AppleZulu

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AppleZulu
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  • Apple explains how the redesigned Home app came to be

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    dewme said:
    The Home app is certainly attractive with all of the background pictures. Functionally it’s still very far behind Alexa app, which incidentally has a prominent control to turn ON/OFF all lights - which I used last night. It also lets you classify smart plugs that are controlling lights as “lights,” which I find rather useful since the smart plug is just an intermediary or proxy. 

    Apple will get there eventually. I think they are trying to make it very simple and accessible for those who are new to home automation. Perhaps when they start getting more people comfortable with it they’ll add in the kind of features people who have been using home automation devices are expecting. It’s still very early in the adoption phase for this technology for a lot of Apple users.
    Change a smart plug’s icon to a light in the Home app, and it will be interpreted as a light. 
    dewmecg27appleinsideruserlolliverJapheywatto_cobra

  • New Apple TV 4K with A15, HDR10+, more storage debuts

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    Madbum said:
    caz-adam said:
    Let’s hope this one supports hires lossless audio…
    Why wouldn’t it? 
    Current AppleTV supports 24-bit/48 kHz audio. The specs on the new one don't get specific enough, but it could conceivably support 24-bit/192 kHz audio. There are some biological and mathematical arguments that there's no perceptible difference, but there you go.
    williamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobradocno42

  • Updated HomePod, new HomePod mini rumored for early 2023

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    ericthehalfbee said:
    I love my original HomePods. I want Apple to enter the home theatre space and allow me to have surround sound with some arrangement of HomePods.

    I hope whatever processor they use in the new HomePod has enough performance to allow real time audio tuning/processing. That’s one thing that sets the original HomePod apart from other generic speakers.

    Dolby Atmos with beamforming would be great.
    I still think the original HomePods are great and will be glad if Apple reverses on the discontinuation. 

    Still, the idea of a home theater application combining four or more of the things just isn’t practical. That’s at least $1,200 for the four-way setup, more if you use more, and it’s probably a significant waste of computing power. Perhaps if they created add-on devices for the additional units that have the speakers and microphones, but that communicate with a single master device to handle most of the computational work, such a setup could be made more affordable and practical. 
    williamlondonbestkeptsecretforgot usernamedoozydozenelijahgmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra

  • Some Sonos buyers are getting extra speakers -- but also a hefty, unexpected bill

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    Sonos is in a really bad position, at least under US law. First, as noted in the article, customers are under no obligation to return the extra gear. If additional charges are appearing on credit cards, customers should contest them with their card provider immediately. The provider will remove the charge while it's contested. 

    Sonos should offer affected customers something more than corporatespeak  as an apology for the inconvenience, particularly if they did in fact initially charge customers for the unordered items.

    In fact, if Sonos is less than forthright and helpful with the error, a customer could return the ordered device for a refund under Sonos' 45-day return policy and then keep the extras.
    Alex1Ndarkvaderwatto_cobra

  • Everything new in iOS 15.5 for iPhone

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    spheric said:
    Beats said:
    Why does Apple need a separate classical music app? Too much fragmentation already with the horrendous Podcast app. 
    Because Classical music needs separate fields for composers, performers, soloists, conducters, orchestra, as well as being able to recognise separate movements as part of one work, even if perhaps several works from different composers are on a single album. 

    All of these things are vital to any real cataloguing of a classical library, and they are impossible in Apple Music in any meaningful way (i.e. that goes beyond "Best of Mozart"). 
    This is correct. 

    If you don’t know classical music, imagine if popular music playlists split up your favorite songs and only played part of them. Imagine if you wanted to hear music by your favorite band but kept randomly getting no-name cover artists instead. 

    That’s what music systems designed for pop music do to classical music. If you want to hear William Kapell with Leonard Bernstein playing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, you want the one with Bernstein conducting the Orchestra and Kapell on piano, and you want all three movements (parts). Apple Music and any other music player designed for pop songs and pop albums don’t keep track of all those things very well, and so classical music listeners get parts and pieces split up and randomized, which isn’t very satisfying. A separate classical music app makes a lot of sense. 
    appleinsideruserbeowulfschmidt