What Does It All Mean?: A Look at Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ Decision in the Epic Versus Apple Trial

By John Voorhees

Yesterday, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers decided Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Apple, delivering a ruling in favor of Apple that comes with significant caveats. Although the Judge found that Apple‘s operation of the App Store isn’t an exercise of monopolistic power, she concluded that App Review Guidelines and related provisions of its agreements with developers foster a lack of pricing transparency store-wide that undermines competition under California law. So, while the decision is undeniably a win for Apple in many respects, it’s also a decidedly mixed bag. I’ve taken the time to read Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ 185-page decision and having written an in-depth look at the issues going into the trial, I thought I’d follow up with what the Court’s ruling is likely to mean for Epic and Apple as well as all developers and consumers.

MacStories Unwind: FaceTime, HomeKit, tvOS, Maps Updates in Italy, and the Upcoming Apple Event

By John Voorhees

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Sponsored by: Quill – Messaging to Make Your Team Better

This week on MacStories Unwind:

MacStories

Club MacStories

MacStories Weekly
- The cross-platform OS updates that John is using the most
- What an Apple event day is like at MacStories
- ETA Giveaway
- A Club member’s iPad Home Screen
- A Club member’s desk setup

AppStories

AppStories, Episode 239 – Reminders, Notes, and App Customization

Unwind

Joint Pick:
- Screen Violence by CHVRCHES

Apple Rolls Out Updated Apple Maps with Nationwide Look Around, Improved Navigation, and More in Italy

By John Voorhees

Earlier this summer Apple began testing the expansion of its updated Maps data in Italy, a rollout that started with North America before continuing in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. Today, the company officially launched its new Maps data in Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and Andorra, along with a host of related features.

FaceTime’s Audio and Video Take a Leap Forward With Apple’s Upcoming iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS Updates

By John Voorhees

FaceTime has been a centerpiece feature across all of Apple’s platforms for a long time. However, with the pandemic, it became more important than ever, playing a critical role in the way friends and family have stayed connected. Of course, FaceTime isn’t the only way have kept in touch. The app had plenty of competition from Zoom, Skype, and other services.

So, it’s not surprising that this year’s FaceTime updates focus on fundamentals like audio and video quality and making the app available outside of Apple’s ecosystem, allowing it to compete better with other services. Nor is it surprising that Apple announced SharePlay, which won’t ship until later this fall, so friends and family who can’t be together can still enjoy synchronized group activities like watching a video or listening to music. I’m skeptical that SharePlay will be the hit that Apple’s marketing suggests the company hopes it will be, but even putting SharePlay aside, the app is getting some major improvements that I think everyone will appreciate, so let’s dig in.

AppStories, Episode 239 – Reminders, Notes, and App Customization →

Linked By John Voorhees

This week on AppStories, we examine the growing trend of app customization in the context of Apple’s system apps, focusing on Reminders’ Tag Browser and Smart Lists and Notes’ Tag Browser and Smart Folders.

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On AppStories+, Federico explains how his recently-purchased Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has enabled a unique reading and note-taking workflow.

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Apple Announces September 14 Event

By John Voorhees

As first reported by Myke Hurley of Relay FM, Apple has announced a media event for September 14, 2021 at 10:00 am Pacific. The event will be streamed online.

Here we go again pic.twitter.com/vD5uPAGJ0r

— Myke Hurley (@imyke) September 7, 2021

Based on widespread speculation, Apple is expected to introduce its new lineup of iPhones. A new iPad mini and redesigned Apple Watches are possible too. It’s been several months since the M1 iMac was introduced, so we could see new Macs too. In addition to hardware, Apple will likely show off the upcoming versions of its operating systems and announce release dates for each.

Apple’s Fall OS Updates Promise Deeper HomeKit and Entertainment Integration

By John Voorhees

Apple’s fall OS updates will include a variety of HomeKit and home entertainment features. Unsurprisingly, some of those changes can be found in the company’s Home and TV apps, but this year, those apps only tell part of the overall story. To get the full picture, you need to zoom out from the apps, where you’ll find an interesting mix of new smart home device and entertainment features sprinkled throughout each platform.

Let’s start with HomeKit devices. This year, many of the changes coming to Apple’s OSes relate to two important categories: video cameras and door locks. Controlling both types of devices will become easier this fall, thanks to deeper integration with the upcoming OS releases.

Quill: Messaging to Make Your Team Better [Sponsor]

By MacStories Team

Quill is the messaging app and service that puts you, your time, and your focus first so you and your team can work together better.

With Quill, you’re in control of what messages you see and how much you see. That helps you stay focused and on task without constantly being interrupted. At the same time, though, Quill makes it easier than ever to get involved in the conversations and decisions that need your input.

Quill accomplishes all this by focusing conversations around threads instead of channels. You don’t need to follow a channel to be part of a thread. You can join one simply by starting a thread or being mentioned in one. It’s a simple, elegant solution that keeps conversations from getting mixed and muddled together. You can also decline to follow threads in the channels you do follow to cut down on the noise.

Push notifications are off by default for all channels and threads. Instead, events show up in the Activity Feed. Get caught up whenever works best for you instead of being interrupted and distracted. Of course, when something is truly urgent, you can send a priority mention, and the recipient is sent a push notification immediately.

When you see a thread you want to follow in the Activity Feed, you can follow it right then and there. You can also retroactively create a thread, split one thread into two, quote messages, move direct messages to public channels, and a whole lot more. Quill’s unique approach and features make it perfect for individual productivity while also facilitating remote collaboration among distributed teams.

To learn more and try Quill for free, visit quill.chat today. Messaging has never been more easy and natural.

Our thanks to Quill for sponsoring MacStories this week.