2025-06-04 07:01:18
Last week I got an advance peek at D-Day: The Camera Soldier, a $5 interactive documentary (delivered via the App Store) for the Vision Pro from Time Studios and TARGO. It’s the story of Richard Taylor, an American who stormed the beaches of Normandy armed with nothing but his own cameras, risking his life to document the momentous Allied landing on mainland Europe.
It’s a fascinating combination of different storytelling techniques fused together. There’s 3-D video footage of Taylor’s daughter returning to where her father experienced D-Day; there are 3-D objects such as Taylor’s camera and dog tags, as well as photos and letters; and there are some immersive locations based on Taylor’s photographs (including on and just off Omaha Beach).
Directed by Chloé Rochereuil, the app brought back to me the very best vibes of the old days of multimedia CD-ROMs. It’s an unapologetic mixed-media documentary that tells the story of the man who helped tell the story of all the other men on those beaches on D-Day. I’m not sure I’ve experienced as affecting an immersive environment on the Vision Pro as being in the landing craft with the gate down and the beach looming in the distance, 81 years ago.
“D-Day: The Camera Soldier” is available in the visionOS App Store.
2025-06-04 01:49:50
In previous years, Apple would announce finalists for its annual Apple Design Awards and then roll out the winners at WWDC. There used to be a whole ceremony, back in the day. But now Apple has compressed the entire process, and on Tuesday it announced both the finalists and the winners all at once.
Honorees were chosen across the categories Delight and Fun, Inclusivity, Innovation, Interaction, Social Impact, and Visuals and Graphics, and include addictive card game Balatro (a winner), Panic’s charming game Thank Goodness You’re Here, and (a double nominee) the amazing visionOS tower defense game Gears & Goo.
The complete list is available from Apple, of course. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.
2025-06-03 05:34:05
It’s time for our 10th annual competition regarding what will happen at Apple’s WWDC keynote! What will be announced? Will there be a major redesign? What will the AI story be? We predict it all!
2025-06-03 00:00:25
If you’re someone who loves your keyboard but understands how much of a productivity boost you could get from voice dictation, you need to check out WhisperType.
WhisperType brings high-quality speech-to-text transcription to the Mac with a clever twist: It’s designed for people who love using the keyboard. You can start or stop dictation with a hotkey, and once your words are transcribed, you get full control to navigate, edit, and format using just your keyboard. No awkward mouse-clicking or hunting for buttons. Moreover, while you’re dictating, you can add carriage returns. Just press the Return key.
It’s built on Whisper, the open-source transcription engine from OpenAI, so the accuracy is seriously impressive, even in less-than-ideal environments. While WhisperType uses cloud processing for transcription, your files are deleted immediately after returning the result, maintaining your privacy and security. You can even set up custom spelling for unusual words you use all the time, such as the names of people or products.
Use it to create quick outlines or process a bunch of email replies. Speak the words, then zip through edits with your keyboard setup. It’s the speed of dictation with the precision of typing.
If you’ve ever wished macOS dictation was just a little smarter, or if you’ve avoided voice tools because they didn’t feel built for you, WhisperType is worth a look. It’s fast and feels right at home on a Mac.
You can learn more and download a free trial at WhisperType.com.
2025-06-02 23:00:14
Six Colors reader Len Dintzer wrote in with an Apple Watch daily tracking question—and then the answer!
Here’s my problem: I have a Move Streak message saying I interrupted my streak and a Move Activity record that shows that I did not miss a day.…
He included two screenshots:
The first is from my Apple Watch, which says my Move Streak ended on 4/29/25, but that I have a current store of 32 days. Problem 1: Today is May 20, and it hasn’t been 32 days since April 29. Problem 2: I haven’t missed any days.
There’s no reason for this to happen and I couldn’t find an answer in my device research or online. Fortunately, Len consulted a higher authority and received an accurate set of directions to fix, which I’m sharing here with some additional detail for how to carry out each task. Thanks, Len!
Apple told Len to follow these steps:
Start up your iPhone and your Apple Watch.
Apple apparently omitted the final step, but make sure to return to Settings > Account Name > See All > Health on your iPhone and turn “Sync this iPhone” back on.
Len said this resolved the streak problem just as promised.
If you’re looking for more information about how iCloud works, consult Joe Kissell’s extensive Take Control of iCloud, updated earlier this month.
For more general information about Apple Watch, take a look at Jeff Carlson’s Take Control of Apple Watch, up to date with watchOS 11.
[Got a question for the column? You can email [email protected] or use /glenn in our subscriber-only Discord community.]
2025-06-02 07:48:38
Jason Snell has been covering Apple since all the Macs it shipped were beige boxes. This week, he joins Stephen and David to discuss the company’s range of legal and technological issues that seem to be adding up rapidly.
