Guide to Mac, iPod, iPad and iPhone news and reviews
[This is an advertorial. Maclife gets a portion of each unit sold.]What’s better than having a MacBook Air, the most portable option for those that like to take their work (or play) with them wherever the go? How about getting a MacBook Air entirely fo…
If you’re a seasoned, old-school Mac gamer, there’s a good chance you remember a funky puzzle game called The Incredible Machine. In the game, players had to perform simple tasks by building overly complex Rube Goldberg devices and experimenting with…
Apple has posted a new video to the web titled “Pride”, which shows the companies participation in the annual San Francisco Pride Parade. The event, which celebrates equality and diversity with an emphasis on LBGT rights, was attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook and thousands of other Apple employees. Each Apple employee wore t-shirts specifically … Read More
With the introduction of OS X Yosemite, Apple introduced a significant visual change with an iOS 7-like “flat” look and completely redesigned icons. While Apple’s icons will see a refresh once Yosemite is released, users will have to wait until third-party companies have updated their icons to match Apple’s new design language for OS X icons.
In the meantime, users in this long running MacRumors’ forums thread have been designing their own “flat” versions of both Apple and third-party applications, allowing some users to switch out their icons until the real thing is available. Additionally, some users are redesigning Apple’s own icons for users who are using Mavericks rather than the Yosemite beta.
iWork, Twitter, Skype and 1Password icons by Arn0
While the icons may not be fully representative of the official icons, they do provide a look into Apple’s new icon philosophy enacted upon an icon not designed for it, allowing for a glimpse into various companies’ processes.
Forum member Arn0 had been taking requests from other forum members, recreating various icons to fit more along more nicely with Yosemite’s design aesthetics.
Alongside stand-alone apps like 1Password, Twitter and Skype, Arn0 also redesigned icons for entire suites of software, like Adobe’s Creative Suite. Thread starter Humex has been sharing a number of different examples of flat OS X icons from around the web, including concepts that hew closer to Apple’s style than Arn0.
Alternatively, designers like drflash have taken a different approach to flat design. Rather than mimic Apple’s philosophy and match OS X Yosemite, they created their own design language with Flat OS, which provides a completely different experience for OS X users. The design seems to marry “flat” design alongside some skeumorphic principles, giving icons a more tangible feel.
Flat OS X by drflash
In a blog post on Gizmodo, MartianCraft’s Nick Keppol explains that Yosemite’s new look centers around four basic ideas: visual rhythm in the dock, three basic icon shapes and their design grid, shape hierarchy and lighting effects and materials.
Visual rhythm allows the new dock to look more consistent, although that is helped by the fact that OS X icons are now broken up into three types: circles, squares and titled rectangles. While Apple itself isn’t totally consistent with these three types, Keppol found that – for the most part – circles are used for more consumer-oriented apps, squares are used for System-related utilizes and titled rectangles are used for applications that are most often used for work.
Finally, Apple uses Hollywood-style yellow and orange highlights and blue and teal shadows to give the metal-like materials that the icons are made out of feel warm and tangible. This helps create the illusion that the icons are more physical than previous icons while also looking flatter than before.
If you’d like to switch out your icons until they’re fully upgraded with OS X Yosemite, the icon sets shown are linked above, while all of Arn0’s redesigned icons are available to download via Dropbox. Icon sets from arn0 and other designers are also available to download via the forum thread. Here are easy instructions on how to change app icons on OS X.
Apple is beginning the transition to move its Maps application online starting with the Find My iPhone web app on its iCloud.com beta website, as noticed by iPhoneBlog.de [Google Translate]. Though the public version of iCloud.com is still pulling data…
Chris Blumenberg, a key Apple engineer who has long worked on Maps for iOS and OS X, is leaving the company to take a position with Uber, according to a report by The Information. Blumenberg is the latest of a number of departures from Apple’s Maps team, which has been suffering from internal politics.
Blumenberg is a 14-year veteran of Apple, initially working on Safari for OS X and later iOS. He famously built a version of Maps for iOS in just a few weeks in late 2006 so that Steve Jobs could demo it at the iPhone introduction in January 2007. For the last six years, Blumenberg has managed the Maps Apps & Frameworks group, overseeing a team of at least 40 employees handling Apple’s Maps apps on iOS and OS X. From his LinkedIn profile:
My team is primarily responsible for the Apple Maps app and the MapKit framework. Since 2006, we’ve worked on a number of Google and Apple service-backed features such as local search, directions, street view, next destination and CarPlay. I proudly drove and guided the implementation of vector maps, Flyover and navigation during the shift from Google’s services to Apple’s services in 2012.
Apple’s issues with its Maps team have reportedly slowed the company’s work on that initiative, so much so that there were virtually no mentions of Maps at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote last month. Apple reportedly has a number of iOS Maps improvements in the works, including transit directions and improved points of interest, but it is unclear whether they will be ready in time for the public release of iOS 8 later this year or if they will need to be held for a later update.
Several new photos published today by Letem svetem Applem [Google Translate] show the purported power and volume flex cables as well as three SIM card trays that hint at the color options Apple is planning for the iPhone 6. This report follows a leak f…
Last week’s iOS 7.1.2 update introduced improvements for iBeacon, third-party accessories, and mail attachments, but apparently some international users are finding the patch also messed up their calendars.
The Times of India reported Monday that Apple has apparently already acknowledged a Calendar bug in the freshly released iOS 7.1.2, which will reportedly be “fixed with the next update.”
Thankfully, the bug is of the harmless variety, but certainly annoying to users who depend on a holiday calendar. One such afflicted user from Lithuania discovered the update showed him holidays from Mexico, Hong Kong, and Canada instead of his native homeland, but that the country-based list “keeps changing from time to time.”
Apparently, switching the home country from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to something like the United States, United Kingdom, or even Russia then displays the correct list of holidays, as shown in a YouTube video demonstrating the issue on an iPad.
There’s no word on when Apple will serve up a fix for the problem, but presumably iOS 7.1.2 will not be the final word on iOS 7 before iOS 8 arrives this fall.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
(Image courtesy of Dribble.com)
Now here’s an unfortunate case of being the wrong brand at the wrong time: The CEO of ISIS Mobile Wallet announced Monday that the company is planning to rebrand as a result of the conflict taking place in Iraq. As you may recall, a militant group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has also been frequently referenced by the acronym ISIS, and the mobile wallet service is apparently uncomfortable with such an association. No word on what the new brand will be as yet, but while you’re guessing, have a look back at our recap of the last 24 hours!
If you’ve been holding off on the purchase of an iPad Air or iPad mini with Retina Display and happen to be a frequent Target shopper, this is apparently your week. The bullseye retailer is currently offering a $100 Target GiftCard with the purchase of either iPad model, which makes Apple’s tablet just about the cheapest we’ve ever seen. While you’re there, pick up some iTunes Gift Cards, which are also 10 percent off for a limited time, and if you need some accessories such as cases, cables, or chargers for that new iPad, Target also has you covered there with a 15 percent discount.
Yahoo News (via Sky News) is reporting that U.K. science students from the Giles Academy in Boston, Lincolnshire spent two years planning and raising funds to put an iPhone into space, courtesy of a helium balloon — and they’ve got the video to prove it. Coupled with a GPS tracker and a small flight computer capable of tracking altitude, the unspecified iPhone model recorded the entire journey on video in just over two and a half hours as the balloon ascended 18 miles above the Earth. Amazingly, the bundle returned by way of a parachute after the balloon popped from the thin atmosphere, landing 40 miles away in Norfolk.
The New York Times reported Monday that Apple rival Samsung Electronics is anticipating a 24 percent year-over-year decline in revenue, missing analysts’ expectations of roughly eight trillion won for a profit of 7.2 trillion won (US$7.1 billion) for the latest quarter. While that’s nothing to sneeze at, Samsung executives are apparently spooked by the numbers, judging from a statement blaming the dip on “the overall smartphone market as well as increased competition in China” and some European markets. Also to blame: A heavier marketing spend on promotions for the Korean manufacturer’s flagship handset, the Galaxy 5S. Could Apple be next?
Microsoft-owned Skype announced Monday the release of Skype 5.2 for iPhone, an update that will come as a big sigh of relief for users who prefer to dabble in voice messaging, a feature newly returned to the redesigned app. Skype users can also now view contact profiles by simply tapping on a contact and selecting their profile from the menu, a trick that also works during one-to-one conversations as well. Last but not least, Skype 5.2 for iPhone delivers a new “add participants” option to introduce other users to an existing conversation, because, you know, the more, the merrier, right?
DroidLife is reporting that Verizon Wireless may finally be answering the prayers of prepaid users next week by opening the gates to its gigantic 4G LTE network at long last. According to an unnamed source, as of Thursday, July 17, Verizon’s ALLSET prepaid plans will deliver unlimited talk and text along with 500MB of data for $45, and for the first time ever, those bits and bytes will be of the LTE flavor. Coupled with a rumored promotion of 500MB of free data for signing up for auto-pay, that LTE bucket of data could jump to 4GB for only $20 per month more. It’s unknown if prepaid 4G LTE data will be throttled or bring an increase in price, but the details should become clearer next Thursday.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
Apple has struck a deal for a new 100-acre solar farm near its Maiden, North Carolina data center, the third such farm providing energy for the facility, reports the Hickory Daily Record. According to the report, Apple will be making an initial investment of $55 million in the solar farm, which will generate 17.5 megawatts of power.
Apple plans to have a grading permit submitted for the property by the end of the year, pending acquisition of the land and other terms of the development agreement. If everything else goes according to plan, the farm is projected to be completed within five years of the commencement date.
Apple’s North Carolina data center is the first in a series of significant data center projects the company has undertaken in recent years, with Apple also working on centers in Oregon and Nevada. Under its promise to run its data centers on 100{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} renewable energy, Apple has been investing heavily in energy sources such as solar and biogas while purchasing other types of renewable energy from suppliers.
The North Carolina data center was joined by a 20-megawatt solar farm across the street by late 2012, and Apple has also been developing a second 20-megawatt solar farm a few miles away. The data center is also powered by a biogas fuel cell facility that began as a 4.8-megawatt project but was later expanded to 10 megawatts.
Apple’s exact plans for this third solar farm are unclear, as the five-year planning horizon suggests it may be part of a longer-term vision for the site. The current data center primarily consists of a massive 500,000 square-foot building, but plans presented by Apple during the project’s development depicted a second building of equal size ultimately being constructed next door. Apple’s timeline for any expansion of that magnitude for the data center itself remain unknown.
Apple released the third beta build of iOS 8 today after a three-week lack of updates, and it’s full of tweaks that were neither in previous updates nor mentioned in the keynote at WWDC 2014. While there’s nothing earth-shattering about the update, it …
We’ve heard a lot about how strong the rumored sapphire crystal screens for the iPhone 6 supposedly are, but a new YouTube video from famed parts leaker Sonny Dickson today may have allowed us to see for ourselves for the first time. The “may” is impor…
OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 3 has been released by Apple to all developers running current beta builds of OS X Yosemite, the next major version of Mac OS. The new build number of OS X 10.10 beta is versioned as 14A283o and will run on all compatibl…
Apple has released the third beta release of iOS 8 to those registered with the iOS Developer Program. All eligible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices can install the beta 3 update immediately, which is versioned as build number 12a4318c. The update …
[This is an advertorial. Maclife gets a portion of each unit sold.]It’s summer time, which means we have more free time to spend doing what we want. Sure, we’ll head outside and enjoy the great weather, but we really love having some extra time to play…
Since the dawn of the App Store, Apple has protected developers (and their own business interests) by outlawing refunds, but that policy could soon find itself in the crosshairs.
The Korea Herald reported Sunday that both Apple and Google are being accused of “unfair provisions” over the lack of refund options for their respective App Store and Google Play storefronts.
According to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), the two mobile app titans will be required to offer a “customer refund system based on web developers’ refund policies,” an order which Google appears to already be in the process of carrying out in that country.
“While Google will limit its response to the KFTC to the domestic market, Apple said it would consider applying the revised contract terms globally,” said Hwang Won-chul, the head of the KFTC’s Adhesion Contract Division.
The antitrust pressure came after “continued requests” from the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic group in South Korea who first asked the FTC to investigate what they call “unfair sales practices of domestic and foreign mobile app stores” back in March.
Citing potentially “unfair sales practice,” the KFTC is also investigating a complaint against Apple, claiming “users are not able to get their original phones back from repair shops after they have their phones repaired” — apparently a reference to Apple’s policy of replacing a device with a refurbished model, rather than sending it in for repair.
Although it is Apple’s stated policy not to refund App Store purchases, Cupertino apparently will do so in many cases for users who contact support via the “Report a Problem” link from an iTunes email receipt.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
(Image couresy of TUAW)