Zac Hall

Apple has been in the process of discontinuing iTunes for almost five years. It’s a process that is still ongoing with Windows PCs today. Starting today, Apple Music and Apple TV apps on Windows are no longer in a preview state. iTunes, however, still has a role on the platform. Separately, Apple has redesigned the iCloud for Windows app experience.

Leitmotif, the team behind Kaleidoscope and Versions for Mac, is out with a brand new photo management tool. Photoscope just launched on both iPhone and Apple Vision Pro (possibly a first for that combo with a new app). The pitch is that it can help you clean up your massive photo library and rediscover your best shots. And to start, t’s completely free with no in-app purchases or subscriptions.

A day later, Apple has released public beta versions of the second beta builds. No visionOS public beta, fortunately or unfortunately.

iOS 17.4 development is well under way. Apple just shipped iOS 17.4 beta 2 to developers. The pre-release software primarily focuses on changes made in the EU due to regulatory requirements.

Tim Cook is the star of a new NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show (sponsored by Apple Music) that’s straight out of left field. Wait, that’s baseball. Anyway, the Apple CEO is spotted in an Usher tee shirt (that’s who is performing the show) and FaceTime calling Ludacris, Lil Jon and Taraji P. Henson. Words cannot do it justice.

Apple Vision Pro has tremendous opportunity in the enterprise. However, version 1.0 of the visionOS software shipped without mobile device management support. That’s about to change with the upcoming visionOS 1.1 software update. Apple released the first developer beta version of the software today.

Cisco is delivering the cutting edge goods for Apple users this month. Last week the company shipped Webex for Apple TV 4K. That lets you turn your TV into a conference call display with up to 25 participants simultaneously. Now Cisco is shipping Webex for Apple Vision Pro. The spatial design lets you turn any space into a gigantic display for meetings surrounded by your virtual workspace.

Apple Watch has been helping customers discover life-saving ailments for nearly a decade now. The latest is a situation out of Florida involving a deputy sheriff and a persistent warning from the watch.

Speaking of ways creatives can use Apple Vision Pro, check out this augmented reality art projector app from Da Vinci Eye. It uses Apple Vision Pro’s Passthrough feature to let you see your own canvas as you project a transparent layer of art for inspiration over it.

As someone who dabbles in music creation for fun, nothing excites me like a Moog synthesizer. So when I learned that Moog has turned Apple Vision Pro into a first-class instrument for music production, my brain went into galaxy mode.

The aptly named Animoog Galaxy is a “multi-sensory creative tool” that delivers an “immersive experience unlike any other, bringing a revolutionary instrument to musicians and technophiles.” In other words, we have our first killer app for music creators.

Apple Vision Pro is the third Apple product to use a Digital Crown. Apple Watch originally introduced the dial input method before AirPods Max adapted it as a volume knob. Now the Digital Crown is taking on its third life as one of two physical controls on Apple Vision Pro. Here’s everything you can do with the Digital Crown and top button on Apple Vision Pro.

Sources indicate Apple plans to acquire Brighter AI, a German AI startup specializing in anonymizing face and license plate data. Apple aims to use this acquisition to enhance privacy features on Apple Vision Pro, 9to5Mac is told. Apple may be considering Brighter AI’s technology to minimize the risk of Apple Vision Pro capturing identifiable information in videos or photos taken in public.

The Grammy Awards ceremony is just around the corner, and Siri is ready to get the music started. Siri can control Apple Music and other popular music streaming services with requests specifically tuned for the Grammys. And Swifties can take things even further with instant Taylor Swift playback using Shortcuts and Apple Music or Spotify.

My pal Jacob and I trekked over to the Apple Store in New Orleans this morning to be customers #1 and #2 on Apple Vision Pro launch day. We both went for the half hour Vision Pro demo sessions that stores are now offering. The verdict? If you’re at all interested in experiencing Apple Vision Pro, you just have to find the nearest Apple Store and take advantage of the opportunity.

It was nice to finally experience some of the things Chance Miller hasn’t stopped talking about since June. But my experience isn’t really complete yet. My memory of using Apple Vision Pro so far is distant and blurry. That’s because there weren’t optical inserts for my particular corrective lens prescription. Still, I had to try Apple Vision Pro, and it was an interesting 30 minutes.

Flexibits wasted no time preparing the Fantastical experience for Apple Vision Pro. Michael Simmons, the mind behind the best calendar app, said over the summer that taking advantage of Apple’s Vision Pro developer sessions “helped us start thinking not just about left to right or up and down, but beyond borders at all.” That’s a serious teaser, and now the result of their work is ready for Vision Pro customers.

Apple will begin taking reservations for Apple Vision Pro demo sessions at Apple Store locations in the US starting Monday. In-store demos start today for walk-in customers on a first come, first serve basis.

Apple has its fiscal year 2024 Q1 earnings results. The company reports $119.58 billion in revenue during the three-month period. Analysts expected revenue around $117.91 billion. Apple reported revenue of $117.15 billion for the same quarter a year ago in what was a rare miss for the firm.

Apple started shipping special research iPhone hardware to security experts in 2020. Naturally, security researchers have been mostly coy about sharing the specifics of what Apple calls “rooted” hardware. Still, there are some program participants who grant a peek behind the curtains from time to time.

Culture Code’s Things, the tasks system I’ve relied on for over a decade, is going spatial for Apple Vision Pro. The standalone visionOS app brings the full project management experience to Apple’s first spatial computer.

Last month I wrote about two features that I consider missing from Apple’s Screen Time parental controls. In retrospect, what I should have written is how Screen Time is broken. I thought the next software update would fix things.

A long, long time ago (last Friday) we shared that Meta appeared to be planning to officially support spatial videos shot on iPhone without workarounds. Now, on the eve of Apple Vision Pro hitting stores, Meta has made it real. Quest headsets will indeed gain spatial support for Apple’s spatial video format.

Not hyped enough about Apple Vision Pro yet? Apple has cranked up the anticipation with a countdown clock on apple․com that tells you how soon Apple Vision Pro will officially launch.