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TidBITS#1193/30-Sep-2013

Apple has quietly updated its iMac lineup with faster CPUs, faster SSDs, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and beefier graphics processors. Less welcome are iOS 7’s animations, which, as Adam Engst explains, are making some users physically ill. If you’re sick of paying too much for printer ink, Josh Centers reviews the economical Brother HL-2270DW laser printer. Those who have switched to a paperless workflow may be more interested in Michael Cohen’s review of Smile’s PDFpen Scan+ scanning and OCR app for iOS devices. Looking for a place to set your iPhone? Join Josh as he plays the Game of Docks with Apple’s new iPhone 5s Dock and Twelve South’s HiRise. If you use two-factor authentication with your iPhone, be sure to read Glenn Fleishman’s guide on what to do if you lose that second factor. In our latest FunBITS installment — in plenty of time for Halloween — Josh looks at… er… listens to Vanished for the iPhone, an audio-only survival horror game. Finally, don’t miss the three bits of original content in ExtraBITS this week, where we use only 125 words total to review the iPhone 5s Case, cover iOS 7.0.2, and explain how to add weather to the iPad’s Notification Center in iOS 7. Notable software releases this week include Pixelmator 2.2.1, Typinator 5.7, TextExpander 4.1, and ReadKit 2.3.1.

Adam Engst 11 comments

iOS 7 Animations Cause Nausea for Some

Some of the much-lauded visual effects in iOS 7 turn out to have a downside — they cause nausea in a portion of the population. You can turn off the parallax effect, but the animations are stubbornly persistent, despite serving no functional purpose. Has motion become the new skeuomorphism?

Josh Centers 2 comments

A Game of Docks: Apple Versus Twelve South

With the iPhone 5s, Apple has gotten back into the dock game, but it’s now competing with Twelve South’s attractive HiRise. Josh Centers looks at both docks — which will reign supreme with his iPhone 5? When you play the game of docks you win… or you waste your money.

TidBITS Staff No comments

ExtraBITS for 30 September 2013

This week in ExtraBITS, we have three quick original articles for you in addition to our usual links. In just 125 words, we show how to add weather to your iPad’s Notification Center in iOS 7, run through what’s new in iOS 7.0.2, and review Apple’s iPhone 5s Case. Tell us what you think of these brief bits in their comments! Then read on for the newly revealed history of the iPhone, news of how Martha Stewart might be the hero app developers have been waiting for, thoughts from Marco Arment on how to name an app, and why security researcher Marc Rogers isn’t bothered that he was able to hack the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.