Balance Is a Wallet For the World’s Currencies [Sponsor]

We are on the cusp of a financial revolution fueled by crypto-currencies and Balance makes it easy for everyone to get involved. You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, one of the earliest crypto-currencies, but there are others including Ethereum. Balance connects to the most popular crypto-currency exchanges like Coinbase along with traditional financial institutions bridging the gap between the old financial world and the new one.

Balance is a menu bar app for macOS that is available on the Mac App Store. The app connects with crypto-currency exchanges as well as traditional bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, and online services like PayPal using Plaid, a super-secure platform that works with financial institutions around the world.

When you set up accounts in Balance, the app automatically updates them periodically with new transactions, so you’re always up to date. You can click through the app’s tabs to view balances, transactions, notifications and gain insights about your spending. Soon, Balance will release an iOS version of their app too.

Balance is ready for the future. The current financial system is based on outdated, legacy software. Blockchains are the bedrock of a more secure and open system based on cryptocurrencies, but not many people are using them yet. Balance is poised to change that by becoming a single destination for traditional financial accounts and crypto-currency exchanges.

Balance has a great offer for MacStories readers who want to see what crypto-currencies are all about. Just go to bal.money/macstories and you’ll get $2 worth of Ether in a Coinbase account that you can link to Balance and track with its menu bar app. It’s a great way to see for yourself what the financial world’s future looks like.

Our thanks to Balance for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Canvas, Episode 45: Files and File Providers in iOS 11→

With iOS 11 released, apps are starting to receive updates to be compatible with features like the new Files app. In this episode, Fraser and Federico dig into what’s possible for cloud storage.

Speaking of Files, this week’s episode of Canvas is all about iOS 11’s new file manager and what third-party developers can build with file providers. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

  • Sanebox: Clean up your inbox in minutes. Sign up for a two-week free trial and a $20 credit.
Permalink

Connected, Episode 161: A Handbag? Face Cream? A Chain Saw?→

Files on iOS 11 is taking shape, and some problems are emerging. Federico gets sad listening to the others talk about their watches, then slowly disappears as Stephen talks about macOS High Sierra.

On this week’s episode of Connected, we covered some of the issues with the Files app in iOS 11, then Myke and Stephen went over their impressions of the new Apple Watch and Apple TV. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

Permalink

Critically Acclaimed Flower Debuts on iOS

Flower, by thatgamecompany, was released today on the App Store. The game, in which players direct flower petals by manipulating the wind, captured numerous awards and is part of the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent collection.

Flower was originally released in 2009 on Sony’s PlayStation 3. The game is designed to be a simple relaxing experience that’s accessible to anyone, not people who identify as gamers. On iOS, Flower takes advantage of iOS devices by incorporating tilt to control the petals as they float through the sky. If you missed Flower on Sony’s platforms, a big iPad Pro screen is the perfect place to give this classic a try. Of course, now I want Journey too.

Flower is available on the App Store.

Create a Real-World Masterpiece with Paint Space AR

One of my all-time favorite tech demos is Tilt Brush, a VR painting experience where you can create art in 3D on the HTC Vive. Immediately, you begin seeing the potential of VR artistry, allowing artists to utilize tools not available in the real world. By creating free-floating structures with unique brushes, Tilt Brush was my first exposure to what the future of digital art could look like.

Paint Space AR is Tilt Brush for the AR world, enabling you to create interesting pieces of art right where you are. With AR, though, Paint Space has a unique advantage: instead of having to create something in a simulated space, you’re able to paint on objects right in front of you.

Read more

Iovine, Lowe, and Jackson Talk Apple Music with Billboard→

Billboard spoke to executive Jimmy Iovine, creative director, Zane Lowe, and head of content, Larry Jackson, about the direction of the music industry and Apple’s roll in its future.

During the interview, Iovine revealed that Apple Music subscriptions have topped 30 million, which is up from the 27 million subscribers quoted during WWDC in June. That’s still materially behind the 60 million subscribers claimed by Spotify, which is planning to go public later this year.

Iovine’s reaction is that the state of streaming today is not enough, but he remains upbeat projecting his trademark enthusiasm in the interview:

“I believe we’re in the right place, we have the right people and the right attitude to not settle for what exists right now.” But ultimately? “Just because we’re adding millions of subscribers and the old catalog numbers are going up, that’s not the trick. That’s just not going to hold.”

The interview is light on specifics about what’s next for Apple Music and what it will take to move streaming forward, but it’s clear from Lowe’s response to how he thinks music streaming must change that the answer involves more than just the streaming music itself:

We need to put context and stories around music. The song itself is obviously the primary passion point – it’s a key that opens the door. But what’s inside the room that is going to make a fan a super fan? Music has become quicker, faster, and there’s more of it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create a story around something that is beautiful and that lives and breathes. 

Apple Music’s moves into video production, advertising, and similar areas, which are discussed during the interview, may provide a hint of what’s on the horizon. The goal of drawing listeners into the stories behind their favorite artists and music to help grow the audience feels a lot like a reimagining of what was attempted without much success with Apple Music Connect.

Permalink

Google Drive Now Supports iOS 11’s Files App

Following the lead of Dropbox last week, Google Drive’s iOS app has now been updated with full support for the new Files app in iOS 11. This means all Google Drive files can be accessed and managed alongside files from other cloud providers like iCloud Drive and Dropbox.

By replacing its legacy file extension with the new Files integration, Google Drive gains access to the full benefits of the Files app. You can now easily copy Google Drive files to or from other cloud services, organize files in a folder saved to the Favorites sidebar, add tags, use drag and drop to move files within the Files app or even into other apps, and much more.

Unfortunately, previews for Google Docs and Google Sheets files are not available within the Files app, so viewing them requires tapping the documents to load them in their respective separate apps. And oddly, every time you open one, the Google Drive app is opened first before you’re taken to the proper Docs or Sheets app – a seemingly unnecessary first step. Another drawback is that unlike the Files integration of Dropbox, Google Drive offers no ability whatsoever to manage file sharing from within Files – that will still require going through the full Google Drive app.

Shortcomings aside, the greatest benefits of Files support are still available with Google Drive: all your files are in one place, and drag and drop transforms the way you get files in and out of Google Drive.