Devon Dundee

24 posts on MacStories since January 2024

Devon Dundee is the co-host of Magic Rays of Light, a podcast exploring the world of Apple TV, where he’s covered Apple TV, tvOS, and Apple Originals since 2021. He’s also written about apps, TV, and film on his personal website for over ten years. Devon lives in Arkansas with his wife, their son, and their dog Winter.

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visionOS 2: The MacStories Overview

Today, Apple revealed visionOS 2, the first major upgrade to the software powering Apple Vision Pro. The update, coming this fall, will include quality-of-life improvements, new ways to create and share spatial content, additional tools for developers, and more.

Interacting with the Home View and Control Center will be easier than before thanks to new system-wide gestures. Holding your hand up and tapping your fingers together will bring up the Home View, while flipping your hand over will bring up a time and battery status popover that also acts as a Control Center launcher. These gestures are simpler than the previous methods of accessing these views, which required pushing the Digital Crown for the Home View and looking upwards to reveal the Control Center launcher. Apps in the Home View can now be rearranged, and compatible iPad and iPhone apps are no longer constrained to a single folder.

The new gestures for accessing the Home View and Control Center in visionOS 2.Replay

Mac Virtual Display is expanding later this year to support a higher resolution and larger size, resulting in a display roughly equivalent to two 4K monitors side by side. The experience of using peripherals with Apple Vision Pro will be improved with Magic Keyboard passthrough in immersive environments and support for mice. Guest User information will be saved for 30 days so users’ friends and family can use Apple Vision Pro without going through the setup process repeatedly, and Travel Mode will be supported on trains in addition to airplanes.

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Audio and Home: The MacStories Overview

During the WWDC keynote earlier today, Apple devoted an entire section to home and audio updates coming this fall. These updates include features for tvOS, AirPods, and the Home app. We’ll have a full tvOS overview later, but first, let’s dive into what’s coming for AirPods and Home.

AirPods

Siri Interactions offer a new, hands-free way of responding to Siri announcements for AirPods Pro users. With a simple nod or shake of the head, users can answer phone calls, dismiss messages, and more. This new interaction method is helpful in scenarios where speaking aloud or pulling out your phone isn’t an option.

Voice Isolation, a feature previously available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, is coming to AirPods Pro themselves. When you’re on a call, the H2 chip will use machine learning to automatically filter out background noise and wind to make it easy for the person on the other end to hear what you’re saying.

Apple is also improving the experience of gaming with AirPods. Personalized Spatial Audio is expanding to games, using head tracking and the device’s understanding of your ear shape to deliver an immersive audio experience. AirPods Pro will offer lower audio latency when gaming on iPhone in Game Mode and higher voice quality for audio chats with 16-bit, 48kHz audio. Finally, an API for immersive gaming audio will be available to developers.

Home

Guest access is coming to the Home app, enabling residents to grant guests the ability to control locks, garage doors, and security systems for a limited amount of time instead of giving them full home access. Users can also view guests’ Activity History to see what home devices were accessed and when.

Smart locks that support home keys can be unlocked hands-free when a resident is within six feet of the door. The Home app is adding support for robot vacuum cleaners. And Apple is partnering with utility providers, starting with Pacific Gas & Electric Company in California, to allow users to connect their utility accounts to the Home app, track electricity usage, and make more informed decisions about their energy use.

SharePlay is coming to Apple Music on the HomePod and HomePod mini. Users can control playback and add songs to the music queue by bringing their iPhone close to the iPhone connected to the HomePod or by scanning a QR code on the other iPhone’s screen, and even users who aren’t subscribed to Apple Music can take part in SharePlay sessions. Spatial Audio is also coming to AirPlay, allowing immersive audio to be beamed from an iPhone to a HomePod or other compatible AirPlay speaker.


You can follow all of our WWDC coverage through our WWDC 2024 hub or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2024 RSS feed.



Magic Rays of Light: Apple TV Wishes Past, Trying, and Sugar

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight the return of Trying, recap the first season of Sugar, and revisit their 2023 WWDC hopes to see what came true and what remains on the wishlist.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

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Magic Rays of Light: The Big Cigar, Palm Royale, and Appleā€™s Theatrical Strategy

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon discuss Apple’s evolving theatrical film strategy, highlight the debut of The Big Cigar, and recap Palm Royale.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

Join Club MacStories.

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Magic Rays of Light: A Return to Acapulco, Let Loose Predictions, and Constellation

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon make their long-awaited return to Las Colinas with Acapulco season three, share their predictions for Apple’s upcoming Let Loose event, and recap Constellation.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

Join Club MacStories.

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

Subscribe to our Apple TV release calendar.

Read more


Magic Rays of Light: Argylle and TV Tracking with Jonathan Reed

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Devon is joined by MacStories Community Manager Jonathan Reed to highlight Argylle, discuss Jonathan’s approach to tracking TV and films, and look ahead to an exciting summer of Apple Originals.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

Join Club MacStories.

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

Subscribe to our Apple TV release calendar.

Read more


Magic Rays of Light: Girls State, Franklin, Spatial Personas, and tvOS Game Emulation

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight American Revolution-era drama Franklin ahead of its premiere on Apple TV+. They also dive into new Apple Original documentary Girls State, spatial personas on visionOS, and the possibility of game emulation on Apple TV.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

Subscribe to our Apple TV release calendar.

Read more


Magic Rays of Light: STEVE! and tvOS Hopes for WWDC

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight new Apple Original documentary STEVE!, share a few hopes for this year’s WWDC, grade their Academy Awards predictions, and preview this weekend’s premiere of Apple Original series Sugar.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

Subscribe to our Apple TV release calendar.

Read more