Linked List: October 27, 2025

Monday, 27 October 2025

App Store IDs Hint at Possible iPad Versions of Pixelmator Pro, Compressor, Motion, and MainStage 

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Apple might be preparing iPad apps for Pixelmator Pro, Compressor, Motion, and MainStage, according to new App Store IDs uncovered by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. All four of the apps are currently available on the Mac only. A quick overview of each app:

  • Pixelmator Pro: Professional image editing app acquired by Apple earlier this year
  • Compressor: Final Cut Pro companion app for compressing audio and video files
  • Motion: Final Cut Pro companion app for creating 2D/3D titles, transitions, and effects
  • MainStage: Logic Pro companion app for live performances

There is already a less-capable Pixelmator app available for the iPad and iPhone.

Interesting though that — just like Final Cut and Logic — these new pro apps are reportedly iPad-only, with no support for iPhone.

Also: still no Xcode, even for iPad.

Gurman Reports That Apple Is Preparing to Sell Ads in Maps Starting in 2026 

Mark Gurman, in his weekly paywalled Power On column for Bloomberg:

I reported a few years ago that Apple was working to bring more advertising to iOS. Well, now that effort is gaining traction — with a plan to start the ads as early as next year. The company is focusing on Apple Maps, which will allow restaurants and other businesses to pay to have their details featured more prominently within the app’s searches.

The concept is quite similar to Search Ads inside of the App Store, where developers can pay for their software to appear in a promoted slot based on user queries. I’m told the Maps version will have a better interface than what Google and other companies offer inside of mapping services. The Apple approach also will leverage AI to ensure that results are relevant and useful.

The big risk Apple faces here is a potential consumer backlash.

I don’t love the ads in the App Store, but I don’t hate them. They’re restrained, and clearly labeled. I do, however, despise the ads in Apple News. They’re low-quality, distracting, highly repetitive, and appear far too frequently within articles.

Joe Rosensteel: ‘Creative Neglect: What About the Apps in Apple?’ 

Joe Rosensteel, writing at Six Colors, regarding the demise of Apple’s Clips app:

It’s not that it was completely inept, but it was an aimless showcase to demonstrate what Apple could do. It withered over the course of eight years before it was quietly killed.

At no point did it supplant iMovie for iOS as the fun, easy-breezy video editor, which is also in a similarly stagnant state. The only updates iMovie has received in the past year were onboarding screens for permissions settings.

Why is it that Apple can make what is widely regarded as the best video recording experience on any smartphone, but it can’t make a good video editor for a smartphone? Is it partly because these apps don’t have direct payments, so they can only ever be demos for hardware and services that do earn money?

Rosensteel is concerned about the radio silence from Apple regarding Pixelmator and Photomator, the apps (and team) that Apple acquired a year ago:

Of course, Apple may be assembling its own mirror of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite so that it can charge one bundle price for access to a suite of pro apps, and maybe that’s why pricing for everything is frozen in place, and the iPad Pro apps aren’t in step with the Mac ones.

That’s what I hope: that Apple is somewhere near the cusp of announcing some sort of “pro apps” subscription.

Inside the Math That Detects Cheating on Sports Bets 

Dian Zhang and Ignacio Calderon, reporting for USA Today:

Even before Terry Rozier dropped out of the 2023 NBA game in which he’s accused of rigging his statistics, computers at an “integrity monitor” firm flagged a flood of bets that did not match a mathematical model of how this game should go. The company, now called IC360, alerted the NBA and sportsbooks about the unusual bets coming in on Rozier’s performance.

The investigation that led to the arrest of the Miami Heat point guard and dozens of others for illegal gambling started with math. It ended Oct. 23 with Rozier charged with manipulating his performance in that 2023 game so that gamblers in the know could win tens of thousands of dollars.

Beep. Boop. Busted.

Federal authorities allege more than $200,000 poured in betting that Rozier would turn in a below-average performance in that game after Rozier told another defendant he would drop out of the game early with an injury. Rozier played 9 minutes, 34 seconds for the Charlotte Hornets in the game against the New Orleans Pelicans before leaving with an injury and finished under his usual totals for points, assists and 3-pointers.

A lot of these stories about cheating on sports betting involve characters who aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. Makes me wonder how many inside-info cheaters are getting away with it, because they’re not doing anything conspicuous like placing very large wagers on very obscure games or prop bets.

Behind the Design: Adobe Premiere on iOS 

Adobe Design profiles Adobe’s new Premiere app for iOS, and interviews Christopher Azar, group design manager for Adobe Video, regarding the thinking behind the app and its design:

What was the primary goal when you set out to design Premiere on iOS?

Christopher Azar: Our goal was to design a professional-grade product that carried the powerful, precise spirit of Premiere while feeling modern, approachable, and even fun. We call our vision “intuitive precision”: a high-performance, intelligent tool powered by cutting-edge AI that enables creators to work how and where they want — in the field, experimenting, and honing their storytelling craft.

That meant making this editing power available to a broader creative community. Desktop software has traditionally been built for professionals with large budgets. Our goal was not only to make a professional tool easier to use, but to make it available to more people than ever before. I would have wanted to use this app when I was coming up as a creative, so I’m excited we’re providing high-quality software for everyone who wants it — without a big investment in time or money.

It really does seem like a breakthrough app for the platform. An Android version is in the works, Adobe says, but for now, Premiere is an iOS exclusive. Kind of weird that Apple itself makes Final Cut Pro for both the Mac and iPad, but still hasn’t made a serious video editing app for the iPhone.