At our 29th April meeting we talked about recent Apple news and looked in some depth at Apple’s recently announced Self Repair Service. Robert shared some useful keyboard shortcuts and members mentioned many different topics.
News
We discussed recent Apple news including:
- iOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 are available now.
- The Essex Serpent coming to Apple TV+.
- Apple tells developers it will remove some apps that haven’t been updated recently from the App Store. Apple have released details clarifying how apps are selected for possible removal, that developers can appeal and introducing a timing extension for improvements.
- Chrome OS Flex turns old Macs and PCs into Chrome Books.
- Certain apps on the App Store can now add links for external account sign-ups.
- Apple’s Tap to Pay feature which allows users to accept payments using only their iPhone (coming soon in the US).
- NVidia abandons their planned purchase of ARM.
- Google’s Switch to Android iOS app.
- iMove on iOS updated with new Magic Movie and Storyboard features.
- Duck Duck Go browser for Mac available in beta (via a waiting list).
Apple Self Service Repair
Apple has launched a self service repair for recent iPhone models in the US. Robert showed the repair manuals available and how users can order official parts and tools from Apple. It’s also possible to rent a comprehensive (and large) repair tool kit with everything you need. The heated display removal fixture is shown in the image at the top of this article.
Tips
Robert passed on some useful Mac keyboard shortcuts:
- Option+function key to open the system preferences associated with that key. For example pressing Option and one of the volume keys opens Sound preferences.
- Press Option and click the window close (red) button to close all windows for an app.
- Hold Command, press Tab and then release both to switch to the previous app. Repeat to switch back to the first app. Useful when comparing or copying between apps.
- Hold command down and tap Tab to display icons for all open applications, when the desired app is highlighted, release Command to switch to it. Ben pointed out that these shortcuts work when apps are in different spaces which is a particular time saver.
- When editing text, press Option+Delete to delete a whole word and Command+Delete to delete to the end of the line. Option/Command+Backspace deletes the previous word or to the start of the line.
Member topics
- Ann-Kay asked about 2D animation software. DaveK mentioned the option of trying Keynote for basic 2D animation and experimentation. Ben suggested iMotion, an iOS app that can be used for stop motion animation.
- Ben told us that Apple is notifying users when switching to Apple One would save them money over their current subscriptions.
- Ben also remarked on the quality of the automatically generated memories in Photos and that they now use music from Apple Music if you’re a subscriber.
- Elliott told us about the recent release of Audio Hijack version 4. He uses Audio Hijack in the production of his radio show, The Weekend Show on QMR2.
- Alan had noticed the new Visual Lookup feature in Photos. This can’t currently be turned off, we suggested that Alan could send product feedback to Apple if he would like this option.
- DaveK recommended the Contra Chrome comic book by Leah Elliott (archive.org link in case the site is down) which graphically illustrates privacy concerns with Google’s web browser by remixing the 2008 Google commissioned Chrome Comic Book by Scott McCloud. The New Stack has some background on this in their news article.
- DavidB sent his recommendation of Slow Horses on Apple TV+.