Today, Federico published his iOS and iPadOS 14 review. The review comes after a busy month at MacStories in which we published Alex Guyot’s fantastic watchOS review, covered a long list of new and updated apps on MacStories, and celebrated Club MacStories’ 5th anniversary with over 70 app discounts and giveaways.
As busy as it’s been though, there’s a lot more coming. In addition to Federico’s comprehensive, in-depth iOS and iPadOS 14 review, we’ve got a bunch of perks exclusively for Club MacStories members.
Among the Club-only extras this year are three eBooks, a set of stunning, widget-friendly iPhone wallpapers, advanced shortcuts, podcast episodes, and a special edition of MacStories Weekly. Check out all of the details after the break. If you’d like to learn more about the Club or sign up to take advantage of all these extras, plus perks from previous years and our jam-packed, year-round newsletters, please visit club.macstories.net.
Three eBooks
I’ve always loved the experience of reading Federico’s annual iOS and iPadOS review in Apple’s Books app. In the process of helping get it ready for publication, I end up reading bits and pieces of the review, but nothing beats sitting back and taking it in at a leisurely pace from start to finish in Books. We know Club members appreciate reading the eBook version of the review too, so this year, we’ve expanded to three Club MacStories-exclusive eBooks.
iOS and iPadOS 14: The MacStories Review. Of course, the first features Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 14 review. The book is fully interactive with all of the images, videos, and links to shortcuts that you’ll find on MacStories.net.
2020 OS Previews: MacStories Extras. The second eBook is a compilation of the eight stories we published over the summer as part of our summer OS preview series, updated to account for any changes made to the apps and OSes since publication. The book, written by Ryan Christoffel, Alex Guyot, and myself, includes interviews with developers about their reactions to WWDC, App Clips, Apple’s Fitness and Maps apps, the sleep tracking features of iOS 14 and watchOS 7, privacy advancements across all of Apple’s platforms, game controller support and Game Center updates, plus Mac Catalyst developments.
40 Tips for iOS and iPadOS 14. For the first time this year, we’ve also collected over 40 of the most interesting tips and hidden features from my iOS and iPadOS 14 review and released them as a standalone eBook for Club MacStories members. This book is the best way to discover iOS 14’s most fascinating details quickly.
Together, these three eBooks provide a complete, in-depth analysis of every feature released with iOS and iPadOS 14 and the upcoming iOS and iPadOS 14.2. That’s over 80,000 words of content exclusively for Club members.
Also (because we get asked this a lot), if you read the eBooks in Apple Books and want to zoom in to get a close look at any of the screenshots, double-tap images on iOS devices (or double-click on the Mac) to open a full-sized version.
All three eBooks are available now as free downloads exclusively for members of Club MacStories who can access them from their member downloads page.
Wallpapers
Last year, we offered Club MacStories members a set of beautiful wallpapers for the first time. This year, we’re back with a set of iPhone Home Screen wallpapers inspired by the popularity of widgets on the iPhone. These wallpapers, created by MacStories’ own Silvia Gatta, are amazing. Two feature colorful light and dark diagonal gradients both with and without a dark icon backdrop. There’s also a two-tone dark version.
When installing the wallpapers, keep in mind that you need to zoom in on the image before saving it as your Home Screen wallpaper in order for the middle part of the wallpaper to line up correctly.
Like the eBooks, the wallpapers are an exclusive Club MacStories perk that members can download now from their member download page.
Shortcuts
There were fewer new actions added to Shortcuts this year, but that hasn’t stopped Federico from creating brand-new shortcuts that you can download from his review, our Shortcuts Archive, or from the eBook itself. There are shortcuts for creating a reminder with a rich link, extracting metadata like rich links, images, and subtasks from any reminder, picking a shortcut from its folder in the Shortcuts app, and requesting a ride to your next calendar appointment. Additional advanced shortcuts for saving items to a grocery list as subtasks to a master grocery shopping task, and creating a time tracking pie chart widget that updates automatically, will be available exclusively for Club MacStories members in a special issue of MacStories Weekly coming this Saturday, October 17th.
Podcasts
We’ve got two special podcast episodes covering Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 14 review. Simultaneous with the publication of the review, we’ve released a special episode of AppStories that covers the major themes of the review, including design and iPadOS. You can listen using the embedded player in the review on MacStories, on AppStories.net, or by subscribing to the show. Then, on Saturday, we’ll have a special behind-the-scenes episode of our Club-exclusive MacStories Unplugged podcast looking at the making of the iOS and iPadOS 14 review, including the tools and workflows used to write, edit, and publish it.
MacStories Weekly
Finally, we’ll be publishing a special issue of MacStories Weekly for Club members this Saturday, which features behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the iOS and iPadOS 14 review by Federico and Brian King alongside advanced shortcuts that Federico has created for Club members, and other fun stories.
This week is the culmination of a lot of hard work by Federico and the MacStories team, and we’re excited to share everything we’ve been working on with you. Every year we try to make it extra special for readers of the site and Club members who want even more of the iOS, iPadOS, Mac, and Watch coverage we’re known for. Thanks as always for reading MacStories and a special thanks to our Club members who help us continue to do what we love. Enjoy!
