Spotify and Siri are finally a team. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
You will soon be able to ask Siri to play your favorite tracks from Spotify.
The world’s biggest music streaming service just started testing Siri support in iOS 13. It comes after Apple’s latest updates introduced new SiriKit audio APIs that allow third-party access.
If your new iPad looks like this, you're holding it wrong. Photo: iFixit
Apple’s new 10.2-inch iPad only arrived in stores yesterday, and already the good folks at iFixit have gotten hold of the device and cracked it open for a teardown.
Here’s what they found. (Hint: a lot of things stay the same, but there are a couple of neat touches!)
Kutcher played Jobs in a 2013 biopic. Photo: Jobs movie
During the latest episode of the brilliant hot sauce-based interview show Hot Ones, Ashton Kutcher opened up on the topic of Steve Jobs. Kutcher played Jobs in the 2013 biopic, which landed with a thud at the box office.
Kutcher told the story of how he was hospitalized before filming, after trying to follow Jobs’ fruitarian diet. “Don’t drink too much carrot juice is the moral of the story,” Kutcher said.
This was mind-blowing back in the day. And it's still pretty great today. Photo: Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks gave Gen Xers a reason to get nostalgic when it released updated versions of Doom and Doom II into the App Store. The versions packed all the pixelated monsters and massive weapons you could hope for on an iPhone or iPad.
But while folks were justifiably excited to don their flannel shirts, put on some alt rock in the background, and head back to the glory days of the mid-1990s, the games didn’t totally deliver on their promises. A number of people pointed out that the audio and lighting weren’t correct in both ports. Those problems have now been fixed.
Swift usage is on the rise again. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple’s own programming language is slowly taking over its mobile operating systems. iOS 13 contains more than twice as much Swift as iOS 12, according to research from Alexandre Colucci.
A huge number of Apple’s own apps and features now contain Swift binaries. A total of 141 have been uncovered in Apple’s most recent iOS 13.1 release.
The quickest way to see your app updates in iOS 13. Photo: Cult of Mac
iOS 13 did away with the old Updates tab in the App Store, and replaced it with Apple Arcade. That’s pretty bad news if you don’t want to use Apple Arcade. But on the plus side, you can access your app updates from the Home screen using 3D Touch. And the good news is that, in iOS 13, you can also use this trick on the iPad.
Imagine a world where the global space race never ended. Photo: Apple
The final trailer of For All Mankind gives us our clearest look yet at the plot of the alternate-history space-race TV show.
Apple TV+ is set to debut on November 1 with For All Mankind as one of its premiere shows. Previous trailers gave us a glimpse of the bad-guy Russians landing on the moon first — and the feminist angle with female astronaut candidates. Those two plot lines converge in the new trailer, which touched down on YouTube this morning. The new spot reveals President Richard Nixon’s decision to one-up the Russians by putting a woman on the moon first.
The new Home screen widget panel on iPadOS 13. Photo: Apple
In iPadOS, the old Today View has shuffled over a little, and now lives right on the Home screen. You can pin widgets there, and they will be permanently shown on the left edge of the Home screen (in landscape, at least — in portrait they will act more like a temporary Slide Over panel).
This changes how we use widgets. Instead of being temporary, quick-info panels, or shortcuts for app functions, widgets are now always visible, and always available to tap. A weather widget can be checked with a single glance, for instance. Ditto countdown timers. And — best of all — Shortcuts can be triggered with a single tap.
Let’s take a look at some great widgets for the iPadOS Home screen.
iOS 13 is off to a cracking start! Photo: Mixpanel
One in five compatible devices are already running iOS 13, data from analytics company Mixpanel suggests.
According to the company’s data, as of this morning 20.27% of users are running iOS 13. Meanwhile, 74.66% are using iOS 12, and the remaining 5.08% are running some earlier version of iOS. That still leaves a long way to go — but it’s a fantastic start.
Wait a second, those aren't Echo Buds! Screenshot: John Paczkowski/Bloomberg
Here’s a top tip: If your job involves promoting hardware that is not made by Apple, do not use an Apple device in public.
It sounds easy, right? As it turns out, it’s pretty darn difficult. And it’s a problem suffered by many, many people who are likely way above your pay grade. The latest example? Amazon exec Dave Limp, who yesterday gave an interview promoting Amazon’s new wireless Echo Buds. While wearing Apple’s AirPods, of course.