watchOS 6.2 Golden Master Arrives With Developers

Apple seeded the golden master of watchOS 6.2 to developers on Wednesday. MacRumors had a look at what it contained.

watchOS 6.2 introduces ‌Apple Watch‌ App Store support for in-app purchases, which will allow developers to create and sell ‌Apple Watch‌ apps that offer in-app purchase options and subscriptions. Apple’s release notes for the update are below: watchOS 6.2 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes: Introduces in-app purchases for ‌Apple Watch‌ apps. Fixes an issue where music playback could pause when switching from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth connectivity. ECG app on ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 or later now available in Chile, New Zealand, and Turkey. Irregular heart rhythm notifications now available in Chile, New Zealand, and Turkey.

Book Publisher Macmillan Cancels Plan to Stifle Libraries

The Big Five book publishers had a plan to hurt consumers by imposing limitations on eBook licensing to libraries. One of them—Macmillan—is backing out.

There are times in life when differences should be put aside,” Macmillan CEO John Sargent wrote in a memo to librarians obtained by Publishers Weekly. “Effective on Friday (or whenever thereafter our wholesalers can effect the change), Macmillan will return to the library e-book pricing model that was in effect on Oct. 31, 2019. In addition, we will be lowering some ebook prices on a short term basis to help expand libraries collections in these difficult times. Stay safe.

You have literally no “differences” with libraries other than money. And implying that you’re doing this because of the coronavirus is, to put it politely, shady. Not to mention all the libraries boycotting Macmillan. No, this is entirely a gesture of good will because of “these difficult times.”

Standby for a Major Slack Redesign

Slack is rolling out its biggest ever redesign. It is all centered around major changes to the sidebar. Senior exec Ethan Eismann explained the company’s thinking in an interview with The Verge.

“This is the largest redesign in Slack’s history,” explains Ethan Eismann, vice president of design at Slack, in an interview with The Verge. “We’ve taken a lot of the historical features and reorganized them in a way that makes them much more apparent in the right way and simple to use. That was very much the goal of this process.” Slack’s new redesign all starts with the sidebar. The biggest change is that messages, channels, and apps will all now support grouping into collapsible sections within the Slack sidebar. That means if you’re working on a project that has certain channels and group DM conversations, then you can nest them all under one handy section and drag and drop it to exactly where you want it in the sidebar. Unfortunately, the new sidebar sections feature will only be available on paid Slack plans, not free versions.

The 2020 Mac Productivity Essentials Bundle: $25.49

We have a deal called the 2020 Mac Productivity Essentials Bundle, a collection of productivity apps for the Mac. It includes a VPN, an app organizer, a PDF editor, a password manager, a movie editor, and four more Mac apps. It’s $29.99 through our deal, but coupon code SPRINGSAVE15 brings the checkout price down to $25.49.