Good morning! ☀️ *Tim Cook voice*

Apple is essentially a bank now, sideloading is coming with iOS 17, Angry Birds bought for $700+ Million, the HomePod is evolving, and much more.

Estimated reading time: 4.3 minutes

📊 Poll

Last week I asked if you’d take $10k to never buy an Apple product again..

Here were some of my favorite replies:

This week: How long is your iPhone passcode? More on why this matters later.

📲 Quick Tip

Crop Image to Wallpaper

One of the wallpapers included at the end of this issue was too big, so I used this trick.

• Once on a photo, tap Edit

• Tap the Crop button

• Tap the Square button in the top right (next to the markup pen)

• Select Wallpaper

• Position the image to your liking

💰 Apple Savings is Here

Apple announced this high-yield savings account feature back in October, and now it’s finally available in the US for Apple Card holders!

• 4.15% interest rate (APY) - compounds daily

• No fees, No minimum balance requirements

• All Daily Cash earned automatically deposits into the account

• Can deposit money from an external account

• Instant access to the cash

• $250k maximum. FDIC insured

• Setup process took less than 2 minutes - just had to verify SSN & agree to terms

I’m impressed with this. The UI is amazing, 4.15% APY is competitive, it’s easy to check your balance/graph, and it’s FDIC insured. Not much more you can ask for!

Fun fact: Deposit $25k into this account and you’ll get a free iPhone every year, just from the interest you’ll receive!

🔊 HomePod is Evolving

After being announced a while back, the HomePod’s Sound Recognition feature is finally here!

• Detects the sound of smoke & carbon monoxide alarms

• Sends you a notification when detected, so you can be aware even if you are away from home

• Tap the notification to check in and hear what’s going on and ask if everything is okay. Siri also announces to those at home that a Home member is checking in

• If there is a HomeKit camera in the same space, the video feed is also included in the notification

• Requires iOS 16.4 & HomePod Version 16.4 (works with all HomePod models)

You know how many people have had their house burn down while they were out getting groceries? All because nobody was home and there was no way to notify then that the smoke alarm was going off.

Well now, with this new feature, your home might get saved since you can call emergency services immediately after getting notified. That alone is worth the sub-$90 price tag for a HomePod mini imo!

📲 Sideloading on the iPhone

The EU law is forcing Apple to adapt and change, and sideloading will be our first taste of it.

According to Bloomberg, iOS 17 will allow iPhone users to download apps from 3rd party sources, and not just the official App Store!

This is something we’ve been able to do on the Mac for a long time and honestly, some of my favorite apps on macOS are not on the official App Store, so I’m ready for this.

I’d expect Apple to do something similar with iOS - where there’s a warning that the app is from a 3rd party & ensures you want to run the app. I can also see Apple adding some sort of verification/vetting process for apps downloaded from 3rd parties so that it’s not the Wild Wild West.

And while this is cool for us normal users who download apps, it is a far bigger deal for developers, since they won’t need to pay Apple's egregious 15-30% fees any longer. In theory, of course, because Apple could easily find a loophole to still get their cut. Regardless, it’ll be less than what it is now and that’s a win!

🔐 Update Your iPhone Passcode

Back in February, The Wall Street Journal shared a shocking iPhone theft story that caused much concern.. but now, we’re hearing that it’s even worse than expected.

To catch you up:

• Thieves are spying on iPhone user's passcodes in public and then stealing their devices, sometimes after befriending them at a bar

• The thieves access financial apps, where they transfer the money to themselves

• They then reset the victim's Apple ID password in the Settings app, disable Find My, and wipe the device. All from simply knowing the device passcode

Now, WSJ reports this:

• Some thieves are using Apple's recovery key security option to permanently lock out iPhone users from their Apple ID account after stealing their phones

• Without this recovery key (that the thieves generate), you will lose access to your Apple ID account, meaning all photos, videos, contacts, etc.. GONE

How do you protect yourself? Well, first off, try to always use Face ID or Touch ID while out in public. The passcode is the weak link, not the biometrics.

The report also recommends for users to switch from a 4-digit passcode to an alphanumeric passcode, which would be more difficult for thieves to spy on & remember.

And lastly, don’t store important passwords in your iPhone’s password manager. Use a 3rd party password manager with its own, separate passcode to get in.

⌚️ High Expectations for watchOS 10

Although iOS 17 isn’t expected to be anything too crazy, watchOS 10 is!

• watchOS 10 will be a major update with bigger enhancements, including an "updated interface." -Mark Gurman (Bloomberg)

• Will have a redesigned home screen layout/grid, folders, and will act similarly to iOS. -analyst941 (leaker)

Last week, Gurman said that watchOS 10 will be the Apple Watch's “biggest software update since 2015.” And now that we have more rumors pointing to big changes, I am officially excited!

📰 Quick News Bites

• New Macs Coming at WWDC (Gurman)

• Sega Buys Angry Birds Maker, Rovio for $776 Million

• Netflix to Expand Password Crackdown to U.S. in Q2 With Paid-Sharing Plans

• Apple's Upcoming Beats Studio Buds+ Earbuds Spotted in FCC Database

• Hands-on with the new Multiview feature for Apple TV sports streams

• Rumor: iPhone 15 to use ‘frosted glass’ finish, new ‘cyan’ color option

• Kroger now rolling out Apple Pay support to stores across the United States

🎨 Set Wallpaper

Click the image to download the full res file.

🎶 Now Playing

• Hidden Brain: Remember More, Forget Less

• Something You Should Know: Why & How to Awaken Your 5 Senses

• Radiolab: Alone Enough

• Foo Fighters - Rescued (single, rock)

• Daniel Caesar - Always (single, R&B)

• Kane Brown & blackbear - Memory (single, pop)

Every week I share some podcast episodes & music I’ve been listening to. Feel free to reply with the music/podcasts you’ve been listening to!

🫶 Reader Love

Until next week, ✌️

- Brandon