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Night Shift Coming in macOS 10.12.4

Today Apple introduced new betas for several of its operating systems. Among those is the first beta of macOS 10.12.4, which brings Night Shift to the Mac for the first time.

Night Shift is a feature that first came to iOS in version 9.3 last spring. At the time, Apple published an informational page about the iOS update that included the following description:

Many studies have shown that exposure to bright blue light in the evening can affect your circadian rhythms and make it harder to fall asleep. Night Shift uses your…device’s clock and geolocation to determine when it’s sunset in your location. Then it automatically shifts the colors in your display to the warmer end of the spectrum, making it easier on your eyes. In the morning, it returns the display to its regular settings. Pleasant dreams.

The Sierra beta includes a toggle switch in Notification Center for quickly turning Night Shift on similar to the way you can turn Night Shift on from the Control Center on iOS. If Apple follows past practice, macOS 10.12.4 with Night Shift will likely be released to the public in early spring. For now, the beta is available only to members of Apple’s developer program, though it is possible that a public beta may be released in the coming days.

Apple Releases iOS 10.3 Beta to Developers with ‘Find My AirPods’, File System Conversion, Miscellaneous Improvements

Find My AirPods in iOS 10.3.

Find My AirPods in iOS 10.3.

Apple seeded the first beta of its next major iOS update, iOS 10.3, to developers earlier today. Following updates that focused on photography and emoji, iOS 10.3 will bring a variety of enhancements and tweaks to system apps and services, although it appears to be lacking any meaningful (and highly anticipated) iPad improvements.

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Gamevice Launches New iPhone and iPad Game Controllers with Lightning Charging→

Nice announcements from Gamevice today: the company is rolling out updated MFi controllers across the entire line-up that are lighter, add Lightning charging, and have better analog sticks. Jordan Kahn, writing for 9to5Mac:

Today the company is introducing a new version of the controller specifically designed for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with a built-in headphone jack and a Lightning port for charging. It also has second-generation controllers launching today and later this month for iPads.

While the new headphone jack and Lightning port for charging are the standout features of the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus controller, the company notes that it also upgraded the thumb sticks and made the controller lighter by removing the battery and using the iPhone to draw power.

I’ve been using my original Gamevice for the iPhone 6s Plus (which also works with the 7 Plus) to play the majority of console-type games I have on my iPhone (I’m about to start a new playthrough of Final Fantasy VII and I’ve played a few Super Nintendo games with Provenance). I like the device a lot and Lightning charging seems like a convenient addition. I’m going to consider the second-generation version for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro whenever it becomes available in Italy, too.

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Pokémon Duel Release Expanded to the US and Other Countries→

The Pokémon Company has released another Pokémon game for the iPhone and iPad: Pokémon Duel. First released in Japan, Duel is now available in the US App Store and many other countries. Duel is a strategic board game the object of which is to maneuver your Pokémon to a goal in your opponent’s territory. According to The Pokémon Company:

Selecting the six Pokémon for your team is an important part of Pokémon Duel. Each Pokémon figure has different strengths and a set number of steps it can take, so you’ll have to plan your moves strategically. Send your Pokémon along different routes in a rush to the goal, or block your opponent’s Pokémon from advancing.

When you get next to one of your foe’s Pokémon along your route, you’ll need to engage in battle to advance. Battles are determined by Attacks on each Pokémon’s Data Disk—spin the disk to see which Attack each Pokémon will use.

Pokémon Duel is available on the App Store as a free download. The game includes an in-game shop to purchase items with gems, which are collected by playing the game, but which can also be bought with In-App Purchases.

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TextTool 2.0 Review

TextTool is a powerful text editor with an extensive catalog of built-in text transformations. Developer Craig Pearlman has rewritten the app from the ground up and released it as a new Universal app. With support for URL schemes, JavaScript, and an extension, TextTool’s flexibility has never been greater.

TextTool defies easy categorization. It’s a text editor, but not a place where text lives. You won’t find an archive of past text documents you’ve created. Instead, TextTool is a temporary place to write, edit, and manipulate text that ends up somewhere else.

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Apple Inc: A Pre-Mortem→

Dan M., writing on Medium about the state of Apple as a pre-mortem:

It is not easy to evaluate a company I love as if they have failed. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on Apple products, and devoted countless hours studying, admiring and defending the company. However, I started noticing too many uncharacteristic cracks, and I realised turning a blind eye would not help Apple.

I don’t agree with all of the assumptions and conclusions taken for granted in this piece. For all its problems (above all, a slow rollout of third-party domains), I wouldn’t call Siri “souped-up Voice Control”. I don’t feel comfortable with any third-party narrative around Apple’s leadership and internal conflicts inferred from the outside. And, I’m not sure rethinking watchOS and iOS around “contextual triggers” would be the best idea for the majority of customers who, unlike techies, just want to open their 5 most-used apps quickly. In general, it feels like there’s a disconnect between some of the realities painted in this story and how I see people in real life use Apple devices and software.

But, there is also a lot I agree with: the Apple TV analysis is pretty much spot-on, and Dan raises solid questions about Apple’s approach to services and how their privacy stance may prove problematic in the future. Besides personal opinions and experiences, this article outlines potential problems with today’s Apple fairly, and it’s worth reading and discussing.

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Snapchat Adds Universal Search, Shows Off New Design

Snapchat, Snap Inc. introduced two major features in version 10.0.0 today.

Frequent Snapchat users will immediately notice the new universal search menu at the top of each view, which provides quick access to existing contacts as well as a way to find other users. By adding a mix of Bitmoji and ghosts to the contacts section, Snapchat has added a design language that it previously lacked.

For chatting or adding new friends, the search feature is a great convenience. However, if you spend most of your time taking pictures and sending them to the same group of friends, the new search capabilities won’t get much use.

Snapchat has refreshed the design of its other sections with title cards with headlines too. The changes are small, but they clean up the app’s interface and provide a greater sense of where you are in the app. In addition to labelling each of the three sections, the title bars include shortcuts to search and your snapcode. Snapchat also has new animations that makes the app feel more unified.

In total, I think that the update is a win for Snapchat’s navigation, which has been a point of criticism in its previous iterations. Although there’s much more work to be done, it’s good to see Snap putting in work to make the app easier to use.

Version 10.0.0 is a free update for Snapchat in the App Store.

Slopes Skiing and Snowboarding App Adds Search

Slopes, by developer Curtis Herbert, is a skiing and snowboarding app that tracks your activity on the mountain. Like apps that track running and cycling activity, Slopes uses GPS to create maps of your runs, display real-time data while you ski or snowboard, track lifts, and compile detailed summary data that you can study after you finish a day’s activities. The app is full of nice touches like lift detection that automatically pauses data recording, and glanceable real-time statistics on the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Today, Slopes received an update that anyone who skis or snowboards a lot should appreciate. Version 2.5 of the app adds activity search. If you’ve logged hundreds of runs, you no longer have to scroll back through a long chronological history to find a particular trip. Now, you can search by several criteria including, resort name, city, state or province, and country. The update also improves integration with Apple’s Health app, enhances the design of resort maps, and includes several other smaller improvements and bug fixes.

I’m not a skier or snowboarder, so I haven’t tried Slopes on a mountainside myself. However, I did try the app with demo data to get a feel for it in action. As a stats-obsessed runner, I can see the appeal of Slopes to skiers and snowboarders. It makes tracking and logging data a breeze by minimizing the interaction needed to get started, which lets you enjoy yourself without fiddling with your iPhone or Apple Watch frequently. Then at the end of the day, you can sit back and study the breakdown of your activity to your heart’s content.

The core features of Slopes are free on the App Store, which makes trying Slopes on your next ski trip a no-brainer. You can unlock the ability to track additional detail about your skiing and snowboarding runs, daily timeline data, premium maps, and 3D interactive run replays by purchasing an in-app subscription for $19.99/year, $8.99/month, $4.99/week, or $1.99/day.

Game Day: Yuri

Yuri is a delightful hand-drawn platformer for iOS and macOS by Fingerlab that follows the adventures of Yuri, a small child who wakes up in a dreamlike world. You may recognize the Fingerlab name from one of its previous iOS releases, DM1 - The Drum Machine, an excellent music app for the iPad that won an Apple Design Award in 2012.

Yuri was conceived of by French brothers Ange and Aurélien Potier. Ange drew Yuri for over ten years as a comic strip and made short films featuring the character before he and three others built a game around Yuri. As a game, Yuri immediately reminded me of Limbo because of its monochromatic, dream-like art. According to Fingerlab, the game is also a tribute to comic adventures like Tintin by Hergé and Little Nemo by Winsor McCay, the influences of which shine through in the plot and artwork.

The whole package is tied together with incredible sound design. Right from the opening screen of the game, the sound of rain against Yuri’s window adds to the atmospherics. That, combined with an exceptional soundtrack that is available separately on iTunes, bring Yuri’s dream world to life.

The game itself is easy to play. Yuri wakes up lying in his bed surrounded by vegetation. On iOS, there are buttons with left and right facing arrows in the bottom left corner of the screen for moving forward and backward. In the lower righthand corner of the screen is a button with an upward-facing arrow for jumping. On the Mac, the left and right arrow keys are used to move forward and backward, and the spacebar makes Yuri jump.

When Yuri first gets up, his bed turns into a sort of scooter, which is how he navigates the strange world that surrounds him. The world is dark like Limbo but rendered in shades of blue that create a less foreboding atmosphere than Limbo. As you explore, there are birds and bugs everywhere, some of which are obstacles that will cause you to die if you run into them too many times. The consequences of dying in Yuri are minimal, though; you just restart close to where you left off, and try again. That makes the game less challenging than some but fits well with the theme of the game. Yuri is more about exploration than defeating enemies.

In all, there are ten levels to play in Yuri, and the developers say more are on the way. That isn’t very many levels, but each is detailed and longer than many games, so the level count is a bit deceiving. Moreover, the length of the game strikes me as reasonable in relationship to its price. The iOS version of Yuri is also available on the Apple TV, where its simple controls make it a delight to play.

Yuri drew me into its mysterious world immediately. It’s the kind of game I love to relax with because it’s as much about experiencing the story as it is a game. If you want to get lost in another world this weekend, Yuri is an excellent choice.

Yuri is available on the iOS App Store for $2.99 and the Mac App Store for $2.99.