Apple has a subtle sense of humor. Never has that been more evident than by the discovery of a joke hidden deep in the support pages for the Apple Watch.
The Next Web points out that a previously unnoticed Rick Roll has been sitting on the support page for the Apple Watch’s Digital Touch feature.
Under the “Add a friend” section of the document, there is a set of step-by-step instructions for adding a new friend to the Apple Watch’s interface. Accompanying the instructional is an image meant to show how the Friends menu will look on a user’s Watch, with each friend represented by a little bubble and their initials.
Within those little circles, Apple has embedded the Internet’s most time-honored prank: the Rick Roll. Through the initials, the phrase “Never gonna give you up” appear.
The page was updated on Sept. 16, 2015 in advance of WatchOS 2, and it seems likely the joke was put in place then.
It’s not the only time Apple busts out a Rick Astley reference, either. On another support page for Control Center, there’s a screenshot depicting the feature on an iPhone. There’s a song playing, displayed in the Control Center. That song? “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
Why is Apple populating its online support documents with the one-hit wonder that was given new life by the Web? Who knows. Probably because it’s funny and silly and the Cupertino company knew the second someone discovered it, the little prank would blow up.
Turns out, that’s exactly what has happened.
Is the joke played out at this point? Sure, but it’s an unexpected little bit of personality flashed by Apple in the most unlikely of places. So we’ll let it slide. Just be glad Apple didn’t try to pull what it did with U2’s album and automatically install the song on everyone’s device without even asking.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.