Steve Troughton-Smith Uncovers Next iPhone in HomePod Firmware Bundle

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Well, this is very interesting. Apple software wizard Steve Troughton-Smith spent some time digging though a firmware download for HomePod. In it is some information about Face ID, a rumored feature of the next iPhone:

Dubbed Pearl ID, this technology will use infrared to unlock an iPhone when a known face is detected.

Also in the firmware was a graphic depicting the new design of this phone:

Whoops.

Not everyone is excited about this as I am, it seems:

RSS Sponsor: Balance for Mac ⇢

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Balance is a powerful menubar app for your money built by a team from Apple, Stripe and Ethereum. It was featured in the U.S. Mac App Store when it launched in February.

Securely connect to your accounts

Balance uses Plaid.com, the best API for securely accessing your financial data. It gives the app a read-only token to access your account history.

Quickly check your balances

With one click or keyboard shortcut you can pop open Balance and check all of your accounts. Lock the app with a password or TouchID.

Speedily search through your transactions

As a native app with local data storage, Balance is super fast. Quickly search through all of your downloaded transactions with powerful filters.

Powerful notification engine

Balance is Hazel for money. You can create rules to trigger useful notifications to help you stay on top of your finances.

One subscription, coming to all of Apple’s platforms

The basic plan starts at $4.99 / month. Balance is launching on iOS and watchOS later this year, and is also building a full windowed app for macOS. Early customers will get access to betas for all of these.

Check out Balance on the U.S. Mac App Store today. International support is planned for later this year.

FlightLogger ⇢

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My thanks to FlightLogger for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week.

With FlightLogger, you can get real-time flight tracking for updates on departure and arrival times, delays, cancellations, gate and baggage claim information.

Add your flights on your iPhone and your flight information will be automatically synced to your iPad and Apple Watch all with an easy-to-use and clutter-free interface.

It’s a free download on the iOS App Store.

On GarageBand’s Potential for Podcasters ⇢

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Dan Moren, writing at Macworld:

Apple clearly still intends GarageBand to be primarily aimed at musicians; that’s understandable, given the company’s deep roots in the music business. But I wish it would spend a little more time considering those of us who edit non-music audio, because there are some changes that would definitely improve our lives.

It would be great if GarageBand had a podcasting-centric set of tools that would make creating content easier. I use Logic because GarageBand didn’t offer everything I need, but it’s crazy how much overkill I have to live with because of that choice.

Apple is getting serious about podcasting again on the consumption end; it should revisit the production side as well.

MacPaw Acquires The Unarchiver ⇢

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The Unarchiver is one of those macOS utilities that every power user should have on their machine. It can unpack just about any archived file you can come across, doing far more than Finder can on its own.

The free app has been rather stagnant over the last few years, but that is going to be changing, as MacPaw has purchased the application:

When MacPaw team found out that [the developer] has no time whatsoever to work on the app, we swooped in and seized the amazing opportunity: to keep The Unarchiver alive for the users. Since millions of people love it and rely on it, it would be truly sad to leave the app with no support for the future OS or with no design updates.

MacPaw developers hope to not only maintain, but improve the The Unarchiver. We plan a major facelift and a couple of new features. The app is going to get prettier and we’ll keep it updated for the upcoming macOS. Naturally, it will always stay free for all users.

I was thrilled to read this; The Unarchiver is in good hands.

Apple Removes iPod nano and iPod shuffle From Sale

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The iPod world has ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, as apple.com/ipod now redirects to apple.com/ipod-touch. Both of the smaller music players were there just a few days ago.

Apple hasn’t published a press release on its website, but issued a statement to the press:

Today, we are simplifying our iPod lineup with two models of iPod touch now with double the capacity starting at just $199 and we are discontinuing the iPod shuffle and iPod nano.

This, of course, should not be a surprise to anyone. The iPod nano was last updated in September 2012, when it gained a weird iOS 6-like interface without actually running iOS 6.

The story of the Shuffle is even sadder. The tiny music player was last revised in September 2010. Out of the two, however, I figured the Nano would go first. The Shuffle — with its built-in clip and easy-to-use controls — is great for running and biking.

However, time marches on. The iPod was simply absorbed by the iPhone, and to a lesser degree, the Apple Watch, not to mention Spotify and Apple Music.

Most people probably didn’t even know they were still for sale.

The iPod touch remains. With its 10th anniversary just a few months away, I wonder how long it has left. In July 2015, Apple gave it the A8 processor from the iPhone 6, along with better cameras and increased storage capacity. The Touch’s pricing and capacities were adjusted today, but the product saw no other changes.

With the iPad mini fading into the background, will the 4-inch iPod touch enjoy a renaissance? History says no, and the footer on Apple’s website isn’t too encouraging, either.

The iPod nano and iPod shuffle saw many changes over the years, and were well-loved, but their time has come to an end.

Farewell, friends.

When it Comes to Solar Eclipse Glasses, The Brand Matters ⇢

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Loren Grush:

On August 21st, a total solar eclipse will pass through the continental United States — traveling from the coasts of Oregon to South Carolina. It’s going to be an incredible sight, but the only way to watch it safely is to view the Sun with special solar filter glasses that block out the majority of the Sun’s light. Only certain solar filter glasses sold online have been properly certified.

A quick search of solar filter glasses on Amazon will pull up hundreds of companies selling products for safely viewing the eclipse. Many of the glasses are sponsored or recommended by Amazon, and claim to have been certified for safely viewing the Sun. However, some of the vendors being featured on Amazon’s website are allegedly selling counterfeit products, and it’s hard to tell which ones are legitimate.

Buying the wrong glasses may save you a bit of money, but will turn your eyeballs into lava, and then dust.1

NASA has a eclipse safety page you should review. These are the brands that are recoomended to buy:

Glasses from these companies will have the manufacturer’s name and address printed on the glasses, in addition to a note saying they meet the ISO 12312-2 certification.

  1. Sorry for using medical jargon here. I couldn’t find a way around it. ↩

Adobe to End Flash Distribution in 2020 ⇢

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Adobe:

Where we’ve seen a need to push content and interactivity forward, we’ve innovated to meet those needs. Where a format didn’t exist, we invented one – such as with Flash and Shockwave.1 And over time, as the web evolved, these new formats were adopted by the community, in some cases formed the basis for open standards, and became an essential part of the web.

But as open standards like HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly have matured over the past several years, most now provide many of the capabilities and functionalities that plugins pioneered and have become a viable alternative for content on the web. Over time, we’ve seen helper apps evolve to become plugins, and more recently, have seen many of these plugin capabilities get incorporated into open web standards. Today, most browser vendors are integrating capabilities once provided by plugins directly into browsers and deprecating plugins.

Last to the party, Adobe is now saying that thanks to these technologies, they are pulling the plug on Flash in 2020. Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla have related announcements as well.

Ahem.

  1. Editor’s Note: Flash and Shockwave started life at Macromedia. ↩

Kbase Article of the Week: Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors), Power Mac G4 (FW 800): Power Button May Require Firm Push ⇢

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This article comes with a photo:

Symptom:
Some Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) and Power Mac G4 (FW 800) computers’ power buttons may require a firm push.

Solution:
As a workaround, press the power button in its upper left quadrant to turn on the computer. The activator is directly behind this area.

Here’s the masterpiece, which is labeled “Where to press power button.”

Countdown ⇢

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Countdown is a new podcast from Time recounting some of the most dangerous missions in crewed space flight history. The first episode is about the Lunar Module mishap that could have turned tragic back on Apollo 10. The episode is well produced and short, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

RSS Sponsor: FlightLogger ⇢

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Traveling has never been this easy. Now, you can search and save your flights, get up-to-date notifications on any changes, share your travel coordinates with friends and family, and much more — all from one easy-to-use app.

Get real-time flight tracking for updates on departure and arrival times, delays, cancellations, gate and baggage claim information.

Available on all your devices: Add your flights on your iPhone and your flight information will be automatically synced to your iPad and Apple Watch all with an easy-to-use and clutter-free interface.

Get FlightLogger as a free download on the App Store today.