Category: News

The latest news with an iPad focus.

Apple Arcade games are leaving (but you can still play them)

By Thord Hedengren NewsAugust 5, 2022

Fifteen games are leaving the Apple Arcade subscription service, which is something that has annoyed quite a few people online. It’s to be expected, this is how game subscriptions work, Xbox Game Pass does the same thing. But here’s the deal: You might still be able to play the games that left Apple Arcade, assuming you’ve downloaded them to your iPad. Not forever, but at lest you’ll get at least two weeks to finish them. Apple made this clear in a new support document, where we also learn that games that’ll end up as paid (or free, I presume) releases on the App Store after the Apple Arcade exclusivity, will support any old save files you might have.

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iPadOS 16 Beta Watch: Is iPadOS 16 delayed to October?

By Thord Hedengren NewsAugust 4, 2022

It sounds like Apple wants some additional time to get work done on iPadOS 16, something that might not come as such a surprise if you’re running the beta. There’s still work to be done, and traditionally, iPadOS version has launched alongside iOS versions. The latter, being iOS 16, is likely in September, but iPadOS 16 might have to wait until October.

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iPadOS 16 Beta Watch: Developer beta 4 and public beta 2 released

By Thord Hedengren NewsJuly 29, 2022

I’m back, briefly, from my vacation/rebuilding phase to tell you that the fourth iPadOS 16 developer beta, and the second public beta, is now available. Looking at the list of updates on Apple’s developer site, it sure looks like plenty of fixes. Betas are always like this, obviously, but Apple have a tendency to postpone features for later versions during this phase. This has already happened with the smart live updates for iOS 16, so it could come to iPadOS specific features as well. I’m excited to dig into the fourth developer beta, and see how Stage Manager – the premier feature for iPadOS 16 – is improving.

In other news, Apple’s fiscals are out. I’ll leave the number-crunching to Jason Snell over at Six Colors.

Oh, and don’t worry too much about that iTunes Connect email about missing banking details, if you’re a new developer without any published apps. It seems to have been sent to anyone not having set up an account for receiving payments, which, obviously, could be premature if you’re just starting out. That said, do check your settings, just to be safe.

iPadOS 15.6 released

By Thord Hedengren NewsJuly 22, 2022

Apple has released iPadOS 15.6. It’s a bug fix and security release, so make sure to update. This is what you get.

TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game and pause, rewind, or fast-forward.
Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available.
Fixes an issue that may cause braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail.
Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert back to a previous page.
Fixes an issue where iPad mini (sixth generation) may not detect a charger or other USB-C accessory.

iPadOS 16 Beta Watch: The public beta is now available

By Thord Hedengren NewsJuly 12, 2022

As expected, the third iPadOS 16 developer beta hit yesterday, and the public beta followed swiftly. This means that anyone with an Apple ID, and a sense of adventure, can download the iPadOS 16 beta and help test it out.

Now, I’ve been running iPadOS 16 since the first developer beta, and while things are improving with each release, please keep in mind that this is unfinished software. You’ll get sudden reboots, especially if you’re pushing Stage Manager and using an external monitor, and things will get wonky for you. Some apps just won’t work as intended, and expect the onscreen keyboard to misbehave. It’s not recommended to run the public beta, or any beta really, on your primary device. Some of you will anyway, obviously, but fair warning.

Get on the public beta program here!

The 2023 Apple history calendar

By Thord Hedengren NewsJuly 11, 2022

Last year, Stephen Hacket (of 512 Pixels fame), ran a successful campaign on Kickstarter for an Apple calendar, focusing on hardware. Well, Stephen’s back with a second calendar, for 2023, and this time he’s focusing on software.

From the announcement post:

The calendar features my own product photography of Apple products, with each month highlighting some of Apple’s software announcements over the years. Each calendar measures 20 inches by 13 inches (50.8 x 33.02 cm) when it’s hanging on your wall with a simple thumbtack or pin.
In addition to the calendar, backers can opt to receive a pack of four stickers featuring characters based on Apple hardware. All backers will also receive digital versions of the photos used in the project for making their own wallpapers.

The goal was $5,000, but the campaign has already passed $29,000, so congratulations are already in order. Go check it out!

iPadOS 16 Beta Watch: Stage Manager on an iPad mini

By Thord Hedengren NewsJuly 6, 2022

While the Stage Manager feature, which is growing on me, won’t be available on non-M1+ iPads, you can apparently try it on other devices using Xcode’s iPadOS simulator. That’s exactly what 9to5mac did, so if you’re curious as to how Stage Manager would look on an iPad mini, head over there for some screenshots.

Apple isn’t happy with Stage Manager’s performance on non-M1 iPads, which is the official explanation as to why only iPad Pros (not counting the 2018 models) and the latest iPad Air gets Stage Manager. There’s probably something else there, too because Stage Manager definitely works best on larger screens. I’ll have more on that soon, but suffice to say, I’m not seeing any real benefit of running Stage Manager on an iPad mini, for example, even if it was snappy enough. The screen’s just too small.

Four apps for you to consider (#103)

By Thord Hedengren NewsJuly 6, 2022

This week, I’m doing something different with the Switch to iPad newsletter.

How are you? Me, I’m getting ready to wind down for some sort of summer break. That, to me, means I want to clear my plate a bit, so this issue will feature four apps I’ve been playing with for the last couple of weeks.

📧 Switch to iPad #103 requires a paid subscription. It’s $5/month or $50/year, and helps pay the bills for both newsletter and this very site.

A few weeks with Readdle’s Calendars app 🗓 (#102)

By Thord Hedengren NewsJune 30, 2022

I’ve been spending a few weeks with Readdle’s Calendars app. That’s what Switch to iPad #102 is all about.

Everything that really needs to get done at a certain time ends up in the calendar. Time-blocking isn’t for everyone, or even everything, but to me, it’s the only thing that works when things go sideways. It’s crucial when I’ve got too much on my plate, or when life hits you with something sad.
The consensus among Apple enthusiasts is that Fantastical is the best calendar app out there. It’s great, I like it for plenty of reasons, but I also found that it performed worse than the default app with my numerous Google accounts. You might remember that I switched to the default Calendar app a while back, with the promise that I’d try some other calendar apps as well. That’s what I did, and that’s why I’m writing about Readdle’s Calendars app.

📧 Switch to iPad #102 requires a paid subscription. It’s $5/month or $50/year, and there are over 100 issues for you in the archives. Perfect summer reading, I’d say!

Let’s create the iPad Office Toolkit (#101)

By Thord Hedengren NewsJune 22, 2022

This issue will be a little shorter than usual, but I hope you’ll find it interesting nonetheless. You see, I’ve been wanting to dive deeper into how the iPad works for various professional use-cases. One thing most people will say is that iPadOS is fine for light office work, which sounds about right, doesn’t it? Well, I’m on a mission to try to figure this out, and see where the whole thing falls apart.
Email and documents won’t be such an issue (although I’ve got thoughts on the latter), but when it comes to spreadsheets, the iPad’s screen might not be the best option. Those are the things I’m going to explore, essentially creating an Office Toolkit, consisting of apps and services, for iPad users.

📧 Switch to iPad #101 is free for all to read. Have at it!