MyAppleMenu

The Payment-Backlog Edition Thursday, August 1, 2024

Inside Apple Arcade (Again): Late Payments, Stonewalled Studios, Terrible Tech Support And Vision Pro Woes, by Neil Long, Mobilegamer.biz

The same developer told us that at the beginning of their Arcade deal they would receive prompt monthly payments from the Bonus Pool, Apple’s term for ongoing royalty payments. But there’s now a five month backlog on their payments.

Two other developers we spoke to had similar problems. We were told one indie developer was not paid for six months, and nearly went out of business as a result. Another said they have been chasing payments for two months now, but had been “stonewalled” by Apple reps.

[...]

They also described a grim QA and update process, and a back-and-forth with Apple over a single update that cost their team two months’ work. “Submitting updates is so painful our developers started trying to avoid it,” they said.

Traveling Joy

Tech Wins And Losses From A Week-plus Of Traveling Abroad, by Dan Moren, Six Colors

The last thing you want when traveling is to have your reliance on technology make you more stressed, and I’m pleased to say that the state of the world is such that it generally smooths things over instead—and, in some cases, actually makes traveling even more of a joy. I appreciate that I can both stay connected to home and get the most of out the country I’m in.

A Little More About Tech And Travel, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

The best thing I did for this trip was track it all in a single note in Apple Notes.

[...]

Oh, and to facilitate quick access, I added a Notes widget to my home screen, and set it to point to my specific 2024 UK Trip note, so I had one-tap access to everything in that note, without any messing around inside the Notes app.

Stuff

iPhone Driver's Licenses Now Available In Ohio, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

iPhone and Apple Watch users in Ohio are now able to add their digital IDs and driver's licenses to the Wallet app on the ‌iPhone‌, providing a convenient alternative to a physical card.

Google Maps And Waze Updated With New iPhone And CarPlay Features, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

Google has announced new Waze and Google Maps features rolling out for iPhone and CarPlay users that aim to keep them safer and more informed on the go.

iStat Menus 7.0 Brings Comprehensive Redesign And New Features, by Hartley Charlton, MacRumors

The redesign of iStat Menus 7.0 includes an updated interface with new menu bar modes, such as stacked labels and values, and new menu bar items, such as the Wi-Fi network name and GPU frames per second. For users of Apple silicon Macs, the update brings frequency monitoring and additional sensor support.

Notes

The Apple Watch Has Reached The Limits Of Its Potential, by Jason Snell, Macworld

It’s time for Apple to expand its health hardware, and adding sensors to the AirPods and offering a ring seem like good starts. When Apple introduced the watch a decade ago, it wasn’t sure what the product would be good for–but over the years, it’s become clear that health and fitness are answers. Now it’s time to take the next step and follow those answers to a new set of Apple hardware products.

Crushing It: Why Millions Of People Still Can’t Stop Playing Candy Crush, by Keza MacDonald, The Guardian

How has it stuck around? Not by changing with the times, it seems. On the surface, absolutely nothing is different about Candy Crush than it was 10 years ago. It’s still a free game in which you swap colourful sweets around to make satisfying lines of three, and then they disappear, and more cascade into the level, and on you go until you have your fill. Behind the scenes, though, a tremendous amount of refinement has gone into how Candy Crush is made. It’s still free to play, with only a small percentage of people ever paying for power-ups, more time or more levels – but now it props up that revenue with ads, too.

Bottom of the Page

I don't play Candy Crush. But one of the game I am still playing was released in 2009: Orbital.

I play this when I am listening to audiobooks during my train commute, so that I have something to do with my eyes and hands.

~

Thanks for reading.