Tuesday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/12/tuesday-morning-news131216/
screen3_large_2xThe latest version of iOS is now out, and iOS 10.2 brings with it a set of new emoji, Apple’s US-only TV app, and a bunch of other changes and bug fixes. Ars Technica’s summary of the changes includes the release notes, also covering minor improvements such as a frame rate increase for Live Photos, two new full-screen effects in Messages, and more.

MacStories has a bunch of screenshots of the new features, in order to give you a better idea of how they look on your device. If your device is set to an Australian location, it still looks like you get to keep the Videos app for now. There’s also a new icon for wireless headphones that sits in the status bar.

WatchOS 3.1.1 has also been released by Apple, which has similar bug fixes. Curiously the update doesn’t mention support for the new emoji, but does fix a few issues to do with activity rings not displaying on the Activity watch faces, as well as a bug to do with not responding to notifications.

TvOS 10.1 is the first major update for the new Apple TV, which now gives users access to single sign-on for tvOS apps that support the feature, along with the requisite bug fixes.

An extensive review of the new TV app from MacStories says that for the most part, it’s the one-stop shop for content that it set out to be. The US-only limitation is somewhat of a bummer for every other country, but how the TV app provides a unified experience across tvOS and iOS makes for a compelling argument for a unified video entertainment app.

The iCloud.com web interface for calendars now includes a “Report Junk” button for iCloud calendar invites, after an increase in spam iCloud invites over the past couple of weeks. There’s a good chance we’ll see a similar feature either later this week with the official macOS updates to support the new iOS emoji, or in another update altogether.

Recode reports Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with a bunch of leaders from other tech companies including Microsoft, Alphabet, Google, Cisco, Intel, and IBM, will be attending a tech summit that will also be attended by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday.

The Windows on Surface blog says more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before, but that in itself doesn’t say much. Surface hardware is the best it’s ever been, and there’s even a trade-in program which lets people bring in their old Macs to put towards the cost of a new Surface.

Is it just me, or does it feel like there haven’t been that many game-changing Mac apps this year? Either way, it makes lists like the one from Six Colours all the more interesting to see the stuff we might have missed out on.

The Verge writes Apple’s Beats X wireless earphones with W1 technology are most probably delayed until sometime next year, with the likely release date now February or March. Here’s hoping they’re not subject to the same manufacturing issues that Apple’s AirPods are.

Glixel’s interview with Shigeru Miyamoto on Nintendo working with Apple reveals that Nintendo wanted to do mobile, but wasn’t sure how. Nintendo didn’t want to do something free-to-play, even though Apple said free with in-app purchases was a popular option.

Personally I haven’t had my mind blown by an original, highly polished iOS game this year either. 2014 it was Monument Valley and last year it was Lumino City.

I was hoping, though not expecting, that the new TV app would index videos from PLEX…

The last good iOS games were Alto’s Adventure and The Room.

I liked Alto’s Adventure but IMO it wasn’t ground breaking in the same way Monument Valley and Lumino City were. Pretty sure it predates LC too.

Never got into The Room. Good?

Yeah, there haven’t been any good iOS games for ages. I recommended a bunch to Pete the other day, but all of them were from 2014-2015 era.

Kami 2’s out. The trouble I have with that style of game (Aalto’s Adventure falls into this category) are they don’t engage me to the point where I want to play them daily, but if I go more than 2-3 days without playing, I’m usually at a point in the game where it’s too hard to pick up where I left off.

Oh nice, I will have to check that one out.

Disagree about not being able to pick them up after 2-3 days, they’re all super casual so you can pick them up and drop them whenever. Like Threes, which is still on my iPhone after all this time.

Threes is probably a bad example because it is super causal but games like Kami and INKS get progressively harder as they advance. It gets to a point where I have to focus to solve later puzzles. If I have a break, I lose the problem solving skills needed for those harder/later puzzles.

That’s just me though. Your mileage may vary. :slight_smile:

I hate iOS 10.2. Fuck Apple and their creepy as fuck clown emoji.

I got very addicted to Outfolded and was for a while in the top 100 players, but it’s an acquired taste and not a particularly exciting flash bang sort of game! It took an overseas trip to break the addiction when I couldn’t complete the daily challenge due to time zone issues!