First Look: iOS 18 Public Beta

Six takes on one Home Screen: eat your heart out, Andy Warhol. Ultimately the reaction to 18’s initial public beta may be more about what’s not there than what is.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 521: I Can Get Pineapple Into Anything

Jason and Myke interview the writers of “What If…? An Interactive Story” for Vision Pro about the challenges of writing something that’s not quite a movie and not quite a video game for a brand-new platform.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

My prescription for Apple: Hire some ombudspeople

Apple touts a lot of things—vertical integration, interface design, the longevity of its hardware, the direct-to-consumer retail experience, and more—as part of the reason for its success.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Downstream 73: Must-Stream TV

Vulture’s Josef Adalian returns to discuss the ramifications of the sale of Paramount, and where the company might go next. We also once again consider that classic streaming question—to binge or not to binge?… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

Apple to enable third party NFC payments in the EU ↦

European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager has announced that Apple has committed to allowing third-party payment apps use the same NFC features as Apple Pay in Europe.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

Accessing inflight Wi-Fi for free via your air miles account’s “name” field ↦

I don’t know what to say about this other than that it is technological insanity in the absolute best way. This meant that on my next flight I could technically have full access to the internet, via my airmiles account. … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 503: At Least 38 Seconds

Slowing that AI roll.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 562: Famously a HomePod Hater

Our interest in the new Amazon Echo Spot, our current charging setup and thoughts on Nomad’s new 65W GaN charger, thoughts on a HomePod with a display, and which dead property we’d like to see AI revive from any medium.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

Apple no longer taking OpenAI board seat ↦

Camilla Hodgson and George Hammond, writing at the Financial Times (paywalled): Apple had also been expected to take an observer role on OpenAI’s board as part of a deal to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone maker’s devices, but would not do so, according to a person with direct k … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

TUAW returns as a gross, zombie AI-generated garbage site ↦

Via Christina Warren, some jokers called Web Orange Limited have acquired The Unofficial Apple Weblog—a classic player in Apple blogging—and have turned it into a gross AI-generated garbage blog posting as a real one: The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has been a cornerstone of A … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

Apple outpaces global PC growth ↦

Analyst Canalys has updated its worldwide PC market share stats, and while the PC industry actually showed 3.4% growth year-on-year, Apple’s sales grew 6% during that period: Apple secured the fourth position, shipping 5.5 million units and capturing a 9% market share, marking a … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 520: Cruel Summer

There’s more news about Apple’s battles with Epic and the EU, and Apple tightens its ties with OpenAI, but all of the controversy gets us thinking about what makes us stay excited about technology during difficult times.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

I’ll have my AI email your AI

There’s a joke in one of my favorite movies, “Real Genius,” which feels directly applicable to a lot of AI discussions we’re having today. (It’s an ’80s movie, so it’s not a scene—it’s a montage, set to “I’m Falling” by The Comsat Angels.)… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 561: Conspiracy Theory Bankruptcy

Our app routines, how we feel about smart rings, the smartest other tech gadgets in our homes, and how we stay informed without spiraling into doom.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 502: I Don’t Wanna Think About Anything

Hello, darkness, my old friend. We’ve come to talk technology again.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

MacStories calls for restraints on AI training ↦

Federico Viticci and John Voorhees of MacStories have published an open letter to EU and U.S. officials calling for stricter regulation of how AI models are trained that honors the intellectual property rights of creators: The danger to the Internet as a cultural institution is r … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 519: The Intelligent Trinity

After some feedback about the future of the Vision Pro, we discuss Apple’s adventures in the EU, the inevitable fragmentation of Siri, and a curious new AirPods rumor.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Sponsor) ListenLater.net

My thanks to ListenLater.net for sponsoring Six Colors this week. ListenLater.net is a clever idea—it turns your reading list into a podcast playlist. I collect longer articles throughout the week that I just don’t have time to dive into at the moment—and they often get lost in t … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

Apple’s Vision platform needs to do more than get cheaper

The Vision Pro isn’t a product many people should buy today, and that’s not really surprising. It’s an example of Apple playing a long game, trying to build a wearable computing platform over many years.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Downstream 72: Harpoon Gun Salvaged from the Wreckage

TV critic Tim Goodman guests to discuss the WBD and Paramount messes and give an update about what he’s been up to over at his Substack.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 560: I Don’t Like It When I’m Disappointed

Reliable features of voice-based virtual assistants, our hypothetical U.S. internet legislation, the impact of Apple’s new Passwords app on our password management, and our comfort level with sharing intimate thoughts with an LLM.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 4 months ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 501: Mandela Effect Emoji

Betas, the EU and frfrrrfrffrrrrffffrrrrfff.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Review: Moaan InkPalm Plus is weird, cheap, small, and my kind of e-reader

The Moaan InkPalm Plus and the Kobo Clara HD. It is probably not surprising that I, John Moltz, the world’s leading iPhone mini superfan would also want to ujse a small e-reader.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Rounding up Bartender alternatives ↦

I’ve been meaning to write up a comparison of menu bar utilities in the wake of Bartender being sold, but Niléane beat me to it: If your trust in Bartender has wavered as a result of this series of events, you may be looking for alternatives. … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Preparing for the era of orchestrated apps

Apple’s App Intents slide from WWDC 2024. It’s going to be years before we can really see the impact of Apple embracing systemwide AI features via Apple Intelligence.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 518: Having Lots of Money Doesn’t Make You a Bank

Apple backs away from some financial services and changes its Vision hardware approach, and there’s a new phase in the company’s relationship with the EU. For the Summer of Fun, we look at our current iPhone home screens.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Sponsor) Transform Articles Into Podcasts with ListenLater.net

Imagine turning your reading list into a listening playlist. With ListenLater.net, your favorite reads become accessible as engaging podcasts in your preferred podcast app. Have you ever found an intriguing article but lacked the time to read it? … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Preliminary ruling from the EC declares Apple is violating the DMA ↦

The European Commission has issued a preliminary ruling in one of its DMA non-compliance investigations launched in March: Today, the European Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they pr … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Apple: Some new features won’t come to EU due to the DMA ↦

Apple has announced that some features it recently announced at WWDC won’t be coming to the EU this year because of European regularions. Bloomberg’s Samuel Stolton and Mark Gurman report: Apple Inc. … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Sponsor) Magic Lasso Adblock

My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. Magic Lasso Adblock is a great Safari ad blocker for your iPhone, iPad and Mac.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

How Sandwich streamed The Talk Show Live in 3D on Vision Pro

During last week’s WWDC festivities, John Gruber interviewed Apple executives on stage for The Talk Show Live, as he’s done for years. This time it was different because people at home with a Vision Pro could watch the event live from the Theater app by Sandwich Vision, streamed … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 559: This Is a Powerful Emoji

Apple’s planning a cheaper Vision Pro, how we feel about covering CG advertising, managing subscriptions, and our favorite emoji.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 500: Episode 1000

Five for 500.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Apple refuses to notarize emulator apps ↦

This apparently happened just before WWDC, so I missed it, but it deserves everyone’s attention. Apple has rejected the UTM emulator app, not just from the global App Store, but from all third-party App Stores in the EU by refusing to notarize it.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 517: Maybe It’s Catchier in Japanese

The Summer of Fun has arrived, but we’ve still got a lot of catch-up work to do after a huge WWDC. So this week we share more thoughts about Apple’s new AI strategy and discuss a lot of the feedback we got about what happened last week.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Apple Pay Later where later means never ↦

Chance Miller at 9to5Mac reports that Apple has shelved its “buy now pay later” feature: The change goes into effect starting today, Apple says. Existing users with open Apple Pay Later loans will still be able to manage them via the Wallet app. … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Sponsor) Magic Lasso Adblock: YouTube ad blocker for Safari

Do you want to block all YouTube ads in Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac? Then download Magic Lasso Adblock – the ad blocker designed for you.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) Downstream 71: Mountain of Mishegas

Vulture’s Josef Adalian joins Jason to discuss the fate of Paramount after the latest deal has fallen through, Warner Bros. Discovery moves to plan B on sports rights, and Joe walks us through his Vulture streamer rankings.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

New York Magazine lauds Vision Pro’s accessibility ↦

Author Andrew Leland, whose memoir, The Country of the Blind gained critical praise last year, is out with a feature for New York magazine on how the Apple Vision Pro is providing accessibility benefits for people with low vision, limb differences, and cognitive disabilities: Neu … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Sponsor) Magic Lasso Adblock: The Safari ad blocker built for you

My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. As a native Safari extension, Magic Lasso blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances – letting you experience a faster, cleaner and more secure experience across all your devices.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

OK, fine, here’s Apple Intelligence

It was clear that Apple didn’t want to be a part of this. For years now, the company has resisted using the phrase Artificial Intelligence to describe what it does.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Excluding your website from Apple’s AI crawler

One of the more contentious announcements from Apple this week is that it trained its foundation models used as the basis for its forthcoming Apple Intelligence features via, among other content, the open web.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Casey Liss’s summer project ↦

This week I got a chance to spend a little time with my pal Casey Liss, and he regaled me (and Stephen Hackett, since we are the three big college football fans in our larger tech nerd friend group) with the story of what he’s been up to this summer.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

visionOS 2 offers small, but promising, steps forward

Editing the Home View in Bora Bora. I’m just back from Cupertino, and there’s an awful lot to think about. But before all that, I thought I’d cover what absolutely everyone is talking about: visionOS 2.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 558: Passenger Princess

Our favorite features of Apple Intelligence, the biggest missed opportunity at WWDC 2024, our most anticipated iOS 18 feature announced, and our reactions to the lackluster iPadOS announcements.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 499: Weapons of Glass Destruction

Breaking news.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

Sequoia virtual machines allow logging in to iCloud ↦

Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham catches a nice small detail from amongst the WWDC developer announcements: As long as your host operating system is macOS 15 or newer and your guest operating system is macOS 15 or newer, VMs will now be able to sign into and use iCloud and other … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 516: I’m Suppressing My Feelings

Live from Cupertino, Jason has his in-person reactions to Apple’s big WWDC announcements. And in London, Myke processes his feelings about some controversial Apple choices.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 5 months ago