Normally US$4.99, Pixelmator Photo is free right now. It’s a photo editor that promises a full collection of nondestructive color adjustments, full support for RAW images, and machine learning that can improve your photos like a pro photographer. It’s an exclusive app for iPadOS. Here are some of the other features: Batch edit photos using the entire collection of editing tools available in the app; Enhance automatically takes care of all the subtle improvements that go into every great shot — white balance, exposure, shadow, and highlight detail — so you can focus on adding your own creative finishing touches; Presets for film emulation, vintage looks, and more.
Pixelmator makes great software. Sadly, this app won’t work on my iPad mini and isn’t available on the iPhone but, if you have a compatible iPad, it’s a no brainer to grab this app.
In theory, it could be the next Tesla to electrify a whole new demographic, one for which previous electric vehicles have held little to no appeal: the 20% of U.S. vehicle owners who drive pickups. But for the first time, Tesla may have missed the mark with its marketing, building a vehicle that is so self-consciously futuristic that it overshoots the target audience entirely.
…No one can accuse the Cybertruck of lacking machismo. It is absolutely enormous, for one thing. It looks like an unholy union of a Hummer, a DeLorean, and a post-apocalyptic armored vehicle.
To succeed, remember, the Cybertruck needs to appeal to people who weren’t Tesla buyers until now. And market research shows that full-size pickup owners don’t just make their decisions on the basis of performance; they also highly value tradition, and show some of the highest brand loyalty of any vehicle buyers. There is nothing remotely traditional about the Cybertruck.
The best comment I saw was from Twitter (paraphrasing): “The Cybertruck is a truck for Tesla fans. Tesla should have designed a Tesla for truck fans.” Musk’s boasting of pre-orders notwithstanding, this is a tough market to crack with a tough audience.
When it comes to ads about holiday travel, most skip past all the messy and frustrating bits, jumping instead right to the perfectly inviting family home waiting at the other end of the journey.
Apple takes a different—and far more realistic—approach in its 2019 holiday ad, “The Surprise.” Filmed in a real home (not a soundstage) and starring real sisters, the 3-minute spot tells the story of family’s visit to a grandfather who recently lost his wife.
This year’s ad is focused on the iPad, which plays a central role in the family’s holiday experience. But what begins as a convenient distraction becomes something far more powerful in the hands of the two young girls.
Apple is delaying the theatrical release of “The Banker,” originally set for Dec. 6 with assistance from Bleecker Street, insiders familiar with the company said.
It’s being delayed as the filmmakers review accusations of historical inaccuracy and sexual abuse at the hands of co-producer Bernard Garrett Jr. The film was also set to premiere on Apple TV Plus in January, which is also being postponed due to the theatrical release’s delay.
Pushing the theatrical release back even further and delaying the Apple TV+ launch means Apple couldn’t make arrangements with the accuser that would satisfy them. The film’s release may either be canceled entirely and put away forever or, more likely, released later next year after the publicity has died down.
Tesla’s Cybertruck unveiling last week was one for the ages. Aside from introducing a tank of a truck that looks like it belongs in a futuristic military movie filmed in the 80s, a demo meant to highlight the Cybertruck’s armored glass didn’t go exactly as planned. As you’ve likely seen by now, two of the truck’s windows shattered immediately on impact when Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen threw a metal sphere at them. The sphere didn’t make it into the truck, but it was embarrassing turn of events nonetheless.
Naturally, the failed demo elicited an avalanche of laughter and hilarious memes from folks online. But if we move beyond the comical aspect of the demo-gone-wrong, you might be curious as to what exactly went wrong.
Interestingly enough, Musk himself provided some insights about the shattered windows via Twitter.
I’m not a fan of Musk or that monstrosity of a so-called truck but I did feel bad for him. Having done many presentations I know how awful a failed demo can feel. But the explanation is interesting and, in hindsight, obvious.
Apple today announced that it will donate $1 to (RED) for every purchase made with Apple Pay on Apple.com, through the Apple Store app, or at an Apple Store worldwide through December 2, up to a total of $1 million.
Apple says 100 percent of all proceeds generated by (RED) partners goes to fund HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, as part of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Since 2006, Apple has raised over $220 million for (RED) through the sale of red-colored products and accessories.
Giving to a cause is noble but that “up to a total of $1 million” sticks in my craw a little bit. For a company worth north of a trillion dollars and one that will make billions of dollars from consumers this holiday season, a million dollars isn’t even a drop in the ocean of cash Apple has.
With the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the company set out to create a laptop that would satisfy user demand—and that’s a little different way of doing things for Apple.
With the prior 15-inch model, there was always a “Yeah, but…” With the 16-inch MacBook Pro that replaces it, there are fewer chances for users to say, “Yeah, but….” The new laptop is a great combination of usability and performance, and it fixes the biggest issues with its predecessor.
There’s not a lot for pros to dislike with this new machine. Also check out the Ars Technica review for even more details.
Unwrap amazing offers this Friday. Get an Apple Store Gift Card of up to $200 on select products during our four-day shopping event. Friday through Monday.
Apple has posted its “Black Friday” deals but, for the most part, everything they are offering is available for even cheaper elsewhere.
The music of Spirit of The West has been a part of my life since my early teens. The band’s lead singer and oft-time songwriter, John Mann, was a joyful beast on stage. I saw SOTW live on a number of occasions over the years. They were great, every time. John’s energetic rapport with the audience made sure of that.
Even though we knew it was coming, it’s still a sad day for us Spirit of The West fans. I first saw them back in college with my buddies Rich, Brad, Glen, and Karl at the old Railway Club here in Vancouver and they put on a hell of a show. I saw them many times afterward and always enjoyed Mann’s energy and exuberance.
It’s not often a songwriter writes about the pubs you hung out in on a regular basis – “The Crawl” was the ultimate anthem for us “good, old boys who come from the North Shore.” Or writes a song about the street you grew up on at your suggestion – check out “Gottingen Street.” I don’t know if their music is on Apple Music but here is their Spotify playlist.
At only 57, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease took him far too soon but he is finally “home for a rest.”
Masako Wakamiya obtained her first personal computer at age 58, just ahead of her retirement from a bank. Little did she know that she was beginning a journey that would make her the world’s oldest known iPhone app developer, at 81.
Now 84, Wakamiya calls herself an IT evangelist and encourages other seniors to use digital technology to enrich their lives. She writes books while spreading her message on the lecture circuit in Japan and abroad. Recently, she sat down with Nikkei to tell her story — from that first PC to talking shop with Apple CEO Tim Cook — and explain why we’re never too old to learn something new.
Ignore the (possibly mistranslated) headline, this is an article that, at the very least, reminds us that seniors have different needs, wants, and desires from technology than “young people” do and there is a market for developers to cater to them.
Thanks to BBEdit for sponsoring The Loop this week. Bare Bones Software, makers of BBEdit, is one of my favorite software companies — in fact, I’ve been using BBEdit for more than 20 years. BBEdit has been updated to version 13, and is available in the Mac App Store as a subscription! Same great features. Same user experience. You can subscribe in the Mac App Store or purchase perpetual licenses directly from Bare Bones Software. Also, you can still get great merch, including Classic and Rebus T-shirts, enamel pins, and more in their merch store!
Dave and I kicked off this week talking about cooking, but moved into how people are using GarageBand on iOS and Mac. We also discussed autocorrect on iOS and whether or not the AirPods Pro leave any room for competition.
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Came across a video on Twitter, a gif someone made of Steve Jobs talking about asking for help.
I did a bit of digging, found that the clip was from a documentary pulled together back in the day by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association.
Here are two clips from the documentary that really speak to me. They are very short and both worth watching.
At the core, both messages are about not being afraid to poke life, to try things. When I was young, I had a vision of writing a book on Mac programming. The information I needed just wasn’t available, everyone was just figuring it out by themselves, with clues in the still forming technical documentation from Apple.
I’d never written a book, but I did some detective work, found a publisher (Addison-Wesley) who published technical books, started making phone calls. After a lot of dead ends, I finally found a human being who could see what I saw, was willing to take a chance on me.
And that act changed my life. Watch the videos, great messages in both.
Last week I upgraded my iPhone from the Xs to the 11Pro and the sales person asked me if I wanted AppleCare+, I did and now you have the option of paying for it all up front or paying month to month. I said that I’d likely upgrade my phone again next year so it probably made more sense to go month to month. I told him I wish this would have been an option the last time, cause now I have a year left that I’ve already paid for. He said most people don’t know about this, but you can call Apple support and they’ll reimburse you for the remaining coverage. I just called and in less than 5 minutes, including the wait time to speak with someone, he processed my reimbursement for about $75. The only information I needed was the serial number of the phone I traded in which was on the box that I still had. There may be another way to find it if you don’t have your box, but in my case I was good.
Good to know. Surprised you have to make a call to make this happen.
If you plan to trade in your Apple product (you can trade in Macs too!), ask at the Apple Store if they can credit your unexpired AppleCare+. If you are successful, please do let me know. I’d like to verify this.
There have been a lot of reviews of the new 16″ MacBook Pro. This review by Dave Lee is a bit different, in my mind the perfect marriage of technical and practical, especially useful if you are looking at upgrading, considering which model to buy.
On November 17, Apple removed the “Ratings & Reviews” section from all product pages on the Apple website. It is currently unclear what has prompted this decision, nor when Apple will bring back the option to read the opinions of other customers at the time of purchase.
The article walks through the process that uncovered this change. Interesting read. But to see it for yourself, hop on the Apple Store and pick a product. No reviews.
According to new data from Sensor Tower, the top 1% of publishers globally accounted for a whopping 80% of the total 29.6 billion app downloads in the third quarter of 2019. That means just 20%, or 6 billion, downloads are left for the rest of the publishers.
This translates to:
This bottom 99%, which equates to roughly 784,080 publishers, averaged approximately 7,650 downloads each during the quarter.
That’s an average of 2,550 downloads a month. Hard to make a living as an indie dev.
On macOS, we’ve long been able to add words to the system’s built-in dictionary, so they don’t come up every time we run check spelling.
And:
But this ability simply doesn’t exist on iOS. We’re told that if you override autocorrect a couple of times, the system should remember your correction, but in my experience, that “feature” is hit or miss. It’s also incredibly opaque and annoying as a user experience: the only way to have something done right is to fight with the system? Multiple times? Bizarre.
I agree with Dan here. I wish iOS offered a straightforward way to teach the autocorrect mechanism, to definitely mark a word as spelled correctly, and as a word you’d like added to the database of spellings to suggest when typing.
As is, predictive text is, indeed, opaque. It is always learning, and leans on machine learning, which is based on mathematical modeling, regression, and probabilities. While you do have the nuclear option (Settings > General > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary), it’d be nice to be able to add to and edit your own private stash of words.
Software chief Craig Federighi and lieutenants including Stacey Lysik announced the changes at a recent internal “kickoff” meeting with the company’s software developers. The new approach calls for Apple’s development teams to ensure that test versions, known as “daily builds,” of future software updates disable unfinished or buggy features by default. Testers will then have the option to selectively enable those features, via a new internal process and settings menu dubbed Flags, allowing them to isolate the impact of each individual addition on the system.
And:
Prior to iOS 14’s development, some teams would add features every day that weren’t fully tested, while other teams would contribute changes weekly. “Daily builds were like a recipe with lots of cooks adding ingredients,” a person with knowledge of the process said.
Test software got so crammed with changes at different stages of development that the devices often became difficult to use. Because of this, some “testers would go days without a livable build, so they wouldn’t really have a handle on what’s working and not working,” the person said.
The proof will be in the pudding which, in this case, is iOS 14.
As Apple broke ground at its newest facility, in Texas, CEO Tim Cook said the company was proud to make its “most powerful computer ever” in the U.S., and opened up about having the president’s ear and navigating business in China amid political tripwires and an ongoing trade war.
Cook said he’s “proud” to build the new MacPro in America at the highly anticipated new Austin campus, though he admitted it’s unlikely iPhones ever will be produced in the U.S.
The quote I find most interesting is this one:
“I don’t believe in having people talk on my behalf…I don’t believe in lobbyists. I believe in direct conversation. I strongly believe in engagement. I hate polarization. I despise it.”
In a virtually unprecedented development, AFI Fest has been forced to make a last minute switch of their closing night film, The Banker which was scheduled to have its World Premiere in Hollywood Thursday night.
The Banker, which stars Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, and Nia Long is Apple’s first major film release, scheduled to hit theatres on December 6, and then Apple TV’s new streaming service early next year. I am told by sources within the company that those plans are now on hold while Apple takes a pause and investigates recently uncovered, and potentially damaging, charges that have surfaced from a family member of the Garretts. The reported allegations do not involve anyone depicted in the movie.
Here is Apple’s official statement on the AFI Fest cancellation:
“We purchased The Banker earlier this year as we were moved by the film’s entertaining and educational story about social change and financial literacy. Last week some concerns surrounding the film were brought to our attention. We, along with the filmmakers, need some time to look into these matters and determine the best next steps. In light of this, we are no longer premiering The Banker at AFI Fest,” the statement reads.
This could be hugely damaging to the film and might kill it altogether.
Today Apple has launched new versions of its Smart Battery Case for the latest iPhone models, the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, which are available to order now from the company’s website with November 25 delivery, which is the same date the case will be available in local stores.
Like previous editions of the Smart Battery Case, the case’s exterior is made of silicone. There are three color options for the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max case: Pink Sand, White, and Black. The standard 11 case, however, is only available in Soft White and Black. All different versions of the Smart Battery Case are available at the same price: $129.
Each version of the Smart Battery Case offers a quoted 50% longer battery life, making the already-excellent battery life of this year’s iPhones even better. They also all come with a new feature not available with any other previous case: a dedicated button for launching the camera, which sits on the lower-right side of the case.
For those of us who don’t want to spend the money, your iPhone (all versions) already have a “physical camera button” – the volume control buttons on your iPhone also work as a camera shutter. Watch out for fingers in the way of the lens though.
From the lunar surface of the moon to the precise recreation of the original Mission Control, the level of authenticity and attention to detail that brought For All Mankind to life is astounding. Hear from the Executive Producers and crew members regarding the incredible care and craft that went into building the sets, finding the real-life props and designing the wardrobes for this nostalgic, alternate history drama.
I’m a big fan of AltHistory stuff so I’m enjoying For All Mankind. It helps that it looks great with an interesting storyline and good acting.
Like I mentioned before, the problem began in August. So far I’ve tried every possible private communication channel before deciding to make this story public. It’s worth mentioning that I didn’t get any e-mail or call from Apple warning about any sort of action being taken against my developer account. Apple always says that “running to the press doesn’t help”. Unfortunately, they haven’t responded in any way, even when I tried reaching out through internal contacts that I have. So the only option I have left now is to “run to the press”.
I have to agree with Gruber on this one. If there is something wrong with his account, at least give him an explanation.
This is important stuff. If nothing else, when (and preferably before) you make the leap to Catalina, read the “summary recommendations” about a page down. The first two:
Before upgrading to Catalina, make one last backup (or two!), then turn Time Machine off.
Once you have upgraded, turn Time Machine back on but using a new backup set which won’t then be accessible from macOS 10.14.x or earlier.
I’m a big fan of getting things straight from the horse’s mouth wherever possible. In this case, here are the official questions from the House antitrust subcommittee (technically, the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, but who has time for that mouthful?) along with Apple’s official responses.
This is surprisingly easy to read, especially if you are a regular Mac/iOS user. It’s chockfull of interesting tidbits.
