Next week on AppStories, Federico and John discussthe features and approaches they would like to see in an ideal research app or suite of apps. Today on MacStories Unwind, Federico and Johnrecap the week at MacStories and share a a couple of TV shows and some music....
MacStadium: Mac Private Clouds Built on Genuine Apple Hardware [Sponsor]
Mac and iOS apps can only be compiled and tested on macOS running on genuine Apple Mac hardware. That means developers need access to a large pool of Macs to run their CI-driven development pipelines. MacStadium’s solution is Orka, a virtualization platform specifically designed for Apple hardware but based on standard cloud orchestration tools like Docker and Kubernetes. With Orka, developers can harness the power of MacStadium’s Mac infrastructure in a high-performance, scalable, secure, and reliable way.
MacStadium developed Orka to provide Mac and iOS developers with the ability to use container technology features the same way they can on other platforms. On Orka, though, clouds can be built on Mac Pros or on the latest T2 Mac minis and take advantage of plugins for your favorite CI tools including Jenkins, GitHub, GitLab, Buildkite, and TeamCity.
Since Orka launched last year, package manager Homebrew is just one of many Orka success stories. With Orka, Homebrew has allocated resources across nodes allowing for highly CPU-intensive builds, which is critical to the sort of intensive demand that Homebrew faces. “Everyone who has to deal with macOS automation would love a Google Cloud or AWS for macOS,” says Homebrew’s Mike McQuaid. “I feel like Orka is the closest thing that you can get to that. You’re able to, spin up, spin down VMs using an easy-to-use CLI or API.”
Try Orka today with a free two-hour demo playground environment at tryorka.com. It’s a fantastic way to see what Orka can do to streamline your development pipeline.
Of course, MacStadium is also the premier Mac hosting company that provides dedicated Mac hardware and private cloud services, and it has a special deal just for MacStories users. Just use the coupon code MACSTORIES at checkout to get two months for the price of one on a new Mac mini subscription.
Our thanks to MacStadium for sponsoring MacStories this week.
Interview: Zac Cohan
Twitter: @soulver. Co-founder of Acqualia Software, the maker of Soulver. Where did the idea for Soulver come from, and how has it evolved over the years? The original idea behind the first Soulver in 2005 was just to create a calculator app that would take full advantage of the Mac (these were pre-iPhone days). It...
Up Next on MacStories’ Podcasts
Next week on AppStories, Federico and John share their WWDC wishes for iPadOS in the first of a series on what they hope is announced at Apple’s annual developer conference. Today onUnwind, Federico and John recap the week at MacStories and share a Beats 1 show, an Apple Music playlist, and a movie....
In This Issue
DaisyDisk, a tip on how to generate good-looking, text-searchable PDFs from webpages, Federico responds to a long collection of member shortcut requests, thoughts on Apple’s rumored News+ audio feature from Ryan, an interview with Soulver developer Zac Cohan, an all-new episode of Unplugged, plus lots of Weekly Q&A, App Debuts, Links, a recap of MacStories...
MacStories Unplugged
PDFs, Pokémon, and Pizza Federico and John continue to refine their research strategies for this year’s review season, John shares a PDF tip with Federico, and then they compare notes on baking pizza and bread during the lockdown. Show Notes Apps Discussed Instapaper Highlights Flexcil DEVONthink 3.5...
Previously, On MacStories
A Shortcuts Wishlist Book Track Adds Reading Status, Statistics, Quote Entries, and More Apple Releases Substantial Update to Logic Pro X and Logic Remote Directive: A Terrific Way to Manage Recurring Maintenance Tasks iA Writer 5.5 Noto 2.0 Review: iPad Pointer Support, Easy Note Importing, CloudKit Syncing, and More...
Interesting Links
This week Epic revealed Unreal Engine 5, demonstrating the game engine on an upcoming Sony PS5 console, and it looks like we’re in for some gorgeous games next year. (Link) Want to know even more about Unreal Engine 5? Gamesindustry.biz has an interview with Tim Sweeney, Kim Libreri, and Nick Penwarden of Epic that sheds...
Concepts: Where Ideas Take Shape [Sponsor]
Concepts is a powerful creative ally to help you think, explore, and sketch your ideas. Stretch your mind past the limits on an infinite canvas, using fluid pens and brushes in designer COPIC colors. Used by creative professionals for note-taking, mind mapping, drawing, storyboarding, graphic design, product iteration, and architectural planning, Concepts lets you sketch, communicate and present your ideas with a flexible, customizable workflow.
Built from the ground up for iPad’s touch interface, Concepts combines vector drawing with natural touch gestures to maximize your creativity. Everything you draw can be edited, moved, and reorganized, allowing you to interact with your ideas at a deeper level. Drag and drop images and objects for fast ideating and mood boards, use layers, and grid layouts to organize your work and apply shape guides, measurement, and scale features for more precision drawing.
Concepts comes with a free, built-in presentation mode that lets you connect via AirPlay or cable to a large display for graphic discussion and sharing during events. It works with apps like Zoom or Reflector for instant virtual whiteboarding too. Once final, export and share multiple file types (JPG, PNG, SVG, PDF, DXF, PSD) for flexible work between teams and apps.
The app comes free as a basic sketching tool, with the ability to unlock 200+ libraries of brushes, objects, and services via subscription or one-time purchase. Sketch, explore, and share your ideas infinitely with Concepts.
Download Concepts today for free and give it a try. To learn more about how Concepts can help you explore your ideas, visit concepts.app.
Our thanks to Concepts for sponsoring MacStories this week.