Month: March 2018

Overcast for iOS reached version 4.1 today, adding a handful of noteworthy features to the popular third-party podcast player.

First up is Smart Resume, which aims to reduce the impact of playback interruptions. With the new feature enabled, podcast playback jumps back a few seconds after the podcast has been paused, to help remind the listener where they left off in the conversation.

Smart Resume, which is on by default, also intelligently adjusts playback so that it resumes in the silences between spoken words wherever possible. Users can control the feature from Overcast’s Nitpicky Details menu.

Also new in v4.1, Overcast can now be set to auto-delete podcasts 24 hours after playback is completed. Previously, episodes could be auto-deleted either immediately after listening or not at all, but now users can leave a day-long delay before their removal, and the threshold for deletion will be paused during extended offline periods such as long-haul flights.

Elsewhere, passwords for private podcast feeds can now be entered into the Add URL screen (rather than via HTTP Basic Auth) and a number of bug fixes have been implemented, which should result in less download fails and playback stalls, and no glitches when resuming playback after quitting in the background, amongst other improvements.

Lastly, iPhone rotation support has been removed from Overcast 4.1, due to the function’s extremely low usage coupled with the burden of peculiarities that comes with coding in support for iPhone X displays.

Overcast 4.1 is available as a free ad-supported app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store.

Source: www.macrumors.com

macOS and Linux video game publisher Feral Interactive today announced its latest port will be Life is Strange: Before the Storm. The prequel adventure game was originally developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix on console and Windows PC beginning in August 2017, and will now hit Mac and Linux computers in the spring.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm takes place three years before the original Life is Strange, and lets players control sixteen-year-old Chloe Price. The prequel unfolds over the course of three episodes (and one bonus episode), centering on Chloe’s relationship with schoolmate Rachel Amber in gameplay that mainly focuses on player choice in branching dialog paths.
“With its tough yet vulnerable protagonist, Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a poignant evocation of teenage life,” said David Stephen, Managing Director of Feral Interactive. “The atmospheric soundtrack, sharp writing and captivating story combine to create an engrossing and moving game, and we very are excited for macOS and Linux players to experience it.”
As usual, Feral Interactive didn’t confirm pricing or system requirements in this initial announcement, but more information will come out closer to release. The company did state that if players want access to the bonus episode “Farewell,” they’ll have to opt for a “Deluxe Edition” version of the game — which is said to come with other additional content as well.

The original Life is Strange launched on macOS in the summer of 2016 and on iOS in December 2017. On iPhone and iPad, Life is Strange was one of the first games to use the App Store’s pre-order feature.

 

Source: www.macrumors.com

In a new survey that looks at the reputation of corporate brands, called the Harris Poll Reputation Quotient survey, Apple dropped from its previous position at #5 on the list and now sits at the #29 spot. As reported by Reuters, Apple has been sliding down the rankings over the last two years, falling from #2 in 2016.

To determine the results, the poll surveyed 25,800 adults in the United States from December 11, 2017 to January 12, 2018 on the reputations of the “most visible” corporate brands. Similarly to Apple, Google fell this year as well, from #8 in 2017 to #28 in 2018.

Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema theorized that the reason behind Apple’s and Google’s dips on the list was because of a lack of major, “attention-grabbing” device launches in the last few years.
John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll, told Reuters in an interview that the likely reason Apple and Google fell was that they have not introduced as many attention-grabbing products as they did in past years, such as when Google rolled out free offerings like its Google Docs word processor or Google Maps and Apple’s then-CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

“Google and Apple, at this moment, are sort of in valleys,” Gerzema said. “We’re not quite to self-driving cars yet. We’re not yet seeing all the things in artificial intelligence they’re going to do.”
In the #1 spot was Amazon, which the company has held every year for the past five years except in 2015 when it was at #2. Tesla climbed the rankings from #9 to earn the #3 spot and Facebook was #51, which was an improvement for the social media company. In total the top 10 companies on the reputation list were:
1. Amazon.com
2. Wegmans Food Markets Inc
3. Tesla Motors
4. Chick-fil-A
5. The Walt Disney Co
6. HEB Grocery Company LP
7. United Parcel Service Inc
8. Publix Super Markets
9. Patagonia Inc
10. Aldi Inc
In another recent ranking, Apple earned the top spot as the “most intimate brand” for millennials in the United States. Fast Company also named Apple as the world’s most innovative company for “delivering the future today,” and specifically for its approach to hardware and software engineering that creates the overall user experience surrounding its products.

Source: www.macrumors.com

Apple announced that iOS 11.3 will provide users with an iPhone 6 or newer with more information about the health of their device’s battery, including a recommendation if it needs to be serviced. In the same menu, it will also be possible to see if Apple’s power management feature is active and turn it off.

Apple is delivering on its promise to provide iPhone users with more visibility about battery health as part of an apology over its lack of transparency about power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1. Apple is also delivering on its promise of allowing users to disable the feature, although it doesn’t recommend it.

The power management changes fueled an argument that Apple intentionally slows down older iPhones at wholesale to encourage customers to upgrade to newer models. Apple denied it would ever do anything to “intentionally shorten the life” of any of its products, but some critics don’t believe that to be true.

Apple also reduced the price of replacement batteries to $29 for iPhone 6 and newer through December 31, 2018, as another part of its apology, although supplies are running low for some iPhone models.

MacRumors put together a list of frequently asked questions about Apple’s power management changes for those looking for more information.

The first beta of iOS 11.3 will be seeded to developers later today, followed by a public beta soon. The software update will be released to the public this spring for iPhone 5s and newer, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, the fifth-generation iPad, iPad mini 2 and newer, and the sixth-generation iPod touch.

Apple says the battery and power management features will be coming in a later iOS 11.3 beta release, so they won’t be available today. The option to turn off the power management feature will be available on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone SE.

Source: www.macrumors.com