Jake Underwood

21 posts on MacStories since December 2015

Former MacStories contributor.
jake@macstories.net

This Week's Sponsor:

SoundSource

New Year, New Audio Setup: SoundSource 6 from Rogue Amoeba

Switch Your AirPods Connection Easily with Tooth Fairy

It’s become no secret that I, along with countless others, am absolutely in love with my AirPods. I’ve only had them for a couple of weeks, but I’ve already built a habit of keeping them in my ears for hours on end, switching between my iPhone and Mac to catch up on podcasts, listen to music, and watch YouTube videos.

And while one of the best parts of AirPods is that they are already set up on all your iCloud devices after the first pairing, the need to dive into the Bluetooth menus to connect them on the Mac can waste a frustrating few seconds. For a much quicker and more convenient switching process, I’ve been using Tooth Fairy on the Mac.

Read more

HealthView Review: Your Customized Health App

When it comes to health information on my iPhone and Apple Watch, I’m about as mildly interested as it comes – while I enjoy glancing at the metrics and measurements displayed on the Apple Watch, I usually stay away from the iPhone’s Health app.

There are two primary reasons for this: the Health app is pretty cluttered; and Health often gives me information that I really don’t care about. I’d like a “less is more” approach.

HealthView offers exactly that – rather than providing you information scattered throughout the app, you choose what you want to see, how you want to see it, and when it appears. Although it’s not as robust as Apple’s Health, HealthView may just be a better fit for your needs.

Read more

Working with Duet Display

Stumbling around on a Monday morning, I wake up too late, throw on a hat, and unplug four devices: my 12.9” iPad Pro, my iPhone 7, its companion Apple Watch, and my 12” MacBook. The first and last are tossed in my backpack to be used in and between classes to take notes, check social media, and design documents.

When I sit down in my design class, I pull out my MacBook, open inDesign, and try to manage multiple windows as I pull images from the Web and import them into my document. On the MacBook’s 12” screen, the limited real estate forces me to use a slew of keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures as I jump between apps. Frustrated, I pull out my iPad, fire up an iOS app to replace one on the Mac, and work in two separate environments.

The problem here is obvious: although macOS and iOS functionality overlaps, working in two OSes simultaneously isn’t ideal. The inability of the iPad to act as an extension of the MacBook’s display limits my productivity. Even people with larger 15” MacBook Pros would probably appreciate it if their iPad’s screen was available to display Mac apps.

For a while, I’ve been trying to solve this problem by using Duet Display, an iOS app that allows your iPad or iPhone to function as a second screen for your Mac or Windows PC. Duet has been around for a couple of years, but continues to get significant updates to speed it up, reduce lag, and offer touchscreen support. The fundamentals, however, are still the same: Duet, with an iOS device, can be your mobile Mac monitor.

Read more

Television Time Review: A Modern Guide to TV

Many years ago, weekends at my grandparents’ went like this: flip on the TV, peruse through all the channels hoping to find something I like, and eventually hand over the remote to my grandfather, when he would then search the paper TV guide for that night’s programming.

The days of using those guides are long gone, but the need to see what shows are coming up is still relevant. For that, I’ve been using Television Time, a beautiful TV guide for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

Read more

Partly Sunny Review: Weather Reimagined

When Apple introduced the App Store in 2008, much of the excitement spanned from the opportunities and functionalities these new apps would bring to the iPhone. Many of the first apps were forays into markets untouched by the stock apps – games, social networks, and read-it-later services.

Eight years later, the trends are different; with millions of apps covering almost every genre imaginable, a lot of this year’s best apps are refinements or new takes on the same functionalities some of Apple’s stock apps offer.

That’s where Partly Sunny comes in – it’s a weather app that, at first glance of its icon, looks almost identical to Apple’s Weather. But after tapping into it, Partly Sunny shakes the similarities and introduces a robust, beautiful new way to view weather information.

Read more

Apple’s October 27 Keynote by the Numbers

At Apple’s “Hello Again” keynote Thursday, the company continued its tradition of letting the public in on its most important figures. Whether it was a recap of user and sales numbers or figures regarding the new products, Apple gave us plenty of numbers to digest.

Here’s a list of significant facts and figures from Apple.

13-Inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
- 14.9 mm thick
- 23% less volume than previous generation
- 3 pounds
- 2x faster graphics
- Up to 2x faster storage
- 103% faster gaming performance
- 76% faster video editing performance
- 76% faster 3D graphics performance
- Starts at $1799

13-Inch MacBook Pro
- 13% smaller in volume than the MacBook Air
- 12% thinner than the MacBook Air
- Starts at $1499

15-Inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
- 15.5 mm thick
- 20% less volume than previous generation
- 4 pounds
- 2.3x faster graphics
- 130% faster 3D graphics performance
- 60% faster gaming performance
- Can power 2 5K displays
- Starts at $2399

MacBook Pro Displays
- 67% brighter
- 67% higher contrast ratio
- 25% more colors

MacBook Pro Bodies
- 2x larger trackpad
- 2nd-generation butterfly switches
- 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports on the 13-inch and 15-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pros
- 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports on the 13-inch MacBook Pro

Misc.
- 400 million have “viewed and enjoyed” Memories on iPhone
- 60% of iOS users are on iOS 10, with 32% on iOS 9
- Currently, there are over 1600 apps from video content providers on Apple TV
- There are over 8000 Apple TV apps in the App Store
- This is the 25th anniversary of Apple’s first notebook, the PowerBook

You can also follow all of the MacStories coverage of today’s Apple’s keynote through our October 27 Keynote hub , or subscribe to the dedicated October 27 Keynote RSS feed.

Apple Adds Collaborative iWork, Updates Beats, iPad

As was expected, the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 took much of the stage time during today’s Apple event. However, the day wasn’t all about these two products; either by announcing it on stage or refreshing it silently online, Apple announced updates for iWork, Beats, and iPad that are all welcome improvements.

Read more

Apple’s September 7 Keynote by the Numbers

Throughout Apple’s presentations, we’ve come to expect a barrage of facts, statistics, and figures that fill out the company’s narrative. Spanning hardware, software, and retail, these numbers are the public’s opportunity to see how Apple is performing and growing from year to year.

Today’s keynote was no different, with the group of presenters sharing numbers covering a variety of topics. Listed below are the most important figures from the event.

Apple Music

  • Apple Music has accrued 17 million subscribers since launch.
  • Apple Music subscribers have access to over 30 million songs.

App Store

  • To date, there have been over 140 billion App Store downloads.
  • The App Store’s revenue is 2x that of its closest competitor.
  • There are now over 500,000 games in the App Store.

Apple Watch

  • Apple is now the 2nd highest selling watch brand.
  • Apple is 1st in smartwatch sales and customer satisfaction.
  • Apple Watch Series 2 is water resistant to 50 meters.
  • Apple Watch Series 2 is 50% faster than the previous generation and delivers 2x faster graphics performance.
  • Apple Watch Series 2 contains the brightest-ever Apple display at 1000 nits.

iPhone

  • Apple, to date, as sold over 1,000,000,000 iPhones.
  • The new OIS system on the iPhone 7 allows for 3x more exposure.
  • The new telephoto lens allows for 4x better quality in zooming.
  • The new screens in the iPhone 7 series are 25% brighter.
  • The surround sound speaker set in the iPhone 7 is 2x as loud as the iPhone 6s.
  • The iPhone 7’s A10 Fusion chip is 40% faster than the previous-generation A9.
  • The graphics power of the A10 Fusion is a 50% increase from the A9.

AirPods

  • AirPods hold 5 hours on a single charge.
  • Through charging with their case, AirPods can last for 24 hours.

You can also follow all of the MacStories coverage of today’s Apple’s keynote through our September 7 Keynote hub, or subscribe to the dedicated September 7 Keynote RSS feed.