O'Grady's PowerPage

Category: Apps

  • Apple Maps data updated, includes full coverage of the United States, improvements in Central and Southeastern U.S. data

    Apple has followed through on a promise the company made at WWDC, and has now rolled out improved Apple Maps data for the entirety of the United States.

    The upgrade was spotted by Nate Thompson on Twitter, and Apple Maps has begun rolling out updated coverage data to the U.S. Central and Southeast. The upgraded data includes greater detail to roads, bike paths, footpaths, parking lots, buildings, parks, pools, and bodies of water.

    Apple Maps underwent a midwest update that took place in October, with the southeast update appearing to roll out at different times across different platforms.

    This concludes Apple’s rollout of the enhanced Maps data. Apple had promised the entirety of the US would get the data by the end of 2019.

    Apple was recently noted to have spent “billions” on revamping Apple Maps following its lackluster launch in 2012. The information was released as part of Apple’s ongoing antitrust probe, though an exact amount of money spent was never stated.

    Other new changes for Apple Maps, along with the advent of iOS 13, include the additional of “Look Around,” which serves as Apple’s version of Google’s Street View, to iOS devices.

    If you’ve had a chance to try the updated Apple Maps data, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via AppleInsider and @NateThompson

  • Apple could be working to transition to ARM-based products, beginning with an ARM-based MacBook Air in 2020

    It’s currently a theory, but there’s a good chance it could come true.

    Every year, Apple has improved its ARM processor architecture, albeit there’s never been any concrete evidence that the company is looking to ditch Intel and AMD for good.

    Still, the change may be occurring as we speak, and a nifty piece over at Digital Trends explains how Apple seems to be setting things up so that the right app support is in place when an ARM switch does occur. Case in point, the Mac Catalyst project is Apple’s project to let developers port iPad apps over to the Mac, first announced as part of MacOS Catalyst. Right now, Apple is actively courting developers to port their iPad apps across to the Mac with its dead-simple new process. The rumors suggest that iPhone apps are next, with the eventual goal that any app will work on any Apple platform.

    With Catalyst, the ARM MacBook could launch with a huge catalogue of apps available right in the Mac App Store.

    The Catalyst effort could fit into a much larger strategy, and instead of just being a limited-run effort to improve cross-platform apps, could transition the MacBook’s architecture to create an ARM-based Mac. Should this effort work, an enormous catalog of Mac apps would be available for use in the Mac App Store. This also comes at a time when Apple has already ditched its most popular native desktop app, iTunes, only to replace it with three separate Catalyst apps.

    Beyond Catalyst, Apple is even building new app solutions with this cross-platform strategy in mind. For example, take Apple Arcade, the company’s new games subscription service. One of the key features of the service is that all of its 100+ games will run on almost any Apple device, including your iPhone, your iPad, your Mac, and even your Apple TV.

    This, combined with Mac Catalyst functioning on the same principle, seems to indicate that Apple may be developing a unified Apple app ecosystem that can run of a shared ARM architecture.

    The article also speculates that Apple could bring about a MacBook Air running on an ARM processor. This unit would also be able to run a hefty selection of Catalyst apps from the Mac App Sore, and it’s speculated that Apple could announce this transition at WWDC in June 2020.

    Key to this is the idea that Apple could use Mac Catalyst to make porting applications that much easier for developers. Apple has previously stated that Mac Catalyst means devs merely have to tick a checkbox while coding their app and the fundamental features of a Mac app — cursor control, Dock support, inability to play the latest games (maybe not that last one) — will be automatically built in. It’s a massive quality of life boost to the dev community.

    Thus, the current prediction is that Apple could start with lower-end MacBooks at WWDC 2020. And while meaty new hardware like the Mac Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro are about to launch or have just launched and use Intel’s high-end Core i9 chips, Apple will still have to work to have its ARM processors catch up to this level of performance.

    It’s a similar situation with applications. From Logic and Final Cut to Premiere and Lightroom, these are content creation tools that professionals rely on. Simple Catalyst apps as replacement won’t cut it. While it seems evident that Apple will eventually move its entire line over to ARM, this comprehensive solution may not come as soon as 2020.

    Either way, the initial steps have been taken and Apple seems to have taken the first steps towards an ARM-based processor architecture for its products in the future.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via Digital Trends

  • Thrifter Deals, Flipp apps offer quick savings for the Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping period

    The savings are out there, you just need to know where to look for them.

    As demonstrated by the mighty Jason O’Grady, the Thrifter Deals and Flipp apps are offering some pretty good deals on Mac and iOS-based goodies. Over on Thrifter Deals, 128GB 10.2-inch iPads from 2019 are being offered at $329, as opposed to their normal $429 price point, MacBook Airs start at $899, and MacBook Air notebooks from 2017 begin at $799.

    With Flipp, the site works as an aggregator for coupons and deals being offered by retailers. Flipp is also available as a free iOS app and requires iOS 10.0 or later to install and run.

    Check out the links below and if you find any good deals on your end, please let us know about them in the comments.

    Via Thrifter Deals and Flipp

  • Apple to revamp software testing practices following iOS 13 launch

    It looks like Apple will revamp the way it tests future versions of iOS.

    Following the release of iOS 13, as well as its first few buggy versions, Apple is reportedlychanging the way it develops internal builds of operating systems. This is important, as iOS 14 is already underway using the new approach.

    Per Bloomberg, Apple engineers would ‘cram’ features into daily builds of iOS versions before they were fully tested. This meant that using test devices on these internal versions became a nightmare, with the system running so many different branches of components at different levels of stability.

    As such, it became nigh-impossible for Apple to note the actual state of its software.

    With iOS 14, the new plan is that all work-in-progress features for OS builds are disabled by default and have to be enabled using a special configuration menu. This approach should allow Apple to keep better tabs as to the progress of its operating system, as well as allow the software to be more flexible. In short, features that are not yet ready to ship can be easily removed.

    The revamped approach will also apply to iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, and tvOS development. Apple is expected to use iOS 14 to offer a feature-packed release, but is also rumored to be ready to delay some features to iOS 15 if need be.

    It was also noted that Apple apparently noticed that its testing was not up to snuff ahead of the June Worldwide Developers Conference event:

    By August, realizing that the initial iOS 13.0 set to ship with new iPhones a few weeks later wouldn’t hit quality standards, Apple engineers decided to mostly abandon that work and focus on improving iOS 13.1, the first update. Apple privately considered iOS 13.1 the “actual public release” with a quality level matching iOS 12. The company expected only die-hard Apple fans to load iOS 13.0 onto their phones.

    Read the full report over at Bloomberg.


    Via 9to5Mac and Bloomberg

  • Apple changes WWDC app name to “Apple Developer,” offers year-round content

    For the developer world, Apple on Monday announced that it’s updating its “WWDC” app, changing its name to “Apple Developer” and announcing year-round updates.

    Apple says that the new Apple Developer app will provide “in-depth information from Apple experts all year round,” with the app featuring developer news, videos, WWDC content, and more. 

    The app can be used to enroll in the Apple Developer program on iOS devices, although this functionality is currently limited to the United States. Users can also auto-renew their subscriptions to more easily keep their developer accounts active.

    The Apple Developer app is available for free and requires iOS 12.4 or later to install and run.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and the App Store