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Today, Aqara, shared its plan for the Apple-backed smart home protocol, Matter. Aqara has worked with the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) and Apple, Google, and Samsung on early testing programs to ensure a smooth transition toward deploying Matter. Aqara users will first gain access to Matter in December 2022 via the Aqara Hub M2 through an over-the-air firmware update, which will allow existing Aqara Zigbee devices to become compatible with Matter.

Edison Mail, the popular iOS and Android email app, today released an update adding two brand new features to its Subscriptions Assistant tool. Subscription insights will help you see email clutter before it overloads your inbox, and a new Summary Timer helps take control over when your favorite subscriptions arrive in inboxes.

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that fully integrates 5 different applications on a single Apple-only platform, allowing Businesses and Schools to easily and automatically deploy, manage & protect all their Apple devices . Over 32,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the deployment, management and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

In this episode of Apple @ Work, Bob Garst from BFA Technologies joins the show to talk about how businesses of all sizes are turning to trusted advisors to manage their Apple devices.

Apple at Work is bought to you by Jamf: Get complete management and security solutions for your organization that are enterprise secure, consumer simple, and protect personal privacy with Jamf. Plus you’ll get same-day support for the latest Apple OS upgrades, Today, over 62,000 organizations trust Jamf to manage and secure over 27 million devices.

When iMessage launched with iOS 5, it was really a genius rollout design by Apple. There was no signup – it was automatic. There was no app to download – it was built into the SMS/messages app. There was no UI to learn. It worked just like your normal messaging app; Apple has done a nice job evolving the service. It’s no longer the only messaging app out there, and I believe Apple has an opportunity to turn iMessage into a business chat tool if they expand it outside of the Apple ecosystem. Let’s look at how Apple could build an iMessage @ Work tool to compete against Slack and Microsoft Teams.

The LIFX Mini White is one of the lowest costs HomeKit bulbs on the market today, with a price tag under just $20. It’s compatible with Apple’s HomeKit and doesn’t require a hub to connect to your Wi-Fi network. At that price point, it’s hard not to be tempted by this smart light if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to try out some Internet-connected lighting in your home. But as with any budget product, there are sacrifices made in order to meet such a low price point, especially when it comes to color options.

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that fully integrates 5 different applications on a single Apple-only platform, allowing Businesses and Schools to easily and automatically deploy, manage & protect all their Apple devices . Over 32,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the deployment, management and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen announcements from Mosyle, Jamf, and Kandji related to expanding their product portfolios to solve more problems. As Apple continues to grow as an endpoint in the enterprise, it needs to become further entrenched in the organization’s security posture. Companies need solutions for endpoint protection, malware protection, app catalogs, identity management, and more. 

I’ve been a fan of Meross since they first came out with their early HomeKit products. They’re low cost, spread across a variety of product types, and generally work well. Meross recently released a new look Wi-Fi oil diffuser with HomeKit support, and it’s a great way to start getting your home ready for fall weather and soon – the Christmas holiday season. 

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that fully integrates 5 different applications on a single Apple-only platform, allowing Businesses and Schools to easily and automatically deploy, manage & protect all their Apple devices . Over 32,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the deployment, management and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

In this episode of Apple @ Work, Chris Chapman from MacStadium joins the show to talk about deploying Mac Minis, Mac Studios, and Mac Pros at scale.

Apple at Work is bought to you by Jamf: Get complete management and security solutions for your organization that are enterprise secure, consumer simple, and protect personal privacy with Jamf. Plus you’ll get same-day support for the latest Apple OS upgrades, Today, over 62,000 organizations trust Jamf to manage and secure over 27 million devices.

The Mac App Store is a great place to obtain and deploy software with a device management system like Mosyle, Kandji, Jamf, Addigy, Hexnode, etc. With tight integration into Apple’s Volume Purchasing Program, the Mac App Store is the ideal place to get Mac software in the enterprise. The problem? The vast majority of software needed by enterprises is not available in the Mac App Store, so custom app catalogs come into play.

As I’ve been building a new home, one of the things I’ve had in the back of my mind is avoiding the permanent installation of as many things as possible that’ll be outdated as Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth networks evolve. Just in the past few years, we’re seeing Matter and Thread become a key part of the smart home of the future as well. When I was meeting with my builder and electrician, we talked about what kind of outlets we wanted. They asked if I wanted to use some that had various smart home technologies built in like HomeKit or Alexa, and I said, no, give me “dumb outlets.” I really like using add-on adapters so I can easily upgrade them in the future. In preparation for our new outdoor patio, I picked up the Minoston Outdoor Smart Plug to handle automating the outdoor outlets.

Mosyle of OneK12 is now available for public and extended beta. The new platform from Mosyle integrates Apple device management, content filtering, endpoint security, SSO, application management, and classroom management on a single Apple-focused solution. The company also announced several enhancements to Mosyle Manager, its device management (MDM) offering for K-12 schools.

Sponsored by Jamf: Get complete management and security solutions for your organization that are enterprise secure, consumer simple, and protect personal privacy with Jamf. Learn more at jamf.com/9to5mac.

Sponsored by Hexnode Hexnode UEM offers an award-winning Unified Endpoint Management solution for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, tvOS, and Fire OS devices. Hexnode is one of the most trusted enterprise security solutions worldwide that combines multiple security features into a single console. Sign up for a free trial with Hexnode today and find out how you can reinvent device management.

In this episode of Apple @ Work, Ben Bajarin – CEO and Principal Analyst at Creative Strategies joins the show to talk about his experience at JNUC, the state of the Mac in the enterprise, and why Apple is set for continued favor among IT professionals.

If you like using Google and Apple smart home products, you need to be using the Starling Home Hub. In my original review, I noted that it was a streamlined and turnkey way to add all of your Nest products to HomeKit. Over the past two and a half years, the team behind the product has continued to release updates to make the product even better. Today, version 12.0 of the firmware adds support for the new Nest doorbell that includes continuous recording.

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that fully integrates 5 different applications on a single Apple-only platform, allowing Businesses and Schools to easily and automatically deploy, manage & protect all their Apple devices . Over 32,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the deployment, management and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

It’s nearly impossible to use an Apple device without an Apple ID (iCloud account) but Managed Apple IDs are unique to your company or school and separate from Apple IDs that you can create for yourself. Unlike with personal Apple IDs, IT administrators manage the services that your Managed Apple ID can access. Managed Apple IDs are similar to regular Apple IDs, but they are owned and managed by the organization and can be used to create an account for a student or employee.

When Apple announced HomeKit Secure Video, one of the first products to be desired by customers was a doorbell. Ring doorbells had become very popular, but customers wanted an option that integrated nicely with HomeKit and Apple products and provided an end-to-end encryption option for recording. The idea that a smart doorbell would be able to show you who was at your front door before even opening it up seemed like something out of a science-fiction novel a few decades ago, but now, there are multiple products and platforms that offer this service. Today, I want to look at the current state of HomeKit doorbells, and what Apple should do to build out the category.

Mosyle has designed a new Mac workflow tool called Mosyle Embark that guides employees during the configuration of their new computer and informs them about policies. This allows IT teams to enhance protection and compliance from the start. Read on to learn more about it, and when it will be available to use for enterprise IT managers managing Apple devices.

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that fully integrates 5 different applications on a single Apple-only platform, allowing Businesses and Schools to easily and automatically deploy, manage & protect all their Apple devices . Over 32,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the deployment, management and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Hexnode. Hexnode UEM offers an award-winning Unified Endpoint Management solution for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, tvOS, and Fire OS devices. Hexnode is one of the most trusted enterprise security solutions worldwide that combines multiple security features into a single console. Sign up for a free trial with Hexnode today and find out how you can reinvent device management.

In this episode of Apple @ Work, Tom Bridge from JumpCloud and the Mac Admins Podcast joins the show to talk about iOS 16 and macOS Ventura.

After launching in 2019, to help organizations manage their Apple fleet, Kandji went to work on solving additional problems. Today, Kandji announced its new Device Harmony platform, which is aimed at bridging the gap between enterprise IT and InfoSec teams, so they can truly work together to keep every Apple user secure and productive.

The lines between logging into your Mac, signing into your cloud-based apps, and signing into identity providers have certainly been blurred in recent years. Many organizations have deployed solutions tied in with your device management solution, and those work great. There’s another option on the market now, and it’s called XCreds. XCreds is a streamlined app aimed at keeping your macOS login password in sync with Azure Active Directory, Google Cloud, Okta, or any OpenID Connect password.