SoundByte 360 – February 2025

ChristopherNews, SoundByte

Digital detox

Welcome to SoundByte! In this issue:

February Meeting

Join LMUG next Monday, February 10, to discuss new experiences in technology. We are going to talk about technologies and apps that could take you to the next level. From Home automation, to AI, eSim cards, and more. This will be your chance to ask questions and share insights so we can all learn together.

Check the email this newsletter came in for the Zoom link to the meeting. You can also find the link in our Slack General Channel. 

Follow can now follow the London Mac User Group on Bluesky! Come and say hello 👋 over there 👉🏾 https://bsky.app/profile/lmug.bsky.social. Read more about it here.

Vision Pro 1 year later

It’s been a year since the Apple Vision Pro came out. I have covered the story arc of Vision Pro in previous SoundBytes from excitement, to elation at the advances and complaints about the fit, to focus shifting to future possibilities, to fears of dystopia and then it being left on the shelf. But several software updates and third part accessories later, is there any redemption at the end of this story?

Similar to the Apple Watch when it first came out, it may take a while to understand what Vision Pro is better at, compared to other devices. I have said that for media consumption, especially movies, Vision Pro has enough wow factor to make a good start. But to make it compelling, it needs apps that take advantage of spatial computing to accelerate our productivity. Who needs a jumbo iPad? And what I called legacy: the Mac integration, needed to be clearly better than just using a Mac with a big screen.

Well with regard to the spatial computing apps; you tell me? I am not aware of any new breakthroughs outside of media or landscapes or games. Perhaps we will see something revolutionary this year? Instead, Apple has made some big improvements to the Mac experience and perhaps it is now better than sitting at a screen? Watch this review below to find out if they’ve got this right.

Watch out for plastic bands!

Awareness is rising about what’s called forever chemicals. Are they safe? Maybe not. Best not ingest them if we can avoid it, or is it too late? Is there any safe level? Who knows? But it’s Apple, so we do know that PFAS have been found in some Apple Watch bands. An argument for metal, fabric or leather bands? Maybe. Apple doesn’t say their bands don’t have PFAS, instead they say they are safe. Let’s hope so!

Dropping down and out

Stressed girl with smartphone

Are modern smartphones good for our mental health? The jury is out on that one, but many desire to just switch off and slow down. Have a read on the Guardian for some ways to do it.

The iPad that keeps going

It is well known that iPads have powerful chips. Many say they are over powered. But by how much? A good example is the 2018 iPad Pro (your Editor has one). That’s coming on 7 years old! Is it still fast and usable today? Absolutely (new battery notwithstanding, ED). Have a look at its remarkable longevity below:

A good example, is that this old iPad can run the latest version of iOS 18. It doesn’t get all the AI features but it does get Math notes and the new Calculator. What about the other features? If you have an iPad do you know what they all are? Have a look at this video below, you might be surprised at what’s new:

Speaking of old iPads, our Technical editor wants to make you aware of something else much much older. The humble command key on our keyboard, the one with the symbol. Well that symbol, the looped square is very old indeed. Read about it on Wikipedia.

How to escape Apple’s iCloud pricing

Apple is being sued by Which (a UK consumer choice charity and magazine) for requiring us to backup our phones to iCloud and pay for the privilege. One way to limit your exposure is to save your own files to other, maybe cheaper, cloud services. Like Google maybe? But did you know you can integrate these directly in your Files.app?

You can do this with various services by clicking the 3 dots near the top of Files and clicking Edit. This will show compatible apps on your phone with file storage. I see Google Drive, DropBox and Acrobat on my iPad. Follow Apple’s instructions here. And here’s Apple’s guidance page for more connection options like external storage and servers.

How to share across devices safely

So that’s fine for your own files, what about the real pain of sharing files between nearby devices? This is much easier now, between Apple devices with Airdrop. But if you have a PC (!) or an Android phone (!)? What then? It turns out there is now an app for that, that really works.

There is an open source, secure and well reviewed app called Local Send. It has clients for iOS, Mac, Android, Linux and Windows. Share everywhere. Have a look at this video below. Also our Technical Editor recommends Syncthing, for sharing across PCs running Linux and Windows, and Macs.

Future Shock 10 – Here comes NVIDIA

Nvidia, perhaps the biggest threat to Apple’s chip dominance with its M-series of chips, is finally approaching the arena. Strongly rumoured to arrive later this year, their consumer level ARM chip could provide a big boost for Windows ARM PCs and more competition for Apple. But I’ve said before, that’s a net good, if it advances low power ♻️ computing into the wider market. But what Nvidia has announced now is something rather more expensive (or cheap for this level of compute) for professional AI developers. Let Gary explain below:

Police St-AI-te? Lets hope not!

Our technical editor warns that in China, the Shanghai police already wear augmented reality glasses which do facial recognition in real-time. This allows them to review each person’s social credit score using live data. So much for minding your own business. But that would never happen here would it. Or would it?

Well, if you’re in the UK, you know that we have CCTV cameras almost everywhere. And everywhere else we have door cams and car cams. What if it were all linked up to AI and that AI was linked to the State. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? Depends on your point of view I guess. But this is why some people are a bit worried about the recent large AI investments in the US. Amazing things are promised. Some of this won’t be news to UK readers. But is there something these tech leaders aren’t saying? Get your tinfoil hat ready and pull out your X-files for this video below (jump to around 11:35 for his concerns):

What are the neighbours up to?

Finally let’s see what’s cooking up in our neighbour’s garden, but first there’s some exciting news for professional Mac users looking for a new monitor. There is now a new full resolution and sharpness (cheaper/uglier) alternative to the Studio Display. Have a look below to learn more about the Asus Pro Art 5k:

But the real event last month was CES. The event where most of the rest of the Tech industry shows-off their imagination. Much of it is hot air; or not quite thought through. Still, there may be some gems in the dirt. Have a look at these highlights from the Verge: