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iOS 7 to include standardized game controller support
For the first time since Apple opened the App Store in 2008, it’s explicitly opening up iOS to hardware game controllers, enabling console-like gaming experiences to be powered by its mobile devices. The implications are big: game developers will be able to target all controllers that conform to Apple’s standard, removing a lot of the friction that has so far stopped add-on hardware controllers from gaining popularity.
…Because everyone who knows anything about design knows that skeuomorphism is, like, the worst.
This week, Apple gave the world its first peek at iOS 7, the software that will power iPhones and iPads starting later this year.
Helmed by hardware guru Jony Ive, the update will bring the most dramatic visual overhaul of Apple’s mobile OS to date. As expected, it embraces a flat aesthetic that allows for layering based on functionality. For example, you can peek behind icons to see your wall paper. So while the UI may be flat, the UX is anything but.
Just how different is iOS 7 compared to the software we’re running now? Take a look for yourself.
Apple’s WWDC event kicked off yesterday, with Apple announcing a new OS X, a MacBook Air with better battery life, a redesigned iOS 7, among other things. Here are some WWDC resources to help you keep up:
Other resources:
We’ll be updating this list as new, great resources come to our attention. Feel free to flag great Apple or WWDC reads for us in the comments. Have you found any?
6 things the new Mac Pro inescapably reminds us of
What do you think it looks like? Share a photo in the comments, or tweet at us with #macprolookalike
We’re covering Apple’s WWDC event live! Follow along.
A flatter, thinner and smarter i0S7? iRadio? New MacBook Pros?
Apple’s expected to reveal a number of juicy, crunchy new things at today’s WWDC event. Here, some things to watch for.
(Also, watch live coverage of WWDC here)
This is what the iPhone would look like if it adhered to the Golden Ratio. Which it doesn’t.
Apple has a problem: Social media chatter about it’s iPhone 5 has dipped, and so have sales.
From September to today, the number of conversations on social channels about iPhones has declined for two of the company’s target audiences: Baby Boomers and Generation Xers.Looking at two other lucrative consumer audiences—Millennials and teens— shows a similar pattern. Despite a spike in conversations around last Christmas, iPhone conversations have been consistently declining since the iPhone 5 launch in October.
Apple’s failure to tap into what’s being said through social insights and develop a data-driven marketing strategy is becoming an object lesson for businesses everywhere.
Find out why Apple puts ‘Designed in California’ on its products rather than ‘Built in China.’
After Apple booted Google Maps from iOS last year, Daniel Graf led the development of a beautiful, refreshed mapping experience that shot to number one in the iTunes store and kicked Apple’s ass on its own turf. Here’s how Graf made it happen—in his own words:
“We have a very successful Android version of Google Maps, so the easiest thing to do was to say, this is super-successful, users love it, so why don’t we just port it over to iOS? But I wanted to challenge the team. While the Android version is a great product, you can also tell it’s been around for a while. You have to access everything via menus—it’s not really best-use-case driven anymore. I said, let’s take a step back—what if we could start from scratch and forget anything we’ve ever done? We have the foundation—the Google data, the mapping data, the local business data, the imagery, the navigation algorithms—it’s a dream to start with.”
Apple is s celebrating the impending 50 billion download total for its iTunes App Store with a prize of $10,000 for the relevant download. But the real news is the incredible download tally.
