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Castro Launches Top Picks Feature for Intelligent Episode Recommendations

In an update arriving today, Castro is introducing a new Top Picks feature designed to make managing a large number of podcast subscriptions easier than ever.

One of Castro’s most defining traits is its triage system: the app by default stores new episodes of shows you’re subscribed to in a New section, not in your playback queue, and inside New you can send the episodes you care about to your queue, while archiving anything that doesn’t interest you. If you subscribe to a wide array of shows, Castro’s New section is great; however, one drawback is that it previously lacked any sort of priority or hierarchy. Though Castro offers the option of having certain shows go straight to your queue, that requires manual configuration, and it’s really only ideal for shows that you want to listen to every single episode of. In most cases, the majority of shows will land in New, and Castro previously had no way of knowing which of those episodes you were more likely to care about. That’s why Top Picks was created.

Top Picks is an addition to the New tab which highlights episodes from your subscriptions that Castro thinks you’ll want to listen to. You can still access your full subscription roster at any time, but Top Picks will serve as a curated subset of episodes that’s easier to sort through.

Shows are surfaced in Top Picks based on your listening history, which the app analyzes on-device using only local data, so it remains private. If you’re new to Castro, this means it may take a little time to get the best Top Picks suggestions, but the good news is that training the system merely requires listening to the shows you care about. As you make decisions about what to listen to, Castro learns from those choices and uses that data to inform what does and doesn’t get sent to Top Picks.

If you only listen to a handful of podcasts, Top Picks likely isn’t for you because it addresses a problem you don’t have. But for users whose subscriptions can be a lot to keep up with, the feature simplifies the act of triage and, in the process, makes Castro an even better tool for enjoying the ever-growing world of podcasts.

BBEdit Returns to the Mac App Store After 4+ Year Absence

Beginning today, BBEdit 12 is available for download through the Mac App Store. BBEdit was previously listed for purchase through the Mac App Store, but famously left the store in October 2014. Last year, however, Apple announced on-stage at WWDC that BBEdit would be returning to the new Mac App Store in the near future, and that day has finally arrived. From the developers’ press release:

“We are delighted to be offering BBEdit in the Mac App Store again,” said Rich Siegel, founder and CEO of Bare Bones Software, Inc. “Since the release of macOS Mojave, the Mac App Store provides a beautiful new look; unique editorial content; and an emphasis on human curation, while offering a trusted and secure source for macOS software. In addition, the new Mac App Store makes it possible for us to offer our customers the option of a subscription-based pricing model.”

BBEdit 12, the latest version of the popular writing app for macOS, features more than three hundred new features and refinements since the app was last available on the Mac App Store. It also introduces a new pricing model: unlike direct purchases from Bare Bones Software, where an app license can (still) be purchased for a one-time $49.99 cost, on the Mac App Store BBEdit is available only as a subscription.

For those who wish to get BBEdit from the Mac App Store, the app is a free download, and you can use it in full up to 30 days at no cost, after which a subscription will be required to unlock its web authoring tools and a variety of other pro features; basic editing functionality will continue to work without a subscription, however.

Subscriptions are available at $3.99/month or $39.99/year. One advantage of the subscription option is that it will always provide access to the latest version of the app, whereas purchasing the app directly from Bare Bones will earn you the current version of the app only – if you want major new versions as they’re released, you’ll need to purchase upgrade licenses.

When Apple unveiled the new Mac App Store last year, it promised that not only would the app itself be modernized, but the store would be ripe with major app additions as well. Following Microsoft Office and Panic’s Transmit, BBEdit’s arrival today helps make good on that promise. This time last year some of the Mac’s best, most popular software wasn’t available in the Mac App Store; it’s good to see that begin to change.

PageTurn Uses Facial Recognition for Hands-Free Navigation of PDFs, Perfect for Musicians

Developer and musician Stephen Coyle just released a new app that enables hands-free page turning of PDFs via facial expressions. The aptly-named PageTurn utilizes the power of the TrueDepth camera system found in all iOS devices that support Face ID – the iPhone X, XR, XS, and XS Max, plus the 2018 iPad Pros – to enable turning pages of a PDF using only your face.

There are two options of facial gestures available to control page turning: mouth control, which is the default, or wink control. Mouth control works by tracking the movement of your mouth: if you move it right, you’ll advance forward a page, while moving it left goes back a page. Wink control advances forward with a right wink, and goes back with a left wink. With both of these options, PageTurn provides the ability to set sensitivity so you can customize each gesture to whatever’s most comfortable for you. It feels odd at first making these gestures to turn pages, but in my experience it quickly became comfortable.

PageTurn was designed primarily for musicians, who often bear the unenviable task of turning pages of sheet music while both their hands are occupied playing an instrument. It works with any PDF though, so readers can have hands-free page navigation as well. You can get PDFs into the app via the import button in the upper-left corner, which opens a Files picker, or if you have a PDF open in another app, you can copy it to PageTurn using the share sheet.

PageTurn is a simple utility, but for those who could benefit from it – musicians in particular, and also users with accessibility needs – it’s a potentially revolutionary tool that enables new ways of doing a common task that weren’t previously possible. The app is a shining example of the creativity of indie developers.

Connected, Episode 237: All the Different Flavors of iCloud→

AirPower is dead, Powerbeats Pro are here, Federico is having a good week on Twitter and iCloud Drive deserves some attention from Apple.

A good episode of Connected this week – we talk about wireless chargers, new Beats headphones, and a whole list of suggestions on how to improve iCloud Drive. You can listen here.

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Beats Announces Powerbeats Pro Wireless Workout Headphones

Apple subsidiary Beats has announced the Powerbeats Pro, $250 H1-powered workout-oriented headphones that dispense with all wires. Apple purchased Beats in 2014 and has incorporated some of its technologies like the W1 chip into its Powerbeats and Beats Solo3 headphones, but until now, Beats didn’t offer headphones that competed directly with AirPods.

The Powerbeats Pros aren’t entirely a surprise. As Guilherme Rambo reported for 9to5Mac last week, iOS 12.2 includes hidden images of the Powerbeats Pro headphones. However, the new headphones’ official announcement provides additional details.

The Powerbeats Pros will be available starting in May in the US and 20 other countries and come in four different colors: black, ivory, navy, and moss. The water and sweat resistant Pros are a significant step up from the existing Powerbeats because they are truly wireless in the same way AirPods are wireless. Unlike the original Powerbeats, which will continue to be available and have a wire that connects one ear to the other and wraps around your head, the Pros are independent wireless headphones that benefit from the quick connectivity afforded by the H1 chip. The Powerbeats Pro also include physical controls and charge via a Lightning connector using an AirPods-like charging case instead of the micro USB connector used in the Powerbeats model. However, unlike the latest iteration of AirPods, Powerbeats Pro do not support wireless Qi charging.

Also, the H1 chip means that the Powerbeats Pro headphones can be controlled with ‘Hey Siri’ commands. There are four sizes of headphone tips to fit a range of ear sizes, and the earhook that wraps around your ear is adjustable. Beats says that the new headphones have up to 4 hours more battery life than AirPods for a total of 9 hours of playback time, which exceeds 24 hours when charged using the case.

The Verge got early access to the Powerbeats Pro and has a hands-on review of the headphones. The assessment by Chris Welch is generally positive, and although I haven’t had the opportunity to try the Powerbeats Pros yet myself, they look like a good option for anyone for whom AirPods don’t fit well and who works out regularly. That said, at $250, the Powerbeats Pros are pricey compared to competing third-party products, so it’s worth considering other available options before purchasing the Pros.

Game Day: Rolando Rolls Back Onto the App Store

Today, HandCircus, the creator of Rolando, has released an excellent remastered version of the classic iOS game called Rolando: Royal Edition.

If you were playing iOS games in the early days of the App Store, you are probably familiar with Rolando. The game wasn’t on the Store day one but came a few months later at the end of 2008.

Rolando was one of the early break-out hits on the App Store. The game was downloaded by millions of fans worldwide who loved its colorful, round characters. Rolando was also one of the first games to incorporate the iPhone’s accelerometer into its gameplay in a way that was tightly integrated with the game instead of feeling gimmicky.

However, the original game was a victim of Apple’s 2017 transition to a 64-bit architecture. Although many cherished classics were updated in time, a large number of games fell by the wayside. Until today, one of the most beloved of those titles was Rolando.

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Apple Spotlights the Use of Its Products at Work in ‘The Underdog’

The Caffè Macs pizza box was already something of a legend, but now it has its own Apple video too.

Earlier today, Apple posted a three-minute video title ‘The Underdogs’ which tells the story of a group of co-workers who stumble into the opportunity to pitch their idea for a round pizza box to their bosses. One of the group is rear-ended in a company parking lot at the start of the day. To make amends, a meeting to pitch the box is arranged.

The quartet of co-workers gets to work turning a simple sketch of a round pizza box into a finished product in a few days’ time. They use a combination of Macs, iPhones, iPad Pros, and the Apple Watch running a variety of apps including Microsoft Office apps like Excel, a 3D-design tool, and an AR app to get the job done. The video closes with the tag line ‘This is Apple at Work’ as the group jumps into an elevator on their way to make their presentation.

The video is nicely done capturing the frantic pace of a the group as they try to make the most of the opportunity presented to them. As Cabel Sasser of Panic notes though, what’s even better about the video is that the pizza box they design is the same pizza box that Apple patented and uses at its Caffè Macs cafeteria at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino.

Apple’s patented pizza box has been featured before including in a 2017 feature onThe Outline.

‘This is Apple at Work’ is featured on a special Apple at Work webpage on Apple.com that showcases how its products can be used in a collaborative work environment. The page walks through each stage of the design of the pizza box and the tools the team in the video uses to create it. The six-part feature even includes a downloadable USDZ augmented reality file of the pizza box featured in the video.

I like this video a lot. It does a great job of telling a compelling story in just a few minutes that’s relatable to a wide audience and demonstrates how Apple believes its products can help solve everyday problems faced by people at work. Whether or not the lives of this quartet of co-workers parallels yours, this is a video worth watching for its sheer comedic entertainment value.