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Snapchat Debuts Exclusive iPhone X Lens Filters →

At last September’s iPhone event at Apple Park, Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of software engineering, used Snapchat to show how the iPhone X’s True Depth camera and ARKit could create realistic camera filters. Today, those filters finally launched with an update to Snapchat’s iOS app, which is featured in the Today section of the App Store.

Craig Federighi demonstrating Snapchat Lens filters in September 2017

The update includes the two filters demoed by Federighi during the keynote, as well as a masquerade ball Lens. The advantage of using the True Depth camera and ARKit is that the filters can track your face better than other Snapchat Lenses and account for the lighting in the room, providing realistic highlights and shadows.

The new filters are available now without updating Snapchat’s app. If you long press the screen with the selfie camera enabled, the new lenses are currently the first three listed.

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Medical ID Record Provides an Extended, More Flexible Solution to Storing Medical Data

By John Voorhees

Many of the stock system apps installed with iOS are designed to meet the needs of most people, but they rarely satisfy everyone. Apple leaves it to third-party developers to fill in the gaps. That comes with the risk of being ‘Sherlocked’ in the future, but it’s also an opportunity for developers to attract users who want more than Apple provides.

Medical ID Record is a perfect example of such an app. It takes a feature of the Health app and extends it. The depth of functionality in Medical ID Record may not be needed by everyone, but it’s an excellent option for anyone who has felt constrained by the Health app’s Medical ID feature.

Apple Hires John Giannandrea, Google’s Chief of Search and Artificial Intelligence →

Linked By John Voorhees

According to The New York Times, Apple has hired John Giannandrea, Google’s chief of search and artificial intelligence. In a memo obtained by The Times, Tim Cook said:

“Our technology must be infused with the values we all hold dear,” Mr. Cook said in an email to staff members obtained by The New York Times. “John shares our commitment to privacy and our thoughtful approach as we make computers even smarter and more personal.”

Giannandrea joined Google in 2010 as part of the company’s acquisition of Metaweb and is credited with infusing artificial intelligence across Google’s product line. Giannandrea will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

This is a huge ‘get’ for Apple and comes fast on the heels of reports that the company is hiring over 100 engineers to improve Siri.

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AppStories, Episode 49 – Pick 2: Bear and DEVONthink →

Linked By John Voorhees

On this week’s episode of AppStories, we take a deeper look at two favorite apps: Bear and DEVONthink.

Downie: Elegant and Efficient Video Downloads for Your Mac [Sponsor]

By John Voorhees

Downie for Mac makes downloading video from the web as simple as dragging and dropping a URL. From your browser, drag a URL to Downie’s menu bar icon or onto its Dock icon from sites like YouTube, Youku, Bilibili, Vimeo, and many more to immediately download a video. The app supports video downloads for over 1,000 different sites, and the list keeps growing.

Downie is efficient and organized. Instead of downloading now, queue up downloads for later. It’s a great way to process dozens of videos while you sleep and aren’t using your Internet connection for something else. Downloads can be organized autmatically into folders too based on source and playlist, saving you the hassle of organizing them yourself.

When you use Downie, you also know you’re getting the best version of a video that’s available. For example, unlike many other download apps, Downie can grab the 4K version from YouTube if one is available. It’s that sort of attention to detail, combined with attentive support, frequent updates, and localization that makes Downie a great choice for video downloads.

Downie has a special 25% discount just for MacStories readers. All you need to do is use this link to purchase the app. The same great deal applies to the Downie and Permute bundle if you use this link. Permute is a great companion to Downie that lets you convert video between a wide variety of formats. You can use the coupon code 905E0C5D at checkout to get either discount too.

Expand your video collection the easy way, with Downie.

Our thanks to Downie for sponsoring MacStories this week.

AppStories - Ep. 49 - 39 minutes