The iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch are getting all the attention today with the public releases of iOS 10 and watchOS 3, but the Apple TV also just got a ton of new features thanks to the official release of tvOS 10.
watchOS 3 is ready for your wrist
Apple Watch owners just got a big update today in the form of watchOS 3 that completely changes the way you use Apple’s wearable.
The huge new update comes after months of beta testing by developers and public testers, adding new features like a Breathe app, the ability to unlock your Mac, a new Dock for apps, faster performance and more.
How to locate your files with Siri on macOS Sierra
Up until now, Siri’s remained a tool for accessing services rather than helping us navigate our Apple devices. That changes with macOS Sierra, which lets us use Apple’s helpful AI assistant to locate files using spoken commands.
Here’s how you can use the feature to your advantage if you’re running the new operating system, which is currently in public beta and will be released on September 20.
How to use Siri to multitask more efficiently in macOS Sierra
Through innovations like “Hey Siri” on iOS, and the ability to pin Siri search results to your Mac’s Notification Center, Apple has been working to make its virtual assistant more useful than ever. One more such application is the ability to use Siri to multitask on macOS Sierra.
Here’s how to take advantage of this feature when running the latest Mac operating system, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.
Microphone technology is Siri’s next big hurdle
Apple, Amazon and Google are all in a battle to create the next great breakthrough with microphones in order to make their digital assistants more powerful.
While machine learning and artificial intelligence are getting all the hype lately, few industry analysts say microphone technology will play just as key a role in taking Siri and Alexa to a new level.
Keep Siri results where you can find them in macOS Sierra
Siri’s arrival on macOS Sierra opens up some great new features and possibilities. One of our favorites? The ability to “pin” Siri results inside Notification Center — making it easier to keep track of whatever game times, trending topics or important documents Apple’s virtual assistant helps you to find.
Here’s how to use the feature when running Apple’s next-gen macOS, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.
Barbra Streisand calls Tim Cook to fix her biggest gripe with Siri
Getting iPhone bugs fixed is apparently super-easy if you’re a world-famous diva.
Barbra Streisand says she recently had a huge bone to pick with Apple over the way Siri pronounces her last name. So the singer did what only Barbra Streisand could do: She dialed Tim Cook’s personal phone number.
How to use Siri to search, drag and drop images on macOS Sierra
The Mac debut of Siri on macOS Sierra opens up a ton of intriguing new use-cases in terms of functionality. One of the most useful? The ability to use Apple’s virtual assistant to search for photos either on the web or your own computer — and then drag them into directly into apps.
Here’s how to use the feature when running Apple’s next-gen macOS, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.
With eyesight failing, CEO hurries to make voice-enabled tech mainstream
When Chris Maury tried helping an elderly blind woman use voice commands on an iPad, she thanked him but said, “I just wish Siri could read me the news.”
Maury understood her frustration. He, too, was losing his vision and could foresee a struggle to remain productive using the visual interfaces common on all computing devices.
Apple may be planning huge Seattle expansion
Amazon and Microsoft could get some big competition in their own backyard from Apple soon, based on a new real estate rumor that claims the Silicon Valley titan is eyeing a huge office expansion in Seattle.
Details on exactly where Apple is planning to plant its flag in Seattle aren’t clear yet, but the company’s new offices will reportedly be “huge” with several hundred thousand square feet of space.
The future of Siri [Kahney’s Korner]
Apple has opened up Siri to third-party developers, which means we’ll soon be able to do a bunch of things — like ordering pizza or sending money — simply by speaking to Apple’s intelligent assistant.
It’s a big change, and another step toward a friction-free future in which we will talk to our devices instead of poking at them with our fingers.
In this week’s episode of Kahney’s Korner, I talk with Adam Fingerman and Paulo Michels of ArcTouch, a mobile development company that works with big media companies like ABC, NBC and CBS. As they’ve explored the Siri API, they’ve gained insight into what we can expect when iOS 10 and macOS Sierra get released to the public this fall.
Apple boosts AI efforts by acquiring machine learning startup
Apple’s latest acquisition could play a big role in the iPhone maker’s future artificial intelligence products.
Turi, a Seattle-based startup specializing in machine learning and AI, was reportedly acquired by Apple for around $200 million. The startup creates software that gives developers the ability to add AI capabilities that scale automatically, which could certainly be an attractive addition to Apple’s platforms.
Apple drops third macOS Sierra public beta
Public beta testers can download the third public beta of macOS Sierra starting today, one day after Apple seeded the 4th developer beta.
The new macOS Sierra update includes a number of new additions, including the new set of over 100 emoji that promote gender diversity and disarm the pistol emoji by changing it into a squirt gun.
iOS 10 public beta 3 is now available
Apple has made the third public beta of iOS 10 available to members of its testing program this morning, just one day after the company seeded iOS 10 beta 4 to developers.
While the new beta build doesn’t contain any huge changes like in the previous releases, Apple did make a couple of tweaks, including the addition of over 100 new emoji characters that promote gender diversity, new keyboard sounds, a Control Center splash page and much more.
Venmo flaw allowed attackers to use Siri to drain accounts
A critical flaw with PayPal-owned Venmo left iPhone users’ accounts exposed to a lethal account that could have allowed attackers to steal $2,999.99 in just two minutes.
The Venmo security flaw was discovered by Salesforce security engineer Martin Vigo who found that Siri can be used on locked iPhones to drain an account just by sending a few text messages.
Check out the hack in action:
New Remote app for Apple TV is now available to the public
Controlling the new Apple TV just got a lot easier today now that Apple has finally released a brand-new version of its Remote app for iOS.
The all new Remote app can completely replace the Siri Remote that comes with Apple TV, allowing watchers to take full control of their viewing experience, without having to put down their iPhone.
Apple seeds macOS Sierra public beta 2 to testers
Along with dropping the second public beta of iOS 10 this morning, Apple has seeded a new beta of macOS Sierra for members of its Apple Beta Software Program.
The new build comes two weeks after the first macOS Sierra was made available to testers, and is available for download immediately through the Mac App Store’s software update section.
Public testers get iOS beta 2 update
The second public beta of iOS 10 has been made available to testers today, coming just two days after Apple seeded the third beta to developers.
The final version of the update isn’t expected to launch until fall but Apple is getting eager fans a sneak peek of the new features coming to Siri, Messages, Notifications, Photos, Apple Music and much more.
All the iOS 10 beta 3 changes that make iPhone even better
Apple’s jam-packed iOS 10 update has gotten even better in its third beta, which brings a bunch of tiny new features that start to make iOS 10 feel like a polished product.
The list of changes in iOS 10 beta 3, which was seeded to developers this week, isn’t as long as the last update. But Apple has added some really nice tweaks to the lock screen, Apple Music, iCloud Drive and Messages, in addition to a ton of bug fixes and stability improvements.
Check out the most important new additions to Apple’s upcoming mobile OS, which is slated to launch on iPhones and iPads this fall:
iOS 10 beta 2, new malware targeting Macs, iPhone Photography Awards, and more
In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, we introduce you to the iOS 10 beta 2, and give a hands-on look at the latest tweaks and updates to Apple’s latest operating system. More than 50 changes have been discovered by developers, affecting everything from Apple Music to widgets, and we uncover many of them this week.
Learn about “OSX/Keydnap,” the latest strain of malware intended to attack your Mac. Disguising itself as an innocent text or image file, OSX/Keydnap installs malicious code onto your machine. We’ll let you know how the malware works, and how to prevent this from happening to your Mac!
Peruse the stunning images of this year’s iPhone Photography Awards winners. iPhone photography has never looked so good. Plus, The CultCast, How-Tos and lots more.
All this, and much much more, in Cult of Mac Magazine, free for you right now.
Here are this week’s top stories.
Call up Siri in macOS Sierra with this keyboard shortcut
If you’re planning to install the new macOS Sierra public beta today, one of the first things you’ll want to check out is Siri. The virtual assistant is just as useful on your desktop as it is on iOS, and summoning it is super simple with this keyboard shortcut.
All the changes Apple made in iOS 10 beta 2
Apple’s second beta for iOS 10 is jam-packed with new features and changes to go along with the big batch of bug fixes.
More than 50 changes have been discovered by developers, affecting everything from Apple Music to widgets. A lot of the changes are very minor UI tweaks that would probably go unnoticed by many users, but Apple has also added some huge additions to the Home button, Messages, Notification Center and more.
Here’s what’s new in iOS 10 beta 2:
Siri drops fiery hints about a major Game of Thrones character’s real dad
It looks like Siri was one of the record 8.9 million people glued to Game of Thrones’ Season 6 finale last Sunday. Now that the season is over, fans are left with one question: Who is Jon Snow’s real father?
Siri knows the answer.
Warning: Game of Thrones spoilers below.
iOS 10 won’t collect your personal data without permission
Apple is getting deeper into the AI game with iOS 10, which will require users to share some data with Apple so it can make intelligent suggestions, but the company says it will be totally optional.
Starting in iOS 10, Apple plans to use differential data as a way to track users and make Siri better at predicting what you want, while not being a major creeper at the same time. The company hasn’t been very clear about exactly what data it will be collecting, but according to a new report, we now know you will have to opt-in to the service.
4 lessons Apple Car should learn from Tesla
With all the recent rumors that Apple will build an electric car within the next few years, obviously Cupertino is going to be compared to the big electric car company of the moment, Tesla Motors.
Tesla sold more than 50,000 model S sedans in 2015, so I’m taking a look at four Apple Car lessons that Tim Cook and Jony Ive should learn from Tesla.
Check out the video below.