Cult of Mac

“It’s this long process of demos and decisions and feedback that creates this long, iterative progression … that leads you from not-very-promising ideas to products you can ship.”

Curious what it was like to work at Apple during its Golden Age of design? What exactly did the creative process look like? On this episode of the Apple Chat podcast, I sit down with Ken Kocienda, a programmer who spent 15 years at Apple during the Steve Jobs era. He worked on the first versions of the Safari web browser, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. His new book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs, chronicles his experiences working at the company and offers an inside look at the creative process that made the team successful.

On the podcast, Kocienda discusses his role in the development of the iOS keyboard, explaining how text entry evolved and offering insight into the autocorrect algorithm. He walks us through the Darwinian process of creative selection, describing how the demo pyramid functioned to provide feedback and move an idea from prototype to product. Listen in for his experience presenting a demo to Jobs himself and learn how the original spirit of the Macintosh lives on at Apple today!

WhatsApp is finally giving iPhone users media previews inside their notifications.

When you receive an image or a GIF, you’ll have the option to view it without having to unlock your phone and open WhatsApp. The new feature can be disabled if you don’t like it, however.

The six San Francisco Bay Area Apple Stores targeted by thieves in the past several weeks have one thing in common (besides the iPhones, iPads and Macs on display). They don’t have uniformed police officers on site.

Speaking about the crime spree, San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya noted that neither the Marina or Union Square Apple Stores in San Francisco have so far been targeted by thieves. His theory about why they’ve escaped the Apple crime spree? Because both have uniformed officers stationed there.

As Apple makes moves to become a provider of streaming video content, it will be among the companies bound by new EU laws, stating that companies dedicate at least 30 percent of their on-demand catalogs to local content.

Roberto Viola, head of the European Commission department which regulates this area, says that the laws are on track to be enshrined in December. “We just need the final vote, but it’s a mere formality,” he recently told trade publication Variety.

Evernote, the popular mobile app for note taking, organizing, tasks lists, and archiving, is going through some hard times. A new report reveals that it has lost multiple senior executives — including its Chief Technology Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Procurement Officer, and head of HR — in the last month.

A tipster told TechCrunch that that Evernote is in a “death spiral.” They claim that paid user growth and active user numbers remain flat, and that the company’s enterprise product offering has failed to catch on with customers.

When Steve Jobs died in 2011, pundits wondered how the company would continue to make great products without him.

The question is partly answered by programmer Ken Kocienda’s new book, Creative Selection, which describes his 15 years working at Apple helping to develop the original iPhone, iPad and Safari web browser.

Kocienda’s book is a remarkable insider’s story that shows how Apple creates the software that it’s rightly famous for.

We already know that Apple sells more smartwatches than everyone else. But there are other types of wearable computers. Do companies sell enough of these other types to overtake the Apple Watch? In a word…Nope.

But the second largest wearable maker might surprise you. Especially considering how close behind Apple they are.

Apple has no problem getting operating system upgrades out to its customers. The vast majority of iPhone and iPad users are running the latest iOS version. And all of these people will be able to make the jump to iOS 12 later this month for free.

Contrast that with Apple’s chief rival. Just a small percentage of Android users have a recent version.

Apple’s iMac lineup hasn’t seen any major design changes in years, but a clever new concept imagines some simple ways that Apple could bring some big innovations to its all-in-one PC. And we’re totally in love.

The Mac Touch concept created by Antonio De Rosa would transform the iMac into a powerful creation PC by adding a revolving and adjustable touchscreen. Video and photo editing, drawing, or even just surfing the internet would feel more magical on this iMac. It even brings back the hockey puck mouse with a new twist.

Take a closer look:

iPhone fans hoping that Apple will bring back its beloved Touch ID features are in for some disappointment.

There were rumors for years that Apple was trying to embed a fingerprint reader into iPhone displays. One of the most reliable Apple analysts in the game is predicting that the technology will not make it to iPhones. Or if it does, it won’t come out this decade.

Many Americans are on holiday this week, but not Apple. It just dropped the tenth macOS Mojave developer beta. And the full non-beta version of this updated laptop and desktop operating system is right around the corner.

The company often introduces iOS betas at the same time as macOS ones, but that hasn’t happened today. Not yet, anyway.

Amazon became the second member of the $1 Trillion Club this morning – then left it after stock prices dipped.

Amazon crossed the threshold at $2050.27, five weeks after Apple was first to reach $1 trillion. By early afternoon, Amazon shares were trading at $2,035.64.

The 6.1-inch iPhone that’s expected to be unveiled next week has the potential to become Apple’s top seller.   Advertising will play a big part of making it so, and a clever graphic artist went ahead and created a TV ad for this upcoming large but inexpensive iOS smartphone.

Watch it now:

There’s a race on to introduce the world’s first folding smartphone, and Samsung appears committed to winning. The head of its mobile division says his company will unveil a foldable phone before the end of this year.

Other companies racing to introduce rival foldable devices include Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo. Apple is being more deliberative.

It’s a wait cursor, colorful and spinning, that means your Mac is thinking. But few of us are patient nor amused by its animation, so we give it names like the spinning wheel or beachball “of death.”

Now you can assign the infamous icon a new function – throw pillow.

Right now, a lot of the discussion of Apple’s original video content focuses on the drama series the company is developing. But Apple’s not abandoning its focus on creating videos to promote Apple Music musicians — as a pair of new teaser trailers make clear.

The short teasers are for an upcoming documentary to coincide with Chris, artist Héloïse Letissier’s second album as Christine and The Queens. Check them out below.

Labor Day weekend means chilling out and saving energy. It’s also a chance to check out some of the best deals at the Cult of Mac store. We’ve got massive discounts on virtual surround sound earbuds, a powerful language learning app, and comprehensive lessons in social media marketing. Read on for more details:

Recent job listings on Apple’s hiring page suggest the company is considering giving Apple Maps an AR overhaul.

The move would keep pace with Google, which showed off an AR mapping feature for Google Maps at its I/O event earlier this year. It comes at a particularly interesting time for Apple, as the company recently acquired an AR headset maker. It’s yet another hint that augmented reality won’t stay confined to our iOS devices for long!

Do you enjoy reading? Do you like finding out behind-the-scenes information about Apple? Either you’ve crash-landed on the wrong website, or you may be interested in Creative Selection, a new book by former Apple software engineer Ken Kocienda.

Available to buy today, the book tells the story of Kocienda’s work on several major Apple projects, ranging from software like Safari to the iPhone’s autocorrect keyboard. It’s a neat dive into Apple’s creation process, as told by someone who had a 15-year inside look.

Small Fry, the memoir written by Steve Jobs’ oldest daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs, is out today. The book details Lisa’s challenging relationship with her famous father, who early on denied his daughter’s paternity, before eventually forging a (still difficult at times) relationship with her.

Lisa has said the book was prompted by her apparent dislike of Walter Isaacson’s 2011 Steve Jobs biography. However, it seems that Lisa’s book is also going to stir up some controversy among Steve Jobs’ family.

You probably don’t know the name Gerry Roche, but he was heavily involved in one of the most significant events in Apple history.

Roche, who died over the weekend at the age of 87, was the executive recruiter who brought John Sculley from PepsiCo to Apple in the early 1980s. Sculley wound up overseeing a massive boom in Apple’s business, the launch of the Macintosh, and — perhaps most memorably — the departure of Steve Jobs.

Apple appears poised to unveil the most significant redesign of the iPad in years. Renders of 2018’s iteration of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro have leaked out, showing that this model will include changes that will make it the best tablet Apple ever released.

It also includes some bone-headed design decisions that users will just have to deal with.

Now’s the time to reap some massive savings on all your favorite Apple Watch bands, chargers and accessories. Today through Monday, you’ll save up to 40 percent during Cult of Mac Watch Store’s Labor Day Weekend Sale — our biggest sale to date.

You’ll find deep discounts on some of our most popular brands for Apple Watch accessories including Wiplabs (think WiDuo, BentoStack, Link Bracelets), Nyloon, Ottm, Strapa and Twelve South, just to name a few. Sale ends Monday at midnight, so check out these stellar discounts while they last, and check out our featured brands below.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an anti-iPhone rant. You should buy Apple’s smartphones, just not right now. Try to hold out a few weeks if your current one is dying or even if it’s dead. That’s because the release of the 2018 iPhone models is just around the corner.

There’ll be some big new versions released. And even if you want something that’s already available, it could become more affordable in just a week or so.

A teenage girl grounded an Hawaiian Airlines flight for 90 minutes by accidentally sending fake crime scene photos to other passengers over AirDrop.

Flight 23 was already taxiing the runway on Friday morning when passengers started reporting their concerns to the crew. The 15-year-old distributor was trying to send photos from her high school medical-biology class to her mother.