My image and video editing needs are limited and sporadic, but I do need to produce screenshots and video previews for the App Store, and create support documentation for my app, Blink. I don’t want to pay a subscription for more software than I need, so Adobe Creative Suite is out. Instead, I...
Tips
I enjoy the new flyover screensavers on the Apple TV, but whether you have a current generation Apple TV and use those, or use a different screensaver with any model of the Apple TV, the screensavers are a distraction when you throw a party and want to use the Apple TV for music. In...
Creating a Custom Alexa Skill for 2Do
FedericoLast weekend, I came across a Facebook post by Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger in which he described how simple it was to put together a custom Alexa skill (a voice command, in common terms) to send new tasks as email messages to his OmniFocus’ email address. Mike shared the Python code behind the skill,...
Meet Liam, Apple’s Recycling Robot
Today, Apple introduced a new hardware recycling program called Apple Renew with an iPhone disassembly robot named Liam.
Liam takes apart iPhones detecting and removing parts, and separating materials so each can be repurposed. Examples of materials that Liam can recover from the video below include:
- cobalt and lithium from the iPhone’s battery,
- gold and copper from the camera, and
- silver and platinum from the main logic board.
watchOS 2.2 Overhauls Maps
Apple today released watchOS 2.2, which includes notable enhancements in two areas. The first is a substantial update to the Maps app, which now includes a new dedicated screen with five buttons that makes it easy to navigate to your home or work, initiate a search, display your current location, or find nearby places powered by Yelp.
Apple Releases OS X 10.11.4 with Live Photos, Note Locking, and iBook Syncing
OS X 10.11.4, released today by Apple, fixes a number of bugs, including the inability of Safari to open Twitter short URLs. There are, however, several nice user-facing touches in 10.11.4 as well.
Ongoing Development
In MacStories Weekly #21, I scratched the surface of the topic of expertise in the context of finding gaps in the App Store. Studying app categories, trends and new APIs that can open up novel types of apps is the kind of expertise that can help guide your decision about what app to build. But...
Member Requests
Question: Hi, I made a switch from Evernote to Notes and from OmniFocus to 2Do after being influenced by MacStories. I am wondering a way to transform my emails to Notes as I used to do when working on Evernote. If possible, I need it on iOS not OS X. (Mauro Silva Jr, @drmaurojr)...
Scanner Pro 7 Adds OCR and Workflows
Scanning apps have become a big category on iOS. There are a lot of great options and the quality and diversity of the category creates a healthy competitive atmosphere that means frequent updates and innovations, which are great for customers. Today, Readdle launched version 7 of Scanner Pro, which adds optical character recognition (OCR), distortion correction, and a cool new trick – workflows. With Scanner Pro 7 you can chain multiple actions together and fire them off with just one tap.