command_f

sflocal said:

Yeah, and 99% of them are either media people or users that just want to play with it.

And I wonder how many of them know what "beta" means. Are they really all running it on non-critical secondary machines? And does Apple actually get quality feedback (beyond automated crash reports)? Certainly the problems in early releases of High Sierra suggest that the beta programme didn't flush out issues that it should have.

Personally, I wish Apple wouldn't do this: there's the risk to the users' service/data and there's the "pollution" of the web. The web issue starts when all these people running beta versions post stuff as if they're running the final version so, long after the beta programme is complete, searching for information about problems throws up beta problems (of which there are many, 'cos they're betas) that confuse the discussion of real, ongoing issues.

Sorry to disagree but that looks like an improvement to me. The camera icon normally means "use the camera": that is, take a picture. Using the photos icon to mean "use one of my photos" seems more intuitive to me. I suspect that the previous operation was due to someone taking a shortcut in the design and bundling photos in with the camera. If the iOS change was in the opposite direction, I would anticipate accusations of obscurity 🤓.

When comparing audio systems, it is essential to equalise the sound levels of the systems. At all reasonable levels, a louder playback will gain a quality advantage; this is down to the extra detail revealed by boosting the volume of the quieter parts. This is a common problem when trying to compare sound quality, be it of different systems or different versions (eg remastered CD vs original CD - it may not be a coincidence that remasters are usually louder than their predecessors).

While they were playing at a lower level, the HomePods were disadvantaged (I think the story acknowledges that but it's a bit subtle in saying so).

Apart from improving its still somewhat hit and miss accuracy, I see lack of a Streetview-style facility as Apple Maps' biggest drawback. This story hints that it might be coming which would be very good news. I hope Apple is dedicated to maintaining all its first-party data too or its value will fade away again.

I do, however, remain sceptical that Apple will be able to match Google maps's search content and relevance without its own search engine. The coupling of the two is really powerful when it comes to returning relevant mapping suggestions. I can still sit here in the UK, search for a partial business or whatever name and get my second or third response as an address in the US. Much as I like the US, I don't expect to pop over the pond for such trivial needs  .

I prefer to think of this as keeping out the bad guys. In my book, in the UK, that doesn't include the security agencies. YMMV.

However, it's a Good Thing that Apple is doing this, the agencies should have (be given) different and better methods. Interestingly, the ex-head of GCHQ (UK's equivalent of NSA) is on record as opposing backdoors: he says they're technically difficult and and open to abuse (https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/10/former_gchq_wades_into_encryption_debate/). About what has been said here in the past.

BTW The original story is here (but it may not be accessible outside the UK):https//www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-40554686/end-to-end-encryption-back-door-a-bad-idea