Steve Sande

<p>Indie developers are the lifeblood of the Apple app ecosystem, and one of our favorite indie companies is <a href="http://helloiat.com">It’s About Time Products</a>. The company markets a large variety of iOS, watchOS, and macOS apps that cover the gamut from photography and productivity apps and utilities for Mac to fun iMessage apps. The latter category includes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-text-bubbles-on-imessage/id1152097054?mt=8">Color Text Bubbles on iMessage</a> (free with in-app purchase), an iMessage app that can turn your texts from boring to WOW and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-swipe-for-imessage/id1152091057?mt=8">Word Swipe</a> (free with in-app purchase), a fun iMessage word game that you can play with friends. We’re happy to say that It’s About Time Products is our sponsor for the upcoming five weeks, and today our focus in on Color Text Bubbles and Word Swipe!</p>

<p>Do you need to work with a lot of PDF files in your work or day-to-day life? Then you need the <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/the-powerful-pdf-mac-bundle?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-powerful-pdf-mac-bundle_100217&utm_term=scsf-251733&utm_content=a0x1a000003DQn4" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mac PDF Processing Bundle</a></strong> from Cisdem, which we're selling at 78 percent off the usual $139.96 price tag for only $29.99. Here's what you get:</p>

<p>Friday is usually a quiet day in the tech news business, and today -- the last weekday of September -- is no exception. We have a few short stories to end your week:</p><ul><li>We've had antenna-gate and bend-gate in the past, could the iPhone 8 be introducing "split-gate" to the vernacular?</li><li>Thousands of Macs in a study sample were found to have the wrong EFI code, something that's troubling security researchers</li><li>Requests for information on Apple users by the US Government have doubled since last year</li><li>Be sure to check out AWT's reviews of the <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/9/29/better-late-than-never-the-apple-tv-4k-is-a-fantastic-upgrade" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple TV 4K</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/9/29/apple-watch-series-3-review-a-solid-improvement-over-the-original-apple-watch" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Watch Series 3</a> today</li></ul>

<p>When it arrives in November, the iPhone X will have less environmental impact than any of Apple's previous products. The company <a target="_blank" href="https://images.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/iphone/iPhone_X_PER_sept2017.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">has issued an environmental impact report for the high-end smartphone</a> (PDF) that shows it is more recyclable than previous devices and is free from toxic materials.</p>

<p>Apple is always looking to acquire companies that are developing technologies that can be used in future products. TechCrunch is reporting that <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/29/apple-quietly-acquires-computer-vision-startup-regaind/?ncid=rss" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple has acquired a French computer vision startup called Regaind</a>, which has apparently been developing a computer vision API for the analysis of photo content.</p>

<p>Even with this week's update to Apple Mail on the Mac as part of macOS High Sierra, there are still a lot of things to dislike about the default email app for Mac. Fortunately, there's <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/postbox-5-for-mac-or-windows?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=postbox-5-for-mac-or-windows_092917&utm_term=scsf-251740&utm_content=a0x1a000003DQnB" rel="noopener noreferrer">Postbox 5 for Mac</a></strong> (or Windows), a popular and high-rated email app that makes organization of your emails fast and easy. It's 25% off for a limited time in the <a target="_blank" href="http://deals.appleworld.today" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple World Today Deals Shop</a>.</p>

<p>Cash, lenses, force restarts, flash memory and missing Sierra installers. That's what we've got for you today. Come and get it!</p><ul><li>Apple Pay Cash may or may not be coming in late October</li><li>Olloclip says that its iPhone 7 / 7 Plus lens kits and cases work perfectly with the new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus</li><li>Have an iPhone 8 or 8 Plus? The way that you can restart the device has changed compared to previous iPhones. We tell you how...</li><li>Toshiba's flash chip business has apparently been sold and Apple's part of the consortium that bought it. Only problem? The consortium members can't agree on anything</li><li>Want to re-install macOS Sierra? Good luck finding an installer</li></ul>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://epson.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Epson America, Inc.</a> announced the addition of seven new EcoTank all-in-one printers to the EcoTank line today, including the new Expression Premium models that come with a five-color ink system for better photo and document print quality.</p>

<p>There's no business like show business at Apple, unless you're talking about privacy or opening retail stores. We talk about all three topics on today's edition of the AWT News Update podcast:</p><ul><li>Apple's new content acquisition and video strategy team is apparently making the rounds of actors, producers and directors in Hollywood</li><li>Apple has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apple.com/privacy/" rel="noopener noreferrer">updated its privacy pages</a> to provide detailed and easy-to-understand information to existing and potential customers on how seriously the company take personal privacy</li><li>The first Apple retail store in Bangkok, Thailand may open as soon as next year</li></ul>

<p>Do you have hundreds or <em>thousands</em> of photos that you need to process somehow? By processing, I mean something like adding a watermark, changing the file name, resizing the image, or optimizing the size for website posting. For those who need that kind of power, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photobulk-watermark-resize-optimize-and-rename/id537211143?mt=12">PhotoBulk</a> (US$19.99) from <a href="https://mac.eltima.com/mac-products.html">Eltima Software</a> may be just the tool to make those changes consistently and quickly. </p>

<p>Whenever an operating system update appears, there are usually apps that haven't been updated by developers or just aren't working well with the new update for one reason or another. Today we're providing you with a list of apps that just aren't working with macOS High Sierra or that work, but have some compatibility issues.</p>

<p>So, you installed iOS 11 on your iPad and iPhone on September 19, and now you're thinking of some really cool apps that you'd love to see that take advantage of the new features. Those apps aren't going to write themselves, so if you're not already an iOS 11 developer, grab this $15 <a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/ios-11-and-xcode-9-complete-swift-4-objective-c-course?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ios-11-and-xcode-9-complete-swift-4-objective-c-course_092717&utm_term=scsf-251736&utm_content=a0x1a000003DQn7" rel="noopener noreferrer">Complete Swift 4 and Objective-C Course</a> that will take you through iOS 11 and Xcode 9 as well. </p>

<p>If you read <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/9/26/little-snitch-4-keeping-a-constant-eye-on-your-network-traffic" rel="noopener noreferrer">yesterday's review</a>, you know that I got pretty excited about <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Objective Development's Little Snitch 4</a></strong>. As luck would have it, the company has a sale going on today where you can buy this powerful Mac app at 30% off the usual price -- just $31.50 (regular price is $45). </p>

<p>As the month of September winds down and the daylight hours start getting shorter, we have a shorter than usual podcast for you today. </p><ul><li>iOS 11 is now installed on 25% of all iOS devices, a bit slower than last year but a much higher uptake rate than Android ever sees</li><li>You can now fill your Starbucks card from Apple Pay on the Apple Watch</li><li>Twitter is testing longer tweets, for even longer rants by unhinged individuals</li><li>Amazon and Apple are apparently best buds now, with the Apple TV reappearing on Amazon after a two-year hiatus</li></ul>

<p>One Mac app I’ve heard about for years but never used is <strong><a href="https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html">Little Snitch</a></strong> ($45) from Objective Development, designed to keep an eye on network connections to and from your computer. That’s a big task; your Mac is constantly sending and receiving information over the internet, and most of the connections that are made are benign. Occasionally your Mac might pick up something you wouldn’t ordinarily know about — malware, perhaps a keyboard sniffer, maybe a trojan of some sort. Little Snitch 4 is designed as a fast and reliable gatekeeper to help you protect your Mac from unexpected and undesirable network traffic.</p>