Apple Park Slated to Open in April

Apple announced this morning that Apple Park, its 2.8 million square foot, 178 acre campus that will house 12,000 employees will open in April. The process of moving so many people to Apple Park is anticipated to take around 6 months. In addition, work will continue on portions of the building and grounds throughout the summer.

Apple Park includes several notable features including:

  • the world’s largest curved glass panels;
  • a 1000-seat auditorium with a 20-foot tall, 165 foot diameter glass cylinder entrance with a metallic carbon-fiber roof;
  • a 100,000 square-foot employee fitness center;
  • over 2 miles of walking and jogging trails;
  • over 9,000 native and drought-resistant trees;
  • a 17-megawatt rooftop solar facility that will supply all of Apple Park’s power needs; and
  • a visitor’s center with an Apple Store and café.
Steve Jobs Theater

Steve Jobs Theater

The theater, which is one of the new facility’s marquee features, is named the Steve Jobs Theater in honor of Jobs who would have turned 62 this week. Tim Cook had this to say about Apple Park and Steve Jobs’ legacy:

Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come. The workspaces and parklands are designed to inspire our team as well as benefit the environment. We’ve achieved the most energy-efficient building of its kind in the world and the campus will run entirely on renewable energy.

Lauren Powell Jobs commented that:

Steve was exhilarated, and inspired, by the California landscape, by its light and its expansiveness. It was his favorite setting for thought. Apple Park captures his spirit uncannily well. He would have flourished, as the people of Apple surely will, on this luminously designed campus.

Apple’s press release is accompanied by a short video of workers putting the finishing touches on Apple Park, which provides a sense of the scope of this enormous project.

Apple Park up close.

Apple Park up close.

Pad & Quill Introduces a Leather Grip for the Apple Pencil

Apple device accessory maker Pad & Quill debuted the Leather Apple Pencil Grip that does more than just help you grip your Pencil. The grip, which is made of American full-grain leather, comes in three colors: Whiskey, Chestnut, and Galloper Black (think brown, dark brown, and black) and features a ‘hand finished baseball stitch closure’ that uses parachute-grade nylon stitching.

Pad & Quill’s accessory consists of two pieces. The first is the grip part, which slides over the barrel of the Apple Pencil near the point. The second sits near the top of the Apple Pencil and incorporates a clip and tethered holder for the cap. So, in addition to presumably making the Apple Pencil more comfortable to grip, the top portion of the grip lets you clip your Apple Pencil to a pocket or notebook and should keep it from rolling off tables. Also, the leash means the cap will stay nearby when you are charging the Apple Pencil, making it harder to lose.

Pad & Quill’s leather grip aims to solve three of the most common complaints I’ve heard about the Apple Pencil. If you find the Apple Pencil uncomfortable to grip, don’t like how it is prone to rolling off tables, or worry about losing the cap, Pad & Quill’s Leather Apple Pencil Grip is worth considering. The grip is available for pre-order only from Pad & Quill for $49.95.

Connected, Episode 130: San Frosé→

This week, Stephen and Myke talk about the whirlwind of iPhone rumors and where they keep their data before Myke is joined by a special guest.

I couldn’t join Myke and Stephen on Connected this week, but I enjoyed listening to iPhone rumors and the very special guest in the second half of the show. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

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Overcast 3.0: iOS 10 Features, UI Changes, Easy Queuing, and an Interview with Marco Arment

Overcast, Marco Arment’s popular podcast app for iOS, is defined by an interesting dualism: its essence has remained remarkably consistent with the original version released three years ago; at the same time, Arment has periodically revisited Overcast’s design, features, and business model to build a superior listening environment for a larger audience.

The same judicious iteration permeates Overcast 3.0, launching today on the App Store. With improvements to episode management, visual changes aimed at modernizing the interface, and an evolution of the existing subscription-based model, Overcast 3.0 is another thoughtful combination of new ideas and old tropes, which converge in a refreshed yet instinctively familiar listening experience.

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iOS 10.3 Beta Adds ‘App Compatibility’ Screen Listing Old 32-Bit Apps→

In addition to a new warning displayed upon launching an old 32-bit app for the first time, it appears that iOS 10.3 will also include a Settings page listing legacy apps that “will not work with future versions of iOS”.

Juli Clover, writing for MacRumors on the latest iOS 10.3 beta released earlier today:

In the Settings app, there’s a new “App Compatibility” section that lists apps that may not work with a future version of iOS. Tapping on one of the apps opens it up in the App Store so you can see when it was last updated. As has been discovered in previous betas, opening one of these apps on your iOS device pops up a warning with a similar non-compatible statement. App Compatibility can be accessed by opening the Settings app and choosing General –> About. From there, scroll down to “Applications” and tap it.

It’s not clear whether these warnings will make it into the final release of iOS 10.3, but they’re a strong sign that developers should prepare for stricter 64-bit requirements in iOS 11.

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Life’s Too Short to Waste It on “Busy Work”. Get More Done with Daylite [Sponsor]

This week, MacStories is sponsored by Marketcircle, makers of Daylite.

Daylite was designed as a business productivity app, but it’s called many things by customers around the globe that use it.

For some businesses, Daylite is their CRM or customer service tool that helps them keep in touch with clients and remember every detail about their customers. For others, Daylite is their Project Management app that helps them track projects and share tasks within their team. Daylite has even been called a “5th sales person” and a “virtual assistant” because it helps businesses do everything short of making their coffee.

If you’re in a design studio, legal practice, real estate firm, or other small business and need a better way to manage your clients and day-to-day chaos, give Daylite a try. It will help you streamline your business and get more done.

Try Daylite for free for 30 days starting today.

Our thanks to Marketcircle for sponsoring MacStories this week.

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.

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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.

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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.

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