Federico Viticci

10758 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.
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@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

The Invisible Interplay

Traditionally, Apple likes to pride itself upon the tight integration of hardware and software they achieve in their products. As a company that builds devices and creates the software that runs on them, Apple can control fundamental aspects of the user experience such as Siri being based on a dedicated noise-reduction technology and iOS not recognizing accidental touches on the iPad mini’s smaller bezels, as well as subtle details such as OS X stopping a Mac’s fans when Dictation is active or quickly muting an iPad’s volume if you hold the volume button down for a few seconds.

The “interplay” of Apple’s hardware and software is nothing new, but I believe it was more apparent than ever today with the iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the A7 and M7 chips, and Touch ID. Read more

Rich Mogull’s Fingerprint Scanning Q&A→

Rich Mogull has a solid Q&A over at TidBITS about today’s iPhone 5s and Touch ID announcements. Rich does a good job at explaining what fingerprint scanning is, its limitations, and why it won’t be available in third-party apps right away.

But the real reason is that using fingerprints creates better security through improved usability. Most people, if they use a passcode at all, stick with a simple four-digit passcode, which is easy for an attacker to circumvent with physical possession of your iPhone. Longer passphrases, like the obscure 16-character one I use, are far more secure, but a real pain to enter repeatedly. A fingerprint reader, if properly implemented, provides the security of a long passphrase, with more convenience than even a short passcode.

Touch ID isn’t a panacea for the modern world’s security problems, but it’s an important addition to the system that combines advanced technology with good usability.

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Infinity Blade III Preview→

Modojo’s John Gaudiosi has posted a preview of Infinity Blade III, which was announced at Apple’s iPhone event earlier today. Infinity Blade III is a major new entry in Chair’s popular game franchise that takes advantage of Apple’s new hardware and that will be released alongside iOS 7 on the App Store on September 18th at $6.99.

Modojo’s preview includes a description of the new game modes and characters:

According to Donald Mustard, creative director at Chair Entertainment, the studio’s goal heading into this third game was to create the ultimate Infinity Blade experience. Infinity Blade 3 provides a universe that’s over eight times larger than that of the first game, thanks to eight huge castles spread throughout the world map. In addition, there’s a huge allotment of side quests, new multiplayer Clash Mobs and different events that players can participate in that make the world even bigger.

Modojo was also able to produce a series of interviews with the Chair development team. The interviews, linked below, include exclusive footage of Infinity Blade III’s gameplay and menus and reveal more details on the game’s creation process. They’re absolutely worth a look if you want to know more about Infinity Blade III.

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Apple Posts September 10 Keynote Video→

Apple has now posted the video of its keynote held earlier today in Cupertino. The video can be streamed here, and a higher quality version should be made available in a few hours through iTunes (on the Apple Keynotes podcast). To avoid streaming errors, Safari is recommended for the best viewing experience.

Our iPhone 5s and 5c overviews are available here and here, respectively.

Update 10:50 PM EDT: Today’s keynote video can now be downloaded in standard definition through the Apple Keynotes podcast on iTunes. 720p and 1080p versions will likely be released tomorrow.

For more coverage, check out our September 10 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.

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iPhone 5s: Our Complete Overview

At a keynote held today in Cupertino, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller officially introduced the iPhone 5s, the successor to last year’s iPhone 5 and the major new entry in the iPhone line-up. Schiller referred to it as the “most forward-thinking phone anyone has ever made”.

As widely expected, the iPhone 5s has the same industrial design of the iPhone 5, with an anodized aluminum back and diamond cut chamfered edges and glass inlays, 4-inch Retina display, and Lightning connector. However, the iPhone 5s comes with a visible change in the Home button: through a brand new system called Touch ID, a sensor available under the Home button will allow iOS to recognize a user’s fingerprint for authorization and security purposes. Read more

Apple Announces iOS 7 Coming On September 18

As widely expected, Apple has today confirmed the official release date of iOS 7 at a media event held on the company’s campus in Cupertino. iOS 7 will be released on Wednesday, September 18th, for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

iOS 7 is a major rethinking of Apple’s mobile operating system that sports a redesigned user interface with a focus on clarity and deference, and new features such as Control Center, new Multitasking, improved Notification Center and Siri, iTunes Radio, AirDrop, and more. iOS 7 was first announced at Apple’s WWDC earlier this year, where Apple also confirmed that the update would include over 1500 new APIs for developers to create apps with.

Apple hasn’t announced a Golden Master seed of iOS 7 yet, but it will presumably be released to developers today. Typically the last developer release before a public launch, the GM seed will allow developers to make final preparations to their iOS 7-ready apps and submit them to the App Store.

For more coverage, check out our September 10 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.

GIF Brewery 2.3→

GIF Brewery, developed by Patrick Rogers, is my favorite app to create animated GIFs (with a hard G) on OS X. Every time I need to show an app’s particular animation or effect, I mirror my iOS device’s screen to my Mac with Reflector, capture a video, and turn a specific portion into a GIF.

The latest update, released last week, contains a new preference to automatically snap text overlays to horizontal center and, even better, settings to control fade-in/out times for overlays. These two minor additions make dealing with text overlays in GIF Brewery much easier, leading to better results.

GIF Brewery is $4.99 on the Mac App Store and I can’t recommend it enough.

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Ohio Man Sues Apple Over Breaking Bad Season Pass→

Jeff John Roberts:

An Ohio man has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company owes him and other Breaking Bad fans $22.99 for not including all 16 episodes in a “Season Pass” to the show’s final season, which was split into two parts.

In a class action suit filed in San Jose, California, Noam Lazebnik says Apple engaged in false advertising by providing only 8 episodes to consumers even though its “Season Pass” page explains that viewers will get “every episode in that season.”

Better call Saul?

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