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LETTER OF THE MONTH!
9:41am
iOS 17 has arrived with several tasty little morsels and some really good tweaks, eg video messaging for FaceTime. But StandBy? It’s a great idea, you plug in your charger, prop your phone on its side, and voila, you get a clock (and other widgets). Fantastic, I thought – that’s a perfect replacement for the ageing bedside clock I have. But then, 10 seconds later the display goes back to black. You have to tap it to bring it back up. Like probably the majority of Apple users, I do not have the latest, always-on-screen phone. Anyway, let’s think how this feature will be used: The office? There’s likely to be a clock, or you’ll be on your laptop, which has a clock. School? Unlikely. On the go? Can’t.
In fact, it’s going to be the bedroom, isn’t it? Not least because Apple have kindly thought to include a low-light mode. So, you’ve plugged it in on your bedside table, and propped it against a pile of books. You drop off. Early hours, you wake up, reach to tap the front of your phone; it falls over, the books fall on the floor, and you have to get up to see the time and clear up. Or the phone is on your partner’s side. You wake up… what time is it? You have to lean over your sleeping partner, probably waking them, and suffer the same falling pile of books. Of course you could buy a lovely stand, but that would probably cost twice as much as… a real clock!
Come on Apple, what were you thinking? Just have it stay on all the time – it uses a tiny amount of juice, and anyway, it’s plugged in. Add a toggle for those who would prefer the tap. by PETER BENSON
ROB SAYS…
StandBy is a great feature, but it certainly could do with a little improvement. We’re forever accidentally changing the view while fumbling about in the dark with no glasses on. Also, the photo view only works when your phone is unlocked, which seems a bit silly really.
I tried to download dupeGuru to my Mac (running macOS Ventura). I was confronted with the following: ‘dupeGuru can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software. This software needs to be updated. Contact the developer for more information.’ Can you advise please, perhaps describing how you managed to g
