Posts tagged with "iOS"

The Risk to Apple of OS Envy→

With the rerelease of iOS 18.0, the EU and the rest of the world will have two flavors of the iPhone’s operating system. As Jason Snell writes for Macworld, this is one of Apple’s greatest fears, but there are potentially bigger risks on the horizon for the company. As Jason explains:

…to me, the bigger danger is envy. It strikes me that Apple has tried to make residents of the European Union envious of other regions by withholding Apple Intelligence, at least at first. There are legal reasons to do so, of course, but it’s also a lesson to Europeans that if they support such a strict regulatory regime, they’re going to be left on the side of the road while the rest of the world enjoys the bounty of AI features inside iOS. (Whether that bounty actually exists is beside the point.)

Yet, when I consider everything being experimented with in the EU, I start to wonder if the envy is actually going to flow in the other direction. The Verge said that the iPhone is now “more fun” in the EU. Noted iOS expert Federico Viticci wrote that the EU version of iOS “is the version of iOS I’ve wanted for the past few years,” and that “we can finally use our phones like actual computers.”

As someone who loves clipboard managers and uses several apps that aren’t Apple’s defaults, I am warming up to their point of view.

I’m right there with Jason. At first, the differences between my iOS and Federico’s didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Sure, it was easier for him to access AltStore, but it’s available outside the EU if you jump through some extra hoops. However, over time, the differences have multiplied. I’ve also had the chance to try Apple Intelligence in 18.1, and although there’s more to come from Apple on the AI front, which could change my calculus, from where things stand today, I’d gladly trade iOS 18.1 for the EU’s 18.0.

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Shareshot 1.0: Pixel Perfect Screenshots, Beautifully Presented

I’ve used Federico’s Apple Frames shortcut to add device frames to screenshots for years. It’s a great way to quickly process multiple screenshots and upload them to the MacStories CDN with minimal effort. But as great as Shortcuts is for simplifying this sort of task, there are advantages to using a native app instead.

Editing screenshots on the iPad.

Editing screenshots on the iPad.

Shareshot is an app for iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro that occupies a lot of the same feature space as Apple Frames, using Apple hardware to frame screenshots. However, the app simultaneously does more and a little less than Federico’s shortcut. That one missing feature means that I won’t be abandoning Apple Frames, but because of the things the app can do that Apple Frames can’t, Shareshot will be joining the shortcut as a utility I expect to use a lot.

Let’s dig into what makes Shareshot shine.

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GoodLinks 2.0: The Automation-Focused Read-Later App I’ve Always Wanted

One of my greatest frustrations with read-later apps is how hard most make it to get your data out on your terms. Few allow you to export links using Shortcuts or some other system, and even fewer offer to do the same with highlights – until now. With version 2.0, GoodLinks adds highlighting and note-taking combined with excellent Shortcuts support, giving users full access and flexibility to incorporate saved URLs, highlights, and notes into their workflows however they want.

Thanks to Obsidian’s deep catalog of plugins from third-party developers, it’s been possible to import highlights from read-later apps like Readwise Reader and Amazon’s Kindle app for some time. Those are good solutions when I’m working in Obsidian, but both I and our readers use lots of different apps. That’s why I was so glad to see GoodLinks (available for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac) get this major 2.0 revision that transforms it from a place to save links and articles to a more well-rounded research tool, thanks to highlighting and notes.

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Google’s Antitrust Loss, Why Apple Doesn’t Just Build a Search Engine, and What Comes Next

Yesterday, Federal District Judge Amit Mehta issued a ruling in the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google in favor of the government. Judge Mehta didn’t mince words:

Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

The Judge further explained his ruling:

Specifically, the court holds that (1) there are relevant product markets for general search services and general search text ads; (2) Google has monopoly power in those markets; (3) Google’s distribution agreements are exclusive and have anticompetitive effects; and (4) Google has not offered valid procompetitive justifications for those agreements. Importantly, the court also finds that Google has exercised its monopoly power by charging supracompetitive prices for general search text ads. That conduct has allowed Google to earn monopoly profits.

It’s a long opinion, coming in at nearly 300 pages, but the upshot of why Judge Mehta ruled the way he did is summed up nicely near the beginning of the tome:

But Google also has a major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals: default distribution. Most users access a general search engine through a browser (like Apple’s Safari) or a search widget that comes preloaded on a mobile device. Those search access points are preset with a “default” search engine. The default is extremely valuable real estate. Because many users simply stick to searching with the default, Google receives billions of queries every day through those access points. Google derives extraordinary volumes of user data from such searches. It then uses that information to improve search quality. Google so values such data that, absent a user-initiated change, it stores 18 months-worth of a user’s search history and activity.

If you’re interested in how web search works and the business deals that drive it, the opinion is a great primer. Plus, although the details already dribbled out over the course of the 10-week trial, there are lots of interesting bits of information buried in there for anyone interested in Apple’s search deal with Google.

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Overcast Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary with a Redesigned Interface

Overcast has long been my favorite podcast player on iOS and iPadOS with its beautifully simple user interface that complements a great audio engine. Today, developer Marco Arment is celebrating Overcast’s tenth anniversary with the release of a new version featuring a user interface that’s been rewritten from the ground up.

From the app’s main screen to playlist and podcast pages, show notes, chapters, and search, this new version of Overcast looks completely modern, and it feels fast. But at the same time, the app remains true to itself and retains a familiar look, with no drastic visual changes that would disorient its long-time users.

The app’s revamped player is perhaps my favorite aspect of this fresh coat of paint. There, you can still find the app’s landmark audio features, Voice Boost and Smart Speed, but the player’s sections have been reorganized to create a clearer overall layout. Chapters have been moved to a separate view, with more space on each line for longer chapter titles. Episode notes, on the other hand, can be toggled on and browsed through with the player controls still accessible at the bottom of the screen.

The new player also comes with a great quality-of-life addition: when skipping chapters or seeking through an episode, a ‘Go Back’ button now appears briefly on top of the podcast artwork. Tapping this button immediately returns you to your previous position. This is essentially an ‘undo’ function for accidental taps within the player view. (If you unintentionally scrub the player on your iPhone Lock Screen, you can quickly open the app and go back as well.) I never realized that I needed this feature in a podcast player until now.

Overcast's new player. Notice the 'Go Back' button (left) that appears when skipping chapters or seeking through an episode.

Overcast’s new player. Notice the ‘Go Back’ button (left) that appears when skipping chapters or seeking through an episode.

In addition to iOS, Overcast shines on iPadOS. The app now utilizes the iPad’s wider screen in a way that I wish more iPad apps would: by presenting a great three-pane layout. The app’s main screen resides in the leftmost pane, the middle section is reserved for subsections like podcast pages, and the player can be found on the right. This left-to-right hierarchical layout subtly reminds me of the official Twitter app that launched on the iPad about 14 years ago.

The new Overcast on iPad.

The new Overcast on iPad.

With this release, Overcast no longer has the ability to stream podcast episodes. Instead, episodes must be downloaded before you can start listening to them. In my experience using the new version of the app, this hasn’t bothered me. Most of the time, I only need to wait a couple of seconds before Overcast finishes downloading an episode, and when it does, the episode automatically starts playing.

Combined with the option to automatically remove downloaded episodes (either when completed or 24 hours after completion), I don’t think this change will be noticeable, even to users who previously chose to stream their podcasts.

Rather than streaming episodes, Overcast will always download them before you can start listening.

Rather than streaming episodes, Overcast will always download them before you can start listening.

Aside from the ability to create priority rules for sorting podcasts within playlists, there aren’t any other notable new features in this release. And with the recent introduction of transcripts in Apple Podcasts recapturing some listeners’ attention (including my own), there’s certainly room for new features to come to the app. Still, I’m glad to see Overcast gain a brand-new foundation on top of which it will hopefully keep evolving in the near future.

This is an exciting new start for my favorite podcast player.

Overcast is available to download for free on the App Store. Subscribing to Overcast Premium for $9.99/year removes banner ads from the app’s playback screens and allows users to upload their own audio files for listening.

Apple Says It Won’t Ship Major New OS Features in the EU This Fall Due to DMA Uncertainty→

A new round in the fight between the EU and Apple has been brewing for a while now. About a week ago, the Financial Times reported that unnamed sources said that the EU was poised to levy significant fines against the company over a probe of Apple’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act. Then, earlier this week, in an interview with CNBC, the EU’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager telegraphed that Apple is facing enforcement measures:

[Apple] are very important because a lot of good business happens through the App Store, happens through payment mechanisms, so of course, even though you know I can say this is not what was expected of such a company, of course we will enforce exactly with the same top priority as with any other business.

Asked when enforcement might happen, Vestager told CNBC ‘hopefully soon.’

Apple made no comment to CNBC at the time, but today, that shoe has apparently dropped, with Apple telling the Financial Times that:

Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these [new] features – iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence – to our EU users this year.

Is it a coincidence that Apple made its statement to the same media outlet that reported that fines were about to be assessed? I doubt it. The more likely scenario is that Apple is using OS updates as a negotiating chip with EU regulators. Your guess is as good as mine whether the move will work. Personally, I think the tactic is just as likely to backfire. However, I’m quite confident that you’ll be hearing from me again about fines by the EU against Apple sooner rather than later.

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Sequel 2.3’s Magic Lookup Is a Perfect Example of How Apps Should Integrate AI

If you haven’t tried Sequel to track your media queues, you’re missing out and have some catching up to do. There’s a reason we gave Sequel 2.0 the MacStories Selects Best App Update award last year. The app, which is available on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro, is one of the very best media trackers in a very crowded field.

One way to get up to speed with Sequel’s core features is my review of version 2.0, which I won’t repeat here. Since that review, developer Romain Lefebvre has released updates that continue to improve the app in meaningful ways. However, today’s version 2.3 release is special because it’s one of the first apps I’ve tried that uses AI in a truly useful, non-gimmicky way. Plus, the update adds Shortcuts integration, allowing users to automate the app in new ways, as well as a Markdown-compatible note-taking feature and new layout and search options.

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Apple Marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day with a Preview of OS Features Coming Later This Year

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Thursday is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and to mark the occasion, Apple has previewed several new accessibility features coming to its OSes later this year. Although this accessibility preview has become an annual affair, this year’s preview is more packed than most years, with a wide variety of features for navigating UIs, automating tasks, interacting with Siri and CarPlay, enabling live captions in visionOS, and more. Apple hasn’t announced when these features will debut, but if past years are any indication, most should be released in the fall as part of the annual OS release cycle.

Eye Tracking

Often, Apple’s work in one area lends itself to new accessibility features in another. With Eye Tracking in iOS and iPadOS, the connection to the company’s work on visionOS is clear. The feature will allow users to look at UI elements on the iPhone and iPad, and the front-facing camera – combined with a machine learning model – will follow their gaze, moving the selection as what they look at changes. No additional hardware is necessary.

Eye Tracking also works with Dwell, meaning that when a user pauses their gaze on an interface element, it will be clicked. The feature, which requires a one-time calibration setup process, will work with Apple’s apps, as well as third-party apps, on iPhones and iPads with an A12 Bionic chip or newer.

Vocal Shortcuts

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Vocal Shortcuts provide a way to define custom utterances that launch shortcuts and other tasks. The phrases are defined on-device for maximum privacy using a process similar to Personal Voice. The feature is like triggering shortcuts with Siri, but it doesn’t require an assistant trigger word or phrase.

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AltStore’s Clip Is the Best Clipboard Manager on iOS Yet

Last month, AltStore was finally made available on iOS for everyone living in the European Union. Not only does the first alternative app marketplace on iOS ship with the great Delta videogame emulator, but it also lets you install Clip, a clipboard manager unlike any other on the iPhone.

The app’s uniqueness resides in the sole fact that it’s the first ever clipboard manager on the iPhone that can actually run in the background and continuously monitor your clipboard, regardless of the app you’re in. And despite the fact that the app is pretty bare-bones right now, this core ability alone makes a huge difference in usage, enough to crown Clip the best clipboard manager to ever ship on iOS.

Let’s check it out.

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