Red Sweater:
By default, FastScripts searches for scripts in the same standard “Scripts” folders that Apple’s Script Menu searches. […] I’ve expanded FastScripts to support an arbitrary number of user-determined locations, whose script contents will all be available to the app.
[…]
FastScripts supports the ability to invoke any script … from within another script. […] The ability to run scripts has gotten a lot more powerful in FastScripts 3.2, with the addition of robust support for specifying parameters to invoked scripts.
[…]
Instead of a result, the “run” command in FastScripts returns a script task object. You can use this reference to “force stop” a running script, but perhaps more importantly, you can now use it to await the script’s result. When your script requests the “result” of a script item, FastScripts will suspend the execution of your script until the result is available.
[…]
In FastScripts 3.2 special care is taken to differentiate search results so that identically named items are further identified by the folder that contains them.
I love the new custom Script Collections feature. I like to keep my scripts in a Git repository, which is stored outside of the standard Scripts folder, and so I would create symlinks to the per-application folders in the repo from there. I’d have to recreate these when adding scripts for a new app or when cloning the repo to a new Mac. Also, although FastScripts would follow the symlinks to my folders, they would confuse its file system monitoring, so it wouldn’t notice changes to the contents of the actual folders. Now I can dispense with the symlinks and just add the AppleScripts folder of my repo as a script collection in FastScripts. (I also needed to move all the per-application folders into an Applications folder to prevent all the scripts from being universally available.) My FastScripts menu looks and works the same as before, but now I can store the files where I want and everything updates automatically.
Previously:
AppleScript FastScripts Git Mac Mac App macOS 12 Monterey
Vivian Qu (tweet):
When I was at Pinterest, I helped in communications with our dedicated App Store representative who would expedite Pinterest app updates through the review process. I have seen first-hand the lack of support for indie apps compared to the white glove experience that large companies get.
[…]
I opened the message and was greeted with the “App Store Improvement Notice”. I was essentially told that I hadn’t updated my app in three years and now it counts as outdated. I needed to update the app within 90 days or it would get automatically taken down.
[…]
If there had been an actual reviewer who checked my outdated app, they would have discovered that I architected the app from the beginning to dynamically scale the UI so it resizes to fit the latest iPhone devices.
[…]
Beyond the financial cost, what is the most insulting to me about Apple’s policy is how poorly thought out their measure of “quality” is for apps. The message contains two separate statements about my app: (1) it hasn’t been updated in three years, and (2) it doesn’t meet a “minimum download threshold.” Fixing either of those so-called problems doesn’t magically mean my app will be a high-quality, positive experience for users.
The undocumented “minimum download threshold” seems to be saying that you can buy lots of App Store search ads to be exempt from the requirement to have an updated app—then you’re welcome to inflict it on lots of users.
Previously:
Update (2022-10-14): See also: Hacker News.
App Store App Store Search Ads iOS iOS 16 iOS App Pinterest Programming
Bill Toulas:
Security researchers have discovered 75 applications on Google Play and another ten on Apple’s App Store engaged in ad fraud. Collectively, they add to 13 million installations.
Apart from flooding mobile users with advertisements, both visible and hidden, the fraudulent apps also generated revenue by impersonating legitimate apps and impressions.
[…]
The Scylla apps typically used a bundle ID that doesn’t match their publication name, to make it appear to the advertisers as if the ad clicks/impressions come from a more profitable software category.
Previously:
Update (2022-10-07): See also: MacRumors.
Advertising App Store App Store Scams Google Play Store iOS iOS 16 iOS App Malware
