Welcome to the AppleInsider Daily podcast for Thursday, February 22nd, 20-24. I'm Charles Martin, and we begin today with ... downtime!
Thursday morning was not a good time to be US customer of AT&T, and to a lesser extent the other major carriers, T-Mobile and Verizon. All three had issues with connectivity, led by AT&T but with smaller outages — possibly connected to trunk lines shared among the carriers — affecting customers of those companies and the smaller carriers that ride on the big three’s infrastructure.
The problem was resolved by mid afternoon for all carriers, but AT&T is being tight-lipped about the cause. Verizon and T-Mobile were only barely any better, claiming that their network were unaffected when actual customers begged to differ.
Speaking of trouble, device management firm Jamf’s latest survey of the state of malware has found that about nine percent of cell phone users were caught by phishing scams, and some 20 percent of companies are at risk because of bad smartphone configurations — but on that latter point it is important to note that Jamf is a company that helps other companies manage mobile devices.
The report says that 18 percent of organizations had at least one user fall for a phishing attack as well. Jamf notes that at least a third of iPhone users have FileVault disabled, and three percent of individuals and an astonishing 25 percent of organizations had at least one device with the Lock Screen disabled.
By far, the biggest malware likely to strike computer owners in particular is adware, which makes up nearly 37 percent of all Mac malware. Another category of what it calls “potentially unwanted applications” makes up another 35.24 percent, with Trojans accounting for 18 percent of malware.
Actual ransom ware and data theft malware remains very low on the Mac platform, but it would be wise to install some form of protection on Macs, such as MalwareBytes — which has received positive reviews for effectiveness and a lower-than-average annual cost. Jamf also recommends that users keep their devices up-to-date software wise, particularly on company Windows or Mac computers, and Android phones.
Speaking of security, the iOS 17.3 update is a good one to install if you haven’t already — it fixes the threat of a malicious Shortcut that could capture sensitive data like photo and spread them over the internet. The Shortcut, which often masquerades as one that users might want, compromises the Transparency, Consent, and Control or TCC system that protects users from data theft. Both iOS and iPadOS 17.3 fix the problem as does Sonoma 14.3 for Macs.
In gaming news, Crossover — an app that allows users to run a number of Windows apps and games on Macs without having to install an entire Windows system — has been updated to version 24, which fixes a number of specific games that will now run correctly on Apple Silicon Macs, including “Anno 1800,” “Planet Zoo,” “Mafia: Definitive Edition,” “Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition” multiplayer, and “Horizon Zero Dawn” among others.
The new version also allows users to drag and drop executable files onto Crossover to either run on install them, and the app now supports changing the directory where a user’s bottles are stored for those who want to keep their Windows-based games or apps on an external drive.
In industry news, Counterpoint Research has issued its speculative report for US smartphone sales for the month of July, and Apple has turned out to be the sole bright spot for the entire industry. Premium smartphones like Apple’s and Samsung’s flagship models saw a return to growth, but US users seem to be abandoning low-end and even mid-range phones in significant numbers.
Overall, US smartphone sales declined by 10 percent year over year for January, said Counterpoint, and even Apple’s sales were down — but only very slightly, meaning that Apple is outperforming the rest of the industry and increasing its share of the smartphones being sold.
The iPhone 15 does best in the “postpaid” market, meaning users under contract with one of the big cellular providers. The iPhone 11 and 12 models do better with free-agent users as well as the prepaid market. These gains will undoubtedly be tempered somewhat in the current quarter by the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 range, which is now widely available.
Meanwhile, a number of smartwatches and smart rings not made by Apple are starting to make claims that they can measure blood glucose levels in a non-invasive way, but the US Food and Drug Administration has, in essence, called BS on those claims — and cautions that any readings one may get from such devices is going to be inaccurate, which could lead to serious mistakes in managing one’s blood sugar levels, which for diabetic patients could be dangerous.
Apple has been working on such a noninvasive feature for the Apple Watch for at least three years, but patent applications show that it has been doing so with a strong eye on being as accurate as possible. If Apple or some other company is eventually successful in developing accurate glucose monitoring, it would be a real breakthrough for Type 1 as well as Type 2 diabetics, among others.
Speaking of the Apple Watch and finally for today, a former developer working in Bengalaru, India named Sharath Seeram started getting heart rate alerts on his Apple Watch, and in doing so may well have saved his own life, not because of a heart condition … but because of stress.
After getting the alerts, Seeram dutifully went to see his doctor, and after a battery of tests, his physician concluded that he did not have heart issues, but that his very stressful job — which required him to work very long hours with unsupportive management — was what was triggering his heart alerts. The doctor found his mental as well as physical health was suffering, and her prescription was to either find a way to reduce the stress of his work, or quit immediately.
Seeram took the advice to heart, so to speak, and switched careers. His heart rate dropped dramatically and his mental health improved, without making any other lifestyle changes. He subsequently wrote a thank you letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, telling him the heart alerts worked as a wake-up call for the harm his previous job was doing to his mind and body.
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I've been Charles Martin, and THIS has been the AppleInsider Daily podcast for Thursday, February 22nd, 20-24. Thank you for listening.