In partnership with
Our kids are grown and have (mostly) left home, but we have a family text chat in Messages that’s very active.
Almost every day, my wife posts a picture of our kids that’s surfaced by the Photos widget on her iPad.
I can’t tell you how much joy I get from the pictures. The Photos widget does a great job of displaying photos we would otherwise never look at.
I know we could get a digital picture frame, or display them on our TV using Apple TV. But a frame would be another gadget to manage (plus, I’d need to find a place to put it). And I’m not keen on leaving the TV on all day.
So I’m actually quite looking forward to Apple’s smart home hub acting as a digital picture frame. Even though it’s arguably a minor feature, I already know it’s something that will bring a lot of daily joy.
And yeah, I know — it’s another gadget to manage that burns electrons, but it seems like it will have a lot of functionality built into it. And the more I read about Apple’s home hub, the more exciting it sounds.
Also in today’s newsletter:
This new Mac malware uses a devious social-engineering technique to trick you into unlocking your computer’s security settings. It’ll no doubt be used for other malware, but there’s a subtle tell you should be aware of.
I picked up a CarPlay dongle like this new one from Twelve South, and it does a great job of converting wired CarPlay to wireless CarPlay. Highly recommended.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: Belkin’s full-size iPad keyboard is great for work on the go and fits most modern iPads. Just $32. #affiliate
We went hands-on with a nifty new iPhone game controller that has a big advantage — portability. See our review.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
Cult of Mac’s buyback program
A message from Attio
The agentic era needs a different CRM. That’s Attio.
Teams like Parallel, Turbopuffer, and Wordsmith are already setting the pace on Attio. Get an always-on revenue engine, with agents and workflows that build pipeline, chase every buying signal, and move deals forward with your team. Whether you're working in your browser, inbox, or favorite agent, connect to your customer data in real-time through Attio's web app, MCP, API, and SDK.
Tweets of the day
Wallpaper of the day
One more thing ...
Somebody at IBM a few years ago saw our NextStep operating system as a potential diamond to solve their biggest and most profound problem, that of adding value to their computers with unique software. Unfortunately, as I learned, IBM is not a monolith. It is a very large place with lots of faces, and they all play musical chairs. Somewhere along the line this diamond got dropped in the mud, and now it's sitting on somebody's desk who thinks it's a dirt clod. Inside that dirt clod is still a diamond, but they don't see it.
Today’s poll
What's in your Photos library?
Results from yesterday’s poll
Best reader comments
Subscribe to The Weekender — Get the week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.