With reports of increased spending and siginficant hires, it looks like Apple is ready to compete seriously against the likes of Netflix.
Artpaper Gives You Art Wallpapers on Your iOS Devices
Back in May I wrote about an app called Artpaper for macOS. It gives you over a thousand 5K art wallpapers on your Mac, from different museums and galleries around the world. Today, Artpaper is now available for iOS devices, too.
All wallpapers available in the app are the works from some top-tier galleries and museums all over the world. Featuring Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Fuji Tokyo, Uffizi, Art Institute Chicago, East Side Gallery Berlin, Fide, Amon Carter Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, and many more.
You can follow the link below to find the Mac app, and click the link here for the iOS app.
Strava Wants to be Facebook for Runners
Strava is a hugely popular activity monitoring app. Under the leadership of CEO James Quarles, it has grown significantly. He told Wired, he now wants to expand the app’s social network-like functionality.
The third, and possibly most important change, is deeply rooted in Quarles’ background with Facebook and Instagram. He has invested heavily in the social media elements of Strava. “We really made Strava about the photos and the social feed and the routes that people discover,” he says. “I think that’s had a huge role in increasing not just people coming to the app when they upload, but also when they want to download, meaning to look at what their friends are doing, to find great places and be inspired.” Quarles emphasises his drive to cultivate Strava’s athletic community. “I think that people have a more intense connection with their Strava usage on the community than they do with the brand that’s on their T-shirt or trainers,” he says. Strava users are always encouraging each other, providing, he adds, “that extra boost to come back and keep doing it.”
Some Would Like a New, Less Expensive iPhone. That's Not Going to Happen
The idea keeps cropping up. Apple should resurrect the iPhone SE or make a dramatically less expensive version of a current iPhone. Apple has rejected that notion. John explains why.
Lens Distortions Update Adds Light Volume for Customization
Photography app Lens Distortions added a feature to its version 4.0.0 app called Light Volume, letting you customize overlays even more.
Nextdoor App Sends Letters on Users' Behalf Without Consent
Nextdoor is a social network that lets you see things that are going on in your local neighborhood. Dutch police have issued warnings about the app recently, saying that the company sent letters on users’ behalf.
We talked to a woman whom we’ll refer to as W.H., as she wishes to remain anonymous. Letters in her neighborhood were delivered with her as the sender. The letters were asking the receivers to install the app and join the community. W.H. did not send those letters, but she was a user of the Nextdoor app. And she remembered receiving an email from Nextdoor asking whether she would like to invite the people in her neighborhood.
Ugh. Possible lawsuit?
Apple Releases iOS 13.1 Developer Beta 1
iOS 13 isn’t available to the public yet, but Apple is wrapping up the release and working on the next version of iOS.
Google's 'Ask a Techspert' Explains Machine Learning
In Google’s Ask a Techspert series, senior software engineer Rosie Buchanan explains machine learning for non-experts.
Today, when we hear about “machine learning,” we’re actually talking about how Google teaches computers to use existing information to answer questions like: Where is the ice cream? Or, can you tell me if my package has arrived on my doorstep? For this edition of Ask a Techspert, I spoke with Rosie Buchanan, who is a senior software engineer working on Machine Perception within Google Nest.
This is a cool blog post explaining it, and I hope to see more explanations like this.
Future MacBooks Might Eliminate Mechanical Keyboard Switches
Future MacBook keyboards might not have mechanical keyboard switches, with a patent suggesting an “optical keyboard.”
Apple Card Privacy, App Store Download Stats – TMO Daily Observations 2019-08-27
Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to talk about Apple Card’s relative privacy and App Store download statistics.