One thing that has kept the Amazon Echo in our kitchen — and the HomePod in my studio — has been Siri’s lack of multiple timer support. With today’s iOS 12 update, the HomePod now supports multiple timers.

In practice, this works basically the same as it does on the Echo.¹ You can ask Siri to set to set multiple timers with custom names, then ask Siri to check in on them or cancel them. I recorded a little back and forth with my HomePod to show you how it works:

Annoyingly, this support seems to be limited to the HomePod; the iPhone is still unable to set more than one timer. When you ask Siri to create a second timer, it tries to replace the existing one:

Worse than that is the Apple Watch, where the second timer just automatically replaces the first.

Apple really should make this sort of thing consistent across devices.

Apple:

With iOS 12, previous Workflow app users are upgraded to the Shortcuts app. Here are the latest features.

For the last several years, Federico Viticci has written the review of new iOS versions, and this year is no different:

With iOS 12, Apple wants to rectify iOS’ performance woes, proving to their customers that iOS updates should never induce digital regret. Perhaps more notably though, iOS 12 doesn’t have a single consumer feature that encapsulates this release – like Messages might have been for iOS 10 or the iPad for iOS 11. Instead, iOS 12 is a constellation of enhancements revolving around the overarching theme of time. Apple in 2018 needs more time for whatever the next big step of iOS may be; they want iOS users to understand how much time they’re spending on their devices; and they want to help users spend less time managing certain system features. Also, funnily enough, saving time is at the core (and in the very name) of iOS 12’s most exciting new feature: Shortcuts.

As always, this review is well-considered, easy to navigate and amazingly helpful. Go grab your iPad and a coffee and get started.

I picked up a 256 GB iPhone XS Max. My iPhone X is silver, so I am going Space Gray this time around to mix it up. As usual, I have a black leather case that I won’t use very often coming as well.

I’m a little nervous that the Max is going to be too big, so I’m holding onto my iPhone X for now. I need to have the crack in the rear glass dealt with anyways, so it’s going to be a 5.8-inch safety net for a couple of weeks.

Oddly, very few iPhone models showed as available for pickup at my local Apple Store when ordering in the iOS app, so I’m stuck waiting for a delivery next Friday.

There’s no Series 4 Apple Watch coming my way yet. I’ve taken to only wearing my Series 3 on days I exercise, and after spending way too much money on a phone, I’m sitting this one out for now. Besides, I want to try the new sizes on before ordering.

Harry McCracken nails it:

The bottom line is that there may not be a bottom line on the new iPhones, if what you seek is buying advice that can be boiled down to a few sentences. For Apple, that’s something new.