512 Pixels

David Smith:

I was very excited when Apple announced the Apple Watch Ultra this fall. I’ve been wearing an Apple Watch on my wrist nearly every day since they were first released seven years ago. What was so exciting about the Ultra is that it seemed to be targeted directly at me. I’m an avid hiker/backpacker and love being outdoors, and I’ve used a regular Apple Watch to track these activities but would love for a device that even better fits this use.

I don’t think you can properly test a device like this without taking it out into the field. So the day my Ultra arrived, I booked myself onto a sleeper train up to the Scottish Highlands for a three day hiking trip to really see how it performed. I ended up hiking just over 61 miles.

N. Ingraham, writing at Engadget:

Apple is making Stage Manager work with a number of older devices: it’ll work on the 11-inch iPad Pro (first generation and later) and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (third generation and later). Specifically, it’ll be available on the 2018 and 2020 models that use the A12X and A12Z chips rather than just the M1. However, there is one notable missing feature for the older iPad Pro models — Stage Manager will only work on the iPad’s build-in display. You won’t be able to extend your display to an external monitor.

Apple also says that developer beta 5 of iPadOS 16 is removing external display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads, something that has been present since the first iPadOS 16 beta was released a few months ago. It’ll be re-introduced in a software update coming later this year.

I’m glad Apple found a way to support older iPads with this feature, but pulling external display support for M1 iPads running Stage Manager is curious. Clearly Apple is doing what it can to get this out the door.

Apple Support:

If you create a site or page name in iWeb 1.0.1 with an apostrophe as part of the name, and subsequently update to iWeb 1.1, then the web addresses (URLs) to your site/page will no longer be valid. This will break any existing bookmarks to the page. This occurs because iWeb 1.1 handles apostrophes differently than iWeb 1.0.1.

People who bookmarked your iWeb 1.0.1 site need to bookmark your new site published with iWeb 1.1.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my latest attempt to add my older garage door opener to HomeKit.

That project has been a huge hit with everyone in my household, so emboldened, I recently took on an additional HomeKit project: adding our driveway gate to the network.

When I first had the idea, I assumed that I would need to piece something together on my own, but then I came across a product called the ismartgate. After poking around the website for a few minutes, I came across this really great configuration page. After checking a few boxes, the website told me that the ismartgate LITE would work for my needs. $130 and a few days later, I was ready to go.

Compared to installing the Meross, this was shockingly straightforward. The main unit plugged into a spare power outlet located inside of my gate’s control box, and I had to run a total of just two wires to the control board:

With the brains of the ismartgate squared away, I now had to set up the magnetic sensor so it would know if the gate was opened or closed. After some tinkering, I ended up mounting them on the hinged portion of the gate:

When the gate is closed, the surface with the magnet rotates, coming near the sensor, which is battery powered. I was able to mount it using some strong double-sided foam tape and one of the two screws used to hold the laser emitter in place.¹

Getting the ismartgate LITE added to HomeKit was very simple, but it serves as a reminder that Apple doesn’t ship near enough icons to choose from in the Home app. Visually, it and my garage door look the same, which is a bit annoying.

Also annoying is how Siri treats the names of rooms and accessories. I put the “Garage Door” in a room called “Garage” in HomeKit. That worked really well until I added the “Gate” to the same room. Then, Siri wanted me to clarify what I meant when I said “Open the garage door.” Until I can dive into that further, I’ve moved the gate into its own room.

That hiccup aside, I’ve been really happy with my two recent HomeKit additions. In both cases, a relatively cheap accessory — that can be easily uninstalled — has made life just a little bit nicer here at the Hackett house.

There are several things in this new article that jumped out at me. Up first, is how different phones will treat Live Activities:

In addition to displaying a Live Activity on the Lock Screen, devices that support Live Activities can display your app information in different ways, depending on whether the device also supports the Dynamic Island.

• On devices that support the Dynamic Island, the system displays Live Activities in a persistent location around the TrueDepth camera.
• On devices that don’t support the Dynamic Island, the system can display a Live Activity update in a banner that appears briefly while people view the Home Screen or use another app, but only if the app determines that the update is important enough to interrupt people.

Apple also has some guidance about what sorts of information should be shown in Live Activities. For example, developers should not show sensitive data in these UI elements, and should give users full control over starting and stopping Live Activity events.

People have joked about ads showing up in Live Activities, which Apple also addresses:

Avoid using a Live Activity to display ads or promotions. Live Activities help people stay informed about ongoing events and tasks, so it’s important to display only information that’s related to those events and tasks.

I won’t lie — I wish that language was stronger.

Hello! It’s been a busy month around here with Relay FM’s annual fundraiser for St. Jude, but that is winding down this week, and I’m back in calendar land!

Over the last few weeks, I’ve made some significant progress:

• The stickers have been all packed! Big thanks to Myke and Adina for helping while they were in Memphis a couple of weeks ago.
• The 4x6 prints are here, and packing of those is underway now.
• I am receiving the final calendar proof from the printer today and should give them the green light for production in the coming days!

As mentioned in a previous update, I am using BackerKit to handle fulfillment and additional orders. Currently, there are 71 of you who have not filled out your survey. You should have a PM from me on Kickstarter with a link. If you haven’t received a link to your survey, please get in touch.

If you missed the Kickstarter or know someone who did, pre-orders can be placed online now!

This week on MPU, Alex Cox drops by the show to update Stephen and David on their new indie life, including Apple silicon hardware, collaboration tools and the new iPhone 14 Pro.

Apple:

The most rugged and capable Apple Watch yet, Apple Watch Ultra can provide the information you need during a hike, run, or dive; make interactions easy with a single press of the Action button; help maintain your night vision when you’re active after hours; and emit a loud pulsing sound if you need help.

I haven’t needed any of the EXTREME features yet, but the Apple Watch Ultra marks the first time in a long time where people have come to ask me “Is that the new one?” while pointing at an Apple product in my possession.

Since 2002, Rogue Amoeba has been making amazing audio apps for the Mac. Whether you’re a podcaster, musician, or just someone who listens to audio on their Mac, Rogue Amoeba can make your life better. Whatever your audio needs, it’s a good bet they have a tool to help you. And right now, for a very limited time, you can save 20% off any purchase.

Rogue Amoeba’s product line-up includes:

• Audio Hijack: Record any audio you hear on your Mac, and so much more.

• Loopback: Get ridiculously powerful audio routing to pass audio from one application to another, without needing cables or mixers.

• SoundSource: It’s the sound control that should be built into macOS, with per-app volume and output control, audio effects on any audio, and fast audio device switching.

There’s also Airfoil (home audio streaming), Farrago (the Mac’s best soundboard app), Fission (fast and lossless audio editing), and Piezo (charmingly simple audio recording).

Free fully-featured trials are available for all these products, right from MacAudio.com. Better still, in celebration of 20 years in business, Rogue Amoeba is offering a very rare sale. If you buy before October, you’ll save 20% off every purchase from Rogue Amoeba.

You don’t need any coupon codes or special URLs, but act fast. Visit MacAudio.com before the end of September to save. You’ll be glad you did.

Jeremy Reimer has kicked off a new series on Ars Technica about the history of ARM. If this initial entry is anything to go by, it’s going to be a great read.

DC Rainmaker has tried on all of the Apple Watch Ultra bands and some of the details are really interesting. Mine is coming with the orange Alpine Loop, but I think a black/gray/orange Trail Loop could be me in my future.

Don’t miss Rainmaker’s review of the Apple Watch Ultra itself.

I can’t think of a stranger pair of bugs than the copy/paste panel and shaking camera issues that this update addresses.