This time last week, I noted how upset I was that Twitter had banned third-party apps such as the excellent Tweetbot app, one of my favorite apps for many years. Fortunately, the folks behind Tweetbot released a new app this week called Ivory. Ivory looks very similar to Tweetbot but works with the Twitter alternative Mastodon—which has become the new home for many folks who left Twitter over the last few months. I've been using Ivory for the last few days, and it is a fantastic app already, plus the developer has plans to make it better than Tweetbot ever was. Here is a good review of the Ivory app by Federico Viticci of MacStories. If you have used Twitter in the past, I encourage you to check out Mastodon and the Ivory app in particular. For a great explainer of what Mastodon is all about, I recommend this article by Amanda Silberling of TechCrunch. If you want to follow me on Mastodon, you can do so at @jeffrichardson@mastodon.social. If you want to follow iPhone J.D. on Mastodo to receive a new post on Mastodon whenever there is a new post on iPhone J.D., you can do so at @iPhoneJD@mstdn.social. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- iOS 16.3 came out this week. Juli Clover of MacRumors discusses some of what is new. For example, Advanced Data Protection, which I discussed in this post, is now available to all users around the world.
- iOS 16.3 also adds support for Security Key—a small physical device that you carry around to confirm your identity instead of using digital two-factor authentication. Andrew Orr of AppleInsider identifies some of the best Security Key products.
- If you have a HomePod mini, or the new version of the HomePod, you can now find out the temperature of the area around that device as a result of a software update Apple made available this week. Tim Hardwick of MacRumors explains how to install the update and to see the temperature readings in the Home app on an iPhone or iPad.
- Why did Apple stop making the HomePod only to come back almost two years later to re-introduce the product? That's rare for a company like Apple. I always assumed that the original HomePod was discontinued because not enough people bought them, but the flaw with that theory is that I always heard people talk about how much they enjoyed the big HomePod, quickly buying old units on eBay when they become unavailable from Apple. John Gruber of Daring Fireball has a different theory: the original model had some sort of design flaw that made them unreliable. Thus, Apple went back to the drawing board, took what it knew about the HomePod mini (which apparently avoided that flaw), and eventually Apple came out with the HomePod 2.0. Nobody but Apple knows for sure, but Gruber's theory does explain a lot, so I think he is on to something.
- David Neld of The Ambient lists 30 things that you can do with a HomePod or HomePod mini.
- Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac provides additional details on using these temperature sensors, including an explanation of how you can create an automation to make something else happen whenever the temperature reaches a certain point.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes that iOS 16.3 fixes a bug in CarPlay that made it difficult to locate someone using the Find My service.
- I use the Things app to keep track of certain items that I need to do, and the app works well for me. But unlike some of the software that I use, when it comes to Things, I'm the opposite of a power user. I just keep a single list of items and I check things off as I go. If you are—or you want to be—a more sophisticated user of the Things app, attorney John Voorhees of Macstories explains how you can take advantage of the latest feature added to Things: expanded support for Shortcuts. His post includes some examples that you can download and try for yourself.
- If you are looking for something else new in the world of to-do apps, timing.ts is a new iPhone app that combines your calendar and your to-do items with an interesting interface that is supposed to help you focus on or plan activities. I prefer a more traditional approach to calendars, but I suspect that this app will appeal to lots of people.
- Justin Meyers of Gadget Hacks reminds us that, in a pinch, you can use an iPad to recharge an iPhone and certain other devices.
- And finally, tomorrow is Data Privacy Day, so hopefully you have something special planned to celebrate the occasion. One way to do so is to watch an amusing video released by Apple this week called A Day in the Life of an Average Person’s Data, in which Nick Mohammed (the actor who plays "Nate the Great" on Ted Lasso) teams up with an Apple Store Specialist to show you how to enable features on your Apple devices to keep your data private.
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