Following up on my post of last week about Apple and user privacy, I missed the point about iCloud backups. While your device is encrypted, your iCloud backup is not. At least, there is no end-to-end encryption, which means Apple can access the data. Several years ago Apple explained they were in the process of making the iCloud backup end-to-end encrypted as well, but now we are hearing reports that Apple abandoned those plans in an effort to satisfy the FBI.

There are multiple sources cited for this story and it appears to be true. So Apple is holding the line on our devices but not on our backups. That seems like a great way to upset everyone. Do they think giving the government user just iCloud backups will satisfy them? Do they think that privacy-minded users will say “good enough” when they realize their device is encrypted but not their backups? Seems to me like it is time for Apple to fish or cut bait.

One of my personal goals this year is to get back into the habit of sharing some jazz nuggets around here on Fridays. My pick this time is a recent album by the YAYenning Quartet called Scott Ave. This album gives a contemporary twist to traditional west coast jazz and, musically at least, it pushes every one of my buttons. The music was written by trumpeter Jay Jennings (or Yay Yennings). Tenor sax is played by Bob Reynolds (YouTube) (Focused guest appearance). The band is rounded out by bassist Ross Schodek and drummer Jose Perez. Several of the members are also part of Snarky Puppy.

The music is very much west coast bebop but also contemporary. If you don’t listen to a lot of jazz, something to note about this album is the lack of a comping instrument. There is no piano or guitar laying chords behind the melodies and solos. Instead, the horns will play basic tones behind one another.

The music feels fresh. Multiple times they’ll be racing along and then come to a dead stop, only to start again. It’s delightful. I love this band so much that I’ve even braved Los Angeles traffic to watch them play live and they are tight. Folks sometimes complain my jazz Friday posts have too many dead people. Well, the YAYennings quartet is four very live ones and their album, Scott Ave., was my favorite new jazz album of 2019. Check it out in the iTunes Store, or download it on Apple Music. You’re in for a treat. Also below is one of Bob’s VLOG’s when they were rehearsing, which is pretty fun to watch.

Katrina Onstad for the Guardian thinks maybe you shouldn’t have any.

I’ve done several posts here the last few weeks about the decade transition and Apple. I thought I had nothing further to share on that front and then Jason Snell posted an article putting the past decade of Apple performance in charts. This is definitely worth a look. That chart on iPhone growth? Wowza. I have to admit I’m generally not that interested in the performance of public companies but you can’t help but wonder how long it will be before we see any company explode like Apple did over the last decade.

The more you use Shortcuts, the more you the lack of shortcut organization smacks you in the face. Adam Tow, of Tow.com, has been an active Shortcuts user and community contributor for some time. He decided to take this problem on and has done so with the release of his LaunchCuts app.

LaunchCuts uses pulls in a list of all your shortcuts and then gives you a way to organize them with things like folders and smart folders. There are a bunch more user-friendly features, like an adjustable grid size and keyboard shortcuts. With this app, you have an alternative to Shortcuts for launching shortcuts. It’s superior for that purpose in every way I can figure. You’ll still need Shortcuts to create automations, but LaunchCuts makes the process of running them much less painful.

Apple has landed in the soup again with the U.S. Justice Department over its inability (or refusal?) to give access to the Pensacola shooter’s phone. This is a similar issue to that faced with the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone a few years ago. Apple makes the iPhone with the intention of securing user data, even from Apple itself. There is an ongoing cat and mouse game where hackers find vulnerabilities and Apple plugs them but the goal, on Apple’s end at least, is that the only people who see what’s on your iPhone is you.

I haven’t been able to confirm, but I suspect that with the Pensacola shooter, it is one of those issues where Apple can’t break its own encryption. The government folks that are tasked with prosecuting bad guys hate that. They want the ability to read accused criminal’s phones to do their jobs. This current conversation hasn’t run its full course yet but inevitably it will get to the concept of back doors.

Specifically, what if Apple built a back door into the operating system that only a few people had access to so they could get access when the case is made but otherwise protect our privacy. The problem is that the existence of a back door means it will inevitably be opened … on everyone. I simply don’t believe a back door would ever remain secret.

I don’t believe this is something where we just go along with the government’s desire for yet another privacy invasion for all of us. Such a back door in the hands of a bad actor, or an oppressive state, is something I don’t want to think about too long. Furthermore, if such a back door were installed, the terrorists and sophisticated criminals would simply move to some other platform and still have secured communications and data, while the rest of us no longer do.

I sympathize with law enforcement for wanting access to this data. I worked briefly in the criminal justice system and I know how maddening it would be to know you have a magic envelope with evidence in it and no way to open that envelope. I just think the sacrifice involved with creating a back door is too much to ask.

I do think this discussion isn’t over though. Apple sells into a lot of countries. Any one of them could require they install a back door as a condition of access to the market. Apple’s principals are on a collision course with a massive loss of income. Is it just a question of time before governmental regulation and market pressures make this period of time, where all citizens have relatively secured data and communications, only a temporary phase? I sure hope not.