This week we create smart playlists with Miximum, let anyone use our internet connections with HotSpotMe, put our MacBook’s Dock in the Touch Bar with Pock, and more.
For the security-minded, a home security camera offers a lot of benefits. For one, when something bad happens to or around your house, it helps to have the video receipts. And sometimes a camera can help prevent theft or vandalism in the first place.
Summertime means everything from hitting the pool to heading out on vacation. And, of course, your tech is coming along for the ride.
We’ve compiled a collection of accessories you might find turn up the heat on summertime fun. There are smart glasses, travel chargers, wireless speakers and headphones, and more.
Apple finally gives CarPlay some love in iOS 13, adding loads of new features and a much better user interface. The long-overdue upgrade shifts Apple’s in-car platform into high gear at last.
Find out everything new in CarPlay in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now from the iOS App Store. Or read the rest of the best Apple news, reviews and how-tos in your browser by clicking on the headlines below.
Work, dating, Craigslist deals, there are plenty of occasions to feel a little uneasy about giving out your phone number. So instead, why not have a burner phone number that keeps your real digits private?
Xiaomi has a history of shamelessly ripping off bigger brands, and nine times out of ten, its chosen target is Apple.
The Chinese company has previously cloned the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and more — without a single shred of fear that it might one day feel the wrath of Apple’s legal department.
Xiaomi’s latest ripoff is its own version of Memoji, and it brazenly stole Apple’s own commercials to promote it on a number of retail channels this week.
Here’s how Xiaomi gets away with it.
Xiaomi’s new Memoji clone isn’t the first product it has shamelessly stolen from Apple. But it might just be its worst ripoff to date.
That’s not because Mimoji and Memoji sound exactly the same, or because the character designs are nearly identical. It’s because Xiaomi brazenly stole Apple’s commercials to promote it.
Apple’s COO Jeff Williams won’t take on the departing Jony Ive’s title of Chief Design Officer but he’s nevertheless stepping into the role.
A new profile in The Wall Street Journal quotes sources who question whether Williams has the vision to take Ive’s place. Even so, some are looking at this executive to someday replace CEO Tim Cook.
July 4th has come and gone. The tanks are back in their garages. But the deals roll on at the Cult of Mac Store. We’ve got big discounts on a 3-in-1 charging pad, a five-part course in Microsoft Excel, and a powerful, intuitive photo editing app. Most are discounted by about half or greater, read on for more details:
This week on The CultCast: A new report details why Jony Ive is departing Apple, and it paints a troubling picture. Plus, Leander tells us about the “fiddle factor,” the unique quality that made Ive our time’s greatest designer.
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Adonit actually found a way to make taking vacation pictures with your iPhone easier. The PhotoGrip Qi turns your phone into an old-school point-and-shoot. Plus it includes a tripod with a remote shutter button. On top of that, its flexible iPhone clamp wirelessly charges the handset.
I still remember the days before phone cameras. Come see how well Adonit did re-creating that experience.
It’s impossible to create smart Apple Music playlists directly on the iPhone. Or rather, it was impossible. Previously, you had to fire up iTunes on your Mac or PC, create a smart playlist there, and then let it sync to your iPhone over iCloud.
Even in iOS 13, this is still the case. But now there’s another way. A new iOS app called Miximum can create smart playlists, and even sync them to the regular Apple Music app. It is, as they say, a game-changer.
The USB port on your iPad has gotten a massive update in iOS 13/iPadOS. You can now plug in pretty much everything except a printer, and have it Just Work™. We already know this from Apple’s own PR and WWDC announcements. But what exactly does work when you plug it in? I decided to try it. I took my old test iPad (a 1st-generation iPad Pro) on a tour around various friends’ homes, and plugged stuff in. Here’s what happened.
For most people, July 4th is a time to relax, barbecue, and watch some fireworks. Here at Cult of Mac, it’s a time to share the best deals of the summer so far. This go-around, we’ve got a set of workout-ready wireless earbuds, a powerful PDF editor, and a certification course in product management. There’s plenty here to enjoy, and more to come, so read on:
Samsung’s newest wearable will steal some of Apple Watch Series 4’s hottest features. The upcoming Galaxy Watch Active 2 is expected to get an ECG app as well as fall detection.
The device will be capable of detecting atrial fibrillation — a common heart condition — and of sharing heart data with physicians and other health professionals, a new report claims.
Apple significantly improved mouse support in the latest iPadOS 13 beta for developers. Most notably, the cursor size and color became controllable. And scrolling is much smoother.
These and other changes are very good news to those who intend to regularly employ a mouse when using this tablet with a keyboard.
In iOS 13 and iPadOS, the Wi-Fi connections get a lot of changes. In addition to the familiar Personal Hotspot connection, you can now use and share a new Instant Hotspot. Plus, you can see all your connections at a glance in the revamped Wi-Fi settings screen. Let’s take a look.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s point man on music, video and other service offerings, denies reports that he and Tim Cook are forcing the producers of Apple TV+ shows make them all squeaky clean and family friendly.
Instead, he says the intent is to create a broad array of offerings for its upcoming streaming video service, including ones for “mature adults.”
Designer Steve Gagne awoke to strange sounds and the smell of burning chemicals. Of all the tasks completed with his 15-inch MacBook Pro, nearly burning down his house was its final act.
The battery on Gagne’s MacBook Pro exploded three days before Apple announced a recall on mid-2015 Retina MacBook Pros of certain serial numbers housing batteries vulnerable to overheating.
HomePod owners are becoming increasingly frustrated with the latest AirPods ad. The full version of the “Bounce” commercial keeps triggering “Hey Siri” on Apple’s pricey smart speaker.
Some say they end up hearing the “crappiest” music, while others say their HomePod randomly calls out “I’m here.”
With Fourth of July fireworks in the skies this weekend, mobile photography brand Moment picked a good moment to update its Pro Camera app with a new Slow Shutter mode.
The feature, added today, brings a surefire way for iPhone photographers to capture dramatic fireworks shots.
Apple’s latest watchOS 6 beta, released to registered developers on Tuesday, lets you delete stock Apple Watch apps for the first time.
Alarms, Breathe, Timer, Stopwatch, and Walkie-Talkie are just a few of the many that can now be removed. Any deleted titles can later be re-downloaded from the Watch App Store.
When you use the internet, you’re exposing your information all kinds of threats. From identity theft, to tracking malware, to annoying location based content restrictions, the threats to privacy and security are endless, and so are the reasons for using a VPN. There are tons of providers out there, so we’ve rounded up four top tier VPN subscriptions. at discounts that go as high as 98%. Read on for more details:
You may soon be able to transfer photos, videos, contacts, and more from an old iPhone to a new one using a cable.
The latest iOS 13 beta hints at the ability to connect two iOS devices for wired data transfer. The move could significantly speed up the upgrade process, which currently relies on wireless connectivity.
But it’s not exactly clear how you’ll be able to marry two iPhones with a cable.
The iOS 13 developer beta 3 is out, and you know what that means? An incomplete list of new features and tweaks, based on what I find interesting. We’ve got multitasking updates, a mystery icon, a truly radical new FaceTime feature. Let’s go!