398 - AI, Apps, iOS, and Arcade—Oh My!

The latest In Touch With iOS with Dave he is joined by Jill McKinley, Chuck Joiner, Jeff Gamet, Eric Bolden, Marty Jencius. Episode 398 covers Apple’s 2025 App Award winners, the Podcast of the Year, new updates for iOS/iPadOS/visionOS 26.2 RC, and a redesigned native ExpressVPN Mac app. The panel reviews major AI news—including Claude 4.5, ChatGPT’s shopping feature, and the possibility of ads—while debating the privacy concerns around ChatGPT integrating with Apple Health. Other highlights include Apple’s foldable iPhone patent, Apple Music Replay, accessibility features, and a big week for Apple Arcade with Subway Surfers+. A funny, insightful, wide-ranging episode with lots of community engagement and tech analysis.

The show notes are at InTouchwithiOS.com

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Summary

In this episode of In Touch With iOS, Dave and an all-star panel—Jill McKinley, Marty Jencius, Jeff Gamet, Chuck Joiner, Eric Bolden, and Guy Serle—jump into a packed week of Apple news, updates, AI breakthroughs, and plenty of humor.

The show opens with a discussion about the frigid weather sweeping across the country, before moving into Apple’s newly announced App Award Winners. The panel covers winners across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Vision Pro—including the iPhone App of the Year Timbo and Vision Pro winner Explore POV—with commentary on design choices, spatial computing innovation, and whether they personally use the selected apps.

Next, the 2025 Apple Podcast of the Year—The Rest Is History—leads the group into a conversation about podcast quality, history storytelling, and the growing depth of Apple’s podcast ecosystem.

Updates to visionOS 26.2 RC are discussed, including expanded Travel Mode for buses and cars, support for spatial accessories (like Logitech’s stylus), and improvements to Freeform. Eric even admits the new features were compelling enough for him to install the beta.

Updates for iOS/iPadOS 26.2 RC also make news, adding the Liquid Glass lock screen slider, Reminders alarms, new AirPods Live Translation support in the EU, and Podcasts app refinements. Jeff warns listeners to hold off on macOS Tahoe due to persistent audio issues, reinforcing that stability still matters more than flash.

The show then pivots into a major AI segment featuring:

    •    Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.5, touted as the new coding champion among AI tools

    •    ChatGPT’s new holiday shopping assistant, which impressed some panelists

    •    The controversial discovery of ads in ChatGPT’s app code, sparking fears of “enshittification”

    •    A possible Apple Health integration, which launches a passionate privacy debate

    •    Real-world examples of AI massively reducing work time—from spreadsheets to meeting analytics

The group revisits Apple’s newest patent describing a crease-free foldable iPhone using liquid metal, prompting speculation on durability, user experience, and whether Apple can create a foldable without the hallmark crease.

Apple’s Year-End Music Charts and Apple Music Replay lead to panelists sharing their most-played artists—ranging from Supertramp to Rush to 80s icons—and poking fun at Dave’s unavoidable Taylor Swift top rankings.

Apple also releases a beautifully produced Accessibility in College ad, highlighting assistive technologies like magnifier, voiceover, and live captions. The panel praises Apple’s leadership in accessible design and speculates on future features for glasses-based products.

Finally, the team dives into a major Apple Arcade update, featuring five new games including Subway Surfers+, SpongeBob Patty Pursuit 2, PowerWash Simulator, and more. The topic unexpectedly evolves into a discussion of how simulation games—like power washing or trucking—can offer therapeutic calm for many players.

Topics and Links

Breaking News

Apple Announces 2025 App Store Award Winners, Including iPhone App of the Year 

Apple Announces 2025 Podcast of the Year 

In Touch With Vision Pro this week. 

visionOS 26.2 RC is released this week

visionOS 26.2 RC Release Notes

visionOS Notes

This update expands Travel Mode to cars and busses, adds support for hand-drawn content with spatial accessories, and includes other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your Apple Vision Pro.

• Travel Mode lets passengers use Apple Vision Pro on cars and busses in addition to airplanes and trains

• Support for hand-drawn content with spatial accessories like Logitech Muse in Notes, Freeform, and any PencilKit-enabled app

• Tables in Freeform can hold text, images, documents, and drawings, with cells that intelligently resize to fit, bringing structure to the content to your board.

Beta this week

iOS 26.2 Release Candidate dropped this week. 

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

iPadOS 26.2 RC and more now available ahead of coming launch

Apple Seeds watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2 and visionOS 26.2 Release Candidates

watchOS 26.2 has four changes for Apple Watch, here’s everything new

Apple Seeds Second tvOS 26.2 Release Candidate

iOS 26.2 release date: Here’s when new iPhone features are coming

In Touch With Mac this week

macOS Tahoe 26.2 Release Candidate Now Available to Developers and Public Beta Testers

ExpressVPN gets a native Mac app, optimized connectivity on iOS

In Touch with AI this week. 

Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 4.5 With Improved Coding and Agent Capabilities

ChatGPT Adds AI Shopping Research Feature for Holiday Gift Finding

ChatGPT is Going to Start Showing You Ads

Apple Health Integration Seemingly Coming to ChatGPT

Dave’s experience using CoPilot creating a spreadsheet list of Dell Monitors for work 

Other Topics

Marty gives his thoughts on a patent. Apple’s Crease-Free Foldable iPhone may also use Liquid Metal in the Hinges

Use as reference only: What to Expect From Apple This December: iOS 26.3 Beta, Replay 2025, and More

Apple Music Shares 2025 Year-End Charts

Apple Music Replay 2025 Now Fully Available

Apple Books Launches 2025 Year in Review Experience

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26 

Other news: Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its RAM and SSDs to AI companies instead

News

iPhone Car Keys Support Coming to More Audi Vehicles

Apple Releases Firmware Update for iPhone Air MagSafe Battery

iPhone 17 Demand Is Breaking Apple's Sales Records

Apple Shares New 'I'm Not Remarkable' Ad 

Apple Arcade Just Got the Most Downloaded Mobile Game Ever and More

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Our Host

Dave Ginsburg is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users and shares his wealth of knowledge of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and related technologies. Visit the YouTube channel https://youtube.com/intouchwithios follow him on Mastodon @daveg65, , BlueSky @daveg65  and the show @intouchwithios

 

Our Regular Contributors

Jeff Gamet is a podcaster, technology blogger, artist, and author. Previously, he was The Mac Observer’s managing editor, and Smile’s TextExpander Evangelist. You can find him on Mastadon @jgamet Pixelfed @[e-mail] and Bluesky @jgamet.bsky.social‬ Podcasts The Context Machine Podcast  Retro Rewatch Retro Rewatch His YouTube channel https://youtube.com/jgamet

Marty Jencius, Ph.D., is a professor of counselor education at Kent State University, where he researches, writes, and trains about using technology in teaching and mental health practice. His podcasts include Vision Pro Files, The Tech Savvy Professor and Circular Firing Squad Podcast. Find him at [e-mail]  https://thepodtalk.net 

Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him by email at [e-mail], on Mastodon at @[e-mail], on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast.

 

Jill McKinley works in enterprise software, server administration, and IT A lifelong tech enthusiast, she started her career with Windows but is now an avid Apple fan. Beyond technology, she shares her insights on nature, faith, and personal growth through her podcasts—Buzz Blossom & Squeak, Start with Small Steps, and The Bible in Small Steps. Watch her content on YouTube at @startwithsmallsteps and follow her on X @schmern. Find all her work at http://jillfromthenorthwoods.com 

Chuck Joiner is the host of MacVoices and hosts video podcasts with influential members of the Apple community. Make sure to visit macvoices.com and subscribe to his podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @chuckjoiner and join his MacVoices Facebook group.

Guy Serle is one of the hosts of the new The Gmen Show along with GazMaz and email [e-mail]  @MacParrot and @VertShark on X  Vertshark on YouTube, Google Voice +1 Area code  703-828-4677