It’s been a busy week at MacStories, and, like every year, I’ve spent the past few days editing stories by John and Alex (after all, isn’t this what an Editor in Chief is supposed to do?) and collecting my first notes, thoughts, and tidbits about iOS and iPadOS 15. I’ve been doing all this...
WWDC 2021: Safari Web Extensions and Live Text
John
AppStories Episode 225 - WWDC 2021: Safari Web Extensions and Live Text
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In today’s special WWDC 2021 episode, Federico and John discuss the sorts of tools that could be built with Safari Web Extensions and Federico explains how Live Text works and can be used in practice.
On AppStories+, Federico and John explain what they enjoyed about this year’s Apple Design Awards presentation.
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WWDC 2021: Shortcuts’ Folder and File Actions, Quick Note, and Safari
AppStories Episode 224 - WWDC 2021: Shortcuts’ Folder and File Actions, Quick Note, and Safari
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In today’s special WWDC 2021 episode, Federico and John take a closer look at the new folder and file actions coming to Shortcuts, discuss the intriguing potential of Quick Note, and are skeptical about some of the Safari design changes.
On AppStories+, John hooks up his iPhone and iPad to his home stereo system to the Belkin Soundform Connect, adding AirPlay to his setup, and figures out a way to stream Apple Music lossless audio too.
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WWDC 2021: Shortcuts for the Mac, iPad Keyboard Navigation, and Developer Tools
AppStories Episode 223 - WWDC 2021: Shortcuts for the Mac, iPad Keyboard Navigation, and Developer Tools
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In today’s special WWDC 2021 episode, Federico and John cover Shortcuts for Mac, new ways to navigate the iPad using the keyboard, and developer tools, including TestFlight for Mac, Swift Playgrounds, and RealityKit 2’s Object Capture.
On AppStories+, Federico and John discuss the ‘work hangover’ caused by the WWDC keynote and catching up with the news emerging from the conference.
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WWDC 2021: Keynote Overview and Reactions
AppStories Episode 222 - WWDC 2021: Keynote Overview and Reactions
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In today’s first special WWDC 2021 episode, Federico and John cover the highlights of Apple’s keynote, including iOS and iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8.
On AppStories+, Federico and John explain how they deal with the flood of information from the first day of WWDC and how Federico is saving research materials during WWDC.
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Our watchOS 8 and tvOS 15 Wishes
AppStories Episode 221 - Our watchOS 8 and tvOS 15 Wishes
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This week, Federico and John are joined by MacStories editor and senior developer Alex Guyot to conclude their WWDC wish list series with a look at tvOS and watchOS.
On AppStories+, we welcome Alex Guyot to the show to talk about how he started writing at MacStories as a high school senior and his favorite feature of Calliope, the web app he built to run Club MacStories and AppStories+.
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Rebuilding Our HomeKit Setup Around Thread
For the past few weeks, Silvia and I have been discussing an upgrade to our wireless setup at home, which includes a variety of home accessories (HomeKit devices and Amazon Echo speakers) and an old Netgear Orbi mesh network we first set up in 2017. This discussion began when we realized we wanted to...
A Palazzo Reborn: Inside Apple’s Stunning New Store in Via del Corso, Rome
Earlier today, Apple officially opened their new flagship retail store in Rome, Italy. Located on the popular Via del Corso street in the city’s historical center, the new store – which we previously covered here – is located in the historic Palazzo Marignoli, a 19th century building that has been renovated by Apple and painstakingly restored to its former glory.
I, along with our designer and photographer Silvia Gatta, was able to visit the Via del Corso store yesterday ahead of its grand opening to the public. Coincidentally, the occasion also marked the first time Silvia and I were able to visit the center of Rome free of red-zone restrictions since October 2019, when we took an amazing tour of Rome to demonstrate the iPhone 11’s camera capabilities before the pandemic hit our country in early 2020.
Besides the underlying sense of euphoria for seeing the Spanish Steps again and being around tourists for the first time in nearly 18 months, we came away impressed with what Apple has accomplished with its new Rome retail store. The Via del Corso store is an outstanding exercise in blending Rome’s rich architectural history with the modern reality of Apple’s computers and wearable devices – a challenge that the company didn’t take upon lightly, and which has, in fact, shaped the overall identity of the Via del Corso store.
Let’s take a look.
Our iPadOS 15 Wishes
This week, Federico and John jump back into their pre-WWDC wishlist series with a look at iPadOS and the sorts of OS improvements that are needed for apps to take advantage of the iPad Pro’s new M1 chip.
On AppStories+, Federico gets locked out of the house, John ships fancy wire to Rome, we discuss the Apple TV 4K and original HomePod’s support for ARC, and John teases an upcoming series about audio solutions.
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