Linked List: April 7, 2021

Wednesday, 7 April 2021

Speaking of Apple Arcade and classic iPhone games, The Iconfactory has made a sequel to Frenzic:

All of us here at the Iconfactory have dreamt of creating a sequel to the original Frenzic, which first debuted on the App Store thirteen years ago. Thanks to Apple Arcade, that dream is about to become a reality. We’ve taken the original game and propelled it not just to the next level, but far beyond. We can’t wait to tell you more about what went into its creation.

13 years! I’ve been beta-testing the new Frenzic for a while now, and it’s everything you’d expect: it looks, sounds, and feels fun.

Apple Arcade Expands Its Catalog to More Than 180 Games ★

Another bit of news from Apple at the end of last week:

Apple today announced it is introducing two entirely new game categories and adding more than 30 incredible titles to Apple Arcade, its popular gaming subscription service for players of all ages. Apple Arcade offers breakthrough, unique benefits players love: no ads, no in-app purchases, support for Apple’s high user privacy standards, and one all-inclusive subscription offer with access for up to six family members. In addition to new exclusive Arcade Originals, including “NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition,” “Star Trek: Legends,” and “The Oregon Trail,” the service is introducing two new game categories, Timeless Classics and App Store Greats. Arcade Originals are playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Timeless Classics and App Store Greats are available on iPhone and iPad.

Timeless Classics includes universally loved, quintessential genres with titles like “Good Sudoku by Zach Gage,” “Chess - Play & Learn,” and “Backgammon,” while App Store Greats brings some of the best award-winning games from the App Store to Apple Arcade, including “Threes!,” “Mini Metro,” and “Fruit Ninja Classic,” all ad-free and fully unlocked.

This sort of expansion might have been planned all along, but it feels like a bit of a strategic change. Previously, every Apple Arcade title was an exclusive original. This expansion to include a bunch of existing games feels like the Arcade equivalent of securing the rights to a catalog of existing movies and TV shows. Apple Arcade is starting to feel a lot more like Netflix for games. These “Timeless Classics” and “App Store Greats” are (mostly?) still in the App Store as non-Arcade titles too — there are two copies of these games now, the standalone versions and the Arcade versions.

$5 a month, a wide variety of great titles, no ads, no in-app purchases. That’s a really compelling price for what you get.

Apple Announces Third-Party Products That Work With ‘Find My’ Network ★

Apple Newsroom:

Apple today introduced the updated Find My app, allowing third-party products to use the private and secure finding capabilities of Apple’s Find My network, which comprises hundreds of millions of Apple devices. The Find My network accessory program opens up the vast and global Find My network to third-party device manufacturers to build products utilizing the service, so their customers can use the Find My app to locate and keep track of the important items in their lives. […]

VanMoof’s latest S3 and X3 e-bikes, Belkin’s SOUNDFORM Freedom True Wireless Earbuds, and the Chipolo ONE Spot item finder make up the first group of innovative third-party accessories that work with Find My. These products will allow users to locate where they left their ride, their earbuds at the gym, their backpack, and so much more. Additional third-party device manufacturers will offer Find My-enabled products and accessories soon.

A somewhat unusual announcement. We’re all expecting Apple to announce its own “AirTags” tracking beacons imminently, but here’s Apple promoting third-party products, including a tag-like product from Chipolo that seems directly competitive with what we expect AirTags to be, and wireless earbuds from Belkin that obviously compete against AirPods. (According to Belkin’s website, these new earbuds cost $100 but aren’t shipping until June.) But it makes sense: Apple wants third-party products to use the Find My network. And if Apple really is on the cusp of announcing AirTags (and perhaps updated AirPods too), this is how they do it. Promote their partners’ products this week, ahead of their own announcements.

Conspicuously absent from the list, of course, is Tile. Given their membership in Epic’s Coalition for App Fairness, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Apple to promote Tile’s products. And it’s unclear to me whether Tile even wants to be in the Find My app — their spat with Apple is more about their own app competing with Find My, and their accusations that Apple unfairly advantages Find My by not holding it to the same rules as third-party apps that ask for always-on location access. Apple’s solution is this third-party accessory program; Tile’s preferred solution would be Apple allowing Tile’s own app to do everything Find My can do.