Planet of the Apps

Indie dev Casey Liss on how he came to love SwiftUI [Planet of the Apps]

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Casey Liss and Callsheet
Casey Liss, developer of a new app, Callsheet, that makes looking up movie and show trivia trivially easy.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Pro tip bug Planet of the Apps is a series of interviews with app developers about making, marketing and maintaining apps in the App Store.

Indie developer and podcaster Casey Liss used to hate SwiftUI, Apple’s controversial UI toolkit for crafting apps. A lot of developers have a deep and abiding animus for SwiftUI, including Liss himself. But after using SwiftUI to create his latest app Callsheet, a movie and TV database app, he’s now a huge fan.

“So much of SwiftUI, I love,” he said in a wide-ranging and surprisingly-interesting interview. “I went from nothing to a fully functional app … in the span of a couple of weeks… It was stunningly fast.”

How an indie dev used ChatGPT to build an iPhone app from scratch [Planet of the Apps]

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AI-generated image of a silver robot sitting at a desk with a MacBook Pro and iPhone
No artists were put out of a job in generating this image.
Image: DiffusionBee/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Planet of the Apps bug Planet of the Apps is a series of interviews with app developers about making, marketing and maintaining apps in the App Store.

Swiss developer Morten Just has built a whole slew of useful Mac apps under the name Otato. But his latest app wasn’t made by him at all: He asked ChatGPT to build it for him.

While Just earned his stripes as a professional programmer, he didn’t write a single line of code to create 5 Movies. It’s an iPhone app that gives you five daily movie recommendations, shows you the trailers on YouTube and tells you where you can stream the films. (It’s currently pending App Store approval.)

These days, artificial intelligence is making headlines for giving users powerful tools that can write essays, recreate impressive art and give technology journalists the heebie-jeebies. 5 Movies is proof that, with a big assist from AI, it only takes a few prompts and a basic understanding of Xcode to create an iPhone app without any coding yourself.

When I interviewed Morten earlier this week for Cult of Mac, I asked him how he got ChatGPT to build his app, what the generated code looked like, and how AI-coded apps will impact ordinary people as well as software developers.

Planet of the Apps star trashes Apple’s marketing of show

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Planet of the Apps
Gary Vaynerchuk was one of the judges on the Apple reality show.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s reality TV show Planet of the Apps was disappointing, but one of its stars, Gary Vaynerchuk, blames the show’s failure on something other than its misjudged content.

In a new episode of his podcast, entrepreneur and internet personality Vaynerchuk says that Apple failed to properly market the show.

Apple Music gets an anthem in funky new ad

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Photo: Apple

Album covers take center stage in the latest ad for Apple Music. The funky new video that was pushed to Apple’s YouTube channel this morning features an eclectic collection of quick art shots inspired by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Sia, Eminem, Drake, FKA Twigs and many more.

Check it out:

Apple taps Steven Spielberg for original sci-fi show

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Steven Spielberg takes the stage at Comic-Con International in 2017.
Apple is reportedly ready to whip up some new amazing stories with Steven Spielberg.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

Apple is set to make its biggest push into original content yet by inking a deal with one of the biggest directors in Hollywood history.

Steven Spielberg and Apple reportedly will create new episodes of Amazing Stories. The science fiction anthology series originally ran in the 1980s on NBC, but will be relaunched with all-new episodes.

Hollywood lines up to help Apple make its own Game of Thrones

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Planet of the Apps
Apple's next TV shows should be a lot better than Planet of the Apps.
Photo: Apple

Hollywood is racing to do business with Apple in hopes to help the iPhone-maker create its first breakout TV series and movies.

Apple’s LA-based TV execs, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, have been lining up meetings with some of the top names in town, according to a new report that sheds some light on the company’s TV strategy. Everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Steven Spielberg has pitched the duo. But in true Apple fashion, they’re being very picky about what they say yes to.

Apple hires former WGN America chief to bolster video team

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Matt Cherniss
Matt Cherniss will oversee Apple's new worldwide video unit.
Photo: WGN America

Apple has hired former WGN America and Tribune Studios chief Matt Cherniss as it looks to bolster its original video efforts.

Cherniss will reportedly oversee the company’s new worldwide video unit, serving under Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, the former presidents of Sony Pictures Television, who joined Apple back in June.

Should Apple abandon original video? [Friday Night Fight]

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Will Carpool Karaoke: The Series be Apple's first hit?
Will Carpool Karaoke: The Series be Apple's first hit?
Photo: Apple

This coming Tuesday Apple is set to debut its newest original TV show Carpool Karaoke: The Series, but with Planet of the Apps being such a dud, some of us at Cult of Mac are questioning whether Apple has anything to gain by making mediocre TV shows.

During Apple’s Q3 earnings call this week, Tim Cook said Apple will continue to explore original content for Apple Music. Can Apple actually make great TV shows, or is it losing focus on what’s more important?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss Apple’s media ambitions:

Apple yanks controversial Planet of the Apps ad from Twitter

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Planet of the Apps
Not a high point for Apple.
Photo: Apple

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.

Take a look at the tone-deaf ad:

With Planet of the Apps, Apple fails to crack the code for good TV [Review]

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Screen Shot 2017-06-07 at 11.45.49
When it comes to original programming, this isn't exactly Netflix's House of Cards.
Photo: Apple

With its new reality show Planet of the Apps, Apple didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. It slapped a new body on a well-worn vehicle — wannabe entrepreneurs pitching their precious ideas to a panel of questionable celebrity experts — and drove straight to “Meh-ville.”

Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy documentary will be an Apple Music exclusive

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Diddy's movie is coming to Apple Music.
Diddy's movie is coming to Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music is set to premiere an all-new exclusive documentary this summer and this go around it will be all about hip-hop legend and business mogul Sean P. Combs (aka. Puff Daddy, aka P. Diddy).

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story will make its official debut exclusively on Apple Music starting June 25. The documentary chronicles Diddy’s rise to become one of the most prolific producers in the mid-90s as well as the trouble he faced putting together last year’s 20th anniversary Bad Boy reunion show.

iOS 11 will bring new focus on original videos from Apple Music

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Carpool Karaoke
Enjoy Carpool Karaoke without an Apple Music subscription.
Photo: Apple

iOS 11 will deliver a new Music app with a focus on original videos, according to Jimmy Iovine. The Apple Music chief says the service could add many as 10 original video series by the end of this year, including Carpool Karaoke and will.i.am’s Planet of the Apps, while Apple is also in talks to secure content from J.J. Abrams and R. Kelly.

Apple hires YouTube vet to shape video strategy

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Planet of the Apps
Not a high point for Apple.
Photo: Apple

In another sign that Apple is gearing up to make a big push into video, the company has hired former YouTube executive Shiva Rajaraman.

The hire comes as Apple is beginning to launch its own efforts to create original video content for Apple Music subscribers, but the addition of Rajaraman could mean Apple is looking to explore other avenues for its video content too.

Senior Apple execs fight for Hollywood deals

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Eddy Cue
Eddy Cue is one of three Apple chiefs trying to secure original content.
Photo: CNBC

Three senior Apple executives are in talks with Hollywood’s “most successful” TV and movie producers over original content for Apple TV, according to a new report.

Each member of the trio, which includes Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, is so desperate to secure the first deal that they supposedly are fighting against each other.

Planet of the Apps trailer is a prototype for bad TV

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Planet of the Apps
Reality show Planet of the Apps is coming soon to Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Prepare yourself for Apple’s first teaser trailer for Planet of the Apps, because it’s a total cringe-fest.

Billing Jessica Alba and Gwyneth Paltrow as some of “the world’s most culturally influential entrepreneurs,” the Shark Tank ripoff pairs budding app developers with tech luminaries and venture capitalists who can help make their App Store dreams a reality.

Jimmy Iovine reiterates Apple’s interest in original TV content

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Iovine
Iovine says Apple Music isn't just about music.
Photo: Apple

Jimmy Iovine is hinting that Apple may indeed be looking to follow Amazon and Netflix down the original TV programming route, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the company is “going to do whatever hits popular culture smack on the nose.”

“At Apple Music, what we’re trying to create is an entire cultural, pop cultural experience, and that happens to include audio and video,” Iovine said.

Apple drops the beat in its first documentary, 808: The Movie

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The 808 drum machine changed music forever.
The 808 drum machine changed music forever.
Photo: Beats 1

The first documentary from Apple has finally arrived — and it has nothing to do with iPhones or Macs. The film, titled 808: The Movie, chronicles Roland’s legendary TR-808 drum machine and how it influenced the music industry from the ’80s all the way up to today.

Narrated by Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe, the Apple Music exclusive features appearances by Pharrell Williams, David Guetta, Rick Rubin, Diplo, Questlove, Phil Collins, Beastie Boys and more.

Check out the trailer:

Apple tried to sign Chris Rock to iTunes movie deal

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AppleTV_TV-Movies-PRINT
Making TV shows is just one of Apple's many hobbies.
Photo: Apple

Cupertino’s slow flirtation with Hollywood nearly landed Apple an exclusive iTunes movie deal with comedian Chris Rock, according to a new report.

Apple has shown interest in producing original video content of its own. The company bought the rights to James Cordon’s Carpool Karaoke TV show, and it appears Apple has some tepid interest in making the type of movies you’d find on Netflix.

Frank Ocean debuts Endless visual album on Apple Music

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Frank Ocean Endless
45-minute 'visual album' now available on Apple Music.
Photo: Apple Music

Apple Music added to its impressive string of exclusives by releasing Endless, a 45-minute “visual album” by Frank Ocean.

The film, which is available now to subscribers of Apple’s streaming music service, is thought to be a tease for an upcoming album by the Grammy-winning singer that could be released this weekend.

Gwyneth Paltrow is bringing her coding skills to ‘Planet of the Apps’

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planet of the apes with tim cook
Welcome to our new world Gwyneth.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox/Apple

Apple has signed Hollywood superstar Gwyneth Paltrow to join its unscripted series ‘Planet of the Apps’.

Paltrow will be joined by will.i.am and serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk on the show where all three will serve as mentors and advisors to app developers in the series that will reportedly act as a launch pad to exceptional developers.

Why Pokémon Go is the smash iOS hit Nintendo needed, this week on The CultCast

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Look at all those little Pokémon, taunting you, just waiting to be caught.
Photo: Yokohama's Pokémon Festival

This week on The CultCast: Why Pokémon Go is the smash iOS hit Nintendo needed; iPhone 7 may get the extended battery life we’ve all been asking for; Cult of Mac’s bizarre connection to Apple’s new Planet of the Apps TV show; and… which is manlier summer attire, midriff shirts or short shorts? We answer life’s most intriguing questions on an all-new Get to Know Your Cultist.

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