iPhone X first impressions and reviews were published today. Some reviewers have had Apple’s latest iOS device for about a week, while others have had it less than 24 hours. Here’s our roundup of the most interesting insights from what has been published so far.
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iPhone X Review Roundup
Microsoft Aligns Features of Skype’s Desktop and Mobile Apps
Over the summer, Microsoft introduced a new Skype app for iOS with a multitude of new features that seemed designed to maintain its relevance in a social media-dominated world. At the time, Microsoft also introduced a preview version of the Skype desktop app that incorporated some of the same features. Today, Microsoft announced that the desktop app has exited preview mode and is being rolled out across several platforms.
The new Skype desktop app includes a lot of new features, but one of the most fundamental that should be welcome to all users is the unification of messaging across platforms. That means messages you receive through Skype will be available whether you’re using the app on a Mac, iOS, Windows, an Xbox, or another device.
In addition, Skype now includes cloud-based file sharing of up to 300 MB of data, customizable themes, and different ways to organize your chat list. Notifications have also been centralized with reactions to your messages, @mentions in group chats, and instances where you have been quoted available in one place. To jump to the spot in the conversation where the notification appears, just click on it. There’s a chat media gallery where you can access all photos, links, files, and other items sent to you too.
Microsoft has added many other bells and whistles. Chat conversations can take advantage of add-ons like event scheduling, sending money to friends and family, searching for GIFs, and more. Video calls and text-based messages can include reactions to let others know your mood, status updates, Twitter-style @mentions, and bots from third parties too. If there was any doubt that Microsoft wants to expand beyond simple voice and video calling, the latest updates to Skype’s apps should put that to rest.
The new version of Skype has begun rolling out to users. If you don’t want to wait for the update to show up, you can manually download it from Skype.com now.
SiriKit Support Will Be Included on HomePod for Certain Third-Party App Domains
In an update on its developer site today, Apple announced that SiriKit support will be included in the forthcoming HomePod device.
iOS 11.2 introduces SiriKit for HomePod, the powerful speaker that sounds amazing, adapts to wherever it’s playing, and provides instant access to Apple Music. HomePod is also a helpful home assistant for everyday questions and tasks. With the intelligence of Siri, users control HomePod through natural voice interaction. And with SiriKit, users can access iOS apps for Messaging, Lists, and Notes. Make sure your SiriKit integration is up to date and test your app’s voice-only experience today.
When the HomePod was first unveiled at WWDC in June, there was no word regarding whether it would support third-party apps through SiriKit. While some expected further details on HomePod to arrive in September’s keynote, that event came and went with no news. Today marks the first time we’ve learned anything new about HomePod from official sources since its initial introduction.
Messaging, Lists, and Notes are the only SiriKit domains that will work with HomePod at launch, but it’s likely we’ll see more added over time. This means the HomePod will be able to do things like send messages in Telegram, create tasks in Todoist or Things, and create notes in Evernote.
Information about how SiriKit on HomePod will work is included on Apple’s full SiriKit site, which contains the following detail:
Siri recognizes SiriKit requests made on HomePod and sends those requests to the user’s iOS device for processing.
This means SiriKit support on HomePod will take a fundamentally different path than that of competing products like the Amazon Echo. In most cases the Echo’s set of third-party Alexa skills can be operated completely independent of another device. For the time being at least, third-party support on HomePod will rely on a nearby iPhone or iPad.
There are still many HomePod details that remain unclear. For example, we don’t yet know if SiriKit requests or iCloud requests will be tied to a single user’s device, or if a family will be able to interact with the device in a user-specific way. Time will bring the full story into view, but for now, knowing that HomePod will launch with at least some third-party app support is good news.
iPhone X First Impressions Arrive via Steven Levy and YouTube
Ahead of any full reviews for the iPhone X arriving, today one writer and a host of YouTubers published their first impressions for the new device, which releases November 3.
Steven Levy was one of the handful of journalists who received review units of the original iPhone over ten years ago. Today he exclusively shared his early thoughts on what appears to be the biggest evolution of the device, at least in form factor, since that original phone. Despite his praise for the device’s advancements over previous iPhones, Levy concludes that some of the iPhone X’s greatest achievements may only come to fruition with the help of third-party developers.
Remember, as cool as the original iPhone was, it didn’t really begin changing the world until Apple let third-party software developers take advantage of its innards—stuff like the camera, GPS, and other sensors. Maybe something similar, albeit not on such a grand scale, will happen with the iPhone X. Those who shell out the cash for this device will enjoy their screen and battery life today. But the real payoff of the iPhone X might come when we figure out what it can do tomorrow.
As Craig Federighi quipped during the iPhone X’s introduction in September, taking some of the most advanced technology ever found in a smartphone and using it to create animated poo is, well, perhaps unsurprising, but certainly a bit anticlimactic. There are undoubtedly applications of the iPhone X’s TrueDepth Camera and other features that haven’t been dreamed up yet.
Speaking of which, among the YouTubers who were invited by Apple to get early hands-on time with the iPhone X, one of the guys from Highsnobiety performed (jokingly) what is perhaps the first relationship breakup over Animoji. How do breakups by Animoji rank compared to breakups by text?
Videos by UrAvgConsumer, Soldier Knows Best, and Booredatwork contain detailed walkthroughs of how to use the new phone, while Popular Science has a fun science-infused overview of the X’s new features, and FASHION Magazine has a short, quick-hit look at ten favorite aspects of the iPhone X.
Apple’s marketing strategy with the iPhone X clearly appears to differ from the company’s standard practices, with this wave of first impressions preceding any proper reviews. While we should expect to see more traditional reviews from the usual sources in the coming days, perhaps Apple is simply attempting to highlight how this isn’t just like any other iPhone launch.
Learn Ulysses: Easy Video Tutorials for the Best Writing and Ideas App [Sponsor]
Learn Ulysses is a video course from The Sweet Setup, a site known for picking the best apps in certain categories. Their pick for the best writing app on Mac, iPad, and iPhone is Ulysses, and with their Learn Ulysses videos, The Sweet Setup can help you get the most out of the app.
There’s a lot of power just under the surface of Ulysses’ simple interface. It’s the power-user features that make Ulysses more than just a simple text editor. Tools for document organization, exporting to a wide range of formats, filtering, and more make Ulysses a complete writing environment.
The Sweet Setup created their Learn Ulysses course to help users get the most out of Ulysses’ power. The seven high-quality videos will get you up and running with all the features of Ulysses so that you can stay on top of your ideas, your writing, and more. Each tutorial dives deep into the details making even complex topics easy to follow and understand.
Each video can be streamed or downloaded, and there are full transcripts of each so you can pick up tips even when you can’t access video. In addition to the videos, Learn Ulysses includes bonus content. There’s a cheat sheet highlighting keyboard shortcuts and additional features and interviews with writers, in which each explains their Ulysses setup and workflow, which is a fantastic way to get ideas about how to use the app yourself.
The Sweet Setup has a special deal for MacStories readers. This week only, you can get the Learn Ulysses video tutorials and all the bonus content for 20% off by visiting learnulysses.com.
Our thanks to Learn Ulysses for sponsoring MacStories this week.
Amazon Introduces Cloud Cam and Key Delivery Service
Amazon has introduced a new Alexa-enabled home security camera called the Cloud Cam and an in-home delivery service for Prime members. The Cloud Cam is an Internet-connected smart camera that records video at 1080p resolution. Amazon is selling it as a stand-alone product and as part of its new in-home delivery service called Key.
The Cloud Cam, which will be controlled by a yet-to-be-released Cloud Cam app, is available for pre-order with shipments beginning on November 8th. One camera costs $119.99, but it can also be purchased in bundles of two for $199.99 and three for $289.99. Each camera support’s Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant, motion detection, two-way communication, night vision, and has a wide angle lens that saves video clips from the past 24 hours from up to three cameras. Amazon is also selling subscriptions that range in price from $6.99/month to $19.99/month for storing clips for a longer period, distinguishing between people and motion from other sources like pets, zone control, clip sharing, and connecting to more cameras.
Amazon’s Cloud Cam plays an important role in the company’s new US-only Key delivery service too. When paired with certain third-party smart locks, which Amazon is bundling with a Cloud Cam for $249.99, Prime customers can use their Cloud Cam and an iOS app to let Amazon Logistics’ delivery people unlock their home and leave packages inside. The service is currently limited to Amazon Logistics’ delivery people who make deliveries in 37 US cities. Key can also be used to grant home access to third-party services like house cleaners and dog walkers.
Prime members who sign up for Key will be alerted by a forthcoming Amazon Key app when a delivery driver arrives with a parcel and can watch the delivery live or view a recorded video clip later. Access can also be limited to certain times of the day and be granted on a one-off or recurring basis. When a delivery driver arrives, they scan the package’s bar code, which is transmitted to the cloud and in turn, starts the Cloud Cam and unlocks your door. After leaving the delivery inside, the driver locks your door with a swipe of an app.
The combination of Alexa support and the Key delivery service set the Cloud Cam apart from other smart home security cameras. Of course, the greatest difficulty for Amazon is likely to be convincing customers to trust delivery drivers to unlock their homes even if a camera is watching.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Is Coming to iOS
Nintendo has announced that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will be released on iOS and Android. The game, which follows a free-to-play model like Fire Emblem Heroes that debuted earlier this year, will be familiar to anyone who has played other titles of Nintendo’s Animal Crossing franchise. Originally expected by March 2017 along with three other games, Nintendo’s latest iOS game will be released in late November 2017, although it is already available in Australia.
Kindle for iOS Redesigned with Clean, Streamlined Organization
Amazon’s Kindle app for iOS received a major update today, bringing redesigned navigation tabs, a new light theme, and more. The change that excited me most, small as it may be, is the greatly improved app icon – it includes a beautiful new illustration, and the word Kindle has been removed.
The Kindle app now feels more at home on iOS, with a familiar navigation tab layout lining the bottom of the screen. The first tab, Library, is essentially what the main interface of the app was before – all your books are found there. The Library tab is cleaner and simpler now, as several options it formerly contained have been assigned to other areas of the app. The Goodreads and Discover pages, for example, now live in the main navigation bar as Community and Discover tabs, respectively. Extra items like settings and sync have been moved into the navigation bar’s final tab, More. There’s also now a search bar at the top of the screen that’s accessible from nearly anywhere in the app. Overall, these layout changes make the app easier to navigate and less cluttered than before.
Joining the app’s original dark theme, you can now turn on a light theme for the app; this navigation theme is separate from the reading theme, which has long had dark and light options. The light theme looks nice, and I plan to keep it turned on. Another change is that while reading, it’s easier to get back to your library – the upper left corner contains a down-facing arrow that instantly closes your book.
I do nearly all of my book reading digitally, and I’ve long preferred reading in iBooks over Kindle due to it having the superior app in my mind. Today’s update fixes several of the issues I’ve had with Kindle, but unfortunately there’s one big problem outstanding: Kindle still doesn’t support Split View on iPad. Once Amazon adds that to its app, I’ll have less reason to always go with iBooks.
Balance Is a Wallet For the World’s Currencies [Sponsor]
We are on the cusp of a financial revolution fueled by crypto-currencies and Balance makes it easy for everyone to get involved. You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, one of the earliest crypto-currencies, but there are others including Ethereum. Balance connects to the most popular crypto-currency exchanges like Coinbase along with traditional financial institutions bridging the gap between the old financial world and the new one.
Balance connects with crypto-currency exchanges as well as traditional bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, and online services like PayPal using Plaid, a super-secure platform that works with financial institutions around the world.
When you set up accounts in Balance, the app automatically updates them periodically with new transactions, so you’re always up to date. You can view balances, transactions, notifications and gain insights about your spending. Soon, Balance will release an iOS version of their app too.
Balance is ready for the future. The current financial system is based on outdated, legacy software. Blockchains are the bedrock of a more secure and open system based on cryptocurrencies, but not many people are using them yet. Balance is poised to change that by becoming a single destination for traditional financial accounts and crypto-currency exchanges.
Balance has a great offer for MacStories readers who want to see what crypto-currencies are all about. Just go to bal.money/macstories this week and submit your email address to join the Balance iOS beta when it’s released along with $2 worth of Ether in a Coinbase account that you can track with Balance. It’s a great way to see for yourself what the financial world’s future looks like.
Our thanks to Balance for sponsoring MacStories this week.