Here we go 🚀
6 chapters, 14 pages, hundreds of features covered...
My iOS and iPadOS 18 review is now live on MacStories!
I did something different for my 10th annual review: in the age of generative AI, I hired a real artist to illustrate it instead.
It's my most personal review ever. I'm proud of it – especially the conclusion.
Enjoy. ❤️
https://www.macstories.net/stories/ios-and-ipados-18-the-macstories-review/
There are *a lot* of paid extras…and this time we even have a trailer!
Basically:
- All Club members get: iOS 18 review eBook + Making Of
- Plus and Premier members: *more* eBooks, full-res illustrated wallpapers and...a macOS screen saver with illustration time-lapses 🎨
Full details here: https://www.macstories.net/news/ios-18-review-extras-club/
Join the Club: https://club.macstories.net/
When Apple announced Image Playground and Image Wand, I knew what I had to do for my review:
Showcase someone's real art instead of some generative slop.
I'm so happy I got to work with Scout Wilkinson on this massive project. She's ridiculously talented. She gave the entire review a whole new identity. She created, iterated, and refined in a way that only humans can. She cared.
Now more than ever, you should consider working with a real, freelance artist like Scout:
Fun fact (@cabel):
My pitch for the first-person perspective of the illustrations was basically "Hey, what if we did something reminiscent of Firewatch when you open the map"?
That's when everything clicked and Scout ran with the idea.
And even better: she did it all on an iPad with Procreate!
Along the same lines, I also want to thank @jamesthomson – a true artist of code.
Despite my last-minute requests, he was able to turn Scout's time-lapses into a native macOS screen saver that brings the illustrations to life.
These are so mesmerizing to watch, and James even added options for speed control, plus a Random option.
Today is a great day to check out James' apps:
https://pcalc.com/ios/index.html
https://pcalc.com/dice/index.html
Get the screen saver with Plus or Premier: https://club.macstories.net/plans
The last thing I'll say is this:
To me, this review feels very different. Both visually and stylistically, but also for the direction it outlines for @macstories.
I've been running the site for 15 years, writing annual iOS reviews for 10…and I haven't felt this energized in a long time.
I hope you'll like this review as much as I loved working on it.
Thank you all. ❤️
https://www.macstories.net/stories/ios-and-ipados-18-the-macstories-review/
@viticci > “I’m proud of it - especially the conclusion.”
Now I have to read first the conclusion :-(
@viticci Oh, so sorry about it :-(.
Contextual dictionary did not show the verb version.
I opened Dictionary and it also lists the verb.
My bad for not checking both. And sorry for the noise.
@viticci Nice review, I'm only on page 2 and really enjoying it.
However:
"having to follow an icon grid ... seems so…silly in hindsight."
It was silly in foresight too. :) In 2011 my Incredible 2 ran Android 2.3 and apps could go wherever on the grid. This was one of the weirdest adjustments to make when I got my first iPhone in '14. Increasingly Apple feels like a company that says "our customers don't know what they want until they demand it for a decade and we finally show it to them."
@viticci Okay, done. You are deservedly proud of your conclusion, a paean to human creativity in the face of so much ocean-boiling AI junk. You also wisely leave open the idea that you might eventually be won over -- who knows, right? And I agree with your assessments of iPadOS (not good enough and kind of silly considering it now runs M4 at the top end) and the value of opening up the ecosystem.
Although I think you're a little too kind to Apple for only adding an iPad calculator app in 2024.
@viticci I’ve already learned something new, despite having the betas all summer!
I think you missed a key criticism of large icons - you can’t turn them on and maintain folder names.
💪💙🤗
@viticci Congratulations! Still working my way through reading it!
Regarding your section on Home Screen customization, I noticed this bit. Not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I cannot get the Home Screen wallpaper to automatically dim when Dark Mode is on, and return to normal brightness in Light Mode. Am I misunderstanding your description of the function here?
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