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Apple Music Wrapped: A Shortcut to Visualize Your Most Listened Songs, Artists, and Genres of the Year

When Spotify was my music streaming service of choice, one of the features I really liked was its personalized Wrapped report generated at the end of the year. I’ve always been a fan of geeky annual reports and stats about the usage of any given web service – be it Spotify, Pocket, or Toggl. I appreciate a detailed look at 12 months of collected data to gain some insight into my habits and patterns.

I’ve always been annoyed by the lack of a similar feature in Apple Music; I’m surprised that Apple still hasn’t added a native “Year in Review” option – a baffling omission given how the company is already collecting all of the necessary data points in the cloud. Official “Apple Music Wrapped” functionality would bolster the service’s catalog of personalized features, providing users with a “reward” at the end of the year in the form of reports and playlists to help them rediscover what they listened to over the past year.

But Apple doesn’t seem interested in adding this feature to Apple Music, so I decided to build my own using Shortcuts. The result is the most complex shortcut I’ve ever created comprising over 540 actions. It’s not perfect due to the limitations of iOS and Shortcuts, but it’s the closest I was able to come to replicating Spotify’s excellent Wrapped feature.

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AppStories, Episode 93 – 2019 Themes from Our Must-Have iOS and Mac Apps→

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we discuss the themes that run throughout our 2018 iOS and Mac must-have apps and what they mean for 2019.

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 93 - 2019 Themes from Our Must-Have iOS and Mac Apps

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

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LumaFusion: Professional Mobile Video Editing [Sponsor]

The future of video production is available today with LumaFusion, the powerful multi-track video editor for iOS. Used by mobile filmmakers, journalists, YouTube creators, and aspiring content producers looking to create better video using mobile devices and gear, LumaFusion delivers affordable power and flexibility in an intuitive interface.

Every aspect of LumaFusion is designed to allow users to edit and deliver professional-quality video from the field. Editing 4K video is demanding work for even the most powerful desktop computer, but LumaFusion handles tasks like adding titles, color correction, and effects gracefully in real-time. The app also supports multiple landscape and portrait aspect ratios, a long list of frame rates, and integrates with Storyblocks, a stock media service.

LumaFusion works with Western Digital My Passport Wireless Drives and GNARBOX SSD drives, which lets users import media into LumaFusion directly from the drives and back up their projects and assets without a laptop or Internet connection. It’s a fantastic feature that saves time and helps protect your creations.

LumaFusion brings the same class of sophisticated editing tools to multi-track audio editing too. The app can record voice-overs, mix tracks, and adjust levels on a per-track basis, all with simple gesture-based interactions.

As a video creator, you can count on LumaFusion to release regular updates with new functionality. Just this fall, Luma Touch, the maker of LumaFusion, introduced:

  • Sort and Search to the Library and Import popup
  • Multi-select and Select All functionality in the Library
  • Edge softness and corner radius controls for cropping
  • ‘Nudge’ buttons for sliders and rotation controls for super-precise adjustments
  • Three new effects
  • 20 new professional title templates
  • Full EXIF, TIFF, IPTC, and PNG metadata for Photos
  • ZIP file support
  • New Cleanup functions to help you manage storage

All of that functionality is available for a small fraction of the price of comparable desktop apps making LumaFusion a fantastic choice for professionals and beginners alike. So download LumaFusion today and experience the freedom and flexibility of mobile video editing on iOS.

Our thanks to LumaFusion for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Apple Updates AirPlay 2 Page with Upcoming TV Features Including Siri Control

On the heels of the announcement that Samsung Smart TVs are gaining an iTunes Movie and TV Shows app and AirPlay 2 support, Apple has updated its AirPlay 2 page to highlight additional features that are coming to AirPlay 2.

AirPlay 2-Enabled TVs: Samsung may have been the first to announce support for AirPlay 2, but Apple’s webpage indicates that the feature is coming to ‘leading manufacturers,’ so expect more announcements at CES and beyond. In addition to using AirPlay 2 to send video from an iOS device or Mac to a compatible TV, consumers will be able to play music on their TVs and sync it with other AirPlay 2-compatible devices in their homes.

Control Your TV with Siri: Perhaps the most interesting feature is the ability to use Siri on your iPhone to send video to your TV. Because the new feature works in tandem with HomeKit, if you have multiple AirPlay 2 TVs, you’ll be able to specify the room in which you want the video to play.

Remote Control: Apple also indicates that remote control features are coming soon:

Convenient built-in controls appear in apps, on the Lock screen, and in Control Center. So you can easily play, pause, fast-forward, rewind, and adjust the volume on your TV.

Controlling the volume of a TV via AirPlay 2 would be new, and perhaps there’s something coming related to Apple’s reference to “built-in controls… in apps,’ but playback controls on the Lock screen and in Control Center already exist.

Apple is clearly using the days leading up to CES to implement the first moves in its video strategy. Observers have long wondered how Apple planned to extend the reach of a video service beyond the relatively small number of Apple TV owners. By cutting deals with TV manufacturers, Apple is moving down a path that is similar to the one Google has taken with the Chromecast and will be able to reach many more consumers. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see these new AirPlay 2 features begin to appear when Apple ships its first iOS 12.2 betas.

Samsung Announces iTunes Movies and TV Shows App and AirPlay 2 Support for Its Smart TVs

In a first among TV manufacturers, Samsung has announced that its 2019 TVs will ship with an iTunes Movies and TV Shows app in over 100 countries as well as AirPlay 2 support in 190 countries. 2018 models will receive the same support via a firmware update.

With the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas just around the corner, Samsung’s US newsroom site issued a press release stating:

With the new iTunes Movies and TV Shows app on Samsung Smart TVs, Samsung customers can access their existing iTunes library and browse the iTunes Store to buy or rent from a selection of hundreds of thousands of movies and TV episodes — including the largest selection of 4K HDR movies. iTunes Movies and TV Shows will work seamlessly with Samsung’s Smart TV Services, such as Universal Guide, the New Bixby and Search, to create a consistent experience across Samsung’s platform.

With AirPlay 2 support, Samsung customers will be able to effortlessly play videos, photos, music, podcasts and more from Apple devices directly to Samsung Smart TVs, including QLED 4K and 8K TVs, The Frame and Serif lifestyle TVs, as well as other Samsung UHD and HD models.

The press release also reports Apple’s Eddy Cue as saying:

We look forward to bringing the iTunes and AirPlay 2 experience to even more customers around the world through Samsung Smart TVs, so iPhone, iPad and Mac users have yet another way to enjoy all their favorite content on the biggest screen in their home.

Apple’s partnership with Samsung, one of the largest global TV manufacturers, is particularly notable given Apple’s efforts to amass a stable of original content for a long-rumored video streaming service. By making existing and future content available directly within Samsung’s Smart TV system and providing a means for iOS device and Mac owners to easily play content on Samsung TVs, Apple greatly expands the potential viewership for the content it offers.

Apple Details iPad Pro Manufacturing Techniques and Flatness Standards

A new product launch wouldn’t be complete without some level of controversy, and for the 2018 iPad Pro models the kerfuffle has centered around bending. Some users have reported their devices being slightly bent out of the box, and Apple even confirmed to The Verge that this is the expected result of its manufacturing process. Today the company is adding to that explanation via a new support document on its website titled ‘iPad Pro unibody enclosure design.’

The document explains how every cellular iPad model undergoes a special manufacturing process called co-molding.

In this high-temperature process, plastic is injected into precisely milled channels in the aluminum enclosure where it bonds to micro-pores in the aluminum surface. After the plastic cools, the entire enclosure is finished with a precision CNC machining operation, yielding a seamless integration of plastic and aluminum into a single, strong enclosure.

Interestingly, this co-molding process isn’t used as an excuse for some iPads’ slight bends, but instead it’s presented as evidence of Apple pursuing even stricter flatness standards than ever before. The following paragraph states:

These precision manufacturing techniques and a rigorous inspection process ensure that these new iPad Pro models meet an even tighter specification for flatness than previous generations. This flatness specification allows for no more than 400 microns of deviation across the length of any side — less than the thickness of four sheets of paper. The new straight edges and the presence of the antenna splits may make subtle deviations in flatness more visible only from certain viewing angles that are imperceptible during normal use. These small variances do not affect the strength of the enclosure or the function of the product and will not change over time through normal use.

In other words, the latest iPad Pros are actually held to a stricter standard for flatness than previous iPads, but even the smallest variations may now be more visible than on previous models due to the new straight edges of the device.

The support document closes with reminders about existing Apple policies: that all products purchased from Apple include a 14-day return policy, and hardware defects outside Apple’s stated specifications are covered by a standard one-year warranty.

The iPad Pro’s bending controversy has reached nowhere near the level of attention as that of the iPhone 6 Plus a few years back, but it’s nice to finally receive official word from Apple on the subject. If your iPad is bent enough that it’s obvious and noticeable in daily use, there’s a decent chance the bend exceeds 400 microns, and thus would be covered under warranty. With slighter bends, however, it seems those are a cost we have to pay for enjoying the iPad Pro’s boxy, straight-edged new design.

Apple Announces Record App Store Sales During Holidays

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement regarding disappointing holiday iPhone sales, today Apple has better news to share: the App Store enjoyed a record breaking sales period recently, with over $1.22 billion in App Store spending taking place between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. This marks the biggest sales week ever for the App Store, and it was followed by the biggest single day ever: New Year’s Day 2019 brought $322 million in sales, up from last year’s then-record $300 million.

Apple’s press release provides more color on some apps and categories that were particularly successful:

Gaming and self-care were the most popular categories of app downloads and subscriptions during the holidays. Globally, multiplayer games including Fortnite and PUBG were among the top downloaded games over the holidays, along with Brawl Stars, Asphalt 9 and Monster Strike. Productivity, Health & Fitness and Education apps are already capturing the attention of customers in the first few days of the year with 1Password, Sweat and Luminosity charting in their respective categories.

$1.22 billion is a major increase from last year’s $890 million figure, and a remarkable number for one of Apple’s most profitable services. As Apple continues beating the drum that services are of growing importance to the company, news like this helps prove that claim’s validity.

Apple Revises Q1 Financial Guidance Following Poor iPhone Sales

In a letter to investors, Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that the company has revised its financial guidance for the holiday fiscal quarter that ended on December 29th as follows:

  • Revenue of approximately $84 billion
  • Gross margin of approximately 38 percent
  • Operating expenses of approximately $8.7 billion
  • Other income/(expense) of approximately $550 million
  • Tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent before discrete items

We expect the number of shares used in computing diluted EPS to be approximately 4.77 billion.

Here’s the guidance that Apple gave November 1, 2018 when it reported its fourth quarter 2018 results:

  • revenue between $89 billion and $93 billion
  • gross margin between 38 percent and 38.5 percent
  • operating expenses between $8.7 billion and $8.8 billion
  • other income/(expense) of $300 million
  • tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent before discrete items

That’s a miss of $5-9 billion in revenue. Cook’s letter is lengthy, but the lion’s share of the problem comes down to lower than expected iPhone revenue:

Lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, accounts for all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline. In fact, categories outside of iPhone (Services, Mac, iPad, Wearables/Home/Accessories) combined to grow almost 19 percent year-over-year.

While Greater China and other emerging markets accounted for the vast majority of the year-over-year iPhone revenue decline, in some developed markets, iPhone upgrades also were not as strong as we thought they would be. While macroeconomic challenges in some markets were a key contributor to this trend, we believe there are other factors broadly impacting our iPhone performance, including consumers adapting to a world with fewer carrier subsidies, US dollar strength-related price increases, and some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements.

Although there have been rumors of lackluster iPhone sales for weeks based on supply chain leaks, a miss of this magnitude caused by falling iPhone revenue is still a big surprise, which is no doubt why Apple chose to address the issue before its next earnings report is released.

Macworld Profiles Mac Apps Developed for Over 25 Years→

As we start a new year that could bring significant change to macOS, Glenn Fleishman, writing for Macworld, spoke to the creators of four Mac apps – BBEdit, PCalc, Fetch, and GraphicConverter – that have been around for at least 25 years and weathered a variety of past macOS and hardware transitions.

Rich Siegel of Bare Bones Software, which can trace BBEdit’s lineage back to 1989 when the app was built for System 7, told Macworld that over the years:

We’ve extensively rewritten, upgraded, and optimized [BBEdit’s] internal architecture.… Even though it has evolved a great deal, BBEdit has stayed very close to its fundamental mission: empowering its users to accomplish tasks which would challenge or defeat other tools.

Not long after BBEdit came on the scene, James Thomson released the first version of PCalc on the Mac, which was also built for System 7. For Thomson, PCalc’s evolving UI has kept working on the app fresh:

My passion since I first discovered the Mac nearly 30 years ago has always been making interesting and fun user interfaces. And look forward to keep doing it for a long time to come.

Fleishman also spoke to Jim Matthews, for whom FTP client Fetch has gone from full-time job to side project over the years, and Thorsten Lemke, whose GraphicConverter app has evolved from converting a handful of image formats to over 200.

Twenty-five or more years on one app is a remarkable accomplishment. The story of each app is different, but their developers share a common commitment to maintaining their apps for their customers notwithstanding the changes to the Mac and its OS over the years. Later this year, we should hear more about Apple’s plans to help iOS developers bring their apps to the Mac App Store. Whatever impact those changes end up having on the Mac app ecosystem, I hope the sort of developer dedication that has kept BBEdit, PCalc, Fetch, and GraphicConverter around for over a quarter century perseveres.

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