And Google Hangouts Video Calls? This Mac App Will Make Your Life Easier, by Becca Caddy, iMore

Meeter doesn't care which app you're using or whether you're talking to someone personally or professional, it's like a hub for all of your video calls. All you need to do is connect your calendar to get started and Meeter can automatically pull in all your upcoming calls and let you manage them in one place.

VR Role-playing Game ‘Demeo’ Now Available For Apple Vision Pro, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Demeo is “a cross-platform cooperative adventure for up to four players that recreates all of the magic and camaraderie of gathering around a tabletop with friends to do battle against the forces of evil.” There are four heroes available, each with different abilities. It mixes augmented and virtual reality, creating a unique gameplay where players can feel like they’re part of the game.

Kado Is One Of Only Three Speakers Of Ngalia. He Designed An App To Pass Down His Knowledge To The Next Generation, by Giulia Bertoglio, ABC

The Mamutjitji Story app uses a local Dreamtime story about the life cycle of a common desert insect, the antlion, to teach Aboriginal and Western science concepts.

Notes

How To Identify Good Uses For Generative AI Chatbots And Artbots, by Adam Engst, TidBITS

Despite initial skepticism due to underwhelming chatbot experiences, I found plenty of scenarios where generative AI could be helpful. I also came up with a few ways to determine whether they would benefit from it for particular tasks.

Bottom of the Page

All this week, I am rethinking how to tackle my to-dos. Lately, I seems to be stuck, and haven't been happy on how I am working on both my work work as well as my hobby projects. I am really hoping I can stumble upon a better way for me, and not just a placebo effect.

I'll let you know how it goes.

~

Thanks for reading.