Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) - @bbusschots
• Simon Parnell from the Essential Apple Podcast - @serenak
• Nick Riley - @spligosh

The show starts with four followup stories from previous month — Spotify getting Siri integration, AppleCard's US launch, the on-going US-China trade war, and a positive end to the Siri Grading kerfuffle. Next are a few notable numbers and some HR news. The three main stories are a mixed month for Apple and security, a mixed month for Apple's complex relationship with indie repair shops, and Tim Cook and 180 other CEOs committing to a broader view of corporate responsibility. The show ends with some quick Apple-related stories that made the news during August.

You'll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar - the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

[audio mp3=”http://www.mymac.com/podcast/lta/LetsTalkApple-EP72-August2019.mp3”]

Followup

1. Spotify is reportedly talking to Apple about adding Siri integration to its iOS app — www.imore.com/…
2. Apple Card Launches: Apple Card now available to everyone in U.S., Uber added to 3% — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Card: Everything you need to know! — www.imore.com/…
   • A new support page details how you should clean your Apple Card — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Card covers are becoming a thing because why not — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Card Doesn’t Support Exporting Data to Financial Apps — www.macrumors.com/…
   • Apple Card doesn’t have a dedicated website for online bill pay yet — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Card agreement prohibits cash advances, gambling, cryptocurrency, and use on jailbroken iPhones — www.loopinsight.com/…
   • Apple’s new credit card comes with forced arbitration—here’s how to opt out — arstechnica.com
   • How Goldman Sachs Evaluates Your Apple Card Application — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Reviews:
     • Apple Card review: How a credit card can actually be different — www.imore.com/…
     • One Week with Apple Card: What I Love and What I Hate — www.tomsguide.com/…
3. The US/China Trade War Rumbles on:
   • Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod to face tariffs in September — www.imore.com/…
   • Tariff on iPhones Delayed Until December — www.macobserver.com/…
   • President Trump Says Tim Cook Made ‘Good Case’ Against Tariffs — www.macobserver.com/…
   • President Trump hints he’s “thinking about” excluding Apple from tariffs — www.imore.com/…
   • Trump impressed by Apple CEO Tim Cook, calls Apple a “great American company” — www.imore.com/…
   • ‘Tim Cook Calls Donald Trump Directly,’ President Reveals — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Foxconn could pivot iPhone production to India even amidst tough challenges — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple won’t charge us for any cost increases caused by U.S.-China trade war — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: iOS 13’s beta split is down to Trump’s threatened tariffs, not missed features — medium.com/…
4. The Siri Grading Kerfuffle Comes to a Satisfactory End — the grading will be re-enabled, but it will be opt-in, and performed by Apple employees, not contractors. Apple also issued an apology:
   • Apple’s article addressing Siri privacy: Improving Siri’s privacy protections — www.apple.com/…
   • Apple apologizes for Siri recording controversy, says program is returning in fall with major changes — www.imore.com/…
   • You have to disable Siri to prevent Apple from retaining transcripts — www.imore.com/…
   • Irish Contractors Listened to 1,000 Siri Recordings Per Shift, Alleges Ex-Employee — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Apple were not alone in using humans to grade their voice assistants’ performance:
     • Facebook got humans to listen in on some Messenger voice chats — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
     • Humans may have been listening to you via your Xbox — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
     • Microsoft won’t shift on AI recordings policy — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
   • The Irish Data Protection Commissioner is investigating whether the Siri Grading breached the GDPR — www.irishexaminer.com/…
   • Apple is being sued over the Siri recording fiasco — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: Why Can’t Users Teach Siri about Its Mistakes? — tidbits.com/…
   • Related: Siri Answers 83% of Questions Correctly in Test, Beating Alexa But Trailing Google Assistant — www.macrumors.com/…
   • Related: Apple testing smarter Siri web answers for Spotlight search queries — 9to5mac.com/…

Notable Numbers

• The smart speaker market continues to grow, but Amazon remains dominant, and the Home Pod’s 5% share is not growing — www.macrumors.com/…
  • Related: Apple’s HomePod is going on sale in Japan on August 23rd — www.imore.com/…
• iPhone market share dips in Europe as competitors gain ground with mid-range devices — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: iPhone users are upgrading more slowly than ever, says report — www.imore.com/…
• The Apple Watch continues to dominate wearables with 5.7 million units shipped in Q2 2019 — www.imore.com/… & Apple Watch continues to dominate wearables in North America — www.imore.com/…

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has hired Dr. Andrew Trister away form Apple’s Health team — www.macobserver.com/…
• Microsoft Hires Former Siri Boss Bill Stasior — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple hires 33 more test drives for it’s autonomous car fleet in CA — www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. A Mixed Month for the Security of Apple Products
   • Apple released security updates that contained a regression bug, re-introducing a vulnerability that had been previously patched. This enabled a jailbreak of the most up-to-date iPhone for the first time in many years. Apple quickly issued fresh updates to re-patch the vulnerability!
     • Public jailbreak released after Apple mistakenly reverses vulnerability — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple Issues Emergency Updates for All Its Operating Systems — tidbits.com/…
   • Google’s Project Zero found and critical iOS bug that was being used to silently hack iPhones that simply visited a website back in February, and Apple patched it within 6 days.
     • Mysterious iOS Attack Changes Everything We Know About iPhone HackingMenuSearchFacebookTwitterEmailFacebookTwitterEmailTwitterTwitterFacebookTwitterPinterestYoutubeInstagram — www.wired.com/…
     • Google uncovers collection of malicious sites that secretly hacked iPhones for years — www.imore.com/…
     • Sophisticated iPhone hacking went unnoticed for over two years — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
   • Apple announced significant upgrades to their security programs:
     • Apple to supply security researchers with special iPhones — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple vastly expands security bounty program: higher payouts, ‘dev’ devices, Mac support — 9to5mac.com/…
     • Apple’s new $1 million bug bounty program: What you need to know — www.imore.com/…
2. Apple’s Complex Relationship with Indie Repairs:
   • iOS has started showing a warning when it detects that an iPhone’s battery has not been installed by an authorised repairer, and disabling the battery health preference pane on such devices. Note that the phone is not disabled and the battery continues to function as normal:
     • Apple disabling battery health monitoring following third party repairs — www.imore.com/…
     • Is Apple Locking iPhone Batteries to Discourage Repair? — www.imore.com/…
     • Here’s Apple’s statement on the iPhone ‘battery lock’ controversy — www.imore.com/…
     • Opinion: Your right to repair stops where Apple’s liability begins — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple have launched a new Independent Repair Providers program to allow third parties perform out-of-warranty repairs with genuine Apple parts, genuine Apple tools, and using the same manuals Apple’s Authorised Repair Providers use (US-only for now, but expected to expand soon):
     • Apple’s new program makes indies right for iPhone repair — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple gives third-party repair shops more access to authorized parts — arstechnica.com
     • Apple Offers Genuine iPhone Parts and Tools to Independent Repair Shops — tidbits.com/…
3. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook joins 180 other CEOs to sign an open letter committing Apple to a new vision of corporate responsibly spearheaded by the Business Roundtable:
   • The commitments the CEOs signed their names to: Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation — opportunity.businessroundtable.org/…

Quick Stories

• A number of airlines have banned some or all 15" MacBooks from checked and/or carry-on baggage:
  • 🇺🇸 In keeping with its policy of not allowing devices with recalled batteries on flights, the FAA has banned 15" MacBooks eligible for a voluntary battery recall that have not had their battery replaced from all flights in the US — www.imore.com/…
  • Virgin Australia bans all MacBooks from checked luggage over battery concerns — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro banned from checked luggage on Qantas flights due to fire risk — www.imore.com/…
• Apple partners with RESOLVE to responsibly source gold for its products — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple’s Press Release: Searching for gold with habitat restoration in mind — www.apple.com/…
• Apple and Eli Lilly are studying whether data from iPhones and Apple Watches can detect signs of dementia — www.cnbc.com/…
• Apple Music News:
  • Apple Music Launches Apple Digital Masters, New Initiative Combining Its Hi-Res ‘Mastered’ Collection — www.billboard.com/…
  • Apple Music launches new ‘Shazam Discovery’ playlist to highlight emerging artists — www.imore.com/…
  • Amazon Alexa brings Apple Music support to even more countries — www.imore.com/…
  • Porsche is building Apple Music right into its Taycan EV sports car — www.imore.com/…
• Apple have opened up an early access program (open to Apple employees only) for their up-coming gaming subscription:
  • Apple running early access program for Apple Arcade, here’s what it looks like — 9to5mac.com/…
  • Early gameplay preview of Apple Arcade shows how the new service will work — www.imore.com/…
  • 🎦 Hands on with six Apple Arcade games — www.loopinsight.com/…
• Apple brings contactless student IDs on iPhone and Apple Watch to more universities — www.apple.com/…
• 🇩🇰 🇫🇮 🇳🇴 🇸🇪 Danske Bank customers in Denmark, Finland, Norway & Sweden get Apple Pay — www.macobserver.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Apple Adds Allscripts to Health Records — www.macobserver.com/…
• Mozilla Inspires the New WebKit Tracking Prevention Policy — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Apple’s policy: WebKit Tracking Prevention Policy — webkit.org/…
• Apple has launched AR art walking tours in in six major cities around the world (Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco & Tokyo) — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Apple Transforms Central Park Into an Augmented Reality Gallery — www.nytimes.com/…
• 🇮🇳 India liberalizes foreign investment rules in a win for Apple — techcrunch.com/…
• Apple iPhone 11 event announced for September 10 — www.imore.com/…