• Meeting Intro and report with Harry
• "Searching the Mac and internet" Robert Elphick
• Q & A with the "A" Team based on questions emailed prior to meeting
Location:
by ZOOM on-line
MAGIC Minutes for October 18, 2023
by Wendy Shimada, Secretary
The Zoom meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m. by President Harry Anderson, after allowing a few extra moments for latecomers to log on. Harry noted there would be two presentations at today's meeting: Ron Sharp would be reviewing the new iPhone 15, after which Robert Elphick would provide information and comparisons on the new MacOS 14, Sonoma.
Harry reminded everyone to please mute themselves and use the chat for questions, rather than interrupting the presenter. As well, he pointed out that although there were no membership dues being collected currently, due to the club's zoom format, donations to the non-profit organization were always welcomed and could be made on the MAGIC website.
Ron noted that Treasurer Gary McIntyre was not present today but had reported the club's account balance to be $9037.07.
Robert mentioned that one of the members had a used 2021 16 GB iMac for sale & if anyone was interested, they could contact him and he would provide contact information.
Twenty members were present to hear the two presentations. All presentations are recorded and available for viewing on the MAGIC website. Look for the section entitled "Meetings on Zoom" & you can click through to whichever presentation you wish to see.
Ron reviewed the various models of iPhone 15 and also provided some information on the brand new iPhone iOS 17. Robert extolled the virtues of the MacOS 14, Sonoma. Both Ron & Robert answered members' questions on their topics of presentation as well as members' questions that were emailed in earlier.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:08 p.m. As there will be no December meeting this year, November 15 will be the final Zoom meeting of the year, with Robert presenting "Searching the Mac and internet." 2024 Presentations will include, among others: iPhone photo organization, passwords and password strategies.
If you have questions you would like answered at our November meeting, please send them in advance to our MAGIC email .
MAGIC Musings
I got back from a three-week trip to Europe in time for our October zoom call, and I was glad to see so many smiling MAGIC faces. We had an excellent meeting with two presentations on the latest products from Apple. Ron Sharp talked to us about the new iPhone15 and Robert Elphick talked to us about Sonoma, the new MAC operating system. And we had quite a few questions that all of us had submitted in advance.
As always when I travel, I am amazed to see people wedded to their phones and tablets. And with increased wifi everywhere, the cost of using them outside the United States is much lower than it once was. I managed to take about 500 photos in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, which I am still struggling to organize and label. I am happy that for our January 2024 meeting Ron Sharp will make a presentation on organizing photos. I really look forward to that one!
Our November meeting takes place on Wednesday Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. As usual, I will send out the zoom link the day before. A recording of the meeting will be posted on the MAGIC web site a day or so later. Our presentation this month will be by Robert, who will help us to better understand how to search on our MACs and on the internet.
See you on Nov. 15.
If you have questions you would like answered at our November meeting, please send them in advance to our MAGIC email .
Harry Anderson
Note: This Software Update section of the newsletter lists the most relevant Apple updates. Not all updates are listed for all products. Additionally, I'll add other pertinent updates on occasion.
Apple releases iOS 17.1 with AirDrop, StandBy, and Music features plus 7 bug fixes
by Zac Hall, 9to5mac
Apple has released iOS 17.1 for iPhone, bringing more features to AirDrop, StandBy, and Apple Music, as well as several prominent bug fixes. The software update is available to all users now on iPhones capable of running iOS 17.
Release notes
AirDrop
Content continues to transfer over the internet when you step out of AirDrop range
StandBy
New options to control when the display turns off (iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max)
Music
Favorites expanded to include songs, albums, and playlists, and you can filter to display your favorites in the library
New cover art collection offers designs that change colors to reflect the music in your playlist
Song suggestions appear at the bottom of every playlist, making it easy to add music that matches the vibe of your playlist
This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:
Option to choose a specific album to use with Photo Shuffle on the Lock Screen
Home key support for Matter locks
Improved reliability of Screen Time settings syncing across devices
Fixes an issue that may cause the Significant Location privacy setting to reset when transferring an Apple Watch or pairing it for the first time
Resolves an issue where the names of incoming callers may not appear when you are on another call
Addresses an issue where custom and purchased ringtones may not appear as options for your text tone
Fixes an issue that may cause the keyboard to be less responsive
Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models)
Fixes an issue that may cause display image persistence
Compatible iPhones:
iPhone XR
iPhone XS
iPhone XS Max
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 13 mini
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd gen)
What's next?
Now that iOS 17.1 is available, we can expect iOS 17.2 to enter developer and public beta testing soon. Hopefully we'll see more iOS 17 features like Apple's new Journal feature when the next beta version arrives.
Apple has issued the first major update to macOS Sonoma since its launch, with the public now able to update their hardware to macOS 14.1.
The update to macOS Sonoma 14.1 arrives less than a month after the release of the milestone version of the operating system on September 26.
While the main milestone release is usually the one where Apple includes the bulk of its feature changes to an operating system, the first .1 release usually includes features that didn't quite make it. Some features do surface, just not in the same quantity as the larger release.
For macOS Sonoma 14.1, the betas uncovered a few changes in the Music app, such as the new way to "Favorite" songs. System Settings also gains a Coverage section, which is used to check the status of AppleCare+.
Simultaneously, Apple also rolled out macOS Monterey 12.7.1, and macOS Ventura 13.6.1.
Users who want to manually update their Mac instead of waiting for an automatic update can do so by clicking the Apple icon in the main menu, selecting System Settings, clicking on General, then Software Update, and lastly the update itself.
By the nature of updates, it is usually advised to ensure there are sufficient backups available before proceeding with the update.
How to get the latest AirPods Pro 2 firmware update
by Ed Harby, cultofmac
Apple released fresh firmware version 6A305 for AirPods Pro 2 with bug fixes on Wednesday. The update comes a few weeks after a major release brought a plethora of new features — including Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and Personalized Volume — to Apple's best wireless earbuds.
As always, the AirPods update process is indirect, but we can steer you through it.
tvOS 17.1 now available for Apple TV alongside HomePod software update
by Zac Hall, 9to5mac
Alongside iOS 17.1, Apple has released the free tvOS 17.1 software update for Apple TV hardware. The release comes a month after tvOS 17 introduced a handful of new features to Apple TV. A HomePod software update with the same version number is also available now.
tvOS 17.0 launched in September, bringing a redesigned Control Center and all-new FaceTime experience. tvOS 17 and iOS 17 work together to let you use your iPhone as your camera while video calling on the Apple TV. FaceTime requires Apple TV 4K.
The software update is also the first to work with VPN apps. See our list of the best VPN app options for Apple TV here.
tvOS 17 also introduces a denser home screen with six apps per row instead of five. Managing apps from the home screen is simpler with a redesigned system interface. Apple also introduced an enhanced dialogue audio feature for second generation HomePods used as speakers for Apple TV.
Starting with tvOS 17.1 and HomePod 17.1 software, Apple supports enhanced dialogue audio on first-gen HomePods as well as HomePod mini speakers.
Mac Pro finally gets updated to Apple silicon, is 3X faster
by Leander Kahney, cultofmac
Apple's transition to its own silicon is finally complete with the launch of a new Mac Pro, which combines Apple's powerful M2 Ultra chip with PCIe expansion.
The new Mac Pro features the "most powerful chip ever created for a personal computer," and is up to 3x faster than the previous-generation Intel-based model.
Mac Pro specs
Sporting the same industrial design as its Intel-based predecessor, the new Mac Pro is based on Apple's new M2 Ultra chip. It's the "most powerful chip ever created for a personal computer," said Apple's Jennifer Munn, Director, Engineering Program Management, during its unveiling at WWDC23.
The machine features eight Thunderbolt 4 ports, two HDMI ports, six PCIe slots, and dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports. It also comes in a rack-mounted version.
The new chip features a 24-core CPU; a 76-core GPU; and a 32-core neural engine. It can be configured with a whopping 192-Gbytes of unified memory.
"It is a monster of a chip," Munn said.
The ability to add so much unified memory is a key feature of the new chip.
"It enables the new Mac Pro to do things simply not possible before," said Munn during Monday's WWDC keynote.
Mac Pro connectivity
The new Mac Pro now features eight built-in Thunderbolt ports (twice as many as before) — six on the back and two on the top.
It has six PCI expansion slots, which allows customers to add all kinds of expansion cards, including audio and video IO, networking and storage. The PCI slots support PCIe Gen 4, which is two times faster than before, Apple said.
Mac Pro completes transition to Apple Silicon
With the release of the new Mac Pro, Apple's transition to its own custom-made chips is now complete.
"With Apple silicon, it's remarkable how far we've taken the Mac in such a short amount of time," said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the keynote. "It's the best and most capable lineup in the history of the personal computer, and I couldn't be more excited about its future."
Mac Pro availability
The new M2 Ultra Mac Pro starts at $6,999 ($6,599 for education) and is available to order today from Apple's website. The Rack Enclosure version starts at $7,499 ($6,999 for education).
The new machine will be available in Apple's retail store and authorized resellers next week, beginning Tuesday, June 13. Configure-to-order options are available on Apple's website.
You might only use Preview on the Mac when you need to read a PDF or zoom in on a picture, but there's much more than meets the eye. It's a pretty robust editor, too.
I'm going to show you the six features that will let you make the most of Preview, a handy tool that's an overlooked benefit to the Mac. I have three tips for working with documents and three for editing pictures.
How to block unwanted website notifications on your Mac
by Glenn Fleishman, macworld
Push notifications were the best thing since sliced bread when they appeared first in Android and later in iOS and iPadOS. Instead of requiring a lot of attention, a notification can appear briefly, is easily dismissed, and can be controlled—you can suppress apps from showing them all together, all the way to allowing Critical Alerts in some apps for events you absolutely don't want to miss a message about.
Apple gingerly added push notifications to Safari in macOS to let websites access the system-wide notification system because the increasing reliance on web apps (a website that provides an app-like set of features) means you could have a tab open performing tasks that require your attention.
It's a double-edged sword, though: spammers, scammers, and assorted thieves and ne'er-do-wells take advantage of any opening to try to part you from your money through lies and fear. A malicious site can leverage push notifications to fill the right edge screen with unwanted alerts.
How can this happen? You visit a safe site that, through the vagaries of ad networks, is hosting an advertisement that either you click on without realizing the danger or the bad ad runs illegitimate JavaScript to force open a window or prompt you to open one. You might also visit a URL for a site that has been hijacked or failed to renew its domain registration, and now you're on a page of no repute.
However you get there, a malicious site incorporates a request in the page you load that triggers Safari to prompt you to ask if you want to enable notifications for the site or not. This is harder to trigger in iOS and iPadOS, which only allow notifications from web pages you've added to your home screen.
Misleading messages on macOS Safari
When Apple first introduced the feature to macOS, it only allowed developers to trigger a standard dialog box that said Don't Allow and Allow, with Allow highlighted. Not long after, Safari began to allow a custom opt-in message and design. The text that appears can be entirely misleading: it's possible that you would click a button intending to not allow alerts and actually have opted in to them. For instance, the text that misled one Macworld reader says:
[space]ask you
Confirm that you're not a robot, you need click Allow
I must have been taken in once because I found this entry in Apple menu > System Settings > Notifications on my Mac.
As long as the web page remains open, even if it's in a window or tab you're not viewing, it can send you notifications. Because Apple shows the favicon of the website (a small icon set by the site owner), as part of the notification, it can be quite misleading. For example, in the figure below, the favicon is a System Preferences icon with a red dot overlaid. That gives the impression it's a macOS notification but it's not.
A reader sent these screens of malicious notifications from the "Ask You" site.
Clicking the notification takes you to the web page trying to sucker you, and then the site tries to lure you into installing malware, typing in your credit-card number, or much worse.
All that said, you can easily defeat the creeps who set you up by disabling notifications. (And find and close that tab or window!)
In macOS:
In Safari, go to Safari > Settings/Preferences > Websites.
Find the entry for the website. If you can't find it by domain, look for the icon, as in the figure below.
Choose Deny from the popup menu to the right of the site name or select the item and click Remove.
Use Safari's Websites pane with Notifications selected at left to block sites from popping up alerts.
How do you decide whether to choose Deny or click Remove?
Choosing Deny means if you visit the site again, an alert about wanting to notify you won't appear.
Removing the entry means it doesn't appear in the Notification settings/pane in System Settings/Preferences or in Safari's Websites list.
You can also use Apple menu > System Settings > Notifications to disable notifications directly. Safari and the Notifications settings don't seem to communicate directly: I had the malicious site described above set to Deny in Safari, yet in Notifications it was shown as enabled!
The System Settings/Preferences Notifications controls don't seem to match Safari's.
In iOS/iPadOS:
Go to Settings > Notifications
Find the entry for the home page web app by title, and disable notifications for it.
Also, you might want to remove that from your home screen altogether-that site is sending you unwanted notifications!
Apple updates MacBook Pro lineup with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips
by Roman Loyola, macworld
Apple on Monday revealed its new MacBook Pro lineup with few changes other than a new chip. The MacBook Pro family is now powered by the M3 family of processors, including the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. The only other change is a slightly brighter display (600 nits max SDR brightness vs 500 previously) and higher RAM limits up to 128GB. And there's a new Space Black color for the M3 Pro and M3 Max models.
Here are the specs and pricing for the new machines:
14-inch MacBook Pro
14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 ($1,599): base M3 chip, 8 CPU cores, 10-core GPU, 8GB unified memory, 512GB SSD. Available in Silver or Space Gray. A model with the same CPU but a 1TB SSD is $1,799. This laptop replaces the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro.
14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro: Apple offers two standard configurations in Silver or Space Black:
MacBook Pro design and 13-inch MacBook Pro discontinued
Apple has not changed the design of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, which were introduced in 2021. The laptops still have the notch at the top of the display that houses the 1080p FaceTime camera, thin bezels, and cases made of recycled aluminum.
The major case change is the new Space Black color that has an "anodization seal" to reduce fingerprints. Space Black or Silver is available on MacBook Pros with the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips. Those same MacBook Pro models are no longer available in Space Gray.
The 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro has replaced the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which featured an older design that included the Touch Bar and larger display bezels. The only places where you'll find the 13-inch MacBook Pro (M1 or M2) is in Apple's Certified Refurbished Store or at a third-party retailer.
How to turn off macOS Sonoma's click to reveal desktop
by William Gallagher, appleinsider
For macOS Sonoma, Apple changed the Mac so that clicking on the desktop activates Expose and hides all your apps. Fortunately, you can stop it — albeit with a workaround.
We're not going to use words like annoying, but you might. The first time you use macOS Sonoma and you click on the desktop, it is startling at least.
It's meant to mean that you can get to your desktop instantly, and to and to any files or folders there. But you can't get to any folders you have open, not without opening them again.
This is because now one click is like spreading out five fingers on a trackpad. It's Apple's Expose feature.
The right gesture on a trackpad can show you all open windows and documents, or it can open Mission Control to let you switch to a new app. But in this case, Expose throws every app and every document on screen to the side, with just a pointless sliver of each one around the edges.
You've been able to ignore Expose so easily that it's likely many users don't even know it's there. But stopping the Mac doing this with every click you make on the desktop takes a workaround.
How to turn off macOS Sonoma's click to reveal desktop
Open Settings
Choose Desktop & Dock
Scroll down to Desktop & Stage Manager
Under click wallpaper to reveal desktop, click to change from Always to Only in Stage Manager
If you turn off the new feature, but the control is under State Manager's settings
That's all it takes, but good luck guessing that the option is to do with Stage Manager if no one's told you.
Desktop reveal with Stage Manager
There is the issue that in order to stop the Mac ever doing this, you've had to tell it specifically to not do it in Stage Manager. So if you like and use Stage Manager, it's a problem.
However, if your aim is to have Stage Manager and also quick access to your desktop, you can do it so that it's your choice when the desktop springs apart to reveal files and folders there.
First, you need to set it up so that Stage Manager does not automatically hide desktop files and folders.
In Settings, go back to Desktop & Stage Manager
Click to Show Items just in Stage Manager and/or on desktop
Then to fling the Mac's current windows to the side and see your desktop files, spread out five fingers on your trackpad. There isn't a Magic Mouse equivalent, however.
When Sonoma (Mac OS 14) came out a number of people, including several MAGIC members had various problems with HP printers. Sometime it was printing problems and sometime scanning problems.
The Solution
The solution is to obtain a copy of the latest Printer Center from Apple at this location. Once the file (HewlettPackardPrinterDrivers.dmg) is downloaded to your computer, double-click it to install the needed drivers into the Print Center (in the Utilities folder).
It worked for the authors!
Print Center App
Six hidden iPhone 15 features you need to discover right now
by Jason Cross, macworld
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro have plenty of great new features, but some are not quite as obvious as 5X zoom lens and Action button. If you just picked up one of the latest iPhones, you have more options, settings, and functions than you realize, many of which you have to know where to find. You could be missing out on something that will totally change the way you use your knew iPhone!
Here, we'll reveal several of our favorite "hidden" features of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Some only apply to the Pro models, some apply to both, but all of them are worth knowing about.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Set an 80% charge limit
Explore new battery stats
Take automatic portraits and quick object portraits
Unlock additional lenses in your main camera (Pro only)
Shoot 48MP in ProRAW or HEIF (Pro only)
...
How to manage critical notifications on your iPhone or iPad
by Glenn Fleinshman, macworld
Some actions on your iPhone may ask to override your Focus and other settings.
Apple provides a number of interrelated controls in iOS and iPadOS to ensure that an iPhone or iPad doesn't provide an overwhelming number of notifications or accompanying sounds, or that it disturbs you when you've set a Focus mode to keep things quiet or suppressed. However, there may be categories of actions so important that you want to override settings. Critical Alerts, starting in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, allow you to break through the silence barrier.
These Critical Alerts appear only in a few apps in which time would be of the essence, along with grabbing your attention. For instance, Apple's new Check In feature in iOS 17, which lets you send a trusted person a duration or a destination, suggests to anyone you share with that they enable Critical Alerts in Messages. This makes sense, as otherwise, you could fail to check in or arrive or have triggered Emergency SOS, and a safety partner would have no idea if they had notifications silenced.
Critical Alerts lets you choose to override settings that keep things quiet when it's important enough to do so.
I presume Apple has to approve an app offering a Critical Alerts option-for my installed apps that offer notifications, I only see it with Messages, MyShake (an earthquake-alert app), and Weather.
Go to Settings > Notifications > App Name to see if a given app offers Critical Alerts.
Enable or disable such alerts by using the Critical Alerts switch.
iPad mini 7: Here's what's next for Apple's smallest tablet
by Martyn Casserly, macworld
All the rumors and everything you need to know about the next generation of the iPad mini.
Apple's smallest iPad was given a substantial facelift at the end of 2021. The 6th-generation iPad mini sports a complete redesign with a bigger display, Touch ID on the power button, USB C instead of Lightning, and an upgraded front camera. This represented the first major change to the design since the iPad mini was first introduced back in 2012. The mini celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2022 without an update, but a new iPad mini 7th generation is rumored to be in the works and could be here before the end of October 2023. Here's what we know.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
iPad mini 7 release date: When will the new iPad mini arrive?
iPad mini 7 price: How much will the new iPad mini cost?
iPad mini 7 specs: What features will the iPad mini have?
iPad mini 7 design: Will the iPad mini have a new look?
How to customize and switch iPhone 15 Pro camera focal lengths
by Filipe Espósito, 9to5mac
One of the new camera capabilities with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is the ability to quickly change between focal lengths with the main camera and set your own default. Let's look at how to customize and switch iPhone 15 Pro camera focal lengths.
The default for the main camera on the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max is the 24 mm focal length (1x zoom) but if you prefer, you can set the main camera to default to 28 or 35 mm.
We'll look first at how to quickly switch focal lengths, then how to customize your setup.
How to switch iPhone 15 Pro camera focal lengths
Open the native Camera app on your iPhone 15 Pro/Max
Tap the 1x button to quickly switch between 24, 28, and 35mm focal lengths (equivalent to 1x, 1.2x, and 1.5x zoom)
You can also press and hold on the 1x zoom button to manually slide between the focal lengths
switch iPhone 15 Pro camera focal lengths
How to customize iPhone 15 Pro focal lengths
Open the Settings app on your iPhone 15 Pro/Max
Swipe down and choose Camera
Swipe down again and tap Main Camera
Now you can choose 24, 28, or 35 mm as your default main camera lens
You can also toggle off 28 or 35 mm focal lengths if you prefer not to have those as quick tap options
Here's how it looks to customize iPhone 15 Pro camera focal lengths:
customize iPhone 15 Pro camera focal lengths:
What do you think about the new quick focal options? Which are you going to set as your default? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Apple TV+, Arcade, and News+ subscription price increases from today
by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5mac
Apple has today increased the price of Apple TV+ to $9.99 per month, up from the previous $6.99 price. Apple Arcade has gone up from $4.99 to $6.99, and the News+ monthly price has been upped to $12.99.
The Apple One bundle price has also been increased to reflect the increases in the constituent services. The Apple One Individual bundle is now priced at $19.95/mo, Apple One Family costs $25.95/mo, and Premier costs $37.95/mo.
Apple One Individual used to cost $16.95, so the increase on the bundle is less than the cumulative increase of Arcade and TV+, but it still represents a hefty increase for consumers.
Along with the monthly price adjustments above, the annual subscription option for Apple TV+ has increased from $69 per year to $99 per year.
This is the first time Arcade and News+ price has been adjusted since their launch in 2019.
But for Apple TV+, this is the second price bump in two years. The service launched at $4.99/mo in November 2019, rose to $6.99/mo last October, and today's 40% jump now pits TV+ squarely against its premium video competitors, with a $9.99/mo price point.
The price of iCloud, Apple Music and Fitness+ remains the same (for now).
In a press statement, Apple said it is focused on delivering the best experiences possible by continuously adding "high-quality entertainment, content and innovative features to our services":
The subscription prices for Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and Apple One will increase in the US and select international markets beginning today. Existing subscribers will see these price increases 30 days later, on their next renewal date. We are focused on delivering the best experiences possible for our customers by consistently adding high-quality entertainment, content, and innovative features to our services.
Since launching four years ago, Apple TV+ has made history for streaming services by crossing major milestones in a short span of time, thanks to its extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment. Apple Arcade continues to offer players unlimited access to hundreds of incredibly fun games — nearly tripling the titles available when the service first debuted in 2019 — with exciting new games and updates added monthly. Since launching, Apple News+ has added more than 100 top newspapers and magazines to include a total of over 450 publications, a catalog of narrated audio articles from News+ publishers, local news collections in over 20 cities and regions, and a daily crossword and mini crossword puzzle.
Prices are rising in the United States and select international regions, including the United Kingdom and parts of Europe.
The price increases go into effect today for new subscribers. The price for current subscribers will increase in 30 days time, starting with their next renewal period after that date.
watchOS 10.1 for Apple Watch now available with double tap gesture and NameDrop
by Zac Hall, 9to5mac
watchOS 10.1 is now available as a free software update for compatible Apple Watches. The latest version of watchOS delivers a flagship feature to the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. The update also includes more features and bug fixes for watchOS 10.
Double tap gesture
Starting with watchOS 10.1, the new double tap gesture is available on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Here's how Apple describes the new hardware-exclusive feature:
With a new double tap gesture, users can easily control Apple Watch using just one hand and without touching the display. Users can tap the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to quickly and conveniently perform many of the most common actions on Apple Watch. Double tap will also open the Smart Stack from the watch face, and another double tap will scroll through widgets in the stack.
Double tap controls the primary button in an app so it can be used to stop a timer, play and pause music, or snooze an alarm. The gesture can be used to answer and end a phone call, take a photo with the Camera Remote on Apple Watch, or even switch to the new Elevation view in the Compass app to see the relative elevation of saved waypoints.
Early reviewers with pre-release access described the gesture favorably. There's also a less tuned version as an accessibility feature on other Apple Watch models. So if you see people doing finger puppets in the wild, it's probably just this feature.
NameDrop
watchOS 10.1 also brings NameDrop to the Apple Watch, and this feature isn't limited to the Series 9 and Ultra 2. NameDrop lets you selectively share specific contact information between other Apple Watches and iPhones. Similar to AirDrop, you can initiate a NameDrop share from the Contacts app on watchOS 10.1 when another updated watch or phone are nearby.
Compatible with watchOS 10.1
These Apple Watch models are compatible with watchOS 10.1:
Apple Watch Series 4
Apple Watch Series 5
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple Watch SE (1st and 2nd gen)
Apple Watch Series 7
Apple Watch Series 8
Apple Watch Series 9
Apple Watch Ultra
Apple Watch Ultra 2
watchOS 10.1 requires a paired iPhone running iOS 17 or later, however, so iPhone 8 and iPhone X are not compatible.
Hands on with HomePod & HomePod mini's new features in software update 17
by Andrew O'Hara, appleinsider
The HomePod and HomePod mini didn't get as much love in Apple's recent OS updates as the rest of the lineup, but the recently-released 17.0 update still brought along some new features for us to test out.
HomePod software update 17 rolled out to users near the end of September, and Apple is just about to release version 17.1, bringing additional refinement.
We've been testing the new updates for the last several weeks and even though they aren't flashy features, they're solid quality of life improvements.
The maximum speed is NOT the speed of light. Wherever light goes, dark was there first"
Malware Examples
by Ron Sharp and Robert Elphick, MAGIC *
Scam email simulating Norton LifeLock. Ignore and delete.
Another attempt to SPAM users of Whidbey Tel. Delete them without clicking on anything.
Internet Crime
Any one bothered by internet criminal activity should report it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at this web page. This includes phishing, malware, spoofing, any demand for money.
Last year I bought the iPhone 14 Pro. I particularly upgraded to the Pro model to get the telephoto camera. I take all my photos with the iPhone and don't have any other camera.
The iPhone 14 and 15 have the option for the RAW format and a 48 MP camera. So with these features I was confused when comparing my telephoto images to see that they appeared to be less sharply focused than other photos.
I checked the Camera settings and there are three settings to choose from; HEIF Max (up to 48 MP), ProRAW 12 MP, and ProRAW (up to 48 MP). I have my camera set to the HEIF setting. The RAW format is usually a large uncompressed file of data which offer a little more flexibility for photo editing apps like Adobe Photoshop.
You can also choose HEIF format (High Efficiency Image file) or you can choose "Most Compatible" which uses the JPEG format. If you frequently share photos, for example with the Messages app, to non Apple users then you should choose the "Most Compatible" JPEG format.
With any of the settings, while taking a photo you still have to tap the button in the upper right corner of the camera window to allow 48 MP or RAW format, unless you have another camera setting enabled to preserve settings. Then if you choose RAW or 48 MP while using the camera it will save that setting rather than reverting to the default setting each time you open the Camera app.
I hoped for more information about the different settings but still expected a sharp image with a 48 MP camera. I did find information that the HEIF 48 MP option rather than RAW 48 MP uses 15 times less storage space. I also researched the technical specification for the iPhone cameras and found that only the main camera lens offers the 48 MP. Once you zoom in, the camera switches to the telephoto lens which is only 12 MP. So that was why my zoomed in images didn't look as sharp. But I also discovered a few other things.
When I used the 48 MP option I can zoom into an image farther. That helps when cropping an image, if the focus is sharp enough. The other thing is that some of the images that don't seem as sharply focused as I expect, when viewed on my older devices like my iPad, may look sharper when view on a higher resolution monitor.
A third tip is that when you are taking a picture, you can tap the screen where you want the focus to be. If you have foreground and background subjects, tapping between the two will cause the camera to refocus. This is a great tip to remember.
Of course, if you're not that interested in photography, your photos will turn out pretty good without thinking about it, as you know!
Many people (43% of people surveyed) say yes, their devices are listening in! They talk about something on their phone and start getting ads for that very thing.
In 2017 researchers at Northeastern University tried to catch a smartphone listening to what they said. Analyzing over 17,000 apps on Android they found no instance of leaked audio or microphone activation. But they did find that thousands of Android apps were taking screenshots and sending them to third parties. ( I haven't found this information about Apple apps, the research has mostly focused on Android.)
Often researchers conclude that companies don't need to listen in to be able to target ads accurately. Companies use information like our purchase histories, locations, race, income bracket, age and education to figure out what products we likely use.
That doesn't mean there aren't devices that listen to you. There are by design. Amazons Alexa, for instance, constantly listens for it's name. Same with Apple's Siri, if you allow it. It listens for "Hey Siri", or now just "Siri". You can turn that off in Settings, Accessibility, Siri. Then, to use Siri, activate it manually with the side button. Why is that "listen for Hey Siri" setting in accessibility settings instead of Privacy & Security? That's a good question only Apple can answer.
Some people suggest our internet connected smart TV's are also listening. But again, ads can be surprisingly accurate with other information.
If these targeted ads weird you out, one security expert says you can limit the access companies have to your browsing history by not using those universal sign in features offered by Google and Facebook and by not using Googles Chrome browser. I would recommend not using Google anything because their revenue source is advertising. So I suggest not using a Gmail email or the Google search feature and deleting your Google account altogether. There are other safer search engines to use such as DuckDuckGo and Ecosia, (the search engine that plants trees)
As for email accounts I find it interesting that many Apple users don't realize that with their Apple account they get a free email account. And though Apple is a super large company their main source of revenue is not advertising. I would say they are very serious about people's privacy.
You can also check the permissions of each app on your iPhone by going to Settings, Privacy & Security, clicking on each app to check or change the setting. Additionally, scroll down a bit on that privacy settings page to find "Safety Check." Go through those settings to see and make adjustments to security for your phone overall.
I'll add a few general safety tips: clear your browser history frequently, and don't add extensions such as those little apps that say they'll improve your browsing experience or find coupons for you. I hope this helps.
MAGIC, the Macintosh Appreciation Group of Island County, serves people who use Macintosh computers, software and peripherals. Our goal is to share information and get answers to questions to make us more productive with our use of technology. Our monthly meetings give us a chance to discuss computer problems and share ideas with other Mac users, feature speakers on specific topics, and to keep apprised of Apple news.
