Anniversary edition: Sir Apfelot newsreel week 50, 2022

On December 15, 2017, almost exactly five years ago, I published the first issue of the Sir Apfelot newsreel. How the time flies! Today you will again receive a summary of the Apple and tech news that I have particularly noticed in the past few days. In the reports for calendar week 50 of 2022 you will find the following topics, among others: Minister Faeser is planning an unprovoked chat search and thus a breach of the coalition agreement, various Apple services have failed, updates for new and old operating systems (including Freeform, Apple Music Sing , AirDrop-Adaptation, etc.), Apple will probably no longer deliver a classic app in 2022, and more.

Already 5 years "Sir Apfelot Wochenschau"

In the run-up to this format, Jens and I thought about how we could better integrate Apple and technology news into the blog. The individual messages should also be presented together to provide a quick overview. This gave rise to the idea for the Friday format, which has been in use ever since Newsletter usually appears as the first post in the list of recent publications. As a rough estimate, the average number of topics covered per issue is 8 to 10. Assuming 9 and multiplying that by 52 weeks each in 5 years, that gives 2.340 covered messages. In the first edition there were even a few more than in the following ones:

• Apple points to the Christmas business
• The new iMac Pro (now discontinued) can be ordered soon
• First test reports and benchmarks for the new iMac Pro
• Builder apps are flying off the App Store, and apps will soon be available for pre-order
• No YouTube app on Fire TV Stick (but now they exist)
• Keylogger on HP notebooks already available ex works
• Jonathan Ive is Apple's Chief Design Officer (he no longer works for Apple)
• Interview with Phil Schiller about various Apple topics and products
• Shazam is bought by Apple (today, Shazam is a regular part of the Apple offering)
• Amazon Prime now on the Apple TV (and with that came the official sale of Apple devices on Amazon)
• Consumer protection warns of streaming rip-off
• Android smartphones to look like the iPhone X (five years later, the "Notch" is no longer worth a headline)
• The backup software SuperDuper now supports the "snapshots" from macOS High Sierra

Possible random search of chat messages planned

Under the headline "Interior Minister Faeser wants to break the coalition agreement“ shows Netzpolitik.org in one Articles the plans of the Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD), according to which chat messages and e-mails are to be scanned and interpreted on the users' devices. The searches of private, business and other exchanges carried out on the end devices are intended to ensure end-to-end encryption of various channels (e.g. messenger apps such as Telegram, Signal or WhatsApp) by the so-called Client-Side-Scanning (CSS). The source also takes up positions of the D64 association, which you here can read through. In addition to the thing itself, the error-prone technology is also criticized. Citizens could be spied on in droves and suspected without reason.

Various Apple services outage this week

Among other things, the unavailability of the Apple online shop showed that something was wrong with the iPhone manufacturer's servers this week. And has one in the System status checked (absolute recommendation as the first point of contact for problems with Apple services), then further failures became apparent. In addition to Apple's online store, there were also problems with the App Stores, Apple Arcade, Apple Books, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Photos, iCloud Calendar and the iTunes Store. Now the status of all services is back to "Available", but for those mentioned with the link "Resolved problem". Clicking on the link shows when the problem occurred and what caused it.

Apple operating system updates: new apps, features and limitations

Updates to a new version of the current operating system have been released this week for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. On compatible models can now iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS 13.1. One of the most obvious innovations is the Freeform app, which can be used on all three devices. The digital whiteboard is synchronized via iCloud and can be shared with others to work on projects, ideas, plans and the like not only on all your own devices, but also with others at the same time. Here are more details: Apple releases Freeform - Digital Whiteboard for iPad, iPhone and Mac.

In addition to Freeform, the Apple Music Sing offer has appeared with the new system versions on the iPhone and iPad – as well as on the current Apple TV 4K, which has also received an update. This is a karaoke function for the Music app on iOS, iPadOS and tvOS. Not only is the text of selected songs displayed in such a way that singing along works in a timely manner. The singing, i.e. the vocal audio track, can also be made louder and quieter during playback. But you can't exhibit it completely and create an instrumental version of the song. More about this here: Apple Music Sing - Karaoke with lyrics coming in 2022.

Another innovation that hasn't been communicated as clearly by Apple as Freeform and Music Sing is the customization of AirDrop settings on the iPhone. Because if you use this for the AirDrop reception "For everyone", this is no longer possible indefinitely. The option is called "10 minutes for everyone" after the update. After said ten minutes, AirDrop reception is again restricted to “Receive off” or “For contacts only”. This change is not new and was first rolled out in China. The aim was probably to curb the distribution of anti-government protest materials and leaflets. More about this here: Beginning with iOS 16.2, universal AirDrop reception will be throttled to 10 minutes.

In addition to iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1, updates with new apps and functions and/or with security vulnerability fixes have also appeared: iOS 15.7.2 and iPadOS 15.7.2, watchOS 9.2, macOS Monterey 12.6.2, macOS Big Sur 11.7.2, Safari 16.2, tvOS 16.2 and iCloud for Windows 14.1 (Which). So if you have older devices that don't run on the current systems, but use the previous ones (iOS 15, macOS 11 or 12, etc.), then you should also look for an update. Critical security gaps may be patched.

Probably no more classic app this year

Since Apple bought Primephonic, a provider of classical music streams, in August 2021, interested users (along with the trade press) have been waiting for the promised app that should emerge from it. Apple had announced that it would release an improved classic app in the following year. However, it was not included in the system updates mentioned above - and the year does not have too many days anymore. It seems that Apple can't keep to its roadmap for the release of the classical music streaming app. There is also one peppered with further background information Post at MacRumors.

Little Snitch Mini Beta Testing - Graphical Mac Firewall

I'm interested in Little Snitch Mini because of the user interface. Because the app shows the data transfer from websites and apps on a map, similar to the large version Little Snitch, but clearer. Connection blocks can also be created manually. Little Snitch Mini is currently available as Beta version via Apple TestFlight. Since I don't have time myself right now to register for it, get access to Little Snitch Mini and then write a review right away, I'll enclose it for you Message by iFun to the heart. The official website can be found here.

Notices of hardware updates for MacBook Pro and Mac Studio in 2023

New models of the MacBook Pro and Mac Studio are scheduled to appear in early 2023, then with more powerful versions of the M2 chips. It is possible that they will be presented in a March event. But a January event is not out of the question either, as there have been plenty of rumors about it in recent months. But where can you be sure that these models will be presented? Well, on the one hand because they are the most logical update of the Apple silicon and the Mac models equipped with it. And on the other hand because references to certain Mac and chip models have appeared in the Steam data - namely a Mac14,6 and a Mac15,4. details about it with this link, which takes you to 9to5Mac.

For me just today: moving cloud data under macOS Ventura

Like late October already shown, Apple has unified the location of cloud folders on macOS 13 Ventura. The folder can no longer be specified by the cloud provider or by the users themselves, but is now set by default in ~/Library/CloudStorage created. As shown in the linked article, Dropbox, among others, published an FAQ on the change. I've been wondering ever since why the change isn't being made to me. And today it suddenly happened. There was a notification in Dropbox, I was guided through the change and then had to add my Dropbox shortcut in the Finder-Manually change sidebar from "Places" back to "Favorites". Everything works as usual so far.

More pictures in the Sir Apfelot newsreel?

Based on the first edition of this format, I have again accompanied this post with a few more pictures. When referring to other blogs or news sites, this is sometimes difficult because you don't want to steal pictures from them and you may have to look for original press material or freely usable pictures - but the question is: Do you like the newsreel better with a suitable picture by individual paragraphs (if available and usable) or do you prefer the condensed text experience where you don't have to scroll over images to get to the next message? Please leave a comment! :)

Johannes Domke

After graduating from high school, Johannes completed an apprenticeship as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which resulted in his independence. For several years he has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others. His articles include product introductions, news, manuals, video games, consoles, and more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.