Find out if the song you’re listening to is permanently damaging your hearing with an iOS 14 Control Center feature. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Listening to music on AirPods at too high a volume can damage your hearing. As a reminder of this, iOS 14 offers an optional icon in the Control Center to show just how loudly the song is playing on a connected pair of AirPods or earbuds at that moment. And it measure the sound pressure down to the exact decibel.
Logging in to websites is about to get easier for Apple users. Screenshot: Apple
Safari users soon will be able to securely log into websites using Face ID and Touch ID. The new feature, which Apple is rolling out in iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and macOS Big Sur, should take away one of the most irritating things about using the web — remembering, and then typing in, user names and complicated passwords.
On websites that support the feature, users can opt in to use Apple’s biometric ID systems, making that irritating login dance a thing of the past.
With so many new games added in recent months, would you give Apple Arcade a second try? Photo: Apple
Some people who already gave Apple Arcade a try and passed on this gaming service are getting a second shot. Apple sent emails to an unknown number of former users with an offer of “How about another month on us?”
Coming soon to an iPhone near you? Photo: Ben Geskin
The iPhone 12 could boast a 20-watt USB-C power adapter, according to images posted online Wednesday by Apple leaker Mr White. By comparison, the iPhone 11 Pro comes with an 18-watt USB-C power adapter, while the regular iPhone 11 ships with a 5-watt charger.
It’s not clear from the tweet whether the new charger, provided this report is correct, will come with all new models of the iPhone 12 — or whether it will be an exclusive for the high-end iPhone 12 Pro.
The issue hasn't been entirely settled, though. Graphic: Apple/Cult of Mac
The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that police cannot constitutionally force a person to unlock their smartphone by giving up their passcode. The ruling, made Tuesday, has been praised by the Electronic Frontier Fountain (EFF).
They want to eat the very best. Photo: Pokémon Café Mix
Looking for a new Pokémon game to while away your commute now that some workplaces are reopening following lockdown? Pokémon Café Mix is ready to oblige. In the game, which launched Wednesday, players are charged with running an eatery frequented by everyone’s favorite Pocket Monsters.
To fulfill orders, you have to solve various puzzles, while also running the café. As you complete puzzles, you’ll be joined by additional Pokémon, while also having the opportunity to expand your premises. You can check out a trailer for the game below.
Widgets are awesome, but they're missing one thing. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
For many iPhone users, the biggest and most exciting change in iOS 14 is the addition of Home screen widgets. It’s a feature we’ve been waiting years to get — and a feature Android has offered since the very beginning. But there’s something you should know before you start using them this fall.
iOS 14 Home screen widgets aren’t quite as powerful as you might think they are.
iPhone sales fluctuate wildly in China in 2020. Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo
The iPhone’s seesaw year in China continued in May as sales declined 7.7% from the previous month, CNBC reports. It suggests that the period of pent-up demand for the iPhone following lockdown may have worn off already. In total, Apple reportedly sold 3.6 million iPhones in China, down from 3.9 million one month earlier.
By comparison, Apple sales rose by a massive 160% month-on-month in April, after lockdown conditions in China eased up and Apple Stores were reopened. In February, iPhone sales in China declined by 60% as COVID-19 swept the country and hurt both supply and demand for Apple’s handsets.
A quicker, easier way to get things done. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
One of many hidden new features in iOS 14 is an option to set new shortcuts that are activated by tapping the back of your iPhone. It’s a new accessibility option that can be used for things like returning to the Home screen, snapping a screenshot, muting your device, and more. Here’s how it works.
Apple is a big believer in privacy. Photo: Google/Cult of Mac
Republican senatators have proposed a new bill that would end the use of unbreakable encryption by tech companies on the basis that it helps “terrorists and other bad actors to conceal illicit behavior.”
The so-called Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act is proposed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee).
All the wooden products and plants make for a very calm setup. Photo: @hussaintausif
When accountant and realtor Tausif Hussain built his setup he was looking for wellness and nature themes.
He uses a Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk, which is both eco-friendly and joint-friendly. He also has a Muvmat, an anti-fatigue mat that is also a foot massager. The Muvmat simulates standing in a forest; it is filled with bumps that imitate rocks, branches, and twigs. And pretty much every device rests on top of some wooden accessory or stand.
On today’s special edition of The CultCast: Catch our reactions to all the great stuff announced at the WWDC 2020 keynote. We highlight our favorite features from iOS 14, MacOS Big Sur, tvOS, iPadOS and watchOS, and so much more.
Today’s episode is supported by CleanMyMac X, an all-in-one utility from MacPaw that takes care of your Mac’s health. It’s a macOS cleaner, a performance monitor, a malware remover and occasionally, a lifesaver. And until July 5, you can go to macpaw.com/cultofmac to get CleanMyMac X with a 30% discount.
Tile and other location-aware Bluetooth item trackers could soon be accessible through Apple’s Find My app. Photo: Apple
Third-party item trackers will be able to connect to the Find My Network created by iPhone, Mac and other Apple devices, the company announced Monday during its annual developers conference.
This will be a huge benefit to Tile, who recently complained to the EU Commission that Apple is making it harder for customers to use Tile’s location-aware tracking tags even as Apple prepares to launch its own.
It was certainly a different experience, Craig. I'll give you that. Photo: Apple
Apple turned chicken sh*t into chicken salad with Monday’s WWDC 2020 keynote, and now I don’t want Cupertino to ever go back to doing live keynotes. Crude? Perhaps. Truthful? You bet.
Before the streaming event started, some of my Cult of Mac colleagues discussed how Apple would deal with its first virtual keynote. Some of us thought Apple would simply deliver the same Steve Jobs Theater experience, but with no audience present. (Heck, if Apple wanted to, it could have gone the route of U.K. televised football and added crowd noise.) Others thought Apple would, well, think different.
Apple chose this second option and, in the process, freshened up a formula that has remained the same for years. Here’s why it would be a step backward for Cupertino to consider going back to live keynotes.
Multiple widgets that don't take over your Home screen. GIF: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple is finally giving us the ability to add widgets to iPhone’s Home screen with iOS 14 this fall. In the interests of cleanliness, it is even allowing those widgets to be stacked so that they don’t cause too much clutter.
iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 will listen out for the important sounds taking place in the background. Photo: Tim Bish/Unsplash CC
iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 has an impressive accessibility feature that can listen out for sounds like running water, a person knocking on the door, smoke alarms, babies crying, and more — and then warn users about it with an on-screen notification.
It’s an incredibly smart feature, based on machine learning technology, that could range from useful to life-saving. Who says that always-listening tech has to be limited to “Hey, Siri”?
Sharper than ever. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
YouTube videos available in super-sharp 4K can finally be enjoyed on Apple devices this fall. Not only will 4K content be available on Apple TV, but also on iPhone and iPad, according to the first iOS 14 beta.
Just one of the smaller improvements Apple didn't mention. Photo: Apple
Apple’s brilliant battery-saving feature for iPhone, which recently made its way to Mac, is also coming to AirPods and AirPods Pro in iOS 14. It should help your beloved buds last a little longer in between replacements.
AAPL shares have risen to a new all-time high in the aftermath of Monday’s WWDC keynote event. In early trading Tuesday, they hit $358.87 — up from the $351.50 they started the week at, and way up from the $224.37 low point they hit in mid-March.
Guess we should have all invested when we had the chance!
The App Store has been mired in controversy lately. Photo: Apple
Apple will allow developers to challenge its app review process, and also end its current practice of blocking bug fixes due to minor violations of its rules, Reuters reported Monday.
Apple has not yet revealed the details of the mechanism devs can use to appeal rulings, and an Apple spokesperson declined to comment. However, the feature is supposedly on the way.
Is there no end to Craig Federighi's talents? Photo: Apple
One of the low-key highlights following any Apple keynote is seeing how Jonathan Mann, the musical YouTuber who once made Steve Jobs dance, will turn it into a song. This year, Mann’s winning creation is called “I Just Go Into Jiggle Mode,” using a line uttered by Apple software chief Craig Federighi during Monday’s virtual WWDC keynote.
Along with audio clips from the event, Mann also sings tweets written by various online commentators. The results are weird, hilarious — and more than a little catchy. Check out the WWDC 2020 song below.
The redesigned iMac wasn’t unveiled at WWDC 2020 as had been rumored. Concept: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Although Monday’s keynote address for Apple’s annual developers conference was chock-full of announcements, some much-rumored products didn’t see the light of day.
Despite the rumor mill working overtime in the run-up to WWDC 2020, there was no hardware presented at all.
Foundation on Apple TV+ will be a mix of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. Photo: Apple/Skydance Television
Apple is turning Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi classic Foundation into a series. And today it released a “teaser” trailer full of stunning visuals to give the world its first glimpse of this epic.
You can't chain down this MacBook setup. Photo: Ben Boxer
Ben Boxer is a busy student always on the go, so naturally he has a MacBook setup. “One thing that is really important with any setup is speed and portability,” he said, “that is why everything here is driven off of a laptop.”
All of his gear is connected to a CalDigit TS3 Thunderbolt 3 Dock and it only takes one cord to plug it into his MacBook. He says he has 25 TB of storage connected to it.