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The Excellence-and-Inventiveness Edition Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Meet The 2023 App Store Award Finalists, by Apple

For over a decade, the App Store’s Editorial team has celebrated the very best apps and games of the year through the App Store Awards, spotlighting a range of developers from the individual app creator to large teams that span the globe. App Store Editors are recognizing App Store Award finalists — nearly 40 app and game developers across 10 different categories — for their excellence, inventiveness, and technical achievement in apps and games. The selected apps and games have helped users flex their creativity, challenge themselves, and have fun with family and friends. App Store Award winners will be selected from this year’s outstanding group of finalists and will be announced in the coming weeks.

“We are excited about the achievements of these App Store Award finalists who are helping users around the world to explore their interests in drawing, design, video editing, education, music, time management, working out, hiking, playing games, and so much more,” said Phil Schiller, Apple Fellow. “These finalists are all incredibly talented and have put enormous effort into creating these great apps and games. We are inspired by their accomplishments and look forward to announcing the winners of the App Store Awards later this month.”

Is This How Apple Will Support App Sideloading In Europe?, by Jonny Evans, Computerworld

Currently in developer beta, Apple says its Managed App Distribution system is being built to let enterprise, educational, and other institutional customers distribute apps to employees or students. The idea is that the organization can create its own app to act as a storefront and use the system to distribute apps to verified customers. A business might provide approved/registered employees with business-related apps via its own managed app distribution store, for example.

There are various code strings to support the system, including ones to fetch and display apps, organize app collections, and error messages in the case of a distribution error.

End Of An Era: The Last Remaining macOS Install CDs Are Officially Extinct, by Roman Loyola, Macworld

Hey kids, come have a seat around my rocking chair, and let this old timer tell you of a time of yore, a time when that high-speed internet connection you always use for the Ticky Tockys and whatnot didn’t exist. Back then, when we had to do something like install Mac OS, we used a thingamajig called an optical disc, which had the software on it.

Stuff

iPhone 14 Users Get Free Emergency SOS Via Satellite For An Extra Year, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

Apple today announced that its Emergency SOS via satellite service is being extended for an additional free year for existing iPhone 14 users. Apple originally gave new ‌iPhone 14‌ owners two free years after device activation, which would have expired in November 2024.

Apple Releases New Firmware For USB-C Apple Pencil, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

There is no word on what features, fixes, or updates might be included in the updated firmware, and Apple does not provide release notes for ‌Apple Pencil‌ software releases.

What I Learnt From Using The BetterMe Fitness App That Strengthens Your Brain And Body, by Maisie Peppitt, Hello

If you value exercise that fits in with your work-from-home routine and busy schedule whilst supporting your mental and physical health, then I’d advocate trying it. Whether you’re looking to reach a goal weight, or just change up your daily exercise, BetterMe can help you to do it.

Notes

Telegram Demos visionOS App, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Telegram founder Pavel Durov today showed off a brief glimpse at Telegram's upcoming visionOS app, which is one of the first third-party ‌visionOS‌ app concepts that we've seen so far.

Apple Halts Shake-to-Open-Ad Feature, Multiple Apps Affected, by PanDaily

Since November, Apple has notified several leading apps in China to remove the gyroscope permission, effectively banning “Shake to Open” ads. According to reports, the apps that received the notice include but are not limited to short video apps, emails, social media apps, and more.

Apple And Google On Hook For Foreign App Tax In Japan Code Proposal, by Ko Fujioka, Nikkei Asia

Japan will make app store operators like Apple and Google responsible for paying consumption taxes on content sold by foreign developers, to more effectively recover levies collected by small companies with no physical presence in Japan.

The change, which was detailed in a Finance Ministry report released Tuesday, aims to create a more level playing field for Japan-based content creators that can more easily be taxed directly.

Bottom of the Page

Looks like Apple, in 2023, still don't have a good business plan for satellite SOS, and is now pushing the problem to Apple in 2024?

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Thanks for reading.