Federico Viticci

10775 posts on MacStories since April 2009

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.
@[email protected]
@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

iPhone 6 Plus Review

I was wrong about the iPhone 6 Plus.

For years, I thought that big Android phones were meant to address a market segment made of people with abnormally voluminous hands. I had never tried one, but preconceptions are easier (and cheaper) to subscribe to than facts. When Apple released the iPhone 6 family in two sizes last year, I assumed that, among the People Who Have Big Hands And Like Big Smartphones, there could be a few millions who happened to want a 6 Plus.

I also am one of those people.

For the past two months, I’ve been carrying a 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus (white model) that Apple loaned to me for review purposes. I was curious to see if a larger iPhone could fit in my daily iOS usage, and, if so, how it would impact my iPad habits. The iPad is my primary computer; would an iPhone 6 Plus replace some of its advantages, or would the bigger size simply make some iPhone tasks better?

I’ve used the iPhone 6 Plus intensively, and I’ll have to return it to Apple. But I really wish I didn’t have to go back to my iPhone 6.

Read more

Apple Releases First iOS 8.4 Beta with Revamped Music App→

Juli Clover, reporting for MacRumors:

Apple today seeded the first beta of iOS 8.4 to registered developers for testing purposes, just five days after releasing iOS 8.3 to the public. The beta, build 12H4074d, is available for download from the iOS Developer Center, alongside the Xcode 6.4 beta.

The new Music app in the first iOS 8.4 beta doesn’t appear to be including any music streaming functionality powered by Beats, but the service is expected to be folded into the app later this year. New features detailed by Apple in the beta such as global search and Up Next would make sense in combination with an on-demand streaming service.

Apple is, in many ways, late to music streaming. And this is why I’m curious to see what they’re planning – the company has a chance to reinvent how the Music app (pre-installed on hundreds of millions of devices) works, and I believe they chose the right service to do so.

Over the past year, I’ve been trying all of the existing music services again – Spotify, Rdio, Beats Music, and, lately, even Google Play Music. There’s something unique to each one of them, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Apple will differentiate Music.

Permalink

curbi: Amazing Parental Controls for Your Child’s iPhone, iPad or iPod touch [Sponsor]

curbi is a breakthrough in parental controls for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

For the first time, parents have a way to effectively manage their child’s mobile online experience. Using a combination of remote management and content filtering, curbi provides parents with an easy way to implement their household’s device usage rules on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

All a parent has to do is enroll the child’s device with curbi then everything happens from the parent’s management app on the iPhone, iPad or on the Web.

Rules can be set (Bedtime is a favorite) and Restrictions applied, all from the parent’s curbi app. curbi also provides the parent with a weekly summary of what’s happening on each managed device.

curbi is just $6.99 per month to cover all the Apple mobile devices in your household. Please try the 14 day Free Trial and see for yourself what curbi can bring to your household.

If you choose to become a curbi customer, please use the code MACSTORIES for a 20% discount for the entire first year of your subscription.

Our thanks to curbi for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Beats Launches New Solo2 Wireless Headphones in iPhone Colors→

Juli Clover, reporting for MacRumors:

Apple-owned headphone company Beats by Dre today announced the launch of several new Solo2 Wireless headphones, in colors that match Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and new MacBook. Available in Gold, Silver, and Space Gray, the headphones are otherwise identical to the company’s existing Solo2 Wireless headphones.

I don’t think it’s surprising that Apple hasn’t rushed to redesign the Beats product line – Beats headphones are clearly popular as they are, and I suspect they would make for a good complementary purchase once the company’s new rumored streaming services launches, presumably later this year.

The timing of the new colors is spot-on – I bet those headphones would look good next to a new gold MacBook or while controlling music from an Apple Watch.

(Note how the Beats link says “Apple Color”, not “iPhone Color”. Silver, Space Gray, and Gold are increasingly becoming the colors of modern Apple devices.)

Permalink

Photo Flashback 1.4→

Pictured above: Clips, Do Button, Hue, and Photo Flashbacks widgets.

Pictured above: Clips, Do Button, Hue, and Photo Flashbacks widgets.

I’ve mentioned Photo Flashback on MacStories before – a simple utility for iPhone and iPad, this app lets you easily find photos taken on the same day in the past. Unlike web services like Carousel or Timehop, Photo Flashback is entirely local to your device, as it looks for photos that match the current date in your photo library.

Photo Flashback works well with iCloud Photo Library (I have nine years of photos in it) and today’s version 1.4 makes it even better. Soon, you’ll be able to check flashbacks on your Apple Watch (clever idea, considering the presence of a Photos app for the device) and the Today widget now takes you directly to a photo in the app. If a photo you tap in the widget is stored in iCloud, Photo Flashback will download it for you.

I know that Timehop supports photos from the local photo library as well, but I’ve never needed all the other social features of Timehop, and I like how Photo Flashback works for me.

Rediscovering memories through old photos can be hard, and I’m glad that something like Photo Flashback exists for iOS. The app is $0.99 on the App Store.

Permalink

Connected: Crazy Uncle Figure→

With Myke back from vacation, the trio returns to action to discuss MacBook and Apple Watch reviews before tackling “Becoming Steve Jobs.”

On this week’s Connected, Myke and Stephen also help me through my MacBook issues, although the conclusion of said discussion is quite sad. You can listen to the episode here.

Sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Put passwords in their place.
  • Igloo: An intranet you’ll actually like, free for up to 10 people.
  • Wealthfront: The automated investment service that makes it easy to invest your money the right way.
Permalink

Steven Aquino on Apple Watch and Accessibility→

Steven Aquino got the opportunity to meet with Apple for a hands-on briefing of the Watch and its accessibility features:

There are two accessibility features of the Apple Watch that stand out to me: Extra Large Watch Face and Zoom. Regarding the Large Watch Face, it does what it says: shows the time in a ginormous font. It’s very well done, although for my needs, I’m confident that I can get by just as well with Large Dynamic Type. Overall, however, Large Watch Face will be great for those who need the clock to be extra big in order to read it. Likewise, the Zoom feature was helpful for me in identifying icons on the Home screen, as they’re a tad small at normal size. I found that Zoom works best for me using the digital crown, as the two-finger pan was more difficult to do using my partially-paralyzed right hand (caused by my cerebral palsy).

As he suspected, Force Touch could play an important role for people with disabilities.

Permalink

The Apple Watch’s Many Faces→

Wired’s David Pierce, writing again about the design of Apple Watch:

Yet what Dye seems most fascinated by is one of the Apple Watch’s faces, called Motion, which you can set to show a flower blooming. Each time you raise your wrist, you’ll see a different color, a different flower. This is not CGI. It’s photography.

“We shot all this stuff,” Dye says, “the butterflies and the jellyfish and the flowers for the motion face, it’s all in-camera. And so the flowers were shot blooming over time. I think the longest one took us 285 hours, and over 24,000 shots.”

I never thought I’d read a story about jellyfish and say “Wow, that’s cool”.

Permalink