Essential Apple Podcast 208: TravelPod and other rumours

Recorded 7th February 2021

We are back – sorry there wasn’t a show last week but I hurt my back and was laid up… Anyway we are back again and Nick and I go over some of the stories of the last week or so, including the array of rumours about Apple’s alleged car, Apple wanting their DTKs back, a newly discovered iMessage security feature and more…

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here and now he has also released Take Control of Zoom Essentials free as well.
Steve at Geeks Corner has restarted his podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

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.

On this week’s show

NICK RILEY

@spligosh on Twitter very occasionally.
Sometimes appears on Bart Busschots’ Let’s Talk Apple
Sutton Park Circuit church worship on YouTube

APPLE

New Betas 11.3, 14.5 and 7.4 for Mac, iOS and Watch
- iOS 14.5 adds support for unlocking your iPhone with Apple Watch while wearing a face mask – 9to5Mac
- What’s new in iOS 14.5? Podcasts app redesign, Reminders sorting features, more – 9to5Mac
Apple requests return of Apple Silicon Developer Transition Kits, offers $200 toward purchase of M1 Mac – AppleInsider
- Apple increases Apple Silicon DTK return credit from $200 to $500 – 9to5Mac
Researcher discovers hidden iOS 14 ‘BlastDoor’ security mechanism – IT Pro
Apple hardware boss steps down to focus on mysterious, secret project – The Independent
Apple launches iCloud Passwords extension for Chrome on Windows – iMore
Here’s why you can’t trust App Store ‘nutrition labels’ … yet – Cult of Mac
Hyundai Executives Said to Be ‘Divided’ Over Prospect of Apple Car Partnership – MacRumors
- Apple to Invest $3.6 Billion in Kia Motors for Apple Car Production – Mac Rumors
Apple poaches Porsche VP of chassis development for Apple Car development – AppleInsider

SECURITY & PRIVACY

Lawmakers take aim at insidious digital “dark patterns” – Ars Technica
Chrome for Mac security flaw: You’ll want to update today – 9to5Mac

NEMO’S HARDWARE STORE (36:02)

Sketchboard Pro 18“ x 17.5” iPad Holder/Easel – 30 different iPad models supported – $119 direct

Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
AnonAddy – Disposable email addresses
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… You get to keep 2 free avatars though.
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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