Marcel Wichmann has made a text adventure game inside Shortcuts. I cannot wait to dig into this.
posts
The St. Jude LIFE Study
One of my favorite things about St. Jude is that hope is built into every conversation, including those about post-treatment life for kids like our son, who has been off of chemotherapy for eight years. This is where the LIFE Study comes in:
Pediatric cancer treatments save lives, but can increase health risks for survivors during adulthood. St. Jude LIFE is an unprecedented research study that brings long-term childhood cancer survivors back to St. Jude for regular health screenings throughout their adult lives.
Hands-on with Multiple HomePod Timers
One thing that has kept the Amazon Echo in our kitchen — and the HomePod in my studio — has been Siri’s lack of multiple timer support. With today’s iOS 12 update, the HomePod now supports multiple timers.
In practice, this works basically the same as it does on the Echo.1 You can ask Siri to set to set multiple timers with custom names, then ask Siri to check in on them or cancel them. I recorded a little back and forth with my HomePod to show you how it works:
Overcast 5⇢
The best podcast client for iOS keeps getting better. Marco Arment’s latest updates includes offline, local playback on the watch, in-app search, Siri shortcuts, a refreshed Now Playing screen and more.
Bonus Kbase Article of the Week: Shortcuts 2.0 Release Notes⇢
With iOS 12, previous Workflow app users are upgraded to the Shortcuts app. Here are the latest features.
Kbase Article of the Week: Get Ready for macOS Mojave⇢
With features like Dark Mode, Stacks, and four new built-in apps, macOS Mojave helps you get more out of every click. Here’s how to make sure that your Mac is ready for macOS Mojave.
macOS Mojave ships a week from today, on September 24th.
Federico’s iOS 12 Review⇢
For the last several years, Federico Viticci has written the review of new iOS versions, and this year is no different:
With iOS 12, Apple wants to rectify iOS’ performance woes, proving to their customers that iOS updates should never induce digital regret. Perhaps more notably though, iOS 12 doesn’t have a single consumer feature that encapsulates this release – like Messages might have been for iOS 10 or the iPad for iOS 11. Instead, iOS 12 is a constellation of enhancements revolving around the overarching theme of time. Apple in 2018 needs more time for whatever the next big step of iOS may be; they want iOS users to understand how much time they’re spending on their devices; and they want to help users spend less time managing certain system features. Also, funnily enough, saving time is at the core (and in the very name) of iOS 12’s most exciting new feature: Shortcuts.
Infinite Loop Oral History⇢
Twenty-five years ago, the computer revolution’s marquee company was in decline. Back then, it was just settling into shiny new headquarters, a campus of six buildings that formed a different kind of ring. Called Infinite Loop, the name is a reference to a well-known programming error—code that gets stuck in an endless repetition—though no one seems to kn ow who applied it. Infinite Loop was the place where Apple’s leaders and engineers pulled off a historic turnaround, and it will always be the source of stories and legends—many of them untold. Until now.
Kbase Article of the Week: Learn Which Size SIM Card Your iPhone or iPad uses⇢
To learn which SIM card your iPhone or Wi-Fi + Cellular model iPad uses, find your model in the list.
Ordered
I picked up a 256 GB iPhone XS Max. My iPhone X is silver, so I am going Space Gray this time around to mix it up. As usual, I have a black leather case that I won’t use very often coming as well.
I’m a little nervous that the Max is going to be too big, so I’m holding onto my iPhone X for now. I need to have the crack in the rear glass dealt with anyways, so it’s going to be a 5.8-inch safety net for a couple of weeks.
Connected #209: Secret NBA Training⇢
This week, on a very busy Connected:
Federico is sore about coming in second place, but we’re all winners, because Apple has new iPhones and Apple Watches.
Well, not Federico. He still came in second place.
Don’t miss the B-Side, on which I talk with John Voorhees about Ken Kocienda’s book Creative Selection.
My thanks to our sponsors:
- Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code CONNECTED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
- Casper: The Internet’s favourite mattress. Get $50 off select mattresses with the code ‘CONNECTED’.
- eero: Never think about WiFi again. Use code CONNECTED for free overnight shipping.
Making Sense of the New iPhone Line⇢
The bottom line is that there may not be a bottom line on the new iPhones, if what you seek is buying advice that can be boiled down to a few sentences. For Apple, that’s something new.