Apple CEO Tim Cook talked to NPR, saying privacy is a fundamental human right. With so much of our personal information residing on our smartphones these days, security and privacy are at the forefront of what Apple are focused on. Cook also said that encryption is important, and even though there have been calls for a “back door” in Apple products, a back door for good guys is a back door for bad guys, too.
Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue also talked to the press recently. Talking to the Evening Standard on upcoming Apple Music trials ending, he said that everyone focuses on the short term but Apple is focused on the long term. Cue also talked about working to reduce expensive roaming charges when using mobiles abroad, even though we know that Apple isn’t working on their own MVNO — at least, not yet.
An Apple press release announces that James Bell has joined the Apple board of directors. Bell is former CFO of Boeing, as well as being interim CEO of Boeing in 2005.
Apple has acquired VocalIQ, a natural language API development company that is attempting to make computers and people have more natural dialogue. It’s likely that Apple will use VocalIQ’s technology to improve Siri, as well as potentially integrating it into its upcoming Apple Car project, reports MacRumors.
Over at Six Colors, Jason Snell tells us what’s new in Photos for Mac 1.1, which comes with the release of OS X El Capitan. Snell also has a more in-depth look at Photo Extensions in Photos, telling us about some of the first extensions available for Photos.
Meanwhile, the Apple website has a list of the enhancements in OS X El Capitan, covering all the new and improved features in the release.
OS X El Capitan also brings changes to Disk Utility, as covered by iMore. While the simplification of an OS X staple means you don’t have to manually repair disk permissions any more, the features you once knew are still there, just tucked away in menus.
9to5Mac has an article on the state of CarPlay in 2015, as well as what’s new in CarPlay thanks to iOS 9. I had no idea Reminders now has “getting in/out of the car”, but the entire CarPlay initiative still seems like Apple aren’t really putting their all into it. Perhaps that will change with the Apple Car.
A minor issue affecting new iPhones 6s and 6s Plus units sees the device randomly turn off — and not just reboot, but turn off completely without turning back on again. It means alarms don’t trigger in the morning, for example.
MacStories has a review of Tweetbot 4, which was released early Friday morning. It’s $6.49 in the Australian App Store, and I mostly like the release. Those who were hanging out for a visually-refreshed version of Tweetbot on the iPad will also be pleased, but I feel as though the switch to an in-app Safari View Controller is a step backwards for usability. Now, instead of being able to swipe backwards to go back to your timeline after viewing web content, you have one of two options: if you’re using the in-app browser, you can reach up and tap “done” in the top right hand corner, or if you’re sending everything to Mobile Safari, then you have to reach up and tap the “back to Tweetbot” link in the top left hand corner. Both are worse solutions than the “swipe-to-go-back” gesture we had in the previous version of Tweetbot.
Did you hear the one about where iFixit tore down one of their new Apple TV developer kits, and subsequently incurred the wrath of Apple, who suspended their developer account and pulled the iFixit app from the App Store? The iFixit team says they’re working a mobile site as an alternative.
The Verge says that the Apple bias is real, in a piece that’s mostly telling us about how prevalent Apple has become in society. It’s important to keep this in mind as we talk about battery life, or unreadable shift keys, or however many millimetres Apple shaved off with the latest iPhone release.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2015/10/monday-morning-news051015/