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These rugged headphones conduct sound through bone [Deals]

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These bone-conduction headphones might be the future of personal audio.
These bone-conduction headphones might be the future of personal audio.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

There are all sorts of cool headphones out there. Headsets feature Bluetooth, noise-cancellation, with designs that are over-ear, in-ear, wireless, water-poof, and so on. These headphones from FresheTech feature most of those features, plus one you don’t see very often: bone conduction.

Streamline your keyring, passwords, and lots more [Week’s Best Deals]

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This week's best deals include a 21st century key keeper, top shelf apps, and more.
This week's best deals include a 21st century key keeper, top shelf apps, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Another week, another round of great deals on top shelf gear, apps, and learning resources. This time, we’ve got a bundle of 5 premium Mac apps, and a keyring designed to never be lost. Additionally, we’ve got a powerful password manager and comprehensive course in iOS 11 development. Read on for more details:

Cult of Mac Magazine: Why you shouldn’t trust every Apple ID prompt, and more

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cover
Although the popup will look exactly the same, it could be a phishing attempt. It’s incredibly easy for developers to implement popups.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s not uncommon to see a random popup that asks you to “Sign In to iTunes Store” on iOS. They sometimes appear unexpectedly, but they’re usually genuine. There is a chance that the app’s developer is phishing for your Apple ID password. We’ll show you an easy trick to distinguish legit popups from phishing attempts.

In this week’s issue, you’ll find that story and more. Find out Apple Watch Series 3’s innovative eSIM works. Check out five ways to quickly switch apps on iPad with iOS 11. Don’t miss your last chance to win an a free iPhone 8, and more. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

The new HomeKit abilities you need to know about, this week on The CultCast

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HomeKit devices
The Home app and HomeKit just got turbocharged.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: Live in the home of the future, today! We’ll tell you how with iOS 11’s huge improvements in the Home app and HomeKit. Plus: There’s a new Apple ID phishing scam you need to know about; there’s been a disappointing development with Apple’s AR glasses; we have to talk about the hundreds of new emoji coming at you in iOS 11.1; and we’ve got a svelte iPhone 8 case, a MacBook Pro sleeve made from real sheep, and a new power brick that’ll charge your MacBook, iPhone, Nintendo Switch — everything!— in an all-new Under Review.

Apple Watch saves man from pulmonary embolism

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Apple Watch
Apple Watch Series 3 doesn't like visiting hospitals.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Wearing an Apple Watch has become the difference between life and death for a New York man who never expected that buying one could save his life.

James Green, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn, describes himself as a serial data tracker. When he bought the original Apple Watch two years ago, he picked it up mostly for the notifications and tracking bike rides. Now, thanks to a heart-tracking app, it’s become a big part of his health story.

Qualcomm demands iPhone ban in China

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iPhone 8
Qualcomm wants China to stop making iPhones.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s bitter legal feud with Qualcomm is being taken to an all-new level over in China.

The San Diego-based chip company has filed a lawsuit with a Beijing intellectual property court demanding all sales and production of the iPhone to be banned.

Here’s how to post to Instagram from your Mac

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post to Instagram from computer
Windowed is a free app that fakes out Instagram so you can post from a computer.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Instagram doesn’t make it easy for photographers to post pictures from a computer. However, a new computer app can fool the popular photo-sharing platform by mimicking a mobile browser.

Windowed is free and makes posting photos directly from a Mac or MacBook as easy as it is from your iPhone.

This thumb drive for Mac and iPhone works like a data lifeboat [Deals]

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This thumb drive works as a bridge between your Mac, iOS devices, and SD storage.
This thumb drive works as a bridge between your Mac, iOS devices, and SD storage.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Having a thumb drive on hand can be useful for all sorts of things. From keeping and moving backups of documents, photos or other files, to security uses like keys, passwords and cryptocurrency storage. Of course the thumb drive you use for your USB-connected Mac isn’t likely to work with your Lightning-connected iPhone.

Apple’s biggest wireless keyboard could be set for a refresh

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Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
Apple's extended wireless keyboard is only four months old.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad could be about to get a refresh.

Shipping estimates for the existing model, which launched just four months ago, have slipped to a surprising six to seven weeks. A new model could arrive alongside the exciting iMac Pro this December.

iOS 11 already has more users than iOS 10

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ipad ios 11
iOS 12 could pack a ton of big surprises.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS 11 has already overtaken iOS 10, less than a month after making its public debut.

Last year’s release is still installed on over 45 percent of devices, but its reach has been falling rapidly since September 19. Users are clearly keen to get their hands on Apple’s latest software features and improvements.

Future iPhone could get Galaxy Note-style stylus

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Apple Pencil
Future iPhone could benefit from the shrunk-down Apple Pencil.
Photo: Apple

Whether it’s Touch ID or Siri, we’re used to seeing hot iPhone features make their way across to the iPad. However, a new report suggests that we may soon see the opposite phenomenon: the arrival of an iPad-style Apple Pencil arrive on the iPhone.

According to “an industry source,” Apple is preparing to launch an iPhone as early as 2019 that will include a stylus. Apple is said to be in talks with several stylus makers, suggesting that this wouldn’t simply be adding iPhone support for the existing Apple Pencil, but instead the creation of something new.

Tim Cook visits Swedish supplier of Apple’s sustainable packaging

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sustainable packaging
This should really be a caption contest.
Photo: Tim Cook

As part of his trip to Europe, Tim Cook visited a forest in northern Sweden with a representative from one of the companies which supplies Apple’s sustainably sourced packaging.

On Twitter, Cook described the “breathtaking forests,” which he got to experience with employees from Iggesund Paperboard, a supplier that that has been working to provide Apple with packaging for its various devices for more than 10 years. As part of his trip, Cook symbolically planted some pine trees.

Face ID will replace Touch ID on all 2018 iPhones

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Face ID
An extra layer of protection for your messages.
Photo: Apple

Apple is so confident that Face ID is the future of biometric security that it plans to include it in every iPhone it launches in 2018. The lineup will do away with the beloved Touch ID scanner entirely, according to one reliable analyst.

Samsung CEO resigns, citing ‘unprecedented crisis’

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Galaxy Note 8
Samsung CEO quits, despite record earnings projections.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung is in meltdown mode after CEO Kwon Oh-hyun, who has worked at the company for 32 years, announced his resignation today, citing an “unprecedented crisis.”

Kwon Oh-hyun will officially step down as chief executive and vice chairman in March. The news comes not long after Samsung’s vice chairman was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption, the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, but also just as Samsung is projecting record quarterly profits.

ARKit downloads dominated by games so far

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ARgames
AR games account for the majority of app downloads and revenue made.
Photo: Sensor Tower

The vast majority of augmented reality ARKit apps released so far have been games, according to a breakdown release by analytics firm Sensor Tower Intelligence.

Combing over the AR apps released since iOS 11 launched on September 19, reveals that games represent around 35 percent of ARKit-only apps worldwide, followed by utilities (19 percent), other entertainment (11 percent), education (7 percent), photo and video apps (6 percent), and lifestyle (5 percent). The “other” category — for those apps which don’t fall into any of these genres — accounts for the remaining 8 percent.

Amazon is about to ruin its best Kindle model

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new Kindle oasis
That hot unibody is 50% heavier than the old model.
Photo: Amazon

The new Kindle Oasis was just launched, and it looks amazing. It has the same super-slim form as the current Oasis, along with the asymmetric shape and hardware page-change buttons, only now it also has a bigger 7-inch screen, better battery life, and it is waterproof. It’s even cheaper than the current model.

Luckily, this new Oasis doesn’t go on sale until the end of October, so you still have a few weeks to buy the old one while you still can.

Your drive crashed before you backed it up. Now what?

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There's never a good time for a hard drive failure.
There's never a good time for a hard drive failure.
Photo: Markus Spiske/Pixabay CC

This post is presented by Prosoft Engineering, maker of Data Rescue 5.

There’s nothing good about a hard drive going bad. Or any drive, for that matter. It’s just as inconvenient to the photographer or videographer to have a corrupted SD card or cartridge as it is for a writer or graphic designer to lose their local drive. At least with computers, many people are in some habit of regularly backing up. But if your bad drive also happens to host your operating system, this headache becomes a migraine.

Sometimes there’s no way around it: Without help, your important data could be lost. A utility like Data Rescue, though, gives you a number of ways to recover.

12 white dudes in room is totally diverse, says Apple VP of Diversity

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diversity Apple
Apple is pledging to do more on the diversity front.
Photo: Apple

Creating diversity at Apple isn’t just about making sure more people of color get added to the mix, according to the exec put in charge of creating a more diverse and inclusive culture at the iPhone maker’s offices.

Denise Young Smith, Apple VP of Diversity and Inclusion, was part of a recent panel discussion on fighting racial injustice where she talked about her mission at Apple. White men currently account for 56% of Apple’s workforce, but Young Smith says that doesn’t mean the company isn’t diverse.

How to use Spark’s amazing advanced email features

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spark header
Spark works everywhere.
Photo: Readdle

Apple’s own Mail app is pretty amazing in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, and is more than good enough for most people. But Cult of Mac readers aren’t “most people,” and that’s where Readdle’s Spark comes in. If you’re looking for more features, like scheduled sending, automatic follow-ups, and integrations with third-party apps and services, then Spark is the place to look. Today we’ll look at how to use these great new features.

Apple pledges $1 million to help fire-ravaged wine country

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Extreme winds and dry weather are making the wildfires in California's wine country hard to contain.
Extreme winds and dry weather are making the wildfires in California's wine country hard to contain.
Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr CC

The fire-relief efforts in Northern California are getting a boost from some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley.

Smoke from the wildfires ravaging wine country are currently choking out residents in San Francisco’s bay area, so Apple, Google and Facebook are stepping up by donating local efforts.