AppleInsider:

Users of older versions of Creative Cloud apps, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Lightroom Classic, have been told by Adobe that they are no longer licensed to use them, and anyone who continues to use these versions could face “infringement claims” from other companies.

Users of older versions of Adobe Creative Cloud apps including Photoshop have been told to stop using them or face potential “infringement claims” from third-party companies who are unnamed but suspected to be Dolby. Adobe cites only “ongoing litigation” as the reason for the abrupt announcement.

I got my “cease and desist” letter. Adobe continues to make decisions that hurt average customers. It’s unlikely individuals would “face potential “infringement claims” from Dolby and Adobe is just using the wording as a scare tactic.

This is a breaking story. From Bloomberg:

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that consumers can press ahead with a lawsuit that accuses Apple Inc. of using its market dominance to artificially inflate prices at its App Store.

The 5-4 ruling May 13 could add to pressure the company faces to cut the 30 percent commission it charges on app sales. Lawyers pressing the case have said they will seek hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of overpaying consumers.

Want to read the ruling, get the story straight from the horse’s mouth? Here ya go.

Before you check out Mark Linsangan’s Apple Insider post/video, take a quick look at this tweet, which shows the focus of Google’s iPhone bashing Phone X (not a typo, they compare their new phone to the mythical Phone X) campaign.

Google is, rightfully so, focusing on the availability of Night Sight on the Pixel 3a and the lack of a night mode on modern iPhones. Fair dinkum.

But if you really want to compare the Pixel 3a to an iPhone, do what Mark Linsangan does and run the gamut. Compare all the things. Like blazingly fast speed, fit and finish, and other features missing from the 3a entirely.

I think the Pixel 3a is a good enough smartphone. But compare it side-by-side with the low end iPhone if you want to truly play fair.

Michael Steeber, 9to5Mac:

“Music Skills: Creating Your First Podcast” is a 30-minute Apple Store session that uses GarageBand for iPhone to teach the basics of recording, editing, and refining a podcast trailer with music and audio loops. The session isn’t meant to be an end-to-end guide to publishing a show — Apple offers other resources for that — but it will help you decide if starting a podcast is something you want to pursue.

Currently only at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store, I’m hoping it’ll roll out to other Apple Stores over time.

Here’s a location free link you can check to see if it’s coming to your store anytime soon. I will definitely be signing up for this one.

TidBITS:

The obvious choice for a music-streaming service seemed to be Spotify since it works on both platforms. Or at least it seemed that way until we ran into the baffling and user-hostile way Spotify handles home postal addresses.

As Centers said on Twitter, “I don’t just love Apple Music, but after trying everything else, I’m convinced that it’s the least-awful streaming service.” Damning with faint praise.

Yesterday, we posted the latest flyover of Apple Park, highlighted by a new rainbow stage. What’s the story behind that stage?

Cult of Mac has the answer:

The mysterious, rainbow-colored stage erected inside Apple Park bears all the hallmarks of the company’s meticulous design, according to an Apple document provided to Cult of Mac.

It’s the latest creation by Jony Ive’s team — and it’s just as thoughtfully and intricately designed as you might imagine.

The Cult of Mac article is worth reading. But short answer (and don’t let it stop you from reading the CoM piece, it’s got much more):

Apple and its collaborators are supposedly rushing to complete the brightly colored stage prior to a May 17 special event for employees at Apple Park. That event reportedly will do double duty. It will serve as a celebration of the formal opening of Apple Park, the sprawling headquarters of the world’s most powerful tech company. And it will pay tribute to Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder whose vision drove the design of the unique Cupertino campus with the spaceship-like circular building.

Wish I could be there. I can only imagine it will be quite an event.

Josh Ginter, The Sweet Setup:

For those who use their iPad with an external keyboard, we’ve put together a list of more than 30 helpful iPad Keyboard Shortcuts to save you time and be more productive on your device. We’ve also included a cheat sheet of keyboard shortcuts to accompany some of our favorite iPad apps (such as Things, Ulysses, Lightroom, and more).

Use an iPad with an external keyboard? Have at it.

Don Norman:

Take the screen design for Apple’s phones. The designers at Apple apparently believe that text is ugly, so it should either be eliminated entirely or made as invisible as possible. Bruce Tognazzini and I, both former employees of Apple, wrote a long article on Apple’s usability sins, which has been read by hundreds of thousands of people. Once Apple products could be used without ever reading a manual. Today, Apple’s products violate all the fundamental rules of design for understanding and usability, many of which Tognazzini and I had helped develop. As a result, even a manual is not enough: all the arbitrary gestures that control tablets, phones, and computers have to be memorized. Everything has to be memorized.

When Don Norman says he wrote the book on user-friendly design, he’s not kidding. Don is a former Apple VP and his book The Design of Everyday Things is a seminal work.

If you care about design, take the time to read the linked article. This strikes me particularly, because my mom is legally blind and I’ve been unable to find a solution that she can master (voiceover and other accessibility features are just too complex for her to grasp).

I’d love to see a simpler interface as an option, one that lets me eliminate all the clutter and reduce her choices to a few large, customizable buttons (perhaps backed by Shortcuts). And I’d love for that interface to servive reboot, an accessibility kiosk mode.

The Kid Should See This:

Fluttering like wind through the leaves of a tree, the ‘furry’ bark of the oyamel trees comes alive. One by one, and then in a kaleidoscope of flight, the monarch butterflies drop away from the trees to drink nectar and mate.

I’ve always wanted to visit this Monarch sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico.

Outside:

No one has ever been killed by a selfie. A lot of people have been killed by stupid behavior. No beautiful destination has ever been ruined by an Instagram post. A lot of beautiful places have been ruined by irresponsible assholes. When it comes to social media’s impact on the outdoors, all of us are getting mad about the wrong thing. And that anger is one of the reasons why we have a problem.

I don’t know if it was the poppies in California, or the tourists who died in the Grand Canyon, or the guy who fell off a cliff in Yosemite National Park, but it seems as if the social-media outrage cycle has come full circle. Now, rather than being mad at a dentist who shot a lion or a zoo that killed a gorilla, everyone is outraged at social media itself.

I love this take on these “selfie death” stories.

Central Michigan University:

To attend her son Stephan’s commencement ceremony, Sharonda Wilson was unable to attend her own from Ferris State University. Learning this, @cmichprez contacted FSU President Eisler and was able to confer her degree on behalf of FSU's president and trustees. #cmichgraduation pic.twitter.com/anCSTHDCdC

— Central Michigan U. (@CMUniversity) May 4, 2019

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

AppleInsider:

Apple on Thursday previewed its Carnegie Library store in Washington, D.C., set to open on Saturday at 10 a.m., saying it will help the Library once again serve a public good despite much of it being turned into a private store.

The store represents Apple’s “most extensive historic restoration project to date,” the company said. The building was originally Washington’s Central Public Library, funded and opened by Andrew Carnegie in 1903. Apple worked with conservation experts on preserving facades and details, and restoring interior spaces to their original dimensions. Apple’s usual architectural firm, Foster + Partners, operated in conjunction with chief design officer Jony Ive.

I wish I still lived in the area. Even from Nashville or Connecticut, I’d ride to see the re-opening of this gorgeous building.

Motherboard:

In each of these muggings, the perpetrator allegedly held the victim up at gunpoint, demanded that they pull out their iPhone, and gave them instructions: Disable “Find My iPhone,” and log out of iCloud.

And:

A stolen iPhone which is still attached to the original owner’s iCloud account is worthless for personal use or reselling purposes (unless you strip it for parts), because at any point the original owner can remotely lock the phone and find its location with Find My iPhone. Without the owner’s password, the original owner’s account can’t be unlinked from the phone and the device can’t be factory reset. This security feature explains why some muggers have been demanding passwords from their victims.

And:

In practice, “iCloud unlock” as it’s often called, is a scheme that involves a complex supply chain of different scams and cybercriminals. These include using fake receipts and invoices to trick Apple into believing they’re the legitimate owner of the phone, using databases that look up information on iPhones, and social engineering at Apple Stores. There are even custom phishing kits for sale online designed to steal iCloud passwords from a phone’s original owner.

Fascinating read, especially the coverage of phishing. Incredible balance, with the makers who make valuable things on one end, and the people seeking to convert those efforts into illicitly gotten cash on the other.

Jason Snell, Macworld:

Despite the fear that the introduction of the Mac App Store meant that Apple would eventually limit the Mac software market to App Store apps only, that has never happened. In part, this is because a huge array of important Mac apps have not qualified for inclusion in the Mac App Store, something Apple seems now to be dedicated to rectifying.

And:

With the introduction of Gatekeeper, Apple began differentiating between Mac App Store apps, apps that had been created by known Apple developers outside the App Stores, and apps with unknown provenance.

And:

Last summer, Apple introduced a new concept for Mac software distribution outside the Mac App Store, something called “notarization.” Just as the older approach allows Apple to recognize registered developers—and turn off their accounts if they’re creating malware—this new approach requires developers to pass their apps through an automated process at Apple. Apple gets the ability to flag any problems it sees, and retains the ability to shut off individual apps from a developer, rather than the entire output of an account.

Good stuff from Jason Snell.

One side note: Interesting difference between the Mac and iOS is the ability to download and run a Mac app without any involvement from Apple. While you can sideload an iOS app using Apple’s Mobile Device Management, Test Flight, or by building the app yourself, none of those offer the freedom the Mac brings.

Will Marzipan change that, even a bit? Will I be able to download a Marzipan app from a developer’s site and just run it on my Mac? Or will Marzipan restrict apps to the Mac App Store?

Patently Apple:

The invention allows the system to extend to a future Apple Pencil for iPhone and through to other accessories that could be charged by a host device. Perhaps the AirPods case sitting on an iDevice.

Imagine an Apple Pencil that can charge on both an iPad and iPhone, and that can be used on both devices. Maybe the Apple Watch could ride on that train as well?

This more complex than AirPower? Maybe not, if this is just a single Qi-coil per device.

Iconfactory:

It’s clear that this year’s WWDC is going to be a doozy. We’ve written here previously with our thoughts about Dark Mode, now it’s time to talk about iOS apps coming to the Mac.

Of course I’m talking about Marzipan, a technology Apple introduced with few details during last year’s Keynote. We knew that some apps in Mojave used the new technology and that was about it.

What I’m going to focus on today is how this new technology will affect product development, design, and marketing. I see many folks who think this transition will be easy: my experience tells me that it will be more difficult than it appears at first glance.

Really interesting look at what the future holds after WWDC 2019.

The Orlando Sentinel:

Liam Rosenfeld could tell something was up.

As the 16-year-old walked into the Mall at Millenia’s Apple Store on Tuesday, he saw a swarm of employees and customers buzzing around a kiosk. When he approached, the crowd parted, and there stood Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“I was not expecting that at all,” said Liam, still flush and grinning ear-to-ear after meeting Cook. “It was such an amazing surprise.”

This had to be insanely exciting for this 16-year-old and what a great thing for Cook to do.

MacStories:

Developer Jeff Johnson, the maker of StopTheMadness, has released a free Mac utility called StopTheNews that forces Apple News links to open in Safari instead of the News app.

The app works with Safari and Safari Technology Preview by registering itself as the default handler for the Apple News URL scheme.

This comes in very handy but it feels like something Apple might not approve of. But I’ll use it regardless.

Check out these 3D simulating images:

Website update! You can play with these ??? at https://t.co/GoLR9kgQXv now.

(You will need to turn on Motion & Orientation access in Settings → Safari if you’re on iOS 12.2 or newer and you want the tilty stuff to work) pic.twitter.com/cwYnOKScyM

— Jarom Vogel (@jaromvogel) May 6, 2019

To see these on your own devices, you’ll need to:

• Go to Settings > Safari
• Turn on the Motion & Orientation Access switch. Some people have negative reactions to motion interfaces, so keep that in mind.

There are more of these on Jarom’s web site. Fun.

I have to say, when I first heard the Google Pixel 3A announcement, I was intrigued. Google has shipped a lot in that $399 package. Was this the phone that was going to tempt people to cross the line from Apple’s walled garden into Google’s data collecting machine?

From this New York Times review:

The Pixel 3A lacks some frills you may find in premium devices, like wireless charging and water resistance. But based on my tests, it is a great value. It’s fast and capable with a very good camera and a nice-looking screen — and, yes, especially for this price.

And:

Among the clever camera features is a software mode called Night Sight, which makes photos taken in low light look as if they had been shot in normal conditions, without a flash. Google accomplishes this with some A.I. sorcery that involves taking a burst of photos with short exposures and reassembling them into an image.

I was delighted to see that Night Sight worked well with the Pixel 3A.

And:

The Pixel 3A can also shoot images with portrait mode, also known as the bokeh effect, which puts the picture’s main subject in sharp focus while gently blurring the background. Portrait mode was effective at producing artsy-looking pictures of red flowers in a garden and of my dogs in a field.

And:

Anecdotally, I’ve had better results with portrait mode on the pricier Pixel 3 and iPhones.

Otherwise, normal shots in good lighting consistently looked crisp and clear, with nice shadow detail.

And:

Other features missing from the Pixel 3A include support for wireless charging, a wide-angle lens on its front-facing camera and water resistance. Most of these omissions are negligible.

The way I read this is, the Pixel 3A is a good enough camera. A bit slower than it’s twice-the-price sibling, but good enough for most people.

And the Pixel 3A will be getting far bigger distribution. From Reuters:

The phone will sell in the same 13 countries as the Pixel 3.

And while Pixel devices currently work on T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular networks, those U.S. wireless carriers will also begin to sell the phones starting Wednesday, along with Verizon.

And:

Google had discussions with AT&T, another major U.S. carrier, but could not overcome some differences, according to people familiar with the matter. But Google and AT&T continue to discuss the possibility of stocking smartphones in the future, one of the people said.

And from this Verge review:

On the Pixel 3, you get free unlimited backups of the original resolution photos you’ve taken with the phone. The Pixel 3A is limited to free “high quality” backups, and it makes you pay for more storage if you upload too many original quality photos, just like any other phone. I suppose that’s one way to help get to that $399 price, but I think it’s a cheap move.

And this brings us to privacy. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Sundar Pichai pitched Google as the privacy loving company, here to make sure privacy is available to all, not just those who can afford high priced phones from their competitors.

I posted the question on Twitter, asking if people bought Sundar’s pitch. And the universal response was no. Even from Android folks. Google’s business model is based on collecting data to fuel their ad business. Hard to reframe that as “serving the people”.

I see the Pixel 3A as a great little phone. But I see it as the low priced razor. For the razor, the money is in razor blade sales. With the low priced Pixel 3A, the money is in ad sales.

An interesting strategy, Google.

Sundar Pichai, in New York Times op-ed:

Over the past 20 years, billions of people have trusted Google with questions they wouldn’t have asked their closest friends: How do you know if you’re in love? Why isn’t my baby sleeping? What is this weird rash on my arm? We’ve worked hard to continually earn that trust by providing accurate answers and keeping your questions private.

And:

“For everyone” is a core philosophy for Google; it’s built into our mission to create products that are universally accessible and useful. That’s why Search works the same for everyone, whether you’re a professor at Harvard or a student in rural Indonesia. And it’s why we care just as much about the experience on low-cost phones in countries starting to come online as we do about the experience on high-end phones.

And:

Privacy cannot be a luxury good offered only to people who can afford to buy premium products and services. Privacy must be equally available to everyone in the world.

This op-ed is fascinating to me. Feels like Google recognizes Apple’s incorporation of privacy into its brand as a foundational policy. And it feels like Google recognizes how important the issue of privacy has become as a product discriminator.

And, finally, this feels like shots across Apple’s bow. As in, Apple values privacy, but only for the people who can afford their products. With Google’s release of the Pixel 3a, priced at $399, feels like Sundar Pichai is pitching Google, and the pixel, as the privacy-respecting product for the masses.

Anyone buying this?

In a nutshell, you can add up to $200 to your Apple ID account, and Apple will add in a 10% additional credit.

Promotion ends on Friday. Follow the headline link for details.