iOS is Apple’s operating system for the iPhone and iPad. It’s also the basis for tvOS for the Apple TV and watchOS for the Apple Watch. It’s even beginning to infiltrate the Mac in some ways. Apple has worked hard to keep iOS private and secure, and it has a huge ecosystem of apps via its official App Store. Some have argued that it is too locked down, but the trade-off is that it’s fast and stable for most users.
What better place to ring in the new year than in zombie-infested Raccoon City? The port for Apple devices, announced for the App Store earlier this year, has now gotten a December 31st release date, AppleInsider spotted.
Like Resident Evil 4 and Village, it’ll be free to start, and an in-app purchase unlocks the full game.
[AppleInsider]
Leveraging new iOS 18 features allowing for more customizability when arranging apps (including hiding their names) Kristin Moore designs custom wallpapers that turn iPhone home screens into bookshelves, as spotted by 9to5Mac.
They’ve already shared a few bookshelf wallpapers on Threads, but you can order a custom design through their Etsy shop, or buy a template to customize your own.
Google, too, wouldn’t confirm or deny whether it worked with Samsung on the feature, which is now the target of a new Epic Games lawsuit against both companies.
Instead, Google tells The Verge that it’s “a meritless lawsuit”; Samsung tells us it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”
A Threads post that I recently saw opened my eyes to a fun trick with Apple’s iOS 18 iMessage effects: You can make little emoji / ASCII-style animations with them.
I lost the original post (if that was you, let me know!), but I immediately used the idea. If you’ve done this, feel free to share your best ones. Below is a gallery of mine.
We want our kids to grow up in a world that’s better than this one. I grew up in an awesome world for developers and opportunity, the early days of Apple II computers and PCs, and anybody growing up, coming of age in this industry right now, is best case going to be an Apple and Google serf. That has to change. That must change.
Not surprising to hear the man behind “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” say this, but it really does encapsulate his war with the tech industry. More on the latest lawsuit here.
Not as fast as Epic might have hoped — it’s targeting 100 million by the end of the year — but CEO Tim Sweeney tells journalists that goal is still “totally achievable.”
Meanwhile, it’s suing Samsung and Google over the “Auto Blocker” feature that, by default, stops users from installing that store on new Samsung phones.
Rich Whitehouse, whose also the Head of Digital Conservation for the Video Game History Foundation, shared a screenshot on X of an Atari Jaguar emulator they’re developing for iOS, as spotted by Time Extension.
Whitehouse is hoping to have the emulator ready for release in October 2024, bringing classic titles like Tempest 2000 and Cannon Fodder to the iPhone.
After 12 years, today EA announced that its free-to-play city building mobile game is shutting down. D’oh!
We have made the difficult decision to sunset Tapped Out. In-app purchases have been disabled, and the game will be removed from the app stores October 31, 2024. You may continue playing until January 24th, 2025, at which point servers will be turned off and TSTO will not be accessible.
MacRumors logs show that Apple is testing the new update, which will probably just fix bugs. Some iOS 18 users have run into touchscreen responsiveness issues, so perhaps that’s one change for the rumored update.
Along with Apple Intelligence, the new iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 betas introduce a handy new way to transfer files when mirroring your iPhone, as spotted by 9to5Mac. Apple previously said the drag-and-drop capability would arrive later this year.
It’s one of a few new features in the fifth iOS 18.1 developer beta, reports MacRumors. You’ll also be able to reset your Control Center layout if you don’t like your customizations.
Another nice change: the ability to get to the selfie camera from the Camera Control button.
Update: Noted the new Camera Control feature.
It lets people who are deaf or hard of hearing feel music through tactile feedback by playing haptic tracks alongside known music when on Wi-Fi or cellular data, which is already supported in Apple Music and Apple Music Classical.
It can also make your iPhone sound like an Atari game.
Mark Gurman writes in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that Apple is “racing” to complete the second set of Apple Intelligence features it plans to release this year, lining up Genmoji, ChatGPT, and Image Playground for a December launch with iOS 18.2.
Meanwhile, some Siri updates could launch sooner than previously rumored with 18.3, but the “biggest” update is apparently iOS 18.4, which could arrive in March.
The device already supports spatial video, but the latest iOS 18.1 developer beta brings spatial photos to the iPhone 15 Pro too. This allows for a more immersive experience when viewing photos on Apple’s Vision Pro headset.
The iPhone 16 will also come with support for spatial photos and videos when it launches later this week.
Our own Parker Ortolani whipped up a couple of nice iOS 18-friendly icons, so all you need to do is download one and use it with a Shortcut that points to your very favorite tech website. Looks great on my homescreen!
“Tap to Provision,” a coming-soon iOS 18 feature that uses NFC to speed up adding cards to your Apple Wallet, has returned after briefly being disabled, writes X user Aaron Perris.
It seems to work for me, so if, like 9to5Mac’s Abner Li, you had trouble with the feature in the iOS 18 beta, perhaps it’s worth another shot now.
