Posts in Linked

Essence Icons @3x→

Icons & Coffee (the side-project that I run with my girlfriend Silvia) released version 1.2 of the Essence icon set today. Essence is used in thousands of apps and it includes 350 unique icon designs in multiple versions. Today’s update adds support for the iPhone 6 Plus with @3x sizes.

From the blog post:

Following Apple’s announcements, we’ve added new PNG files for the iPhone 6 Plus (@3x); as always, PNGs are available in three colors (blue, gray, and white). We’ve also included a PNG reference so you can easily find the icon file you’re looking for in the download.

You can check out Essence 1.2 here.

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iOS 8 on Older Hardware→

Every year, I’m always curious to know how the latest version of iOS works on the oldest compatible iOS hardware, and I always forget.

Thankfully, Ars Technica published two detailed looks at performance changes with iOS 8 on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Particularly in Andrew Cunningham’s article, it’s clear how Apple’s march towards larger screen sizes has been driving software features that take advantage of pixels to offer more room for information, search results, or toolbars.

I’m not sure I would be able to enjoy iOS 8 this much on a device like the 4S. Hopefully Apple will improve performance on older hardware like they did with iOS 7.1.

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Epic Zen Garden for iOS 8→

Zen Garden, the demo that Epic Games showcased at WWDC ‘14 for the Metal announcement, has been released today as Epic Zen Garden.

Epic Zen Garden is a demonstration of Metal’s capabilities, and it’s meant for modern hardware. I spent about 30 minutes with the game on my iPhone 5s and iPad mini, and I think it looks great. It’s especially impressive in motion.

It’s fun to tap areas on screen and see how Metal can animate thousands of objects at once. I can’t wait to see what kind of new experiences iOS 8 and Metal will bring for mobile gaming. Epic Zen Garden is free on the App Store.

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The First Ferrari FF with CarPlay in Italy→

Ferrari:

The first FF equipped with the Apple CarPlay system has gone to an Italian client. Deliveries of the Ferraris sporting the innovative integrated Apple technology commenced over the last few days and the cars are now arriving at their final destinations and will hit the road all over the world. In Europe, they are bound for Germany, Great Britain, France and Switzerland while others have been dispatched to the United States and Japan.

We didn’t get any mention of CarPlay by Apple this week. I think the demo in Ferrari’s video looks pretty good. I wish I had that car to review it.

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A Watch Guy’s Thoughts On The Apple Watch→

The Apple Watch can take an integrated strap or bracelet, or one with wire lugs. It totally changes the look of the watch, and swapping them couldn’t be any easier. Changing straps is one thing, but the attention to detail on the straps and bracelets themselves is downright incredible, and when I mentioned above that nothing comes close in this price range, it is very visible when talking about straps.

I’ve argued that the Apple Watch is first and foremost a watch. Benjamin Clymer has a great analysis of Apple’s announcement from the perspective of a “watch guy” with a deep expertise in this field.

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Apple Watch Dimensions→

Apple didn’t announce a lot of specs of the Apple Watch besides the 2 different face sizes. There’s a 42 mm one and a 38 mm one. Thickness or screen size are nowhere to be found in Apple’s marketing material.

Based on the 42 mm Watch and several images on Apple’s website I did some measurements to determine some of the specs we don’t know yet.

Nice work by Paul Sprangers. To me, the watch looks as thick as many other watches in that price range on the market today. It’s interesting to imagine how this could look in four years (think original iPhone to iPhone 4).

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Supertop Buys Unread→

Great news for Unread fans: Supertop, the makers of Castro, have acquired the app from Jared Sinclair and will continue to develop it going forward.

Jared writes:

Supertop, the folks behind Castro — my favorite podcast app — are the new home for Unread, the RSS reader for iPhone and iPad that you have probably heard of by now. I am really happy for this news. Since I moved on to my new job at Bloglovin, Unread had become something akin to a beloved but grumpy family dog in a home with a fragile new baby. It’s better for everyone that Unread has moved on to a new home: better for me, for Supertop (obviously), and most of all for Unread’s users.

From the Supertop blog:

Unread makes an excellent companion to our podcast app, Castro. Both apps are news/entertainment focused, share similar design goals and even rely on the same underlying feed technology. We are grateful to Jared for trusting us with the future of Unread and look forward to developing and refining both of these apps for years to come.

Unread is a fantastic app, and I hope that Supertop will soon add a native share sheet and better cache management. You can read my original review of Unread here.

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iPhone 6 Screens Demystified→

Few days ago, Apple introduced iPhone 6 Plus. The new iPhone substantially changes the way graphics are rendered on screen. We’ve made an infographic to demystify this.

Over the past two days, I’ve seen a lot of designers and developers ask questions about the new screens in the iPhone 6. The folks at PaintCode have posted a useful guide to understand the new resolutions. I’d be curious to know how the Display Zoom feature works, though.

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