Bradley C

While I haven’t worn an Apple Watch 100% of the time since the release of the Series 0, I have owned every single one. There are benefits to wearing one for health reasons, and there are also reasons to wear one for connectivity purposes. I particularly love owning a cellular version so I can go running without my iPhone or make a quick trip to the store. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I could see future versions of the LTE Apple Watch as a great first cell phone for kids. There has been something that has frustrated me about the Apple Watch from the first day I owned it to today, that’s when Apple Watch doesn’t have a network connection. Is it time for Apple to release a version of Wi-Fi Assist for Apple Watch?
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Apple @ Work is brought to you by Jamf, the standard in Apple management. Learn more at Jamf.com/9to5mac.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been looking at various tips and tricks for mobile device management systems. If you are new to the MDM world, it’s how you manage devices in bulk. Whether you are managing a few or thousands of devices, an MDM solution can be helpful. It allows you to push out deploying devices without even touching them, install configuration policies, and install and manage applications remotely.
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Castbox is a really interesting podcast app that I’ve been watching for a while now. The app offers what you expect when you think of an iOS podcast application, but Castbox wants to add their own spin on it. Today, they’ve announced the launch of Livecast. Castbox Livecast is a free audio streaming service that lets podcasters go live to their audiences with the tap of a button. Livecast is available on Castbox mobile and desktop apps, so users can join wherever they are.

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Jamf has announced they are acquiring Digita Security to boost macOS security protection. While macOS is a very secure platform, malware still exists. Any IT manager will know that even the best security methods can be circumvented by a user who installs a fake version of Flash from a pop-up window.
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I’m very passionate about the podcast industry. I believe it’s the most exciting medium for sharing content on the market today. The technology to create a show is accessible to all, the technology to listen to shows is available for smartphones and even Apple Watch (listening to podcasts while running was one of the main reasons I bought an Apple Watch). I was recently at a local running event, and afterward, everyone met up at a burger place to consume the calories we just burned. The conversation quickly turned to “what are your favorite podcasts” at the moment. Listening to podcasts is no longer a niche thing. It’s become mainstream. Over the summer, I found a show that has completely sucked me in, and it’s doing something pretty unique. I’m talking about Carrier. Before I realized it came out on Tuesdays, I would check Overcast every morning to see if a new episode had been released.
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I am in the midst of training for a marathon in late October, so I’ve been inching my runs up ever so slightly. Last weekend, I did a nine-mile run. While you are reading this, I am probably in the middle of a ten-mile run. I plan to keep inching my weekend long runs up ever so slightly until I hit eighteen or so. Since I’ve been in training mode, I am realizing some of the edge cases where Activity Rings fall apart for people who train frequently. When I woke up last Sunday, the last thing I wanted to do was exercise again. My legs were sore from running fifteen miles in the previous two days. While I didn’t run early that morning, I did go out and run a 5k that evening in order to close my rings. And I’d be lying if I said my Activity Competition with Zac Hall wasn’t weighing on me in the back of my mind. During my run that Sunday evening, I brainstormed on some ways that Apple could tweak Activity Rings to make them better suited for people who do heavy weights or heavy cardio and need rest days to recover. Here’s what Activity Rings 2.0 in Apple Watch could look like (including ideas for tweaking Activity Competitions).

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Apple @ Work is brought to you by Jamf, the standard for Apple management.

iPad and Mac deployments come in all shapes and sizes. Apple has built up its deployment tools to help small deployments be able to use management tools without breaking the bank, but also to where they scale up to tens of thousands of devices and IT managers don’t lose control. In this article, I want to discuss smart groups.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about my kids, and how we will approach technology as they get older. I recently wrote about our approach to social media, and that led me to thinking about how I will approach cell phone usage in their lives. My oldest son will turn nine this year, so it’s something I know is going to come up sooner rather than later. After thinking about the role of a cell phone in a child’s life, I’ve realized that an Apple Watch with a LTE connection will eventually become the perfect kid cell phone. We’re not quite there yet technology-wise, but I can see a day when all the stars will align.
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Apple @ Work is brought to you by Jamf, the standard in Apple management. Learn more at Jamf.com/9to5mac.

Many of you know me from my writing here at 9to5Mac. I post a few articles each week that are mainly opinion, but in my day job, I run IT for a school in Chattanooga, TN. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working through a few tips, tricks, and workflows for best practices with device management for the Apple-focused organization.

Today, I’m happy to say that we’re kicking it off with a brand new webinar on the top mistakes that Apple IT managers make. In this video (below), I work through each mistake and explain why it’s a problem.

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Since March of 2018, I’ve written a weekly column called Making the Grade covering Apple in K-12 education. A lot of the content I’ve wanted to cover has leaned a little into the enterprise (corporate world), so I’ve created a new column called Apple @ Work where I will talk about more enterprise content with how it relates to Apple. I will be moving Making the Grade to every other Saturday, with Apple @ Work publishing on the other Saturday.

In the first installment, I cover the Top 3 mistakes Apple IT managers make including a 25-minute webinar video available now (below).

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I’ve been a big fan of the Amazon ecosystem for ebooks and audiobooks for a number of years. I’ve had an Audible subscription off and on since 2008, and I’ve been using some version of a Kindle Paperwhite for the past few years. I actually just pre-ordered the new Kindle Oasis. I’ll be doing a review of it on 9to5Toys in early August. Despite Apple’s attempts with the Apple Books redesign, the Kindle and Audible ecosystem is still the best place to be for book lovers. I’d love to see Apple compete against Amazon with an Apple Book reader.

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A common discussion this summer in the email lists and LinkedIn groups I am in is about the iOS and macOS betas. People who manage iOS and macOS devices have to be aware of what’s happening with beta developments during the summer as we prepare to verify compatibility with printers, external devices, and applications (local and cloud). While I don’t start with this process with beta 1, I will usually begin my “official” testing around the time of the public betas. I’ve been managing macOS and iOS for almost a decade, so I’ve learned a little bit about the process along the way. When you are deploying macOS and iOS on an enterprise level, here are my tips on when to deploy macOS Catalina and iOS 13 (including iPadOS 13).
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Jamf, the popular mobile device management solution for Apple, is announcing some new features ahead of the 2019-2020 school year. Earlier this year, Jamf launched Jamf School along with new apps for parents and teachers with the aim to simplify the entire Apple experience from home to school.

Today, they have announced some new teacher and parent tools for Jamf School aimed at furthering that mission.

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A few weeks ago, I got asked by a local church to talk to their parents about strategies to help monitor their kids’ social media use. This topic is one I get asked about a lot, and I know that a lot of parents are struggling with it. When they brought me up there, they were looking for a silver bullet of an app, service, or method to use to help make sure their kids don’t get into trouble on social media. I started the talk with a simple statement: your kids don’t need social media accounts and you don’t either.

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If you work in the enterprise IT market, there is a word you are hearing all of the time. It’s IoT or Internet of Things. It’s an all-encompassing term to describe devices that are connected to the network that are not end-user devices. IoT devices in the enterprise could be commercial HVAC controllers (think Ecobee, but for commercial heating and air), commercial camera and DVR systems (an enterprise-grade version of something like Arlo), water fountain filter sensors, or connected paper towel dispensers that alert someone when they are close to being empty. All of these products look great on paper, but I am concerned about the security of the devices, their ability to be managed, and their ability to be upgraded.

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Since I am currently training for a marathon later this fall, I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts on Apple Watch during my long runs. I’ve been a heavy podcast listener since before Apple integrated it into the iPod, so being able to listen to them on a watch is a dream come true for me. Pairing Apple Watch with the new Powerbeats Pro is the perfect combination for running.

While I am generally an Overcast user, I have experimented with Apple Podcasts here recently as well. I wrote an article about the best podcast app for Apple Watch that I encourage you to read as well. This week, I want to talk about what Apple could do for Apple Podcasts on watchOS 6 and beyond to improve the experience.
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A few months ago, I reviewed the Neuron Explorer kit from Makeblock. I really enjoyed getting to use it and we’ve since implemented it in our STEM lab at my school. The folks from Makeblock sent me their latest kit for review, and I’ve spent the past few weeks building things to see what I thought. Here’s my review of the Makeblock Motionblock.
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One of the big announcements from WWDC 2019 was the “Sign in with Apple” privacy-focused login system for applications. The button offers Apple ID single-sign-on functionality similar to sign-in options from Facebook or Google. Apple is promoting this feature as a privacy-secure sign-in option. Users select what information to share with the app developer. You can share your real email address with the third-party app, or use the ‘hide my email’ option. In the latter case, the app would only see a randomized anonymous email address. You can also remove the anonymous email address at any time.
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Biometrics has gone from something we used to only see in the movies to a natural part of our lives. We are used to using tools like Face ID and Touch ID to unlock our devices. In K–12 schools, companies are looking to take it even further, though. I recently read an article in EdTech Magazine that looked further at the use of biometrics in K-12 schools.
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