How Safari Puts Weblocs on Pause

Howard Oakley:

Safari 12.1.1 can make perfectly good webloc files from its bookmarks, for example by dragging them from Bookmarks in the sidebar. But when they’re dragged in a folder from the Bookmarks page, it refuses to close and release them so that other apps can move or, in many cases, even open them. The only solution is to quit the Safari app, which automatically releases those webloc files so that they can work normally.

It seems to be an issue with file coordination, rather than the file being left open in the Unix sense. The latter, which I tend to see when creating PDF files, is arguably worse because you’re allowed to copy and manipulate a file that may be in the process of changing, whereas the Safari bug prevents you from using the file but doesn’t put you at the risk of data corruption.

Previously:

• Not Relying on NSFileCoordinator
• NSFileCoordinator Improvement in iOS 8.2
• iOS IPC via NSFileCoordinator and NSFilePresenter
• Document-Based iCloud Problems

Bug Mac macOS 10.14 Mojave Safari

Detaching Safari’s Downloads Popover

Ricky Mondello:

Did you know that you can drag Safari’s Downloads popover by its title into being a detached, free-standing window, so you can more easily monitor your long-running downloads?

This is actually a general feature of popovers in macOS. For example, you can also use it to detach multiple Calendar events to compare or to leave on-screen for reference. (However, it doesn’t seem to work with Fantastical events—I guess they are either not standard popovers or detaching has been disabled.)

Previously: More Undiscoverable Gestures.

Calendar Fantastical Mac macOS 10.14 Mojave Safari

PDFpen 11

Smile:

Top features you’ve requested in v11:

• Split-view mode for editing
• New Font Bar for expressive font control
• Import scans from Continuity Camera
• Customize page-number locations
• Add multiple items to the Library at once
• Option to turn off guides
• Medical/Legal dictionaries for OCR (English language)
• Automatic deskew independent of OCR
• […]

Interestingly, they are offering an upgrade path from the Mac App Store to their store:

1. Download PDFpen 11 or PDFpenPro 11 from our site.
2. Launch v.11. It will prompt you to locate your Mac App Store app so that we can verify the receipt.
3. If your upgrade is…
   – Free you’ll be prompted to enter your name and email address, and will be issued a free license for v.11. Finished!
   – Not free you can click on “Buy an upgrade license” for upgrade pricing.
4. Go through the screens to purchase the US $30 upgrade to v.11 or the US $50 upgrade to PDFpenPro from PDFpen.
5. Complete your purchase and PDFpen/PDFpenPro will register with your new license. You will also receive an email of your new license for your records.

This sounds like what Omni tried back in 2013 but had to retract. The difference, I guess, is that Omni actually generated a full serial number for the old version (which was then eligible for upgrade pricing), whereas Smile is just giving you the upgrade pricing directly. Based on Apple’s stated reasoning before, I would expect for them to have a problem with this, too. But perhaps (hopefully) the unwritten rules have changed again.

Previously:

• The Gatekeeper and the Keymaster
• OmniKeyMaster

Business Mac Mac App Mac App Store macOS 10.14 Mojave PDFpen

Valve’s Steam Link App Now Available

Juli Clover:

Valve’s Steam Link app, which is designed to let you play Steam games on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV has finally made its way to iOS and is available for download as of today.

Valve first announced the Steam Link app in May 2018 and planned to launch it soon after, but Apple ended up rejecting the app due to “business conflicts.”

[…]

Valve said that it would remove the ability to purchase apps from within Steam Link in an effort to get Apple to approve the app, which may have allowed it onto the App Store. When connecting Steam Link to a PC or Mac, the main view is of your library, aka the games you’ve already purchased, and there is no readily apparent option for purchasing content directly on your iOS device.

Apple is always looking out for the customer experience.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

I’m sure the antitrust ruling had nothing to do with its sudden appearance

Thomas Clement:

Users scared Apple might arbitrarily kill a third-party app availability (SteamLink). That’s the world we live in now.

Previously:

• App Store Monopoly Lawsuit
• Valve’s Steam Link App Rejected From the App Store
• Purchasing From the Kindle App

Update (2019-05-17): John Gruber:

It seems bizarre to me that it took a year to resolve this, but I’m glad Apple decided it correctly.

App Store Game iOS iOS 12 iOS App Steam