A Close-Up Look at macOS Mojave’s Dark Mode→

One of the marquee features that Apple showed off for macOS Mojave at WWDC is Dark Mode. As the company demonstrated during the WWDC keynote, Dark Mode is a far more ambitious feature than the dark theme added to macOS Yosemite in 2014. The new look extends much deeper into the system affecting everything from app chrome to window shadows and Desktop Tinting.

There is a lot more to Dark Mode than you might assume. To help developers navigate when and how to implement Dark Mode, Apple has provided developers with guidelines, which Stephen Hackett covers on 512 Pixels:

The biggest is that not all apps should always follow the Appearance that has been set by the user. As before, Apple believes that media-focused tools should be dark at all times. I don’t foresee something like Final Cut Pro X gaining a light theme anytime soon.

Apple has also given developers the ability to use the Light Appearance in sections of their applications. One example is Mail, which can use the Light Appearance for messages, but the Dark Appearance for its window chrome, matching the system[.] This lets text and attachments be viewed more easily for some users. I think it’s a nice nod to accessibility for text-heavy apps, and I hope third-party developers take advantage of this ability.

Hackett also covers Accents, an adaptation and expansion of what is currently called Appearances that affect the look of things like drop-down menus, and how Accessibility features affect Dark Mode.

I like the look of Dark Mode a lot and hope third-party developers adopt it quickly. I expect the pressure to add Dark Mode to existing apps will rapidly increase as more and more third parties begin to use it and hold-out apps become bright, glaring reminders among a sea of muted windows.

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LumaFusion: Professional Mobile Video Editing [Sponsor]

LumaFusion is the most powerful multi-track video editor ever created for iOS devices. Used by journalists, filmmakers, music video artists, and professional video producers to tell compelling visual stories, LumaFusion delivers affordable power and flexibility in an intuitive mobile interface.

The functionality packed into LumaFusion is remarkable. The app is full of features that match or exceed expensive desktop apps like Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premier. LumaFusion delivers because it’s built by professionals who understand video editing. Terri Morgan and Chris Demiris, who met at Avid and founded Luma Touch in 2013, have had long careers in the video industry, which made them the perfect pair to bring sophisticated video editing to iOS.

Since its introduction in 2016, LumaFusion has attracted a loyal following among video artists. The app allows users to create complex multi-track stories with up to three video/audio tracks in resolutions up to 4K, up to three additional audio tracks, and dozens of transitions. Titler functionality allows you to create unlimited layers of text, shapes, and imported graphics too.

Users have quick, direct access to color correction, multiple key-framed effects on every clip, and professional features like Insert and Overwrite mode, Clip Linking for sync management, and much more. There’s support for audio channel mapping too, which allows users to shoot with separate background and voice microphones and then separate the stereo file into two mono tracks for independent control of each track.

This past spring, LumaFusion introduced a custom integration with GNARBOX, which allows users with large amounts of media to wirelessly preview and edit media from GNARBOX right inside LumaFusion while importing media that’s added to a timeline in the background. Later this summer, LumaFusion will introduce a Pro I/O Pack with professional features like external monitor support, batch export, and .xml project export.

For more details about LumaFusion, visit the Luma Touch website and watch their video tutorials. For a limited time, you can get started with LumaFusion for just $19.99 (regularly $39.99), which is a small fraction of the cost of comparable desktop apps.

Our thanks to LumaFusion for sponsoring MacStories this week.

macOS Mojave: A Roundup of All the Little Things

Now that people have had a chance to dig deeper into macOS Mojave, a number of smaller features have been discovered that didn’t get mentioned during the keynote on Monday and weren’t included in our initial overview of the updated OS that will be released in the fall. Here are a few of our favorite discoveries:

macOS Updates in System Preferences. What Apple didn’t explain when it updated the Mac App Store is that macOS updates have been moved from the Mac App Store to System Preferences.

HomeKit Support for Siri. Among the iOS apps ported to macOS as part of the upcoming release of Mojave is Home. The app does not currently support AirPlay 2, but control of HomeKit devices is not limited to the Home app itself; Siri can also be used to control devices.

System-Wide Twitter and Facebook Support Removed. In High Sierra, users could log into Twitter and Facebook from the Internet Accounts section of System Preferences and share content using the share button in apps like Safari. Like iOS did in iOS 11, the Mojave beta has removed system-level support for sharing content via Twitter and Facebook.

The Final Version to Support 32-Bit Apps. During the State of the Union presentation, Apple confirmed that Mojave will be the last version of macOS to support 32-bit apps. When a user tries to open a 32-bit app, Mojave currently displays a one-time warning that the app will not work in future versions of macOS.

Favicon Support in Safari Tabs. Unlike Google’s Chrome browser, macOS doesn’t currently support favicons in Safari tabs. According to an article by John Gruber last summer, that led a significant number of people to use Chrome and third-party solutions like Faviconographer, which overlaid favicons on Safari’s tabs. When Mojave ships, Safari will add support for tab favicons, which are coming to iOS too.

Apple Mail Stationary Removed. According to the release notes for the macOS Mojave beta, Stationary, the HTML email feature that allowed users to choose from pre-built email templates, has been removed from the app.

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You can also follow all of our WWDC coverage through our WWDC 2018 hub, or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2018 RSS feed.

AirPlay 2 Is Coming to Sonos Speakers Next Month→

Dieter Bohn of The Verge reports:

Sonos just announced that AirPlay 2 is coming to “newer” Sonos speakers in July. Unlike using Apple Music on the HomePod, it will stream music from your phone instead of directly over the internet. However, unlike the HomePod you will be able to control some of the AirPlay 2 music with Alexa. You can launch music on your iOS device in all the normal ways, including with Siri.

Essentially, Sonos’ software system is able to be aware of what is playing on your speakers, no matter the source, It’s a clever way to make AirPlay 2 a little more useful. Once the music is playing via AirPlay 2, you can use Alexa to pause, go to the next track, and even ask what’s playing.

For the platform-agnostic user – the exact user Sonos has focused on pitching its products to lately – this kind of blending together of different assistants and ecosystems may carry a lot of appeal. Since Alexa is the sole voice service currently available on Sonos speakers, the ability to control AirPlay 2 playback Amazon’s assistant is key. I do wonder, though, if mixing and matching different services might be overly confusing for the average user. With AirPlay 2 support, you’ll be able to use Siri on your iPhone to start streaming audio to a Sonos speaker, but you can’t start that playback with Alexa. Once audio’s already playing, though, that’s when Alexa steps in. I appreciate the variety of options, but it sounds like those options bring with them a lot of restrictions to remember.

As for hardware compatibility of AirPlay 2, it will be available on a limited number of Sonos devices:

AirPlay 2 will work with the Sonos One, (second generation) Play 5, and Playbase (and, ahem, “future products”). But if you have older speakers, owning any of those newer ones will make AirPlay 2 work with all of them.

That last line is intriguing, though unclear. Older devices can’t actually become AirPlay 2 speakers, otherwise they would appear in the Home app as HomeKit devices – however, it makes sense that an existing HomeKit device that talks to older Sonos devices could serve as a translator of sorts, relaying AirPlay 2 commands over Sonos-native protocols.

We’ll see how it all works when AirPlay 2 support arrives next month.

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Apple Clarifies App Review Guidelines to Promote Free Trial Options→

It’s tough selling a paid up front app on the App Store. Users have no way of knowing ahead of time whether an app will fit their needs or not, and no one wants to spend money on an app only to find that it wasn’t what they expected. Fortunately, App Store review guidelines have been updated this week to address that problem. Matthew Humphries reports for PCMag:

The updated guidelines state that, “Non-subscription apps may offer a free time-based trial period before presenting a full unlock option by setting up a Non-Consumable IAP item at Price Tier 0 that follows the naming convention: “14-day Trial.” Prior to the start of the trial, your app must clearly identify its duration, the content or services that will no longer be accessible when the trial ends, and any downstream charges the user would need to pay for full functionality.”

So users will know before they start using an app that it will cost money, but only after X days of free use. The upfront transparency should prevent any user frustration, but it could also greatly improve the quality of content in apps because the developer really needs the user to reach the end of the free trial wanting to pay to continue using/playing.

This isn’t necessarily a change of policy, but more an explicit clarification of something that’s already been allowed. The Omni Group, for example, began switching its entire suite of apps in September 2016 to the same sales model: free downloads, with In-App Purchases for unlocking full functionality after 14-day trial periods. Since that time, however, very few apps have followed the same path – likely in part due to continued uncertainty regarding what’s officially allowed. The updated review guidelines should lead to a welcome increase of paid up front apps transitioning to free downloads with In-App Purchases, thus enabling more ubiquitous free trials across the App Store.

You can also follow all of our WWDC coverage through our WWDC 2018 hub, or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2018 RSS feed.

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iOS 12 and watchOS 5: A Roundup of All the Little Things

Every year when Apple introduces the latest versions of its software platforms at WWDC, information streams out in two major phases: we get the biggest, most important announcements during the opening keynote, then afterward, once the new beta builds are in the hands of developers, we find out all the additional details not meriting on-stage attention. In that vein, here’s a roundup of all the smaller details we’ve discovered so far in iOS 12 and watchOS 5 that weren’t covered in our initial overviews.

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AppStories, Episode 58 – Imagining What iOS Could Do for Mac Apps→

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we look at what Apple could do to use iOS and its large developer community to revitalize the Mac app ecosystem.

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 58 - Imagining What iOS Could Do for Mac Apps

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

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