The new Sailing skill launched in Old School RuneScape (one of my all-time favorite games) today!

From the “News & Updates” section of the Old School RuneScape website:

Sailing is Old School RuneScape’s 24th skill. There is no doubt that this is our largest single update to date – perhaps our largest update ever. There is so much content coming to the game today: over 30 new islands, several new training methods, new rewards, quests and so much more!

Be amongst the first to sail the seas of Gielinor and see what lies beyond the horizon. There is so much content to explore, and you might just find some special surprises along the way!

This is the first new skill to have come out in a while and it definitely seems pretty interesting! I’m looking forward to giving it a try!

Cloudflare, a content delivery network that serves many popular websites and services, is experiencing a pretty widespread outage that’s affecting a number of websites at the moment.

From an article by Les Pounder and Stephen Warwick on TomsHardware.com:

In the last few minutes Cloudflare has confirmed it is aware of a major issue affecting its Global Network, which is causing widespread internet outages ranging from platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to ChatGPT, and, ironically, Downdetector. A wave of other websites and services are also experiencing outages.

Cloudflare is working on a fix, with updates available on the CloudflareStatus.com website.

This past Tuesday, WhatsApp announced on their blog that they were launching a version of the popular messaging app for the Apple Watch.

Today we are announcing a big upgrade for your wrist — the all-new WhatsApp app for your Apple Watch*. This new experience will help you stay on top of your chats without needing to pull out your iPhone.

Prior to the release of an official app for the Apple Watch, WhatsApp users were able to view and reply to messages on their watches, but that was about the extent of what they could do.

However, the new WhatsApp app will enable users to receive call notifications, read full messages, record and send voice messages, react to messages, view chat histories, and have an improved media experience.

In order to install WhatsApp for the Apple Watch, users will have to have an Apple Watch Series 4 (or newer) running watchOS 10 or later.

John Voorhees, writing for MacStories.net:

If there’s a theme surrounding the 26.1 updates to Apple’s OSes, it’s that the company is listening to its users. Tinted Liquid Glass, the return of Slide Over, and the updates to the very niche Local Capture feature are all great examples of Apple’s engineering teams turning around meaningful updates to its OSes based on feedback from users. That’s great to see, and a trend that I hope continues long into the future.

While the 26.1 versions of Apple operating systems were released this past Monday, November 3rd, I recently came across John Voorhees’ post on MacStories.net and think it summarizes the updates very nicely. The screenshots that are included are a nice touch, as well.

Regarding the 26.1 updates, the ones that stick out the most to me are the return of Slide Over in iPadOS 26.1 and the ability to choose between Clear and Tinted versions of Liquid Glass in both iOS and iPadOS 26.1.

While I personally don’t mind the default, Clear, version of Liquid Glass, I can see how having the option to apply a darker tint to it would be ideal for many users. Slide Over, on the other hand, is a feature that I am very happy to see returning with iPadOS 26.1, as it’s something that I use pretty frequently on my iPad Mini. In fact, I still haven’t upgraded to iPadOS 26, partly as I didn’t want to lose the ability to use Slide Over for multitasking.

Overall, though, it’s definitely nice to see that Apple is really taking user feedback to heart and implementing changes that users have requested.

Chance Miller, writing at 9to5Mac.com:

Apple has launched a dramatic new web interface for the App Store. You can now get the full App Store experience right in your browser, with dedicated pages for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision, Watch, and TV app libraries.

Previously, Apple’s “apps.apple.com” domain simply redirected you to a generic page about the App Store on Apple’s website. Now, it takes you to a full-fledged version of the App Store you can browse on your computer.

This new web-based interface for the App Store looks pretty good and feels very much like the real-deal App Store that you would have access to on a Mac with all of the usual details (ratings and reviews, screenshots, related apps, etc.) included on an app’s page.

I’m a bit late on posting about this, but it looks like the iPadOS 26.1 beta brings back Apple’s “Slide Over” multitasking feature. This is something that I frequently use on my iPad Mini so I was disappointed when I saw that it was removed in iPadOS 26.

Here’s an article by Jason Snell of SixColors that discusses “Slide Over”, as well as other updates that are included in the iPadOS 26.1 beta.

I was listening to the MacBreak Weekly podcast the other day and heard Jason Snell mention an article from iFixit, where they put one of Apple’s new TechWoven cases through some durability tests. In short, the TechWoven cases seem to be more durable (and stain resistant) than the FineWoven cases that Apple had previously released a few years back.

While I’ve never actually used a FineWoven case, I did purchase a TechWoven case when I picked up my iPhone 17 Pro Max and the material does feel pretty durable. iFixit mentioned that it’s almost feels like “ruggedized plastic” instead of fabric, which I would agree with. It definitely feels nice in the hand and slides into and out of pockets pretty easily, as well.

That said, I purchased an Apple Silicone case a few days ago, as I like to use alcohol wipes to clean my phone and I feel as though the TechWoven cases aren’t great for that sort of thing due to the fabric material that they’re made from.

Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. plans to unveil a long-anticipated overhaul of the iPhone SE in the coming days, a move that will modernize its lower-cost model in a bid to spur growth and entice consumers to switch from other brands.

The company expects to announce the device as early as next week, ahead of it going on sale later in the month, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple is unlikely to hold a launch event for the device, opting to reveal it on its website instead, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.

The current iPhone SE was released back in March, 2022 so it’s been a few years without a refresh. It will be interesting to see what the newest iteration of the iPhone SE looks like and what spec upgrades it receives, especially given the recent roll-out of Apple Intelligence.

The current iPhone SE contains an Apple A15 Bionic chip, which powered the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Max, as well as the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, and the iPad Mini (6th Generation). The most recent Pro-model iPhones contain an Apple A18 Pro chip, with the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus both contain an Apple A18 chip.

Gurman also shared, in his article and on Twitter, that there are stock shortages of several Apple devices, including some of the ones mentioned above:

Mentioned in the story as well: Major shortages hitting the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, MacBook Air, 11-inch iPad Air and 13-inch iPad Air, in addition to the SE.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming week with the new iPhone SE!

Bill Gates’ latest book, Source Code: My Beginnings launched today. From the GatesNotes.com website:

Source Code is the story of the early part of my life, from growing up in Seattle through the beginnings of Microsoft. I share what it was like to be a precocious, sometimes difficult kid, the restless middle child of two dedicated and ambitious parents who didn’t always know what to make of me. In writing the book I came to better understand the people that shaped me and the experiences that led to the creation of a world-changing company.

The book is available from a variety of sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books, among others.

Gates was actually in Boston yesterday, as a part of a book tour, to discuss the memoir with Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at the Emerson Colonial Theater. My brother and I attended the discussion and I thought it was interesting to hear about the early parts of Gates’ life, prior to his days at Microsoft. The two discussed Gates’ childhood and upbringing, his fascination with computers at an early age, his meeting of Paul Allen at school, and his thoughts and views on a variety of other topics.

Mark Gurman, of Bloomberg, on Twitter:

A notable change coming to AppleCare+ next week: Apple is dropping the 2-3 year pay in advance option at physical retail stores and on devices and will only offer monthly and annual subscriptions. You’ll still be able to get those multi-year plans on the online store.

If true, this is just one of the many services out there that will have gone to a subscription model. I do wonder, though, if users will be able to purchase an Apple product at a physical retail store and then make a one-time AppleCare+ purchase online, after-the-fact, like users can currently do.

As it stands today, if a user wanted to purchase AppleCare+ for an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, the one-time purchase price would be $199 for two years of coverage. The monthly option for the same coverage would cost $9.99/month, which would renew until cancelled. Assuming the user kept paying for monthly coverage for at least two years, they would end up spending $239.76, which ends up being $40.76 more expensive than purchasing the one-time plan for two years of coverage.

Whether or not Apple will update their pricing remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out and what users think of the changes.