Elisabeth Moss has been called the "Queen of Peak TV," and now she’s headed for Apple TV+. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple gave a series order to Shining Girls, a metaphysical thriller that’ll star Emmy Award winner Elisabeth Moss, perhaps best known for The Handmaid’s Tale.
The show will play on the Apple TV+ where it’ll join multiple other thrillers announced in recent weeks.
Decades after they sprung into being, the Beastie Boys are still inspiring creativity. Photo: Apple TV+
To promote its excellent Apple TV+ documentary Beastie Boys Story, Apple has debuted a short video featuring longtime artistic collaborator Geoff McFetridge discussing five posters he created for the band using an iPad and Apple Pencil. It’s pretty rad.
Dean Hudson, accessibility technical evangelist at Apple, was part of the original team behind VoiceOver. Photo: Apple
Dean Hudson helped develop VoiceOver. With the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act approaching, he looks back on the creation of this Apple tech to describe what’s happening on iPhone and Mac displays to those who are blind or low vision.
Now accessibility technical evangelist at Apple, Hudson promises that Apple remains committed to enabling everyone to use its products. Because they’re life changing to those who need them.
Apple News Today is a news podcast with zero partisan rage. Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac
Apple News Today, the breezy new podcast showcasing the day’s top news stories, sounds perfectly peppy and polished. Maybe too perfectly polished, in fact — you won’t find a single rough edge on this slickly produced daily news report, which Apple unleashed last week with iOS 13.6. You will endure no energized, partisan rants, either. These straight-down-the-middle reports won’t get your blood boiling while you make your morning coffee or tea. If you’re tired of partisanship, this is the antidote.
What you will find in the weekday audio show is steady promotion of the Apple News app, and of Apple News+, the company’s reportedly struggling subscription news service. This upbeat and earnest free daily news briefing basically functions as a Trojan horse for getting in the ears of potential Apple News+ subscribers.
Necrobarista is a “spellbinding story of necromancy, friendship, and letting go.“ Photo: Route 59
The Terminal is a back-alley cafe where the dead mingle with the living. Necrobarista, which debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, is the story of Maddy Xiao, the new owner and an amateur necromancer.
Route 59 calls its creation “a unique take on the visual novel medium.” It offers a free-roaming first-person perspective on a 3D world with anime aesthetics.
Coming soon to a Windows PC near you? Photo: Microsoft
Steve Jobs once said that Apple software landing on Windows was like serving ice water to a person in hell. If a new report from Italian website Aggiornamenti Lumia is to be believed, Windows users may be about to get their first cool, refreshing beverage in a while.
The report states that Apple is gearing up to launch a dedicated Apple app on the Microsoft Store. There’s no word on what this will include. However, it could well be related to Apple’s streaming subscription services making their way to Windows.
Idris Elba, seen here in “Turn Up Charlie” could bring “Innovative, entertaining and thought-provoking” shows and movies to Apple TV+. Photo: Green Door Pictures
Idris Elba reportedly signed a first-look deal with Apple. This means the iPhone maker gets the right of first refusal for all projects dreamed up by Elba and his Green Door Pictures production company.
Can you handle some hot, hot beta action? Image: The CultCast
This week on The CultCast: We’ve got more details on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and Apple Maps gets a new feature that blows us away! Plus: We talk our two-week impressions of iOS 14, and a major Hollywood film is coming to Apple TV+.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Creaks invites comparison to other atmospheric puzzlers, like the classic Monument Valley. Photo: Amanita Design
Creaks starts with strange noises behind the walls. Soon, you’re confronting avian folk and deadly furniture monsters. This game, which debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, is a puzzle adventure with hand-painted visuals and eerie original music.
Apple Chadstone is one of the stores to re-close. Photo: Apple
Apple is re-closing four more of its Apple Stores in Melbourne, Australia as coronavirus cases spike again in the region.
Apple Chadstone, Apple Southland, Apple Doncaster, and Apple Fountain Gate will all be temporarily closing down, along with Apple Highpoint, which closed its doors last week. Australian Apple Stores began reopening two months ago, after having been shuttered since March 14.