Table of contents for October 2019 in Macworld

Apple’s Q3 2019 financial results caused a bit of a hubbub because iPhone revenue was—for the first time in seven years—less than half of Apple’s overall revenue. The cause is a slowdown in iPhone sales combined with dramatic growth in two other areas: wearables and services. But this is hardly the first time Apple has experienced a major change in the shape of its business. In fact, Apple is a company that’s rarely stood still in terms of its evolution. To prove the point, let’s step through 20 years of Apple’s business, five years at a time. 1999: THE MAC COMEBACK Steve Jobs came back to Apple in 1997 and we all know what happened next. But that transformation took a while. Look at a sample quarter from twenty years ago—the…

Few of us ever get a chance to start over from scratch, but recently World of Warcraft players got exactly that with the launch of WoW Classic. Blizzard Entertainment’s “newest” game is essentially the popular massive multiplayer online roleplaying game exactly as it played in 2004, right down to molasses-paced quest text, a dearth of quest markers, and enemies so tough that you feel compelled to group up with other players to beat them. Together, features like these made World of Warcraft’s earliest incarnation more social than its current form, and almost 15 years ago they helped lay the foundation for some of the most enduring friendships of my life. Yet it’s important to remember that Classic isn’t a hard reset—a reboot that gives us a truly new game with…

Malwarebytes began life as a complement to antivirus suites. It was a backstop to catch and remove particularly troublesome malware that your primary security program couldn’t. That all changed in December 2016 when the company announced its paid version, Malwarebytes Premium, was capable enough to be your primary security program. “With the launch of Malwarebytes 3.0, we are confident that you can finally replace your traditional antivirus,” the company said in a blog post. Malwarebytes comes in two flavors. The first is the free version that is only capable of removing malware infections during a scan. Upgrade to Malwarebytes Premium at an annual cost of $40 for a single device or $60 for 10 devices, and it adds real-time protection, adware and unwanted program blocking, automatic updates, and scan scheduling.…

About a month ago, a report in The Guardian exposed the fact that third-party contractors have been listening in on a small percentage of Siri requests as part of a “Siri grading” program. Apple promised to halt the Siri grading program while it conducts a “thorough review,” which left us wondering how the company would move forward, as human grading of any machine-learning process is an essential part of training the algorithms to improve them. Apple now appears to have finished its review and has issued a statement apologizing for the way this program had been carried out so far. The company plans to reinstate the program this fall after making some important changes. The apology begins with a familiar statement: “At Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right.” It then…

You’re trying to download and install the latest iOS release, or take some photos, or download that cool app your friend told you about, and your iPhone says the storage is full. You’ve already deleted every app you don’t think you need, and there’s still not enough space. So you look at your iPhone storage in the Settings page and, sure enough, your iPhone’s storage is full. Worst of all, a huge chunk of it is just categorized as Other. What’s that supposed to mean? How do you get rid of it? The Other storage is mysterious and confusing, and there’s no one answer that works for everyone, but hopefully this guide will help you deal with this problem. VIEWING YOUR IPHONE STORAGE To see how much storage all…

According to The New York Times, upwards of 48 billion Americans were hounded by robocalls in 2018, an increase of 56.8 percent over the previous year. That averages out to roughly 150 scam, telemarketing, and unwanted calls annually for every adult with a phone—a number expected to balloon higher in the future. That’s precisely why a cottage industry flourishes on the App Store, supplying tools to combat this menace. Unfortunately, most call blocker solutions rely on outdated, ineffective blacklists, or worse yet, require users to do the heavy lifting by reporting rogue numbers as they pop up. A new app called Firewall takes the opposite approach: Whitelisting everyone you know and sending the rest to limbo. While that may sound like dropping a nuke on your backyard to get rid of…

Don't be scared by the word complication. The ones you find on the Apple Watch can make your life much simpler, as they’re basically bite-sized versions of the full apps you normally open through the home screen grid. You can have anywhere from one to eight complications on the tiny screen depending on the watch face (or watch), which makes it easy for you to figure out what the weather’s like outside, when your next appointment is, or even translate a question into another language. A good Apple Watch app doesn’t necessarily have a good complication, although there’s a lot of overlap. A good complication relays enough information that you won’t even need to open the app. If you do, it’ll get right to business without requiring any other steps. These…

The fundamental features you want in any VPN service are an easy-to-use desktop application, privacy protection, and speedy connections. The latter two are harder to determine. In the case of privacy, you have to trust that your VPN is doing what it says its doing. Speeds depend on your location, equipment, and ISP. Nevertheless, we do the best we can to make informed decisions, and when it comes to Hide.me VPN on Mac you get almost everything you need. HIDE.ME: SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SERVERS, AND SPEED Hide.me by default on Mac uses OpenVPN, but you can also specify IKEv2, SoftEther, and SSTP protocols. For data encryption on OpenVPN, Hide.me uses DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384; data authentication is over HMA SHA-256, and the handshake uses RSA 8192-bit. If you opt for IKEv2, Hide.me uses AES-CBC-256…

Grace Digital dives into the mid-century modern design revival with the aptly named Mondo+ Classic internet radio. With its buffed warm sound and soft good looks, this glorified $250 (MSRP) table radio evokes vintage 1950s and 60s products from such makers as Zenith, KLH, Grundig, and RCA; radios that stood guard on nightstands and calmed visitors in doctors’ waiting rooms. This one comes dressed in a wood (walnut) cabinet, beige metal face plate, and tweedy grill cloth. (Or you can choose a boring all-black look.) Take a gander at all the old-school radio push buttons: 10 source presets offering a happy throwback for listeners with an eclectic nature—or a short attention span. But this entertainer is young at heart. Instead of tuning in local FM and AM stations, the Mondo+…

When it comes to the performance of Mac laptops, it’s safe to say that Intel is in the driver’s seat. Unless Apple shows some sign of either switching to AMD or producing its own laptop processors, the MacBook line will be inextricably linked to Intel’s CPU releases. That’s why the launch of Intel’s new 10th-generation Core processor (formerly known by the code name Ice Lake) is so important to Mac users. It’s the company’s first truly high volume chip on its 10nm manufacturing process, and the first to use the new “Sunny Cove” processor core design. Our sister site, PCWorld, has a detailed overview of the entire 10th-generation line, a deep dive into the architecture, and an early hands-on performance preview. If you want a lot of detail about Ice Lake, I…

Battery packs have become commonplace. These small power banks are easy to carry and make it possible to top off a phone or tablet—and more recently with the addition of Power Delivery (PD) capabilities, a laptop even—while on the go. Anker’s PowerCore+ 19000 has a slightly tweaked design, departing from the standard black brick. The PowerCore+ 19000 features a two-tone aesthetic, consisting of a space-gray top and a matte-black bottom. Its corners are rounded. It looks nicer than older Anker packs, and I hope the company sticks with the new design going forward. There are three ports on the front: one USB-C and two full-sized USB, along with a power button. On top is a circular charge indicator, made up of 11 dots. The far-left USB port provides up to…

ROBOROCK S6 The Roborock S6 is a whiz at sucking up all the pet hair, food crumbs, dust, and dirt on our floors during testing. The amount of debris filling its dustbin after each cleaning was amazing, since the floors never seemed that dirty to the naked eye. The Roborock’s iPhone app offers fine-tuned cleaning control, a detailed cleaning history, flexible scheduling options, tracking for the life cycle of the brushes and filter, and more. Overall, the Roborock S6 is a clear contender with big-brand robot vacuums, including iRobot’s Roomba 960 and Neato’s Botvac D7 Connected. —MICHAEL ANSALDO LG DUAL INVERTER SMART AIR CONDITIONER LG’s air conditioner (model LW1517IVSM) works with the SmartThinQ iOS app for controlling and adjusting the air conditioner. SmartThinQ is designed to control a variety…

Ahead of the upcoming launch of the iPhone 11, Apple has announced a new program that might let you keep your out-of-warranty iPhone a little longer. Instead of taking your broken iPhone to a high-priced Apple Genius or roll the dice with third-party parts, you’ll now be able to go to an independent repair shop and get the same high-quality parts that you’d get from the Apple Store. That’s a big change. Previously, Apple kept its tools under lock and key, but under the new program, it’s promising “the same genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics” as an Apple Authorized Service Provider. The program is limited to out-of-warranty iPhone repairs at launch. That means repair shops big and small will be able to take advantage of the new program…

I’m always looking for ways to do my job on the go while using the least amount of space in my bag, and that’s why I love the Zagg Folio wireless keyboard case for the fifth-generation iPad mini. Slip it on, and Apple’s smallest tablet transforms into an adorable little laptop. I’ve found myself wishing Zagg would have leaned into that and made differently colored cases that match the seven hues used for the keyboard backlighting, but nah, we’re stuck with the workaday black fabric and plastic that defines Zagg’s cases as of late. It’s a good thing, then, that almost every other feature of this delightful case makes up for it. It’s barely thicker than half an inch when it’s closed. It’s tough enough to endure the pain I…

DEAD CELLS The title Dead Cells ($7.99) refers to the hero of Motion Twin’s game, who’s basically a bundle of sentient cells that slithers into the bodies of decapitated prisoners in their…cells. Wordplay is fun, y’all! And so is Dead Cells, which, like Castlevania, is a 2D game that relies on exploring and backtracking through various levels, with the key difference being that these levels randomly generate each time you go through. Dead Cells is a hard game, not least because it features a permadeath mechanic that makes you start from the beginning every time you die. TELLING LIES Telling Lies ($6.99) is the kind of game that’ll make you want to stick a spot of electrical tape over your MacBook’s camera. You play as an NSA agent, and you’re…

If you’re not using keyboard shortcuts on your Mac, you’re missing out on a big part of the reason why so many people love Apple’s desktop operating system. Thanks to Apple’s integration of hardware and software, you’ll rarely have to reach for your mouse or trackpad once you learn to speak the language of the keys. MacOS has many shortcuts, but I consider these the ones everyone should know. I’ve tried to avoid (still useful) shortcuts with related Windows counterparts—such as ⌘-A to select all or ⌘-F open the Find prompt—and focus on shortcuts you may not be familiar with if you’re new to Mac. And let’s talk about that ⌘ symbol. That’s the Command key, and it’s the key to all the shortcuts listed here. It works kind…

If you can’t stand an excess of photons blasting your retinas, rejoice: dark mode is coming to the mobile version of Outlook, as well as Office on the web. In late August, Microsoft said that it’s bringing dark mode to both Outlook for iOS and Android, as well as Office.com—the version of Office that lives on the web, not on your PC. When Apple rolls out iOS 13, the company will add dark mode to the iOS versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner, and To-Do on mobile. “While some Dark Mode experiences can be neon or overly bright, people felt that Outlook mobile kept the kind of relaxed feeling you might want in a dimly lit living room or bedroom,” Jon Friedman, the chief designer for Office 365,…

Most athletic earphones work fine for everyday tasks, but everyday earphones usually aren’t suited to athletics. Working out or playing sports takes a heavy toll on them. Moisture from rain, mud, or sweat can fry their delicate electronics. Even cleaning them can be risky after sweaty workouts if they’re not water-resistant. For that matter, everyday earbuds usually aren’t designed to handle the vibration and jostling inflicted on them by joggers. Bose’s SoundSport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones are designed to tackle those athletic challenges and they handle themselves well. They’re resistant to the elements, they stay secure in your ears, and I even like their sound. Unfortunately, a handful of minor flaws hinder their potential. DESIGN Much like Bose’s excellent SoundSport Free true wireless earphones, the battery and the bulk of the electronics…

I love Retina iMacs. So much so that I took a chance and bought a used 2015 low-end Core i5 iMac with a 1TB Fusion Drive (which combines a 24GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB hard drive)—a machine that’s actually slower than my 2012 Core i7 iMac. I bought it with upgrading in mind, which is where the fickle finger of fate came into play. I wanted to upgrade the iMac’s NVMe SSD with something that offered more space but was relatively less expensive (in other words, not sold by Apple). I found conflicting info about the upgrade, though. Authoritatively stated advice such as “You’ll kill the machine and possibly yourself” was hardly useful (not to mention, completely incorrect), while “Well, it worked in my 2017 [iMac]” provided hope, but…

There’s nothing like generic when it comes to saving money, be it prescription medicines or the Shell Thunderbolt 3. The Shell, a svelte $165 unpopulated (no drive) enclosure from Fledging offers about the same performance as Samsung’s X5, but for quite a bit less, depending on which M.2 NVMe SSD you install in it. DESIGN AND FEATURES The Shell Thunderbolt is considerably smaller than the Samsung X5: 3.75 inches long, by 1.85 inches wide, by a mere 0.4 inches thick. It’s rendered in solid metal which is better for shedding heat, a good thing. At least until you pick the Shell up after heavy use. It can run startlingly hot under heavy load. Fledging’s Shell USB 3.1 sports a fan that keeps it very cool. Why the company didn’t provide one for…

Travel has a way of opening your eyes to new possibilities. For the last three weeks, I’ve been away from home, spending time in a few European countries. During this trip, I found myself thinking about the different ways that we use technology when we’re outside of our daily routine, and how it brings to light not only things that work well, but also the areas where there’s still a decent amount of friction. As I’ve been making the rounds, I’ve made note of a few places where I think Apple technologies have worked particularly well, as well as where there’s some room for improvement. CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS If this trip has drilled home one thing, it’s that contactless payments are king. Apple Pay has been a godsend—it’s even easier than…

Apple’s ads tend to imply that you need to be some kind of artist if you want to buy an Apple Pencil, but it’s great for plenty of other things, even if those things don’t look so hot in the latest TV spot out of Cupertino. Not everyone needs to use an Apple Pencil, but you’ll get a lot of use out of one if you frequently find yourself in the situations we discuss here. A few pointers before we begin. First, as a rule of thumb, if you’ve never found yourself thinking that some iPad activity would be easier if you only had a pen, you probably don’t need an Apple Pencil. Second, there’s a whole range of cheap styluses you can use with an iPad instead of an…

Yubico’s new YubiKey 5Ci is the company’s first hardware authentication device with a Lightning adapter for the iPhone. YubiKey provides security that reduces the potential of password-based account hijacking. Just like a second-factor token sent via text message or generated by an authentication app like Google Authenticator or Authy, YubiKey provides an additional element after a login with a username and password. Because phone numbers can be and have been hijacked and re-routed to other phones, it’s even more reliable than assuming a text-based code will always wind up at the same physical device. YubiKey currently works with some apps and via the Brave browser in iOS. YubiKey supports the relatively new WebAuthn protocol approved by the World Web Web Consortium (W3C) to allow strong, encrypted second-factor authentication directly within a…

Perhaps you’re the type of Mac user who hates the idea of running an antivirus suite but recognizes its necessity. If so, then Avira Free Antivirus for Mac might be for you. For no money down, this suite offers real-time protection and a firewall. It doesn’t include USB scanning, which is a special feature for the paid version. What you do get is a solid antivirus solution. AV-Comparatives gave Avira Pro for Mac a 99.8 percent protection rate from 585 malware samples. Avira Pro and Free use the same detection engine. The organization also gave Avira Free a 100 percent detection rate for Windows malware on Mac using 500 “prevalent Windows samples.” The latter is important since it prevents Macs from becoming “carriers” of Windows malware and infecting Windows systems through…

Siri has always been one of the Apple TV’s best features. On a fourth-generation Apple TV or Apple TV 4K, the voice assistant can quickly launch videos, tune to live TV channels, and provide search results for specific genres. But until recently, Apple didn’t offer a hands-free way to use Siri on an Apple TV, like Amazon offers with Fire TV and Alexa, or like Google offers with Chromecast, Android TV, and Google Assistant. If you wanted to control the Apple TV, you had to reach for the remote. That changed with iOS 12.2, which lets you use hands-free Siri voice commands through an iPhone or iPad. Once it’s all set up, you can say things like “Hey Siri, tune to ESPN on Apple TV,” or “Hey Siri, watch Game…

CAN’T SELECT A DRIVE TO USE WITH TIME MACHINE? IT MIGHT NEED REFORMATTING You have the option with iTunes to add music and other audio files to its library in one of two ways: you can use the default method of copying all files into the iTunes Media folder, or you can opt to add by reference, where the file remains where it is on a drive and the library points to it. (This preference is in iTunes → Preferences → Advanced.) Some people prefer to manage their music and other audio files in their own folder hierarchy or have enormous libraries they have to keep stored on an external drive. Most people let iTunes copy files and store them in the iTunes Media folder, which is typically found in…