I loved this interview and showcase of Lynn Hill on Climbing Gold. She describes the beauty and challenge of movement in rock climbing so well in this clip:

But the whole point of climbing in general is to adapt yourself to the rock in the most clever way that you can using whatever you were given, your body size, finger size. None of that is as important as your mind and your solutions and your ability to persevere.

There’s someone who gets it. The interplay of mind and body, solving problems through a delicate balance of poise and power, that’s what I love climbing.

Honestly, the whole episode is worth listening to, even if you’re not into climbing. You’ll hear the story of how Lynn shattered expectations by climbing one of the most iconic routes in the world before anyone else — including and especially any men. It wouldn’t be repeated for over a decade.

You’ll also hear about how Lynn was at there at the beginning of climbing sponsorship, or what we’d call “professional rock climbing” today. But when the sponsor started looking for more “engagement” and reliance on social media, she stuck to her personal values and bowed out. (Without denigrating anyone who does earn their living that way, by the way.)

Lynn Hill was and is an inspiration. And still a damn good climber.

Podcasts Climbing

Editor-in-Chief Gerald Lynch breaks the bad news in ‘One More Thing… Goodbye from iMore’:

Dig out your old iPod and fire up your ‘Songs to cry to’ playlist, I come bearing sad news. After more than 15 years covering everything Apple, it’s with a heavy heart I announce that we will no longer be publishing new content on iMore.

I want to kick off by thanking you all for your support over the many years and incarnations of the site. Whether you were a day-one early adopter in the ‘PhoneDifferent’ days, came on board with ‘The iPhone Blog,’ or recently started reading to find out what the hell Apple Vision Pro is, it’s been a privilege to serve you a daily slice of Apple pie. […]

I would like to take this moment to thank everyone from the iMore community, past and present, for their support and passion for what we’ve created over the years. A massive thanks goes to iMore’s previous leaders, Lory Gil, Serenity Caldwell, and Joe Keller, and of course, the inimitable Rene Ritchie who kickstarted this wonder all those years back. I hope we’ve done you all proud.

Wow. iMore used to be at the top of my daily Apple blog reading. It’s through them that I found voices that I loved to read, like Rene, Serenity, and Mikah Sargent. From their works, I can draw a direct line to me trying out podcasts, to the Relay community, to discovering more related blogs and voices in the tech community, to finding the inspiration to start writing this very blog myself.

That said, when my favorite writers left iMore, it gradually fell off my reading list altogether. That’s not to say that today’s writers there aren’t up to snuff, it’s just they never broke back onto my radar. I suppose that’s part of what led to today’s announcement.

One notable silver lining is that the iMore site will remain up indefinitley:

iMore will stay online so readers can continue to access articles from the archive, and the forum at https://forums.imore.com will remain active until November 1 to serve our community.

It’d be a shame to see the iMore site end up being taken over by AI slop the way TUAW was, especially since Lynch notes that it’s AI that is at center of the changing dynamics of online publishing:

It’s a keen reminder that the world of technology never stands still: The term ‘artificial intelligence’ was the reserve of science fiction in the early days of the iPhone. The world of publishing is forever evolving too, as do the forms of technology journalism that look to shine a light on the industry. iMore leaves the stage at a pivotal crossroads for online publishing, where the battle for readers’ time and attention is more demanding than ever before, and the aforementioned AI advances and search discovery methods further complicate the playing field.

Anyway, I’m raising a glass to iMore tonight. Thanks for the many years of entertaining and helpful blogging, and for being part of the journey. I wish all their writers the best of luck in whatever comes next.

Linked

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

1️⃣ Tyler pokes fun at the (admittedly overkill) permissions prompts in macOS Sequoia. [🔗 tyler.io]

2️⃣ Sony’s playing the nostalgia card hard with this, and I love it! [🔗 Sean Hollister // theverge.com]

3️⃣ Oh hey, sounds like AI chatbots are pretty good at debunking conspiratorial claims and and reducing people’s belief in conspiracy theories. [🔗 The Good News Podcast // overcast.fm]

4️⃣ Numeric Citizen’s got a great tip on how to start fresh with a new Apple Watch, but keep your old favorite watch face layouts. I wish it worked for Home Screens too! [🔗 blog.numericcitizen.me]

5️⃣ I thought this discussion on how and when to call for help in the backcountry was important and helpful. Basically, it should be a last resort, but when you’ve gotten to that point, don’t hesitate to hit the SOS button. [🔗 The Sharp End Podcast // overcast.fm]

6️⃣ This “social network” app that’s simply a wave of AI bots replying to your every post is fascinating. Not something that particularly appeals to me — I want to talk to people, not bots — but I can see how it might scratch the itch of posting something to the world while still being private. Well, as private as something can be when it has to be processed by their AI model. It does make me wonder if they’ve invented a new way to gather everyone’s deepest, darkest thoughts and secrets. 😬 [🔗 SocialAI // apps.apple.com]

7️⃣ Here’s just a general shoutout to Matt Birchler and his site Birchtree. It’s one of my favorite blogs; I love what he’s doing over there. Many blog posts per week. Some short, some long. Great voice. Strong opinions expressed with kindness. What’s not to like? [🔗 birchtree.me]

Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know. And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web.

7 Things

My barging in (and not so subtle attempt to someday be a guest) on “the tech podcast with no plans to add a new button.”

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Mikah Sargent: Are the new Instagram teen accounts a step in the right direction, or will it not have an effect at all?

Speaking as someone who doesn’t have kids (and doesn’t plan to either), I’m still glad that Instagram has implemented these new changes. With a grain of salt, though. Having teen accounts be private by default seems like a no-brainer. Giving parents more access to their kids’ accounts could be good, but it also seems like a bit of an invasion of privacy. There are plenty of kids who don’t have good relationships with their parents and I worry a bit about what their activity there could inadvertently reveal.

That said, I’m glad parents don’t have unfettered access to their kids’ messaging, and it sounds like Instagram struck a good enough balance for now. And if teens don’t like the changes, they’ll move onto the next app that isn’t as restrictive. So it goes.

(Oh, and I hadn’t even considered how divorced or otherwise split parents will affect who and how they can manage their kid’s account. That’s gotta be messy.)

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Stephen Robles: Do you care at all about how fast your phone charges, and what do you use on your nightstand as a charger?

I’ve been over worrying about charging speeds for several years now. Really since MagSafe came out, which eliminated my worry about my phone not being positioned correctly to get a good charge overnight. If I need to charge quickly, I’ll plug in with a cable, but most of the time my phone gets enough charge via MagSafe overnight, or for the 20 or so minutes of my commute where I’ll usually (but not always) plug it in. I let the software manage charging speeds and whatnot (like only charging to 80% until just before my usual wake-up time), and I just don’t worry. I’ve got a MagSafe Battery Pack in my backpack just in case, but it’s pretty rare for me to need it, unless I’m on a long hike.

my phone onto the dock and feel that it’s secured to the magnets. It’s great! (And I suppose I could just swap in the faster MagSafe puck, if I cared to.)

I used to pack up the MagSafe Duo for trips, but now I’ve got a Twelve South Butterfly dock, which is my travel setup. Watch and phone get charged with the Butterfly and AirPods can usually last fine without a nightly top-off.

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Dan Moren: What is your favorite iOS 18 feature among the myriad of improvements?

Hard to say for sure because I haven’t tried everything yet, but two that immediately come to mind are the refreshed Control Center and Send Later for Messages.

I love that there are so many more things that I can put into Control Center for quick actions. I’ve already put into some actions from Simple Scan to quickly scan things to particular destinations, and I’m going to be loading up on shortcuts, I’m sure. Free-form arrangement is nice, too.

Sometimes the thing you want to say would be better said later. Being able to choose a delivery time is clutch. I’ve got to do some testing to see what happens when you schedule a message for a time when you’re out of connection range or if your phone is off, but it’s been working great so far.

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Joe Rosensteel: What’s your least favorite Apple software update?

By far, the even more naggy permission prompts on macOS. Apple, you gotta give us actual control over our own computers to eliminate those prompts.

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Bonus Topic: Who was your favorite teacher?

I had a lot of good ones, but the teacher who sticks out above the rest was Mr. Beyer. He was my high school band director for all four years of concert/marching/symphony/jazz band. He, more than anyone else, taught me that people will rise to the expectations you place upon them. Expect greatness, and people will rise to the challenge. Expect mediocrity, and that’s what you’ll get.

He brought such passion (and, yes, a temper) to his teaching and conducting. And we sure did punch above our weight class with his high expectations.

⏰⏰⏰

Overtime Topic: What stock app on iPhone would you like to see get a major redesign, and what would you like to see changed?

I’d go with the Music app. It hasn’t seen a major upgrade in years, and I find it pretty clunky to navigate through. In fact, I’ve been using Marvis Pro for quite a while because I appreciate its quick interface and finely-tunable customization options. But, not being a first-party app with direct access to all things Apple Music, it doesn’t always work quite right. So I’d like to see more customization, personalization, and speed brought to the stock Music app.

And, for the love of god, add better annual Replay/Wrapped features into the app instead of exclusively on a website.

Until next time, watch what you say, and keep watching the clock. Bye everybody!

Crashing Clockwise

I “tweeted” my first impressions of my new phone and headphones last night after about an hour of use. It all holds up still today.

On the latest non-Pro AirPods:

My several-sentence review of the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (after about 60 minutes):

• They seem to fit well and are comfy! 🥳
• Sound is great! 🔊
• Noise Cancellation is quite good! 🔇
• Stem-squeeze controls aren’t so bad. 🤌
• Case is tiny! ◽️
• Contenders for Best AirPods Yet! 🥇

And on the big new phone:

My several-sentence iPhone 16 Pro review (after about 30 minutes):

• Screen is amazing! 🤩
• Device is so big and heavy! 🙁
• Rails are shinier than I expected/wanted. 😕
• But the rounded edges feel great. 🙂
• Action Button & Camera Control quick-access will be nice. 👍
• Undecided on white color. 🤷‍♂️

If I’m honest, though, I’ve been on the iPhone comparison page today, looking to see what I’d be missing by swapping to a regular iPhone 16. It’s a full ounce lighter (👍), but the same width (👎). I can’t type one-handed on this thing! I don’t think the always-on display is something I’d miss. The ProMotion 120Hz display sure makes everything feel snappy, but, again, probably not a dealbreaker. All the cameras are major upgrades from my 13 mini anyway, and I’m just not that much of a photographer that I need the 5x telephoto lens.

I think I’m talking myself out of the Pro phone. Stay tuned, I’ve got a two-week return window to try this out.

Reviews

Sometimes I feel like Simon & Garfunkel wrote this song precisely so that Disturbed could perform it.

Years (and many, many listens) later and it still gives me chills.

Music

My barging in (and not so subtle attempt to someday be a guest) on “the tech podcast where you can probably guess our favorite stock iPhone app…it’s the clock.”

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Dan Moren: How do you take pictures with your phone, and does the iPhone’s new Camera Control button appeal to you?

I’m a tried and true user of the side-swipe on the lock screen to quickly go from zero to camera on my iPhone. And when I’m already using my phone, I pull down the Control Center and use the icon there to open the camera. I don’t like the delay of using the lock screen button (I can’t wait to swap that one out), and I deleted the camera app icon from my home screen as soon as I could (why waste the icon space?). Between that swipe and the Control Center, I feel like I always have fast access to get those snaps.

However, I’m psyched for Camera Control button on the new iPhones. When considered what I’d do with the Action Button, I was conflicted. I wanted a hardware button to get to the camera, but there are so many other actions I’d also like a physical shortcut to. With the Camera Control, I don’t have to choose! And the UI/UX looks really good from afar. We’ll see how fiddly it is in person, but I’m pretty optimistic about the whole thing.

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Aleen Simms: Will you be participating in any post-Apple Event spending?

The AirPods 4 were high on my wish list, so those got pre-ordered ASAP when the keynote concluded. I don’t think I even looked over the spec page first. (I was glad to see they gained even better water and dust resistance!)

A new iPhone took more consideration. As I noted recently, I’m extremely reluctant to give up my beloved iPhone 13 mini with it’s perfect size and incredible color. But it’s beginning to show its age with snappiness, battery life, and a mushy power button. Plus it certainly won’t be Apple Intelligence-capable. Enough improvements have stacked up, and with no relief in sight as far as a return of the iPhone mini size, I’m ready to upgrade. But I do so in protest of the again-increasing device sizes and weights.

But I hit a couple of snags. To get installment pricing with Apple Card or iPhone Upgrade Program pricing, you need to be connected with one of the major carriers in the U.S. I’m not. That means putting down a lot more money (as in full price) than I was intending.

In the end, I did order an iPhone 16 Pro with 128GB of storage in White Titanium. It’ll be my first white iPhone ever and, despite everything I said above, I’m pretty excited about it.

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Mikah Sargent: What’s your take on the form factor of robotic components getting involved with a smart speaker?

My gut says that it’s going to end up being something like a HomePod smushed together with an iPad display, that runs something like tvOS smushed together with the iPhone’s Standby mode, and which can automatically move the screen around to face a nearby person so that they can see and interact with it more easily.

Is that a robot? I’m not so sure.

But it does sound appealing. I’d be glad to have a kitchen iPad that’s always plugged in and can be used more hands-free. That said, I’d be glad for it even with out the robotic arm thing, and I’m a little worried about the cost that such a component would add. But I’m sure if and when Apple shows it off, I think it’s cool. They have a good track record there.

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Anže Tomić: What does the new hypothetical-not-gonna-happen-but-maybe third iPhone button do?

I’m gonna be kinda boring here and double up on Mikah’s suggestion of a physical flashlight button. I dislike needing to light up the front screen toward me, which ruins my night vision, in order to turn on the back torch. Give me a physical button there, and then I really wouldn’t be conflicted about what I’ll use the Action Button for.

As Mikah said, I also think that Apple could take a lot of the smarts it just introduced with the Camera Control button to make the Flashlight button a real winner. Capacitive sliding up and down the button for brightness control. Half and full presses for wide and focused beams. There are some cool things that could be done that would go great with the fancy new UI that Apple built into iOS 18 for the flashlight. I wonder if swapping flashlight control into the Camera Control button was ever in the cards…

⏱️⏱️⏱️

Bonus Topic: What’s your favorite mode of transportation?

You know, one mode of transportation doesn’t immediately spring to mind. I quite like plan travel, but not its carbon emission. I haven’t spent enough time on a train to know if that’s the best for me. Driving is fun and offers so much freedom. I’ve really started to enjoy riding my bike to work on the rail trail that opened in my area.

I’m going to be boring again and say that driving is my favorite, but I wish it wasn’t.

⏰⏰⏰

Overtime Topic: What is your means of completing or not completing tasks, and holding yourself responsible to them?

Oh, Mikah, what a fraught question. I’ll try to make this quick with bullet points.

• Things is my go-to task manager for most projects and long-term storage of tasks.
• Reminders holds my shared grocery list and other family reminders, as well as tasks that need more specific notifications like geolocation.
• Lots of ideas get stuck in Drafts because its the quickest and easiest way to get stuff out of my head, but I don’t always remember to send them where they need to go. This happens enough that I’ve considered configuring Drafts into a task manager.
• Events go to Fantastical, which are also sometimes kinda tasks.
• My Spark email inbox is also a task manager of sorts, and I do a pretty good job of keeping that tidy.

I’ll say that I was much better about task management when I worked a desk job and had more reasons to keep an eye on my tasks saved in those apps. I have fewer urgent “projects” these days, so more things slip through the cracks.

Until next time, watch what you say, and keep watching the stocks. Bye everybody!

Crashing Clockwise

A list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted weekly. Sometimes themed, but often not.

1️⃣ In the department of wildly talented people, beloved Tech YouTube megastar Marques Brownlee is also a (professional) world-class Ultimate player. He recently brought home the title of World Champs with the winning catch for Team USA. 🤯 [📷 @mkbhd // instagram.com]

2️⃣ David Smith shared some truly excellent screenshots from the watchOS 11 beta where the Photos face got really confused about where to mask and show the time. [🐘 @_Davidsmith // mastodon.social]

3️⃣ Jason Snell had the best Apple Event recap notes that I read, and made a bunch of the same puzzling observations that I did. [🔗 Jason Snell // sixcolors.com]

4️⃣ WTF is this home screen?! [🧵 @sdw // threads.net]

5️⃣ Scotty Jackson shared a quick post with the most sane way to determine what’s allowed notifications on your phone. [🔗 HeyScottyJ // heyscottyj.com]

6️⃣ Nick Offerman is a national treasure. He shared a song describing why he’s a Kamala Man. [▶️ youtube.com]

7️⃣ What the hell just happened? (Read this on its original webpage.) [🌐 modem.io]

Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know. And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web.

7 Things

Before we get into how I feel about the new stuff, let’s review my top picks and Bingo board results:

✅ iPhone 16 Pro with a titanium matte frame, camera parity with the Pro Max, and a capture button (ideally the size is no bigger than the 15 Pro1)
❌ Apple Watch Ultra 3
✅ AirPods (4th gen) with a new shape that fit as well as AirPods (2nd gen) and (somehow) some noise cancelation magic (and ideally tap gestures make a return)
❌ AirPods Max that weigh notably less than the originals
✅ Apple Intelligence runs on all new iPhones, not just Pro models

3/5, or 60% correct. I’ll take it.

And I got a double win on my Bingo card! (Did you play along? Let me know!)

Okay, let’s get into what I think about the products introduced today.

Apple Watch

• Any year that the Apple Watch gets thinner and lighter without sacrificing features or battery life is a win in my books.
• They called it a major new design, but I kinda expected something more dramatic for the Series 10. I could be wrong, but I don’t think they made a big deal about it being 10 years (to the day!) since the Apple Watch’s first reveal.
• I’m puzzled by Apple completely neglecting to mention the smaller watch size sticking around during the keynote. I was convinced that they axed it until seeing it available on their website afterward.
• I’m disappointed but not surprised by Apple Watch Ultra skipping an upgrade this year. My Ultra 1 can probably hold out for another year. The new black color does look super sick, even though it’s probably not the color I would choose.

AirPods

• AirPods 4 (new naming scheme) looks just about exactly what I wanted, assuming they fit my ears. I don’t think I’m getting the tap gestures, but active noise cancelation without in-ear tips is magic.
• I’m disappointed and surprised by the AirPods Max only getting a color refresh and Lightning swapped for USB-C. Four years later, you can hardly call them “Max” without them having best in Adaptive Audio, head nod recognition, higher fidelity audio, or anything else that the AirPods Pro have gotten. I thought those would be table stakes — let alone materials and design improvements — and who knows now how long we’ll be waiting for them to get a real upgrade.
• AirPods Pro getting really substantial health features without having to buy new hardware is fantastic. People love their AirPods, so if they can use them as over-the-counter hearing aids too, I think a lot of people will suddenly have access much better hearing. I might need to borrow my wife’s AirPods Pro just to take the hearing test!

iPhone

• iPhone 16 looks like a really nice upgrade, especially for a non-Pro phone. Action Button, Camera Control, better camera lenses, Apple silicon jump, better thermals, and more.
• iPhone 16 Pro looks like about exactly what we expected, and I’d say a less exciting Pro release, unless you’re really into the camera/audio features. Faster chip, better cameras, Camera Control, bigger display, longer battery life — those seem to be the highlights. I’m actually going to have to do some contemplation on if want to go Pro this year. I figured if I was going to get the regular (non Mini) size, I might as well get the best phone I can. But the differences between the regular and the Pro phones aren’t really things that I have strong opinions about — at first glance. I’m still leaning toward Pro (I am a tech nerd, after all), but it’s a harder decision than normal. (Also, tying monthly installments — both through Apple Card and iPhone Upgrade Program — to only AT&T, Boost Mobile, Verizon, or T-Mobile might be a barrier to me making a purchase at all this year. I switched to Spectrum this year and the lack of financing options could throw a wrench into my upgrade plans.)
• I’m happy to see that the trend continues that last year’s Pro Max camera upgrades are now available in both sizes of Pro phones, and that they’re in lockstep this year.

Event Itself

• The keynote both moved very quickly (dense) and also felt super long (spent too long on some segments) overall.
• Apple Event days aren’t quite the same with everyone split off into different communities (Threads, Mastodon, etc.). It’s really only these days that I miss Twitter where I could see photos from the event and everyone’s hot takes all in flying in on one stream. Maybe we’ll get back there eventually when ActivityPub gets sorted out.
• Speaking of hot takes, you can read the rest of mine from my liveblog of the event right here.

Those Very Good Tweets™

If you have a drink every time they mention Apple Intelligence, you are already drunk. #AppleEvent

I am also 40% brighter when viewed from an angle. #AppleEvent

ROSE GOLD HAS RETURNED FROM WAR

“Apple Watch Ultra 2 remains a product in our lineup.”

AirPods Max remain a product in our lineup. #AppleEvent

Post by @charliemchapman

View on Threads

New Apple stuff is great and all, but hear me out… What if they integrated hardware, software, and services in a way that only Apple can do? 🤪

does the new camera button let us turn down that light wrap on that explosion

This is how Only Murders in the Building can record their podcasts entirely on phones.

Post by @mgsiegler

View on Threads

Not sure why they named this #AppleEvent “Glowjob” usually it makes sense after the event is over but not this time…

Apple Event

It’s Apple Event day, which means it’ll soon be time to score drafts, picks, and (for the first time here) Bingo cards! I’ve put together 24 things that I think could happen during today’s keynote video. You’ll notice, though, that some items are contradictory — I think they could go either way! 🤷‍♂️

Have some fun and play along with your own randomly generated Bingo cards made from my predictions below. And please take a screenshot to share with me at the end — I’d love to see how you did, and I’ll immortalize winning players in an update to this post. 😁 Good luck!

Bingo Winners

• Robert Silvernail
• Jarrod Blundy

My Top Picks

Here’s what I’m personally hoping to see today:

• iPhone 16 Pro with a titanium matte frame, camera parity with the Pro Max, and a capture button (ideally the size is no bigger than the 15 Pro¹)
• Apple Watch Ultra 3
• AirPods (4th gen) with a new shape that fit as well as AirPods (2nd gen) and (somehow) some noise cancelation magic (and ideally tap gestures make a return)
• AirPods Max that weigh notably less than the originals
• Apple Intelligence runs on all new iPhones, not just Pro models

[Read more of my (many) Apple wishes on my ongoing, dedicated list.]

Apple Events