John Voorhees

5812 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.
@[email protected]
@johnvoorhees.macstories.net
voorhees@macstories.net

This Week's Sponsor:

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Our thanks to Mailbutler for sponsoring MacStories this week.

AppStories - Ep. 15 - 37 minutes

iOS 11’s Files App

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 15 - iOS 11’s Files App

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36:37

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

Federico and John dive into the new Files app that’s coming to iOS 11 in the fall and discuss the history of file management on iOS, the shift in approach taken by the Files app, and how it works.

Read more

Siri Featured in Apple Ad Starring The Rock

Apple released an advertisement showcasing Siri starring former pro-wrestler turned film star, Dwayne (‘The Rock’) Johnson. Teased yesterday by Johnson on Twitter and Facebook, the video, posted to Apple’s YouTube channel, features Johnson accomplishing a long list of life goals with the help of Siri during a single day. The tongue-in-cheek spot highlights several Siri features such as:

  • reading Johnson’s schedule;
  • creating a reminder;
  • scheduling a Lyft ride;
  • getting the weather forecast;
  • reading email;
  • displaying photos;
  • texting someone;
  • converting measurements;
  • playing a playlist;
  • starting a FaceTime call; and
  • taking a selfie.

The Siri ad is a clever and entertaining way of explaining the breadth of tasks that can be accomplished with Siri, from the basics like weather forecasts to less well-known features like taking a selfie.

Game Day: Color Magnet

Color Magnet, by The One Pixel, is a classic color-matching puzzle game with a twist. A grid of colors blocks advances down the screen as you drop in strategically placed new blocks to make color matches. The blocks are magnetically attracted to other blocks of the same color. When placed on the grid, the blocks between the newly placed piece and the closest piece horizontally or vertically of the same color change to match the color of the block you placed. Match five or more blocks to clear them and the ones below them on the board.

Gameplay is complicated by locked and cross blocks. A locked block is unlocked by matching colors nearby or clearing a cluster of blocks next to it. Once unlocked, a block becomes a random color. Cross blocks can only be destroyed by clearing blocks above them in the stack. It’s not nearly as complex as it sounds, though it requires careful planning and strategy.

Color Magnet looks and sounds great, pairing a palette of pastel colors with a playful soundtrack. There are also light and dark themes for comfortable late-night binge playing in bed.

Replay-value is enhanced by three game modes. Classic mode challenges players to beat their high score. Universal mode pits you against the rest of the Color Magnet-playing world with the same sequence of puzzles presented to everyone. Puzzle mode has 30 unique puzzles that challenge you to clear the entire board.

The magnet mechanic and depth added by the trio of gameplay modes takes what might have been a ‘me-to’ matching puzzle game and gives it a unique spin that’s fun and addicting in the same way Threes is. If games like Threes are your thing, Color Magnet won’t disappoint.

Color Magnet is available on the App Store.

Apple Names Deirdre O’Brien Vice President of People

Long-time Apple executive Deirdre O’Brien was named Apple’s Vice President of People today. O’Brien, who has worked at Apple for 30 years, most recently as its Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations, will report directly to CEO Tim Cook. As Vice President of People, O’Brien will take on HR functions including talent development, recruiting, benefits, compensation, business support, and Apple University.

Tim Cook had this to say:

“As long as I’ve been at Apple, Deirdre has been the glue that bonds our operations, sales, marketing and finance teams to deliver products to our customers,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Deirdre deeply understands Apple’s unique culture and that people join Apple to do the best work of their lives. She is a superb leader and I’m thrilled she will be bringing her experience and talent to this critical role.”

O’Brien added:

“I love Apple and, like so many of my colleagues, I’m honored to have made it my life’s work,” said Deirdre. “I’m excited to begin this new chapter, supporting 120,000 incredibly talented people around the world who are motivated to do amazing things every day. It is a privilege to work among such a diverse and talented team, and to help them thrive here at Apple.”

O’Brien is scheduled to assume her new role in the fall.

Album

John

Slightly Cynical Sarcasm In A Sticker A combination of 50’s-style illustrations combined with sassy sayings like ‘Don’t call lazy something that is actually selective participation.’ These stickers are perfect for snarky conversations with your pals. Funny Pictograms These are the sort of stick figures that you’d normally find on street signs doing all kinds...

App Debuts

John

The Snail The Snail is a new visual approach to tuning instruments and analyzing sound. The macOS version of The Snail is $99, but you can get the iOS version for just $1.99. The app analyzes sound received by the iPhone’s microphone and plots it on a spiral graph according to various characteristics of...

Q&A

Question: When trying to share content such as Safari webpages, or even video links from apps like ProTube, I just want to quickly share it to Twitter. Except now with iOS 11, there are no integrated social accounts, which makes the standard share to Twitter extension useless. I presumed that since share extensions have been...