panic

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on panic:

You can finally preorder the kooky-cool Playdate game console [Updated]

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Preorders for the Playdate game console open soon. Note the crank.
Preorders for the Playdate game console open soon. Note the crank.
Photo: Panic

MacOS and iOS app developer Panic initially said in May 2019 its kooky-cool Playdate handheld game console would come out in early 2020. Last week it said preorders would start July 29 and, hey, that’s today. Preorders have started.

The original announcement got a lot of looks because of the gadget’s interesting, retro design. It looks like a child’s toy — in a cool way — with a yellow casing and a black-and-white display. But it packs some tech.

A classic Mac app returns from the dead, and it’s time to get your affairs in order [Awesome Apps of the Week]

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Awesome Apps of the Week EZ Estate and more
These apps and updates stand out from the crowd.
Image: Cult of Mac
Awesome Apps

A recent restoration project brought vintage Mac MP3 player Audion back from the edge of oblivion. You can get Audion, and its more than 800 wild and wooly custom user interfaces, for free.

If you’re interested in how software design has evolved, you’ll love this totally trippy flashback to the bad old days when we all crammed our hard drives full of downloaded MP3s.

If you’d rather deal with more pressing matters, we’ve got other new apps to showcase in this week’s roundup. EZ Estate will help you get your final affairs in order. A new RSS reader will make you fall in love with an otter. You can display your HomeKit scenes in iOS widgets and more.

Spectacular Untitled Goose Game could be coming to mobile

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Untitled-Goose-Game
Who wouldn't want Untitled Goose Game in their pocket?
Photo: House House

The spectacularly pleasant Untitled Goose Game could be on its way to mobile.

Publisher Panic says it is “chewing on” the idea of bringing the phenomenon to Android and iOS. It just expanded its reach to Nintendo Switch and may also come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

iMac Pro packs new T2 chip for extra security

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iMac Pro
The internals are insane.
Photo: Apple

The iMac Pro is the most secure Apple desktop ever built, and it’s got a special chip to prove it.

Early review units are starting to trickle out to tech experts and according to iOS and Mac developer Cabel Sasser, the iMac Pro packs a new T2 chip that is basically like a secure enclave for the iMac.

Firewatch could be the prettiest mystery you play this year

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Firewatch is already raising the bar for 2016. Photo: Campo Santo
Firewatch is already raising the bar for 2016. Photo: Campo Santo

If you’ve forgotten why it’s great to be a gamer, you just have to take one look at Firewatch.

The first-person mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness is a visual masterpiece that’s being praised by just about everyone — and you can get it today on Mac, PC, Linux, and PlayStation 4.

Apple relents, restores Transmit for iOS’s ‘Send To’ feature

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Transmit by Panic is back on the App Store with its full functionality restored. Photo: Panic
Transmit by Panic is back on the App Store with its full functionality restored. Photo: Panic

On Monday, we reported that Apple has yanked Transmit from the App Store over a weird iCloud Drive rule.

The app, from beloved Mac and iOS developer Panic, allowed you to upload content from iCloud Drive, which is seemingly obvious functionality for a file transfer and FTP app like Transmit to have. But Apple objected, and not only made Transmit pull the “Send to iCloud” option, but the ability to send documents to other services and apps.

But good news! Transmit’s back on the App Store with the “Send to iCloud Drive” functionality restored.

Apple’s weird iCloud Drive rule could cripple apps

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Apple announced the ability for third-party apps to share files at WWDC in June. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/ The Next Web
Apple announced the ability for third-party apps to share files at WWDC in June. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/ The Next Web

Apple’s new interpretation of a particular iOS 8 feature could severely cripple countless third-party apps like Dropbox and Evernote.

The new interpretation came to light after Panic, a very respected indie developer, was told to remove the ability to send files to iCloud Drive in its file transfer app Transmit. And because of the way iOS 8 is designed, the app can no longer send files to any other storage provider.

What’s worse is that Apple provided little to no explanation for why it was implementing the policy change, and there’s no telling which app will forced to comply next.

‘Peacekeeper’ Bluetooth Alarm And Flashlight Douses Humans With Pepper Spray

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This combined Bluetooth attack alarm, flashlight and pepper spray is called the Peacekeeper. LOL.

The Peacekeeper keeps the peace by letting its user deliver a does of “military-grade” pepper spray into the face of another human being. Here’s what that means, according to a paper from the European Parliament Scientific and Technological Options Assessment (STOA).

The effects of pepper spray are far more severe, including temporary blindness which lasts from 15–30 minutes, a burning sensation of the skin which lasts from 45 to 60 minutes, upper body spasms which force a person to bend forward and uncontrollable coughing making it difficult to breathe or speak for between 3 to 15 minutes.

Panic’s Status Board App Turns Your iPad Into A Beautiful Command Center [Review]

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"You've got data. Status Board makes it beautiful."
Status Board
Made by: Panic
Category: Productivity
Works With: iPad, iPad mini
Price: $9.99

So many apps are designed first for the iPhone, and the iPad is more or less an afterthought. Not so with Status Board, a brand new app from Panic that is designed meticulously with the iPad’s larger display in mind.

If you know Panic’s pedigree (Coda, Transmit, etc.), then you know what kind of app to expect: something incredibly powerful, focused, and impeccably designed. Status Board is no exception. And although the app won’t appeal to most iPad users, it is perhaps Panic’s most consumer-friendly app to date.

It Looks Like Panic Is Going To Release A Beautifully Designed iPad Dashboard App Tomorrow

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Panic makes some of Cult of Mac’s favorite apps for the Mac. Transmit, Coda, Unison… they’re all classics of Mac app design, and recently, Panic has made the leap into iOS apps with Diet Coda and Prompt.

Now, rumor has it that Panic is about to release a brand new app for the iPad…. and it looks like it’s going to be a super-sexy dashboard app.

Apple’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter Has An Incredible Secret

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Over the weekend, a fascinating little post over on the Panic weblog revealed that the Lightning AV adapter meant to send video out from a connected iPhone or iPad over HDMI had an interesting little secret to it: it’s not a converter so much as it is a tiny ARM-based computer with a tiny SoC and 2GB of RAM!

The guys at Panic had a theory that this meant that the Lightning AV Adapter booted a miniature version of iOS every time it was connected, and that it was using a bizarre, hardwired version of the AirPlay protocol to do its streaming. That’s not actually the case, but an anonymous Apple engineer has now given the backstory behind this fascinating little bit of engineering.

Quick Route Beats Maps App In Every Way

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Quick Route is my new favorite routing app, not least because it’s so bike and pedestrian friendly (regular readers will know how I feel about those death boxes they call “cars.”) It’s optimized for the iPhone 5, it exhibits the level of design and polish you’d expect from a developer who also works for Panic, and it has a unique and neat way to pick your origin and destination.

CandyBar From Panic Gets Mountain Lion Support, Goes Free Due To Uncertain Future

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CandyBar is now free, but its days may be numbered.
CandyBar for Mac is now free, but its days may be numbered.

Panic’s terrific CandyBar tool has just been updated to support OS X Mountain Lion, and if you don’t already own it, you can now pick it up for free. Panic will no longer be charging for the app because of the new restrictions Apple has introduced to Mac OS X, which means CandyBar’s future is now unclear.

Could A PIN On Shutdown Deter iPhone Thieves?

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Cabel proves once again what a smart guy he is
Cabel proves once again what a smart guy he is

Sasser, co-founder of Panic software, has had a fantastic idea to make stealing iPhones pretty useless. Most savvy thieves know that when you find or steal a smartphone, you shut it down immediately. This stops it being tracked by the carrier and – in the case of the iPhone – it stops the user from tracking it, or wiping it from afar.

Cabel’s incredibly simple idea would stop this from happening.

This Week’s Must-Have iOS Apps: Yahoo! Axis, Diet Coda, Facebook Camera & More [Roundup]

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This week's roundup features new apps from Yahoo!, Facebook, Google, and more.
This week's roundup features new apps from Yahoo!, Facebook, Google, and more.

Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is a new web browser from Yahoo! called Axis, which hopes to redefine web searching on desktops and iOS devices. We’ve also got a terrific app for web editors, one that’ll help you monitor which apps are accessing your personal data, and two new apps from Facebook.

Coda 2 For Mac And Diet Coda For iPad Launching On May 24th

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The future of coding is here.
The future of coding is here.

Panic, the company behind popular Mac app Coda, has announced the second major version of its prized web development tool. Coda 2 for Mac will launch on May 24th alongside a new app for the iPad called Diet Coda. Version 2.0 of Coda is “better at everything,” according to Panic, and Diet Coda will allow you to preview your code live on the iPad as you write on the Mac. The iPad app will also let you make quick edits to your code on the go.

Transmit Update “Half-Available” If You Purchased Direct

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If you bought your copy of excellent FTP client Transmit directly from its makers at Panic Inc, then stand up and shout “YAY”, because you can go grab yourself an updated version today.

But if you bought your copy via the magical Mac App Store, turn towards Cupertino and shout “BOO”, because the exact same update was submitted to their approval system three weeks ago, and still hasn’t been approved.