This Week's Sponsor:

Inoreader

Boost Productivity and Gain Insights with AI-Powered Intelligence Tools

AppStories, Episode 135 – Mac Catalyst with James Thomson Plus Federico’s iPhone 11 Pro Camera Story→

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we interview James Thomson, the creator of PCalc and Dice, for a developer’s perspective on Mac Catalyst and go behind the scenes of Federico’s iPhone 11 Pro camera story, Eternal City, Modern Photography: The iPhone 11 Pro in Rome.

Sponsored by:

  • Linode - High-performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit.
  • Zapier - The easiest way to automate your work. Start your 14-day free trial today.
  • Kolide - User focused security for teams that Slack. Try it free for 30 days.

Permalink

Todoist Foundations: Key Refinements Modernize the Popular Task Manager

Today Todoist has launched a major update across all platforms under the branding Todoist Foundations. That name implies a complete ground-up revision to the app, and while that’s accurate in terms of under-the-hood code changes, from a user-facing standpoint this is still the Todoist you know, but with a variety of new features: project sections, a dynamic add button, new task and sub-task views, and more. Todoist’s team also says that Foundations lays the necessary coding groundwork for more substantial features that are coming in the future, such as Boards and an Upcoming View.

Todoist didn’t need a big rethinking, but what it did stand to benefit from was design enhancements and streamlining that makes everything quicker, easier to use, and more flexible, and that’s exactly what this release brings. If you haven’t tried Todoist in a while, Todoist Foundations is a compelling reason to give the task manager another try.

Read more

Remote Control for Mac: Turn Your Mac into a Home Media Center [Sponsor]

Remote Control for Mac is a powerful app for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch that works with a helper app on your Mac to free you from your desk, so you can enjoy your Mac anywhere on your network. Whether you’re running a Mac as a media center, want to launch apps remotely, or control your Mac’s system settings while doing something else, Remote Control for Mac can handle it all.

A Mac makes a fantastic media center. However, balancing a mouse or trackpad and a keyboard from the couch or in bed isn’t ideal, which is where Remote Control for Mac comes in. With it, you can control the apps on your Mac from your iOS devices or with the brand new Apple Watch app, which offers keypads, mouse interactions, and system commands. It’s an incredibly flexible combination that opens up amazing new options.

On top of that, the app’s AirPlay controls are a fantastic way to send the screen of your Mac or it’s audio to your Apple TV. You can also control the apps on your Mac with Remote Control for Mac and even use system commands to put your Mac to sleep, turn its display on and off, and even restart it. There is Shortcuts integration too. Add the app’s actions to Siri, so you can run them by voice or as part of a custom shortcut. They’re perfect for combining with HomeKit accessory actions in a smart home environment.

Remote Control for Mac has a special giveaway just for MacStories readers. The first 50 readers who visit this link will get a free copy of the app.

Take control of your Mac today. Download Remote Control for Mac from the App Store now.

Our thanks to Remote Control for Mac for supporting MacStories this week.

MacStories Shortcuts Icons Receives Free Update with 50 New Glyphs

I’m happy to announce that MacStories Shortcuts Icons, our custom icon set for adding shortcuts to the Home screen, has received an update today that adds 50 new glyphs.

The update is available now for free for existing customers (just download the file again with the link in your original email receipt); for new customers, the update is part of the standard MacStories Shortcuts Icons purchase, which is available at $14.99 for a total of 350 custom Home screen glyphs.

All sales are final. You can read our license and terms of use here.

For those who may have missed it last month: MacStories Shortcuts Icons lets you customize the look of your shortcuts added to the Home screen by choosing from hundreds of glyphs designed specifically with Shortcuts users in mind, going beyond what’s provided by Apple in the Shortcuts app.

Read more

Arcade Highlights: Card of Darkness

Do you like fantasy-themed games? How about Zach Gage’s work – Flipflop Solitaire, Really Bad Chess, Typeshift, SpellTower, etc.? Would a mobile game brought to life by the art of Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward be of interest to you? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then Card of Darkness should be one of the first games you download from Apple Arcade.

If you answered no to all three questions, you should probably play Card of Darkness anyways.

Card of Darkness is a roguelike game where each stage contains a grid of stacked cards, with each stack holding a random mix of monsters to defeat, weapons to equip, and potions and treasure to find. There are also magic spell scrolls that help you more easily navigate what can be a treacherous quest to get from the start of the grid to its end. You don’t have to clear every card stack to complete a level, but you do need to forge an open path to the finish line, and every stack you take even a single card from will need to be finished. As you clear each card stack, more stacks further into the grid will be revealed, slowly reducing the amount of cards that stand between you and the end of the grid.

Read more

Connected, Episode 265: What Are You, a Dictionary?→

On this week’s episode of Connected:

Apple has revealed its new emoji set, so it is time for Federico to guess their names as Stephen and Myke listen and keep score. After that, Myke shares his thoughts about his Galaxy Fold.

You can listen below (and find the show notes here).

0:00
01:45:42

Connected, Episode 265

Sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code CONNECTED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
  • Freshbooks: Online invoicing made easy.
  • Hover: Make a name for yourself. Get 10% off any domain name.
Permalink

Eternal City, Modern Photography: The iPhone 11 Pro in Rome

The Colosseum at night. Shot on iPhone 11 Pro using the wide lens, with night mode enabled. Unedited. Zoom in for details.

The Colosseum at night. Shot on iPhone 11 Pro using the wide lens, with night mode enabled. Unedited. Zoom in for details.

In many ways, the iPhone 11 Pro’s camera system feels like the culmination of over a decade’s worth of judicious, relentless improvements. Not only is the device’s camera the best and smartest Apple has ever shipped, but it also affords the most photographic freedom, allowing non-professional photographers like me to produce amazing shots with minimal effort.

Read more