Apple Introduces Changes to Podcasting→

Alongside the introduction of a revamped Podcasts app in iOS 11, Apple is making a few tweaks at the podcast feed level that will improve the way shows can be organized and displayed inside podcasting apps. Jason Snell shares the details on Six Colors:

New extensions to Apple’s podcast feed specification will allow podcasts to define individual seasons and explain whether an episode is a teaser, a full episode, or bonus content. These extensions will be read by the Podcast app and used to present a podcast in a richer way than the current, more linear, approach. (Since podcast feeds are just text, other podcast apps will be free to follow Apple’s lead and also alter how they display podcasts based on these tags.)

Users will be able to download full seasons, and the Podcasts app will know if a podcast is intended to be listened to in chronological order—“start at the first episode!”—or if it’s more timely, where the most recent episode is the most important.

As the world of podcasting has grown, there is now a more diverse selection of shows than ever before, leading to the need for more nuanced formatting of those shows. I appreciate how Apple is implementing these changes at a feed level so that third-party apps can take advantage of them as well.

The full array of podcasting changes, including a brief walkthrough of the redesigned Podcasts app in iOS 11, were first covered in a session from WWDC.

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Apple Reveals Its Focus on Self-Driving Vehicle Technology→

Apple’s famous reputation for secrecy continues to morph. While much of the company’s upcoming products remain shrouded in mystery – as evidenced by the numerous surprises at WWDC last week – other works in progress have voluntarily been thrust into the public eye. Alex Webb and Emily Chang report for Bloomberg on the latest big disclosure:

After years toiling away in secret on its car project, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has for the first time laid out exactly what the company is up to in the automotive market: It’s concentrating on self-driving technology.

“We’re focusing on autonomous systems,” Cook said in a June 5 interview on Bloomberg Television that amounted to his most detailed comments yet on Apple’s automotive plans. “It’s a core technology that we view as very important.” He likened the effort to “the mother of all AI projects,” saying it’s “probably one of the most difficult AI projects to work on.”

Apple’s car-related work has been a loosely kept secret to this point due to the various permits and regulatory approvals required to test self-driving vehicles on public roads, but that doesn’t make today’s news any less surprising. It’s one thing to announce a product six months out, or even a year or more out as happened recently with the Mac Pro, but publicly disclosing an entrance into a huge new market – potentially a long while before the product is ready to ship – is a different thing entirely.

Cook at least isn’t giving away the whole story yet. The end of the Bloomberg story notes:

Cook was hesitant to disclose whether Apple will ultimately manufacture its own car. “We’ll see where it takes us,” Cook said. “We’re not really saying from a product point of view what we will do.”

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tvOS 11 Will Add Automatic AirPod Pairing and Dark Mode Activation Plus Home Screen Syncing

The Apple TV’s stage time at WWDC was limited to an announcement by Tim Cook that Amazon Prime Video will introduce an app to Apple’s streaming television-connected box later this year. Although they didn’t receive stage time during Apple’s WWDC keynote, Zac Hall at 9to5Mac discovered that Apple’s first beta of tvOS 11 includes a handful of additional features that look like they could come in handy.

The first tvOS 11 beta includes automatic pairing of AirPods to Apple TVs. When you pair AirPods with an iPhone, the settings are currently propagated across other iOS devices and Macs that are signed into the same iCloud account. That means you only have to pair AirPods once and then you can easily connect with other devices and Macs. However, Apple TVs were left out of the original implementation of this feature, which required them to be manually paired each time someone wanted to use AirPods with an Apple TV. tvOS 11 promises to eliminate those extra pairing steps by automatically pairing with Apple TVs on the same iCloud account too.

The tvOS beta also includes Home screen syncing among multiple Apple TVs. If you own more than one Apple TVs and want a consistent experience across them all, turning on Home Screen Sync ensures that the same apps will be installed automatically on each and organized in the same way.

Finally, the tvOS 11 beta has a setting for automatically switching between light and dark mode based on the sunrise and sunset times where you live.

The tvOS 11 beta is currently for developers only but will be available as part of Apple’s public beta program soon.

Connected, Episode 145: LEGO for Shortcuts→

Live from San Jose, the trio talk about the news from a little event known as WWDC.

Last week’s Connected, recorded in person during WWDC, is all about Apple’s announcements and our reactions to pro updates for Macs and iPads. You can listen here.

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iOS 11 Drag and Drop on the iPhone→

Steven Troughton-Smith played around with the first beta of iOS 11 and discovered that inter-app drag and drop – one of the marquee features for iPad this year – could in theory be used on the iPhone as well.

At WWDC, Apple explained that the same drag and drop API that powers iPad apps can be used on the iPhone to move content inside the app you’re currently using. So while on the iPad we’re going to get a wide array of gestures to transfer content between different apps, on the iPhone drag and drop will be limited to rearranging content in the current app only.

I want inter-app drag and drop to come to the iPhone eventually (it’s such a better solution than extensions and share sheets), but I could see a couple of reasons why Apple might want to wait for now.

First, giving the iPad exclusive access to the functionality is a great marketing move as Apple “relaunches” the iPad line this year. But more importantly, while the iPad supports multi-hand drag and drop, the same system would be awkward, if not downright impossible, on the iPhone’s screen. And if I had to guess, I’d say that Apple would prefer iPhone drag and drop to work well with one-handed operations – which makes me wonder if the company is waiting for a future software solution (a Shelf, a spring-loaded virtual Home button, or a new Dock) to enable more powerful drag and drop on the iPhone.

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iOS 11 Will Not Support 32-bit Processors

It’s not unusual for older iOS devices to get left behind with the introduction of new versions of iOS. This year will be no different. With the anticipated release of iOS 11 this fall, Apple will end iOS support for the iPhone 5, 5c, and iPad 4, which are the last three iOS devices in Apple’s product lineup with 32-bit processors supported under iOS 10. That means iOS 11 will be compatible with the iPhone 5S and newer models, the 6th generation iPod Touch, the iPad mini 2 and newer, the 5th generation iPad and newer, and all iPad Pro models.

The latest change goes hand-in-hand with a compatibility alert added to iOS 10.3 that appears when 32-bit-only apps are launched. Apps that haven’t made the transition to a 64-bit architecture will no longer run under iOS 11. SensorTower, a mobile app analytics company, estimates the move could render approximately 187,000 apps unusable.

V for Wikipedia: A Reading Interface To Discover The World [Sponsor]

V for Wikipedia is a beautifully-designed reader for Wikipedia. The app, which has won awards for its design and was declared an Editors’ Choice by Apple, emphasizes typography and mapping to make exploring Wikipedia a delight.

V for Wikipedia features a four-tab interface with a search box that is always available at the top of the main interface. The first tab features the most popular Wikipedia articles in an attractive two column layout. There are also search history and bookmark tabs for easily finding recently browsed or saved articles.

But where V for Wikipedia really shines is its location tab. The app marks locations around you that have Wikipedia entries with colorful markers that have lines that gracefully curve to a row of articles that scrolls horizontally across the bottom of the screen. The design is attractive, but also functional, like an interactive travel guide or encyclopedia.

https://vimeo.com/188793327

Another highlight of V for Wikipedia is its attention to each article’s layout, imagery, and typography. From the signature map view, to the the careful design of the articles, V for Wikipedia transforms Wikipedia into a stylish reading experience that sets it apart from other Wikipedia readers. Chosen by Apple as one of the best apps of 2016, V for Wikipedia is the best choice for travelers, students, researchers, and anyone else who uses Wikipedia regularly.

V for Wikipedia is available on the App Store as a Universal app for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Learn more about V for Wikipedia here.

Our thanks to Raureif for sponsoring MacStories this week.

The 10.5” iPad Pro: Future-Proof

There’s something about the screen of the new 10.5” iPad Pro that feels immediately novel but quickly becomes normal, and something that seems obvious at first but reveals itself as a deeper change after a few days. As a heavy user of the 12.9” iPad Pro, I’ve been pleasantly deceived by this new iPad, and the more I think about it, the more I keep coming back to the display and the story behind its new form factor.

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