The Astropad Darkboard is a new lightweight, ergonomic drawing surface for iPad. It gives artists a place to rest their arm while drawing without covering the tablet’s screen.
After a successful launch on Kickstarter, the product is now available worldwide.
The Truecaller app is already well known as a caller-ID service and spam blocker. And now it lets you record incoming and outgoing calls on your iPhone in the United States.
Does your favorite streaming service pander to the lowest common denominator? Like everything else online, TV content providers use algorithms to find out what most viewers like and feed them more of it, and that usually doesn’t include a lot of brain food.
If you’re starved for shows and movies that educate and entertain, there’s never been a better time to check out Curiosity Stream, a streaming home for thousands of documentaries. Cult of Mac readers can score lifetime access for only $179.97 (regularly $399) during our iteration of Prime Day, but only through July 14!
Ready to maximize your setup’s screen real estate — and give it a touchscreen boost? Right now, you can add an additional HD monitor at a low price.
You don’t need to wait until Amazon Prime Day to take advantage of great savings on the Desklab Portable 4K Touchscreen Monitor, currently available for only $249.97 (regularly $375) with no coupon necessary. Get early access to special pricing during our Deal Days event, which lasts through July 14. You’ll have to act fast, though, as supply is limited for this innovative monitor!
The first screenshots and videos of apps being built for Vision Pro show just how easy it is to port iOS apps to Apple’s upcoming augmented reality headset.
Apple just released the visionOS software development kit last Wednesday, and already people are refitting their iPhone apps for Apple’s new mixed-reality platform and sharing the results online.
The apps include Broadcasts, which lets you tune in to internet radio and livestreams — and leave a little Now Playing window anywhere in your virtual space. With cooking app Crouton in visionOS, you can place timers all around your kitchen. And Tasks, a powerful to-do app, works exactly as it does on your Mac and iPhone.
In my opinion, this is what will ultimately make visionOS succeed where similar mixed-reality platforms failed: It builds heavily on the same technologies that underpin iOS. If you can build an iPhone app, you can build a Vision Pro app.
Here’s a gallery of what some popular indie apps look like running on Vision Pro.
Back when Fiio released its jack-of-all-trades R7 desktop hi-res audio player and amplifier in March 2023, it promised its new SP3 powered desktop speakers would follow, its first active speakers. And so they have, released earlier this month.
They could be the perfect companion for the R7 and a variety of desktop audio needs. They carry Hi-Res Audio certification and feature decent connectivity options via cable.
Those eager to get their hands on the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max should check out a short video showing a case supposedly designed for Apple’s next flagship smartphone. This helps confirm a few details that previously leaked out.
Get ready for a USB-C port and other changes.
What do you get when you combine a high-end Mac Studio with three Studio Displays? You get a killer workstation. And in the case of today’s featured computer setup, you get a comparison to Al Gore, noted climate evangelist, former U.S. vice president and senator, and total Apple guy in more ways than one.
The user playfully implied he based his setup on Gore’s triple-Cinema Display workstation of yesteryear.
A California hiker who broke her leg in the Angelos National Forest was able to get help thanks to the Emergency SOS via satellite service built into the iPhone 14 series.
The feature enables those range of cellular network coverage to call for rescue.
Can you even remember what you learned in those boring high school French or Spanish classes, filled with rote memorization and writing exercises? There are better ways to master a foreign language than they way you learned way back when.
Thanks to apps like Babbel, you can learn a new language in your own way, on your own time. And right now, there’s good news for anyone prepping for a vacation or wanting to expand their communication abilities. Cult of Mac readers can now score lifetime access to Babbel for only $179.97 (regularly $399) during our version of Prime Day. This fantastic price drop only lasts until July 14!
Aside from the inevitable iPhone refresh (and the headset everyone’s buzzing about), Apple reportedly has several other major new products lined up for launch in 2023 and the first half of 2024. This includes revamped iPad Pros with OLED displays, new Macs powered by a next-gen M3 processor and an upgrade to the Apple Watch Ultra.
Apple also is supposedly in the early stages of developing an iMac with a display that measures more than 30 inches.
In this installment of 3 Reasons to Watch, we’re touting stellar Apple TV+ basketball drama Swagger, produced by Kevin Durant and creatively shepherded by Reggie Rock Bythewood.
The show, about a high school phenom assailed by personal and professional pressures, just returned for its second season. And like its heroes, Swagger shows no signs of slacking now that the game is getting tougher. Here’s why you should give it a shot.
To say that it’s been a while since we featured new or interesting Awesome Apps would be an understatement. Fortunately, all that time has allowed me to discover a few great, useful apps to share with all of you. Whether you need something to help keep you in shape this summer, or want a quick and easy way to record a call on your iPhone, we’ve got some awesome apps for you.
And as I’ve said in the past, if you have something you want us to check out for a future Awesome Apps post, be sure to email your suggestions or tweet them over or toot at me.
The Crowded Room, a psychological thriller starring Tom Holland, is bringing in plenty of viewers. For two weeks now, the Apple TV+ series has been among the most popular shows on any streaming service.
And it’s not the only Apple series doing well — Silo continues to draw a large audience, too.
Those of us who suffer from wax buildup in the ear know that when things get bad, it’s all you can think about. It’s one of the toughest itches to scratch, whether you’re using your bare finger (gross) or a cotton swab (possibly harmful, as most ENT specialists can tell you).
The problem is that you can’t see what you’re doing, and the structure of the ear canal increases the possibility that you’ll do more harm than good. Now, technology has finally caught up to the problem with the Smart Visual Ear Cleaner.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Those EU technocrats plan to force Apple (and everybody else) to make batteries in their devices easier to replace. The specifics remain vague. But is forcing changes to the iPhone and iPad design a good thing or a bad thing?
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Your Mac is kind of like your house. Unless you’re diligent, it’s normal for a mess to start to build up. On your computer, that may look like half-downloaded apps, unused software, large untouched files, and other digital clutter.
If you want to freshen your Mac up without manually finding and deleting all your unnecessary files and apps, get CleanMyMac X. This one-time purchase could have your Mac feeling clean and quick, and you can get it for one or two Macs with 29% off the regular price.
★★★★☆
Apple TV+ sports drama Swagger returns for a second season in fine form this week. Reggie Rock Bythewood’s account of a high school basketball star and his supportive coach continues with fresh challenges for Jace and his team to face.
With Jace gearing up for college, he needs Ike back in his corner after a brief separation. But will Ike make a good fit at Jace’s new school? This week’s episode, entitled “The World Ain’t Ready,” is thrillingly alive in its depiction of life in Baltimore and the pressures of being very good at what you do.
If you’re concerned about your privacy online or just want to get by those annoying geographical content restrictions, a virtual private network is the way to go. A good VPN can put your data on lockdown and open up new avenues online, and they aren’t that expensive.
For a limited time, a three-year subscription to UltraVPN Secure USA VPN Proxy — plus 30 days of free antivirus — costs just $29.99, marked down from $239.
★★★★☆
Juliette is on the lam this week in the penultimate installment of Silo’s first season. The Apple TV+ sci-fi show, about the woman who discovers a massive conspiracy in the equally massive underground bunker containing the last dregs of humanity, finds Juliette looking for help and hope in all the strangest places.
Sims, Bernard and Billings all sweat her escape and what it might mean for the future of the silo in a white-knuckle episode entitled “The Getaway.”
Klipsch unveiled two new powered Bluetooth bookshelf speakers in its Reference series recently. The R-40PM and R-50PM speakers replace older “41” and “51” models, upgrading design, pumping up bass response and broadening connectivity with a phone preamp so you can easily connect a turntable, in addition to most other sound sources via USB and other line-in connections.
What you don’t need with these speakers is an amplifier, because they’re powered already.
★★★☆☆
The UGR Tech Portable SSD External Hard Drive 2TB offers a lot of storage for an exceedingly low price — it’s available from Cult of Mac Deals for just $34.99. I could even call that a suspiciously low price, because rival USB-C drives sell for about four times as much. So I ordered one and tested it out.
I discovered why the external SSD is so very cheap, but also that it’s not a scam or a ripoff … as long as you understand the significant speed limitation of this 2TB drive.
(Update: This incredibly popular 2TB external SSD sold out multiple times in 2023. Now it’s back in stock at Cult of Mac Deals, although the price has gone up to $44.97.)
★★☆☆☆
Apple TV+ psychodrama The Crowded Room takes a look back at Danny’s childhood this week to examine the start of his troubles and trauma.
Danny’s issues began when he was young, in the presence of a mysterious twin brother, an absent father, a new stepdad and a mom tired of being defeated by life. Add to that a sexual abuse case and Danny’s mental illness, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster — and a show that keeps running right up to the line of greatness before retreating.
Adding a second or third external display in portrait mode can really enhance a computer setup and its workflow. The owner of today’s featured MacBook Pro setup lucked into a second monitor and set it up vertically. Many people find the orientation suits certain tasks, like coding or reading email.
And who doesn’t love a classic Apple poster? Don’t miss the nice framed PowerBook G4 poster on the wall above the desk in the photograph above.
The sports games Retro Bowl+ and Retro Goal+ hit the Apple Arcade on Friday. And Bold Moves+ was added earlier in June. These are the latest classic games to make their way to the subscription service, and join many others already available.
This is in addition to all the original games that are Apple Arcade exclusives.