Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
Federico is gone, but the show had to to go on, so Stephen and Myke talk about the death of Liam, whatever is happening with Flickr and Amazon’s future robotic army.
I wasn’t on Connected this week, but I really enjoyed the discussion on robots – both those that passed away and the ones who may become our home assistants in the future. You can listen here.
Things 3.5, launched earlier this week, introduced the ability to update existing items in the app – both tasks and projects – with a new update command of the URL scheme. As I wrote on MacStories: I’m happy with the work Cultured Code has put into building the update command for Things 3.5. Every...
Stephen and Myke are still recovering from a trip to Atlanta, and it shows in this discussion of the future of iOS and digital magazines. Federico thankfully saves the episode by sharing some about Drafts 5.
On this week’s episode of Connected, we try to understand the role of digital magazines in the modern web landscape and talk about Drafts 5. You can listen here.
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Today, Cultured Code is launching Things 3.5, a mid-cycle update that refines several aspects of the app and prepares its foundation for other major upgrades down the road. There isn’t a single all-encompassing change in Things 3.5 – nor is this version going to convince users to switch to Things like, say, version 3.4 or 3.0 might have. However, Things 3.5 is a collection of smaller yet welcome improvements that are worth outlining because they all contribute to making Things more powerful, intuitive, and consistent with its macOS counterpart.
To me, the 2018 base-model 9.7-inch iPad is a special beast: It hits a line drive right through the company’s fabled intersection of technology and liberal arts — and at the right price point. The iPad Pro did it first, but at a cost unattainable for all but the tinkerers and serious artists, and without iOS 11’s crucial multitasking features. At $329, the iPad offers a low-end tablet experience unlike any other on the market. Add an extra $99 for Apple Pencil, and Apple has created the best device for all-purpose education, period.
But it’s easy to make that claim, and a whole other thing to explain why I believe it so whole-heartedly. As a result, I decided to try and prove it: Starting with a blank page in Procreate, I created an entire iPad review video by just using my 2018 iPad, Apple Pencil, and third-party apps. My Mac came into play only once — when I uploaded my video to YouTube.
I know what you’re thinking – the new iPad is “boring” compared to the iPad Pro and you don’t need to watch another video about it. But trust me, you’ll want to watch Serenity’s review because it’s unlike anything you’ve seen for a new iPad. Only Serenity could put this together – including the music, which she composed in GarageBand; everything was drawn, assembled, and edited on a “boring” 2018 iPad. You can watch the video below and read Serenity’s technical notes here.
If you use the Dropbox file provider extension in iOS 11’s Files app, you may not be aware of the existence of two contextual actions available for selected files. With iOS 11, Apple has given developers the ability to enhance their file provider extensions with custom actions that appear when users select an item...
As I noted in a short post on MacStories last week, I’ve been considering Finances 2 as a replacement for the bookkeeping system I built in Numbers last year. I’ve spent the past week moving all my accounts and 2018 transactions to Finances, and I wanted to report back on how the experiment is...
John
