Apple Adds New Flyover Locations in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan and Mexico
Apple today added several new Flyover locations to Apple Maps on Mac and iOS, highlighting landmarks and features in several countries in Europe, including Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. Apple has also added a single location in Mexico and two new locations in Japan.
For those unfamiliar with the Flyover feature in Maps, it lets users see photo-realistic 3D videos of select areas, which they can zoom, pan, and rotate through to get a close up look at notable landmarks and points of interest. Some of the locations listed may have been previously available as Flyover destinations, but were just officially added to Apple’s official list of Flyover locations.
The full list of new Flyover additions:
– Angers, France
– Carcassonne, France
– Florence, Italy
– Genoa, Italy
– Pavia, Italy
– Stuttgart, Germany
– Mannheim, Germany
– Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
– Mexicali, Mexico
– Murcia, Spain
– Nagasaki, Japan
– Shizouka, Japan
Flyover was first introduced alongside iOS 6 in 2012, and over the course of the last three years, Apple has been steadily adding new Flyover locations to the Maps app. As of February, some Flyover locations have been updated with real-time animated landmarks, making the Flyover experience more immersive, and many Flyover locations have an additional City Tour feature that walks users through different landmarks in each city.
iOS 9’s WiFi Assist is killing your data plan
If you have data plan with a cap, it’s probably a good idea to dive into iOS 9’s Settings and turn off WiFI Assist. The feature switches an iPhone’s data connection to the mobile carrier when it’s experiencing shoddy WiFi. If you have an unlimited data plan, it’s great –it ends the need to turn off WiFi when the local connection goes south and you can no longer load that hilarious goat video you found. It’s not so great, however, when you have a pretty low data cap and it switches from WiFi to cell without your knowledge. If you’re part of the latter group, head to Settings > Cellular then scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to turn off WiFi Assist to keep your mobile carrier from taking all your money on your next bill.
[Thanks, Kristy]
Source: ZDNet
Apple Releases Xcode Update With Fixes for App Thinning Bugs
Apple today released a 7.0.1 update for Xcode, and according to the release notes, the new version of the software include fixes for bugs related to App Thinning.
Last week, Apple notified developers that App Slicing, an App Thinning feature, was unavailable for iOS 9 apps because of an issue with iCloud backups. It appears the update for Xcode may fix some of the issues that prevented App Slicing from being made available to developers.
App slicing is currently unavailable for iOS 9 apps due to an issue affecting iCloud backups created from iOS 9 where some apps from the App Store would only restore to the same model of iOS device.
When a customer downloads your iOS 9 app, they will get the Universal version of your app, rather than the variant specific for their device type. TestFlight will continue to deliver variants for your internal testers. App slicing will be reenabled with a future software update. No action is needed by you at this time.
App Thinning is designed to decrease the size of iOS apps, saving valuable space on iPhones and iPads. With App Slicing, users only need to download the app assets that are designed for their particular device, rather than a full set of assets for a wide range of devices. For example, on an iPhone 6s, a user will only need to download iPhone 6s specific files, ignoring larger iPad artwork and lower quality resources for earlier iOS devices.
App Thinning also incorporates on-demand resources, allowing iOS apps to download content from iCloud only when necessary. A game with 100 levels, for example, might not download levels 30-40 until a user reaches level 20, with content for levels 1-10 removed at the same time. On-demand resources cut down on initial app install sizes and keep apps from eating up too much storage space on devices where space is at a premium.
Xcode can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]
iPhone 6s Uses Different-Sized A9 Chips From Samsung and TSMC
Ahead of the launch of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, there were rumors suggesting both TSMC and Samsung were developing Apple’s A9 chip for the device. There was some confusion over how the split would work, because the two companies used different technologies – TSMC was rumored to be using a 16-nanometer process while Samsung used a 14-nanometer process.
Chipworks has now confirmed via several iPhone 6s teardowns that the new devices do indeed contain application processors from both Samsung and TSMC. Comparatively, the die size of the Samsung processor is smaller than the die size of the TSMC processor.
The APL0898 chip was developed by Samsung and measures in at 96 square millimeters, while the APL1022 chip manufactured by TSMC measures in at 104.5 square millimeters. Chipworks suggests Apple’s decision to use processors from both companies points towards “major sourcing problems,” but over the last few years, Apple has opted to diversify its supply chain to prevent manufacturing hurdles that can potentially lead to delays.
It is not yet clear how the size difference between the chips will affect the performance of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but Chipworks plans to benchmark each of the processors to figure out whether iPhones equipped with Samsung chips and those equipped with TSMC chips perform differently.
Apple Pulls Older Software From ‘Purchased’ Tab in Mac App Store
Apple recently removed older versions of OS X and other discontinued software from the Purchased tab of users who had previously purchased or downloaded them. With the change, it is no longer possible for users to download Aperture, iPhoto, OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion, and OS X Mavericks from the Mac App Store.
The decision to disallow users from downloading the older software is not going over well on reddit, where commenters are calling Apple’s decision “user-hostile.”
That’s really unfortunate and hostile by Apple. What about people who use older operating systems due to compatibility problems with specific software?
I recently had to re-install Mavericks, but didn’t keep the “Install OS X Mavericks” app. Now my only chance of getting it again is to download it from another location, and I don’t know whether that image has been compromised.
It is not clear if Apple’s decision to prevent users from downloading older software from the Mac App Store is a temporary bug or a permanent change. The software has, however, been unavailable for several days now.
It’s possible Apple is aiming to prevent people from downloading software that is outdated and unsupported, but at least one of the now-inaccessible apps, Aperture, continues to work on OS X El Capitan.
MAME Emulator Shown Running Well on New Apple TV
Earlier this month, developer James Addyman got his emulator, Provenance, working on the Apple TV Developer Kit provided to developers via lottery, and now developer Kevin Smith has gotten the popular MAME game emulator running on the device.
In the video below, a tvOS version of the MAME emulator is demonstrated on the fourth-generation Apple TV. For those unfamiliar with MAME, it stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. Over the years, several apps with the MAME code have snuck into the iOS App Store, letting people illicitly run old arcade games.
In the video, Smith shows several old arcade games running on the Apple TV, including Donkey Kong, Galaga, Street Fighter II, Raiden, and Metal Slug – Super Vehicle. All of the games are said to run well, though there are some lingering sound issues with a few of the titles.
The video’s description includes some of the technical hurdles that had to be overcome to get the emulator working on tvOS.
I created a target for tvOS and set about getting the code to compile for arm64 (Mandatory for AppleTV), fixed a variety of compiler and linker errors. Removed code which was incompatible with tvOS frameworks and simplified code to work on tvOS. Added a basic icon compatible with tvOS. I added some tweaks to the source to allow the pause button to exit the game and supporting the resolution for the 1080p display.
While developers have been able to get emulators running on the developer versions of the fourth-generation Apple TV, which were handed out to help developers create Apple TV apps, emulators won’t be available on the tvOS App Store. Apple doesn’t allow emulators on iOS and will likely adopt the same policy for tvOS.
There is a possibility that emulators will be able to sneak into the tvOS App Store in the future, buried deep within legitimate apps, but as on iOS, such apps will only survive for hours before being pulled once discovered by Apple.
Comprehensive Comparison Shows Camera Improvements From Original iPhone to iPhone 6s
With each iteration of the iPhone, Apple improves camera quality, which has led to the iPhone being one of the most popular camera choices in the world. The iPhone 6s introduces the company’s first 12-megapixel camera, an improvement over the 8-megapixel cameras Apple has used since the iPhone 4s and the most advanced iPhone camera yet.
Camera+ co-founder Lisa Bettany has taken a series of comparison shots that demonstrate how the iPhone has improved over the years, with photographs taken with every model of iPhone beginning with the original iPhone and ending with the iPhone 6s.
Her photographs provide a fascinating look not only at how the iPhone 6s has improved over the iPhone 6, but also at how smartphone camera technology has progressed over the last eight years.
Bettany compares images taken with each iPhone and the Camera+ app across eight categories, including Macro, Backlit, Backlit Macro, Daylight, Portrait, Sunset, Low-Light, and Low-Light Sunrise. There are, of course, striking differences between the original iPhone and the iPhone 6s, but even between the iPhone 6 and Apple’s newest device, there are noticeable improvements, especially when it comes to detail.
Along with a jump in megapixels, Apple’s iPhone 6s also includes several other improvements. “Deep Trench Isolation” prevents the color bleeding and artifacts that often come with an increase in megapixels, plus Apple’s also introduced faster autofocusing speeds and a new image signal processor for better noise reduction and improved tone mapping.
In Bettany’s opinion, the camera improvements combined with software updates and the A9 processor on the iPhone 6s make it the best iPhone camera yet. “There is an apparent increase in the speed of auto focus and improvements to colour accuracy, details and sharpness, especially in low light,” she writes.
Bettany’s full selection of image comparisons are well worth checking out and can be found on her website.
Apple Adds New ‘Guided Tours’ Video Section to Apple Music Site
In just a few short days, the first Apple Music trial periods will begin ending for those who signed up for the trial on June 30, Apple Music’s official launch date. As that end date approaches, Apple has updated its Apple Music website to add a series of Guided Tour videos to walk people through using the service.
These Guided Tour videos will show you how to discover new music, hear recommendations from experts, create playlists, connect with artists, and listen to all the music you love on all your devices. Watch now.
There are seven different Guided Tour videos, which cover a range of topics. Three of the videos are dedicated to the Apple Music subscription service, walking people through using the For You section of Apple Music for personalized recommendations, the New feature that has music curated by Apple Music editors, and Apple Music Playlists, also curated by Apple Music editors.
There are also videos on using Beats 1 Radio and Apple Music Connect, Apple’s artist-focused social networking feature. The final two videos cover adding songs from the Apple Music Library to a user’s own music library, and creating Playlists.
Apple has not yet uploaded its Guided Tour videos for music to YouTube, but it’s likely the videos will be added to the channel in the near future. For now, the tutorial videos can be watched directly on Apple’s site.
Tim Cook Discussed Expansion & Apple Pay With India Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the two discussed topics like the expansion of Apple’s manufacturing base into India, Apple Pay, and the recent launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus (via The Times of India). During the talks, Modi invited Cook to open a new manufacturing base within India, to which the Apple CEO was said to have “responded positively,” especially considering India’s burgeoning app development business.
Image via The Financial Express
“Cook responded positively. I think India does fits into his long term plans. He particularly was interested in the whole App development economy, which he said could be a very very important factor for entrepreneurship where individual app developers can just become part of the app universe,” Ministry of external affairs spokesman Vikas Swarup told reporters.
“As Apple expands its presence in India including a manufacturing presence there could be enhanced opportunity for app development related to the apple platforms,” Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh said.
Foxconn was previously reported to be looking at the possibility of an expansion into India to produce iPhones and iPads, but Cook’s outspoken interest in the possibility marks Apple’s first public interest in the expansion. The two also briefly discussed bringing Apple Pay to India, along with the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Although the new iPhones were known to be coming to India by the end of 2015, this morning brought confirmation of the October 16 launch of the devices in the country, mentioned briefly in Apple’s iPhone sales press release.
Cook also noted Apple’s “unique tie” to India, pointing to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ visit to the country and the inspiration he got from his stay there. The Apple CEO then voiced support of the Prime Minister’s “Digital India” program, which aims to reduce paperwork and lagging networks by ensuring all government services are available to citizens online and bolstering rural areas with higher-speed internet connections.
iPhone 6s Water Resistance Tests Yield Mixed Results
Since the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been out for a few days, some users have begun to test the breaking point of the new devices, especially in regards to the possibility of water resistance. A handful of YouTubers have put together some videos showcasing impressive results of both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus under a few inches of water, but the devices fare much worse when put to the test under four feet of water in a swimming pool.
The first video pits the iPhone 6s Plus against the Galaxy S6 Edge in a small container, under a few inches of water. Each smartphone survived an impressive thirty minutes submerged under water, and appeared to retain their entire functionalities afterwards. As noted by Keaton Keller, the creator of the video and part of the TechSmartt channel, last year the iPhone 6 died after a brief minute facing the same test.
The second video crafts a similar test, but this time compares an iPhone 6s to an iPhone 6s Plus under similar amounts of water as Keller’s video. After about an hour, both versions of the new iPhone retained functionality with features like the camera, 3D Touch, and other basic touch screen responses still intact. Zach Straley, the video’s creator, followed up a few days later with an update video that showed both iPhones unlocking with Touch ID, having unaltered sound, and with completely functional charging ports and headphone jacks.
Finally, iDeviceHelp posted a video a bit different than the previous two, this time submerging an iPhone 6s Plus into a swimming pool under four feet of water. After one minute, the phone displayed slight touch screen issues, but appeared relatively safe to use. After two full minutes underwater, the device’s screen began to fade out, then turned off and refused to reboot a few moments afterwards. A few minutes later, the iPhone 6s Plus grew hotter and hotter, and about two hours later it was completely dead and couldn’t be woken up.
Overall, it appears that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have seen measured improvements in water resistance over last year’s models, but complete submergence under liquids up to a few feet will still cause the new devices to meet their demise. So while new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users can rest assured a small amount of rain or other liquid won’t immediately harm their device, larger accidents like dropping it into a swimming pool or lake are still cause for concern.
It should be noted that even under a few inches of water, the iPhones didn’t come away completely unscathed, Straley noting in his follow-up video that the iPhone 6s in particular saw a slight digital aberration in the form of a diagonal line across the top of the screen. Still, it appears that Apple has made a noticeable attempt to bolster the iPhone’s waterproof quality, which may lend early rumors of the “iPhone 7” a small bit of credibility.
AIVAnet 