Question: I received an Apple 29W power adapter for Christmas to go with my iPad Pro (10.5”) and iPhone 8 due to my comments on how slow the chargers can be. Until now I’ve used solely the 12W adapter for the iPad. I know Apple says the 29W adapter is compatible, but will using it...
Zipped
Zipped is the kind of app that should be built into Apple’s Files app, but it’s not. Fortunately, developer Eytan Schulman has filled the gap with Zipped, a utility for packing and unpacking ZIP files that supports the latest iOS 11 features like drag and drop. Zipped is great to use in Split View...
App Debuts
FedericoToday The popular and well designed habit tracker has been updated this week with support for x-callback-url automation – a feature I wasn’t expecting to see in this kind of app. You can now build actions and launchers to check-in on specific habits in Today, open a habit’s page, or retrieve details about a...
Mac and iOS App Store Web Preview Pages Get a Makeover
Apple has introduced new web preview pages for the App Store and Mac App Store. The new design more closely tracks the App Store changes debuted as part of iOS 11. Interestingly, the web previews for Mac apps share the same refreshed design despite the fact that the Mac App Store has barely changed since its introduction in 2011.
The new design features bigger images and more white space. Reviews are laid out horizontally as cards near the bottom of the page. Longer reviews open in a pop-over card that hovers above the page when the ‘more’ link is clicked. Mac apps include a ‘View in Mac App Store’ button near the top of the page too.
The new web previews are only accessible from search results loaded in the desktop version of Safari or another desktop browser. The mobile version of the browser offers to take you to the App Store when a link is tapped, even if you long press the refresh button and pick ‘Request Desktop Site.’ In my tests, the desktop search results that load in mobile Safari look more like their desktop counterparts, but DuckDuckGo and Bing still offer to open the App Store, whereas Google’s links are simply unresponsive.
I like the look of the new preview pages. The old ones were too closely tied to the design of the iTunes App Store, which was eliminated last fall.
The inclusion of Mac app previews is intriguing. It makes sense for both Stores to share a common design language, but the Mac App Store is in desperate need of love and attention for many reasons that extend beyond its design. Whether this is a sign that the Mac App Store will get that attention soon, Mac apps will be thrown in with iOS apps on the App Store, or something else will be interesting to watch.
AppStories, Episode 38 – An Interview with James Thomson, Creator of PCalc and DragThing→
On this week’s episode of AppStories, we interview James Thomson about the origins of PCalc and DragThing, life as an indie developer, selling apps on the App Store and Mac App Store, and more.
Sponsored by:
- Spark – The future of email.
AppStories Episode 38 - An Interview with James Thomson, Creator of PCalc and DragThing
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33:02
33:02
An Interview with James Thomson, Creator of PCalc and DragThing
AppStories Episode 38 - An Interview with James Thomson, Creator of PCalc and DragThing
0:00
33:02
33:02
Federico and John interview James Thomson about the origins of PCalc and DragThing, life as an indie developer, selling apps on the App Store and Mac App Store, and more.
Spark: The Future of Email [Sponsor]
Email robs you of precious time. Spark recovers those lost moments by knowing what’s important and organizing it for you neatly and automatically.
Spark’s smarts start with its inbox. Messages that arrive in Spark’s Smart Inbox are automatically categorized as Personal, Notifications, and Newsletters, which makes it easy to focus on what’s important and return what’s not later.
Intelligent search makes it simple to find messages no matter where they are. Spark’s natural language algorithm thinks like you do. Just ask for messages the way you would if you were asking a friend.
Email notifications are a problem that can spin out of control quickly. Spark uses Smart Notifications to filter out the junk and only notify you what you need to know now.
In addition, Spark features beautifully designed card-style calendar invitations that can be accepted with just one tap, the ability to send later and set up reminders for messages that don’t receive a reply, message snoozing, and Quick Replies that let you acknowledge a message with a single tap. Spark also has customizable gesture actions and works with Dropbox, Box, iCloud Drive, and more. You can even customize Spark’s sidebar with favorite folders and saved searches.
As if that weren’t enough, soon Spark 2.0 will introduce Spark for Teams, which will change the way teams collaborate giving them the ability to do things like comment and discuss messages and write messages together.
The future is now. Download Spark today for free on iOS or on macOS and take control of your inbox.
Thanks to Spark for supporting MacStories this week.
Q&A
Question: I’ve been tracking my caffeine intake with Cortado. I love its location tracking feature, but the app seems to have been abandoned, so I was wondering if you can recommend an alternative. The Cortado location tracking feature would be nice to have, but an app with a nice UI and regular updates is more...
Kaleidoscope
I was delighted when Kaleidoscope suddenly appeared on the iPad last year. Black Pixel set the standard for diffing tools on the Mac, making it easy to compare files, folders, and photos. With the addition of drag and drop functionality and the new document picker in iOS 11, suddenly the elements were in place...