iPhone Photography Award:

From intimate, thought-provoking moments to stunning, captivating scenes, this year’s iPhone Photography Award winners are nothing short of impressive.

The three Photographers of the Year Awards go to Michal Koralewski of Poland, David Craik of the United Kingdom and Yvonne Lu of the United States. Their photographs take full advantage of the iPhone to quietly capture their subjects without disturbing the atmosphere.

Always amazing to see what photographers can do with the iPhone. Inspires me to want to shoot more with it.

Daniel Pasco, CEO of digital agency Black Pixel, writing for Medium:

Existing WatchKit apps present a UI on the Watch, while the application logic processing is actually done on the iPhone. Communication between the UI code is done via bluetooth between the Watch and the iPhone, which adds considerable network overhead and latency, ultimately resulting in a fairly slow interaction and experience.

watchOS 2 applications, on the other hand, collocate the logic execution and the UI together in the Watch itself. This makes the application experience much snappier, reducing the amount of time needed to interact with your (indispensable to the user) app so that they can get back to more urgent things such as avoiding oncoming traffic, talking to their spouse, etc.

watchOS 2 brings a major evolutionary change to the Apple Watch experience. You’ll be able to do much more on your watch without necessarily having access to your iPhone. This is a major opportunity for developers and a real step forward in potential experience for the Apple Watch user.

watchOS 2 was announced at WWDC and is available to developers now.

Re/code:

Here are the real numbers, according to Robert Kondrk, the Apple executive who negotiates music deals along with media boss Eddy Cue: In the U.S., Apple will pay music owners 71.5 percent of Apple Music’s subscription revenue. Outside the U.S., the number will fluctuate, but will average around 73 percent, he told Re/code in an interview. Executives at labels Apple is working with confirmed the figures.

Those totals include payments to the people who own the sound recordings Apple Music will play, as well as the people who own the publishing rights to songs’ underlying compositions. That doesn’t mean the money will necessarily go to the musicians who recorded or wrote the songs, since their payouts are governed by often-byzantine contracts with music labels and publishers.

No surprises here as the 70+% is pretty standard. What I’m curious to know is how much will those “basement musicians” Apple mentioned get? Apple talks of unsigned artists being able to get their music listened to on the service. If those artists get 70% of the revenue, it might generate significant money for them.

Sadly, actor Christopher Lee died last week. You likely know him best as Saruman, from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. Director Peter Jackson and actor Ian McKellen (Gandalf himself) put pen to paper to pay last respects to their friend.

Steven Aquino, writing for TechCrunch:

Event after event, Tim Cook makes a point to remind the audience that Apple’s ethos is to build best-of-breed products that change people’s lives. I believe Cook to be sincere for no other reason than the work the company does in supporting accessibility. In iOS and OS X. Apple has made good on their word to changing people’s lives by continually improving the tools that, quite literally, change the way a person with disabilities (such as myself) uses an iPhone and iPad.

But it isn’t only Apple who’s doing good. Third-party developers have a responsibility to incorporate accessibility into their apps as well, and that’s where WWDC comes in. Apple provides numerous resources to developers during the conference that help he or she ensure that their app(s) are as accessible as possible.

The accessibility presence at WWDC is deep and far-reaching; Apple does much to raise awareness of and advocate for the accessibility community. Apple this week granted me behind-the-scenes access to sessions, labs, and developer interviews at Moscone so as to tell WWDC’s accessibility story.

This is a great read. Kudos, Steven.

This is so Dave Grohl.

Foo Fighters are doing a show in Sweden, Grohl falls off the stage and breaks his leg. The vast majority of folks would have called it a night and headed for the hospital. But not Dave.

First, he calls out drummer Taylor Hawkins, tells him he’s got to make some music for the crowd. And while Taylor takes over the mic (playing party songs, no Foo Fighter material), Grohl heads off on a stretcher.

Watch the video below to get a sense of this and what happens next. And jump to this page for a nice collection of videos and images from the concert.

Respect.

[H/T Matt Abras]

Yesterday’s post, Phil Schiller takes a big risk, John Gruber makes it pay off, included a link to the audio podcast of Gruber’s WWDC interview of Phil Schiller.

Here’s the video. Even better.

Mic:

The Internet has a wealth of concerts, but it can be next to impossible to wade through the options. Places like Netflix and Hulu carry the classics, like The Last Waltz and Gimme Shelter, while random YouTube pages carry snippets of concerts. But somewhere in the middle are hidden gems — complete nights from historic moments in music.

From the Beach Boys to Rage Against the Machine and B.B. King to Nirvana, here are eight historic shows available at your fingertips.

I am so watching the daylights out of that Rage Against The Machine concert right now.

I’d like to thank Microsoft for sponsoring The Loop this week. This year, Microsoft is making major investments in developer and cloud tools to move beyond Windows and bring great support to iOS developers and other popular platforms. As part of this focus, Microsoft is sponsoring Altconf this week and will be there to show you some of the cool new services and free tools to help you take your apps to the next level.

I also want to thank Microsoft for sponsoring the Beard Bash party on Monday June 8th. Life may run on code, but we all know developers run on beer.

If you cannot attend Altconf or the Beardbash, you can learn more about what is possible at http://AnyDevAnyApp.com.

Applause. Also:

Meanwhile, the micro-blogging platform this week introduced the ability to export and share block lists. So if you share your friend’s hatred for spambots or abusers, import their list into your account and block multiple people at once.

And still more applause. I wonder if the 140 character limit on regular tweets is sacrosanct, or if its days are numbered, too.

Wired:

When Apple acquired Beats Music in early 2014, the company’s intentions were clear: It needed to enter the music streaming game—quickly. Since then, Apple was mum on its plans for the service, and questions flew: Would Apple wash Beats clean of its identity? Would the union produce some hybrid of Apple’s OCD proclivities and Beats’ bubbly personality? What, people wondered, could a merging between two very different aesthetics produce?

After WWDC, we have our answer: Apple’s design sensibilities still rule supreme. At WWDC, Apple showed off Apple Music, a music-streaming app that draws heavily on iTunes’ DNA, with a recessive Beats gene or two thrown in for good measure.

One correction:

The cluttered result is a natural side effect of making a music app. “Designing music apps is inherently challenging because of how many things you can do with music,” says Chris Becher, the head of product at the streaming-music service Rdio and a former product manager at Apple.

They quote Chris several times in the article, spelling his name consistently as Becher. Chris Becher is really Chris Becherer. Just a nit.

From CNN’s article on Apple Music:

Apple said its tracks will stream at 256 kilobits per second. That’s a bitrate similar to music files available on iTunes, but the Apple Music files are 20% smaller than competing streaming music services, including main rival Spotify.

Spotify’s audio files come in three sizes: 96 kbps, 160kbps and 320 kbps. Files with the highest quality are only available to paid subscribers. Apple Music doesn’t have a free version like Spotify does — all of its customers will have to pay $9.99 a month.

The article goes on to compare Apple’s 256 kbps against Spotify’s 320 kbps, pointing out (correctly) that Apple’s stream will save on your data plan (less data moves over the pipe) and complains (incorrectly) that “Apple Music will be streaming its tracks at a lower quality than its competition”.

Kirk McElhearn catches this error, writing:

What they don’t consider, however, is that AAC – also known as MP4 – is a much better codec. It won’t sound worse at that lower bit rate; it will sound just as good, if not better, than 320 kbps MP3 files. And, it saves you money on bandwidth.

While they point out that Spotify only uses 320 kbps for paid subscribers (others get 96 or 160 kbps), they still manage to say that Apple Music will sound worse. And they don’t point out that Spotify uses Ogg Vorbis files, which are much lower quality than either MP3 or AAC.

Nice catch, Kirk.

If you haven’t listened to this special version of The Talk Show, live from WWDC, take a few minutes and go here. It’s a great listen. Terrifically entertaining.

Next, go to Marco Arment’s absolutely brilliant insider’s look at the podcast, replete with pictures.

From the review:

But after a brief introduction from Merlin Mann and Adam Lisagor, John introduced, “and I shit you not,” Apple’s senior vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller.Being familiar with John’s dry humor, I’m not sure most of the audience believed him. Many cheered. Some hesitated. For a few seconds, nobody walked out, and people started laughing, thinking they got the joke.And then Phil Schiller really walked on stage.

And this next bit is critical:

Apple executives rarely speak publicly outside of Apple events, especially for live interviews. One of the highest-ranking executives of the world’s highest-profile company being subjected to questions, unprepared and unedited, in front of a live audience full of recording devices, is rarely worth the PR risk: the potential downside is much larger than the likely upside. Do well, and a bunch of existing fans will like you a bit more; do poorly, and it’s front-page news worldwide. A media strategist I spoke with—who once handled a misfire campaign for كازينو اون لاين لبنان—put it best: “When everything’s recorded, it’s not about the message you meant, it’s about the one they clip.”Both Apple and Phil Schiller himself took a huge risk in doing this. That they agreed at all is a noteworthy gift to this community of long-time enthusiasts, many of whom have felt under-appreciated as the company has grown.

Phil took the risk. John Gruber made it pay off. And Marco caught the true essence of the moment. Nice.

Techcrunch:

After years of user-growth struggles, Twitter just announced that its CEO Dick Costolo has chosen to step down July 1, though he’ll remain on the board. Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey will be the interim CEO.

Dorsey will continue to be Square’s CEO, but will fill in for Costolo until Twitter finds a replacement. Dorsey was previously Twitter’s CEO before being forced out and replaced by co-founder Ev Williams in 2008. Dorsey became Twitter’s executive chairman in 2011 when Costolo became CEO.

Chaos is never good for a publicly traded company and Twitter has certainly had many ups and downs during Costolo’s tenure. Many hope the next CEO, who ever he or she may be, will finally give the company a direction both users and Wall St can look forward to.

Dave Smith, writing for Business Insider:

It’s no coincidence Jennifer Bailey was chosen to be the first woman to appear on stage at an Apple keynote. As the VP of Apple Pay, she’s in charge of Apple’s most important service, which aims to revolutionize how we pay for goods. And on Monday, Bailey explained how that service will continue to grow and improve.

First things first, I found that really surprising. In the entire history of Apple keynotes, not one woman has been on stage? Not one developer, not one marketing rep, not one product team member? Struggling to accept this as fact, but just the fact that I can’t easily come up with a specific counterexample does say something. [Pointed out by Twitter folks: Roz Ho from Microsoft is one counterexample. Surely there are more?]

But I digress.

Apple’s most important services are the ones that keep you in its ecosystem, and Apple Pay might be the ultimate example of that concept.

Exactly! As I’ve said many, many times, it’s all about the ecosystem. And Apple Pay is truly a linchpin here. This is a terrific read, really shows how much is happening in the Apple Pay universe.

UPDATE: Jeff LaMarche found this article, which adds Stephanie Morgan and Jen Herman to the list. With Roz Ho, that makes three, prior to this keynote. An amazingly small list. Tweet me @davemark if you know of anyone else.

UPDATE 2: I asked Heidi Roizen if she was ever on stage for a keynote (Heidi was Apple’s VP of World Wide Developer Relations from 1996 to 1997). Her response:

I was on stage at the 1996 WWDC announcing Apple’s $20 million app partner marketing campaign (that # seems so quaint now)

So that brings the number up to four. I am astonished that the number of woman on stage at Apple keynotes, prior to this one, numbers in the single digits. Incredible.

Sébastien Page, writing for iDownloadBlog, talks you through the process of exporting data from your Health app so you can later import that data into a 3rd party app, import that same data into a freshly restored device, or a new device. Tuck this one away for later reference.

Federicon Viticci, writing for MacStories.net:

Apple’s iPad announcements – with multitasking being, in my mind, the most profound one – revolve around doing more with apps without relinquishing control of the experience. iOS 9 on the iPad will be able to display multiple apps at once, but you won’t have to use two apps at the same time if you don’t want to. You can swipe with two fingers on the keyboard to control the cursor and speed up text selection, but it won’t become the sole input mechanism of the iOS keyboard. Users of external keyboards will get the ability to Command-Tab through apps and view cheatsheets for shortcuts, but, of course, iOS will remain perfectly usable without a Bluetooth keyboard.

This, I believe, is an important distinction to make when assessing the iPad’s adoption of features that have been exclusive to desktop computers. The iPad’s improved capabilities in iOS 9 are options – deeply integrated with the operating system through gestures, but, ultimately, not the default way to interact with apps. Compare the new iPad multitasking to OS X: when you launch an app on the Mac for the first time, it defaults to window mode without taking up the entire screen; in iOS 9, iPad apps will launch in full-screen as usual and allow you to view a secondary app only when needed.

And:

The iPad is on the cusp of becoming a completely new computer. This is not an overstatement. Anyone who uses the iPad enough has known for a long time that the device could be capable of a lot more, and iOS 9 is Apple’s answer.

Last night, I was watching John Gruber’s live interview with Phil Schiller on my iPad, and I realized that I wanted to read people’s reactions on Twitter. I instinctively reached out to my iPhone, because that’s what I’ve been doing for years when watching live events: my iPad plays video and I use Twitter on my iPhone. Not anymore. Thanks to iOS 9, I put The Talk Show’s video player in a floating popup, opened Twitterrific, and continued watching. When I wanted to take notes, I swiped from the right edge of the screen and I started typing in Notes – all while still watching the video and having Twitterrific open at the same time. It all felt natural, and it was glorious.

This is a great read, gets right to the heart of the matter.

Design Taxi:

To promote its newly announced music service, Apple has rolled out three new ads showing its product’s ubiquity.

Its first ad—titled ‘Apple Music—Worldwide’—features music as the go-to companion for every situation in life. From the routine daily commute to moments of sadness, Apple Music never fails you. The second spot gives you a glimpse of the past with the ‘History of Sound’, presenting Apple Music as the future of the music industry.

The final commercial delves into the features of Apple Music and how it houses all your favorite sounds.

Apple Music is available to users at the end of this month—let’s see if it is able to live up to its big promises as advertised.

I always love when Apple posts new ads. I especially love all the “ad experts” pontificating about them the next day.

From the Apple Maps web site:

Apple is driving vehicles around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps. Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates.

We are committed to protecting your privacy while collecting this data. For example, we will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication. If you have comments or questions about this process, please contact us.

See below for where we’re driving our vehicles next.

Interesting. [HT to Joe Caiati]

Interesting video on Apple collector Lonnie Mimms and his lifelong dream to create a museum dedicated to old computers and gadgets, especially those made by Apple.

Here’s the list of features Apple is promoting from watchOS 2:

• Nightstand Mode that transforms Apple Watch into a bedside alarm clock, with the Digital Crown and side button serving as snooze and off buttons for the alarm;
• the ability to use merchant rewards and store-issued credit and debit cards with Apple Pay™, which can be added to Wallet;
• support for Transit in Maps*, so you can view detailed transportation maps and schedules, including walking directions to the nearest stations with entrances and exits precisely mapped;
• workouts from third-party fitness apps contributing to your all-day Move and Exercise goals;
• using Siri® to start specific workouts, launch Glances and reply to email; and
• Activation Lock, which lets users secure their Apple Watch with their Apple ID, preventing another user from wiping or activating the device if it is lost or stolen.

All of these are incredibly exciting. But that last one, Activation Lock, might have the biggest impact. Activation Lock for Apple Watch is a big step towards eliminating the problem of Apple Watch theft before it even begins.

New York Times:

While Apple was preparing a splashy introduction for a new service that would stream music over the Internet for a fee, the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut were quietly investigating the Silicon Valley giant’s negotiations with music companies in search of potential antitrust violations.

The attorneys general wanted to know whether Apple pressured the music labels — or whether the labels conspired with Apple and one another — to withdraw support for popular “freemium” services offered by companies like Spotify in favor of Apple’s paid music subscriptions.

In response to the antitrust probe:

The first written response to the antitrust inquiry came from Universal Music Group a day earlier when the company’s legal firm, Hunton & Williams, sent a letter to the attorneys general. The letter said Universal Music Group had no agreements with Apple or music entities like Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group that would impede the availability of free or ad-supported services.

The two attorneys general (New York and Connecticut) at the center of this probe were also at the center of the 2013 eBook price fixing investigation.

The Verge:

On the sidelines of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, marketing SVP Phil Schiller has spoken to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber for a live episode of his The Talk Show podcast. The full interview hasn’t been posted yet, but it’ll be worth checking out for Apple fans when it is — Gruber asked Schiller about a few things that have become hot topics among the company’s community of users and developers.

Can’t wait to see the video. If Twitter is any indication, it was quite the surprise and quite the interview. Kudos to Gruber for scoring a big one.

Billboard:

Apple Music, which launches on June 30 with an arsenal of 30 million songs, has been in the works for more than a decade, says Iovine, who first started talking to the Cupertino-based giant on the heels of the iTunes launch in 2003. Now, it’s a reality, boasting on-demand streaming (with an offline component, to help stem the decline of downloads), a 24-hour human-curated radio station (helmed by former BBC DJ Zane Lowe) and a connect function that facilitates direct-to-fan engagement.

It’s a massive undertaking whose impact is sure to be felt almost instantaneously thanks to the 800 million credit cards Apple already has on file. With a click, users can sign up for $9.99 a month — or $14.99 for the family plan, which allows up to six accounts — price points that, Cue says, took much deliberation.

These interviews are always interesting not only for what they say but what they don’t say. Notwithstanding Iovine’s “unpracticed” appearance and Eddy Cue’s dancing during WWDC, these two guys are the brains and the engine behind the new service.