Thursday, November 8, 2018

Tweetbot for iOS Gains Support for New 11 and 12.9-Inch iPad Pro Models

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Tapbots today updated popular iOS Twitter client Tweetbot to version 5.0.5, adding support for Apple's newly announced iPad Pro models.

On the new 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, the updated Tweetbot app will no longer display black bars at the top and bottom, as demonstrated in the screenshot below.


It's a much nicer viewing experience on Apple's newest tablets, with Tweetbot able to take advantage of the full edge-to-edge display.

Tweetbot for Mac was also recently updated, with Tapbots introducing an option to match the theme to the operating system setting on Mojave, turning on the darker theme automatically when Dark Mode is activated. Also new is GIF support in the compose window for the Mac version of the Tweetbot app.

Tweetbot for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Tweetbot for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $9.99. [Direct Link]


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Hands-On With the New 2018 MacBook Air

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Apple's newly revamped 2018 MacBook Air with slimmed down bezels, Touch ID, and a thinner body launched yesterday, and we got our hands on one of the updated machines.

Check out our latest YouTube video for an unboxing and feature overview of the new notebook, which has been described as the ideal MacBook for most people.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

Design wise, the MacBook Air looks a lot like the previous-generation model, but it now comes in Space Gray and Gold in addition to Silver. It's not as thin and light as the ultra thin and ultra portable MacBook, but Apple has streamlined the design.

The new MacBook Air is 10 percent thinner than the previous model, takes up 17 percent less volume, and weighs a quarter pound less at 2.75 pounds.


Components from the MacBook Pro, including the larger Force Touch trackpad and the third-generation butterfly keyboard, have been added to the MacBook Air, which will be major changes for anyone upgrading from an older machine that doesn't have these features.

There's been some controversy with the butterfly keyboard (which has been available in the MacBook and MacBook Pro for years) but this third-generation version has additional silicone barriers to keep crumbs out and to cut down on failure rates.


Like the new 2018 MacBook Pro models, the MacBook Air adopts a T2 chip and Touch ID for use as a password replacement, but it doesn't have a Touch Bar. It also uses USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, dropping the USB-A, SD card slot, and MagSafe 2 ports.

For the first time, the MacBook Air features a Retina display, putting it on par with the MacBook Pro and the MacBook. It's not quite as bright and vibrant as the MacBook Pro's display, but it's still a fantastic improvement over the previous non-Retina model.


The display also has slimmed down black bezels, a much more modern look than the thick silver bezels from the prior-generation model.

Inside, the MacBook Air is equipped with a 7W 8th-generation Core i5 Intel processor. It's not as high-powered as the 15W chips used in previous MacBook Air models, but it does offer speed improvements over the old Broadwell chips that prior machines used, and since it uses less power, it's super efficient.

The new MacBook Air has the longest battery life out of any of Apple's notebooks, lasting up to 12 hours when browsing the web and 13 hours when watching iTunes movies.


With all of these new features, Apple is charging $1,199 for the entry-level MacBook Air with a 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM, $200 more than the base model MacBook Air used to cost. That puts it close to the pricing of both the entry-level 2017 non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro and the 12-inch Retina MacBook.

Still, the MacBook Air is Apple's lowest-priced modern notebook, and with its rich feature set, long battery life, and slimmed down enclosure, it's an appealing machine that's ideal for people who need a notebook to do things like web browsing, light creative work, writing, office work, and other similar tasks.

It's not as powerful as the MacBook Pro and it's not as portable as the MacBook, but it's a great middle-of-the-road machine that's going to suit the needs of most Mac users.

Did you get a new 2018 MacBook Air? Let us know what you think about the machine in the comments.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)

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Crazy Pre-Black Friday Deal: $100 Off The Lenovo Chromebook C330


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Snag The 8-Inch Lenovo Smart Display [Google Home] For $99


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Haptic Touch Will Work With Notifications on iPhone XR in iOS 12.1.1

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As noted by 9to5Mac, Haptic Touch can be used to expand notifications on the iPhone XR starting with iOS 12.1.1.

To use this feature, simply tap and hold a notification on the lock screen or in Notification Center for a split second. Once you feel haptic feedback from the Taptic Engine, let go and the notification will expand, providing more detailed information and contextual shortcuts, such as a reply field for iMessage conversations.

iMessage notification expanded with Haptic Touch on iPhone XR

Haptic Touch is simply a marketing name for a long press combined with haptic feedback from the Taptic Engine. The feature is a substitute for 3D Touch, which Apple wasn't able to include in the iPhone XR, as it had to remove the pressure-sensitive layer from the screen to achieve a nearly edge-to-edge LCD.

Haptic Touch works in only a few places, such as the flashlight and camera shortcuts on the lock screen, and in Control Center to pop open additional toggles and menus, but Apple recently confirmed it is working to bring the 3D Touch replacement to more places across iOS over time, and notifications is a start.

Mail notification expanded with Haptic Touch on iPhone XR

Haptic Touch can only be implemented for actions that don't already rely on a long press. For example, long-pressing on an app icon on the home screen enables "wiggle mode," allowing apps to be deleted or rearranged on the home screen, so 3D Touch's Quick Action menus are not supported on the iPhone XR.

Haptic Touch also doesn't support Peek and Pop for previewing content such as websites and messages since the feature relies on detecting multiple levels of pressure, and the iPhone XR does not have pressure sensitivity at all.

3D Touch features on iPhone 6s: Quick Actions on left, Peek and Pop on right

On the iPhone 6 and earlier, which lack 3D Touch and Haptic Touch, a notification can be expanded by sliding it to the left and tapping View. This is still an option on the iPhone XR, but the Haptic Touch solution is more convenient.

Haptic Touch support for notifications on the iPhone XR is functional in the second beta of iOS 12.1.1, seeded to developers and users enrolled in Apple's Beta Software Program on Wednesday. The update is a relatively minor one overall, so it will likely be released to the public fairly soon.

Related Roundup: iPhone XR
Buyer's Guide: iPhone XR (Buy Now)

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Grab Some Extra Goodies When You Buy The Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14


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Woozy Face, Bald Person, Face With 3 Hearts and Foot Among Most Discussed New Emoji in iOS 12.1

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Bald person emoji, woozy face, smiling face with three hearts, foot, pleading face, and hot face were among the most engaging and highly-discussed emoji in the iOS 12.1 update, according to research conducted by Emojipedia.

The new hairless emoji, bald man and bald woman, was the most popular character, followed closely by woozy face and smiling face with three hearts.


Emojipedia gathered its data by measuring comments, retweets, and likes on various emoji characters on Twitter.

According to the data, the foot emoji saw a high number of retweets, while the smiling face with three hearts garnered a lot of likes and retweets. Of the new smiley emojis in iOS 12.1, only cold face and partying face didn't rank in the top 10.


Emojipedia says that while measuring emoji by engagement doesn't indicate how popular a given emoji will be in real-world use, Twitter statistics like these provide insight into the emojis that people consider interesting, notable, or controversial in some way.


Leg commentary, for example, focused on the weird nature of the emoji rather than interest in using it on a regular basis.


Of food and animal emoji, mango and cupcake were the most discussed food items, while llama and raccoon were the most popular animals. Aside from leg and foot, no other random item emoji made the top 20 list.




Emojipedia has a full ranking of all 70 new emoji introduced in iOS 12.1, along with data on the individual comments, retweets, and likes received by each emoji.

iOS 12.1 with the new emoji characters was released to the public on Tuesday, October 30. It included dozens of new Unicode 11 emoji characters, with our full list available here.

iOS will gain additional new emoji characters at some point in 2019, when Unicode 12 characters are adopted. Unicode 12 is still in development, but new emoji candidates include service dog, deaf people, mixed race couples, diving mask, waffle, Hindu temple, white heart, ice cube, sloth, flamingo, skunk, ballet shoes, falafel, onion, garlic, otter, and more.


Apple in March submitted a series of new accessibility emojis to the Unicode Consortium, which could be included in Unicode 12.


Unicode 12 is likely to be finalized early in 2019, but Apple may not implement it until the release of iOS 13, if past emoji additions are any indication.


Related Roundup: iOS 12

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