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Apple Offers USB-C Enabled Vision Pro Strap to Registered Developers

Apple is offering a new Vision Pro accessory to registered developers: a head strap with a USB-C connector for $299. There aren’t a lot of details about the strap, which is designed to be connected to a Mac to accelerate development and testing for the Vision Pro, other than this description that is behind a developer account login:

Overview

The Developer Strap is an optional accessory that provides a USB-C connection between Apple Vision Pro and Mac and is helpful for accelerating the development of graphics-intensive apps and games. The Developer Strap provides the same audio experience as the in-box Right Audio Strap, so developers can keep the Developer Strap attached for both development and testing.

Tech specs

  • USB-C data connection
  • Individually amplified dual driver audio pods
  • Compatible with Mac

Although we haven’t been able to confirm the capabilities of the Developer Strap, USB-C may allow developers to connect the Vision Pro to their network over Ethernet or access external storage, for example.

Why is a USB-C dongle $299? It’s expensive, but as the description makes clear, it incorporates the speaker found in Vision Pro’s right strap, which it replaces, explaining at least part of the cost.

Square Wants To Get Rid Of Old POS Systems With Its New Square Register App

Mobile payments company Square has today stepped up its game of disrupting payment services with its new Square Register app and service. Directly targeted at retailers, merchants and small business owners, this new iPad app is aimed at replacing the old clunky registers and point-of-sale (POS) systems with the infinitely more flexible and appealing iPad accompanied with the Square reader.

“I truly believe POS, as you know it today, is dead,” says Megan Quinn, director of products at Square. “This will bring Square to an entirely new, small-market audience (bricks-and-mortar stores).”

Integrating support for their existing Card Case app, Square Register can recognise when customers arrive at their store, as well as send the Card Case app information about the business for new customers who haven’t been before. The actual app itself has a main transaction screen that lists “favourite” items (this is completely customisable), but if there are thousands of items, that isn’t a problem either because there is also a list view available. The app has support for loyalty programs to reward loyal customers and customers don’t necessarily have to pay by card, with the app also supporting some cash drawers that can be connected up.

For the business owner or manager, Square Register can require a PIN for staff to access certain functions and custom permissions can be given to staff. The service also offers powerful analytical tools with interactive charts so you can view when the store is busiest and what days may be under performing. Square Register is available for free, with the standard 2.75% processing fee for all card transactions processed through Square, just the same as their existing apps.

[via TechCrunch, USA Today]

Square Unveils “Card Case” and “Register” To Reinvent Digital Payments and Wallets

Mobile payment company Square teased last weekend they had some big announcements to make this morning. After the 2.0 update to the iPhone and iPad application that hit the App Store earlier today, Square’s Jack Dorsey announced with a live stream event on TechCrunch Disrupt a few minutes ago the next-generation of payment processing for merchants and mobile payments for customers: Square Register and Square Card Case, two new products aimed at revolutionizing the mobile payment scene and the whole concept of digital wallet.

With 500,000 card readers shipped across the United States and $1 billion gross payment volume, Square undoubtedly changed the way people thought of phones and tablets as point of sale units capable of receiving credit card payments with a simple swipe. But Square wanted to go one step further, and allow everyone, merchants and customers, to get rid of cumbersome cash registers, POS devices and wallets altogether by unifying the Square experience into a single software that takes care of the data, personal information, credit cards on file, location, and more. The Card Case is the first step to allow customers to forget about wallets, cash and credit cards to carry around all the time: within a single iPhone application, users are getting access to a virtual wallet that contains place-specific cards to pay, check out products, and get receipts. TechCrunch explains:

Once you’ve downloaded your mobile Card Case, you can fill your case with ‘cards’ of all the merchants you visit and buy from who accept Square. When you click on an individual merchant’s card, you’ll be able to see a map of where the merchant is located, contact information, your own order and purchase history, and receipts with the merchant and a daily live menu of items or services from the merchant. You’ll also be able to see what other customers are buying at the store, and merchants can serve customized offers to specific customers based on their purchase history.

So here’s where things get interesting. In a merchant’s card within the case, you can press a “use tab” button which allows the frequent customer to essentially put a purchase on their virtual tab with Square at the merchant. So once you press that button within two blocks of the merchant, you’ll be able to tell the cashier your name and your card will be charged on the merchant’s backend Square register. Because you are a repeat customer, Square already has your payment information. The purchaser will then receive a push notification when the merchant processes the payment.

The Card Case basically acts as a wallet to keep all the places you frequently visit together and set up tabs so payments will be processed automatically without even swiping a real credit card. In a video reel showcased by Jack Dorsey at the announcement event, a Square user was shown entering a coffee shop, ordering a cappuccino and simply asking the cashier to put it under his name. No swiping necessary, no need to sign any receipt or carry a wallet around – just an iPhone. After a purchase however, the app of course handles virtual receipts emailed or texted to you, so you’ll be able to organize all your expenses and view the places where you spent your money. The concept’s really simple and disruptive from a user standpoint – as long as you have an iPhone and the credit card on file, it’s as simple as walking into a bar and ordering what you want with your name. The software takes care of the rest.

On the merchant’s end, Square has also announced a new product, the Register, which will dramatically improve the way business owners used to deal with POS machines and real cash registers and engage with customers as well. Merchants have always been able with the Square reader to store customers information and send them a receipt via email or SMS; with today’s update, merchants get the possibility to send customers a link to download the Card Case app so next time payments will happen faster, over the air, and with more features to engage with a local shop and nearby places that support Square. Again, it all comes together with the reader used to set up a credit card for the first time, the iPhone app for customers to pay with their mobile device, and the iPad Register for merchants to check out analytics and customer data. From the website:

  • Transform your iPad into an elegant point of sale. Customize it with product photos, prices, and sortable categories. Accept cash and credit cards.
  • Swipe a card, let customers sign directly on the screen, and send them an email or text message receipt. Customers can add a tip as they sign.
  • Know how many cappuccinos you sell each day. Download full reports that give you insight into your sales patterns and inventory.
  • Let your regular customers set up a tab right from their phone and pay with their name. Publish your menu and share daily specials.

At this point, it’s clear Square isn’t a cool startup with a neat credit card gadget anymore. Square wants to disrupt mobile payments, bringing merchants and customers together socially, locally, just with software, phones and tablets. Square Register and Card Cases are rolling out today through 50 US merchants in New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, St. Louis, and Los Angeles.

Grand Central Coffee Shop in NYC Getting iPad Cash Register

Joe The Art of Coffee, in Grand Central Terminal (NYC), sells coffee like many other people but starting next week, coffee drinkers will be paying for it much differently. They’re installing an iPad Point-of-Sale device, or cash register, via ShopKeep.com.

ShopKeep.com is testing an iPad Point-of-Sale device designed for coffee shops, bakeries or specialty retail shop with less than 150 items. It prints receipts and opens the cash drawer like a standard register, except its form factor takes up very little space. The “register” also transmits sales to ShopKeep’s web-based BackOffice so that managers can track real-time sales and manage inventory, run reports and export their sales data. Read more

Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk Elevates Your MacBook for More Comfortable Computing

When I’m sitting at home in my office, the ergonomics are perfect. I have a comfortable chair with plenty of back support, my keyboard is at the right height, and my Studio Display is at eye level. The trouble is, that’s not the only place I work or want to work. As a result, I spend time almost daily using a laptop in less-than-ideal conditions. That’s why I was eager to try the Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk that debuted in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand last summer and is now available in North America, too.

Logitech sent me the Casa to test, and I’ve been using it on and off throughout the past 10 days as I work at home, away from my desk, and in various other locations. No portable desktop setup is going to rival the ergonomics of my home office, but despite a few downsides, I’ve been impressed with the Casa. By making it more comfortable to use my laptop anywhere, the Casa has enabled me to get away from my desk more often, which has been wonderful as the weather begins to warm up.

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The Best Way to Take Screenshots on Apple Vision Pro

Taking good-looking screenshots on the Apple Vision Pro isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either. I’ve already spent many hours taking screenshots on the device, and I thought I’d share my experience and some practical tips for getting the best screenshots possible.

Although I’ve only had the Apple Vision Pro for a week, I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about and refining my screenshot workflow out of necessity. That’s because after I spent around three hours writing my first visionOS app review of CARROT Weather and Mercury Weather, I spent at least as much time trying to get the screenshots I wanted. If that had been a review of the iOS versions of those apps, the same number of screenshots would have taken less than a half hour. That’s a problem because I simply don’t have that much time to devote to screenshots.

Taking screenshots with the Apple Vision Pro is difficult because of the way the device works. Like other headsets, the Apple Vision Pro uses something called foveated rendering, a technique that’s used to reduce the computing power needed to display the headset’s images. In practical terms, the technique means that the only part of the device’s view that is in focus is where you’re looking. The focal point changes as your eyes move, so you don’t notice that part of the view is blurry. In fact, this is how the human eye works, so as long as the eye tracking is good, which it is on the Apple Vision Pro, the experience is good too.

However, as well as foveated rendering works for using the Apple Vision Pro, it’s terrible for screenshots. You can take a quick screenshot by pressing the top button and Digital Crown, but you’ll immediately see that everything except where you were looking when you took the screen-grab is out of focus. That’s fine for sharing a quick image with a friend, but if you want something suitable for publishing, it’s not a good option.

Fortunately, Apple thought of this, and there’s a solution, but it involves using Xcode and another developer tool. Of course, using Xcode to take screenshots is a little like using Logic Pro to record voice memos, except there are plenty of simple apps for recording voice memos, whereas Xcode is currently your only choice for taking crisp screenshots on the Vision Pro. So until there’s another option, it pays to learn your way around these developer tools to get the highest quality screenshots as efficiently as possible.

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Understanding Apple’s Response to the DMA

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

What a week. When it began to look like Apple would announce how it planned to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), I expected small changes at the margins that wouldn’t significantly move the needle in the EU or anywhere else. Boy, I was wrong.

Instead, we got a far-reaching, complex response that touches aspects of iOS, system apps, the App Store. There’s a lot of ground to cover, but Federico and I have talked to Apple a couple of times each about what was announced and ask questions, so it’s time to dive and try to make sense of everything.

Before getting too deep into the weeds, it’s important to understand why Apple made its announcement last week and, whether you share it or not, the company’s perspective. That makes understanding the details of what was announced easier and will hopefully help you parse legitimate criticisms of Apple’s plans from hollow hot-takes.

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Magic Rays of Light Joins MacStories, Apple Vision Pro, Immersive Video Details, and Journaling What We Watch with Shortcuts→

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This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon are joined by Federico and John for a special announcement as well as recaps of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and For All Mankind season four. Also, an overview of Apple Vision Pro release details and entertainment offerings, the latest Apple Original FYC and In Production news, and Devon’s new shortcut for journaling what you watch on Apple TV.

Show Notes

Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to magic@macstories.net.

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

Federico Viticci | Follow Federico on Mastodon or Threads

John Voorhees | Follow John on Mastodon or Threads

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

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watchOS 10: The MacStories Review

In my watchOS 9 Review last year, I spent the introduction reminiscing on the more exciting days of watchOS yore. Those early years were full of whimsy and foolishness, with many wild and ambitious new features that failed far more often than they succeeded. By my count, it took until watchOS 4 for Apple to find its footing, and by watchOS 6 the predictable pattern of iteration that I laid out last year had begun.

As I said last time, it’s hard to argue against the slow and steady march of watchOS. This software joined with the Apple Watch hardware has resulted in a years-long market domination that shows no sign of stopping. Yet, market be damned, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Health and fitness features were flourishing, but the rest of watchOS never quite felt fully baked.

As it turns out, Apple seems to have agreed.

In watchOS 10, for the first time in years, the iterative update pattern is broken. Rather than the usual handful of minor app updates, new watch faces, and health and fitness features, Apple has instead dropped another major rethink of Apple Watch interaction methods. The side button has been reassigned, the Dock has been demoted, apps have a new design language throughout the system, and widgets have made their Watch debut.

This is the largest year-over-year change to watchOS since version 4, and I am here for it. Let’s jump in and see if Apple has hit the mark this time, or if they’ll be back to the UI drawing board again in the years to come.

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