Following a false start in September, Apple on Monday launched an expected “Spoken Editions” section on the iTunes Store, letting people hear audio versions of written content from online publishers.
The section currently includes articles from over 40 sources, such as Reuters, Wired, IGN, Jezebel, Playboy, and the Huffington Post. People can also access the material from Apple’s dedicated Podcasts app.
I like this idea, and could see myself subscribing to some Spoken Editions when it expands to other publications, particularly those in Australia. I listened to a few Spoken Edition articles, and whilst the recording quality was generally quite good, I was a little surprised to hear some obvious pronunciation errors and general reading mistakes which hadn’t been edited out.
The Spoken Editions are featured on the front page of the Podcasts section of the US iTunes Store, but they are also accessible via this link (which will also work even if you are outside the US).
Jim Dalrymple of The Loop was told by Apple that beginning today, Macs with automatic downloads turned on for the Mac App Store will auto-download updates of macOS Sierra. As Jim emphasizes though,
It’s important to note that this is not an automatic installer—this process will only download the update in the background, and then alert you that it is available to install. You can choose to install it when its convenient. You can also choose to ignore the update.
In addition, Sierra updates will not auto-download if your Mac doesn’t support the update or doesn’t have enough free storage.
Automatic OS updates make a lot of sense as a way to encourage adoption of the latest version of macOS and should help spread critical security updates more quickly. The change is not without its downsides though. For instance, updates can be large, which could be an issue for people with limited data plans as Stephen Hackett points out on 512 Pixels. Notwithstanding that sort of issue, I think the change strikes a good balance between automation and requiring intentional user interaction to update macOS, which should work well for most users.
Mophie introduced a new line of modular cases today with what it calls Hold Force technology. The system lets you pick a thin base case for your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus and add optional accessories like a 4000 mAh Powerstation battery or a credit card wallet. The accessories connect to the case with magnets.
A case with a removable parts that extend its utility is an interesting approach. With respect to the Powerstation, MacRumors says:
the Hold Force Powerstation Plus Mini can provide up to 12 hours of extra battery life for average smartphones, thanks to its integrated 4,000 mAh battery. The accessory’s basic charging system is focused on micro-USB, so an included Lightning adapter allows for support of recharging the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
I like the idea behind this modular design. I don’t generally use a case on my iPhone, but if I did, the ability to swap accessories depending on what I need on a particular day would be nice. I do wonder how well that lightning to Micro-USB dongle required for the Powerstation will hold up over time though.
Telegram received a significant update today that adds SiriKit support for sending messages and upgrades its bot platform. Both features will help keep Telegram closer in line with the features available in Apple’s own Messages app.
By integrating with Siri, messages can be sent with Telegram using commands like ‘Send Federico a Telegram message that says what’s the weather like in Rome today?’ Similar to Messages, Siri interprets your instructions and presents you with a draft message before sending it. In my tests, the feature worked to send messages to individuals, but I couldn’t send a message to The MacStories Lounge channel, which broadcasts messages to everyone who subscribes to that channel.
Starting a game in Telegram with a bot.
Telegram also updated its bot platform to support games made using HTML5. The iOS release notes for Telegram also suggest that the changes to bots could be used for other rich media experiences, but for now, Telegram has chosen to focus on games. According to Telegram’s blog:
The best part of the Telegram Gaming Platform is the competition across all your existing chats. We save high scores for every game played in every chat, and you can instantly check out how you and your friends are doing against each other. Every time there’s a new leader in the game, other playing members of the chat are notified that they need to step it up.
I took a quick look at a few of the thirty games available at launch from Gamee and they were fairly basic games, but it’s a good start, and it will be interesting to see what developers do with the new APIs.
So don’t ask if Depth Effect is perfect. A better question is if its failures are distracting. And I have certainly taken some test photos where they are. But the funny thing about test photos is that there’s often nothing worth photographing in them, so you just stare at the problems. In my own testing, whenever I’ve pointed Portrait Mode at something I actually care about, the results have been solid.
So back to the question of whether we should care about a fake blur applied in post to a telephone photo. When I tweeted the above shot, someone replied with a reasonable question: wouldn’t I love the photo just as much without the effect? I replied no, and added:
Composition matters, and focus is composition in depth.
One of my favorite games on SNES was Lemmings. Sticklings, by Austrian development house Djinnworks, is a clear evolution of the core elements of Lemmings, but with creative twists that make Sticklings an addictive casual puzzle game in its own right.
Stick figures emerge from a box at regular intervals. Your job is to maneuver them to a glowing portal. Each progressively harder level requires you to steer a certain number of stick figures into the portal before time runs out.
If you do nothing, stick figures will walk off the end of platforms, disappearing as they seemly melt into the background. To get the stick figures to their destination, each level has some combination of up to six tools that give your stick figures special abilities. You need to use abilities sparingly though, because Sticklings limits the number of each tool you get per level. Among other things, you can use stick figures as ‘blockers’ that reverse the course of figures that walk into them, for building staircases to clear obstacles, or for throwing bombs that blow up barriers.
Sticklings is striking. The first thing you’ll notice is the spare use of color. Each 3D puzzle is rendered almost entirely in grayscale and lit from above in a way that adds to the game’s dimensionality. Special segments of the platforms are in color as is the the box from which your stick figures emerge and the portal goal to which you steer them, but that’s about it. The effect gives the game a modern, abstract feeling that I like.
There are a couple things that bother me about Sticklings. The first is interstitial ads for Djinnworks’ other apps when you start the game and between levels. I don’t mind a link to other apps by a developer that I can choose to tap, but these appear full screen and require you to tap a tiny ‘x’ that doesn’t appear for a couple seconds, which is is too disruptive for my taste. I also don’t like that progress isn’t synced between devices, which is an all too common occurrence among iOS games.
That said, I like Sticklings for the Lemmings nostalgia factor, the visual aesthetic, and the challenging puzzles. A few of the games I’ve reviewed lately have been ones where you’ll want to set aside some time to play. Sticklings is perfect for killing time and boredom by playing a few levels here and there as time permits.
This week Fraser and Federico take a tour of iWork 3.0.
With the launch of iWork 3.0 alongside iOS 10, Fraser and I decided to explore the new features (including collaboration) and talk about the state of iWork in the latest episode of Canvas. You can listen here.
Sponsored by:
Pingdom: Start monitoring your websites and servers today. Use offer CANVAS for 20% off.
The underlying problem, as noted above, is that downloading the app has a fixed cost. We’ve always set that cost to be the standard price of our app, leaving us no way to charge less. But what if we take a fresh look at this problem, and make our downloads free? You know, like every iPhone app in the Top Grossing List has already done? It’s not that they don’t sell anything—or they wouldn’t be on that list. They just don’t sell the original download. (Which we’ve never done on our own store either.)
With the original download free, we can implement any pricing options we want to offer customers through In-App Purchases. We can offer our standard unlocks of Standard and Pro, of course. But we can also offer a free 2-week trial which unlocks all of the features of Pro and Standard, letting you freely choose between them. We can offer a discounted upgrade to the new Standard. And we can offer free upgrades to the new versions to any customers who recently purchased the old app.
Well, I’m pleased to share that that’s exactly what we’re going to do—starting next month, with the App Store edition of OmniGraffle 7.
You don’t get a better sign of the times than this. The Omni Group was the poster child of finding success on the iOS App Store with paid upfront pro software priced like desktop apps. But as Case argues, most apps in the Top Grossing charts have switched to a “free with In-App Purchases” model. That seems to be the clear path forward for developers who want to build sustainable software while also ensuring users can properly test their apps and take advantage of discounted upgrades.
It doesn’t surprise me that The Omni Group – unlike other developers who keep hoping Apple retrofits the App Store for purchase mechanisms of a decade ago – went ahead and took a fresh approach to figure this out. The new policy isn’t limited to the upcoming OmniGraffle 7: every Omni app for Mac and iOS will move to a free download with one-time In-App Purchases to buy the full feature set.
Omni’s solution seems elegant and straightforward. The apps are free to download and they can be used as viewers when unlicensed; the free trial is an In-App Purchase set at Tier 0 that counts down 14 days; the full apps are unlocked with Standard and Pro levels of In-App Purchases. The only negative aspect I can think of is that In-App Purchases aren’t available to Family Sharing, but that’s on Apple to fix.
If Omni’s approach works well in practice (and I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t), I can see a lot of developers following their model.
Apple released another advertisement in its ‘practically magic’ series, focusing on the new effects that can be used with Messages. ‘Balloons’ begins with a single red balloon floating out the window of a house. The balloon travels across landscapes, through forests, swamps, and across a large body of water. Eventually, it’s joined by a second balloon under a rusted structure.
When the camera pulls back, it becomes apparent that the balloons are in Chicago. As the camera follows the balloons, they pass by several Chicago landmarks, including an ‘L’ train, the Chicago Board of Trade, and finally, the Chicago River near the Wrigley Building.
The scene cuts to an office where a woman is working. Balloons begin to blow into an open window as she receives an iMessage wishing her a happy birthday, which is sent with Messages’ new balloons effect, echoing the scene surrounding her. The spot ends with the camera pulling back to a wide angle view of millions of balloons rising among Chicago’s skyscrapers, including the Willis (née Sears) Tower with the tag line ‘expressive messages on iPhone 7.’
Previous spots have focused on iPhone 7 hardware features like its water resistance and camera. This is the first ad since iOS 10 was released that focuses solely on a new feature of iOS.
