Steve Sande

<p>Of all of the many cases that we review here at Apple World Today, there are a handful that I decide to keep and use as protection on whatever iPhone I'm currently using. One that was a "keeper" was the Lander Powell case, aptly billed as "expedition grade" protection for an iPhone. Sadly, when I moved to the iPhone 7 Plus I was forced to leave my Powell case behind... until now, with the classic case now updated for the newest iPhone. The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lander.com/iphone-7-plus-cases-powell.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lander Powell case for iPhone 7 Plus</a> ($39.95) continues the tradition of being a strong, yet slim iPhone case that provides protection without being bulky.</p>

The world today is loaded with distractions -- you're looking at one of them right now! Sometimes, you need to...

<p>Have a bunch of favorite music videos that you’d like to keep forever? How about having 4K video content on your 5K Retina iMac in order to wow your friends? YouTube has an almost infinite supply of great content to watch, but sometimes it’s better to just download it instead of trying to stream it. This week’s Apple World Today sponsor is <a href="http://synd.co/2fc7HTH">4K Video Downloader for Mac</a>, and it’s the perfect Mac app for downloading your favorite videos.</p>

<p>Just to give you all a progress report...we made some significant changes to our DNS settings last night and we're now running SSL for end-to-end encryption across the board. The many changes appear to have happened without too much downtime, although our <a href="http://deals.appleworld.today">Deals Shop</a> was down for part of the morning. </p>

<p>Remember Neil Young? Well, a Southern Man don't need him around anyhow, but he's back in the Apple Music lineup again. What? You didn't know his music library was gone? Young thinks that digital music is a horrible thing, saying in 2012 that "Steve Jobs was a digital pioneer, but when he went home, he listened to vinyl" and then saying that "Those songs on your iPhone do sound like crap and it's time we demand better-sounding alternative for our digital music." So Young decided to create the PonoPlayer, which was going to be a better way to listen to digital music.</p>

<p>You have your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, and you just don't like Apple's Lightning EarPods that much. You can either use the little headphone adapter Apple provides and use some old earbuds, or maybe think about getting something wireless. We have another solution: <a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/hoco-l1-lightning-cable-headphones-for-iphone-7?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=hoco-l1-lightning-cable-headphones-for-iphone-7_110416&utm_term=scsf-89976" rel="noopener noreferrer">Get a pair of HOCO L1 Lightning Cable Headphones for only $21.99</a>!</p>

<p>As we've mentioned a few times lately, we're making some changes to Apple World Today to make life better for our readers. During the initial building of the site back in early 2015, we made some decisions about domain registration, domain hosting, email hosting, and security that we later came to regret. We're changing those now prior to our move to SSL encrypted hosting and a new comment system.   </p>

<p>One of the more problematic things about running a site like Apple World Today is the comment system. We try to run a balance between getting a ton of comment spam and making it easy for readers to use, and as a result we were using the built-in Squarespace comment system. That system has some issues on occasion where people can't log in properly, so we're going to make a change.</p>

<p>Photo editing apps are great; they can take a very good image and turn it into something spectacular by adding just the right amount of adjustment in terms of sharpness, exposure, color saturation, and so on. But with many apps on the market right now, making those adjustments can be frustratingly complex. Conversely, there are apps that try to make tweaking photos simple, but they don't give professionals a way to fine-tune adjustments. Macphun has just announced the start of pre-orders of <a target="_blank" href="http://macphun.evyy.net/c/143055/320119/3255" rel="noopener noreferrer">Luminar</a>, a new all-in-one photo editor that is designed around the idea that all photographers are different, as are their needs for photo editing. </p>

<p>Apple World Today wants you to practice safe computing, and one of the best ways to do that when you're away from home and working on an open, unsecured Wi-Fi network is to use a virtual private network (VPN). Shimo VPN Client for Mac is different from some of the other VPNs we've had deals for in the past in that it handles more VPN protocols than any other client out there. <a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/shimo-vpn-client-for-mac?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shimo-vpn-client-for-mac_110216&utm_term=scsf-89940" rel="noopener noreferrer">You can get Shimo VPN Client for Mac for just $19 for a limited time in the Apple World Today Deals Shop</a>. </p>

<p>WALTR has been a favorite of Mac users for many years, providing a way to easily transfer content from Mac to iPhone or iPad. Now Softorino, the company behind the app, has delivered WALTR 2, a second-generation update of the app that turns the app into a universal drop area that can push any content into any Apple device. <a target="_blank" href="http://softorino.com/store/w2" rel="noopener noreferrer">WALTR 2</a> ($39.95) now makes it possible for Mac users to drag and drop music, ringtones, videos, PDF and even ePub files onto iPhone, iPad or iPod without the need for iTunes.</p>

<p>When most people try to measure something, they grab a tape measure -- an "instrument" that was first available in 1860. Tape measures usually require two hands, and they're woefully inaccurate for short dimensions. <a target="_blank" href="http://instrumments.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">InstruMMents</a>, an offshoot of stylish fitness wearable Misfit (co-founded by ex-Apple CEO John Sculley), today announced the 01 (US$149, available in December). It's a smart dimensioning tool that can be used with one hand on straight or curved surfaces to measure distances accurately, all with the assistance of your iPhone.</p>

<p>It seems like just yesterday that we were posting the latest 4K drone videos of Apple Campus 2 from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperTechAssistant" rel="noopener noreferrer">Matthew Roberts</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoc4iO1r4Bv0kuABk5PUwdw" rel="noopener noreferrer">Duncan Sinfield</a>, and here it is one month later. Surprisingly, there has been a lot of progress on the landscaping that will make the "Spaceship" quite park-like, and Sinfield's video includes information on the demolition and rebuilding of an apartment complex right next to the complex.</p>

<p>We often get reminders of just how bad the "Internet of Things" is. Whether it's a "smart" lightbulb that turns itself on and off randomly, or walking the exact same route each day and getting distances from a connected device that vary up to a tenth of a mile, it's apparent that these devices that are supposed to help our lives are toying with us. Today's example? A connected smart scale that lied convincingly to me and my wife for about a month. </p>

<p>iOS 10.1.1 has just been released, with a note saying that "This update fixes bugs including an issue where Health data could not be viewed for some users." The update is rather small, weighing in at just 64.2MB. </p>