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How Does the iPhone 6s Camera Compare to Every Other iPhone Generation?→

In the past eight years, each new advancement in iPhone camera technology has made dramatic improvements to image quality. The new 12-megapixel iPhone 6s iSight camera is no exception. With 50% more megapixels than the last four iPhone 8-megapixel models, the iPhone 6s boasts a number of key improvements including: improved auto-focus, local tone-mapping, noise reduction, and colour separation, with that fancy “deep trench isolation” technology Apple is raving about.

In this follow-up post to my previous iPhone comparisons, I present a 9 iPhone comparison from all iPhone versions taken with Camera+ including: the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and the new iPhone 6s, in a variety of real-life situations to test each iPhone camera’s capabilities.

Lisa Bettany’s annual iPhone camera comparison is always well worth a read. Make sure to tap on the examples for more details, and check out Lisa’s explanation of the photos.

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Bartender 2 Arrives with New Features and Full El Capitan Compatibility

Version 2 of Bartender is now available. If you have been running the El Capitan betas, you know that version 1 required you to temporarily disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) in order to install its system file. Version 2 does not need you to perform those steps. It is fully El Capitan-compatible right “out of the box.”

Other version 2 changes include:

  • With Bartender 2 you can now keyboard navigate all menu items both in the menu bar and the Bartender Bar, simply arrow through them and press return to select.
  • You can now search the Bartender Bar for menu items, allowing you quick access to a menu item without looking for it. Simply display the Bartender Bar and start typing, then press enter to select the menu item.
  • A key part of Bartender 2 has been rewriting the internals to enable new features and to allow Bartender to work with System Integrity Protection in OS X El Capitan. As always we continue to improve Bartender’s performance and reduce energy usage.
  • If you want a really clean look and privacy, Bartender’s own icon can also be hidden.

I’m not sure if that last one is new, but it’s new to me. With Bartender’s menu bar item hidden, you can still access the app using a keyboard shortcut. Then, just keep typing the name of the menu bar item you are looking for, or navigate with the arrows. That’s pretty cool.

This is a great update which brings some great new features. Dealing with SIP was a big hurdle, but I’m glad to have a fully armed and operational Bartender back on my Mac.

There’s a free, four week trial available from the Bartender website. After that it’s $15 for new customers, or $7.50 to upgrade.

My advice? Just buy it now.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Opening Weekend Sales Hit a Record 13 Million

Apple announced this morning that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has sold more than 13 million units over its opening weekend. The new iPhone went on sale last Friday in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the UK.

“Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Customers’ feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos, and we can’t wait to bring iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to customers in even more countries on October 9.”

13 million units sold over the opening weekend is a new record for iPhone sales. Last year Apple sold 10 million units of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, whilst in 2013 Apple sold 9 million units of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. In fact, Apple has consistently beaten their opening weekend iPhone sales every single year.

Second Wave of iPhone 6s Launch Countries Announced

Apple also announced today that the second wave of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus launch countries will get the device on October 9 and 10. Over those two days, the new iPhones will launch in 42 countries in this second wave, including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan.

The full list of countries:

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will roll out worldwide to more than 40 additional countries and territories beginning October 9 including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan. On October 10, countries include Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

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What If You Used iOS 9’s Low Power Mode All the Time?→

Matt Birchler has asked the question I imagined many would come to ask after the launch of iOS 9:

One of my favorite new features of Apple’s iOS 9 is Low Power Mode. This feature is designed to kick in when you reach 20% battery remaining, and give you a little more time before you have to race to a charger. And while most iOS 9 reviews covered this mode briefly and determined it worked as advertised, I wondered what would happen if you used Low Power Mode all the time. I was surprised that no reviewer seems to have done this, so I took it upon myself to give it a try. I don’t have any standardized battery tests that I can do, so I simply spent the last 2 weeks alternating between using Low Power Mode all day, and not using it at all and comparing the differences. My findings are rather remarkable.

As I explained, I advise against leaving Low Power Mode enabled all the time because it’ll alter your iPhone experience across system apps and third-party ones. Still, fascinating findings with impressive results.

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Live Photos and Capturing Memories→

Great take by MG Siegler on Live Photos:

You know the scene in almost every movie where a person is looking at an old picture of a loved one when suddenly it triggers their memory of the moment and we’re taken back to a live version of the scene? In a small way, that’s Live Photos. It’s hard to see right now because these iPhones with the functionality are brand new and so the memories are still fresh in our heads. But just imagine what these Live Photos will be like when you look at them in a year? Or ten years? They’ll be memories, captured in time.

See also: Jeremy Olson on capturing moments of a child’s life with Live Photos.

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Office Apps for iPad Pro to Require Office 365 Subscription→

Writing for Ars Technica, Peter Bright reports that the iPad Pro version of Office for iOS won’t offer the same free tier available for smaller iPads, which was later confirmed by Microsoft to the publication.

The Office apps on the current iPads offer both viewing and editing documents for free. A handful of features require Office 365 subscriptions, available as in-app purchases, but the core editing capabilities are all zero cost.

Install those same apps on the iPad Pro once it arrives in November, however, and all those editing features will go away. Office on the iPad Pro will require an Office 365 subscription for any and all editing.

This is part of Microsoft’s “cut-off” policy that identifies devices above 10.1 inches as computers that are too big to get the Office apps for free. I’m curious to see how they’ll handle this in the same app for multiple iPads.

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Apple Redesigns iTunes Connect→

Busy week for Apple’s developer team: following issues with XcodeGhost, App Slicing, and delays in processing app builds for third-party developers, the company has rolled out a brand new iTunes Connect.

As an app reviewer, the most notable change seems to be scheduled app releases that are automatically released to the App Store after App Review but no earlier than a specific date and time. If this works well with propagation on Apple’s servers (and that’s a big if), it could be a solution to the common dilemma of developers setting embargo times for their app launches. If I’m understanding this correctly, developers wouldn’t have to manually hold an app for release and push it live to the App Store and then wait for propagation – they’d just submit it for review (as usual) and pick the release time from iTunes Connect beforehand. I’m curious to see how this works in practice with iTunes’ servers.

A tour of what’s changed in iTunes Connect (and it sounds like a lot has changed) is available here.

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Fantastical 2.1 for Mac and Plans for iOS 9 & watchOS 2→

Flexibits released version 2.1 of Fantastical for Mac earlier today, adding full support for El Capitan and addressing some of the most common feature requests. These include the ability to scroll to specific days with the trackpad in Week and Month views, copy and paste for events and reminders, and new text size options.

In the same blog post announcing the update, Flexibits has also shared some details on the upcoming updates to Fantastical for iOS 9 and watchOS 2:

Fantastical 2.5 for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch are receiving their final changes and bug fixes. We’re almost there and we hope to have everything sent to Apple within the next week. Of course we’re talking about software, so this could slip based on what we’re able to accomplish in the next few days. But rest assured that they’re coming very soon.

We’re most excited about our 2.5 update for iPad update which brings support for iOS 9’s iPad multitasking, including Slide Over and Split View. It was a lot of work to implement, but we’re excited about the future of iPad productivity and 2.5 will make it even easier for you to be productive.

…and last but not least, for those of you who have been asking: Yes! Fantastical 2.5 for iPhone will include Complications for Apple Watch!

Can’t wait.

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Shut Up Is an iOS 9 Content Blocker to Hide Comments on the Web

Developed by Ricky Romero and based on Steven Frank’s popular Shutup.css, Shut Up is an iOS 9 Content Blocker that hides comments on the web.

We’ve all been there: you’re reading a great article on one of your favorite blogs, you scroll down…and you wish you didn’t. Most comment sections can be an unregulated, nasty place on the Internet, and what Shut Up aims to do is to provide a system-level blocking solution that will try to hide comments in Safari and Safari View Controller. This will allow you to browse and read without fearing for your intellectual safety when reaching the bottom of webpages – not to mention gains in performance and readability when the browser doesn’t have to load comment sections.

I’ve been testing Shut Up for iOS 9 over the summer, and it’s the Content Blocker I prefer for hiding comments. What I like about Shut Up is that, besides being based on Frank’s stylesheet and working well for the websites I visit, it offers a whitelist to specify websites where you do want to see comments – either because they usually have great conversations, or because they’re meant to be read as “comments” (such as Facebook or Reddit threads). Shut Up comes with a built-in list of allowed sites, and it also detects URLs in your clipboard when you open the app, letting you easily whitelist its domain.

Given the removal of Peace (which also licensed Shutup.css) from the App Store last week, I recommend giving Shut Up a try. It’s free on the App Store.