Tuesday Morning News

Originally published at: https://appletalk.com.au/2019/05/tuesday-morning-news210519/

Another day, another lawsuit filed against Apple. This one might be a little different than normal though, as the plaintiff says over 6,000 unauthorised recordings of Broadway compose Harold Arlen are available for purchase or streaming as part of a "massive music piracy operation" not just affecting Apple’s iTunes Music Store, but also the music storefronts of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Pandora. The plaintiff’s case seems to be that these unauthorised copies under numerous different record labels have popped up online, indicative of a larger issue affecting the digital music business in general. This time around, it’s not specifically Apple at fault.

Ken Segall says that once upon a time, Steve Jobs wanted to launch a credit card. During the height of the iPod heydays in 2004, it was Jobs’ plan was to launch an Apple credit card, with purchases going towards the music-based reward system, allowing Apple to make money when its customers made purchases anywhere, but also allowing Apple to make money when its customers chose rewards. According to Segall, the idea was shelved after Apple couldn’t get MasterCard to agree to its terms, even though a few ads had already been created. While those in the US will soon have their own Apple Card, the rest of us will have to wait a little longer to see another Jobs idea in our own hands, wallets, and iPhones and Apple Watches.

Tidbits has discovered that Apple is selling a mysterious 23.7-inch display. The LG-branded UltraFine appeared just as suddenly as question marks appeared over the other models in the range. While you can still purchase LG’s 27-inch 5K UltraFine display in Australia, both the 27-inch 5K and its smaller 21-inch 4K sibling are on the verge of being discontinued in the US, so this surprise appearance of a new family member is perplexing to all. There’s basically no information about this new model online, either, adding to the mystery.

The second beta of iOS 12.4 has been released to developers, and there’s also a public beta version now available too. The timing of this release comes as a curiosity, given its proximity to WWDC and presumably a brand-new version of iOS for developers to get started with, but maybe Apple wants this to be the final version of iOS 12 before they drop support for some older models.

An internal Apple Store memo now says some Apple Watch Series 3 repairs will be substituted for the Apple Watch Series 4, due to stock shortages of the Series 3. That’s a great deal for anyone looking to get an older Series 3 repaired, and even better, the change is said to apply to Apple Stores and AASPs globally, although whether you’ll get a Series 4 replacement for your Series 3 will likely still depend on luck.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has donated Apple hardware and software to the New Orleans Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. The centre, which was largely built from funds raised by the community after Hurricane Katrina, serves as both an education centre and community venue, and while they already use some Apple hardware and software, Apple’s donation is said to also include some kind of software training so the centre can get the most out of their new gear.

MacStories has an extensive review of Timery, an iOS time-tracking app that integrates with time-tracking service Toggl. With multiple timers, Siri Shortcuts, and great Apple Watch integration, you can track your time on basically any task you care to name in Timery, and there’s plenty of organisation and customisations if you want to really get into your time tracking.

The first preview build of Microsoft’s revamped Edge web browser is now available for macOS. The "Canary" channel is updated daily, which means you will be on the bleeding edge of new features, and potentially, bugs. Microsoft’s announcement blog post has more details on making the macOS version of Edge a Mac-like citizen, although if canaries aren’t your thing, you may be better off waiting for the dev or beta channels to be released in the not-too-distant future.

UrbanWatch is a simple little Apple Watch app that lets you browse Urban Dictionary from your wrist, and today’s 2.0 update comes with a redesigned watchOS app, new loading animations, graphics, and more. It’s also from a teenage Australian developer, who "thought it would be cool" to use Urban Dictionary from your wrist.

The Verge says Apple Arcade wants to slay the free-to-play monster that iOS helped create. It might be a hard battle to combat years of free downloads and in-app purchases to remove gameplay timers, but Apple is hoping that with premium experiences, curated collections, and some big name developers, Apple Arcade will be able to undo all of that, so that more people can share in the success of the iOS platform.