(Sponsor) That Ticking Noise is Your End Users’ Laptops

Here’s an uncomfortable fact: at most companies, employees can download sensitive company data onto any device, keep it there forever, and never even know that they’re doing something wrong.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple’s quad box arrives in new tvOS beta ↦

Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac took Apple TV’s new multi-view feature for a spin: With tvOS 16.5 beta, Apple is testing a new feature for the Apple TV app on the Apple TV 4K set-top box: the ability to watch more than one game at a time.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple Cash becomes Apple savings account ↦

Apple Newsroom: Starting today, Apple Card users can choose to grow their Daily Cash rewards with a Savings account from Goldman Sachs, which offers a high-yield APY of 4.15 percent — a rate that’s more than 10 times the national average.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

The end of the computer magazine ↦

My old PC World counterpart, Harry McCracken, calls the time of death: The April issues of Maximum PC and MacLife are currently on sale at a newsstand near you—assuming there is a newsstand near you.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) SoundSource

My thanks to Rogue Amoeba for sponsoring Six Colors this week on behalf of its app SoundSource. SoundSource is a remarkable app that lives in your menu bar and gives you complete control over all your audio.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

‘Make Something Wonderful’ ↦

The Steve Jobs Archive has released a book, edited by Leslie Berlin, with a small selection of Steve Jobs’s interviews, speeches, and emails–many of them to himself. There’s a lim… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 498: Divisive About Devices

Collecting and removing mobile apps, how we begin and end every smartphone session, our new computer migration process, and how we balance our digital and physical lives.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 439: Maybe If I Spend More Money

Who trusts rumors anyway?… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 454: The Home Home

This week we’re pondering future directions for watchOS complications and iOS Control Center, reacting to extremely early reports about future iPhone displays, and digesting Apple’s slow build of alternative manufacturing capacities outside of China.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) If you use audio on your Mac, you need SoundSource

If you use audio on your Mac in any way at all, SoundSource is for you. SoundSource lives in your menu bar and gives you superior control over all your audio. Per-application control: Change the vo… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Kolide

My thanks to Kolide for sponsoring Six Colors this week. Kolide offers a more nuanced approach to setting and enforcing sensitive data policies. At most companies, employees can download sensitive company data onto any device, keep it there forever, and never even know that they’ … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Andy Baio on designing for colorblindness ↦

Like me, Andy Baio is colorblind. People don’t get how many design elements rely on color: For some people, colorblindness is a serious liability that closes doors on career dreams. It’s hard… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: Exactly the right amount of Cooks (Member Post)

The big news this week is Tim Cook and lots of him! Also big news are things that already happened, like the Mac’s bad holiday quarter and Apple putting all its metaphorical eggs in China’s metaphorical basket.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get ac … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Friday Night Baseball’s radio overlay really works

As I write this, Apple has just debuted its Friday Night Baseball broadcasts for this season–in the afternoon, thanks to coverage of a Cubs day game. And I’m happy to report that the lo… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

CarPlay coping, Easter eggs, and the Lisa (6C Podcast)

Jason still can’t even with General Motors. We waste some cycles drawing trendy 3D junk while pondering (timely!) Easter eggs we have known. And is the forthcoming Apple VR headset like the Lisa, or like the Apple Watch?… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

General Motors hates your iPhone

As first reported by Reuters, General Motors has decided that the company’s future electric cars will drop support for CarPlay and Android Auto, preferring the company’s own infotainment system based on the lower-level Android Automotive operating system.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

The Bitcoin Whitepaper is on your Mac ↦

Andy Baio has made quite a find: While trying to fix my printer today, I discovered that a PDF copy of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper apparently shipped with every copy of macOS since Mojave in 2018.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 438: Your Daily Dare

Do not adjust your volume at the beginning of this episode.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 497: Mounting My Phone Like an Uber Driver

Our thoughts on GM abandoning CarPlay and Android Auto, our most relaxing phone activities, how we control our TVs, and what we’ve used AI for.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Fantastical adds broader Shortcuts support

Back in January, I wrote about building an automation for my pal Lex that would generate a list of open meeting times for him to send to potential clients. Lex and I both use the Fantastical calend… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Downstream 41: I’ve Never Heard of This Movie

Marvel hits the brakes, Apple embraces theatrical releases, Netflix can make anything a hit, two combat sports combine forces, and Major League Baseball keeps fans confused about when you’re allowed to watch a ballgame.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 453: At Large at Apple Park

WWDC has been announced, but when will the Apple VR headset be ready to ship? Also, CarPlay gets the cold shoulder from General Motors, watchOS might be in for some major changes, and the iPhone could be getting its own action button.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Can Zero Trust Be Saved?

Right now, “Zero Trust” is in serious danger of becoming an empty buzzword. The problem isn’t just that marketers have slapped the Zero Trust label on everything short of breakfast cereal–it’s that for all the hype, we don’t seem to be getting any safer.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

The Back Page: We got nothing (Member Post)

INT. APPLE PARK - DAY TIM COOK (60s, ruggedly handsome) sits at his desk, eyes closed and hands folded on his lap, as though he is an android who is in sleep mode.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get access to exclusive stories, podcasts, and commun … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: Who wants this stuff? (Member Post)

Another seven days, three more fantastic tales of Apple! The headset isn’t even out yet and it’s already DOA, the company’s classical music app is out with the fowlest of themes, and are you prepared for…the Mystery Button?!… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a me … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Kandji

My thanks to Kandji for sponsoring Six Colors this week, and for commissioning the Enterprise Report Card! Kandji is the Apple device management and security platform that empowers secure and productive global work.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Review: Aura’s digital photo frame is solid, if not quite picture perfect

Of all the standalone devices that I couldn’t imagine I’d need in the year 2023, I would have put a digital picture frame near the top.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Video: Using VoiceOver with the Weather app

Hey there, I’m Shelly Brisbin and I’m here to demo a new feature in iOS 16.4. Specifically, it’s in the Weather app, and even more specifically than that, it is for people who use the VoiceOver screen reader that’s part of iOS.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple in the Enterprise: A 2023 report card

In 2021, device-management startup Kandji approached Six Colors to commission a new entry in our Report Card series focusing on how Apple’s doing in large organizations, including businesses, education, and government.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Kirk McElhearn takes Apple Music Classical for a spin ↦

Kirk McElhearn, longtime Macworld contributor and classical music aficionado, has taken an in-depth look at Apple Music Classical over at TidBITS: I’ve long complained about the way iTunes, then the Music app and Apple Music, have dealt with classical music.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 496: I Just Wanna Know What Outer Space Tastes Like

The apps we use for taking notes, the iOS 16.4 features (and emoji) we’re excited about, our thoughts on Apple Pay Later and installment payments, and what we hope — and expect — to hear about at Apple’s WWDC.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple announces WWDC 2023 for June 5-9 ↦

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference now has a date for 2023: June 5-9. The company’s developer site announced the dates on Wednesday, along with a few more details. As in previous y… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 437: C’mon, Six Eyes

The podcast that dares to futz with software live on the air.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

iOS and macOS’s Passwords feature needs an app ↦

Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser writing at his blog: In my dumble opinion, Apple should: • Break Passwords out into a standalone app, with an actual fully resizable window (!!), and full, proper UI f… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

First Look: Apple Classical is tuned for the genre, but hits a few false notes

It may not have made Apple’s self-imposed 2022 deadline, but three months into 2023, the new Apple Classical app is finally taking its bow. The result of Apple’s acquisition of Primephonic back in August 2021, Apple Classical is a bit of a strange beast.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 452: Schrödinger’s Killer App

With WWDC (presumably) a couple of months away, we take time to list some of our wishes for iOS 17. There’s also a lot more noise about the forthcoming Apple VR headset, and the entertainment industry and Apple are having communication issues.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: Congrats, Russian kids! (Member Post)

What have we learned? This week, it’s that Russia is not happy with iPhones, the iPhone 15 will not be the same as the iPhone 14, and that Apple has reported to Spring Training in the best shape of its life and is ready to play ball.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Be … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Unite 4

My thanks to BZG Apps for sponsoring Six Colors this week. BZG makes Unite 4, which allows you to turn any Website into a Mac app. Using a lightweight, WebKit powered browser as a backend, you can … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

‘The RIAA v. Steve Jobs’ ↦

A remarkable blog post by Rogue Amoeba’s Paul Kafasis uncovers a key moment in the history of Apple and the recording industry: At that time, our sales were slow enough that we often skimmed incoming orders to learn about who was buying.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

When bank runs run faster than banks ↦

Hannah Miao, Gregory Zuckerman and Ben Eisen reporting for the Wall Street Journal (Apple News) about the last-ditch attempts to save Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) from running out of money: The Fed needed a test trade to be run before the actual transfer could occur.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 495: That’s Never Stopped Me

The generative AI we’ve found the most compelling, our thoughts on Spatial Audio and surround sound systems, whether we think the game console is dying out, and our social media habits in the wake of the relaunch of Gowalla.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Boox Leaf 2: Hitting the limits of e-reader multitasking

Boox Leaf 2 running EinkBro (left) and Substack (right).I love e-readers. The high-contrast black-and-white E-Ink displays, the long battery life, and the software that’s focused on reading all made be a fan of the Kindle and, in recent years, the Kobo series of ebook readers.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple’s “Friday Night Baseball” adds local radio ↦

Baseball season is almost upon us, and that means the return of Apple’s Friday Night Baseball doubleheader. As was the case last year, it’ll be a broadcast with recurring national announcers and a bunch of extra Apple flair, including drone shots and spatial audio.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Downstream 40: The Reckoning

HBO has another hit, Jason Kilar has some advice for Bob Iger about the future of Hulu, and Sports Corner returns to discuss the ongoing saga of regional sports networks bankruptcies and the future of streaming sports.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 436: How RAM Doubler Works

Welcome to our Ted Lasso recap podcast.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 451: I’ve Come Around to Reality

Is the iPad still the future of computing, or is it the Mac (again)? This week we’re pondering Apple’s dividing lines between the iPad Pro and the Mac, and wonder if each product is limiting the potential of the other.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Unite 4 – Turn websites into apps on your Mac

Unite 4 for macOS allows you to turn any website into an app on your Mac. Using a lightweight, WebKit powered browser as a backend, you can easily create isolated, customizable apps from any site. … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: The Lasso Cinematic Universe (Member Post)

AI continues to be a lot more A than I this week as Apple expands its manufacturing outside of China, and we enjoy the return of everyone’s favorite mustachioed man, Ted Lasso.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get access to exclusive stories, podcast … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago