When Apple introduced the Action button last year, it suggested it could be used as a camera shutter button, and a lot of people probably used it as such. But the Camera Control is entirely about taking pictures and it’s on all four new iPhone 16 models, which I think gives it a better chance to succeed. The Action button can be repurposed for pretty much anything you want it to do, but Camera Control should remain focused on camera stuff. Apple needs to stay committed to it, continue to improve and refine the software attached to it, and avoid attempts to overcomplicate things. It will only succeed if it’s as easy to use as the shutter button on a traditional camera.
While Apple headlined its keynote with the new Apple Intelligence features coming later to the new iPhone 16 line-up, there was also big news on the camera front.
But looking at the specs, it’s hard to argue against better battery life, larger displays, and a more powerful camera system.
Apple shared quite a bit of news for AirPods users yesterday, including the launch of new AirPods 4. For AirPods Pro users, however, there was also some exciting news, with Apple unveiling new hearing health features rolling out over the course of the coming months.
The new firmware version rolling out to AirPods Pro 2 features the build number 7A294, up from the previous firmware version of 6F8. Apple hasn’t published any release notes for the update, but it likely lays the ground work for the new features coming to AirPods Pro next week.
On its website, Apple says that AirPods Pro 2 offer “up to 2x more Active Noise Cancellation compared with AirPods Pro (1st generation) and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation.”
The key difference between AirPods Pro and AirPods 4 is the design.
If you want to change up your AirPods Max at a lower cost, however, ear cushion sets in the new Blue, Orange, Purple, Midnight, and Starlight color options are available to purchase on a standalone basis for $69 on Apple's online store. Apple says the ear cushions are compatible with both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Max.
Apple Intelligence is cool, useful, and perhaps most importantly, charmingly unfinished. Unlike some other AI projects, this upgrade to the software that powers iPhones, iPads, and Macs does not appear to threaten our very existence. Its standout features are supposed to include privacy and a Siri that actually works. But none of it works quite yet, and despite its imminent launch, it probably won’t for many months.
At WWDC, the company indicated that Apple Intelligence would first be made available to certain categories of apps, including Books, Browsers, Cameras, Document Readers, File Management, Journals, Mail, Photos, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Whiteboards, and Word Processors. Over time, Apple is likely to open up these capabilities to all developers across the App Store.
The AI functionality will be built on top of the App Intents framework, which is being expanded with new intents for developers. The eventual goal is to allow users to interact with Siri not just to open their apps, but to from within them.
It's been nearly 20 years since the PSP learned these lessons. The market has changed, as devices like the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch have blurred the lines between the stuff you play on a TV and the portable market. But I still think it's misguided to think anyone wants to play stuff not specifically designed for mobile on their phones.
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But straight-up bringing giant games to iPhone just because it’s possible seems like a problematic approach to entering the business. Here’s to hoping Apple reassesses its approach to the market in the months ahead.
Generative A.I. steals creativity. At worst, it creates actual harm ecologically, financially, and by rapidly spreading misinformation. While the technology has some worthy use cases, the danger it poses outweighs any of the benefits for many. So, even if the likes of NaNoWriMo decide to embrace A.I., writers are confident in their old-school method of sitting down and grinding out a story, one human-written word at a time.
Though I’d heard this XOXO festival would be the last one, many people I spoke to seemed not to believe it. I was told by previous attendees that festival organizers Andy Baio and Andy McMillan — affectionately called “the Andys” — “always say that.” But from the festival’s beginning, it also seemed clear that the Andys didn’t plan to do this forever.
Anyway, this year’s XOXO felt like an Irish wake to me. It was like we had all gathered over the body of a specific period on the internet to pay our respects.
The physical home button was the thing that failed first on my very first iPhone. (I suspect this is not an uncommon problem, since many people started using the Assistive Touch feature that puts a virtual home button on the screen back then.) So, I was not sad to see Apple slowly removed physical buttons all over their devices.
(Years later, Apple once again proved that they can't be trusted with physical buttons with their butterfly keyboard.)
So, am I welcoming the Camera Control button -- which sounds to me like a physical button and not a fake-it-with-haptics alternative -- on the new iPhone? Well, I am cautiously optimistic. Maybe Apple has finally figured out button. But, also important, this button is optional in the operation of the camera. For now.
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Thanks for reading.