WWDC is almost upon us. Ahead of Monday’s keynote event we’re running down everything we’re expecting for the annual developers extravaganza. You can watch the keynote live, and follow coverage here at Cult of Mac.
From software to hardware, here’s what we are predicting for next week:
Because iOS is a variant of macOS, it has a lot in common with the Mac. One of the things that iOS shares with the Mac is the keyboard. Not the on-screen keyboard, but the real, physical, clackety-buttoned keyboard. Thanks to its OS X heritage, the iPad (and iPhone) can use all the same keyboard tricks to manipulate text that Mac users have been enjoying for years.
It even carries some, but not all, of the shortcuts over from the ancient text editor Emacs. What? Don’t worry, it’s not too dorky.
Apple today teased a big Swift Playgrounds update that allows students to control real-world devices.
Using Swift, the company’s open-source coding language, users can take control of robots, drones and musical instruments — all via an iPad.
As Apple’s longest-running annual keynote event, it’s no surprise that WWDC has played host to some absolutely enormous announcements over the years.
From strategies that changed the company’s course to the debut of astonishing new products, here are our picks for the most important ones. Check out the list below.
There’s no iTunes for iOS. Thank God, some may say — after all, iTunes on the desktop is Apple’s Office, a bloated, do-it-all app that does nothing well, and is impossible to kill. But this also means that there’s no good way to save and wrangle music files on iOS — not from Apple at least. Which is where Kymatica’s AudioShare comes in. AudioShare is really a tool for musicians and other folks who work with sound, but it is so useful, and so easy to use, that everyone should have it on their iPhone and iPad to deal with audio files of all kinds.
“Sketchnotes” are an increasingly popular form of visual note-taking. By combining text and images, sketchnotes are not only beautiful, but often easier to recall than text alone. The technique is an effective way of capturing notes and ideas in the classroom, meetings and conferences.
All next week, illustrator and senior UX/UI designer Andy McNally will be sketchnoting Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) for us, starting with the big keynote on Monday.
Andy has been covering Apple’s events as sketchnotes for some time. We ran some of his sketchnotes from last year’s event, which proved very popular. He’s back again this year, and is planning to publish sketchnotes from a variety of sessions at the conference.
Before he gets started, Andy shared some tips and techniques for getting started on sketchnoting yourself. Let’s take a look:
Twitter has followed Facebook’s lead by filtering out direct messages from users you aren’t already connected with.
Direct messages from accounts you don’t follow will now end up in their own inbox as message “requests.”
Any time is a good time to sharpen your skills for creating apps. The market for mobile and desktop applications is as hot as ever, and any extra skill in developing for iOS will make your work that much more marketable. With more than 250 hours of lesson content, this bundle of nine comprehensive courses can offer a jumpstart to anyone looking to get involved in app development, or sharpen the skills of even seasoned coders. And right now, you can get the 2017 iOS 10 Complete App Builder Bundle for just $59.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Roberto Hoyos has a message for Apple that is made in fun but is deadly serious and is said – well, sung – on behalf of many frustrated Mac users.
The founder and CEO of Throwboy, the maker of emoji pillows and other plush toys inspired by digital culture, has made a music video that parodies Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, but warns Apple that Mac users will soon turn to PCs if they don’t get a major update on iMacs and MacBook Pros soon.
Recent rumors have promised exciting iPad launches this year, but none of them warned us about the Ryonghung iPad.
That could be because it wasn’t made by Apple. It’s a North Korean knockoff with an ugly design and terrible specifications, but it steals the iPad name in an effort to be more popular in a marker where Apple’s lawyers are unlikely to come knocking.
It’s easy to be jealous of the guy or girl playing with a drone at the park. With the Moskito, you too can have a flying gadget that turns heads wherever it goes. But this is no drone. It’s more like a futuristic version of those lightweight wooden planes you used to throw around as a kid. Only this one is much better built and controllable straight from your smartphone. It’s like something from the Jetsons, just throw it into the air and it flies. This is a simple, portable, and eye-catching way to have fun outside, and right now you can get a Moskito Smartphone App Controlled Airplane for only $44.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
This week, on The CultCast: rumors point to a big iPhone 8 price hike. What’s the max you would pay? Plus: Intel makes a huge move to push Thunderbolt into the mainstream; Ikea about to drop tons of great HomeKit gadgets on us; DJI’s Spark selfie drone is a compact powerhouse; we’ll tell you about our favorite smart lights; and we’ll tell you about the weird and whacky gadgets we’re reviewing in an all-new Under Review!
Our thanks to Blue Apron for supporting this episode. Blue Apron makes it easy to cook delicious meals at home. Get your first three meals free at BlueApron.com/CultCast.
It’s been some time since Apple delivered something really revolutionary. Every product in its stores looks just like it did last year… and the year before that… and the year before that.
Fans will pin most of the blame on chief design officer Jony Ive. After more than two decades of spectacular and unparalleled ideas, it seems Steve Jobs’s best friend is running on empty. Is it time for him to go to make room for fresh blood and new ideas?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple’s design team needs significant change.
So, say you have a Dropbox folder that keeps your media files synced across all your machines. Wouldn’t it be super-convenient to have iTunes import music from the Dropbox folder automatically? Also, just double-clicking the media files to import them to iTunes doesn’t sound too much work at first, but, what if your files are scattered all over the disk? For instance, some of you might have organized your media files into different folders by artist name, or by download source.
Let’s see how you can harness the power of automation to automatically import music to iTunes on a Mac.
Looking for more evidence that the iPad Pro can be used to create stunning artwork? The cover of the latest issue of The New Yorker might be just the proof you’re searching for.
Created by the magazine’s long-time art editor Jorge Colombo, it depicts kids playing basketball near to his home in Brooklyn. “This was a risky drawing to make,” he said. “I kept worrying that the ball would hit me or the iPad.” Not that he let that stop him from creating a stunning image!
Interest in the (PRODUCT)Red iPhone has died down since its release back in March, and the novelty has likely worn off already for those of you who picked one up. Now it’s time to make it interesting again!
We’ve put together a list of five brilliant red products, all under $30, to compliment the red iPhone and reinvigorate your love for its unique color. Check out the video along with details for all the accessories we’ve featured below.
Readdle just rolled out big updates that give users the ability to drag and drop content between its entire lineup of awesome productivity apps on iPad. It’s never been easier to multitask and manage your most important files on the go.
The company has also updated Documents 6 to turn it into a “Finder on iOS.”
Google Assistant for iOS was released at Google’s latest I/O event. Having never tried it (being an Apple fanboy and all) I thought it was only fair to put the two virtual assistants head to head.
There’s still a lot Google needs to fix such as being able to open apps other than it’s own. But check out the head to head battle in my video below.
When it comes to measuring heart rate and calories burned, not all fitness trackers are created equal, based on the findings of a scientific study that pitted the top wearables on the market against each other.
The in-depth study conducted by researchers at Stanford University was published today, revealing that Apple Watch is the most accurate wrist-worn tracker on the market, but it’s still far from perfect.
Instagram just added two new ways to explore photos that aren’t from the folks you follow: Hashtag Stories and Location Stories. These gather photos by place or subject, whereupon you can browse by tapping through them. If you see a picture you like, you can then then explore the area (or hashtag) further.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could capture stunning videos of sea life up to 196-feet deep without even getting your feet wet? You can with BIKI, the world’s first underwater drone for deep sea video recording.
It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have ultra-strong Kevlar Lightning cables, a modern cassette tape that’s also a standalone music player, an intelligent camera assistant that ensures you get a perfect shot every time, and more!
Intel has confirmed plans to drop Thunderbolt royalties in an effort to boost adoption. The chip-maker also plans to integrate Thunderbolt 3 into its own processors starting next year, eliminating the need for a dedicated controller.
Your postal carrier doesn’t usually ask about the contents of a package he’s dropping off, but I couldn’t blame him for being curious about a long box with a logo that said ZestDesk.
I explained to him it was a kind of standing desk and that I would be reviewing it. The man who is on his feet for his entire work day asked me what I did for a living and I said, “I sit at a computer, mostly, and write.”
To be clear, I sit on a couch or a comfy chair at a coffee shop with a MacBook Pro on my lap or belly and do not miss the cubicle life. A standing desk sounds so Type A and I worked hard to get further down the alphabet.
Spring is here, everything is new and blooming and the world invites you to explore its wonders. Of course that’s a lot easier to do if you speak more than your native language. There are few better ways to learn a new language than with Rosetta Stone. Their program is world famous for how effective it is, with an immersive method that’s been used even by national governments to train international employees. Whether you’re eager to learn Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, or Italian, Rosetta Stone can teach you to read, write, and speak with fluency. And right now, you can get box sets for levels 1 and 2, both digital and physical DVD versions, for just $119.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.