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Tom Gruber, Co-Founder of Siri, Retires from Apple

The Information reports that Tom Gruber, Apple’s head of the Siri Advanced Developments group, has retired to pursue personal interests including photography and ocean conservation. Gruber joined Apple as part of the company’s acquisition of Siri in 2010 along with his co-founders Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, who previously left Apple in 2011 and 2012 respectively. In addition to Gruber, The Information reports that Vipul Ved Prakash, Apple’s head of search, has left the company. Apple confirmed both departures to The Information.

Siri, which Apple incorporated into iOS in 2011, has been through recent leadership changes as it has fallen behind voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. In 2017, Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, took over Siri’s oversight from Eddy Cue. Just this past May, Apple hired John Giannandrea, Google’s former Chief of Search and Artificial Intelligence to be Apple’s Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy. Last week, Giannandrea showed up on the leadership page on Apple.com, and, according to a TechCrunch story, the Siri team now reports to him.

With all of Siri’s co-founders departed from the company, it will be interesting to see in what direction Giannandrea and the Siri team take Apple’s voice assistant.

Microsoft Releases Cross-Platform Skype Update and Announces Call Recording and Other Features

Microsoft has released version 8 of Skype for the desktop, which features a redesign inspired by the app’s mobile clients. The update, which is available on Mac, Windows, and Linux, replaces version 7, which will no longer work after September 1, 2018.

The update includes 1080p video calls with screen sharing for up to 24 participants. Twitter-style ‘@mentions’ have been added too. Mentioning someone by name preceded by the ‘@‘ symbol sends them a notification. Microsoft has also added a media gallery. Clicking on ‘Gallery’ in a conversation opens a panel on the right side of the Skype window with links, files, and other media that has been shared. Finally, users can share files, photos, and videos of up to 300 MB by dragging them into a conversation.

Microsoft also updated Skype’s iOS apps. The update to the iPad version of Skype is noteworthy because it’s been about a year since it was last updated, and it now includes features that are in line with the more frequently updated iPhone version.

Microsoft says it has other features planned for later this summer too. Skype will add read receipts that display avatars beneath the most recent message a user has read, so you can see at a glance where each participant in a conversation is. End-to-end encrypted audio calls and text messaging with file attachments based on the Signal protocol is coming later too.

Perhaps the most significant new feature that Skype will introduce is cloud-based call recording that works with audio and video calls. When a recording is begun, each participant will be notified that the call is being recorded. This should be an excellent addition for anyone who has relied on third-party solutions or QuickTime to record Skype calls.

Also, starting conversations should become simpler. Users will be able to invite new users to join Skype by sharing a link from their profile. In addition, shareable links to group chats will make it easier to add new members to a group.

I’ve never been a fan of Skype’s Mac app. Unifying the app across different platforms undoubtedly simplifies Microsoft’s development process and will be useful to anyone who uses Skype on multiple OSes. The unification comes at a cost though. Skype 8 is a cross-platform Electron app based on Chrome OS, which means non-standard windows and controls on the Mac. Apps like Skype are why I’m looking forward to UIKit coming to the Mac. If it isn’t worth the effort to Microsoft to build a native AppKit version of Skype, a UIKit version on the Mac that is based on Skype for iOS should at least be more familiar to users.

Apple Showcases New Emoji Arriving in iOS 12, macOS Mojave, and watchOS 5

In celebration of World Emoji Day, Apple has released a preview of the new emoji arriving later this year in updates to iOS, macOS, and watchOS. There will be 157 new emoji in total, but today’s preview only features a select few.

A centerpiece of the emoji additions this year will be improved diversity in hair options, including red hair, gray hair, curly hair, and bald.

Last year the new set of emoji was added with iOS 11.1 in October, while the year before that new emoji didn’t arrive until iOS 10.2 in December. One way or another, it’s only a matter of months until some version of iOS 12 puts the 157 new emoji in the hands of users.

Adobe Acknowledges Working on a Full Version of Photoshop for the iPad→

Bloomberg reports that its sources say that Adobe is working on full versions of its desktop Photoshop app and other Creative Cloud apps for the iPad. Although Adobe has not committed to the October unveiling and 2019 ship date also cited by Bloomberg’s sources, its Chief Product Officer, Scott Belsky did acknowledge that the company is working on a new cross-platform version of Photoshop and other apps. Bloomberg’s sources say Illustrator is one of the other apps being developed for the iPad, which they say will be released sometime after Photoshop.

Belsky, noting that newer versions of Apple’s iPad Pro line are now capable of running Photoshop, told Bloomberg:

“My aspiration is to get these on the market as soon as possible,” Belsky said in an interview. “There’s a lot required to take a product as sophisticated and powerful as Photoshop and make that work on a modern device like the iPad. We need to bring our products into this cloud-first collaborative era.”

The addition of Photoshop and other Creative Suite apps to the iPad would be a significant step forward for the tablet’s push into the pro user market. Currently, only Microsoft’s Surface line of tablets is capable of running a fully-functional version of Adobe’s pro apps, making it the default choice for creative professionals who want to use Creative Suite on a tablet.

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MacBook Pros Updated with Faster Processors, Up to 32 GB RAM, New Keyboards, True Tone Displays, and More

In a press release today, Apple announced updates to its MacBook Pro line of notebook computers. The new models feature faster 8th-generation Intel processors with six cores in the 15-inch model and four cores in the 13-inch model. According to Apple, the 15-inch model is up to 70% faster and the 13-inch model two times faster than earlier models.

The new notebooks also support up to 32 GB of RAM and include a True Tone display and Touch Bar. The 15-inch model can be configured with up to 4 TB of SSD storage, while the 13-inch model is limited to a maximum of 2 TB. The new MacBook Pros feature Apple’s T2 chip, which debuted in the iMac Pro and adds ‘Hey Siri’ support to the Mac.

In the wake of issues with recent-generation MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards, Apple has also updated the keyboard of the new MacBook Pros to a new, quieter third-generation model. Apple’s website doesn’t address the new keyboard’s performance or whether the issues experienced with earlier models have been resolved. However, according to a story on The Verge:

This new third-generation keyboard wasn’t designed to solve those issues, Apple says. In fact, company representatives strenuously insisted that the keyboard issues have only affected a tiny, tiny fraction of its user base.

In addition to the new notebooks, Apple introduced a leather sleeve for the MacBook Pro that is available in Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue, and Black, which is similar to the leather sleeves available for the MacBook.

The new MacBook Pros are also part of a Back to School promotion that Apple announced today.

Sonos Adds AirPlay 2 Support to Certain Speaker Models

Sonos announced today that it has added AirPlay 2 support to compatible speaker systems. The update allows users to stream audio to the company’s Sonos One, Beam, Playbase, and the second generation Play:5 speakers from iOS apps that support AirPlay 2 and from iTunes on a Mac.

Sonos, which did not support the original AirPlay technology, is the first third-party manufacturer to make AirPlay 2 available to its users. In addition to streaming from iOS devices and Macs, AirPlay 2 will allow Sonos users to incorporate their speakers into multi-room setups that can be managed with Apple’s Home app and controlled with Siri. Sonos speakers that don’t support AirPlay 2 can also be used to stream from Apple devices when paired with an AirPlay 2-compatible Sonos speaker.

The update, which will be free to Sonos customers, can be applied to compatible Sonos speakers using its iOS app.

Affinity Designer Debuts on iPad as a Full-Featured Graphic Design Tool

Nearly one year ago, Serif released Affinity Photo for the iPad as a full-featured photo editing powerhouse. Unlike what companies such as Adobe do, where a Mac app like Photoshop is broken down into less powerful versions on iOS, Affinity Photo was brought to the iPad with no compromises whatsoever. Today, that same philosophy is bringing us Serif’s second major iPad app: Affinity Designer.

Where Affinity Photo focuses on photo editing, Affinity Designer is a vector-based illustration tool. And with full support for the Apple Pencil, iOS 11’s drag and drop, and system technologies like Metal, the app looks like the ultimate portable design studio.

For a limited time, Affinity Designer is available at a launch price of $13.99, 30% off the regular price of $19.99. If this kind of app in any way interests you, it looks like a steal at this price. One important note is that, similar to Affinity Photo, due to the power demanded by Affinity Designer, it’s only available on a select number of iPad models: all iPad Pros, plus the iPad Air 2, and the 5th and 6th generation iPad.

John Giannandrea, Former Google Executive, Is Apple’s Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy

Earlier this year The New York Times reported that Apple had made a big new hire: John Giannandrea, at the time Google’s Chief of Search and Artificial Intelligence. Today Giannandrea officially joined the ranks of Apple’s leadership page on Apple.com.

As part of Giannandrea’s employee profile, we learn his official title with Apple: ‘Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.’ He reports directly to Tim Cook and oversees technologies related to Siri and machine learning.

Breaking the news of Giannandrea’s new role, Matthew Panzarino wrote for TechCrunch:

Apple is creating a new AI/ML team that brings together its Core ML and Siri teams under one leader in John Giannandrea.
[…]
The internal structures of the Siri and Core ML teams will remain the same, but they will now answer to Giannandrea. Apple’s internal structure means that the teams will likely remain integrated across the org as they’re wedded to various projects including developer tools, mapping, Core OS and more. ML is everywhere, basically.

The last two years especially, AI and machine learning have been heavy focuses of Apple, particularly on iOS. Giannandrea is a major hire for the company, and while it may take some time for his impact to be seen in user-facing products, bringing together Siri and machine learning teams under this new leader is a key step toward realizing future potential in an area that’s bound to grow more important as time passes.

A Decade on the App Store: From Day One Through Today

“There’s an app for that” may have been coined as a marketing term in 2009, but in 2018 the phrase is indisputable. With over 2 million apps on the App Store, there is seldom a niche unexplored, and few obvious utilities not rapaciously overindulged. The App Store is a worldwide phenomenon, an enormous entity providing instant access to a treasure trove of software for hundreds of millions of people. Things have come a long way in a decade.

Ten years ago today, the App Store launched with 552 apps, available only on the original iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPhone 3G (which shipped the day after). The developers of those apps overcame a fascinating set of challenges to secure front row seats in one of the greatest software advents in history. Many of these apps were built into sustainable businesses, and continue in active development today. Even those that didn’t make it are still testaments to their time, effortlessly invoking nostalgia in users who participated in that era.

The early days of the App Store were a journey into the unknown for Apple, third-party developers, and users alike. The economics of the store were entirely unrealized – nobody knew which app ideas would work or how much they could charge for an app. Apple’s processes for approving apps were primitive, their developer documentation was fallow, and they still thought it a good idea to make developers sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to access the SDK (software development kit). For iPhone users, every new app could completely revolutionize their mobile experience, or it could be another icon they never tapped on again.

Despite this uncertainty, developers pushed forward with their ideas, Apple hustled as many apps through approval as it could, and on July 10, 2008, users exploded enthusiastically onto the scene. Within the first year of the App Store, iPhone and iPod Touch owners had already downloaded over 1.5 billion apps. From the beginning it was clear that the App Store would be an unmitigated success.

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