Someone noticed that their iPhone 11 glows when you turn on the flashlight. The latest models have a special matte glass material on the back. While the iPhone 8 and later have had a glass back, it wasn’t matte and so didn’t produce this effect (Or at least, this is the first time I’ve seen this).
When you turn the flash light on, the iPhone 11 glass back glows. Not sure if the iPhone XR did this too, but I thought the effect was pretty cool.
You can watch it in action on YouTube here.
The Big Bang Theory Series 12 is now available on Netflix in the UK. These 24 episodes are the last ever series of the popular show about a group of geeks. The final series starts in the aftermath of Sheldon and Amy’s wedding. Bazinga!
32BitAppCheck is an app that scans for 32-bit apps on your Mac. It can help you prepare for macOS Catalina because this release will end support for 32-bit apps. It takes about 30 seconds to scan your computer (longer if you have hard drives plugged in). Once it’s finished it will present a list of all the 32-bit apps it found, which you can save as an .RTF file.
Information then collected in the app’s window begins with a list of 32-bit applications, followed by 32-bit preference panes found in System preferences. Then, you will see 32-bit system extensions, and 32-bit system frameworks. These software will include both Apple and 3rd-party software. You can then edit the information, changing fonts, and adding notes. Click Save to save the information in an RTF file. The most recent information with you edits is also saved within the app.
You can download the app here. As this is an app outside of the Mac App Store, I scanned it for malware using VirusTotal, and it appears to be clean. For an additional resource I’ve also written about Go64, which does the same thing and the UI is a bit more friendly.
Woolnut announced a leather case in “Racing Green” designed to complement Apple’s midnight green finish on iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. I love Woolnut’s cases and sleeves (read my review on the company’s MacBook Air leather sleeve for more). I own and used a Woolnut case for my iPhone X/S, and I immediately purchased the Racing Green case announced for iPhone 11. In any event, Woolnut’s cases are made from vegetable retanned full-grain leather from Scandinavia, with a soft microfiber lining on the inside. I asked how well this green matches Apple’s midnight green, and the company told me, “Our Racing Green color is slightly darker but they do complement each other really nice.” I trust that comment, but regardless, this Racing Green looks great, and I’m looking forward to popping it onto my new iPhone. It’s £35 (US$43.08).
An ad for noise-cancelling earbuds from Koss Heaphones was shot on the iPhone 11 Pro Max by videographer Max Moore.
Recently shot this Koss Headphones Commercial on an iPhone 11 Pro Max using FiLMiC Pro on FiLMiC Extreme 4K 24fps, Zhiyun Smooth 4 3-Axis Gimbal. Edited in FCPX and exported with Apple ProRes 422.
Mr. Moore is known for shooting commercials with iPhones. Last year he created several using the iPhone XS Max. It’s a great way to show off the video capabilities of Apple’s devices. You can check it out here.
Motif Photos, an app available on macOS and iPadOS, was recently added to iOS. It lets you create photo books on iOS and have them shipped to you. It syncs directly with your camera roll and gives you some templates to get started with.
Great stories begin with the best photos. Motif’s intelligent technology automatically analyzes each of your photos. It checks focus, clarity, lighting, people, faces, image orientation, panoramas, duplicates, and much more. Only the best images are recommended to build your Motif photo book.
Motif can automatically flow your best photo images through 80+ professionally built layouts. It balances image orientations and optimizes image centering and cropping. In seconds, review your personalized photo project, with layered texture, diverse layout, and exceptional design.
Prices start at US$10 for softcover books and US$20 for hardcover books. App Store: Motif – Free
Call of Duty for iOS is finally here! You can now play some of the games well-known maps. Options include participating in a 100 person Battle Royale, 5vs5 deathmatches, and taking on zombies. The game is free on iPad and iPhone.
Readdle updated PDF Expert 7 recently, bringing new features like iOS 13’s Dark Mode. Other features include PencilKit for image annotation, multiple windows for better multitasking, and productivity gestures for iPadOS. From the blog post:
PDF Expert 7 features all the new gestures Apple has included in iPadOS. Be it the one-finger tap and drag gesture to select text, the three-finger pinch out to copy or cut text, three-finger swipe left/right to Undo or Redo, or the three-finger tap to bring up the contextual menu — it’s all here on your iPad with PDF Expert.
App Store: PDF Expert 7 – Free
John Kheit recorded his unboxing of Apple’s new ceramic Apple Watch Series 5 Edition for TMO. It includes some side-by-side comparisons to the ceramic Apple Watch Series 2 Edition, as well as a look at Apple’s metal Link Bracelet.
Wanderlust Travel Stories is a new game that you can pre-order today, and it’s about “slow gaming.” You play at your own pace, exploring the lives of modern travelers each with their own desires, hopes, and fears. Every story is a journey, and on this travel, you are both the tourist and the guide. Take the role of various modern travelers, live their adventures and shape their stories. Choose your own pace, this title is meant to be taken in, experienced and felt. Relish in discovery and awe, longing and hope as you journey from Africa to Antarctica, from Europe to Asia. Wanderlust is a digital travel experience. Perfect when you’re traveling — or wish that you were. You get a 10% discount along with other goodies when you pre-order it today for US$17.99.
USA Today/tech has published a showcase of the Mac OS X/OS X/macOS wallpapers throughout the years. It’s very cool. By the way, TMO discovered which galaxy was used for OS X Mountain Lion back in 2012.
Visible is a prepaid phone carrier I subscribe to that runs on Verizon’s network. Last night they had a funny commercial on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Guillermo Rodriguez talks to a store clerk about how he’s headed to the phone store to sign up for a “confusing and expensive phone plan.” Don’t worry, the clerk says, you don’t have to camp out at the phone store anymore. Instead you can sign up for Visible which doesn’t have any stores and offers its services through an app. You can watch the video on YouTube here, and read my review to see if Visible is right for you.
On iPhone 11 launch day so Charlotte took a trip to the London flagship Apple Store to see the device and the people who want to buy it.
Everett’s many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that there is a single wave function for the entire universe, and at the moment of measurement, the universal wave function splits in two. You see one measurement, and the you in the other universe sees another measurement. Universe Splitter lets you play with this theory. Type two choices into the app. The app will split the wave function in two by activating a quantum device that will send a single photon into an “either/or” state. Then, the app will tell you which universe you’re in. Unfortunately, Many Worlds says that the universes can’t communicate with each other, so you’ll never be able to talk to your copies. App Store: Universe Splitter – US$1.99
LEGO Brawls is one of the games that arrived with Apple Arcade. You can engage in 4v4 multiplayer brawls inside the LEGO universe. Players can create and customize their own characters, before joining teammates for battle at classic LEGO locations.
The Apple Reality Composer app is now available on the App Store. It’s also included with Xcode so developers can build, test, tune, and simulate augmented reality experiences. Easily prototype and produce AR experiences directly in AR with no prior 3D experience. Drag and drop to place and rotate virtual objects to assemble your scene directly in AR or on the canvas. Build your scene by importing your own .usdz files or take advantage of the ready to use virtual objects in Reality Composer’s built-in AR content library, so you can get up and running quickly. Customize a virtual object’s size, style, and more. Add animations that let you move, scale, and add emphasis like a ‘wiggle’ or ‘spin’ to virtual objects, without having any animation experience. Add spatial audio, all of which can be set up to happen upon a user tapping on those objects, coming in close proximity with them, or other triggers. App Store: Apple Reality Composer – Free
The iPhone 11 Pro is pretty on the outside, but what is on the inside. iFixit did their teardown of the device. As with any of their teardown’s of a new Apple product, it is essential viewing. Enjoy.
I’m a huge fan of the FIFA Soccer games, and the latest version for mobile is available on iPhone and iPad now. It arrived days before the game console version came out. Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard features on the cover image. This version of the games allows you to play 11v11 matches against friends and compete in a number of competitions. You can also keep your team from last year via the new Legacy Mode. FIFA Soccer is free with in-game purchases available.
When Apple said that Apple Arcade games were exclusive, it meant that they won’t be on Android. But these games can be released on other platforms. Like Sayonara Wild Hearts which was shown at Apple’s keynote. It’s available for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 for US$12.99. In Sayonara Wild Hearts, players follow a young woman after she experiences heartbreak and finds her other self dubbed “The Fool” in an alternate universe. Play as The Fool and journey through a custom-written pop soundtrack, chase scores, and set out to find the harmony of the universe hidden away in the hearts of Little Death and her star-crossed allies: Dancing Devils, Howling Moons, Stereo Lovers and Hermit 64. Additionally, you can get physical copies as well as a vinyl record at iam8bit.com.
TouchRetouch is my app of choice for quick retouching of photos. By “retouching” I mean this app is for removing objects from your photos. The latest version now makes it available on the iPad, so you don’t have to use the separate “TouchRetouch for iPad.” But that’s not the only feature that was added today: Implemented a new image picker; Added a possibility to return to the place in the gallery where the last selected photo was located; Added the Paste Image feature to the image picker; Redesigned the Export menu; Added the “Open a new photo” option to the Export menu; Made the app universal; Made the tools slicker to ensure smoother editing experience; Improved compatibility with Display P3; Optimized for Dark Mode; Added support for 360° photos lacking some EXIF data; Added support for transparent PNG images; Fixed a blank screen issue arising when selecting a corrupted RAW file; Fixed an issue causing the app to quit when editing large photos (18 MP) in the TouchRetouch extension to Photos; Added support for Dynamic Type, so now the app can adjust to the preferred font size; Added support for Turkish; Changed a .jpeg file extension to .jpg. App Store: TouchRetouch – US$1.99
