This week on The CultCast: Live in the home of the future, today! We’ll tell you how with iOS 11’s huge improvements in the Home app and HomeKit. Plus: There’s a new Apple ID phishing scam you need to know about; there’s been a disappointing development with Apple’s AR glasses; we have to talk about the hundreds of new emoji coming at you in iOS 11.1; and we’ve got a svelte iPhone 8 case, a MacBook Pro sleeve made from real sheep, and a new power brick that’ll charge your MacBook, iPhone, Nintendo Switch — everything!— in an all-new Under Review.
Episode
CultCast #305 – How HomeKit got SUPERCHARGED in iOS 11
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This week’s stories
Why you shouldn’t trust Apple ID prompts in third-party apps
- A savvy developer named Felix Krause has discovered it is shockingly easy for an iOS app developer to phish your Apple ID and password with a fake authentication prompt that looks exactly the a real one.
- He posted pictures of a real and fake prompt this week and they look identical.
- Worse, developers can add this code after their app has been approved by Apple.
- How to tell the difference:
- The app will close and the popup will disappear with it. This means it was a phishing attempt.
- The app and popup remain on screen. This means it is a genuine system dialog and can be trusted.
Apple is now selling its latest MacBook Pro at a discount
- Apple has updated its online Apple store to start offering refurbished 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar, marking the first time this year’s Touch Bar-equipped models have been available to buy refurbished.
- Apple typically sells refurbished models for around 15 percent off the full retail price
Apple CEO Tim Cook: Technology Doesn’t Exist to do AR Smart Glasses ‘In a Quality Way’
- Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for a wide ranging interview with The Independent
- When questioned about the topic, he said the technology to create a pair of augmented reality smart glasses “in a quality way” does not exist today.
- “But today I can tell you the technology itself doesn’t exist to do that in a quality way. The display technology required, as well as putting enough stuff around your face – there’s huge challenges with that.
- “The field of view, the quality of the display itself, it’s not there yet.”
- “We want to be the best and give people a great experience,” he said. “But now anything you would see on the market any time soon would not be something any of us would be satisfied with. Nor do I think the vast majority of people would be satisfied.”
Apple drops iOS 11.1 beta 2 with dozens new emoji
- Apple unleashed hundreds of new emoji on developers today with the release of iOS 11.1 beta 2.
- The new emoji also have new faces, clothes, sports, food, dinosaurs and other mystical characters.
- Monocle face
- Mind blow face
- Mer-people
- Wizards
- Draculas
- Chinese food takeout container
- Elves, fairies, genie
- Dinosaurs
Inside iOS 11: HomeKit gains multi-person geofencing, conditional triggers
- HomeKit and the Home app will boggle your gourd. They’re WAY more powerful now that in iOS 10.
- Multi-person geofencing. Actions can be triggered when one person comes or goes, or when a group of people in the same HomeKit group does.
- Turn on lights when first person gets home
- Turn off heat when last person leaves
- Support for conditional triggers
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- Lighting will come on with someone comes home, but only after sunset
- AC will turn on when someone comes home, but only if the temperature is above a threshold that you set.
- Airplay 2 speakers are now supported, so you could set your speakers to start playing music in the morning or when you get home.
- Time-based event triggers (i.e. turn the lights off at 5:30, or turn them on 30 minutes after sunrise)
- Day of the week reoccurrence, so you can set things differently for different days of the way, or on the weekends
- Home occupancy gate (i.e. only run something if you’re at home)
- Timers (auto off after 1-60 minutes)
Now you can control sprinklers, faucets, and Airplay 2 speakers in addition to:
- security devices
- garage doors
- fans
- lights
- outlets
- air purifiers
- locks
- humidifiers
- doorbells
- cameras
- air conditioners
- window shades
- and thermostats
Under review