Apple Announces CFO Transition →

Apple’s Luca Maestri. Source: Apple.

Apple has announced that CFO Luca Maestri will leave that position effective on January 1, 2025, but continue at Apple to lead Corporate Services. Maestri will be replaced by Kevan Parekh, Apple’s Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis, who has been at Apple for 11 years. Maestri has been Apple’s CFO for a decade.

In a press release issued by Apple, Tim Cook had this to say about Maestri and Parekh:

Luca has been an extraordinary partner in managing Apple for the long term. He has been instrumental in improving and driving the company’s financial performance, engaging with shareholders, and instilling financial discipline across every part of Apple. We’re fortunate that we will continue to benefit from the leadership and insight that have been the hallmark of his tenure at the company.

During his time as CFO, Maestri enabled essential investments and practiced robust financial discipline, which together helped the company more than double its revenue, with services revenue growing more than five times.

More details on Apple’s CFO transition are available in its press release.

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Apple Announces Fall Media Event

By John Voorhees

A short time ago, Apple announced that it will hold an event on September 9, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific time with the tagline “It’s Glowtime.” Glowtime is likely a reference to the new capabilities coming to Siri with the updates coming to the company’s OSes. If history is any indication, in addition to a recap of changes to Apple’s OSes, we’ll also see new iPhones and revised Apple Watches. Rumors point to new AirPods too.

You’ll be able to watch the event from home at apple.com/apple-events/.

As always, the MacStories team will be covering every aspect of the event.

The Latest from Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, and MacStories Unwind

By John Voorhees

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Sigmund and Devon highlight the return of Pachinko and share their earliest experiences with Apple TV.

The gang shares their very sane, and not at all controversial 👀 notification preferences. Then they explore some new and interesting Obsidian plugins you might not have heard of.

This week, John and Federico discuss peanut butter, the limits of testing gadgets in public, and Federico’s latest Spotify experiment before turning to a movie and two music recommendations.

Monument Valley 3 Is Heading To Netflix Games Along with the Series’ First Two Installments

By John Voorhees

Yesterday, during Gamescom’s opening night ceremonies, Netflix Games released a trailer for Monument Valley 3. The franchise’s sequel from Ustwo Games, which has been in development for five years, will be published exclusively on Apple’s App Store and Android by Netflix Games on December 10th. Monument Valley 1 and 2 are also moving to Netflix Games on September 19th and October 29th, respectively. Both games previously launched on the App Store as paid titles and were later added to Apple Arcade.

Few details have been shared about Monument Valley 3, although the trailer does reveal that the game’s protagonist Noor will sail a boat for the first time. According to Jennifer Estaris, Ustwo’s Game Director of Monument Valley 3:

Monument Valley is a title that has pushed boundaries of what is possible in games, from the power of minimalist design, to the simplicity of play and the emotion of interactive storytelling. Our goal is to bring our biggest Monument Valley yet to as many people as possible, which is why we partnered with Netflix to deliver the game to hundreds of millions of players around the world as part of their memberships.

Netflix has promised additional information about the game during its September 16th Geeked Week event.

I’ve had my eye on Netflix Games for a while. Its catalog, which we discussed on NPC: Next Portable Console and I’ve written about a lot, is full of high-quality indie games as well as casual games and TV tie-ins. I’ve half expected Netflix to veer in a more Arcade-like direction, but so far, the company’s game library continues to outdo Apple Arcade in terms of game quality and balance among genres.

The Latest from AppStories and Ruminate

By John Voorhees

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

This week, Federico and I look at the gadget landscape to find inspiration for expanding Apple’s hardware lineup.

On AppStories+, a behind-the-scenes look at our expansion into video and a conversation about the Vision Pro.

Memberful – Help Your Clients Monetize Their Passion

The snack cup overfloweth this week with chips, seasoning, and a very blue beverage. The onto the App Store and finally a new Ruminate family member has joined.

Apple Podcasts Is Now Available as a Web App

By John Voorhees

Apple Podcasts got the full Apple Music treatment with its own web app today. The UI is essentially the same as Apple’s native app but with the added flexibility of working on non-Apple devices. Apple says Podcasts works on all major browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, and can be accessed in more than 170 countries and regions in their local language. If you’re an Apple Podcasts user, your progress will be synced from the web to your Apple devices, too.

Apple Podcasts’ web app is nearly identical to the native version.

The web app strikes me as a win for both listeners and podcasters. Podcast fans now have more ways to enjoy their favorite shows, discover new ones, and share episodes with others. Suddenly, Apple Podcasts is cross-platform, which is still relatively rare among the most popular podcast apps, except for Pocket Casts.

Your entire library of shows is available on the web and syncs across all versions of the app.

Links opened on Apple devices will open in the native Podcasts app and in the browser on other devices, although on the Mac, it is possible to play episodes in a browser if you prefer. Here’s Comfort Zone playing on everyone’s current obsession, the Boox Palma:

The latest episode of [NPC](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gamecube-to-go/id1749770019?i=1000665157926) running on my Boox Palma.

The latest episode of NPC running on my Boox Palma.

It sounds great, too.

The web app also means podcasters can now reach a bigger audience. Not only are free RSS-based shows available on the web, but listeners can also subscribe and listen to paid shows.

I’ve only played around with the web version of Apple Podcasts a little, but it works well on every device I’ve tried with it so far, including the Palma, a Boox Android tablet, and a Windows gaming handheld using Chrome and Edge. In every case, the Podcasts web app worked just as well as listening in the native app.

Procreate Will Not Include Generative AI in Its Apps →

Linked By John Voorhees

Today on its website, Procreate announced that it would not build generative AI tools into its apps. The company’s position is clear and unequivocal:

Generative AI is ripping the humanity out of things. Built on a foundation of theft, the technology is steering us toward a barren future. We think machine learning is a compelling technology with a lot of merit, but the path generative AI is on is wrong for us.

We’re here for the humans. We’re not chasing a technology that is a moral threat to our greatest jewel: human creativity. In this technological rush, this might make us an exception or seem at risk of being left behind. But we see this road less travelled as the more exciting and fruitful one for our community.

In a short video on X.com, Procreate CEO James Cuda said:

I don’t like what’s happening to the industry, and I don’t like what it’s doing to artists.

I couldn’t agree more or be happier to see Procreate take a stand in defense of artists. Federico and I interviewed Cuda at WWDC, and although Cuda struck a diplomatic tone having just received an Apple Design Award for Procreate Dreams, it was clear to me then that we were unlikely to see generative AI in Procreate’s apps. For everyone who wasn’t in the room with Cuda that day, though, today’s statement should set their minds at ease. I hope we see more developers whose apps support creative fields take a similar stand.

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The Latest from Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, and MacStories Unwind

By John Voorhees

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Sigmund and Devon highlight the debut of Bad Monkey, discuss the future of Apple Original Films in theaters, and go on an immersive elephant adventure with Wild Life.

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Matt has to apologize for the things he said last week, Chris tries to find out if we’re smarter than Apple Intelligence, and Niléane has a quiz nobody could predict.

This week, Federico and John discuss alligator races and distraction-free E-Ink thermostats for writers, plus a TV show pick and three videogame recommendations.

The Epic Cost of Tim Sweeney’s App Store Disputes with Apple and Google →

Linked By John Voorhees

Source: Epic Games.

Epic Games launched its iOS alternative app marketplace in the EU today with three of its games: Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fall Guys. Those games are also available from AltStore PAL and will be available later from Aptoide, both of which offer alternative storefronts in the EU. Epic has also said that third-party games will be added by the end of the year.

According to Stephen Totilo, who interviewed Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and others earlier this week for his excellent newsletter Game File:

The company has spent hundreds of millions battling Apple and Google since 2020 to get to this point, Sweeney told Game File during an interview conducted earlier this week.

And, he added, Epic may have missed out on as much as $1 billion in Fortnite revenue in the process,

Tim Sweeney can be a little over the top at times when talking about his company’s disputes with Apple and Google, but his in-depth response to Totilo’s question about the impact of App Store fees on the mobile gaming industry are excellent and rang true to me. Both he and Altstore co-founder Riley Testut explained to Totilo that mobile gaming and Apple would thrive if fees were reduced, with Testut pointing to changes in App Review Guidelines about emulators and virtual machines as evidence of the positive results of competition.

For anyone in the EU interested in installing the Epic Game Store, Epic has published a walkthrough video on YouTube:

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