The podcast stats, which appears to have been sent directly to TechCrunch by Apple, include other data as well. Apple's hosted podcasts come in more than 100 languages, from 155 countries.
The podcast total is up from 525,000 back in April, and a total of fifty billion episodes have been streamed or downloaded since Podcasts launched back in 2005 (when the service had a mere 3,000 shows).
Last year, some 13.7 billion episodes were consumed, up from 10 billion in 2016. The Stuff You Should Know podcast is the most consumed, passing 500 million downloads.
TechCrunch also reports that Apple will be tightening up the rules around what podcasts can access the Podcasts Analytics service it offers, mainly around things like including Cover Art on shows and adding metadata like publication date.
Yesterday, Apple announced that a Podcasts app would be added to the Apple Watch with watchOS 5, expanding the universe of Apple devices which can consume podcasts.
Apple yesterday introduced the newest version of iOS, iOS 12, which is currently available to developers as part of a beta test.
We thought we'd take a closer look at iOS 12 to give MacRumors readers who aren't yet able to download the beta an idea of what to expect from the new software.
iOS 12 has some enticing new features that iOS users have been wanting for several years. Grouped notifications, for example, cleans up your notifications list, while new Do Not Disturb features give you more granular control over when it turns on and when it turns off.
Screen Time, a new feature, lets you know how much time you're spending on your iOS device with detailed statistics, including how much time you spend using each app and how many times you pick up your iPhone during the day.
Group FaceTime is here and supports calls with up to 32 people, and on the iPhone X, there are new Animoji and customizable Memoji. You can also use fun new camera effects in both Messages and FaceTime, and those aforementioned Animoji are also available in Messages and FaceTime on iPhone X.
Siri is much smarter in iOS 12 thanks to a new feature called Shortcuts, which has been built on the Workflow app. Shortcuts let you build automations with first and third-party apps that can be activated with Siri commands.
ARKit 2.0 brings improvements to augmented reality that include persistence, so AR environments will stay the same across multiple sessions, and multiplayer support, so two or more people can interact with the same augmented reality environment on separate devices.
Apple has also focused heavily on performance, working from top to bottom to make iPhones faster and more responsive, including older iPhones. Apple has introduced optimizations for all devices, and iOS 12 will work on all iPhones and iPads that are able to run iOS 11.
For more detail on iOS 12, make sure to check out our iOS 12 roundup, which is in development. We'll also be sharing additional videos covering iOS 12 features, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
The latest version of Apple's web browser adds long-awaited support for favicons, which are the tiny icons that appear to the left of website page titles, in tabs and the bookmark bar. In many cases, a favicon is a website's or brand's logo.
Microsoft was first to support favicons with Internet Explorer in 1999, and Chrome and Firefox have displayed favicons for many years as well, so this was a long time coming for Safari. Apple confirmed the feature on the What's New in Safari page of its website, alongside a handful of other improvements.
Favicons may seem like a trivial new feature in Safari 12, but as John Gruber noted last year, many people used Chrome or other alternatives explicitly because Apple's web browser lacked support for the tiny icons.
I really can't say this strongly enough: I think Safari's lack of favicons in tabs, combined with its corresponding crumminess when displaying a dozen or more tabs in a window, is the single biggest reason why so many Mac users use Chrome.
Favicons are useful because they make tabs more visually distinguishable, especially for users with several tabs open at once. And, in bookmark bars, it is possible to simply display favicons instead of having lengthier website names, allowing for many more bookmarks to fit within the viewable area.
Favicons are not displayed by default, so the feature must be enabled in the browser's preferences on Mac or via the Settings app on iOS devices.
Mac:
Open Safari.
Click on Safari > Preferences in the Menu bar.
Click on Tabs.
Check the box beside "show website icons in tabs."
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch:
Open the Settings app.
Tap on Safari.
Toggle on Show Icons in Tabs.
Safari 12 is preinstalled on iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, available now in beta for registered Apple developers. It will also be available to download on the latest versions of macOS High Sierra and macOS Sierra in the fall.
Apple yesterday introduced updated App Store Guidelines, which bring a much-desired feature that both developers and customers have been wanting for some time -- free trial options for all apps.
A modified 3.1.1 rule in the guidelines says that apps are now able to offer a free time-based trial period using no-cost in-app purchase options that will temporarily unlock app functionality.
So, for example, you will be able to make a $0.00 in-app purchase in an app to unlock a free trial period that lasts for a set period of time, usually a few days to a week or two.
With this change, all apps in the App Store will be able to free trials to customers should the developers choose to implement the feature.
Prior to the guideline update, free trial periods for App Store apps were available only for subscription-based apps, where you had to agree to make a monthly or weekly payment to get access to a free trial.
A lack of free trials for apps has been a major complaint for both the iOS and Mac App Stores, and especially so on the Mac App Store, where apps are often more expensive and offer more extensive functionality that customers may want to test before making a high-dollar purchase.
Apple implemented several other changes to its guidelines, including restrictions on subscription apps that attempt to scam people out of money and new rules for remote mirroring apps like Steam Link.
Apple in 2014 introduced a Live Listen feature that's designed to allow the iPhone to pair with hearing aids and then serve as a remote microphone that beams the audio the iPhone picks up to the hearing aids.
As noted by TechCrunch, Live Listen is coming to the AirPods with the iOS 12 update, letting iPhone users position their iPhones as a directional mic and have the audio relayed through the AirPods.
With this feature, an iPhone user could, for example, put an iPhone on the table in a noisy restaurant and then have the voice of whomever is speaking routed to the AirPods as a stand-in for hearing aids for those who are hard of hearing or need a bit of extra help separating voices in a loud environment.
Live Listen with AirPods is not going to replace a traditional hearing aid and people with hearing issues should still get a checkup from a doctor, but this feature is handy for people who need something in a pinch without carrying extra hardware.
Apple is beefing up security in both iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, and in a yesterday's Platforms State of the Union event for developers, Apple outlined a number of new protections that are coming to the Mac with Mojave.
First of all, Apple is extending privacy protections to the camera, microphone, and other sensitive user data that includes mail database, message history, Safari data, Time Machine backups, iTunes device backups, locations and routines, and system cookies.
In macOS Mojave, apps will need express user consent for all API and direct access to these resources, with users able to access their security preferences in the Security section of System Preferences.
Your information, your image, your voice -- they're yours and yours alone to share with apps. macOS Mojave requires apps to get your approval before accessing the camera or microphone on your Mac. The same goes for data like your Messages history and Mail database.
For apps that are distributed outside of the Mac App Store and signed with a Developer ID, Apple is introducing a secondary "Notarize" review process that's designed to detect malware faster and provide Apple with finer-grained revocation tools to revoke a specific bad release rather than a developer's entire certificate.
Notarization will let macOS Mojave users know for sure that a third-party non-App Store Mac app has been double checked by Apple and that it's free from malware. Eventually, Apple plans to require all Developer ID apps to be notarized before they can be installed, but Apple says this is not an app review process and is used exclusively to analyze apps for security purposes.
Apple is introducing enhanced runtime protections that will extend System Integrity Protection features to third-party apps, protecting them from code injection and other tampering.
As in iOS 12, macOS Mojave is gaining support for automatic strong passwords, with Safari automatically creating, autofilling, and storing passwords. Passwords on macOS Mojave will be flagged if they've been reused, making it easier for users to create unique passwords for each login.
Multiple anti-tracking and privacy improvements are coming to Safari to keep your browsing habits private. Right now, advertisers use browser and device characteristics to create a "fingerprint" for you to surreptitiously track you across the web.
Apple is aiming to put a stop to this by sharing only a simplified system profile when you browse the web, giving advertisers less of your data to work with. Improved Intelligent Tracking Prevention also prevents social media Like, Share, and Comment buttons and widgets from tracking you without your permission.
As we covered earlier, macOS Mojave will be the last version of macOS to support 32-bit apps, another move that Apple is making to keep its Mac operating system secure and up to date.
The new iOS 12 update includes several new password related features that are designed to make it easier for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to create strong, secure, and unique passwords for each and every login. All of the features were outlined yesterday by Apple in the Platform State of the Union address for developers.
Apple is implementing new tools for creating, storing, and autofilling passwords to streamline and simplify the way passwords work on iOS devices.
Apple will automatically suggest strong, unique passwords, with iOS 12 offering the tools to create, store, and retrieve passwords no matter where an account is created, with these new features working in both third-party apps and Safari alike. Many developers won't need to make changes to their apps to support these features, which means we should see widespread availability.
You will no longer open up an app and encounter an experience where you need to make up a password on the spot (which often leads to weak passwords) or exit an app to generate a secure password. Apple will now offer these tools right within apps.
All of your passwords will be stored in iCloud Keychain no matter where they are created and they are synced across all of your devices.
Also new in iOS 12 is a feature that lets you ask Siri to get your passwords. With a simple command like "Siri, show me my passwords," Siri will open up your iCloud Keychain after you authenticate your identity with a fingerprint, a Face ID scan, or a passcode.
Apple also plans to let users know when a password is weak or has been reused by flagging inadequate passwords. With flagged passwords, you'll be taken right to the website the password is for so you can update it with something more secure.
To streamline two-factor authentication functionality, a new security code autofill feature is being implemented. Incoming SMS security codes will appear in the Quick Tap bar of the keyboard when you need two-factor authentication to complete a login. The security code will show up as soon as it's texted to you so you can enter it with a tap. This unfortunately does not work for third-party two-factor authentication apps like Authy.
For third-party password apps, such as 1Password or LastPass, Apple is adding a new Password Autofill Extension that will let these password management apps to supply autofill passwords in apps and Safari, making it much easier to enter a password stored in an app like 1Password or LastPass. 1Password showed off this feature in a video shared yesterday and announced plans to support it. These passwords will be accessible from the QuickType bar in apps and in Safari.
You're also going to be able to share and receive passwords from nearby iOS devices, from an iOS device to a Mac, and from an iOS device to an Apple TV, cutting down on the number of times that you need to use a password.
All of these new password features will work across iOS devices, Macs, and the Apple TV to make it easier than ever to keep your products secure through strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
In celebration of the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference, which is taking place this week, we've teamed up with accessory maker Pad & Quill to offer a series of giveaways.
Pad & Quill is a company that makes high-quality hand-crafted leather accessories for iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches, and more.
Priced at $395, the Heritage Leather Satchel Bag is an all leather bag made from full grain American leather. It features a padded laptop pocket able to hold up to a 15-inch MacBook Pro, a newspaper pocket at the back, two side slip pockets, and several inner pockets for accessories and other gear including an internal zip pocket.
A rolltop design ensures that everything in the Satchel stays dry, keeping what's inside safe. As this bag is made entirely of leather, it will develop a unique patina overtime, and it's going to hold up for many years to come with UV-resistant nylon stitching and durable brass hardware.
The $90 TechFolio, which fits neatly inside the Leather Satchel Bag, is designed to keep all of your cords neatly organized in one easy-to-access place. Like all Pad & Quill products, the TechFolio is handmade from leather and able to hold a ton.
It has three cord organizer pockets, an Apple Pencil slot, a larger zipper pocket for a MacBook charger, two smaller pockets for accessories, and slots for keys or SD cards. All of this folds down into a small package that secures with a rivet closure.
Rounding out our giveaway is Pad & Quill's Bella Fino case for the iPhone X. Priced at $90, the Bella Fino is a slim wallet-style case that offers front and back protection without adding a ton of bulk.
The Bella Fino, made from full grain American leather, features a thin snap-on inner shell that keeps the iPhone X in place, and inside, there's a money pocket and four slots that are able to hold cards and a driver's license, making it a suitable wallet replacement. Wireless charging is fully supported, and all ports and the rear camera remain accessible.
We have one prize pack featuring a Bella Fino iPhone X case, a TechFolio, and a Heritage Leather Men's Satchel Bag. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (June 5) at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 12. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 12 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.
Apple Maps now supports transit in North Carolina, enabling users to navigate with public transportation in several metropolitan areas across the state.
The largest transit options supported include CATS buses and LYNX trains in the Charlotte area, GoTransit buses in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, GTA buses in Greensboro, and inter-city PART buses in the Piedmont Triad area.
Apple Maps also appears to support transit directions in a few additional areas of California, including Bakersfield and Fresno, complementing the previously supported areas of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and others.
The feature can be accessed by tapping the Transit tab or button in Apple Maps on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch.
Apple Maps has supported transit since 2015, with an initial rollout in Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and China. Since then, Apple has expanded the feature to dozens of additional cities around the world.
Google Maps has also supported navigation via public transportation for several years now, including in the Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro areas, but Apple Maps is slowly catching up with detailed routing info.
In a new interview with Wired today, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi discussed yesterday's WWDC keynote, particularly touching upon the company's years-long plan to bring some iOS apps to macOS. In a memorable keynote moment, when Federighi mentioned users constantly asking if Apple would merge iOS and macOS, a giant "No" appeared on screen behind him.
However, the company did detail a plan to take key framework elements from iOS and UIKit and adapt them for macOS, resulting in tools that will let third-party developers easily port iPhone and iPad apps to Mac in 2019. In the interview, Federighi again explained that right now the plan is not to build a single Apple Operating System, but to begin testing out the updated UIKit tools in its own apps for Home, News, Stocks, and Voice Memos, coming in macOS Mojave later this year.
Naturally, when news about iOS apps appearing on macOS emerges, people begin to wonder again about a touchscreen MacBook. Federighi quickly shot down that idea -- which has surfaced again and again over the years -- by saying he's "not into touchscreens" on desktop computers, and likely never will be. He also mentioned that Apple doesn't see touchscreen-enabled laptops as rivals.
"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," he said.
Federighi added that he doesn't think the touchscreen laptops out there today—which he referred to as "experiments"—have been compelling. "I don't think we've looked at any of the other guys to date and said, how fast can we get there?"
Back on the topic of the iOS/macOS update, Federighi said that instead of these tools being emulators, Apple's plan is building a software framework for iPhone that can be brought over to Mac and "made native" to Mac. Parts of this porting process will be automated, "like turning a long press on iOS into a two-finger click on a Mac," but extra coding is predicted for UI items like menus and sidebars.
Even though the apps are effectively being shared between operating systems, Federighi emphasized that your Mac won't start behaving like an iPhone. "It's still macOS, you still have the Terminal, you can still attach four monitors to it, you can still hook up external drives," he said.
In terms of potential games to make this leap, Federighi mentioned Epic's Fortnite as a likely candidate for porting, and he also stated that websites like IMDB, Yelp, and DirecTV could gain native desktop Mac apps. While these websites could have macOS apps now, the current toolset for developers is "just more work," Wired pointed out, and Apple's new UIKit update in macOS Mojave should make the process a bit simpler.
It's not currently clear when the new tools will be ready for third-party developers, but it appears it will take some time as Federighi suggested we will hear more about the project at WWDC 2019.
The iOS 12 beta appears to support adding a second face to the Face ID feature, allowing a second person to unlock an iPhone X without entering the passcode. This was discovered and later confirmed by multiple users on Reddit.
Ever since the iPhone X was released last September, Apple's Face ID authentication system has been restricted to recognizing a single person's face to unlock the iPhone X. Though iOS is ostensibly designed as a single-user operating system, this restriction has frustrated some users who wish to allow their partner or other family member to unlock their phone for convenience and sharing purposes.
This is possible under the old Touch ID system, which has been around for nearly half-a-decade, because Touch ID allows up to five fingerprints to unlock the iPhone — so it's easy to allow your partner's thumbprint to your iPhone.
With iOS 12, an "Alternative Appearance" mode in Face ID allows iPhone X owners to add an entire second face to Face ID. This means two people can unlock an iPhone X, potentially making it easier for users to share their devices.
The feature doesn't appear to be intended for this purpose. In iOS Settings > Face ID & Passcode, Alternative Appearance is described thusly:
In addition to continuously learning how you look, Face ID can recognize an alternate appearance.
It's likely that Alternative Appearance is designed for people who have difficulty with Face ID because of more significant changes in appearance due to changing wardrobes like glasses or hats — but it has the happy coincidence of supporting a second person as well.
One thing to note is that if Face ID is reset for one "Appearance", it will also reset the other, meaning both users will have to start from scratch with Face ID if the system is reset.
We have reached out to Apple for clarity on what this feature is intended for and whether the side-effect of support for multiple users is expected to continue through the final release of iOS 12 this fall.
Apple didn't touch upon Apple Music at all during its WWDC keynote yesterday, leaving any potential new details about the streaming music service to be discovered by early beta testers of iOS 12. For now, it appears that Apple Music remains largely the same between iOS 11 and iOS 12, but some Redditorshave discovered at least one update for artists and their profile pages in the Music app on iPhone.
With the update, artist profiles now have larger images that take up half of the screen on iPhone. Under the image is the artist's name, accompanied by a new play button. According to users on Reddit, this button shuffles all the songs in the artist's catalog of music, making it easy to search for a band or singer and simply tap the button to start playing their music. Otherwise, the rest of the page appears normal with Top Songs, Albums, Top Videos, and more that can be discovered as you scroll down.
Apple Music in iOS 11.4 (left) compared to iOS 12 (right, via tynamite on Reddit)
In comparison, Apple Music artist pages on iOS 11 have much smaller artist images. As visible in the comparison image above, for some bands like The Raconteurs it's easy to see why Apple would want to switch to larger artwork when some artists have most of their images cut off by the current layout.
At the same time, the iPhone X and the notch still negatively affect some artist images even with the new iOS 12 layout (like Rihanna below), so it appears Apple has some more tweaking to do to get this section of Apple Music right.
Apple Music in iOS 11.4 (left) compared to iOS 12 (right, via kevinlim512 on Reddit)
Instead of a play button, Apple Music in iOS 11 currently has an ellipses menu next to the artist's name with options to Follow on Connect, Create Station, and Share Artist. Creating a radio station is somewhat similar to playing more of the artists music with the new play button, but it crucially diverges from that feature since radio stations also throw in songs from different artists, focusing on the genre/style of the chosen band and not the band itself.
Other images of the new profile pages have surfaced on Reddit, including for Green Day, and it appears that there is currently a slight gradient bug where the artist's name sits.
As Redditor tynamite explained, in the iOS 12 beta right now if you travel to an artist profile from your own library, a gray box will appear behind the artist's name. But, "If you search or find an artist through other ways of exploring (eg. "similar artists" option), it doesn't show the gray background at all." As such, this is likely a simple UI bug that will be fixed in future beta updates.
A Reddit user has discovered that the first beta of iOS 12 includes a Music app feature that allows Apple Music subscribers to search for songs using lyric phrases.
As the image below shows, using the search phrase "Loving you isn't the right thing to do" – the first lines of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" – successfully returns the relevant song, and quotes the lyrical phrase in the single's entry in the results.
MacRumors can confirm that the lyric search does work, but seemingly not yet for all songs with lyrics in the Apple Music archive. Several beta testers on Reddit also chimed in to confirm the feature. As Reddit user abrb3192 notes:
It definitely works. Had a line in my head for weeks and no idea where it came from. Searched "6 gear speed" and it brought back the song Strip That Down by Liam Payne. It's not my cup of tea (the song) but at least I finally have context to the transmission reference.
Assuming the feature makes the final release of iOS 12, Apple Music subscribers should be able to discover songs for which they don't know the name, but only know a select lyric that they can recall hearing as part of a song.
In Apple Music in iOS 11, scrolling down on the "Now Playing" window brings up an option to show song lyrics on most Apple Music songs. Lyrics are not available for all songs, especially new releases, so that might be the reason for the hit and miss results in the iOS 12 beta.
Testers of the new watchOS 5 Beta that Apple released yesterday have discovered a new function that allows Apple Watch users to change the arrangement of icons in the Control Center menu, which is accessed by swiping up on a watch face.
As shown in this image shared by Reddit user brooksdbrewer, the option appears as an Edit button when you scroll down to the bottom of the Control Center menu. Tapping the button then allows you to drag the icons around into a new arrangement – placing the icons you most often use up to the top of the menu, for instance.
So for example, if you use Theater Mode frequently, you could locate the associated icon next to the battery percentage icon at the top, and move the Ping iPhone icon to the bottom of the menu to prevent accidental taps. Likewise, you could drop the Expel Water icon right to the bottom of the screen if you never use it.
As more users sign onto the first beta for Apple's iOS 12, new discoveries are quickly being made, with the latest centering upon a simple but highly useful new gesture for iPhone X owners.
Currently, when you hold up the iPhone X and Face ID fails, you either have to lower it and raise it again, or press the side button to put the iPhone to sleep and wake it up through another side button press or tapping the display. You can also tap "Cancel" after the failure then swipe up to start over. All of these methods will reactivate a Face ID scan.
As discovered by Redditor shakil-ali, Apple has provided a slightly simpler way to rescan your face in the iOS 12 beta: now when the biometric security feature fails multiple times you can swipe up from the bottom of the iPhone X to get Face ID to scan again, without having to tap or press another button first. This should help to alleviate a small but sometimes frustrating part of unlocking the iPhone X with Face ID.
In regards to other hidden features of iOS 12, we have collected a bunch in a tidbits roundup posted yesterday. These include setting up an "alternate appearance" for Face ID, a new QR code scanner in Control Center, a revamped Battery Usage section in settings, and more.
As a whole, Apple announced iOS 12 with a focus on user privacy and digital health, and when the update launches in the fall iPhone and iPad owners will be able to keep track of everything they do on their devices with features like "Screen Time" in Settings.
Yesterday at WWDC 2018, Apple revealed macOS Mojave, which is set to bring users a Dark Mode, redesigned Mac App Store, organizable Stacks, streamlined screenshots, and more when it launches wide in the fall. Alongside the new features, Apple has confirmed that it is deprecating OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) and OpenCL (Open Computing Language) in favor of Metal.
This means that apps built using OpenGL and OpenCL will still run in Mojave, but they will no longer be updated after macOS 10.14 launches. Apple encourages games and "graphics-intensive apps" built with OpenGL to adopt Metal ahead of Mojave's launch, and apps that use OpenCL for computational tasks "should now adopt Metal and Metal Performance Shaders."
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is one of the latest Mac games to run on Metal
Launched four years ago, Metal is Apple's own 3D graphic and programming interface that combines the functions of OpenGL and OpenCL under a singular API. In explaining the move of deprecating the "legacy technologies" of OpenGL and OpenCL, Apple said that "Metal avoids the overhead inherent in legacy technologies and exposes the latest graphics processing functionality" of GPUs found in devices across iOS, macOS, and tvOS.
Although Apple's decision to deprecate the older technology in favor of its own graphics API may not be surprising, some game developers have begun criticizing Apple for the move, particularly how it affects the future of gaming on Mac. Notably, OpenGL is an open-source, cross-platform solution that made it simple for developers to build games on both Mac and PC at the same time, providing some parity to a platform that many have agreed is lacking as a gaming hub.
Since "many games and apps continue to use OpenGL," particularly those that released prior to Metal in 2014, the shift to Metal-focused development is leaving Mac developers worried about any potential to grow as a gaming platform (via PC Gamer). Game developer Sam Loeschen tweeted that he feels "conflicted" about the decision, calling Metal a "really, really good" graphics API but admitting that "this decision alienates macOS further as a gaming platform."
Speaking with PC Gamer, game designer Rami Ismail said that while "it's not doomsday," it appears that Apple is preparing for such an occasion in regards to fully terminating OpenGL/OpenCL on Mac. He explained that for now, "the worst that's going to happen" is that parts of old apps will "break," and pointed out that lacking a single cross-platform graphics API is a "pain" and "not very good for developer confidence" in Apple.
"With deprecation, abandonment can vary from 'soon' to 'never', so until we have information on that, we can't really say," he said. "All we know is Apple seems to have shown intent to rid itself of OpenGL in favor of its own graphics API, Metal. The problem with Metal is very similar to the problem with DirectX: it's not cross-platform.
"It's not doomsday, it's more like Apple building a giant EMP machine and saying 'we might or might not use this.' The worst that's going to happen is old stuff will break, and our engines and libraries will grow a bit to support both Direct3D and Metal. Not having a clear guideline for future actions Apple might take in this regard isn't very good for developer confidence, I'd guess, and not having a single cross-platform graphics API is just a pain."
More developers and programmers chimed in on the news to PC Gamer, including Alex Austin, who ultimately said that while he likes to develop on Mac to "support fans if I can," he's most likely "not going to spend any time on Metal because Macs are a pretty small percentage of the market and really probably not worth it even now."
This is the first of many warnings Apple plans to provide as it works to put an end to 32-bit apps on the Mac, as it did on iOS devices with the release of iOS 11. Apple has confirmed that macOS 10.14 Mojave, set for public release in the fall, will be the last version of macOS to allow 32-bit apps to run, but it will include more "aggressive" warnings about their use before they are phased out entirely.
In this article, we'll show how you can quickly find out which apps installed on your Mac are 64-bit and which are still living in the 32-bit age. If you don't rely on apps that fall in the latter camp, you can safely uninstall them. However, if you're a frequent user of one of these apps, try contacting the developer to find out if a 64-bit version is in the works. If one isn't planned, try and find an alternative app with similar functionality before the time comes when it refuses to launch.
As expected, Apple confirmed yesterday during its WWDC keynote that macOS 10.14 Mojave will be the last version of macOS to support legacy 32-bit apps.
Apple commenced its plan to begin phasing out 32-bit apps on Macs in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4. When a 32-bit app is opened in High Sierra, users get a warning about its future incompatibility with the macOS operating system.
Likewise, when opening 32-bit apps in macOS 10.14 Mojave (beta 1), users are shown a dialog box with a similar message telling them that "This app will not work with future versions of macOS". Clicking "OK" on the prompt then allows the app to open.
Currently, the warning is only shown one time for each app. That could well change in subsequent betas of macOS Mojave, however, since Apple previously said it would include "aggressive" warnings about 32-bit apps in the next version of macOS after High Sierra before they are phased out entirely.
32-bit app warning in macOS 10.14 Mojave (beta 1)
Apple's effort to phase them out on Macs mirrors the path it took when ending 32-bit app support on iOS devices. In iOS 10, Apple provided increasingly more insistent warnings to let users know that their apps wouldn't work with future versions of iOS before phasing out 32-bit support entirely in iOS 11.
Once 32-bit apps are phased out on Macs, they won't be able to be used at all, so users will need to find replacements for older 32-bit apps that aren't likely to be updated to 64-bit. You can find out which apps on your Mac are still running in 32-bit by following our how-to guide.
Apple's Podcasts service now hosts more than 18.5 million episodes across 555,000 different "active" shows, according to a report from TechCrunch. 
Apple yesterday introduced updated App Store Guidelines, which bring a much-desired feature that both developers and customers have been wanting for some time -- free trial options for all apps.
Testers of the new watchOS 5 Beta that Apple released yesterday have discovered a new function that allows Apple Watch users to change the arrangement of icons in the Control Center menu, which is accessed by swiping up on a watch face.
