Castro is Having Another Very Bad Time

⌘ Permalink

The Castro podcast app is currently experiencing another extended outage. It started over the weekend, when entire castro.fm domain seemed to disappear, bringing the app, company website and email all down.

After a couple of days of no communication from Tiny (who bought Castro in 2018), the app’s X account tweeted today:

Hello Castro Users!

We are having issues with our DNS on Digital Ocean. We have been working over the weekend to fix it. We will be back shortly.

Thank you for your patience ????

“Working over the weekend” should have included updating paying customers as to what was going on. Instead, the company was silent — yet again — as people wondered about the future of the app.

I hate it to say it, but I have very little confidence that Tiny knows what it’s doing with Castro, or even cares that much about it.

Sponsor: Magic Lasso Adblock: 2.0x Faster Web Browsing in Safari ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Want to experience twice as fast load times in Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac?

Then download Magic Lasso Adblock – the ad blocker designed for you. It’s easy to set up, blocks all YouTube ads, and doubles the speed at which Safari loads.

Magic Lasso Adblock is an efficient and high performance ad blocker for your iPhone, iPad and Mac. It simply and easily blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances in Safari. Just enable to browse in bliss.

Magic Lasso Adblock

By cutting down on ads and trackers, common news websites load 2x faster and use less data.

Over 280,000+ users rely on Magic Lasso Adblock to:

  • Improve their privacy and security by removing ad trackers
  • Block over 10 types of YouTube ads, including pre-roll video ads
  • Double battery life during heavy web browsing
  • Lower data usage when on the go

And unlike some other ad blockers, Magic Lasso Adblock respects your privacy, doesn’t accept payment from advertisers and is 100% supported by its community of users.

Download Magic Lasso Adblock from the App Store, Mac App Store or via the Magic Lasso website.

Vision Pro Pre-Orders Open January 19, Ship February 2 ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Apple just blew CES out of the water:

Apple today announced Apple Vision Pro will be available beginning Friday, February 2, at all U.S. Apple Store locations and the U.S. Apple Store online. Vision Pro is a revolutionary spatial computer that transforms how people work, collaborate, connect, relive memories, and enjoy entertainment. Vision Pro seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world and unlocks powerful spatial experiences in visionOS, controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice. An all-new App Store provides users with access to more than 1 million compatible apps across iOS and iPadOS, as well as new experiences that take advantage of the unique capabilities of Vision Pro. Pre-orders for Apple Vision Pro begin Friday, January 19, at 5 a.m. PST.

“The era of spatial computing has arrived,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple Vision Pro is the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created. Its revolutionary and magical user interface will redefine how we connect, create, and explore.”

Beyond the dates — which are a little earlier than I assumed they would be — there’s not a lot of new information in this press release in terms of specs or features, but we now know more about the straps and what will come in the box:

Apple Vision Pro comes with a Solo Knit Band and Dual Loop Band — giving users two options for the fit that works best for them. Apple Vision Pro also includes a Light Seal, two Light Seal Cushions, an Apple Vision Pro Cover for the front of the device, Polishing Cloth, Battery, USB-C Charge Cable, and USB-C Power Adapter.

That Dual Loop Band includes a strap that goes over the user’s head:

Dual Loop Band

The $3,499 models comes with 256 GB of storage. It’s unknown what models may exist above the base, but I’m a little disappointed that 256 GB is the entry point. I think people are going to want a lot of local media on these things.

Apple has also provided details concerning prescription lenses. Reading lenses will be will be $99 and prescription lenses will be $149. The optical inserts are only online, so have your prescription handy, I suppose.

While I have been a bit on the fence about this product for myself personally, I am excited to get my hands (eyes?) on one.

PSA: iOS 17.3 Beta 2 is Putting Some iPhones into a Boot Loop (Updated) ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Federico, over on Mastodon:

Based on what I’m reading here, on Reddit, and some Discords, you do NOT want to install iOS 17.3 beta 2 on iPhones. Mine is bricked and I’m going to have to erase and do a full restore.

iPads seem to be updating fine.

As Chance Miller notes, this is the best kind of bug — seemingly random:

There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason as to which iPhone models are affected by this problem. We’ve seen reports from iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users alike. On the other hand, some people have been able to update with no problem.

Update: It looks like the Back Tap is the culprit.

Update 2: The update has been pulled for now.

Apple Appeals U.S. Watch Ban ⇢

⌘ Permalink

December 25 has come and gone, and the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are still not for sale in the United States. As Ariel Shapiro reports, things are moving on to the next step:

Apple has filed an appeal to the International Trade Commission’s decision to ban U.S. sales of Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 models, court records show. Additionally, the company is requesting an emergency stay on the ban for at least two weeks until a decision is made on redesigned versions of the banned models.

“We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible,” Apple said in a statement to Reuters on Tuesday. Apple did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.