iOS Today (Audio)

iOS 757: Apple Design Awards 2025 - CapWords, Feather, Taobao, & more!

iOS Today (Audio)

Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard go over Apple's 2025 Design Award winners, exploring groundbreaking apps that showcase the best of Apple's platforms. From AI-powered language learning tools to visually stunning adventure games, these winners represent the pinnacle of mobile innovation and design excellence. Delight and Fun Category CapWords - Revolutionary language learning app that transforms everyday objects into interactive stickers, supporting nine languages with AI-powered photo recognition Balatro - Award-winning poker-inspired deck builder that cleverly teaches poker fundamentals while delivering addictive gameplay across multiple platforms Innovation Category Play - Developer-focused app enabling interactive SwiftUI prototype creation with seamless cross-device syncing between iPhone and Mac PBJ, the Musical - Quirky Shakespeare adaptation telling Romeo and Juliet with condiments as characters, featuring original soundtracks and creative storytelling Interaction Category Taobao - Pioneering Apple Vision Pro shopping experience with photorealistic 3D models allowing users to visualize furniture and products in their actual spaces DREDGE - Atmospheric horror fishing adventure with seamless gameplay continuity across iPhone, iPad, and Mac platforms Inclusivity Category Speechify - Accessibility-focused text-to-speech app supporting 50+ languages and hundreds of voices, designed for users with dyslexia, ADHD, and low vision Art of Fauna - Beautiful wildlife puzzle game featuring vintage-style artwork with full voiceover support and innovative block-based puzzle mechanics Social Impact Category Watch Duty - Critical wildfire tracking app providing real-time evacuation updates and emergency information faster than traditional services Neva - Emotionally resonant adventure game exploring environmental themes through the relationship between a girl and her wolf companion Visuals and Graphics Category Feather - Intuitive iPad app enabling users to transform 2D designs into stunning 3D models using touch and Apple Pencil interactions Infinity Nikki - Visually spectacular open-world adventure game featuring magical outfits, whimsical creatures, and breathtaking rendering quality Shortcuts Corner New "Use Model" action in Shortcuts enables cloud, local, or ChatGPT model integration for AI-powered automation Apple's Shortcuts Gallery now features dedicated Apple Intelligence examples including leftover recipe generation and PDF summarization App Caps Mikah's Pick: Gigapixel AI-powered photo upscaling app that enhances image resolution and quality using sophisticated machine learning models Features standard and low-res enhancement modes plus specialized face recovery for portrait photographs Particularly useful for printing older photos or enlarging images without quality loss Rosemary's Pick: Dark Noise Premium white noise app enabling custom sound mixing with extensive library of ambient sounds Supports audio layering with other apps, iCloud sync across devices, and Siri Shortcuts integration Includes whimsical features like "unnamed goose mode" and developer-friendly privacy controls These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today/episodes/757 Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard

iOS 756: WWDC 2025 - Apple unveils iOS 26 & iPadOS 26!

iOS Today (Audio)

Apple just dropped the biggest design overhaul since iOS 7, and hosts Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard dive deep into everything announced at WWDC 2025, from the stunning "liquid glass" interface to game-changing iPad features that finally make it feel like a real computer. Liquid Glass Interface - Biggest visual redesign in many years! Translucent elements, enhanced lighting effects, and improved visual hierarchy Design Principles - Built around hierarchy, harmony, consistency, layering, depth, and vitality for a more expressive user experience Visual Effects - Enhanced Control Center with peek-through background visibility and ghostly transparent aesthetic Apple Intelligence Levels Up Live Translation - Real-time translation in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone calls running entirely on-device for privacy Visual Intelligence Expansion - Now works with screenshots and integrates with third-party apps like Etsy for product searches ChatGPT Integration - Enhanced Image Playground functionality with ChatGPT support across the platform Carplay & Music Updates Message Improvements - Tapback support directly in CarPlay without needing CarPlay Ultra Widgets Integration - CarPlay now supports widgets for enhanced navigation and app experiences Apple Music Features - Auto Mix with crossfade and beat matching, plus lyric translation for foreign language songs Phone App Overhaul Call Screening - System asks unknown callers for their name and reason before connecting you Hold Assist - Automatically waits on hold and notifies when a human agent returns to call Unified Interface - Streamlined call history and contact management in a single interface Gaming & Social Features Apple Games App - New dedicated hub for Apple Arcade with recommendations and social "Play Together" features Game Library - Comprehensive view of installed games with play history and activity tracking Messages Upgrades Built-in Polling - Native poll creation with expandable voting options and visual participant tracking Custom Backgrounds - Personalized chat backgrounds, including AI-generated options through Image Playground Group Payments - Apple Cash support for splitting expenses in group chats Smart Filtering - Automatic separation of unknown sender messages into a dedicated folder Apple Watch Enhancements Gesture Controls - New wrist flick gesture to dismiss notifications and return to watch face Configurable Widgets - Enhanced customization options for watch complications and widgets Integration Features - Seamless connection with iPhone's hold assist and other new iOS features Accessibility Advances System-wide Reader - Enhanced reading experience across all apps and interfaces Braille Improvements - Better support for connected Braille displays on iPhone Enhanced Features - Updates to Live Listen, background sounds, and Personal Voice capabilities iPadOS 26 Mac-Style Windows - Red, yellow, green window control buttons finally come to iPad Default Apps - Set specific applications to open different file types automatically Preview App - New system app for viewing and annotating PDFs and images Folder Customization - Color-coded folder system across Files app (also coming to Mac) Background Processing - Computationally intensive tasks can run in the background Shor These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today/episodes/756 Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard

iOS 755: Planning a Day Out - Please Don't Rain, Mercury Weather, Citymapper, & more

iOS Today (Audio)

Ready to make your next day out absolutely perfect? Mikah and Rosemary share their favorite apps and strategies for planning the ultimate outdoor adventure, from weather tracking to transit navigation and everything in between. Please Don't Rain - Rosemary showcases this specialized weather app designed for theme park visits and outdoor activities, featuring location-specific rain forecasts and customizable measurement units for international travelers Fantastical - Mikah explains how this premium calendar app provides 10-day weather forecasts directly within your schedule, making it easy to plan events around weather conditions Mercury Weather - Advanced weather app with trip planning features that automatically adjusts forecasts based on your travel destinations, plus widget support for seamless integration WidgetSmith - David Smith's popular widget creation tool gets highlighted for its countdown timers and custom widgets that help keep upcoming events and trips front-of-mind on your home screen Apple Maps Custom Guides - Creating and sharing location guides for group trips CityMapper - Comprehensive look at the ultimate public transportation app, covering everything from platform positioning to accessibility options and multi-modal journey planning across walking, cycling, and transit Pedometer++ - Rosemary shares real-world examples from her Glasgow trip (28,000+ steps!) and explains how tracking your daily activity can help you understand why you're exhausted after big days out News Capsule Medication Tracker - Rosemary announces her new collaboration with Snailed It on a medication tracking app that's more user-friendly than Apple Health, featuring customizable notifications, privacy options, and support for tracking medications for family members and pets! Capsule isn't quite ready yet, but we invite everyone to join the TestFlight in the meantime! App Caps Secure Shellfish - SSH client app for iOS that enables server access and file management, particularly useful for managing home servers like Homebridge setups with Files app integration Finch - Tamagotchi-style app that gamifies self-care and habit building by letting you care for a virtual pet that grows stronger as you complete real-world goals and tasks Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Contact iOS Today at iOSToday@twit.tv. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

iOS 754: Document Editors - Apps for editing PDF files on iOS!

iOS Today (Audio)

Document editors take center stage as Mikah and Rosemary show viewers the best apps for editing PDFs and plain text files on iOS devices. The hosts emphasize practical solutions for common document editing needs while showcasing both free built-in tools and premium third-party options for power users. Built-in PDF tool in Notes - Demonstrates how to attach PDFs to Notes documents, use Quick Look for basic annotation, highlighting, and form filling, plus collaborative editing features PDF Expert - Rosemary showcases advanced PDF editing capabilities including text editing, image replacement, adding clickable links to table of contents, redaction tools, and custom stamps Documents - Mikah highlights the comprehensive file management app with PDF tools, conversion options, page management, form filling, and multi-cloud storage integration Textastic - Rosemary gets technical with this specialized plain text editor supporting syntax highlighting for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and other programming languages, plus SSH terminal access and live preview features News WWDC 2025 announcement - Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference runs June 9-13, with keynote streaming available and exclusive Club TWiT live coverage planned for members Shortcuts Corner Follow-up from episode 751 - Dave from Ohio shares success creating an Apple TV remote shortcut button for his iPhone home screen using Rosemary's previous tutorial App Caps Wipr 2 - Simple, effective Safari content blocker that blocks ads and trackers without overwhelming features, created by solo developer Kaylee Calderolla Tatami - Addictive number puzzle game where players connect numbered blocks in lines and rectangles, free to play with $4.99 unlock option, also by developer Kaylee Calderolla Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Contact iOS Today at iOSToday@twit.tv. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Want access to the ad-free video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.