In a major update released today, Apple’s Clips app for iOS received a redesigned user interface, Star Wars stickers and scenes, iCloud support for syncing clips between iPhone and iPad, and a big iPhone X feature exclusive: Selfie Scenes.
iPhone X App Roundup: The Innovative, Beautiful, and Practical
The iPhone X’s display poses a challenge to app developers. Similar to when the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus debuted, there’s a different screen size to work with here, which requires app layout adjustments. But more than simply the new size, the iPhone X brings two extra complications: the notch and an extra tall orientation. In order to best optimize for Apple’s current flagship phone, developers need to carefully consider these two factors – failure to do so can result in a particularly unsightly notch, or a UI that’s difficult to navigate one-handed.
We’re only a week out from the iPhone X’s debut, so what we see from X-ready apps today will likely evolve over time as developers are able to live with the device longer. But despite it being early days still, there are several apps that stand out among the best the App Store has to offer for iPhone X.
Apple Pay for iMessage Debuts in iOS 11.2 Beta
Users of the latest iOS 11.2 beta release received a surprise today in their Messages app picker: the long-awaited Apple Pay iMessage app has now arrived.
iPhone Reborn: Initial Thoughts on the iPhone X
This is not just another iPhone.
Spend enough time with an iPhone X, and every prior iPhone will feel surprisingly foreign. The radically new display and Face ID are not mere features of this new device – they are foundational pieces of a new iPhone experience that, once lived with, you’ll never want to go back from.
While Federico is hard at work on his full review of the iPhone X, I wanted to share my early impressions of the device after a few days of use.
Amazon Adopts ARKit in iOS Shopping App for Select Products
In an update released for its iOS shopping app, Amazon has introduced a new way of viewing items from the online retailer: AR View. Built on Apple’s ARKit technology in iOS 11, AR View provides shoppers with a better understanding of how products will look when placed inside their homes.
AR View is accessed inside the Amazon app by tapping the camera button, then selecting AR View from the assortment of camera options. You’ll then get to browse through a limited selection of product categories, such as Living Room, Kitchen, and Electronics; there’s also a Top Picks section. Unlike the similar AR experience from IKEA Place, only one product can be previewed in Amazon’s AR View at a time. After placing a product in AR, you can move its position or rotate it, and pressing the button with three dots will take you to the full product page for initiating a purchase.
Amazon claims that thousands of items are available in AR View, but currently only a fraction of that estimate appears for me inside the app; we should except the number of AR-compatible items to grow over the coming holiday shopping season. It also wouldn’t be surprising to see AR View roll out to other parts of the app in the future, such that if you’re viewing the product page for an Amazon Echo, for example, there will be a button that allows you to instantly view the item in AR.
Today’s version of AR View is a first step toward enhancing the Amazon shopping experience with AR. There’s plenty more work to be done, but it’s exciting to see a glimpse into how transformative AR can potentially be for online shopping.
watchOS 4.1 Introduces Apple Music Streaming and New Radio App
Today Apple released the latest software for Apple Watch: watchOS 4.1. This update includes the previously announced Apple Music streaming, including over cellular, plus the introduction of a brand new Radio app.
In past versions of watchOS, independent music playback was limited to the small assortment of songs and playlists that could be stored locally on Watch hardware. Due to how slow music syncing was, I always considered it too much of a hassle to keep my favorite music accessible on the Watch. Today’s update lifts those prior restrictions, though, in a big way. Now Watch owners who are also Apple Music subscribers can stream music, not just from their own library, but also from the service’s full catalog of over 40 million songs. This works over cellular on the latest Series 3 models, but it also can be done over Wi-Fi with non-cellular models. Even if you don’t plan to stream music sans-iPhone, watchOS 4.1 still includes the added benefit of restoring access to your full iCloud Music Library on Series 3 models: past versions of watchOS allowed this, but watchOS 4 limited your selection to synced music only.
Independent music streaming from the Apple Watch is made even better by the addition of a new built-in watchOS app: Radio. The Radio app enables streaming content from Beats 1 or select other radio stations, such as ESPN, NPR, and genre-based stations. While I would have been more excited by a Podcasts app, it’s great to see more of Apple Music’s features make their way to the Watch.
For owners of the Series 3 Watch with cellular, there’s one last notable update: a new toggle in Control Center for activating and deactivating Wi-Fi on the Watch. So if your Watch gets stuck on a slow or unreliable Wi-Fi connection, you can easily disconnect and fall back to LTE.
For most users watchOS 4.1 is a fairly minor update with little to get excited about – but for those sporting a Series 3 Watch with cellular, it’s simply transformative. Paired with AirPods, the Apple Watch can now serve as a powerful and worthy successor to the iPod line. There’s something downright liberating about going iPhone-free while staying connected and available, and bringing 40 million songs along with you.
SiriKit Support Will Be Included on HomePod for Certain Third-Party App Domains
In an update on its developer site today, Apple announced that SiriKit support will be included in the forthcoming HomePod device.
iOS 11.2 introduces SiriKit for HomePod, the powerful speaker that sounds amazing, adapts to wherever it’s playing, and provides instant access to Apple Music. HomePod is also a helpful home assistant for everyday questions and tasks. With the intelligence of Siri, users control HomePod through natural voice interaction. And with SiriKit, users can access iOS apps for Messaging, Lists, and Notes. Make sure your SiriKit integration is up to date and test your app’s voice-only experience today.
When the HomePod was first unveiled at WWDC in June, there was no word regarding whether it would support third-party apps through SiriKit. While some expected further details on HomePod to arrive in September’s keynote, that event came and went with no news. Today marks the first time we’ve learned anything new about HomePod from official sources since its initial introduction.
Messaging, Lists, and Notes are the only SiriKit domains that will work with HomePod at launch, but it’s likely we’ll see more added over time. This means the HomePod will be able to do things like send messages in Telegram, create tasks in Todoist or Things, and create notes in Evernote.
Information about how SiriKit on HomePod will work is included on Apple’s full SiriKit site, which contains the following detail:
Siri recognizes SiriKit requests made on HomePod and sends those requests to the user’s iOS device for processing.
This means SiriKit support on HomePod will take a fundamentally different path than that of competing products like the Amazon Echo. In most cases the Echo’s set of third-party Alexa skills can be operated completely independent of another device. For the time being at least, third-party support on HomePod will rely on a nearby iPhone or iPad.
There are still many HomePod details that remain unclear. For example, we don’t yet know if SiriKit requests or iCloud requests will be tied to a single user’s device, or if a family will be able to interact with the device in a user-specific way. Time will bring the full story into view, but for now, knowing that HomePod will launch with at least some third-party app support is good news.
iPhone X First Impressions Arrive via Steven Levy and YouTube
Ahead of any full reviews for the iPhone X arriving, today one writer and a host of YouTubers published their first impressions for the new device, which releases November 3.
Steven Levy was one of the handful of journalists who received review units of the original iPhone over ten years ago. Today he exclusively shared his early thoughts on what appears to be the biggest evolution of the device, at least in form factor, since that original phone. Despite his praise for the device’s advancements over previous iPhones, Levy concludes that some of the iPhone X’s greatest achievements may only come to fruition with the help of third-party developers.
Remember, as cool as the original iPhone was, it didn’t really begin changing the world until Apple let third-party software developers take advantage of its innards—stuff like the camera, GPS, and other sensors. Maybe something similar, albeit not on such a grand scale, will happen with the iPhone X. Those who shell out the cash for this device will enjoy their screen and battery life today. But the real payoff of the iPhone X might come when we figure out what it can do tomorrow.
As Craig Federighi quipped during the iPhone X’s introduction in September, taking some of the most advanced technology ever found in a smartphone and using it to create animated poo is, well, perhaps unsurprising, but certainly a bit anticlimactic. There are undoubtedly applications of the iPhone X’s TrueDepth Camera and other features that haven’t been dreamed up yet.
Speaking of which, among the YouTubers who were invited by Apple to get early hands-on time with the iPhone X, one of the guys from Highsnobiety performed (jokingly) what is perhaps the first relationship breakup over Animoji. How do breakups by Animoji rank compared to breakups by text?
Videos by UrAvgConsumer, Soldier Knows Best, and Booredatwork contain detailed walkthroughs of how to use the new phone, while Popular Science has a fun science-infused overview of the X’s new features, and FASHION Magazine has a short, quick-hit look at ten favorite aspects of the iPhone X.
Apple’s marketing strategy with the iPhone X clearly appears to differ from the company’s standard practices, with this wave of first impressions preceding any proper reviews. While we should expect to see more traditional reviews from the usual sources in the coming days, perhaps Apple is simply attempting to highlight how this isn’t just like any other iPhone launch.
App Camp for Girls Hosts Fireside Chats with Developers and Others in the Apple Community→
App Camp for Girls is currently conducting a series of interviews on its website – dubbed Fireside Chats – with different members of the Apple community. Interviewees range from iOS and Mac developers working at companies like The Omni Group, Smile, and Starbucks, to solo indie developers, and other active members of the community. I especially enjoyed hearing from developers about how they got their start in the world of software creation, and lessons learned in the process of building their first apps. There are interviews with people from all sorts of working backgrounds though, making these chats accessible to anyone interested in the Apple and technology communities.
These interviews are timed in conjunction with App Camp’s current fundraiser on Indiegogo, where they’re seeking to raise $75,000 to start camps in three new cities by 2020. Currently the campaign has raised $23,000 of that $75,000 goal, with about two weeks remaining. If you’d like to support the cause, go here to donate.
For more information about App Camp and its work to promote gender equity in technology, you can read our coverage from earlier this year when the organization announced its expansion to Chicago, or listen to Federico and John’s interview with App Camp’s co-founders, Jean MacDonald and Grey Osten, on episode 3 of AppStories.