Summer is coming to a close and fall is rapidly approaching. August was a bit heavier listening as compared to the last couple of months. In August I listened to 14 books, most are repeat listens.

I only listened to a single new book last month and that is the book I want to highlight. The book is titled "How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes" by Cody Cassidy. Here is the description of the book:

A detailed guide to surviving history’s most challenging threats, from outrunning dinosaurs to making it off the Titanic alive

History is the most dangerous place on earth. From dinosaurs the size of locomotives to meteors big enough to sterilize the planet, from famines to pandemics, from tornadoes to the Chicxulub asteroid, the odds of human survival are slim but not zero—at least, not if you know where to go and what to do.

In each chapter of How to Survive History, Cody Cassidy explores how to survive one of history’s greatest threats: getting eaten by dinosaurs, being destroyed by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, succumbing to the lava flows of Pompeii, being devoured by the Donner Party, drowning during the sinking of the Titanic, falling prey to the Black Death, and more. Using hindsight and modern science to estimate everything from how fast you’d need to run to outpace a T. rex to the advantages of different body types in surviving the Donner Party tragedy, Cassidy gives you a detailed battle plan for survival, helping you learn about the era at the same time.

History may be the most dangerous place on earth, but that doesn’t mean you can’t visit. You can, and you should. And with a copy of How to Survive History in your back pocket, you just might make it out alive.

This was a good book that provides some plausible methods for actually surviving some of the worst disasters in history. It is both entertaining as well as informative. It seems like a topic that could be dull, but it is not.

Note: the links below contain affiliate codes where I get a small commission if you purchase something.

Previous Reading Lists

Today Apple has announced that they will be streaming their September Event. It will be at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023. The event will be live streamed from Apple Park.

As you might have realized, I do not usually post rumors, but it is expected that Apple will announce the next iPhone, iPhone Pro, Apple Watch, as well as the release date for the corresponding operating systems.

I will post a recap of what Apple announces after the event. I will also be posting my hopes before the event.

Today I have released an update for my app wwriteLite. This is a minor update.

Tweaks

• Removes twitter as a support option.
• Requires iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, or macOS 13.4.

You can download the update for free using the App Store on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. If you have not yet downloaded the app, it is a free app and available on the App Store. You can view additional information on the app's website.

July is now over and we are in the midst of summer. July was an even lighter listening month than June. I managed to listened to 8 titles, but three of those were books that totaled more than 98 hours.

Unlike last month three of the titles I listened to was a new one. The new title I listened to is the one that I want to highlight for the month. The new book that I read is called "The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II" by Denise Kiernan. Here is the description of the book:

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not appear on any map. Thousands of civilians, many of them young women from small towns across the U.S., were recruited to this secret city, enticed by the promise of solid wages and war-ending work. What were they actually doing there? Very few knew. The purpose of this mysterious government project was kept a secret from the outside world and from the majority of the residents themselves. Some wondered why, despite the constant work and round-the-clock activity in this makeshift town, did no tangible product of any kind ever seem to leave its guarded gates? The women who kept this town running would find out at the end of the war, when Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed and changed the world forever.

Drawing from the voices and experiences of the women who lived and worked in Oak Ridge, The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of World War II from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage.

This was a good book that provides a history of what occurred in Oakridge Tennessee during World War II. Many know that work was done to help bulid the atomic bombs in Oakridge, but they may not know the specifics. This book does shed some more light on what life was like during that time.

I am not sure how many titles I will end up listening to in August. The new title that was expected to be released at the end of July has been delayed yet again. So, it will be a while before I get to listen to that one.

Note: the links below contain affiliate codes where I get a small commission if you purchase something.

Previous Reading Lists

Music streaming services like Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Spotify, offer a benefit for being able to listen to just about any song anywhere you are. Through the "Made For You" playlists on Apple Music or the "Discover Weekly" playlists on Spotify, you can be introduced to songs that you were not previously aware of. While these are not perfect at predicting what you may want, they can provide you some new music selections.

After you have been using a streaming music service it is quite easy to become complacent and think that the music in your library will always be around, but this definitely not the case. Back in January of 2020 I wrote about a downside to streaming media. In that article I made an argument that you should purchase media that you want to be able to watch at almost any point. This is because media can be removed from a streaming service at any point, for any reason, and without any warning.

In the last week I noticed that two songs are no longer available for streaming. The two specific titles are "It Runs in the Family" by Zandi Holup and "Nicotine and Gasoline" by Nate Moran. The only reason that I noticed that any song was not available was because I wanted to play "It Runs in the Family" by Zandi Holup and that is when I noticed it was "No Longer Available". I did not notice this before because once an item is no longer available it is simply skipped while shuffling.

Since that song was no longer available I went and did some searching and I happen to come across Zandi's TikTok channel where someone asked why the song was pulled from Apple Music. Zandi replied "It is being re recorded !!", so for that one I will just have wait until it is available again.

This is not the first time that I have had a song no longer be available. The impetus for me writing the 2020 article was a similar situation, but that was with the song "Never Told a Lie" by Noah Smith.

Now, I have quite a few playlists, in fact I have 230 different playlists, 31 Smart Playlists and 199 Standard Playlists. A number of these are the monthly music playlists that are on my Playlists page. I have monthly music playlists going back to 2014. This week I created a new Smart Playlist titled "Apple Music - No Longer Available". This playlist has a single rule that is: Cloud Status is 'No Longer Available'.

This new playlist will automatically update with any songs that are no longer available. When I created the playlist it originally showed 8 songs. One of the songs I had was a single titled "Springsteen (Live at Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, UT, March 25, 2017)" by Eric Church. That song was available on another album, so I removed that from my library entirely. The other songs in this playlist are just no longer available, but I am not concerned about those songs.

Because these songs were no longer available, it prompted me to go and purchase a slew of songs, 60 songs to be exact. The songs that I purchased are ones that I would absolutely want to listen if they were pulled from Apple Music. The only reason I knew about any of these songs is due to two other playlists that I have called "Apple Music to Buy" and "Apple Music to Buy Soon". These have different thresholds.

The "Apple Music to Buy" Smart Playlist has two criteria, "Cloud Status is Apple Music" and "Plays is greater than 99". The "Apple Music to Buy Soon" smart playlist has the criteria of "Cloud Status is Apple Music" and "Plays is in the range 50 to 99". Just because items are on these lists does not mean that I will buy them, but it providess me an easy means of being able to see the Apple Music that I have played most often.

Songs are not the only thing that can go away, it is quite common for tv shows and movies to be removed from streaming services. Since you are merely being granted access to the media, remember that it can go away at any point and if you really want to be able to watch it in the future, be sure to purchase it, if it all possible.

Since 2012 I have been publishing a set of books each year for Apple's new operating systems. Since 2021 I have written a single book that covers the new features for all of Apple's operating systems. I again have written another book for this year and this year's book is macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10 for Users and Developers.

This year is a bit different for the book. There is only one digital version and it is available from Apple. Just as with previous years, there is no digital rights management (DRM) on the book. Therefore, you can use read the ePub on any compatible device.

Apple continues its cadence of yearly releases for its operating systems. macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10 are chockful of features.

Widgets are becoming na increasingly important part of Apple's entire ecosystem. Widgets come to new places on all of Apple's platforms, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS. Widgets are now available on the Lock Screen of the iPad and on the desktop of macOS Sonoma. Health continues to be a big focus with a few new features like Time in Daylight, Screen Distance, State of Mind logging, and a new Journal app.

watchOS 10 is a big release with new interaction methods, a new design language, full screen backgrounds, and a couple of new watch faces, Palette and Snoopy & Woodstock. If you a cyclist, there are some new enhancements just for you, like Bluetooth sensor connectivity and a Live Activity on your iPhone while cycling.

Developers get a bunch of new features as well, like Swift Macros, which power features like SwiftData, a new @Model macro, improvements to both Xcode and Documenation Catalogs, and even some additional Swift Packages, including Foundation. Beyond this there is a new Push Notification Console for developers to test and debug their push notifications, which includes some generation and validation tools.

These are just some of the topics covered in macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10 for Users and Developers. There is bound to something for everyone, no matter what your level of expertise.

You can pre-order the book from Apple Books. The price for the book is $4.99. It is available for pre-order today and will be released when iOS 17 is released.

June has just finished and we are now into summer. June was a lighter listening month and I managed to listened to 10 titles. Just like last month one of the items I listened to was a new title. The new title I listened to is the one that I want to highlight for the month. The new book that I read is called "D-Day with the Screaming Eagles" by George Koskimaki. Here is the description of the book:

Many professional historians have recorded the actions of D-Day but here is an account of the airborne actions as described by the actual men themselves, in eyewitness detail. Participants range from division command personnel to regimental, battalion, company, and battery commanders, to chaplains, surgeons, enlisted medics, platoon sergeants, squad leaders and the rough, tough troopers who adapted quickly to fighting in mixed, unfamiliar groups after a badly scattered drop. And yet they managed to gain the objectives set for them in the hedgerow country of Normandy.

This book is primary source material. It is a “must read” for anyone interested in the Normandy landings, the 101st Airborne Division, and World War II in general. Hearing the soldiers speak is an entirely different experience from reading about the action in a narrative history.

This was an interesting book that provides some more context and detail to what happened on June 6th, 1944. The book was originally published in 1969 means that many of those discussed in the book were alive and were able to provide their first hand account of their experiences. If you are a fan of the "Band of Brothers" miniseries, it is definitley worth reading.

I am not sure how many titles I will end up listening to in July. There is one new title that I have pre-ordered, but it has been delayed multiple times now, and it is released at the end of the month, so time will tell how much I end up listening to.

Note: the links below contain affiliate codes where I get a small commission if you purchase something.

Previous Reading Lists

Today Apple held its annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote. As expected they announced all of the new operating systems as well as some new hardware. iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 Sonoma, were all covered and each of them included a bunch of new features.

Macs

Apple announced three new Macs today, a MacBook Air, a Mac Studio, and the Mac Pro. Let us start with the 15-inch MacBook Air.

15-inch MacBook Air

The 15-inch MacBook Air is very similar to the 13.6-inch model, in that it has an options for an 8-Core M2 chip with either 8 or 10 GPU cores, a Liquid Retina display, P3 Color gamut, and True Tone on the display. It has 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports. It has a 15.3-inch screen, with 500 nits of brightness.

According to Apple, it it s 12x faster than the latest Intel-based MacBook Air and it comes with 18 hours of battery life. You can configure it up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage.

The 15-inch MacBook Air will be available to order it today and will start shipping next week. The 15-inch MacBook Air starts at $1299 for the 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU with 8GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage. As a side note, the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air is now starts $1099 for the 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU with 8GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage.

Mac Studio with M2 Max and M2 Ultra

The Mac Studio is Apple’s latest desktop Mac and it has been popular amongst users who need the additional power of the M1 Max and M1 Ultra. The Mac Studio is a great way of being able to have the connectivity that you need given the myriad of ports on the back of the device.

The hardware has now been updated with the M2 Max and M2 Ultra. The M2 Max is the same one that comes in the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro, so it has either a 12-core CPU, and 30-Core GPU. The M2 Ultra is double that of the M2 Max, so it has a 24-Core CPU and a 76-Core GPU. The M2 Ultra is capable of streaming 22 8K streams simultaneously, so it is a beefy powerhouse. The M2 Max also includes a 32-core Neural Engine and can support up to 192 GB of memory.

The M2 Ultra now supports up to 6 Pro Display XDR connected to a single Mac Studio with M2 Ultra, if you need that much screen real estate. On either of the models, you can configure up to 8TB of internal storage.

The Mac Studio with M2 Max is available for order today and will start shipping next week. The starting price is $1999. The Mac Studio with M2 Ultra is also available to order today and will begin shipping next week. The starting price for the Mac Studio with M2 Ultra, 64GB of memory, and 512GB SSD, and 1TB of storage is $3999.

Mac Pro

Mac Pro with Apple Silicon it combines the Apple Silicon with PCI expansion. All Mac Pro comes with M2 Ultra. This is the 24-Core CPU, 60-Core GPU, and 32-core Neural engine.

The Mac Pro with Apple Silicon comes with the performance of 7 afterburner cards, and it can unjust 24, 4K camera feeds and render them in real-time. There are also 8 thunderbolt 4 ports, six on the back and 2 on the top. There are six open PCI slots that support generation 4 PCI. This allows you to expand your Mac Pro as needed.

The Mac Pro with Apple Silicon starts at $6999, for the 24-Core CPU, 60-Core GPU, and 32-core Neural engine, and 1TB of internal storage . It can be ordered today and will start arriving next week.

iOS 17 and iPadOS 17

iOS 17 brings a few new features that will help you communicate in new ways through a feature called Contact Cards. Contact Cards are a way of allowing you to personalize your own card that will show up when you call someone. You can customize the photo, font size, font weight, and even the font color. You can choose to use a Memoji instead of a photo if desired.

Along with a personal contact card, you will also be able to see a live transcription of voicemails that are left for you, and if it is a time sensitive item, you can answer the call right from the Lock Screen. One thing that is coming to FaceTime is the ability to leave a voicemail message, so they will see that you contacted them.

Messages is getting some enhancements to its search by adding the ability to filter messages using advanced filtering.

The iPhone also gets a new “Standby” mode. When you put your iPhone in landscape mode, a new layout will appear. This layout will allow you to easily see the items that you need to see, depending on location, and time of day. This is powered by widgets, so you can see upcoming calendar events, photos, and more. StandBy will also support live activities. StandBy will be useful on a nightstand by changing the font to be red, so it will not interfere with your sleep.

There have been some improvements to both dictation and auto-correct. They will now use on-device learning to be able to more accurately predict what you want to type next.

There is one last new feature to highlight, called “Check In”. Check In will allow you to automatically notify family and friends when you get home. This is done within Messages and if you are running late, you can also extend time.

iPadOS 17

iPadOS 17 is getting some new features of its own, like the Lock Screen, Interactive Widgets, PDF improvements, and the Health App.

With iOS 16 the iPhone received a way to be able to customize the Lock Screen, including photos, fonts, and colors, and you could even include some widgets. This year the iPad gets the same features, including the ability to add more widgets along the left-side of the iPad. This makes sense given the larger real estate on an iPad. Along with the Lock Screen customizations, widgets also get some improvements.

Widgets can now be interactive, so this means that you can tap on a task and have it be completed, or you can tap on a Smart Light and have it turn on or off. This is a great enhancement that many users have been waiting for a while. Interactive widgets are available on both iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

There is a huge improvement to PDF support within Notes. You can now add multiple PDFs to a note, annotate PDFs, and even collaborate on PDFs. All of the collaboration is real-time so if someone else makes they will be reflected on your copy.

The iPad is now getting the Health app, so you can now view everything within the Health app across iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. To go with health, there is a focus on mental health, including the ability to provide context for your mood and you can gain some insights with what is adding to your current feelings.

There is also a new “Journal” app that will allow you to provide additional information about moments in your life. There are also intelligent suggestions for things like podcasts, music, photos, contacts, and photos, among other sources of information.

watchOS 10

watchOS is getting a redesign with a focus on glanceable information through the use of stacks of information. You can quickly glance at a variety of information by swiping as you would on stacks within widgets.

Activity will now show you a full-screen view of your information for standing, exercise, and calories burned. If you are a cyclist, you now have dedicated

There are two new watch faces, Palette, which is a three layers of color to provide you the time. The second watch face features Snoopy and Woodstock and this watch face can provide various appearances depending on time of day and current weather.

For those who like to hike, there are a few new features including two waypoints, Cellular Connectivity, and SOS. The Cellular Connectivity waypoint will show you where you are able to get cellular connectivity should you need to call someone. At the same time, the SOS waypoint will show you where you can make an emergency call. Along with this, you can now see elevations and contour lines within maps, so you can more easily see how difficult your hike will be.

macOS Sonoma

macOS is a mature operating system and this year’s release of macOS Sonoma (macOS 14) is getting a few features including changes to Safari, widget enhancements, screensavers. For the screensavers you will be able to download screensavers similar to those on the Apple TV. These will also show when the Mac is locked.

Safari is seeing some new features like profiles. Profiles will allow you to keep work, school, and standard separate. When you enable profiles you will have separate cookies, tab groups, and favorites. What this means is that you can log into the same website on two different windows. One of these could be on a user account or another could be on an administrator account.

The last big feature to highlight is Interactive Widgets. Widgets are now on macOS Sonoma and they are no longer limited to the Notification Center, they can now be placed on the desktop. Widgets do not get in the way, they will stay in the background and the tint will dim their background and the widget will still be visible no matter of the background color. Widgets on macOS Sonoma will also allow you to use iPhone widgets on your Mac, provided the iPhone is nearby or on the same Wi-Fi network.

The last item to cover is the biggest announcement, the Vision Pro Headset

Vision Pro Headset

It has been long rumored that Apple was working on a headset, and today they announced just that. Their product is called Apple Vision Pro. The Apple Vision Pro Headset is an all-new product category for Apple and the first product category since the AirPods in 2016. The Apple Vision Pro headset is designed to work well in a spatial environment. The Vision Pro Headset is designed to augment what you see by providing overlays of the apps that you are used to.

The Vision Pro Headset has a feature called “EyeSight”, which will allow others to easily see if the user is able to see them, or if they are fully immersed in what they are doing. As a user, you can adjust the size of any app window to the size that makes the most sense to you. This means that you can watch a video in a window that would be similar to that in a theater, or even just in a corner, so you can watch what you want and continue to perform work.

Given the 3D nature of the Vision Pro headset, you can record videos in 3D, and even play them back at a future date. The Vision Pro headset is powered by an all new operating system called visionOS. From Apple’s announcement:

visionOS features a brand-new three-dimensional interface that makes digital content look and feel present in a user’s physical world. By responding dynamically to natural light and casting shadows, it helps the user understand scale and distance. To enable user navigation and interaction with spatial content, Apple Vision Pro introduces an entirely new input system controlled by a person’s eyes, hands, and voice. Users can browse through apps by simply looking at them, tapping their fingers to select, flicking their wrist to scroll, or using voice to dictate.

Battery life on the Vision Pro Headset is two hours with the battery pack, or all day when plugged in. The Vision Pro Headset will be available in early 2024 and it will start at $3,499. It will be available in the United States only, via Apple.com and in Apple Retail stores. You can read more about the Vision Pro headset on Apple’s dedicated Apple Vision Pro headset page.

Closing Thoughts

The items outlined above are just a fraction of what was actually announced. I think a lot of the work this year went into the Vision Pro headset as well as visionOS that powers the Vision Pro. While we did get some great features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, with widgets. There is a lot more information in the actual Keynote, which you can watch on the Apple Special Events page.

Sources:

A few years ago Apple introduced the ability for a new type of application, content blockers. Content blockers are aptly named in that they will help you block content on the internet. The reason why you may want to block content can vary, and content blockers can help allow you to block exactly what you want to block.

The file format for the data for a content blocker is JSON. Each entry consists of two parts, a "trigger" and an "action".

Google has recently made a few new top-level domains, or TLDs, available for registration. The two problematic ones are ".zip", and ".mov". Bleeping Computer has a good write up on how these could be used in a malicious nature to trick users into visiting a site where they can get infected. The issue with these domains, as opposed to other domains, is that the ".zip" and ".mov" extensions are used as file type extensions and this could be the cause of confusion.

If you want to block a top level domain you can use the following code to block .zip domains, but still be able to download .zip files from other sites.

{
    "trigger": {
            "url-filter": ".*\.zip\/"
    },
    "action": {
        "type": "block",
    }
}

The reason that .zip domains are blocked, but files work is due to the " / " in the "url-filter". The ".zip" will match .zip domains. Domains will have a trailing forward slash, whereas files will not. The "url-filter" trigger above will match the trailing slash.

I am not sure how many people will do this, but I am providing the code should anyone want to block the .zip, or .mov top level domains.

For more information about content blockers be sure to check out Apple’s documentation site.

Apple has been on a yearly release cycle for their operating systems since 2011 when they released Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS 5. It was not confirmed until the following year. Each year there is a bunch of new features in each of the platforms. A few years ago I would do a prediction post, in hopes of being able to figure out what Apple might end up announcing. However, over the last couple of years I have changed this to be a wish list. I mad this change because Apple is a secretive company and it is easier to come up with a list of what I would like to see instead of trying to guess what Apple might do. With that, let us look at what I would like to see from Apple, starting with the Home App.

Home App

HomeKit was introduced within iOS 8 in 2014, and HomeKit is the framework that powers all of the actions that occur within Apple’s Home app, as well as with third-party apps. When HomeKit was introduced it was originally only available through third-party apps. And it was not until 2016 with the release of iOS 10 when the Home app was made available. Over the years HomeKit, and the Home app, have both seen significant improvements, including a completely redesign for the Home app with iOS 16/iPadOS, and macOS Ventura.

There is one change that I would like to see, and that is the ability to remove devices that have a status of "Not Responding" for a length of time. As an example, I have a message within the Home app that says:

"LIVING ROOM (2) Cannot connect to Living Room (2). Make sure it is powered on and connected to the Internet."

I do not have any devices named that, there is no item in my iCloud account named that and there is no way to remove the device at all. I think the Home app should have the ability to remove devices from within the app, without needing to go to iCloud. Removing a device from the Home app could possibly also remove it from an iCloud account at the same time. One possible down side is that this could end up being used maliciously. Malicious intent could be somewhat thwarted by requiring the owner of the iCloud account to to confirm that they want to remove it before it is actually removed through the Home app.

The second thing I would like to see is the ability to not allow speciic devices to be considered "Home Hubs" within the Home app. There are some devices, like an original Apple TV HD, that I would NEVER want to be a Home Hub, but due to not being able to limit home hubs, it is possible that it could become one, which could slow down responses with Siri. I know I mentioned this on my wish list last year, and it remains there because it is still not possible.

Both of these would be nice additions to HomeKit and the Home app.

HomePod

The HomePod is a great device for being able to interact with Siri, listen to music, and even use a single HomePod, or a pair of HomePods, as the default output on a TV that has an Apple TV connected. There is one HomePod specific feature that I would like to see. All HomePods use "private" addresses, meaning that when they are connected to a network they randomize the Machine Access Code (MAC) address that is used to uniquely identify the HomePod. This address can change at any time. When it does change, it requests a new IP address from your router and for most people this is not a problem. However, it can become problematic in some situations.

I would like to see an option, even if it is under an "Advanced Settings" section where this could be disabled on a HomePod, or even a setting within the Home app that disables it entirely for all devices. I do not expect Apple to provide this, but it would be a nice feature to have and I would not have to see the IP address pool on my router be depleted because the HomePod decides to change its MAC address.

One of the tasks that you can do with a HomePod is make requests of Apple’s voice assistant Siri, and I have some wish list items for that.

Siri

In the last six months there has been much talk about Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. While Apple is undoubtedly looking at seeing how they could improve Siri with a large language model, that is not what I am concerned about. Instead, my wish list item for Siri is when it is triggered.

Right now, there is an algorithm that makes a determination as to which devices should respond to a "Hey Siri" request. In theory this should be a HomePod most of the time, and other devices after that. However, I think this needs to be tweaked. If I have a pair of headphones on, and playing audio, and I say "Hey Siri", no other devices should respond, except for the one that my headphones are connected to.

The only exception to this would be if the headphones are in an orientation where they are laying on a surface and not actually on, or in, one’s ears. At that point, any device can respond. My experience is that the HomePod will ALWAYS respond, even if I want to skip to the next track on my headphones. This is rather annoying for those times when I cannot manually move to the next track because my hands are full.

It is situations like this that make me decide to not use Siri for requests because I cannot rely on it choosing I am currently using, like skipping a song, having just any device respond makes Siri effectively useless for voice requests.

iPadOS

Over the last few years Apple has position iPadOS as their own operating system by providing it with features that are exclusive to the iPad. This approach makes sense because some features are only possible on a larger screen. The most recent of these is Stage Manager, which is only available on larger iPads and the Mac. The iPad is not nearly as popular as the iPhone and when it comes to which platform receives feature first, iOS and the iPhone will always get new features first.

Last year with the release of iOS 16 Apple introduced widgets on the Lock Screen on the iPhone. I hope that these come to the iPad and include even larger widget options that would feel at home on the iPad, similar to the larger widgets that are available on the Home Screen. Alternatively, even just allowing more of them would be great. Along with Lock Screen widgets, I would also hope that there can be multiple lock screens that can be tied to a particular focus, just like on the iPhone. I suspect that we will get this year, but you never know because if it is not ready, then Apple will not release it.

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is a unique device as it initially wanted to be a replacement for your iPhone, but that is not what users have determined they want from the device. Now, the Apple Watch is primarily positioned as a health tracking and notification device. One of the health features that the Apple Watch can provide is a notification for when you have not performed your one minute of standing for the current hour. There are two things related to this that I would like to see.

The first is RELIABLE notifications when you have not stood. This seems to be hit or miss for me. Sometimes it will notify me, other times it will not. It is not reliable and therefore I end up not getting credit for my standing hour because it did not notify me. Obviously, if an Apple Watch is locked or not on your wrist, you will not notice the notification, but this happens to me when the Apple Watch is unlocked, charged, and on my wrist. So this needs to corrected. One other option is to have a simultaneous notification go to the paired iPhone, so someone would possibly be able to see this notification if they do not get the Apple Watch notification. However, I still think the reliability of notifications needs to happen.

The second thing that would be nice would be the ability to change when the notification occurs. Instead of being at 10 minutes to the hour, having the ability to set it to 15 minutes to the hour would be a nice feature to have. I doubt we will see anything like this.

iPhone

If you were to see me anywhere, it is not likely that you will see me more than 10 feet away from my iPhone at any point throughout the day. I use my iPhone for just about everything from playing games (although some are better on the iPad), sending messages via Messages, and listening to audio of some sort. Sometimes I have to take phone calls and when I do if there is audio that was playing before, particularly music, one of two things will happen.

Either the music will not continue after the phone call has ended, which is a small annoyance. The second thing that might happen is that the volume on the audio will shoot up to 100% where it ends up hurting my ears. Furthermore, the volume cannot be adjusted until after I disconnect my headphones and reconnect them.

There is no rhyme or reason why this happens, sometimes it is fine, other times it is not. Sometimes this happens when connected to my AirPods, other times it is with my Beats Solo Pros. Regardless of which device, it is very painful when the volume goes to 100% and not being able to change it is clearly a bug. This is the type of bug that Apple should always make sure never occurs.

Music

Music is a very personal thing to just about everybody who listens to music. This is because tastes in music can vary wildly between two people. Originally introduced on June 30th, 2015 the Apple Music subscription service has added new features like personalized playlists, radio stations, Lossless music, and even Spatial Audio. It is this last one where I would like to see a particular change.

Right now you have an option for being able to download tracks using Spatial Audio, if they are available. Right now this is an all or nothing setting. What I would like to see is the ability to keep the option of defaulting to downloading in Dolby Atmos, but also have the ability to download an individual song, or even an album, in the standard stereo mix.

The reason I would like this is because some songs are just not good versions with Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos can make the vocals on some songs seem muddled and make the entire song unlistenable. In these instances, I would still like to listen to the song, but I cannot enjoy it because of the terrible quality. This could be an option on an already downloaded song that would be something like "Re-download Stereo Version" or something similar. What would be even better would be to make sure that this information is stored somewhere in iCloud so if a song is downloaded on another device, for the same user, that information is remembered.

Possible macOS Names

The last item to cover is possible names for macOS. Each of Apple’s macOS releases has a code name. From 2001 to 2013 the code names were "Big Cats". With the introduction of Mac OS X 10.9, the code names were changed to California place names. Last year’s release of macOS Ventura was the demarcation point where there have been more California place names than Big Cats. So, here are my thoughts on what the next version of macOS could be called:

• Joshua Tree
• Golden Gate
• Rancho Cucamonga
• Napa
• Laguna
• Sequoia
• Calistoga
• Mammoth - Only if it is a monumental release
• Redwood

I actually think this year’s release might be called "Redwood", but that is strictly a gut feeling. I have only been correct once before, so I am not holding out hope for getting the name correct.

Closing Thoughts

While I have covered the items that I hope to see, I do not expect Apple to announce any of the things on my wish list, except for the Widgets on the Lock Screen of the iPad. If they do not announce the Lock Screen widgets for iPadOS 17 this year, it will likely be coming in iPadOS 18, unless they are opting to not do them for iPadOS at all.

Rumors are that this year’s World Wide Developer Conference is shaping up to be a monumental one with the possible announcement of a new product category. The WWDC keynote begins at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 12 p.m. Central time on Monday, June 5th, 2023. I will have a recap of the announcement sometime after the keynote has finished.