3174 posts on MacStories since July 2011

Articles by the MacStories team. Founded by Federico Viticci in April 2009, MacStories attracts millions of readers every month thanks to in-depth, personal, and informed coverage that offers a balanced mix of Apple news, app reviews, and opinion.

A New Deal and Way to Find Hardware Recommendations

Last week, we debuted a new Club MacStories discount for Plus and Premier members. Everyone has trouble getting through their read-later articles saved from the web. With Listen Later, those articles are converted into a personal podcast feed where each article is an episode that can be enjoyed in any podcast player. With the Club...


Up Next On MacStories Podcasts

Next week on AppStories, Federico and John dig into the app grab bag for a Pick 2 episode where they each recommend a couple of apps they’ve been trying. Next week onMagic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon revisit Argylle upon its streaming debut, round up exciting announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters...


Perks

File Widgets File Widgets, which you can read more about in the App Debuts section, is a new Mac app from Club member Christian Sigritz that fills a glaring hole in macOS. Unlike iOS and iPadOS, which have widgets for the Files app, there is no widget for the Finder. File Widgets solves this with...


Previously, On MacStories

Stories HomeKit Gadgets: The MacStories Team Collection Apple Announces Expansion of Support for Used iPhone Parts in Repairs Single-Space Challenge: Trying to Manage My macOS Windows All in One Virtual Desktop Automattic Acquires Messaging Integrator Beeper Monument Valley at 10: The Story of the Most Meticulous Puzzle Game Ever Created Apple Amends App Review Guidelines...


In This Issue

John recommends a handful of iOS games he’s been playing, Federico shares three Mac tips he’s adopted with his MacPad, Jonathan explains how he’s been using Federico’s Contextual Apps Plugin System for Shortcuts, plus the usual Links, App Debuts, the latest happenings in the Club MacStories+ Discord community, a recap of MacStories articles, and a...


HomeKit Gadgets: The MacStories Team Collection

John: Everyone on the MacStories team is deep into HomeKit devices. For me, smart home gadgets tick all the boxes:

  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Automation

It’s really as simple as that.

However, as fun as HomeKit devices can be, they can also be frustrating. The best accessories fit comfortably into your household, making life a little easier but falling back gracefully to a simple solution for anyone in your home who isn’t interested in automation. It sounds easy, but it’s a tough balancing act that few companies get right.

We’ve all tried our share of HomeKit and other smart home devices. Some have worked out, and others have fallen by the wayside as failed experiments. Today, we thought we’d pool our collective experience and share with you the MacStories team’s favorite smart home gadgets.

We have a lot of ground to cover, so this story will focus on indoor gadgets. Soon, we’ll shift our focus to the great outdoors.

Table of Contents

Read more


Are You Worse at Security Than the TSA? [Sponsor]

You know the drill: when you go through airport security there are two lines. In one, a TSA agent makes sure you’re the person in your passport photo. In the other, a machine scans your carry-on for explosives, weapons, or a normal-sized bottle of shampoo.

Enterprise security is much the same, but instead of passengers and luggage, we’re talking about end users and their devices. In the first line, user authentication verifies a user’s identity, and it’s gotten pretty sophisticated in the past few years, with SSO and MFA becoming more common.

But user devices don’t get nearly the same level of attention. The average device trust solution only looks at a handful of endpoint security factors, like OS updates and firewall. If this really were the TSA, that wouldn’t even be an x-ray machine, more like holding a bag to your ear and listening for a ticking sound.

And that’s assuming an organization looks at end user devices at all. Kolide’s Shadow IT report found that 47% of companies let unmanaged devices access their resources, and authenticate via credentials alone.

Unmanaged devices (those outside a company’s MDM) can be infected with malware, full of PII, or worse–they can belong to a bad actor using phished employee credentials.

And hey, there are valid reasons for a device not to be enrolled in MDM. Contractor devices, Linux machines, and employee phones all need to be able to access company resources. But there’s plenty of room for middle ground between “fully locked down and managed” and an open-door device policy.

Specifically, companies need device trust solutions that block devices from authenticating if they don’t meet minimum security requirements.

Even with phishing-resistant MFA, it’s frighteningly easy for bad actors to impersonate end users–in the case of the MGM hack, all it took was a call to the help desk. What could have prevented that attack (and so many others) was an unspoofable form of authentication for the device itself.

That’s what you get with Kolide’s device trust solution: a chance to verify that a device is both known and secure before it authenticates. Kolide’s agent looks at hundreds of device properties (remember, our competitors only look at a handful). What’s more, our user-first, privacy-respecting approach means you can put it on machines outside MDM: contractor devices, mobile phones, and even Linux machines.

Without a device trust solution, all the security in the world is just security theater. But Kolide can help close the gaps. (And we won’t even make you take off your shoes.)

To learn more, please watch our on-demand demo.

Our thanks to Kolide for sponsoring MacStories this week.


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Up Next on MacStories Podcasts

Next week on AppStories, Federico and John tackle whether we’re heading towards a post-app world. Next week onMagic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight American Revolution-era drama Franklin ahead of its premiere on Apple TV+. They also dive into new Apple Original documentary Girls State and recap sci-fi thriller Constellation....