Alto’s Odyssey Trailer and Release Date Announced→

Today on their blog, to commemorate the second anniversary of Alto’s Adventure, Snowman published the first trailer for the game’s sequel, Alto’s Odyssey. They also revealed that the game will launch this summer.

From the brief glimpse of gameplay in the trailer, the game appears very similar to its predecessor, with the most significant visible change being the setting: Alto’s Odyssey takes place in the desert.

Today’s news follows last week’s announcement that another of Snowman’s upcoming titles, Where Cards Fall, will launch this fall. We now know that Alto’s Odyssey will precede that game’s release.

As part of celebrating Alto’s Adventure’s anniversary, Snowman has put the game on sale for a short time. It is now available on the App Store for $1.99, down from its regular $4.99 price.

Permalink

The State of iBooks in Early 2017→

Michael E. Cohen, writing for TidBITS:

iBooks is not quite as unreliable and confusing as it was when I wrote about it last year, but neither has it improved nearly as much as loyal iBooks users deserve. Moreover, what little support documentation Apple provides is sketchy and inaccurate, leaving the impression that even the support and documentation departments within Apple are ignoring iBooks.

Cohen’s library may be an edge case with over 700 titles, but the problems he mentions are basic usability issues that should get fixed.

Permalink

Game Day: Causality

There is a certain amount of ‘trust me, just play this game’ involved with recommending Causality by UK-based Loju because it’s such a brain-meltingly complex puzzle game that it’s hard to explain in writing. In many respects, this game has to be experienced to understand it.

Causality blends time manipulation with a familiar grid-based puzzle game in a way that transcends other games in the puzzle genre. The result is a fresh, compelling game that stands out from the pack.

Read more

Apple Launches New ‘We Hear You’ iPad Pro Ad Campaign

Apple released four 15-second commercials each promoting different features of the iPad Pro. All four open with an actor holding up a large image of a tweet. ‘Better Than a Computer’ opens with the snarky tweet: ‘An iPad Pro is not even close to being a computer.’ The narrator agrees explaining that it’s not a computer because it’s faster, has LTE, and a touchscreen you can write on, concluding that the tweeter is ‘kinda right.’

‘Don’t Hunt for WiFi’ features a young woman stuck studying at a gym because her home WiFi is slow. The narrator explains that with LTE, that’s not a problem for the iPad Pro.

‘Do More with Word’ answers the question ‘Is Word on the iPad?’ The narrator shows how to download Microsoft Word and highlights its Apple Pencil integration.

The final spot called ‘No PC Viruses’ highlights the fact that the iPad Pro doesn’t suffer from PC viruses in response to a woman who complains on Twitter that her PC is infected.

What’s best of all about these spots is that the tweets are real. For example,

You can watch all four videos after the break:

Read more

Omni Group Automation→

New website dedicated to The Omni Group’s upcoming automation features in their apps, created by Sal Soghoian:

By default, all of the macOS versions of the Omni applications offer robust integrated AppleScript and JavaScript (JXA) support for Apple Events scripting on the Mac. These excellent automation tools will continued to be integrated into every macOS version of Omni software.

And in addition, the Omni Group now offers integrated cross-platform JavaScript support for both the iOS and macOS versions of their popular productivity applications. Finally, the power of automation is available regardless of whether you use Omni tools on mobile devices, laptops, or desktops.

As for the technology itself:

OmniJS, the name for Omni’s new version of the JavaScript language, is based on JavaScript Core, the foundation of the JavaScript implementation in WebKit. Using OmniJS, the Omni Group suite of applications will be able to be queried and controlled on both iOS and macOS in ways similar to how they are automated today using the traditional macOS Apple Event-based scripts.

What’s most impressive is that The Omni Group is bringing all of these automation features to iOS as well – it’s not limited to the Mac. Watch the OmniGraffle videos recorded by Sal to get an idea of the functionality automation will unlock. I’m genuinely excited about all this.

Permalink

Canvas, Episode 29: Workflow – Magic Variables→

In this episode, Fraser and Federico update the Workflow series for the major new feature that debuted in Workflow 1.7 - Magic Variables.

On the latest episode of Canvas, we decided to release an extra show for our Workflow series all about Magic Variables and why they’re a fundamental change to the app. You can listen here.

If you haven’t listened to the previous episodes of the Workflow series yet, now’s a great time to catch up.

Sponsored by:

Permalink

Take to the Course with OK Golf

I’ve never had much interest in real golf, a sport that requires more money, patience, and dedication than I will allocate to anything besides my significant other and Apple products. I have to admit, though, that I’m a sucker for anything on the videogame golf spectrum, from the ultra-simplistic Desert Golfing to Wii Sports’ golf.

Much of what I enjoy about golf videogames appears in OK Golf, a zen, bite-sized take on the genre. It’s no mini-golf simulator, though, and its distinction will leave you immersed in a tiny world of varying terrain and challenging gameplay.

Read more

Release Details Unveiled for Where Cards Fall, a Game from the Publishers of Alto’s Adventure→

Where Cards Fall is the newest title coming from Snowman, publishers of the beloved Alto’s Adventure. Today the company announced a fall 2017 release date for the game and confirmed its release platforms: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and PC.

Snowman also shared a new trailer today that contains the most revealing look at the game so far.

A blog post from Snowman breaks down the trailer and provides additional details about the core of the game:

In Where Cards Fall, you’ll build houses of cards to form and shape the world around you. These houses not only help you move through imaginative puzzles, but also bring to life vivid memories of adolescence.

This particular memory [from the trailer] is of teenagehood in the suburbs. Filled with far more cacophonous uncertainty than the playful magic of the forests, the suburbs are home to a crucial question: who will you become? Would you rather remain comfortable at home, or venture into the world outside?

At its core, Where Cards Fall is an exploration [of] these questions, and a look at the way our most fragile memories of the past can become the strongest foundations of our future.

On the heels of the success Snowman found with Alto’s Adventure, it’s exciting to see the company continue to push themselves to explore new and unique ideas in their next game. Where Cards Fall looks like it will be a highlight of the gaming scene when it hits later this year.

Permalink