Apple’s look-forward philosophy means 64-bit iPhone and iPad apps are the future and 32-bit apps are fading into the past. That means the day is coming where 32-bit apps that haven’t been updated to 64-bit will stop working, and if you don’t have a replacement app ready to go you’ll be out of luck.
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Nintendo Brings Fire Emblem Heroes RPG to iPhone, iPad
OK, Nintendo fans, you have another game to take up your free time: Fire Emblem Heroes. The fantasy-based role playing game (RPG) puts you on a quest to save heroes from different worlds and stop the Emblian Empire’s evil rule. The game is based on the Fire Emblem game franchise and pits you in battles and duels as you explore. Unfortunately, you’ll need an active internet connection to play, just like Super Mario Run because Nintendo seems to think we’re all clever hackers out to steal their game. Fire Emblem Heroes is a free download for the iPhone and iPad, and it includes some in-game purchases.
Ebook Sales Take a Hit, Apple Watch Battery Band Patent - TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-02
Ebook sales are down, tablet and ebook reader sales are down, and there may be a correlation. Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to look at the state of ebook sales, plus they weigh in on an Apple patent for an Apple Watch battery wristband.
Apple Profits, Mac Sales, and Fun with Apple's Cash Hoard - ACM 396
Apple turned in a record December quarter this week, and Bryan and Jeff look at the numbers. They also look at this one weird trick Apple did to goose Mac sales—the company released a new Mac. And for grins, they discuss some of the things Apple could do with the astounding $246 billion in cash the company has squirreled away.
Cool Stuff Found
Surprise: Hardback Book Sales Overtake E-books Despite iPad and iPhone
From Publisher’s Weekly: “Whatever the causes for the decrease in e-book sales, the decline has resulted in something that many publishing experts thought would never happen—unit sales of hardcovers overtook unit sales of e-books.” Yep, you read that right. John explains what’s going on.
Iconfactory Gets iPad Sketch Apps Right with Linea
The Iconfactory is jumping into the iPad sketch app market with its brand new Linea app, and based on our tests, it’s pretty cool. Linea is going for drawing and sketching, not digital painting, and it has the right tool set for the job. It comes with four pen tips an dan eraser tool, support for five layers, blending and transparency modes, graph paper grids, and one of my favorite features: tap a swatch on the color palette to see several shades for that color. It also includes Apple Pencil support and offers pretty flexible image export options. Linea is priced at US$9.99, and it’s one of the few sketching apps that gets to stay on my iPad Pro.
HBO Go Gets TV App, Single Sign On Support
HBO is finally going all in with Apple’s TV app thanks to a just released update for its HBO Go app. The new version adds TV support, just like the HBO Now app already had, so you can search for HBO content and keep track of what you’re watching in Apple’s app.
Astropad Studio Could Replace Your Wacom Tablet
Many photographers and designers who rely on digital editing tools seem to favor gadgets like the Wacom tablet. With good reason; it’s a device that lets you edit photos and manipulate graphics with a stylus. This allows for greater precision. But if you have a Wacom tablet along with an iPad, you may find yourself juggling the two devices. An app called Astropad Studio can turn your iPad into a Wacom tablet. It lets you mirror your computer screen on the iPad, so you can make good use of the Apple Pencil, along with more powerful configuration than the Wacom. I tested the app on my iPhone and I may write a review of it in the future.
How To Fix The iPhone Rainbow Emoji Message Crash
Another messaging crash for iOS devices is making the rounds. This time, it involves the colorful rainbow emoji. The bug affects both iPhones and iPads running iOS 10.1 or below, but a variant of the crash can affect devices running iOS 10.2. Luckily the fix is very easy, and we’ll show you how.
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Apple's Multiple OS Family Used to Be a Good Idea
When all we had was Mac OS X (now macOS), our Mac life was simple on Intel-based Macs. Then came iOS with Cocoa Touch, a derivative of macOS for touch devices using ARM CPUs. That seemed so very sensible in 2010. Then, of course, came tvOS and watchOS which means Apple has even more code bases to maintain. While perhaps only a mild burden, the biggest problem may be the future development of Apple devices. John explains.