John Voorhees

5803 posts on MacStories since November 2015

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.
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@johnvoorhees.macstories.net
voorhees@macstories.net

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Apple Announces Release Dates for OS Updates, New iPhones, and Apple Watch

Apple announced a lot of dates today. Here’s a rundown of all the dates mentioned in the keynote:

iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max

  • Pre-orders: 5 a.m. Pacific on September 13, 2019, which is a time change from prior pre-orders
  • In Stores and Deliveries: September 20, 2019

7th Generation iPad (10.2-inch)

  • Pre-orders: Today, September 10, 2019
  • In Stores and Deliveries: September 30, 2019

Apple Watch Series 5

  • Pre-order: Today, September 10, 2019
  • In Stores and Deliveries: September 20, 2019

iOS 13.0

Release Date: September 19, 2019

iOS 13.1

Release Date: September 30, 2019

iPadOS

  • Release Date: September 30, 2019
  • Note: Apple has not said whether the version that ships on September 30th is iPadOS 13.0 or 13.1.

iOS and iPadOS

Features Coming Later This Fall After iOS and iPadOS 13.1:

  • AirPods audio sharing
  • HomeKit Secure Video & routers
  • iCloud Drive folder sharing
  • HomePod/AirPlay 2 in scenes & automations
  • Image Capture API
  • Screen Time communication limits
  • Announce Messages w/ Siri

HomePod Features

  • Radio Station Support: September 30, 2019
  • Features Coming Later This Fall:
    • Multi-user support
    • Music handoff
    • Ambient Sounds

tvOS 13

Release Date: September 30, 2019

watchOS 6

Release Date: September 19, 2019 for Series 3 and later Apple Watches and later this fall for Series 1 and 2

macOS Catalina

Release Date: October 2019

Services

Apple Arcade

Release Dates: September 19, 2019 (iOS 13); September 30, 2019 (iPadOS and tvOS); October 2019 (macOS Catalina)

TV+

Release Date: November 1, 2019

You can follow all of our Apple event coverage through our September 10, 2019 hub, or subscribe to the dedicated September 10, 2019 RSS feed.

Classic iOS Game Service GameClub Is Coming this Fall

First announced in March just ahead of the annual Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, GameClub has released a video revealing that the classic iOS game subscription service is coming later this fall. GameClub is working with developers of classic iOS titles that no longer work on modern hardware or versions of iOS to update and re-release them as part of their service free of ads and In-App Purchases.

Since March, GameClub has been running a free public beta test that has released updates of classic games like Hook Champ, Incoboto, Rocket Ski Racing, Super Crate Box, Legendary Wars, and Mage Gauntlet. During the beta period, those games have been free to play by anyone who signs up, but will become part of the subscription service this fall.

MacRumors reports that the subscription service will include over 50 titles at launch with new games released weekly, adding that:

In addition to classic titles, after launch, GameClub plans to expand into new and original premium games.

GameClub pricing hasn’t been announced, although the company told MacRumors it would be a ‘small monthly fee.’ The company has also said that if you owned one of the classic games they are bringing back, you’ll be able to download it again free of charge even if you don’t subscribe.

Apple is on the cusp of launching its own game subscription service called Arcade. At first blush, that may seem like it puts GameClub in a tough spot, but I don’t think so. Unlike Arcade’s curated collection of new titles, GameClub’s catalog is packed with proven classics curated by GameClub’s Vice President of Business Development and former TouchArcade editor-in-chief Eli Hodapp. Nostalgia for classic games and increasing efforts to preserve them in recent years puts GameClub in a unique position to carve out an important role for themselves. I can’t wait to hear the final details and try GameClub myself.

AppStories, Episode 128 – Organizing iOS 13’s New Share Sheet

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we cover Apple’s new second-screen feature coming to macOS Catalina and iOS 13 in the fall and what it means for both platforms.

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 128 - Organizing iOS 13’s New Share Sheet

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories - Ep. 128 - 50 minutes

Organizing iOS 13’s New Share Sheet

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 128 - Organizing iOS 13’s New Share Sheet

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49:54

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John introduce the fourth anniversary of Club MacStories and then discuss the changes coming to iOS and iPadOS 13’s share sheet and how it has begun to change how they use it.

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App Debuts

John

Postbox Postbox 7, the Mac email client, was released this week with some interesting new features. The app now supports 20 themes, so your email client can match your tastes. There are also HTML clips, a new way to drop in bits of customizable HTML like callouts, block quotes, bulleted and numbered lists, tables,...

CalZones

John

David Smith’s iPhone and iPad app, CalZones, came into my life at precisely the right time. Federico and I were in the middle of getting our podcast Dialog off the ground, and I was handling the scheduling of guests for interviews. Keeping track of the time in Rome is easy. I’ve been working with...

Apple Launches Web-Based Music App as Public Beta

As first reported by TechCrunch and The Verge, Apple has launched a web-based version of its Music app as a public beta at beta.music.apple.com. The app looks and feels a lot like the Music app coming to Catalina later this fall. The two are so close in fact that it’s easy to confuse the two if they’re open at the same time, which I did almost immediately.

Music running in desktop Safari (left) and in the Music app on Catalina (right).

Music running in desktop Safari (left) and in the Music app on Catalina (right).

The app features a left sidebar that’s divided into Apple Music’s For You, Browse, and Radio sections followed by your music library which contains Recently Added, Artists, Albums, and Songs. The final section includes playlists you’ve added from Apple Music as well as ones you’ve created yourself.

Playback controls are arrayed across the top of the window. In addition to play/pause and skip forward and back buttons, there are buttons to shuffle and repeat tracks, albums, and playlists, a volume slider, and a button that reveals an Up Next drop-down of songs you’ve queued for playback. When you visit an album or playlist page, there’s a ellipses button the reveals options to Add to Library, Play Next, Play Later, Like, and Suggest Less of This.

The experience is impressively close to the Mac Music app, though there are differences. The artwork for algorithmically generated playlists like the Favorites Mix doesn’t include album artwork. Also, I didn’t see a ‘Friends Are Listening To’ section in the beta, and my Recently Played albums and playlists were in a different order than in the Mac app.

The web app works on both desktop and mobile Safari where it can be saved to your Home screen as a progressive web app. On the iPad, Safari-based Music supports dark mode and Split View too.

Music running in mobile Safari in dark mode.

Music running in mobile Safari in dark mode.


Music in mobile Safari in Split View with Reminders.

Music in mobile Safari in Split View with Reminders.

I’ve only had a short time to play with Music in Safari, but I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far. With very few exceptions, the beta is already the full Music experience providing access not only to Apple Music streaming content but also your entire music library. This is an excellent option for anyone who doesn’t have access to a Mac or iTunes on Windows at work or elsewhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if this solution eventually replaces iTunes on Windows, which does not appear to be getting an update alongside Catalina.

Club MacStories Fourth Anniversary: Exclusive Discounts on Apps and Services, Plus Other Perks for Members

This time every year, we like to pause to mark the anniversary of Club MacStories and thank all of our members for being part of what makes MacStories special. So, whether you’ve been along for the ride all four years or just signed up this week, thank you. We sincerely appreciate your support.

In just four short years, the Club has become part of the fabric of MacStories. It’s helped us weather changes in the online media industry that have hurt so many other sites. More importantly, though, Club MacStories has provided us with an outlet to share more of the apps we love and the stories behind them than we could do otherwise.

The Club has also played a big role in MacStories’ expansion these past four years, just as Federico hoped when he announced it in 2015:

On top of the extra content that you pay for, you’ll also get a chance to be an awesome reader who makes a direct contribution to the MacStories team. Effectively, Club MacStories will enable us to expand and produce even more articles for the site. It’s a virtuous cycle: I want to keep writing MacStories forever – if that wasn’t clear enough – and I want to keep reaching new readers every day together with my team. Hopefully, with time those readers will find MacStories valuable and they’ll choose to become Club members, getting more great content in return and facilitating further expansions.

The virtuous cycle Federico imagined materialized and has allowed us to play to our greatest strength at MacStories, which is writing thorough, thoughtful analyses of apps and other topics. It has also permitted us to branch into podcasting and take on broad-scope projects like the celebration of the App Store’s 10th anniversary last year and MacStories Selects, our annual picks of the best apps in a bunch of categories.

To celebrate the Club’s anniversary this year, we have collected another amazing list of exclusive Club discounts on apps and services from our friends in the developer community. Every year, their generosity is amazing. Thanks to every developer for both contributing discounts to our celebration and for the apps you make. Despite the length of time we’ve been writing about apps, we’re still surprised and delighted all the time by your amazing creations.

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