Federico gives a status report about life in Italy, then Stephen tries to cheer people up by talking about the HomePod. After that fails, Myke tells a story and the gang wade through a sea of iOS 14 rumors, including stories on iMessage, PencilKit, iOS wallpaper apps and more.

This episode of Connected is sponsored by:

• Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code CONNECTED to get 30% off. Offer expires on January 31, 2021.
• Direct Mail: Create and send great looking email newsletters with Direct Mail, an easy-to-use email marketing app designed exclusively for the Mac.
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Links and Show Notes:

Support Connected with a Relay FM Membership

Animal Crossing – Official Site

Silvia Gatta on Twitter: "Finally, a good episode of @_connectedfm 😜"

stephensmerch.com

Activation Lock for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Apple Testing New iMessage Features Such as Mentions and Retracting Messages, Could Extend to Mac App - MacRumors

iOS 14 Features New OCR Capabilities That Will Convert Handwritten Text From Apple Pencil Into Typed Text - MacRumors

Flashback #1: The Newton - Relay FM

iOS 14 to include new homescreen list view option with Siri suggestions and more - 9to5Mac

iOS 14: Major accessibility features, Alipay Apple Pay, wallpaper app integration, more - 9to5Mac

‎Skeletons, Etc on the App Store

iOS 14 reveals iPhone 9 and updated iPad Pro details, new Apple TV remote, AirTags, more - 9to5Mac

iPhone 6s - The Only Thing That's Changed Is Everything - Official Trailer - YouTube

Apple developing new augmented reality app for iOS 14, testing Apple Store and Starbucks partnership - 9to5Mac

Santa Clara County Bans All Gatherings of 1000+ People After Coronavirus Death - MacRumors

HomeKit in iOS 14: Face recognition, Apple TV audio, Night Shift for lights - 9to5Mac

watchOS 7 to include new 'International' Apple Watch face with multiple country flags - 9to5Mac

Apple Watch Series 6 and watchOS 7 to include 'Infograph Pro' with tachymeter, SchoolTime and kids mode, sleep tracking, more - 9to5Mac