Steve Sande

<p>OK, so this isn't big news, but it's actually quite interesting. <a target="_blank" href="http://iCloud.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">iCloud.com</a>, which has displayed a static, blue-to-yellow gradient background for the past three years, now has a dynamic wallpaper on both the login and "home" screens.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/musical-ly-your-video-social-network/id835599320?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer">Musical.ly</a> is a fun music video app that lets users create their own music videos, then share them with others. Re/Code reports that the app, which now uses song snippets from UK-based provider 7digital, will <a target="_blank" href="https://www.recode.net/2017/4/27/15463286/musical-ly-apple-music" rel="noopener noreferrer">start using Apple Music content</a> in addition to that from 7digital beginning this weekend. </p>

<p>For those of us who have worked on the Mac for decades, we know that one of the more frustrating aspects can be finding files. Sure, Spotlight is <em>supposed</em> to do that for you, but it often returns either empty or incorrect search results. The best tool for the job of finding files on your Mac is <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/houdahspot-4-family-license?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=houdahspot-4-family-license_042817&utm_term=scsf-227132" rel="noopener noreferrer">HoudahSpot 4</a></strong>, now available in the Apple World Today Deals Shop for $19. </p>

<p>Here on the AWT News Update podcast, it's not Throwback Thursday as we have fresh news for your listening pleasure:</p><ul><li>The Apple Watch Emergency SOS feature saves the day for a Maryland college student</li><li>Google search results for movies, TV shows and music now show links to streaming services such as iTunes</li><li>Foreign exchange rate changes will make buying apps and in-app purchases more expensive for those in Denmark, Mexico, and all Euro countries</li><li>iPhone sales numbers were up slightly in the March quarter for Apple, but just barely</li></ul>

<p>In today’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVONM6G3hHZjEEaiQyd9VRUZuKZIJOuuw" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple World Today video tip</a>, we’ll show you how to find out which of your iOS apps are using the most cellular data on your iPhone or iPad.</p><p>Unless you’re on an unlimited data plan, you most likely have a limit each month in terms of the mobile data bandwidth you can use. If you exceed that limit on a regular basis and are tired of paying overage charges, you might want to look at how each app on your device is using cellular data.</p>

<p>It's rare when the public hears from the widow of Steve Jobs, but <a target="_blank" href="https://www.recode.net/2017/4/27/15433828/laurene-powell-jobs-kamala-harris-code-2017" rel="noopener noreferrer">Laurene Powell Jobs will be speaking at next month's Code conference</a> about her approach to philanthropy. Unlike her husband's famously well scripted and rehearsed onstage "performances," Powell Jobs will converse with California senator Kamala Harris about the work of her organization -- the Emerson Collective -- and how she feels philanthropy should benefit society as a whole.</p>

<p><a href="https://blog.automatic.com/automatic-siriusxm-4dfbc9a6885c">Automatic</a>, the maker of the Automatic Pro and Automatic Lite devices that link to an iPhone to track and read driving data, has been purchased by satellite radio provider SiriusXM for over $100 million. According to a blog post breaking the news, the brands will remain separate and Automatic will continue to focus on the connected car.</p>

<p>Sending money to others for personal payments currently requires a service like Square Cash or Venmo. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.recode.net/2017/4/27/15412404/apple-venmo-competitor-money-transfer-cash-peer-to-peer-service" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple is reportedly working on a similar peer-to-peer money transfer service</a> as part of the Apple Pay service that would let users send money to one another quickly and with security as a primary focus.</p>

<p>Bloomberg is reporting that a new version of Apple Music -- most likely embedded in iOS 11 -- will ship later this year that begins shifting the emphasis of the service from music to original video programming. The report notes that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-27/apple-music-goes-hollywood-inside-jimmy-iovine-s-video-plans" rel="noopener noreferrer">the new Apple Music service could host upwards of 10 original shows by the end of 2017</a>.</p>

<p>It's Thursday, usually the day at Apple World Today where Dennis Sellers outlines some of the best Apple patent filings or grants that have been made over the previous few days. Dennis is enjoying himself in the American Southwest this week, but we still have a fascinating Apple patent application for you -- "<a target="_blank" href="http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1128&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&s1=(1%2F1.CCLS.+AND+20170427.PD.)&p=23&OS=ccl/1/1+and+pd/4/27/2017&RS=(CCL/1/1+AND+PD/20170427)" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wireless Charging and Communications Systems With Dual-Frequency Patch Antennas</a>". </p>

<p>Despite recent comments from Apple executives that the company has "<a target="_blank" href="http://time.com/4674522/apple-echo-amazon-siri-iphone-airpods/" rel="noopener noreferrer">no apparent interest in copying the Echo</a>," Australian leak source Sonny Dickson tweeted this morning that Apple is "currently finalizing" designs for its own Amazon Echo competitor.</p>

<p>Leaked schematics, financial results, firing talking heads, and more HomeKit devices -- that's what's on the AWT News Update today:</p><ul><li>A well-known provider of good leaked info sent out a tweet today showing a new iPhone 8 schematic</li><li>Twitter is apparently harvested a bumper crop of new users during its first quarter of 2017, most likely all parroting each other with stupid political comments</li><li>ESPN will cut 100 "on-air talent" positions and bolster its digital content</li><li>The HomeKit product page has been updated with some new products and a few no-shows have been eliminated</li></ul>

<p>Final Cut Pro X first made it to the Mac about five and a half years ago to a largely negative user base. Those who complained about the removal of core features from version 7 and the addition of a completely redesigned user interface apparently got over their initial distates for the app, as it was <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2017/04/26/final-cut-pro-x-sales/#more-478959" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced at NAB 2017 that the app now has two million users</a>.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps-navigation-transit/id585027354?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Maps for iPhone</a> (free) has a new feature that's been in Apple Maps for a while; the ability to set parking reminders automatically or manually. </p>

<p>As my vacationing blog partner Dennis Sellers would say, "another day, another lawsuit." <a target="_blank" href="http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2017/04/apple-pay-using-touch-id-is-targeted-in-new-patent-lawsuit.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Today's lawsuit against Apple is from the trollishly named Pen-One Acquisition Group</a>, which says that Apple infringed its patent titled "Pen-based transponder identity verification system." The patent describes a point of sale system using a stylus or fingerprint signature, and Pen-One Acquisition Group says that any Apple device using Touch ID to make a purchase infringes on its patent.</p>