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LATEST ARTICLES - PAGE 6

The iOS 13 Bible

iPhone
Jason Tate

Federico Viticci’s incredibly detailed review of iOS 13 was released today:

Amidst a deluge of new features and design updates, iOS 13, more than its predecessors, makes clear that Apple doesn’t consider iOS just an operating system anymore: it’s the platform upon which the company can build other experiences. In a way, the modern iOS is to Apple devices what Mac OS X was to the original iPhone: a stable technological foundation, ready to be taken in new directions.

No one is writing more in-depth and helpful reviews of iOS and iPadOS these days. And I don’t say that just because there’s some really good bookmarks and screen shots in the Safari section.

Jony Ive Leaving Apple

Jason Tate

Jony Ive, the famous designer at Apple, is leaving the company after thirty years. I thought Gruber’s take on the whole thing was pretty good:

Third: This may be good news. Ive is, to state the obvious, preternaturally talented. But in the post-Jobs era, with all of Apple design, hardware and software, under his control, we’ve seen the software design decline and the hardware go wonky. I don’t know the inside story, but it certainly seems like a good bet that MacBook keyboard fiasco we’re still in the midst of is the direct result of Jony Ive’s obsession with device thinness and minimalism. Today’s MacBooks are worse computers but more beautiful devices than the ones they replaced. Is that directly attributable to Jony Ive? With these keyboards in particular, I believe the answer is yes.

More Information About New Music App on macOS 10.15

Jason Tate

Some more information has been uncovered about the upcoming iTunes changes answering some of the questions people had.

Jason Snell:

The Music app is basically iTunes—but with a design update that puts Apple Music at the fore. You can still see your entire music library, of course, and even buy music on the iTunes Store if you want to. As someone who uses iTunes with Apple Music every day, I’m okay with this change. And if you click on the Songs view in the Library section of the sidebar, you will get your classic iTunes song list back, like it never left.

Juli Clover:

Apple told Ars Technica that on Windows, there will be no changes. Those who use iTunes on a PC to manage their devices, listen to music, and make iTunes purchases will be able to continue to do so.

Adam Engst:

What about the syncing features of iTunes? macOS Catalina builds them into the Finder. Attach an iOS device to a Mac and it appears in a Finder window’s sidebar. Select it and what looks like the standard iTunes sync settings screen appears in the window. You won’t get syncing or management of iOS apps, but you’ll be able to back up, update, and restore devices from the Mac.

iTunes Being Split Up Into Three Apps

Jason Tate

Today was Apple’s WWDC keynote, and it was jam packed with stuff, but the most relevant to this website is probably the breakup of iTunes into new separate Podcasts, TV, and Music apps. The Verge has a good rundown:

The update will come with macOS 10.15. The shift makes sense, and has already taken place on iOS. Apple Podcasts, for example, has been on iPhones and iPads for years, but never made its way over to macOS devices. iTunes itself is a relic of a different era in which people bought all their music and movies in one place, and it’s felt neglected and outdated for quite some time.

It’s been a long time coming; I’m looking forward to the new Apple Music app.

Casey Liss Launches ‘Vignette’ App to Fix Your Contact Photos

Apps
Jason Tate

Casey Liss has released a new iOS app to quickly add photos to your contacts using their social media profiles. MacStories has a good rundown:

Unlike many other apps that aim to streamline the act of adding contact photos, Vignette doesn’t require access to any of your personal social media accounts. Commonly, apps will ask you to log in to Facebook, for example, so they can crawl your friends list to extract profile images and other data for your contacts. While this is an effective method, it also requires giving a third-party app special access to your social media accounts. Vignette takes a different approach.

Apple Music’s U.S. Subscriber Count Overtakes Spotify

Jason Tate

Reuters is reporting that Apple Music has surpassed Spotify in paid monthly U.S. subscribers:

Apple Inc’s streaming music service overtook rival Spotify Technology SA in terms of paid subscribers in the United States, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Apple’s service had 28 million subscribers as of the end of February compared with Spotify’s 26 million paid subscribers, the person said.

Quick Thoughts on Apple’s Announcements

Apple
Jason Tate

Yesterday Apple unveiled a new Apple News+ service, a game service called Apple Arcade, a new credit card, and some information about their upcoming video service.

My first thoughts are that the News+ service looks really good, but it’s not something I’d want my publication to be a part of because our entire model is based on direct subscription from readers. The game service looks interesting, but without knowing the price it’s hard to really judge it. I find the credit card industry gross. If Apple was going to jump into this market I wish they would have disrupted it. It’s my view that extremely high interest rates on credit cards should be illegal. The video service looks like it’ll have multiple shows I’ll like, but that’s all a wait and see until it’s actually available.

Apple Updates AirPods

Jason Tate

Apple has updated their AirPods:

Apple today announced new AirPods, the second generation of the world’s most popular wireless headphones. AirPods revolutionized the wireless audio experience with a breakthrough design and the new AirPods build on the magical experience customers love. The new Apple-designed H1 chip, developed specifically for headphones, delivers performance efficiencies, faster connect times, more talk time and the convenience of hands-free “Hey Siri.” AirPods come with either a standard charging case or a new Wireless Charging Case for convenient charging at home and on the go.

I use mine every single day and they’re one of my favorite purchases in a long time. Holding out to upgrade until the battery dies or they release them in black though.