My old iOS shortcuts usually walked the path of tedious madness for the pure purpose of compatibility. I needed a shortcut that would work equally well on all platforms, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and even on HomePod, and that meant several things: one. I can’t have shortcuts relying on apps that do not exist universally, two. there has to be a way to save data shortcuts have treated, three. any save datas from apps had to be exported and imported from iCloud. With the sandboxing Shortcuts follow, creating a seamless shortcut was rather painful.
Tagged iOS
App to Add Custom Fonts on iOS
Both macOS and iOS have similar font book system, where the fonts a user installs are all stored and managed from one place. The big asterisk for iOS version of font book is that it lacks the feature to import custom fonts from external sources. The only way to do so on mobile devices is to download a font from the App Store; but as far as I’m concerned, most fonts aren’t sold separately on the Apple App Store.
PCalc Spiel
Have you read any iOS, iPadOS, or watchOS rumors for this year? Behind all the ‘throw the pasta on the wall’ schtick, there was one I couldn’t laugh about. It’s the calculator app. Calculator apps on any Apple devices were either too old it was a place holder item for announcement of App Store, or it shouldn’t exist from the start. I suppose someone, or some team, in California wrote bunch of basic apps to show off what a new “smart-phone” is then forgot about it. The default app is finally brushed up for the future, but let’s talk alternatives.
How to Fix Erroneous Apple Music Geoblock Message
Being a music streaming platform, Apple Music isn’t free from geoblock. Or better yet, Apple Music and others are generally not from licensing disagreement often found in music industry. I personally find it odd that interested parties behind a streaming agreement would rather pull the song down, rather than keeping the fees on the balance to be divided after the lawsuit. Call it, ‘for fans’, or whatever.
Add Second Address Line on Mac Calendar
macOS and iOS come with a decent default calendar app called “Calendar”. Jokes aside, Calendar comes with an embedded travel time feature, which allows users to schedule travel time ahead. For example, if you happen to have a meeting in downtown, you can add “Meeting” as an event, and then add 30 mins as a travel time. What’s more, Calendar automatically calculates the travel time from your previous scheduled location.
When iTunes Home Sharing won’t appear on iOS
It’s an iTunes problem, yet again. If you are using Macs and iOS devices on your network, likely you are already taking advantage of “home sharing” feature embedded in iTunes.
Beta Software is not a Press Release Copy
In light of possible obsolesce of eGPU support on TB1/2 machines, I thought it would be a good time to go back to the basics for this week. Public and/or developer beta is hardly a reliable source of information. Features will be added, dropped, and then added again in betas. And if you need an insider information just hang around by the Apple campus instead of trying to whip up a news.
FBI is Still Nagging Apple for Backdoor Access
Apparently books on iPhone back doors from 2015 is not officially closed for FBI. FBI Director shared the actual stats behind the requests last Sunday, around 6,900 devices. Following the Texas shooting, FBI once again shared its frustration that the bureau was unable to decrypt the shooter’s phone. Although the law enforcement did not disclose what kind of information they may be able to find on the device, it only supports the hypothesis that FBI is using reactive policing as a cover for broader proactive policing.
Here Comes the Downhill of Mighty Apple
Let’s start with the obvious. Apparently nobody got it right because Apple was working on two iPhones simultaneously. Not only bigger, iPhone 6 plus is now competing against Galaxy Note. For dubious reasons, Apple decided to call it “iPhone,” but it’s not a phone and even Sammy knows it. 5.5″ is simply irrational, why 5.5? Apple’s biggest competitor Samsung’s Galaxy S5 has 5.1″ screen and Galaxy Note 4’s 5.7″. Meaning, It’s bigger than conventional phones, but smaller than portable tablets.