Jun 21, 2022

Apple may kill CAPTCHAs

There are lots of things that are broken about the modern online experience – cookie nag boxes, newsletter popups and autoplay videos are high on the list.

But perhaps there’s nothing more annoying than CAPTCHAs.

Did you know that “CAPTCHA” stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”?

Yeah, neither did I.

Apple has a new proposal for killing them forever: Private Access Tokens.

Part of the iOS 16 beta, Private Access Tokens are privacy-friendly tokens that identify you as a human to participating websites.

Two big cloud computing providers have already signed on, and Apple is promoting the new system on its developer website.

The day that CAPTCHAs die can’t come soon enough.

– Leander Kahney, EIC.

Apple’s Automatic Verification will help us escape from annoying CAPTCHAs

Apple developed Automatic Verification to let iPhone, Mac and iPad users bypass those irritating CAPTCHA image tests that websites use to confirm that someone is a human and not a bot.

Apple TV+ sci-fi drama 'For All Mankind' rockets to popularity

Season three of the alternate-history sci-fi series premiered on Apple TV+ in early June, and it’s been a Top 10 show both weeks since then. Critics praise the series, too, so it’s doubly a success for Apple’s streaming service.

Philips Hue expands smart-lighting lineup for HomeKit

Signify plans to grow its Philips Hue range with the addition of track lighting, a new dimmer and scene-selection switch, and its first portable indoor-outdoor rechargeable lamp, among other items.

Twelve South HiRise 3 iPhone stand beautifully charges trio of Apple devices

Put the Twelve South HiRise 3 on a desk or nightstand and it can hold up and juice up an iPhone, while also charging Apple Watch and AirPods. And it takes up less desk space than an iPhone. The magnetic charging stand comes in two colors to match your décor.

A MESSAGE FROM THE CULT OF MAC DEALS TEAM

Turn your iPhone into a color-matching machine with this impressive sensor

Instead of searching for a color you remember, find the actual color of your walls (and pretty much anything else) with the Nix Mini. It’s a portable color sensor that quickly scans virtually any surface and tells you exactly what color it is, complete with paint suggestions. For a limited time, this little gadget is on sale for $83.95 (regularly $99).

Apple iWork 12.1 desperately tries to make presentations more exciting

Apple’s Keynote version 12.1 adds moving backgrounds intended to add visual interest to presentations. And Pages 12.1 adds support for mail merge. Add a performance-oriented tweak in Numbers 12.1, and you’ve got iWork 12.1, the latest version of Apple’s free productivity suite for Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Another set of top-shelf ANC cans takes on AirPods Max

The new Master & Dynamic MW75 over-ear headphones will undoubtedly compete with top cans from Apple, Sony, Sennheiser and others. They boast up to 28 hours of battery life and adaptive, environmentally aware active noise cancellation.

Add a trio of hi-res monitors to your Mac with Plugable’s new desktop dock

While the Plugable UD-ULTC4K doesn’t have a very exciting name, the USB-C hub does boast a whopping 13 ports. It can add up to three high-res external displays to a Mac, plus USB-A accessories, Ethernet and more.

Save $99 on the powerful and perfectly portable M1 MacBook Air

Apple’s excellent and portable powerhouse M1 MacBook Air is discounted to just $899.99 on Amazon. That’s a sweet 10% off its $999 MSRP. The M2 MacBook Air might be the latest kid on the block, but that does not mean the M1 MacBook Air is any less capable.

Today in Apple history: iOS 4 launch brings multitasking and FaceTime

On June 21, 2010, Apple releases the first version of iOS 4. It’s a big step forward for iDevices.

Tweets o' the day

Sami Fathi

@SamiFathi_

Don’t think people know this, but if you tap and hold on the Stage Manger toggle in Control Center on iPadOS 16, you can actually disable the dock and the floating windows on the side entirely. Gives Stage Manager a much cleaner look and feel. https://t.co/97NR42P4sd

5:31 PM - 20 Jun 2022

Aaron Levie

@levie

DALL-E is wild. Statue of Benjamin Franklin Talking on an iPhone. https://t.co/vtitDuLZ0c

10:24 PM - 20 Jun 2022

One more thing ...

“I saw a videotape that we weren’t supposed to see. It was prepared for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. By watching the tape, we discovered that, at least as of a few years ago, every tactical nuclear weapon in Europe manned by U.S. personnel was targeted by an Apple II computer. Now, we didn’t sell computers to the military; they went out and bought them at a dealer’s, I guess. But it didn’t make us feel good to know that our computers were being used to target nuclear weapons in Europe. The only bright side of it was that at least they weren’t [Radio Shack] TRS-80s! Thank God for that.” – Steve Jobs

Did you enjoy this issue?

Cult of Mac Today

Our daily roundup of Apple and tech news and opinion.

Tweet

Share

In order to unsubscribe, click here.

If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

Manage all your newsletter subscriptions here.