Posts in Linked

iWork, GarageBand, and iMovie Apps Now Free for All Users→

Juli Clover of MacRumors reports on an update to the pricing of several Apple apps:

iMovie, Numbers, Keynote, Pages, and GarageBand for both Mac and iOS devices have been updated and are now listed in the App Store for free.

Previously, all of these apps were provided for free to customers who purchased a new Mac or iOS device, but now that purchase is not required to get the software. Many Apple customers were already likely eligible to download the software at no cost if they had made a device purchase in the last few years.

All of these apps have been available free to anyone purchasing a new iOS device since September 2013 – or 2014 in GarageBand’s case – so today’s updated pricing should come as no surprise. Likely the majority of devices in the world today that are modern enough to run the latest versions of these apps will have already enjoyed the privilege of free downloads. Today’s change will be a welcome one to everyone with an older device though.

Permalink

How One Rising Musician Works from an iPhone→

David Pierce has a fascinating piece for WIRED on a hip-hop producer and artist, Steve Lacy, who makes music start to finish on his iPhone.

Lacy’s smartphone has been his personal studio since he first started making music. Even now, with all the equipment and access he could want, he still feels indelibly connected to something about making songs piece by piece on his phone. He’s also working this way to prove a point: that tools don’t really matter…If you want to make something, Lacy tells me, grab whatever you have and just make it.

Pierce describes a recording session he observed where Lacy used GarageBand, an iRig, and the iPhone’s built-in microphone to create music.

He paged through the drum presets in GarageBand for a while before picking a messy-sounding kit. With two thumbs, he tapped out a simple beat, maybe 30 seconds long. Then he went back to the Rickenbacker. He played a riff he’d stumbled on while tuning, recording it on a separate GarageBand track over top of the drums. Without even playing it back, Lacy then reached down and deleted it. It took three taps: stop, delete, back to the beginning. He played the riff again, subtly differently. Deleted it again. For the next half hour, that’s all Lacy did: play, tap-tap-tap, play again. He experimented wildly for a while, then settled on a loose structure and began subtly tweaking it. Eventually satisfied with that bit, he plugged in his Fender bass and starts improvising a bassline. A few hours later, he began laying vocals, a breathy, wordless melody he sang directly into the iPhone’s microphone. He didn’t know quite what he was making, but he was feeling it.

Lacy’s recording method is clearly an atypical one in the music industry, but it serves as a great testament to the power of iOS and the iPhone.

Permalink

Instagram Adds Tools to Organize Saved Posts into Collections→

Instagram has a new feature rolling out this week to enhance the current tool that enables saving other users’ posts:

Starting this week, you can save posts into private collections. Tap and hold the bookmark icon underneath any post to save it directly to a collection. You can create and name a new collection when you save a post, or you can add it to one you’ve already created. You can also create a collection out of your existing saved posts. Tap the plus icon in the top right corner, give your collection a name and select the saved posts you’d like to add.

You can find your collections on the saved posts tab on your profile. Just like all saved posts, your collections are private — only you can see them.

While some of Instagram’s biggest new features of late have appeared focused on targeting Snapchat, the ability to save and organize posts into collections brings Instagram closer into Pinterest’s space. Although all collections of saved posts are private at the moment, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a future option to make select collections public.

Permalink

Canvas, Episode 33: iOS Device Security→

This week, inspired by true events, Fraser and Federico look at the user-facing security technologies available in iOS.

On the latest Canvas, we go over the best practices to set up an iOS device with security in mind and to make it easy to lock everything and retrieve data when things go wrong. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

  • Pingdom: Start monitoring your websites and servers today. Use offer CANVAS to get 20% off.
Permalink

Connected, Episode 137: Fancy Screwdrivers→

With Myke pondering life in the woods, Stephen and Federico talk about Clips and what the Mac and iPad can learn from each other before quizzing each other on their preferred platforms in a battle for eternal nerd glory.

A fun episode of Connected this week, with a special final segment. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

  • Incapsula: Secure and accelerate your website. Connected listeners get one month free.
  • Pingdom: Start monitoring your websites and servers today. Use offer CONNECTED to get 20% off.
  • Eero: Blanket your home in fast, reliable WiFi.
Permalink

Starbucks Launches New iMessage App with a Giveaway→

Starbucks launched a new iMessage app recently, and yesterday they announced a nice incentive for users to give it a try:

Now you can send Starbucks Gifts with iMessage with Apple Pay. Be one of the first to send a $5 or more Starbucks Gift via iMessage and receive a $5 Starbucks Gift for yourself - while supplies last.

The promotion ends on April 23rd, or after 45,000 people have taken advantage of it – whichever comes first.

The process of sending a gift card through iMessage is extremely simple. Assuming you already have Apple Pay setup on your device, you just select the style of gift card – options include things like ‘Congrats,’ ‘Thanks So Much,’ and ‘Happy Birthday’ – select a quantity of $5, $10, or $25, then hit ‘Buy’ and authorize Apple Pay. The whole process takes mere seconds.

While the idea of sending gifts through iMessage had never occurred to me before, Starbucks has convinced me that it can be a great experience.

Permalink

‘The Most Important Computer in History’→

Kurt Schlosser, writing for GeekWire:

The Living Computers: Museum + Labs in Seattle is home to some of the most noteworthy machines ever created. But a new exhibit opening this week will showcase what one official at the Paul Allen-founded institution called “the most important computer in history.”

Lāth Carlson, executive director of Living Computers, added to that designation by saying the metal box with a keyboard is “also the most boring to look at.” But for fans of computing and Apple in particular, the Apple I that once sat in founder Steve Jobs’ office is exciting for a whole host of reasons.

The piece states that only about seven Apple I computers remain operable today, and Living Computers’ model is one of those seven. Carlson shares, “We’re going to be running Steve Wozniak’s version of BASIC that he wrote on it.”

If you’re in the Seattle area, it sounds like a great exhibit to check out.

Permalink

Remaster, Episode 32: First-Party→

Microsoft unveil specs of their upcoming Project Scorpio, and Shahid explains what makes a developer ‘First Party’.

On this week’s Remaster, Shahid helps us understand the differences between first-party and second-party game studios. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

  • Blue Apron: A better way to cook. Get three meals free with your first purchase, and free shipping.
  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code INSERTCOIN at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
Permalink

Why Pro Matters→

Great take by Sebastiaan de With on why Apple needs to cater to the pro community and care about the Mac Pro again:

The same kind of huge leaps are happening in gaming and game development; a powerful modern GPU is a requirement for working on and using VR and AR, one area Apple is said to be working on. Demand and interest in 3D work, for design, game and software development, and video is bigger than ever and growing exponentially.

Without a truly top-tier workstation, Apple will miss out on a huge segment of digital creatives that can craft the future of human-machine interaction — something way beyond tapping a piece of glass. It would lack a Mac workstation with the raw computing power to prototype VR and AR interactions, build game worlds, simulate complex models and render the effects of tomorrow’s great feature films all the while offering those same creatives a platform to create for its own mobile devices.

The Mac Pro user base may be a single-digit percentage of all Macs sold, but it’s a group of users with an important indirect effect on the Apple ecosystem. Very often, they are the same users who make the movies, videogames, TV shows, music, and apps we put on our devices every day. They are few people who create highly influential content millions of others use, enjoy, and rely upon. And Apple has realized they don’t want to let that community go.

Permalink