Posts in news

Prizmo Go: Quickly Grab Text with Your iPhone or iPad [Sponsor]

Aim at text. Shoot. It’s yours! Prizmo Go lets you quickly grab text with an iPhone or iPad’s camera. Text is recognized in a blink of an eye, after which you can interact with it in many useful ways in Prizmo Go or send it to another app. If you’ve got a Mac, you can copy/paste it there too. No more retyping. It feels like magic at your fingertips.

Prizmo Go provides rich interactions with captured text. After shooting, text from the original picture is revealed, and swiping through it allows fast and accurate text selection directly from the image. Selected text can be read aloud, or you can tap to go straight to any web URL, call phone numbers, trigger the Mail app from an email address, or reveal physical addresses in Apple Maps and initiate navigation.

Prizmo Go comes with enhancements specifically built for VoiceOver, in addition to spoken guidance prior to capturing text. That, combined with its text-to-speech capabilities, make the app a great companion if you need help reading printed documents.

Prizmo Go has just been updated to version 2.0, which brings handwriting recognition (English only), translation to/from 59 languages, and new, more powerful, built-in neural network-based OCR in more languages.

Prizmo Go 2.0 Export Pack is 20% off ($3.99 instead of $4.99) this week only, so download it on the App Store today. Hint: the discounted Export Pack also entitles you to an introductory subscription price.

Our thanks to Prizmo Go for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Apple’s Chicago Education Event Will Not Be Live-Streamed According to the Apple TV Special Events App

Apple has updated the Apple TV Special Events app with the artwork used in the invitation for its March 27th education event in Chicago. The update to the app encourages users to:

Watch the special event — held at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois — after it concludes.

While it’s a shame that the event will not be available for viewing in real-time, it’s not unprecedented. The last event held outside of Cupertino by Apple was another education event that was held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 2012, which likewise was not available for steaming or downloading until after the event had concluded.

In separate news, MSNBC announced that Kara Swisher of recode and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes will interview Apple CEO Tim Cook on April 6, 2018 at 8:00 PM Eastern.

Without more information it is unclear what the interview will cover, but given the proximity in time to the education event, it’s likely that education will be a topic of discussion.

You can follow all of our Chicago education event coverage through our March 27th event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated March 27th event RSS feed.

Apple Store iOS App Updated with New Sessions Tab and Personalization Features

Apple has updated the iOS Apple Store app to version 5.0 with a new Sessions tab and improved personalization.

In the center of the tab bar, the new Sessions tab highlights upcoming Today at Apple programs. The tab is broken into Spotlight, Upcoming, Recommended Sessions, and Signature Programs sections. At the very bottom of the page, you can also browse sessions by category.

Recommended sessions are based on the Apple products you owned and perhaps also previous sessions you’ve attended. For example, in my case, the app recommended a Swift Playgrounds session either because my son attended a similar class in December or because I own an iPad Pro and ‘How To: Run a Connected Business’ because I have a Mac mini. The sessions listed were located all over the Chicago area, which I like, except that it made it harder to find sessions at the Apple Store closest to my home.

The app also uses its history of your Apple devices to let you know if accessories you purchase are compatible with the hardware you already own. I like this feature a lot because it spares me the trouble of investigating compatibility myself, and presumably will spare Apple from some returns by customers.

In the Discover tab of the app, your product history is used to provide personalized product recommendations.1 The tab also includes reminders of items you’ve marked as favorites, suggesting you take another look at them, and adds new ways to manage your orders.

In my limited time with the update, I’ve been impressed with the recommendations and greater personalization. Apple Stores are almost always packed with people near my home, so an improved Apple Store app experience is always welcome.

The Apple Store app is available as a free download on the App Store.

  1. Somehow Apple seems to know I put my AirPods through the laundry and need a new pair. ↩︎

Apple Publishes Video Promoting the Use of Face ID with Apple Pay

Following on the heels of last week’s video highlighting the power of Face ID as a way to unlock the iPhone X, today Apple released an ad promoting the technology’s use with its Apple Pay service. The new video follows in last week’s tongue-in-cheek footsteps.

Set to Back Pocket by Vulfpeck, the ad follows a young man as he walks through a crowded market. He sees a hat he likes, uses Face ID with Apple Pay to buy it, and the hat flies off the rack and onto his head. Next, he does the same thing with a pair of sunglasses he likes. From there, he uses Face ID and Apple Pay to try on a dizzying array of shirts, suits, and shoes. He even buys a chair as a gift that rockets away leaving a trail of flame. Like the video last week, the ad is fun and does a nice job of conveying how Apple Pay works and how easy it is to use, while also being entertaining.

Apple Debuts Its Spring Collection of Watch Bands

In a press release today, Apple announced new spring bands for the Apple Watch. The lineup includes new Woven Nylon, Nike, and Hermès bands, which will be available later this month online and in Apple Stores.

Among the bands highlighted by Apple are striped versions of the Woven Nylon band, new Nike color schemes that match the color of the company’s running shoes, and Hermès bands with a new edge paint color.

Apple says the full spring line of its bands include the following:

  • Sport Band in Denim Blue, Lemonade and Red Raspberry
  • Woven Nylon in Black Stripe, Blue Stripe, Gray Stripe and Pink Stripe
  • Sport Loop in Flash Light, Hot Pink, Marine Green and Tahoe Blue
  • Classic Buckle in Spring Yellow, Electric Blue and Soft Pink

The Nike lineup includes:

  • Nike Sport in Barely Rose/Pearl Pink, Black/White and Cargo Khaki/Black
  • Nike Sport Loop in Black/Pure Platinum, Bright Crimson/Black, Cargo Khaki, Midnight Fog and Pearl Pink

Finally, the Single Tour Rallye and Double Tour Hèmes bands include:

  • 38mm Double Tour in Indigo with rouge H polished edge and rouge H contrasted loop
  • 38mm Double Tour in Blanc with rouge H polished edge and rouge H contrasted loop
  • 42mm Single Tour Rallye in Indigo with rouge H polished edge and rouge H contrasted loop
  • 42mm Single Tour Rallye in Blanc with rouge H polished edge and rouge H contrasted loop

It’s interesting that the new Watch bands are not yet available. I suspect we’ll see them appear next week after the education event in Chicago alongside any products announced there.

Setapp: An App for Every Job, Already on Your Mac [Sponsor]

Setapp is a Mac app subscription service created by MacPaw, the maker of CleanMyMac. For one low monthly fee, Setapp offers more than 110 of the very best Mac apps from big names like Ulysses, Bartender, and iMazing. It’s a collection that grows every month becoming more and more valuable to subscribers.

Setapp includes a vast array of apps. There are productivity apps like task managers, time trackers, and text editors, as well as photo editors, developer tools, and much more. When you sign up, Setapp installs a handy catalog on your Mac that lets you easily browse its offerings. Nothing is downloaded until you decide to install it.

The app is designed to make finding just the right app easy too. The included apps are carefully vetted and curated, so you know that only the highest quality apps from the best developers are included. The business model couldn’t be more clear either. There are no hidden costs or gimmicks. You pay just $9.99 per month for access to the entire catalog of apps including any updates. There are no fees for upgrades, no In-App Purchases, or other hidden costs. Every app is a fully functional version that updates automatically.

Sign up today to unlock this amazing collection of Mac apps. Setapp is free to try, and you can extend the trial period up to six months by referring friends.

Our thanks to Setapp for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Apple Promotes Face ID with a Video That Asks What if You Could Open Anything by Looking at It?

A new tongue-in-cheek ad from Apple highlighting the power of Face ID has been published on YouTube. The ad begins with a girl walking through the halls of a high school who looks startled when she unlocks her iPhone X by looking at it. Next, she looks at a locker in the hallway that unlocks too, spilling its contents onto the floor. From there, the girl runs through the school unlocking and opening everything in sight, wreaking havoc to the beat of Bang Bang by Pete Cannon, a single that was released on Apple Music today.

The video is fun way of promoting Face ID by imagining what it would be like if you could unlock anything with just a glance.

Apple Invites Press to An Event For Teachers and Students in Chicago

Last December, Apple announced a partnership with the Chicago Public Schools to bring Apple’s Everyone Can Code program to the city’s students. Today, Apple sent invitations out to members of the press about an event that will be held at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. The invitation, which is titled ‘Let’s Take a Field Trip,’ says ‘Join us to hear creative new ideas for teachers and students.’ The event is scheduled for March 27, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

https://twitter.com/reckless/status/974640632697368576

The invitation doesn’t provide details of what Apple has in store for the event, but the debut of iOS 11.3, a new Apple Books app, and new entry-level iOS hardware targeted at the education market are all possibilities.

Jot Takes a Stripped-Down Approach to Note Taking

Jot is a simple note taking app that collects the little bits of textual ephemera that come at you throughout the day. True to its name, Jot makes it easy to take down notes quickly. Although I think there’s room for a few more features that would enhance the app without compromising its simple approach, anyone with basic note taking needs that is looking for an app that focuses first and foremost on the words captured should appreciate Jot.

Read more