Ryan Christoffel

984 posts on MacStories since November 2016

Ryan is an editor for MacStories and co-hosts the [Adapt](https://www.relay.fm/adapt) podcast on Relay FM. He most commonly works and plays on his iPad Pro and bears no regrets about moving on from the Mac. He and his wife live in New York City.
ryan@macstories.net

Major FaceTime Bug Allows Any Caller Access to Your iPhone’s Microphone Feed, Potentially Your Camera→

Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac, reporting on a serious iOS bug just discovered for FaceTime:

A significant bug has been discovered in FaceTime and is currently spreading virally over social media. The bug lets you call anyone with FaceTime, and immediately hear the audio coming from their phone — before the person on the other end has accepted or rejected the incoming call.

Naturally, this poses a pretty privacy problem as you can essentially listen in on any iOS user, although it still rings like normal, so you can’t be 100% covert about it. Nevertheless, there is no indication on the recipient’s side that you could hear any of their audio.

Mayo continues by listing the details of how to reproduce the bug yourself when calling someone else, which involves a few very simple steps that anyone can perform. The simplicity of reproduction makes this bug especially dangerous.

Following up on Mayo’s report, Dieter Bohn of The Verge shared that things get even worse:

https://twitter.com/backlon/status/1090049242809286656

To recap: due to this FaceTime bug, which appears to affect all devices running iOS 12.1 or later, any caller can gain access to another user’s microphone feed while the call is ringing. And if the person receiving the call in that scenario tries to dismiss the call, it may unintentionally be answered, activating the device’s camera as well.

Apple gave the following statement to John Paczkowski of BuzzFeed:

https://twitter.com/JohnPaczkowski/status/1090052150032445440

Hopefully ‘later this week’ ends up translating to the next day or two, as some serious havoc could be wrought by this bug on unsuspecting users. Until that software update is released, we strongly recommend disabling FaceTime from Settings ⇾ FaceTime on your devices, or at the very least be aware that incoming calls you receive could be tapping into your microphone without your consent.

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Apple Shares Behind the Scenes Look at the Creation of iPad Pro ‘A New Way’ Videos→

Earlier this month Apple published a series of videos showcasing iPad Pro workflows for things like hosting a podcast, taking notes, and creating a presentation. Each ad’s title began ‘A new way to’ followed by the description of a productivity-themed task.

While these videos were great showcases of the iPad’s potential in their own right, what made them particularly interesting was that each ad ended by stating that it was made using the iPad Pro. Today, Apple has shared a follow-up video that goes behind the scenes into exactly which apps and processes were used to create this video series.

According to the video, Apple’s production team used Procreate and Notability to handle design work for the ads, FiLMiC Pro to shoot each video, LumaFusion for video editing, Keynote and Core Animator for animation, and finally, GarageBand was the composition tool for the ads’ music.

Federico and John discussed Apple’s iPad Pro video series on this week’s episode of AppStories, including some spot-on speculation that Apple used LumaFusion for editing the videos. This peek behind the curtain of iPad Pro video production further demonstrates the power of the iPad, and helps point users toward some of the best apps the App Store has to offer.

One of my favorite touches comes as the video ends, when we learn that, of course, the behind-the-scenes video itself was made on iPad Pro. A video made on iPad Pro, about the making of videos on iPad Pro, which all cover the subject of making things on iPad Pro. Perfect.

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Apple Publishes Videos Showcasing iPad Pro Workflows

Apple shared five new videos on its YouTube channel today, all of which center around working on an iPad Pro. Each video covers a different iPad workflow, as described by the following titles:

  • A new way to host your own podcast
  • A new way to create a presentation
  • A new way to go paperless
  • A new way to take notes
  • A new way to design your space

What I love about these videos, each of which are just over a minute long, is that they demonstrate the actual apps and workflows you can use to accomplish these tasks on the iPad Pro. For example, the podcast hosting video features Anchor for recording, editing, and publishing the podcast, Files for adding audio from an external source, and GoodNotes for holding your speaking notes. The video on taking notes features Notability exclusively, highlighting the app’s versatility for handwritten and typed notes, drawings, and audio recordings.

Each of the five videos ends the same way, by stating that the video was filmed, edited, designed, and made entirely with the iPad Pro. I can’t imagine a better way Apple could push the message that the iPad is a device for getting real work done.

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Thinking Different: Keys to Adopting an iPad-First Workflow

No matter how tech-inclined a person may be, no one sits down at their first computer and instantly finds themselves at home with the device. We all have our own tales of computing learning curves – figuring out how menus, file systems, and other traditional software elements work. Similarly, when making the move from one type of computer to another, there’s an adaptation cost in acquainting yourself with all that’s new. This is true when switching from a PC to a Mac, and also a Mac to an iPad.

Before the iPad Pro debuted in late 2015, transitions from Mac to iPad were extremely scarce. The iPad’s hardware and software were both far too limited to compel many switchers. The software has advanced since that time – thanks to Split View, drag and drop, and Files, it’s far easier to work on an iPad than before – but there’s plenty more progress still to be made. The hardware, however, is where the iPad has shined most, especially with the newest iPad Pros.

Compare the iPad Pro’s hardware to Apple’s modern Mac lineup and the difference is striking. The iPad has Face ID, while Macs are stuck with Touch ID; the iPad has a Liquid Retina display with ProMotion, and Macs are still Retina only; the iPad Pro benchmarks comparably to the most powerful portable Macs; iPads can include LTE, while Macs cannot; and where Mac keyboards are vulnerable to specs of dust, the iPad’s Smart Keyboard Folio can endure any crumbs you throw at it – plus, with the iPad you can choose the keyboard that’s best for you. To top off all these advantages, the iPad Pro is also more affordable than most Macs.

Software limitations aside, the iPad clearly has a lot going for it; the iPad Pro is a more attractive Mac alternative than ever before. But moving to the iPad still involves some growing pains. The longer you’ve used a traditional computer, the harder an iPad transition can be. There are a few key things, however, that can help make your iPad adoption a success.

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Tim Cook Calls for US Privacy Regulations in Time Op-Ed→

User privacy is one of the social drums Tim Cook has been consistently beating for years now, and today that’s continuing in an even stronger way with a new op-ed by Apple’s CEO published by Time. Cook writes:

I and others are calling on the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation—a landmark package of reforms that protect and empower the consumer. Last year, before a global body of privacy regulators, I laid out four principles that I believe should guide legislation:

First, the right to have personal data minimized. Companies should challenge themselves to strip identifying information from customer data or avoid collecting it in the first place. Second, the right to knowledge—to know what data is being collected and why. Third, the right to access. Companies should make it easy for you to access, correct and delete your personal data. And fourth, the right to data security, without which trust is impossible.

In addition to outlining these four principles, Cook gets more specific in calling for a particular organization to be formed that counteracts a “shadow economy that’s largely unchecked” whereby people’s data is sold by retailers and other companies without express knowledge or consent. He writes:

Meaningful, comprehensive federal privacy legislation should not only aim to put consumers in control of their data, it should also shine a light on actors trafficking in your data behind the scenes. Some state laws are looking to accomplish just that, but right now there is no federal standard protecting Americans from these practices. That’s why we believe the Federal Trade Commission should establish a data-broker clearinghouse, requiring all data brokers to register, enabling consumers to track the transactions that have bundled and sold their data from place to place, and giving users the power to delete their data on demand, freely, easily and online, once and for all.

Apple has established a consistent practice of standing for user privacy, partly owing to its highly publicized standoff with the FBI in 2016, but it seems that in 2019 the company wants that value to be even more pronounced. First there was the unavoidable banner at CES touting the iPhone’s privacy advantage, and now today’s op-ed. It will be interesting to see if any of the ideas Cook pushes bring about productive discussion on this issue, leading to practical change in US policy.

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Apple Launches Smart Battery Cases for iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR

Apple today updated its online store with the addition of three new products: Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR. Every version of the case costs $129, regardless of iPhone size. Each new case is available in both Black and White, and the designs resemble that of the previous Apple Smart Battery Cases, with a silicone exterior and a large bulge on the back to accommodate the battery.

The Smart Battery Case is compatible with Qi chargers, so you can still take advantage of wireless charging while using the case. These are the quoted charge estimates for each case:

  • XS: 33 hours talk time, 21 hours Internet use, and 25 hours video playback
  • XS Max: 37 hours talk time, 20 hours Internet use, and 25 hours video playback
  • XR: 39 hours talk time, 22 hours Internet use, and 27 hours video playback

In the past, Apple hasn’t made Smart Battery Cases available for Plus-sized phones, so it’s great to see that now, regardless of your iPhone size, you can get a case that raises battery life to meet the needs of heavy use.