Jul
01
Download today’s show here! 
MC20150701.mp3 [51.2MB 01:46:12 64kbps]
A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Episode 531. What we think we know about what’s next. Recent Apple software updates. Apple Watch coming to more countries. Apple Music Drops. Apple Music rate correction. Even more on passwords. Using external boot SSDs. Podcast car integration trouble. Asking Siri to do the impossible.
Special thanks to our sponsor:
TunnelBear – TunnelBear is a really simple VPN app to browse privately and get around blocked websites.
Subscribe to the Podcast Feed or Get the MP3 or Enhanced AAC
Wanted to comment on the SSD boost discussion. The thing that I think you are missing on the cost comparison issue is that you really don’t need more than about 100gb on the ssd. You kept looking at 250gb ssd’s which are a lot more expensive. If you reprice your analysis considering an ssd that has just enough space to include the home directory and apps, then you are probably going to find that the external drive is quite a bit cheaper — around $100.00 for the external compared to $250.00 for an internal.
Separate question related to your car discussion. I’ve got a ’08 model (BMW 535i which ain’t new is new to me). So it has bluetooth which works fine for the phone and it has an external audio in jack with a usb adapter that is powered. However, it does not have the sort of bluetooth that allows music streaming. So I got a separate bluetooth adapter that I plug into external audio in jack and the usb adapter to power it up. it works great but there is one glitch that I wanted to ask you and the community about.
The bluetooth on the car, used for phone calls only, connects automatically without me having to do anything on the phone. I get in the car and start it up and within a couple of moments the car’s bluetooth will connect with the phone. However, this little bluetooth adapter that I added to the car will not automatically connect. It is paired with the phone but requires me to go to settings on the phone and select bluetooth and then tap on the adapter (really a 4 tap operation) to get it hooked up. Works great thereafter and the phone pauses music or podcasts while I take phone calls. Of course, I don’t get anything on the screen like song info ext that I would get if I had music on a jump drive, but its good enough for me.
I’d like to be able to either make the bluetooth connection happen automatically or figure out a way to make it an easier, one touch operation, to tell the phone to connect with the adapter — also wondered if there were apps that would access the phone’s bluetooth or if there might be an “IF” recipe that could be done that would seek to connect the added adapter whenever it sees the BMW’s adapter.
Thanks
Chuck
Am I the only one having trouble with Beats 1 audio quality? On my machine (a new Macbook Pro) with a really fast Comcast connection (I watch internet video all the time), it sounds like a bad AM radio station… underwater. I haven’t seen anyone else complaining about this. Makes it difficult for me to listen to.
-Sara
Just wanted to say that I use smart playlists with podcasts so that I get a continuous stream. In fact I have two playlists: one for current affairs podcasts that I want to listen to in date order as soon as possible, and a second playlist that I use when the first one is empty which has most of my tech podcasts again in date order. This worked well until the latest iTunes / OS update and now the playlists do not sync from my MacBook Pro to my iPod Touch. Any suggestions?