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iOS and iPadOS 13 Review Extras: eBooks, Wallpapers, Shortcuts, Podcasts, and Making Of

Today, Apple released iOS 13, watchOS 6, and Apple Arcade, and tomorrow, the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, and Apple Watch Series 5 will begin arriving on doorsteps worldwide. The publication of Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 13 review makes it a big day for MacStories too, which has evolved in recent years into a multi-week affair when combined with the Club MacStories anniversary, our iOS 13 app coverage, and related podcasts.

As in the past, the centerpiece of our coverage is Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 13 review. We’re also excited to share Alex Guyot’s comprehensive watchOS 6 review with you tomorrow, as well as a long list of app updates and debuts that spotlight the new features of iOS 13 that we will be publishing in the coming days.

We’ve got a lot more in store though, including a bunch of Club MacStories exclusives.

Among the Club-only extras this year are two eBooks, a set of stunning desktop and mobile wallpapers, advanced shortcuts, and bonus podcast episodes. Check out all of the details after the break. If you’d like to learn more about the Club or sign up to take advantage of all these extras, plus perks from previous years, please visit //www.macstories.net/club.

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AppStories, Episode 129 – The Apps of Apple’s Fall Event→

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we dive into the new and updated apps announced at Apple’s fall keynote including Compass, Camera, and the upcoming Apple Arcade game subscription service.

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 129 - The Apps of Apple’s Fall Event

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

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Arcade Launches for Some iOS Beta Testers

Earlier today, a series of reviews of Apple Arcade were published across the web and on YouTube. Shortly thereafter, Apple took the wraps off the service itself for at least a subset of people running the iOS 13 or 13.1 betas. Arcade doesn’t officially launch until September 19th, but it appears that Apple is using a slow roll-out to some beta testers to test the service and create buzz around the launch.

The design of the Arcade tab is reminiscent of the App Store’s other tabs, although more space is reserved for spotlighting individual titles, and so far, there is little editorial content. It will be interesting to see how this mix evolves as more games become available and more editorial content is created. In addition to themed collections like ‘Start Your Adventure’ and ‘No Time to Blink,’ Arcade has a section dedicated to ‘New Arrivals,’ includes hint guides for three of the games and a button at the bottom of the view for accessing every game in the service.

The activation of Arcade for some users coincided with a press release from Apple highlighting four games by smaller game studios: The Enchanted World, Patterned, Overland, and Card of Darkness. I haven’t had a chance to comb through the entire catalog yet, but there are a lot of great-looking games featured at launch that jumped out at me including:

I’m looking forward to trying all of these as well as discovering new titles.

As I said on AppStories this week, I’ve been cautiously optimistic and excited about Arcade. What I’ve seen of the new service in my brief time with it so far today is perfectly in line with what I hoped for. Apple seems to have struck a nice balance among many different categories of games, and with only about half of the 100+ titles that should be coming soon, that is an excellent start.

The Potential of the iPhone 11’s Ultra Wideband U1 Chip→

A feature of the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro that didn’t get stage time this week was Apple’s new U1 chip, which adopts the relatively new Ultra Wideband wireless technology. The UWB Alliance, an industry trade group, describes the technology as follows:

UWB is a unique radio technology that can use extremely low energy levels for short-range, high-bandwidth communications over a large portion of the radio spectrum. Devices powered by a coin cell can operate for a period of years without recharge or replacement. UWB technology enables a broad range of applications, from real-time locating and tracking, to sensing and radar, to secure wireless access, and short message communication. The flexibility, precision and low-power characteristics of UWB give it a unique set of capabilities unlike any other wireless technology.

For now, all Apple has said is that the U1 chip will permit users to point an iPhone 11 at another iPhone 11 and “and AirDrop will prioritize that device so you can share files faster.” However, the same iPhone 11 Pro preview page also notes that the U1 is “going to lead to amazing new capabilities.” In light of recent rumors that Apple is developing a hardware tag for tracking your belongings, it’s not hard to imagine at least one application that the company probably has in mind. However, Tile-like item tracking is just the tip of the iceberg.

Over on Six Colors, Jason Snell has dug deeper into UWB technology. Snell spoke to Mickael Viot, the VP of marketing at UWB chipmaker Decawave, to better understand other use cases for UWB:

But the possible applications of UWB go way beyond AirDrop and tracking tags. Decawave’s Viot says potential applications include smart home tech, augmented reality, mobile payments, the aforementioned keyless car entry, and even indoor navigation. (And it’s not a power hog, either—Viot says that Decawave’s latest UWB chip uses one-third of the power of a Bluetooth LE chip when in beacon mode, as a tracking tile would be.)

It’s interesting to consider what UWB could enable, especially inside the home. Apple will expand the automation capabilities of NFC tags, which are useful for home automation setups, in iOS and iPadOS 13.1. However, NFC tags still need to be scanned to trigger actions. UWB has the potential to go well beyond NFC by using spatial awareness and presence to expand how we interact and automate all sorts of smart devices.

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Apple Highlights Arcade Titles in New Video

Today on its YouTube channel, Apple published a new video highlighting some of the titles coming to Apple Arcade once it launches next Thursday alongside iOS 13.

The video spends nearly two minutes providing quick glimpses at a lot of Arcade titles, while lingering for extended periods over a handful of titles that haven’t been seen much before, such as Earth Night, Hot Lava, Skate City, and more.

The demos Apple shared on-stage at its September event received mixed responses, but I would expect a much more enthusiastic response to greet this video. Everything showcased looks fantastic, offering interesting stories, gameplay mechanics, and visuals. If Apple really does have 100+ games like this at or near launch, Arcade is going to quickly become a very compelling service.

New iPhone Cases Join a New Lineup of Apple Watch Bands

The new iPhones and Apple Watch Series 5 won’t arrive on your doorstep for a little while yet, but you can order iPhone cases today for delivery September 13th and admire them until your new hardware arrives. Many Watch bands will be available on September 20th, but some of the pricier models won’t be in Apple Stores or delivered until sometime in October. Note too, that some of the Hermès bands don’t come in both Watch sizes.

To make comparing colors easier, we’ve created a gallery of every available case and band after the break; all 58 of them.

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Apple Asks Developers to Submit iOS 13 Apps for Review

Ahead of the upcoming public releases of iOS 13 on September 19th, Apple has told developers via its developer website that App Store submissions are open.

On its developer news site Apple highlights the advantages of iOS 13:

With iOS 13, your app can take advantage of Dark Mode, a dramatic new look for iPhone, Sign in with Apple, the fast, easy way to sign in to apps, and the latest advances in ARKit 3, Core ML 3, and Siri. Build your apps using Xcode 11 GM seed, test them on iOS devices running the latest GM seeds, and submit them for review.

Apple also took the opportunity in its post to remind developers that:

Starting April 2020, all new apps and app updates will need to be built with the iOS 13 SDK and support the all-screen design of iPhone XS Max or later.

Apple has added many features to its operating systems that developers can take advantage of to improve existing apps and create all-new ones that were impossible before the new APIs were introduced.

You can follow all of our Apple event coverage through our September 10, 2019 hub, or subscribe to the dedicated September 10, 2019 RSS feed.

Apple Watch Series 5: The MacStories Overview

This morning at Apple’s special event at the Steve Jobs theater in Cupertino, Stan Ng took the stage to announce the Apple Watch Series 5. The new device features an always-on display for the first time ever, the same 18-hour battery life that every Apple Watch has had, and a built-in compass. The Series 5 is also the first Apple Watch to be available in titanium (alongside the standard aluminum, stainless steel, and ceramic).

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Apple’s September 10 Keynote By The Numbers

As usual, Apple sprinkled facts, figures, and statistics throughout the keynote today. Here are highlights of some of those metrics from the event, which was held at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California.

iPhone 11

  • Updated 12MP TrueDepth 26 mm, f/1.8 wide camera with 6 elements that can take 4K video at 60 fps and 120 fps slow motion video
  • A new wide camera sensor with 100% Focus Pixels and 3x faster autofocus in low light
  • All-new 12 MP 13 mm, f/2.4, 5-element ultra wide camera with a 120 degree field of view
  • 36% brighter True Tone flash
  • 12MP front-facing camera, which enables landscape selfies, and supports 4K video

iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max

  • IP68 rating for water resistance up to 4 meters for 30 minutes
  • The Super Retina XDR screen plays HDR video with up to 1,200 nits of brightness and a 2 million to 1 contrast ration
  • The A13 Bionic chip (also in the iPhone 11) has 2 performance cores that are 20% faster and 30% lower power than the A12 and 4 efficiency cores that are 20% faster and 40% more efficient than the A12, has 8.5 billion transistors, and can handle 1 trillion operations per second
  • 15% more energy efficient True Tone display with 458 pixels per inch
  • New 12MP, 26mm, f/1.8 wide camera with 100% Focus Pixels
  • New 12MP, 52mm, f/2.0, 6-element telephoto camera that allows the sensor to capture 40 percent more light than the iPhone XS
  • New 12MP, 13mm, f/2.4, 5-element ultra-wide camera with a 120 degree field of view
  • Apple’s Deep Fusion camera technology combines 9 images into one high dynamic range photo

7th Generation iPad

  • 60% of buyers are first-time iPad owners
  • The Retina display has almost 2.5 million pixels

You can follow all of our Apple event coverage through our September 10, 2019 hub, or subscribe to the dedicated September 10, 2019 RSS feed.