Monument Valley 2, an M.C. Escher-inspired mobile gaming masterpiece, is just one of the brilliant titles we’ve picked out for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup.
We’ve also got a great task manager, an ancient Egypt-themed strategy game, and a superb camera app. Check out our picks below.
This mini drone makes HD FPV flight a total breeze. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
One of the coolest parts of owning a drone is the opportunity to fly from a first person view, or FPV straight from your iPhone When thinking about the drones that can shoot HD video and allow for FPV, you probably imagine one of the massive platforms that come with price tags too big to consider. That’s what makes this nano drone exciting.
Apple design places a premium on simplicity in an effort to provide "a delightful experience." Photo: Andy McNally/Cult of Mac
Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines have been the core of the company’s design philosophy ever since the Macintosh in 1978. Apple design evangelist Mike Stern gave an overview of the ever-evolving guidelines during a Wednesday session at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
The session, entitled “Essential Design Principles,” is one of my favorites, in large part because I’m a designer myself. I’ve distilled the essential Apple design principles he talked about in the sketchnotes above.
iOS 11's Smart Invert feature brings a stunning dark mode Photo: Cult of Mac
Some users have been longing for an iOS “dark mode” for quite a while. With iOS 11, Apple is introducing a new Smart Invert feature that replicates the dark mode functionality, though it’s not quite there yet. It builds upon iOS’ classic Invert Colors mode but excludes some images, media and apps that use dark color styles.
Here’s how you can try out the hidden dark mode in iOS 11 right now.
This week's best deals include a time saving typing assistant, a Wi-Fi optimizer, and lots more. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
It’s finally starting to get hot out there, but few things are as hot as the new deals in the Cult of Mac Store. The best of this week’s batch include a game-changing tool for mapping and optimizing Wi-Fi connections, and an app that’ll save you time by shortcutting your typing habits. There’s also a massive certification bundle covering all of Microsoft Office, and a top shelf Bluetooth speaker. Everything is discounted by 60 percent or more, read on for more details:
What did you think of this year's announcements at WWDC? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, we cover all of Apple’s biggest updates and announcements unveiled at last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. Apple is back in a big way!
Check out hands-on videos featuring all the brilliant new features of iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. Plus, everything you need to know about iOS 11’s new Files app and so much more.
Click iTunes for a free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine. Here are this week’s top stories.
watchOS 4 is available to developers, take an early look at what's new with our video! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Along with new versions of iOS and macOS, Apple unveiled its next major update for the Apple Watch at WWDC. The first watchOS 4 beta is now available to developers, and we’ve been trying out all its new features and improvements.
Check out the video below to see watchOS 4 in action.
The Chicago band Fall Out Boy played to an enthusiastic crowd at WWDC 2017. Photo: Kenny Batista/Cult of Mac
This week, student Kenny Batista is writing a diary from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California. Kenny won a coveted WWDC Scholarship, which includes food, lodging and VIP access.
SAN JOSE, California — Apple threw us a bash party at WWDC where Fall Out Boy came to perform, and it was a blast!
The crowd even got pretty rowdy during Fall Out Boy’s performance, as you can see in the video below.
Apple Design Boss Jony Ive has some low-tech ambitions. Photo: Apple
After developing some of the most iconic tech products of the last two decades, Apple’s design boss Jony Ive has some astonishingly low-tech ambitions when it comes to the future.
During a recent interview at a conference organized by the Norman Foster Foundation, Jony Ive gave a surprising answer when what futuristic product he would like to design next.
Here's the latest on Swift 4, the latest version of Apple's programming language, done up in sketchnotes. Photo: Andy McNally/Cult of Mac
On Tuesday, Apple gave one of it’s most important presentations of the week: the new version of Swift, it’s popular multi-platform programming language.
It was a big session because it gave all of the developers at WWDC a quick overview of the new features and pointed them to sessions that dove deeper on certain topics.
Above is my sketchnote from the session. I always feel over my head in the Swift talks, but I feel like the improvements will make Swift more accessible to developers like me, who are just getting started.
Are you pleased with what you saw at WWDC 2017? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
This year’s WWDC keynote was an early Christmas for Apple fans. It delivered the big updates to iOS, macOS, and watchOS we were eagerly anticipating; a 10.5-inch iPad Pro; updated Macs with Intel Kaby Lake processors, plus nice surprises like the iMac Pro and HomePod.
But is this Apple back at its best, or do we need more out of Cupertino? Are fancy software updates enough to breathe new life into boring hardware? Is Apple’s new push into virtual reality and machine learning too little, too late?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over a bumper WWDC!
The debut of Apple’s first original TV series, Planet of the Apps is getting off to a rocky start. Early reviews have been profoundly negative and the show’s ad campaign certainly isn’t winning over any new fans.
Apple’s Twitter account for Planet of the Apps sent out a new ad today that caused an uproar among fans who slammed it for being anti-family and promoting workaholism. The ad features one of the show’s app developers bragging about how he rarely sees his kids. It was quickly pulled but not before someone snapped a screenshot.
Apple CEO Tim Cook before giving the 2017 MIT Commencement Speech. Photo: TIME
Apple CEO Tim Cook warned MIT’s graduating class of the dangers society faces as a result of rapidly advancing technology during his commencement speech this morning.
Cook challenged the 2017 graduates to measure their impact on humanity on the lives they touch, rather than the likes you get on social media.
Apple's into health in a big way. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple has hired Dr. Sumbul Desai, formerly executive director of Stanford Medicine’s Center for Digital Health, as part of its ongoing work into mobile wellness and health technology.
Dr. Desai will work part-time in a senior role on Apple’s health team, but will continue to see patients at Stanford.
Apple’s next-generation iPhone won’t offer the same super-speedy gigabit LTE speeds as rival smartphones, according to a new report.
Qualcomm is the only company currently offering modems that support gigabit LTE, but thanks to a recent fallout with Apple, it will not be the sole modem supplier for iPhone 8.
Are you ready for a return to Monument Valley? Photo: Luke Dormehl/Cult of Mac
When I interviewed the creators of smash hit puzzle game Monument Valley back in 2014, producer Dan Gray told me, “Already we’re having people ask us when Monument Valley 2 comes out, which is pretty crazy.”
Well, ask and ye shall receive — albeit three long years later. Arriving as a surprise release on iOS this month, Monument Valley 2 brings more of the M.C. Escher-inspired puzzle action that fans have been craving since the original game arrived in the App Store.
How does it fare? Put it this way: If you loved the original, you should fire up Apple Pay right now and set aside a few hours for more of the same.
This is no ordinary watch, it's also a feature-rich fitness tracker. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Fitness trackers are great for anyone looking to get in shape and see their progress in more than just the mirror. Unfortunately though a hot pink bracelet isn’t the most stylish accessory. Unless that’s your thing of course, in which case more power to you.
Done right, this could be one of the most ambitious iOS games in history. Photo: Durango
Ever since a misspent youth playing Turok and watching Jurassic Park, I’ve been a sucker for dinosaur-themed entertainment.
Fortunately, it seems that my love of Apple, mobile gaming, and prehistoric monster reptiles may soon converge in one glorious app, as dinosaur-themed survival MMORPG Durango is set to stalk its way into the App Store. Check out the trailer below.
iPhone 8 could arrive on time after all. Photo: Martin Hajek
Samsung will manufacture 80 million AMOLED displays for the iPhone 8 during the second half of 2017, according to a new report.
Sources in Apple’s supply chain claim that other manufacturers have also begun mass-producing components for the company’s next-generation handsets — though iPhone 8 may not hit peak production until mid-September.
WWDC student scholar Kenny Batista has been networking like crazy to get an internship at Apple. Photo: Kenny Batista/Cult of Mac
This week, student Kenny Batista is writing a diary from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California. Kenny won a coveted WWDC Scholarship, which includes food, lodging and VIP access.
SAN JOSE, California — Today at WWDC was all about networking. I’m working my way into an internship at Apple, and it’s going pretty well. I managed to impress an Apple engineer with an idea that I think they might already be working on!
With an aim of modernizing government services, the group is being led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Some of the biggest names in tech are among the roster of advisers, many of whom publicly denounced Trump’s recent decision to leave the Paris climate agreement, which could make the meeting pretty interesting.
macOS High Sierra brings powerful updates to the Mac. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
macOS High Sierra doesn’t pack as many updates as iOS 11, but Apple’s latest desktop software delivers plenty of new features worth drooling over.
After using the first High Sierra beta for the last few days, I’ve been blown away. Check out what’s new in the macOS High Sierra hands-on video below:
Is it worth $3,000? How about $500? Photo: garmont2222211/eBay
The lucky few who have heard the audio from Apple’s new HomePod say it’s spectacular. Does it sound as good as the Hi-Fi stereo boombox Apple made for the iPod?
One way to find out is to buy one currently on eBay – for $2,999.99.
Save $200 on one of Apple’s finest all-in-ones. Photo: Apple
When Apple unveiled its spec bump for the 4K iMac at WWDC 2017 this week it didn’t seem like a major update. However, a teardown of the new 4K iMac reveals that the new machine is the most upgrade-friendly iMac Apple has released in years.