Greg returns from Ireland after he drank ridicules amounts of Guinness and Nati has a dust particle inside his MacBook Pro's keyboard.

We also talk about home automation, Digital Assistants, AirPods 2nd gen rumors, and bury Windows mobile efforts (again).

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow Up

• Home Automation
  • Homebridge
  • Switcher

Topics

• Siri is losing its advantage over Google Assistant
• Nati's MacBook Pro has a dust particle…
• AirPods V2
• • AirPower is coming as well
  • Greg predicts a few things soft launched in March

• Windows Phone is dead… again
• • But UWP is doing kinda well

We are joined this week by Matt Birchler, who compares his Android experiment with Greg. We continue with Apple Watch, watchOS 5 wishlist, and the smartwatch landscape which has only 2 major players - Apple and Tizen powered Samsung Gear, going forward.

Also, we talk about the HomePod, as Matt shares, his impressions and Greg explains why he bought a 2nd HomePod.

Special Guest: Matt Birchler

• Twitter: @mattbirchler
• BirchTree: https://birchtree.me
• The BirchTree Podcast: http://birchtree.libsyn.com/
• Today's Forecast app: https://forecast-app.com

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow Up

• What’s it like being a celebrity Matt - since we last spoke your blog has been picked up quite a few times
• Android experiment talk:
  • Matt talks about his Android yearly adventure
  • Greg talks about his Android experiment
• HomePod talk! - sorry Nati
• • Greg got another one. Still very positive and I’m very confident of improvements going forward
  • HomePod's white circle saga
  • • Sonos One has this issue as well

Topics

• Microsoft doesn't want to fix a major Skype security bug
• Nati should have tested Outcast by now (spoiler: he did)
• larger Apple Watch talk
• • Podcasts
  • Apple Watch Q4 shipments
  • Qualcomm is killing Android smartwatch market
  • Third party data access
  • Matt's predictions/wants

Greg talks about his first impressions from the HomePod, and we touch about the strengths and weaknesses of the device, Also we talk about the (slightly confusing) controls, superb sound quality, and Siri’s shortcomings.

Also, we discuss using Apple devices in a family environment, why we trust Apple more with data related answers and the 2nd iOS 11.3 beta.

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Topics

• HomePod reviews are in
• • Generally, good- audio and some praised Siri
  • Always one idiot
  • Repair costs are high
  • $29 for cable damage (seems to moan about this)

We talk about ML platforms, and how Facebook messenger’s chatbot failed while smart assistants won. We also discuss digital assistant and data collection. Greg ordered a HomePod and thinks that Siri should become a platform, and Nati hopes that the HomePod would push them to take Siri more seriously. We continue with the iOS 12 rumors saying that Apple is focusing on stability instead of major new features, and finish with the baffling iPhone with the 6.1” LCD screen.

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow up

• Privacy in the age of personal assistants
  • Apple's Privacy and data collection
  • Steve Jobs on Privacy
• Surprise - Greg ordered a HomePod
  • HomePod reviews are quite good
  • At least most of them...
  • Sonos cuts the price of the Sonos One after HomePod release

Topics

• Siri needs to become a platform

•  iOS
• • Apple to focus on stability and leave out big new features
    • Some of the iOS 12 supposed features sound like iOS 11.3
    • iOS blocks concept
    • Project Marzipan is still at work
  • iOS 11 is installed on 65% of devices

• A new 6.1” iPhone:
• • Single lens, no 3D Touch
  • 18:9 aspect ratio, with a resolution of 2,160×1,080 pixels and super slim bezels

Greg encounters some issues with data sync that messes his iMac. Nati's MacBook Pro returns, plus some horror stories about Apple AppStore development.

Also we dive into the new things that iOS 11.3 brings (in the 1st beta), and some clues about an new iPad Pro X with FaceID. And Greg shares some of his experience and frustrations with using an Android device again, and the benefits of using the Apple product ecosystem.

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow up

• Greg's Ulysses mini crisis
  • Windows Defraging horror flashbacks
• Nati's MacBook Pro returns (Finally!)
• New MacBook Pro can't walk & chew gum at same time (watch wifi + USB = fail) PART 1
• Apple AppStore development stories

Topics

• iOS 11.3 beta
  • iBook = Books 
    • is there an iBook device
    • Or just a design revamp to iBook (confirmed by Gui)
• • New Animoji: Lion, Bear, Dragon and a Skull
  • Privacy welcome screen
  • Messages on iCloud
  • ARKit 1.5
  • Business Chat in Messages
  • Health Records in Health app 
  • Videos in Apple Music and Apple News
  • Revels an upcoming iPax Pro X?

• Control UIs
  • The Android Back Button

This week, Guilherme Rambo (AKA Mr. Rambo) returns to talk about, The state of security in iOS and macOS, and the state of Jailbreaking which on iOS that rose up from the dead. We also talk about whether Apple should make their own smart-home devices, now that Alexa dominates that market. And speculate about the iMac Pro cannibalizing HomePod sales.

Special Guest: Guilherme Rambo

• Twitter: @_inside
• Rambo's Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/_inside
• iPhreaks Podcast: https://devchat.tv/iphreaks

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow up

• Would Apple ever make their own in-home products?

Topics

• The state of malware on macOS and nerd out about computer security for a bit
• The petition for Apple to allow downgrading devices to older iOS versions
• Tim Cook says users will be able to turn off iPhone battery performance throttling in future iOS update 
• Jailbreak talk
  • iOS 11 Jailbreak
  • iOS 10.3 Jailbreak

We looked at CES as a lens of what is going on in the tech scene, trying to separate the real trends from the concepts that will never ship.

Also, we tried to predict how 2018 will be for Apple in various topics ranging from improving the software game, pricing and how will the lineup will look like.

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Topics

• More issues for Mac passwords

• CES stuff we talked about:
  • OnePlus data to Alibaba
  • AT&T pulls out of Huawei deal
  • Matias is building the wired Mac keyboards that Apple won’t
  • Razer’s Project Linda imagines a laptop dock for the Razer Phone

• Predictions
  • Greg Predictions
    • Workflow improvements
    • Plus-sized iPhone X
      • New look iPhones range
    • Price stalling
      • Low-end iPhones and MacBook
    • No change in Apple Watch design
  • Nati’s Predictions
    • iPhone SE V2
    • Siri V2
      • HomePod related
      • HomeKit related
    • Mac lineup continues to get updated regularly
    • Software improvement

This week we talked about how the HomePod will be graded on the Echo/ Google Home curve, which explains it being late. Also, should tech companies be involved in global politics? and new year resolutions: meditation, improving our workflows, consuming content and using our devices less.

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow up

• Nati sent his iPhone 6s to get the battery replaced, as it was eligible for the battery replacement program.

Topics

• HomePod and the competition
  • Echo and Google Home are a popular holiday gift
  • Does the HomePod delay hurt Apple?

• Tech and Politics
• • Siri doesn't "know" what is the capital of Israel
  • Tech should be about values, not politics.

• New Year resolutions
  • Headspace - one of the best meditation apps
    • Greg gave a free month of subscription to one of his followers
  • Improving your iOS workflows with the Workflow app
    • The Canvas podcast had a good series about Workflow
    • What will Apple do with the Workflow tech/ app?
  • How we use our iOS devices
    • Using RSS
    • Jony Ive says the constant use of iPhones is a "misuse"

Merry Christmas ya’ll!

Can a skin fix the iPhone X’s Space Grey color by turning it to Black, or fix a phone scratch OCD? Well, we don’t know.

What we do know is that battery life on iPhones become a huge scandal, as Apple addressed the iPhone - battery - performance thing. Did Apple do the right thing? What’s wrong with Apple’s communication these days, and how did Apple address such issues in the past (Hint: Antenna-Gate).

Also, we discuss the rumors about Apple unifying iOS and macOS development, and which platform would benefit the most, and the AirPods being out of stock for the holidays

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Topics

• Battery life on iPhones
  • iPhone X battery life is awesome 
    • Consumer report are drunk
  • iPhone Performance and Battery Age
    • It began on Reddit
    • GeekBench confirms the issue
    • Theory connects it to the iPhone 6/ 6s battery issues fixed with iOS 10.2.1
    • Apple "admits"
  • • All the click baits 1, 2

• Platform development unification
  • Apple plans to combine development of iOS and macOS apps (UIKit and AppKit)
    • A win for both platforms
    • Carbon 2.0?

• AirPods
• • Out of stock for 2017 Holiday season
  • Upgraded/ 2nd gen AirPods
  • Double the sale of 2017

We sidetrack into movie land due to The Last Jedi release, but quickly return to the tech track, with Apple breaking security on HomeKit and fixing it rather quickly. And diving into security and privacy in the current day and age.

Also, Windows PC on SnapDragon chips, the iMac Pro, Jony Ive returns from this Architecture leave to design actual Apple products, and the interesting and surprising acquisition of Shazam.

Hosts

• Greg Morris - @GR36
• Nati Shochat - @natisho

Follow up

• Apple bug
• • Another showstopper of a bug
  • iOS 11.2.1 to the rescue

Topics

• Apple acquires Shazam
  
• • Rumored
  • Confirmed
  • Hound could be a great acquisition, adding some talent to the Siri team as well

• Jony Ive returns to manage the ID team full time
• • Alan Dye and Richard Howarth are no longer in the Management/ leadership page

• The iMac Pro arrives
• • First impressions
  • 14 & 18 cores to arrive early next year
  • A special black lightning cable for the Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard
  • T2 chip is real
• The WinCom alliance
• • First computer to run on Windows 10 and Qualcomm’s SnapDragon 835 chips
  • Asus, HP, Huawei, Lenovo, Vaio, and Xiaomi will supply the hardware.
  • Beyond all-day battery life
  • Running mainly Windows 10 S
• Keyloggers in Windows. Again!