This Week's Sponsor:

Copilot Money

The Apple Editor’s Choice Award App for Tracking Your Money. Start Your Free Trial Today

Twitter Intentionally Ends Third-Party App Developer Access to Its APIs

Late yesterday, The Information reported that it had seen internal Twitter Slack communications confirming that the company had intentionally cut off third-party Twitter app access to its APIs. The shut-down, which happened Thursday night US time, hasn’t affected all apps and services that use the API but instead appears targeted at the most popular third-party Twitter clients, including Tweetbot by Tapbots and Twitterrific by The Iconfactory. More than two days later, there’s still no official explanation from Twitter about why it chose to cut off access to its APIs with no warning whatsoever.

To say that Twitter’s actions are disgraceful is an understatement. Whether or not they comply with Twitter’s API terms of service, the lack of any advanced notice or explanation to developers is unprofessional and an unrecoverable breach of trust between it and its developers and users.

Twitter’s actions also show a total lack of respect for the role that third-party apps have played in the development and success of the service from its earliest days. Twitter was founded in 2006, but it wasn’t until the iPhone launched about a year later that it really took off, thanks to the developers who built the first mobile apps for the service.

Read more

The Trouble with Mixing Realities→

Mark Gurman recently reported that Apple’s much-rumored headset will combine AR and VR technologies, which Brendon Bigley argues could be the wrong approach:

… I don’t think the road to mass adoption of virtual reality actually starts with virtual reality, it starts instead with augmented reality — a technology that can quickly prove its function if presented in a frictionless way. While even the best VR headsets demand isolation and escapism, a hypothetical product focused first and foremost on augmented reality would be all about enhancing the world around you rather than hiding from it.

Brendon’s story nails something that has been nagging me about recent headset rumors. The iPhone was a hit because it took things we already did at a desk with a computer and put them on a device we could take with us everywhere we go, expanding the contexts where those activities could be done. As Brendon observes, the Apple Watch did something similar with notifications. AR feels like something that fits in the same category – an enhancement of things we already do – while VR is inherently limiting, shutting you off from the physical world.

Like Brendon, it’s not that I’m not excited about the prospect of an Apple headset or the long-term prospects for virtual reality as a technology, but given where the technology is today, it does seem as though jumping into VR alongside AR could muddy the waters for both technologies. Of course, we’re all still working off of speculation and rumors. I have so many questions still and can’t wait to see what Apple has in store for us, hopefully later this year.

Permalink

Matter: A Fresh Take on Read-Later Apps

Saving articles and links from the Internet for later isn’t new, but it’s something that has drawn renewed interest from developers over the past year or so, including the makers of Matter, who are reexamining the approaches of the past through a modern lens.

An early version of Instapaper on the iPad.

An early version of Instapaper on the iPad.

Apps like Instapaper and Read It Later, which became Pocket, pioneered saving web articles for later. The original iPhone ran on AT&T’s EDGE mobile network in the US and coverage was spotty. Read-later apps saved stripped-down versions of articles from the web that could be downloaded quickly and read offline when EDGE was unavailable. The need to save content offline because of slow and unreliable mobile networks is far less pressing today, but collecting links and time-shifting reading remains popular.

I do most of my Matter reading in the evening on my iPad mini using dark mode.

I do most of my Matter reading in the evening on my iPad mini using dark mode.

Today, classics like Instapaper and Pocket are joined by Matter, which I’m reviewing today, plus Readwise Reader, which is currently in public beta, and a long list of link organizer apps like GoodLinks, Anybox, and Cubox, all of which include their own reading modes and are the spiritual successors to web services like Delicious and Pinboard. The result is that users have more choices than ever. That’s fantastic because, as I’ve learned from MacStories readers, no two people take the same approach to what they save and how they read and process it.

Read more

Apple Launches a New Program Allowing Business Owners to Manage Their Place Cards in Maps and Other Apps

Today, Apple introduced a new online tool called Apple Business Connect that allows businesses to customize the information listed in Apple Maps Maps, Messages, Wallet, Siri, and other apps.

According to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services:

We created Business Connect to provide Apple users around the world with the most accurate information for places to eat, shop, travel, and more. Apple Business Connect gives every business owner the tools they need to connect with customers more directly, and take more control over the way billions of people see and engage with their products and services every day.

There are a couple of components to Apple Business Connect:

  • A free online tool where businesses can claim their place cards, which include the details about their businesses in apps like Maps, and customize how it appears
  • An API for businesses with 25 or more locations that integrates with third parties that provide location listing services

In addition to providing a self-service path for business owners, Apple has expanded the features of place cards to include Showcases that provide a way for businesses to highlight promotions, seasonal menu items, discounts, and more. Showcases are available today in the US. Apple says Showcases will roll out globally in the coming months.

To register, business owners can visit the Apple Business Connect website, which requires a desktop or laptop computer and an Apple ID. Once logged in and verified by Apple, businesses can personalize their place cards.

Currently, the data in place cards is predominantly supplied by Yelp, although TripAdvisor, Wikipedia, and other sources like users’ photos are also used. Apple Business Connect puts business owners in control, which I expect will result in more accurate and timely updates to place cards, although hopefully, Apple has put some quality-control oversight in place too. The new program also has the added benefit to Apple of cutting the cost of sourcing data from Yelp and others. Having moved recently from Chicago, where place cards were reliably up-to-date, to North Carolina, where the quality of the cards is less reliable, I’m looking forward to seeing how quickly business owners sign up to claim their locations and whether they keep the cards up-to-date.

Zones: Easy Time Conversion to Help You Stay Connected with Family and Friends [Sponsor]

Zones makes time zone conversions effortless. It’s simple, beautifully designed, and available on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so no matter where you are or what you’re doing, knowing the best time to connect with family and friends in other cities is easy.

With just a glance, you’ll always know exactly what time it is no matter where your friends and family live. Plus, Zones includes:

  • Detailed weather information with Apple Weather integration for every time zone you track
  • Information about holidays around the world
  • The ability to create reminders for each time zone, so you’ll recall the best time to reach out to someone on their birthday or an upcoming holiday, for example

Zones is perfect for remote teams too. The app has a built-in event creation feature that integrates with Apple’s Calendar app, making it easy for colleagues to coordinate meetings and calls.

With Zones, you also get support for the latest Apple technologies. Lock and Home Screen widgets, iCloud sync between devices, an iMessage app for sharing time zone information, and a Mac menu bar app add up to a fantastic user experience.

Of course, Zones is also privacy-focused. It doesn’t collect user data, the app doesn’t require an account, and all versions are ad-free.

Download Zones today for free on the App Store to stay in touch with family and friends. And when you’re ready to take Zones even further, sign up for Zones+ for just $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year to unlock holiday and weather information, plus the ability to create reminders.

Our thanks to Zones for sponsoring MacStories this week.

MKBHD on Apple’s Processing Techniques for iPhone Photos→

In his latest video, MKBHD eloquently summarized and explained something that I’ve personally felt for the past few years: pictures taken on modern iPhones often look sort-of washed out and samey, like much of the contrast and highlights from real life were lost somewhere along the way during HDR processing, Deep Fusion, or whatever Apple is calling their photography engine these days. From the video (which I’m embedding below), in the part where Marques notes how the iPhone completely ignored a light source that was pointing at one side of his face:

Look at how they completely removed the shadow from half of my face. I am clearly being lit from a source that’s to the side of me, and that’s part of reality. But in the iPhone’s reality you cannot tell, at least from my face, where the light is coming from. Every once in a while you get weird stuff like this, and it all comes back to the fact that it’s software making choices.

That’s precisely the issue here. The iPhone’s camera hardware is outstanding, but how iOS interprets and remixes the data it gets fed from the camera often leads to results that I find…boring and uninspired unless I manually touch them up with edits and effects. I like how Brendon Bigley put it:

Over time though, it’s become more and more evident that the software side of iOS has been mangling what should be great images taken with a great sensor and superbly crafted lenses. To be clear: The RAW files produced by this system in apps like Halide are stunning. But there’s something lost in translation when it comes to the stock Camera app and the ways in which it handles images from every day use.

Don’t miss the comparison shots between the Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro in MKBHD’s video. As an experiment for the next few weeks, I’m going to try what Brendon suggested and use the Rich Contrast photographic style on my iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Permalink

Samsung and Dell Take Aim at the Mac Monitor Market→

Dell's upcoming 6K UltraSharp display. Source: Dell.

Dell’s upcoming 6K UltraSharp display. Source: Dell.

Dan Seifert writing for The Verge explains why this year’s CES has been such an exciting one for Mac users:

Though there have been many monitors marketed toward MacBook owners over the years, with features such as USB-C connectivity, high-wattage charging, and nicer than average designs, they’ve typically all had traditional 4K panels and sub-par pixel densities, as opposed to the higher-resolution displays that Apple puts in its devices. There was always a compromise required with one of those other monitors if you hooked a MacBook up to it.

Other than LG’s UltraFine displays, which had quality-control issues over the years, Mac users had no display options that matched the resolutions found on MacBook Pros or the 5K iMac. That changed with Apple’s Pro Display XDR and the Studio display, but both displays arrived with extremely high price tags.

That’s why monitors announced by Samsung and Dell at CES this week are so encouraging. Prices haven’t been set yet, but it’s a safe bet that they will be competitive with Apple’s.

The Samsung ViewFinity S9. Source: Samsung.

The Samsung ViewFinity S9. Source: Samsung.

Both displays promise functionality not found in Apple’s displays too. Samsung’s 5K ViewFinity S9 goes toe-to-toe with the Studio Display’s specs and adds a bunch of ports not available on Apple’s display.

Dell seems to be aiming directly at the Pro Display XDR. As Seifert explains:

Perhaps more interesting is the new Dell UltraSharp 32, the first monitor I’m aware of that matches the Pro Display XDR’s 32-inch size and 6K resolution. It doesn’t have the same HDR-capable local dimming display technology as the XDR, instead using an IPS Black panel sourced from LG, but it comes with integrated speakers, microphones, and a beefy 4K webcam, all of which are lacking from Apple’s high-end option. The UltraSharp 32 may be best described as a bigger version of the Studio Display, as it provides all of the necessary desk peripherals most people need but with a larger — just as sharp — panel. The Dell also tops out at 600 nits of brightness (the same as the Studio Display and Samsung’s S9) and comes with a whole litany of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 (with up to 140W of power delivery), HDMI 2.1, ethernet, and four USB-A ports. It’s basically a complete Thunderbolt dock built into the back of the display.

I’m a big fan of Apple’s Studio Display, but its price was a hard pill to swallow and a factor that I’m sure has limited its appeal significantly. It remains to be seen how Samsung and Dell will price their monitors, but it’s good to see choice and competition comes to the high-resolution monitors that so many Mac users have wanted for so long.

Permalink

CES 2023: Odds, Ends, and Weird CES

I was a metaverse skeptic until CES covered my eyes and mouth to the possibilities. Source: Shiftall.

I was a metaverse skeptic until CES covered my eyes and mouth to the possibilities. Source: Shiftall.

Today, I bring you Weird CES, a collection of wacky and wonderful announcements from the past week. But first, I have a few odds and ends that were announced in between my previous two stories and are worth mentioning.

Odds and Ends

The Razer Blade 18. Source: Razer.

The Razer Blade 18. Source: Razer.

There was a lot of laptop news at CES this year, much of which made my eyes glaze over in its sameness. However, there are some notable exceptions:

Source: Stellantis.

Source: Stellantis.

Also yesterday, Stellantis unveiled a concept EV muscle truck called the RAM 1500 Rev., which will follow its owner around like a puppy on command.

Weird CES

During the global pandemic, CES was held online, and there were far fewer strange and wonderful gadgets announced. I’m pleased to report that Weird CES is back in full force. Here are my favorite oddities of 2023:

Source: Blok.

Source: Blok.

You probably didn’t realize that what your kitchen cutting board is missing is a removable, rechargeable screen, so you can watch cooking videos while you cut stuff. The Blok is exactly that, complete with a docking station for watching cooking videos when you’re not chopping and an app for the not-so-low price of $699, plus a $390/year subscription for video cooking classes. I think I’ll stick with my old-school wood-only cutting board with an iPad propped up nearby.

Read more