Apple Releases OS X 10.10.3: Photos App, 300 New Emojis, Spotlight Look Up, And Bug Fixes, by Mike Beasley, 9to5Mac
Apple has just released OS X 10.10.3 to the general public. The upgrade to the operating system, which has been in beta since March, includes the all-new Photos app that was introduced alongside Yosemite last year. It also includes over 300 new emoji, including multiple races and designs for some icons, a revamped “look up” panel, networking and wireless improvements, and more.
iOS 8.3 Triggers An Avalanche Of Improvements, by Josh Centers, TidBITS
Apple has updated iOS to version 8.3, and while the 200–300 MB update doesn’t bring any major new features, it offers a massive list of bug fixes and performance improvements, by far the most of any update to iOS 8 so far.
Apple Releases Xcode 6.3 With New iOS And OS X SDKs, Swift 1.2, by Dan Throp-Lancaster, iMore
If you're a developer looking to snag Xcode 6.3, you can grab the hefty 2.5GB update from the Mac App Store now.
Review: Photos For OS X Takes The Stress Out Of Photo Management, by Serenity Caldwell, iMore
After years of iPhoto's bloat, ever-increasing iPhone photo management issues, and random folders of images scattered within my computers, Photos for OS X is a breath of fresh air. It's speedy. It's smart. It syncs with my other computers and iOS devices. The app has eliminated the cruft of iPhoto without taking away its magic and accessibility to beginners, and iCloud Photo Library offers a photo management revolution for those who have previously found themselves siloed on each individual device.
It's not perfect. Faces is still disappointing in its facial recognition. Duplicate photo recognition only happens during import; there's no way to trigger a "find duplicates" command in your library at will. (If you have iCloud Photo Library enabled, it theoretically performs automatic duplicate merging every time your device connects to iCloud, but those who have chosen not to enable it are out of luck.) And search, although promising, could use work.
Review: Photos For OS X Is Faster Than iPhoto But Less Powerful Than Aperture, by Jeff Carlson, Macworld
If you’re coming from iPhoto, Photos is definitely a step up. It’s fast, it has improved editing tools, and even the loss of star ratings can be worked around (though I’d like to see them return).
If you’re a longtime Aperture user, Photos is definitely a step back. Or rather, it’s the clear signal that says it’s time to look for other professional photo pastures. I can’t recommend Photos as a full-time replacement, although I can envision situations where it would work alongside Aperture, such as creating small libraries for sharing with clients who don’t own Aperture (both iPhoto and Aperture can open a library after it’s been converted, but edits don’t sync).
How To Use Photos For OS X: The Ultimate Guide, by Rene Ritchie, iMore
With Photos for OS X, all the pictures and videos you've taken on your iPhone or iPad, or imported into iPhoto or Aperture, will always be available to you on any of your Macs, as will any future pictures and videos you take or import, including your DSLR images, even in RAW. Add to that automatic, intelligent grouping based on time and place, and face detection, non-destructive editing, and the ability to order prints, books, and more, and Photos for OS X makes for the ultimate picture and video app for the mainstream. And here's your ultimate guide to setting up and using it.
What the Apple Watch Does Best: Make You Look Good, by Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal
After over a week of living with Apple’s latest gadget on my wrist, I realized the company isn’t just selling some wrist-worn computer, it’s selling good looks and coolness, with some bonus computer features. Too many features that are too hard to find, if you ask me.
Like many Apple products of the past decade, the watch is a status symbol, a sign of wealth and taste. But unlike a MacBook or an iPhone, this Apple product works to help you look—and feel—good.
My Week With The Apple Watch, by Marissa Stephenson, Men's Journal
If I tried to lean over my desk, half-standing, to keep working at my computer, the Watch would call bullshit, and mark that hour as inactive. Within a day, I started to anticipate these double-tap notifications, and would go grab a drink or walk around the office to beat the 50-minute warning. I ended the week only missing my stand goal once, but it made me realize that, all those days pre-Watch, I’d been sitting uninterrupted for hours. With the insidious health horrors that we now know about continuous sitting, this feature seems clutch for anyone, and particularly office workers.
Also:
The Watch racks up Exercise minutes if you do anything above a brisk walk [...] That includes sex.
Apple Watch: A Nine-Day Road Test, by Nicole Phelps, Style.com
The fashion world has witnessed a few launches in this category lately. Opening Ceremony partnered with Intel, and Rebecca Minkoff launched wearable tech jewelry on her Spring 2015 runway. Being first to market means something to somebody, I suppose, but had they seen the Apple Watch they might not have bothered in the first place.
This is what you sound like when refusing to address technical debt. #programming pic.twitter.com/LiOOMYGDwh
— Dare Obasanjo (@Carnage4Life) April 7, 2015The video of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in South Carolina is seen by some advocates of police reform as evidence of the rising power of technological weapons in their fight.
That includes the smartphone camera, and with it, a growing number of apps produced by activists that streamline the process of capturing and broadcasting videos of police interacting with citizens.
Apple started allowing local businesses to add or manage their listing in Apple Maps back in October of last year, but this had to be done through the Maps Connect web service. As of today, it can be done directly through the Apple Maps app on an iOS device running the latest iOS 8.3.
Scratch that; I'm not buying an Apple Watch until you can insert a tiny floppy disk into its side pic.twitter.com/GdXAntfMJS
— Benj Edwards (@benjedwards) April 8, 2015The one thing that makes an Ikea trip tolerable is the prospect of eating some salty, fatty, I-don’t-give-a-shit food at some point during the ordeal.
Remember when browsers didn't have tabs? How did we even live?
— Aram Sinnreich (@aram) April 9, 2015Thanks for reading.