Today Apple released iOS 11.4, likely the final major release for the operating system before its successor, iOS 12, reaches the public in September. The update includes two major features that were originally revealed last June as iOS 11 features, but were later delayed: AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud.
There’s a lot there, but it essentially boils down to two things: making your messages sync better across all your devices (old or new) and letting your messages and their associated attachments and photos take up less space on your device.
Apple announced that HomePod will launch in Canada, France, and Germany on June 18th. In preparation for that, today’s update for the device enables language support for Canadian English, French, and German.
Apple TV connected speakers become AirPlay 2 speakers as well. This means you can tell Siri to play music or podcasts on Apple TV in a specific room from Siri on an iPhone, iPad, or HomePod when running the latest software version.
There are no new functional differences to be found in the Events tvOS app this year; it has merely been updated with a new visual theme to match the aesthetics of the WWDC artwork.
OmniFocus 3, released today for iOS (and later coming to the Mac), adds even more power and options to the app's existing toolset, yet rather than growing more complex in the process, it's surprisingly become more approachable. This improved user friendliness is achieved thanks to a new level of flexibility that can, upon tweaking your ideal setup, obscure the app's complexity in everyday use. In more ways than ever before, OmniFocus provides the tools to make the app your own.
Outside of a lovely new design, where icons and fonts are bolder and everything feels more fresh, my favorite changes in OmniFocus 3 are this increased flexibility, which encompasses a lot of new and updated features, and its excellent iPad improvements. Let's dive in.
By taking advantage of the app’s calendar and other functionality, you can transform Agenda from a list of notes into a work journal, planner, and reference material app, all rolled into one.
Shapr3D may be the easiest-to-use MCAD program you will ever try. iPad in one hand, pen in the other—no desk, no workstation, no mouse, no keyboard. If you are worried that a career that has you sitting throughout the day is taking years off your life, you could make a medical argument to model with an iPad Pro at a stand-up desk or even in a more active state.
It took a lot of programming to make Shapr3D work using a stylus and an iPad Pro. Makes sense. Making things simple is complicated.
The app has been redesigned to make it easier to find favorites, sessions, and labs as well, including a new topic-based organization. When looking at some items, Apple will suggest related videos and events.
The WWDC 2018 schedule is here and a highlight from last year seems to have returned: Apple is offering up the Apple Podcasts Studio for podcasters to record their shows on site.
This article is a result of the ideas I gathered over the last one year, supporting the 14 principles.
Apple veteran Jennifer Bailey took over Apple Pay in 2014 with the goal of making it possible for iPhone users to leave their wallets at home. She has quickly turned the service into a core piece of the Apple operating system and grown in-store acceptance at U.S. retail locations from about 3% at launch to more than 50% today while also integrating Apple Pay into 85 of the top 100 e-commerce apps. In the process, she’s humanized a financial product in surprising ways–witness the happy face that appears when an iPhone X user authenticates at checkout. “Not only did we want to bring more security to payments,” she says, “we wanted to make the whole experience enjoyable.”
The Supreme Court is an openly — even proudly — technophobic institution. Cameras are forbidden, which means there are no images or videos from high-profile cases, and briefs and other legal filings only recently became available at the court’s website. Chief Justice John Roberts argued in 2014 that these Luddite tendencies are just part of the legal system: “The courts will always be prudent whenever it comes to embracing the ‘next big thing.’” The justices — who communicate mostly on paper, rather than via email — can sometimes seem as analog as the institution they serve. There was the moment when in a 2014 case about cell phone privacy, Justice Samuel Alito asked what would happen if a suspect were carrying personal information on a “compact disc.” That same year, Justice Stephen Breyer was ribbed for spinning out an extended hypothetical about a “phonograph record store.”
There are systemic reasons for the court’s reluctant approach to technology — American law is a backward-looking enterprise even outside the highest court. But regardless of why it’s happening, legal scholars say the consequences are clear: When Supreme Court justices lack an understanding of what technology means for the lives of the people affected by their decisions, they will struggle to respond effectively to technological change.
While the state of my inbox in recent weeks has suggested that new privacy regulations can be kind of annoying, I can now thank European regulators, the New York Times employee who forgot to use BCC, and my own hasty reply for bringing a bunch of people a little closer together—well, after a few too many emails begging each other to stop replying all.
I don't have any evidence for what I am thinking now, but I'm hesitant in installing this new iOS update, with the brand new AirPlay 2 and Messages in the Cloud.
Why? Because I am afraid that this is a deadline-driven update that is pushed out to everybody just because WWDC is next week, and Tim Cook doesn't want to stand on the stage and tell everyone that the two features promised at last WWDC has not been delivered.
Yes, I know the two features had been in various beta releases on and off over the past few months. Yes, I agree that the Apple's software typically are of high quality, even for beta releases. Yes, I have not a single piece of evidence to show that these two features are rushed out.
But, I'm still worried.
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Thanks for reading.