Essential Apple Podcast 171: Apple & Google Sitting in a Tree

Mark Nick and Jim join Simon to talk about another week in lockdown, the tech news from the week and whatever else comes up in the conversation.

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here
You can get Ghostery Midnight free for 3 months with the coupon code ‘workathome’

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular – if you’re interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.

Recorded 12th March 2020

Listen to the show:

This and other episodes are available at:

On this week’s show:

MARK CHAPPELL

@oceanspeed on Twitter and sometimes puts Essential Apple related stuff on YouTube

NICK RILEY

@spligosh on Twitter very occasionally.
Sometimes appears on Bart Busschots’ Let’s Talk Apple

JAMES ORMISTON

MacJim in the Slack
In charge of the Essential Apple Flickr
Also on Flickr as thesrpspaintshop

APPLE

Contact tracing can help slow the spread of COVID-19 and can be done without compromising user privacy. We’re working with @sundarpichai (https://twitter.com/sundarpichai) & @Google (https://twitter.com/Google) to help health officials harness Bluetooth technology in a way that also respects transparency & consent – Tim Cook
- Google and Apple launching coronavirus contact-tracing system for iOS and Android – The Verge
- Apple and Google Partner on Opt-In COVID-19 Contact Tracing Technology to Be Added to iPhone and Android Smartphones (https://flip.it/iaHCzf) – Mac Rumors
Google Gets on Board with Apple’s SMS Security Proposal – iDrop News
Apple fixes FaceTime, USB-C, and Office 365 bugs in macOS Catalina – Ars Technica
This Is Apple’s Coronavirus-Fighting Face Shield – Popular Mechanics
MacBook Pro Keyboard Ready For New Colorful Technology – Forbes
Security firm finds sketchy ‘fleeceware’ apps in iOS App Store – Cult of Mac

TECHNOLOGY

Google debuts a braille keyboard for vision-impaired Android users – CNet
US States Need COBOL Programmers to Help Them Handle Aging Systems – PC Mag
Quibi app review: shifting landscape – The Verge
The Mu folding plug USB power supply

SECURITY & PRIVACY

School districts ban Zoom over security concerns – Engadget
- And Google, and US Senators, and Taiwan, and probably loads of others…
Google Pulls SuperVPN From the Play Store, Users Urged to Delete It – PC Mag
Twitter removes option that allowed users to not share data with advertisers on its mobile app – 9to5 Mac

WORTH A CHIRP / ESSENTIAL TIPS

How to check which iPhone apps have camera and mic access – 9to5 Mac

JUST A SNIPPET

For things that are not worth more than a flypast

Samsung finally killing off S Voice assistant as of June 1 – The Verge

NEMO’S HARDWARE STORE

Nemo is taking a break for the obvious reasons.

Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year and priced from $0.99 US / £2.50 UK per month thereafter…
ProtonMail – end to end encrypted, open source, based in Switzerland. Prices start from FREE… what more can you ask?
ProtonVPN – a VPN to go with it perhaps? Prices also starting from nothing!
Comparitech DNS Leak Test – simple to use and understand VPN leak test.
Fake Name Generator – so much more than names! Create whole identities (for free) with all the information you could ever need.
Wire – free for personal use, open source and end to end encryted messenger and VoIP.
Pinecast – a fabulous podcast hosting service with costs that start from nothing.

Essential Apple is not affiliated with or paid to promote any of these services… We recommend services that we use ourselves and feel are either unique or outstanding in their field, or in some cases are just the best value for money in our opinion.

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