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2022 Apple Design Award Finalists Announced

Like last year, Apple has announced the finalists in the running for its annual Apple Design Awards. The awards ceremony revealing the winners will be held during WWDC at 5:00 PM Pacific on June 6th.

The finalists have been divided into six categories that include six finalists each:

Inclusivity

Delight and Fun

Interaction

Social Impact

Visuals and Graphics

Innovation

The selections include a broad selection of games and apps, including some apps from smaller developers like Halide Mark II, Transit, and Slopes, as well as titles from bigger publishers.

This is the second year in a row that Apple has announced the finalists in advance, which I like a lot. Winning an ADA is a big achievement for any developer, but it’s also nice to know who the finalists are because it, too, is quite an honor among the many apps that could have been chosen.

Announcement: MacStories’ WWDC 2022 Coverage

WWDC will kick off one week from today, and the MacStories team has been busy preparing.

This year is a little different than the past couple. Sessions and labs will be online, but the keynote on Monday, June 6th, will be in person for a small group of developers who were awarded tickets through a lottery system and members of the press.

MacStories is taking a hybrid approach too. I’ll be at Apple Park for the keynote and covering events from Cupertino all week, while Federico and Alex will cover events from home.

As always, we’ll have in-depth coverage of the keynote, Platforms State of the Union presentation, Apple Design Awards, and sessions. We’ll have in-depth coverage of Apple’s announcements, overviews of OS updates and any new hardware, and roundups of everything happening throughout the week. You’ll also get the kind of details that aren’t widely reported as the team combs through session videos, product pages, social media, and other sources.

Before WWDC even gets started, we’ll be hosting a special Club MacStories+ Town Hall live audio event in our Discord community for Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members, tomorrow May 31, 2022 at 9:30 AM Pacific. For Club members who can’t join the Town Hall live, we’ll release the audio in the Town Hall podcast feed. We’ve also created a dedicated WWDC channel in our Discord community to discuss the conference this week and throughout the conference.

Our AppStories coverage over the past couple of years has been a big hit, so we’ll be publishing episodes throughout the week. We’ll start with recaps of the keynote and Platforms State of the Union presentations on Tuesday, followed by episodes Wednesday through Friday that dig into each of Apple’s big announcements, session videos, and more.

New this year is that the four of the episodes we release during WWDC will be recorded live in the Club MacStories+ Discord. It’s a great way to listen in real-time and an opportunity to ask us questions. We’ll be releasing the AppStories+ and AppStories versions of these episodes simultaneously due to the time constraints of WWDC, but the Q&A segments will be released as the bonus content for AppStories+ subscribers.

The schedule is subject to change, but the current plan is to record the live Town Hall episodes of AppStories in the Club MacStories+ Discord on the following days:

  • Monday, June 6th at 2 PM Pacific
  • Tuesday, June 7th at 10 AM Pacific
  • Wednesday, June 8th at 8 AM Pacific
  • Thursday, June 9th at 10 AM Pacific

We’ve also teamed up with developers to do giveaways all week long during WWDC in the Club MacStories+ Discord.

To join the fun in Discord and enter the giveaways, sign up for a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier account at plus.club. Club Premier is our all-access pass to everything MacStories, including AppStories+, our extended, ad-free version of the show that is published a day early.

You can follow along with all of the MacStories and AppStories coverage on our WWDC 2022 hub or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2022 RSS feed.

Finally, we’ll send a special issue of MacStories Weekly to Club MacStories members one day later than usual on Saturday, June 11th. The issue will be packed with WWDC-themed features, our thoughts on everything revealed, and giveaways.

If you’re not a member of Club MacStories, you can join here.

Of course, we’re working on some surprises for the week too, so keep a close eye on the MacStories and AppStories websites.

To recap, stay tuned to MacStories, AppStories, and the Club for a full week of WWDC coverage:

This Week

Tuesday

  • At 12:30 PM Eastern US time, a special live audio Town Hall in our Club MacStories+ Discord community that will be released in the Town Hall podcast feed

Next Week

Monday - Friday

  • Continuous Keynote, Platforms State of the Union, and session coverage on MacStories

Tuesday - Friday

  • Daily episodes of AppStories covering all of Apple’s announcements, big and small
  • Live recording of three shows Monday through Wednesday in the Club MacStories+ Discord

Saturday

We’re all excited for next week and hope you’ll join us for the festivities.

You can follow all of our WWDC coverage through our WWDC 2022 hub or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2022 RSS feed.

Last Week, on Club MacStories: MusicBox Shortcuts, Great iPad mini Reading Apps, and MacStories Unplugged

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 322

Fetching Apple Music editorial content with one of Federico's shortcuts.

Fetching Apple Music editorial content with one of Federico’s shortcuts.

Up Next

Later today, we’ll be sharing what we’re doing for WWDC this year at MacStories, which includes special events in the Club MacStories+ Discord and a special issue of MacStories Weekly for all Club members.

On Tuesday, May 31st, at 12:30 PM Eastern US time, we’ll be holding a live audio Town Hall in our Discord community for Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members. Federico and I will be joined by a special guest to talk about our expectations for WWDC, take questions from members, and share some of our plans for WWDC week. We’ll also cover a big article Federico is publishing on MacStories this week.

MacStories Unwind: Harder Than It Looks and Tomb Raider Definitive Survivor Trilogy

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
0:00
25:26

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico recommends Simple Plan’s latest album, Harder Than it Looks and takes listeners back to 2005 for the band’s one song show in Viterbo, Italy, while I revisit the Tomb Raider trilogy on the the Xbox Series X.

SaneBox – Organize Your Inbox (and Never Waste Time on Email Again)

Federico’s Pick:

John’s Pick:

Last Week, on Club MacStories: iOS Features That Should Be Apps and Due as a Work Habit Tracker

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 321

Apple Releases Two Pride Watch Bands, New Dynamic Pride Watch Faces, and Special Shot on iPhone Campaign

Apple has released two Pride Edition Apple Watch bands and new dynamic Pride watch faces that coordinate with the colors of the new Pride Edition Sports Loop and Nike Sports Loop bands. The company also announced a new Shot on iPhone Pride campaign.

Apple’s press release explains the design of the Pride Edition Sports Loop:

Members and allies of the LGBTQ+ creative community at Apple were inspired to deliver a new expression of pride through this unique design. Utilizing the comfortable, durable, and adjustable Sport Loop design, Apple used a new technique to remove several of the double-layer nylon-woven textile loops on the band to reveal the word “pride” in a cursive style inspired by the original “hello” greeting — displayed on the first Macintosh in 1984 — giving the word a novel, three-dimensional look and feel.

Regarding the new Nike Pride Sports Loop, the company says:

A new Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop celebrates the full spectrum of the rainbow and features a matching rainbow-colored Nike Bounce face that accompanies the new band. Along with Nike’s Be True collection, the Sport Loop honors individuals who are expanding sport for future generations and inspiring others to feel the joy of being authentically themselves. Be True is part of Nike’s broader commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, which focuses on recognition, advocacy, inspiration, and education.

New this year is a Shot on iPhone campaign that Apple says will honor “present-day queer pioneers in places of historic significance to the LGBTQ+ movement.” The campaign will be featured on the company’s Instagram account and feature:

works from photographers Ryan McGinley at Stonewall Inn in New York; Evan Benally Atwood at Window Rock in Arizona; Meinke Klein at The Homomonument in Amsterdam; Caia Ramalho at Paulista Avenue in São Paulo; Lydia Metral at Plaza de Chueca in Madrid; and Collier Schorr at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, featuring Baobei.

The Pride Edition Sports Loop and Nike Pride Sports Loop are available now on apple.com and in the Apple Store app for $49, which is less than last year’s models, which cost $99. The new bands will also be available beginning May 26th in Apple retail stores. The new watch faces are available today on the Apple Watch Series 4 and later, running watchOS 8.6 paired with an iPhone 6s and later running iOS 15.5.

MacStories Unwind: Dropout Boogie, The Foundations of Decay, and Pokémon Home

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week on MacStories Unwind, John recommends the latest album from The Black Keys and Federico has a single from My Chemical Romance and an update to Pokémon Home to share.

Backblaze – Astonishingly Easy And Unlimited Cloud Backup

John’s Pick:

Federico’s Picks:

Apple Music’s ‘Essentials Anniversaries’ Feature Highlights Classic Albums with Interviews, Editors’ Notes, and More

Update: It turns out that Essentials Anniversaries is not a new feature, but isn’t something that has been heavily promoted in the Listen Now tab of Apple Music before. You can read the original post below.

Apple Music was quietly updated today with a new feature: Essentials Anniversaries. The new Apple Music section features landmark albums from artists organized by their anniversaries, from five-year anniversaries all the way to 65-year-old albums.

The first featured anniversary is OK Computer by Radiohead, which celebrates its 25th anniversary tomorrow, May 21, 2022. The new Essentials Anniversaries section includes Radiohead’s album, a handful of music videos, and something new: an episode of an Apple Music radio show also called Essentials Anniversaries. The first episode is hosted by DJ Matt Wilkinson, who introduces most tracks, providing context and commentary and interviewing people involved in the production of OK Computer.

It’s not uncommon for Apple Music to receive updates throughout the year. Updates to the service haven’t been timed to Apple’s OS update cycle for a while but tend to come in batches. Case in point, earlier this week, Apple began promoting Apple Music Live, a series of livestreamed concerts that start today with a show by Harry Styles.

I’ve been listening to the OK Computer episode of Essentials Anniversaries, which runs for about an hour, and it’s excellent. Wilkinson, who is one of my favorite Apple Music DJs, does a fantastic job providing context for each track and conducting short interviews that provide a sense of the album’s import and place in history.

It appears that Essentials Anniversaries is still rolling out worldwide, so you may not see it on all of your devices, but if you want to check it out, here’s a link to the new section.

This and the introduction of more live music with the concert series that Harry Styles kicks off later today are exactly the kind of thing Apple Music needs to fuel discovery and renew interest in the service. I’m looking forward to seeing where both of these features lead next.

AppStories, Episode 274 – Our watchOS and tvOS Wishes

This week on AppStories, John and Alex tackle their watchOS 9 wishes and then Federico and John are joined by Myke Hurley to consider what they’d like to see added to tvOS 16.

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[Subscribe here.](https://www.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

Subscribe here.

On AppStories+, John and Alex swap tornado stories before Alex explains some of the ways Calliope, the collection of backend technologies that run Club MacStories, was adapted to run the Automation April.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.