One Nice Thing About Saved Places in Google Maps
One nice thing about saved places in Google Maps: I can see where my footprints are on the Hawai'i islands!
∞ Apple Accepts WeChat Pay In App Store
Apple Inc. has accepted Wechat Pay for payments made in its App Store and music platform, after it accepted Alibaba’s Alipay as a mobile payment option for purchases conducted within its ecosystem. The action will likely drive up Apple’s revenue in China from in-store and music spending, as the U.S. tech giant continues to adjust its strategies for a fast-moving Chinese market.
"We are glad to offer users in mainland China the option of WeChat Pay for their favorite mobile app or Apple Music products. We continue to be dedicated to provide multiple simple and convenient payment methods for customers within the Apple ecosystem," Apple said in an official statement today.
Alaska Airlines Chasing Solar Eclipses
This is becoming Alaska Airlines' great tradition! See their 2016 video too.
Cube Cube v1.7 Is Now Available on App Store
Release Notes:
- Improved game balance.
- Re-implemented the UI, it's now smoother than ever.
- Replaced the Back button icon with an iOS native shape, it now feels more home.
- Replaced the hamburger menu with a Pause icon. I never liked hamburger menus.
- New splash screen. It's a feature!
- New languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese.
You can download the latest version on App Store. This version is also coming to Google Play shortly.
Happy Cubing Cubing ^_^
30 Seconds Preview Video of Cube Cube v1.7
Cube Cube v1.7 Is Coming to App Store
After realized that I can't release an update to VR Planet Defense until iOS 11, I decided to work on the next Cube Cube update.
I have been wanting to refactor the messing legacy UI code forever. It is hard to maintain: 1.5K lines of code in a single file. And more importantly, its performance isn't good.
After 8 hours of refactoring and watching twitch streaming at the same time, the UI is now much smoother. I also killed the hamburger menu during the refactoring. I always hated it.
If you have an iOS 8+ device and are feeling generous with your time, you can join the TestFlight program and help me test this version. Just DM @DoleeArts your email on Twitter, I will send you an invite.
Happy Cubing Cubing ^_^
AirDrop in the Air, Literally
Update: I don't think this is real, he must have AirDropped to a phone nearby.
AirDrop actually works for a longer distance than I thought:
747-8 Captain shared pics with Singapore Airlines 777 pilots midair... ✈️ pic.twitter.com/6YeRVjS0HT
— Airplane Pictures ✈ (@iLove_Aviation) August 4, 2017
Gboard Now Supports Pinyin 9 Key
Great news, Gboard now supports Pinyin 9 key
∞ Apple Removes VPN Apps From China App Store
From ExpressVPN's blog:
We received notification from Apple today, July 29, 2017, at roughly 04:00 GMT, that the ExpressVPN iOS app was removed from the China App Store. Our preliminary research indicates that all major VPN apps for iOS have been removed.
We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date, and we are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts. ExpressVPN strongly condemns these measures, which threaten free speech and civil liberties.
∞ Stanford Researchers Find Intriguing Clues About Obesity by Counting Steps via Smartphones
From Stanford News by Tom Abate:
Stanford researchers using smartphones to track the activity levels of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe made an intriguing discovery: In countries with little obesity, people mostly walked a similar amount per day. But big gaps between people who walked a lot and those who walked very little coincided with much higher levels of obesity.
One interesting graph came out from the research, China is so blue:
Average daily steps by country. Credit: Tim Althoff.
Note the graph above is not the point of the paper, which says obesity can be predicted by activity inequality, not average. See their website for more information.