It was a quiet week on Discord, but Jarrod did make a very useful Raindrop collection including platform-agnostic links to all the best albums of 2024 that John and Federico shared on Unwind last week. (Link) Want to join the Club MacStories+ Discord?Upgrade toClub MacStories+ or Club Premier, then visit theAccount page....
I’m Going to Compliment Apple’s AI Efforts
Yes, I really am. But first… This week saw the release of the .2 updates to all of Apple’s OSes and, with them, the introduction of a significant number of Apple Intelligence features. Federico shared an excellent write-up of them on MacStories, but it’s fair to say that none of the features are mind-blowing. Even...
Alcove: An Excellent Notch Utility with Beautiful Animations
Utilities for the notch on MacBook Air and MacBook Pro screens seem to be having a resurgence of late. Niléane covered a couple of interesting ones a few months back, and I’ve seen some more pop up recently. One of those is an app called Alcove, and after using it for just over a week,...
Dia, Music Filtering, and a Spatchcocked Meal
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: The Browser Company announced plans for a new AI browser this week, and members had some thoughts. (Link) scribblenik has been playing with an intriguing-looking productivity app. (Link) Spatchcock, anyone? (Link) If you’re looking at an end-of-year music recap full of kids’ music or white noise, here’s...
Wallace and Gromit Video Shot on iPhone and Projected onto Battersea Power Station→
If you were around London’s Battersea Power Station – home to Apple’s UK headquarters – over the weekend, you might have spotted plasticine heroes Wallace and Gromit projected onto the station’s two 101-meter-high chimneys. While this could be dismissed as some giant-sized promotion for the duo’s new film, set to be broadcast on the BBC this Christmas (and Netflix outside of the UK), the story behind it is more interesting.
These short animations were created by Aardman Animation using the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Apple shared the details in a press release:
iPhone 16 Pro Max was mounted on motorised heads on set to capture two angles of the Christmas trees, shooting a total of 6,000 frames. Eight iPhone 16 Pro Max devices used the 5x Telephoto camera to shoot super-high-resolution images in ProRAW, which were then assembled frame by frame to produce a stunning 6K video.
Apple even created a special page on its website featuring a behind-the-scenes video (also available on YouTube), details of how to visit Battersea Power Station, and another video with quick tips for making your own stop-motion video using Aardman’s app.
Additionally, the director of the short, Gavin Strange, will be giving a talk at Apple’s Regent Street store on Thursday, December 12.
The projection will be on display every night from 5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. until New Year’s Eve. It follows artist David Hockney’s Christmas display from last year, which was created on an iPad and similarly projected onto the Battersea Power Station.
It’s lovely to see Apple commission projects that highlight artists’ talents, with the use of Apple devices serving as the thread between them rather than the focus.
watchOS Complications and a HomePod Link Worth Bookmarking
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Omzig42 linked to a helpful video showing how to fix a broken first-generation HomePod. I’ll certainly be tucking this away for when mine inevitably fail. (Link) Ethan put out a call for a specific type of watchOS complication that can show two custom health metrics. (Link) This...
Sill is Yet Another Way I’m Curating My News Intake
{bio} I wrote a few weeks ago about how I’m dealing with my tech anxiety by changing my approach to tech news. The following week, after the U.S. election, I applied that same philosophy to world news. A downside of this change is that there are a few stories that I feel have passed me...
HomePass 2 Brings a New Design, Maintenance Features, and a Freemium Model
Back in 2020, John opened his review of HomePass 1.7 in this way:
My HomeKit setup started out simple enough with a few Hue bulbs, but over time, it has grown to include security cameras, door sensors, electrical outlets, and more. As the number of accessories connected to my network grew, so did the hassle of managing them.
I know this is the case for many people, myself included. There seems to be an ever-growing selection of third-party apps for HomeKit, and developer Aaron Pearce has released some of the best. Where other apps add more functionality and, thus, complexity, Pearce has focused on simplicity and pure utility. The best example of that approach has always been HomePass.
A New Tool from Trakt Prompted Me to Update My Letterboxd Shortcut
I’m sure many of you have experienced this: you spend hours sweating over a problem only for someone to come along with an easy solution that takes a fraction of the time and significantly fewer tools. Well, it happened to me this past week. If you’ll remember, a couple of issues ago, I wrote about...