MacRumors

Apple Maps has been updated with transit data in Hungary, enabling iPhone users to navigate with public transportation directions in Budapest, Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Győr, Pécs, and other regions of the country.

In the Budapest metropolitan area, supported vehicles include the Budapest Metro, BKV buses and trams, and BHÉV trains.

MÁV-START trains are also supported throughout Hungary for long-distance routes, such as between Budapest and Debrecen.

Apple Maps gained a Transit tab in iOS 9. The feature lags several years behind Google Maps, but Apple's public transportation support is exhaustive, mapping all station entrances and listing departure times. Apple Maps also provides detailed advisories about service interruptions and other changes.

At launch, the feature was limited to Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and over 300 cities in China. Since then, Apple has been working to expand support for public transportation to other cities around the world.

For a regularly updated list of cities with Apple Maps transit, visit the iOS Feature Availability page on Apple's website.

Fast Company published a report this week exploring why third-party accessories that make use of Apple's Smart Connector remain few and far between, almost two years after the connector first debuted on the iPad Pro. The magnetic Smart Connector allows the iPad Pro to communicate with and power compatible accessories, like the company's own Smart Keyboard, without the hassle of wires.

The first supporting third-party accessory, Logitech's Create Smart Connector keyboard, launched the same day as the iPad Pro in late 2015, shortly followed by the Logitech charging base, and more recently a Logitech keyboard for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro. However, this close partnership between Apple and Logitech is one of the reasons for the dearth of Smart Connector accessories from competing vendors, according to the report.

"With an iPad Pro keyboard on the market already, we are evaluating the market's appetite for another iPad Pro keyboard and identifying if there are any gaps that we can fill," a spokeswoman for Incipio told Fast Company. "So we are developing with having a point of difference in mind rather than developing to be quick to market."

Other issues are said to relate to procuring Smart Connector components, with manufacturers reporting longer lead times compared to other accessories, making them time- and cost-prohibitive. "For a business like us, we've got a very rapid product development cycle," said one vendor source, who asked to remain anonymous. "When you've got a long lead time component that's close to six months, that's just not tenable."

Meanwhile, some accessory makers simply preferred Bluetooth as a better fit, especially for iPad keyboards, with more room for maneuver in terms of accessory design. For instance, the Smart Connector only works with keyboards in landscape mode, whereas some users prefer to type in portrait orientation. The issue of Bluetooth battery life has also been minimized, with smaller batteries now lasting for months rather than weeks.

There are only four Smart Connector accessories currently on the market – three offered by Logitech, one by Apple. Fast Company was told by Apple that multiple companies are now developing Smart Connector accessories, but going on this report, iPad Pro owners looking to further exploit the potential of Apple's proprietary connector could be in for some wait yet.

Kicking off this week in iOS gaming was an appearance I made on the Australian games podcast, GameHugs. It's an industry-centric podcast that explores the backstory of web sites and studios in the world of video games (and often mobile games). On the most recent episode, I get into what goes on behind the scenes running a site like TouchArcade, as well as the odd chain of events that led me to TouchArcade — including, but not limited to, getting banned from the MacRumors forums. It's a fun story, but if that's not your cup of tea, as usual there are always tons of other things going on in the world of iOS games.

I've mentioned it in previous roundups, but things are starting to get real when it comes to the impending release of iOS 11 and with it, what we've been calling the 32-bit app-pocalypse. We started casually compiling a list of our favorite games that have yet to be updated, which grew into this gargantuan article filled with some amazing titles that likely aren't going to work in the future. It's worth skimming through, as if you've been buying iOS games for a few years now I'd be really surprised if you didn't own at least one of the games on the list. It might be worth one last play through before iOS 11 steamrolls everything next month.

We've been giving Sega a pretty hard time surrounding the launch of the "Sega Forever" lineup of free with one-time unlock classic emulated games, as most of the re-released titles perform worse than the first time they hit the App Store, back in 2009. This week, they released Ristar, which as mentioned in the tweet above includes a new emulation engine. This new engine is loads better than the one used in the rest of the Sega Forever lineup, making Ristar a game worth checking out just to experience the difference. Hopefully Sega quickly updates the rest of its library with the updated emulator.

If you've got kids who are into Minecraft either on the Mac, or Minecraft: Pocket Edition, chances are you've heard about Minecon. If not, it's an event Mojang puts on that is the place to be if you even remotely care about the game. It features meetups, developer Q&A, and other things along those lines. The problem is, Minecraft is a very inclusive game and an expensive conference with a limited number of tickets is fairly exclusive. In the future, they're shifting the event to be focused around livestreaming and interactive community events that everyone, not just people at Minecon, can participate in. This seems like a really cool move. Watch the video above for way more details.

In regards to games to look forward to, one title we're super stoked for is Darkest Dungeon coming to iPad. We've known it's been in the works for a while, but now we have a release date: August 29. Darkest Dungeon is an award-winning RPG that currently is only available on Steam. The iPad port is going to have a really cool feature: totally cross-platform Dropbox save syncing. I'm always a huge fan of this sort of thing, and really wish more developers took the time to implement it — particularly when porting games like this.

The International is taking place this week, which is basically the DOTA 2 equivalent of the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl being sandwiched together into one massive week long event. Between games, they announced that they were going to reveal a game Valve has been working on. Valve fans have been dying for Half Life 3 (or Portal 3, or any other sequel) for years now, and many thought this would be it. What they ended up revealing is a likely free to play fantasy collectable card game called Artifact. The crowd reaction was incredible:

While I'm sure Artifact will do very well, particularly if they tie in the Steam Marketplace, yet another digital collectable card game is close to the most boring thing Valve could have announced. Regardless, with these kinds of games the key is to get as many people as possible playing them. Platforms have yet to be announced, but it really wouldn't surprise me at all if Artifact came to both Mac and mobile. Whatever it's going to be on, it won't be released until next year.

When it comes to to digital collectable card games you can actually play right now on both Mac and iOS, Hearthstone's new expansion launched this week. Aside from loads of new cards, Knights of the Frozen Throne also features some really cool single player content. Blizzard is releasing new missions each week until players finally face off against the Lich King himself. Oh, and per the above video, the Lich King is really into reading mean tweets.

Last, but not least, is a puzzling lawsuit by Gamevice. If you haven't heard of them, they make some pretty cool MFi controller accessories that you stick your iPhone or iPad in to play them in a form factor that's pretty close to the Nintendo Switch. In the eyes of Gamevice, a little too close to the Nintendo Switch, which is why they're taking them to court for patent infringement. If Gamevice is successful in their lawsuit, they could put a stop to Nintendo Switch sales all together. It seems unlikely, but as a spectator sport, watching these patent cases evolve is always interesting.

That's it for this week in iOS gaming, but as always if you enjoy these sorts of things be sure to check out TouchArcade. We review tons of games, post way more news like this, and have a weekly podcast that's also a great way to keep up in the world of iOS games.

For some vehicles, when an iPhone is plugged into the car's USB port music playback begins automatically, and it always starts in alphabetical order at the top of the user's iTunes library. Because of this, many users will hear the same song, usually beginning with an "A," over and over again each time they plug their iPhone into their car. This week, a potential solution to that problem has been soaring up the iTunes charts in the form of a ten-minute silent song called "A a a a a Very Good Song" [Direct Link].

Created by Samir Mezrahi, the song allows users a full nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds to find the song they actually want to hear after connecting their iPhone to their car through USB. Mezrahi is charging $0.99 for each download of the music-less track, although Apple Music subscribers can simply add the song into their library for free.

A a a a a Very Good Song launched on iTunes on Wednesday, August 9, and as of the writing of this article it sits at #46 on iTunes' Top Songs chart. The song has climbed 21 spots in under a day, when Engadget reported that it was at #67 early on August 10. If it continues to climb, the song will surpass artists like Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, and Miley Cyrus.

For any CarPlay users, or for those who connect to their vehicle through Bluetooth, the automatic iTunes playback phenomenon is not as much of an issue. For those who do face the problem, it's been discovered within a wide array of different brands and car systems. As one Redditor pointed out, for users who don't have an Apple Music subscription and who would prefer not to pay $0.99 for a ten-minute silent track, they can also make a silent recording of their own and add it to iTunes.

Hints about when Apple Pay is coming to Germany have been few and far between over the last year, with negotiations between Apple and German banks allegedly stalling due to conflicting views over fees and controls.

The last rumor came back in May and suggested that Apple Pay would launch in the country in the fall or winter, but today one MacRumors reader provided us with another potential hint that Apple is gearing up to introduce its mobile payment system in Germany imminently.

While setting up a new Apple Watch on the fifth regional betas of iOS 11 and watchOS 4, developer Philipp Ebener was presented with the option to add German bank cards to Apple Pay for the first time.

Philipp reports that he wasn't able to register any of his German credit cards with the system, but the fact that the feature has been partially enabled suggests full activation could come with the official public launch of both operating systems.

Apple will release the final version of iOS 11 and watchOS 4 at its next major event in September, where it is expected to debut new iPhone models and a new Apple Watch with LTE for a standalone cellular connection.

Smart thermostat company Nest this week announced a new energy saving initiative coming on the day of the total solar eclipse, August 21, 2017. During the eclipse, clean solar energy will be reduced and in some areas of the United States traditional power plants will have to fire up in order to cover the energy shortfall for a brief period of time.

Nest's solution is a "Solar Eclipse Rush Hour" setting that will be sent to thermostats across the U.S. days ahead of the eclipse. The program will help offset the drop in energy production during the eclipse by automatically pre-cooling homes ahead of time. Once users notice the message, and agree to participate, the Nest Thermostat will lower the temperature of their home before the eclipse.

So, we’re encouraging people across the US to help offset this drop in energy production by pre-cooling their homes before the eclipse. If you don’t own a Nest thermostat, you can manually adjust the temperature by one or two degrees during the eclipse. If you join, a few hours before the eclipse hits your area, your Nest Thermostat may automatically pre-cool your home so that you can save energy during the eclipse. After the eclipse, your thermostat will go back to its regular schedule.

The company said that with enough Nest devices participating, users will be able to "meaningfully reduce" energy demand during the eclipse. Of course, if the temperature becomes too warm during the time of the eclipse, users can still manually change the temperature at any time. Once the eclipse has ended, Nest will go back to its regular schedule of warming and cooling.

Nest's new Solar Eclipse Rush Hour is part of the Rush Hour program that began back in 2013, which has a similar energy-saving goal. In that program, Nest Thermostats warn users of when a high-demand energy period is coming, particularly during warm days when many people will activate their air conditioners. If participating, Nest will automatically pre-cool the home and keep its energy output low during the Rush Hour -- enough to keep users comfortable -- and then return to regular programming afterward.

Over the summer, a rumor came out that Nest was potentially considering adding HomeKit support into its smart thermostat products. However, a subsequent report that cited a Nest employee said that the company has "no immediate plans" to support Apple's smart home platform and "no roadmap" for such an update. Apple has a few smart thermostats it highlights and sells in the HomeKit section of its online store, including those made by ecobee, iDevices, and Honeywell.

In regards to the eclipse, the partial phase will hit Oregon at around 9 a.m. PT on August 21, with totality occurring about one hour later. For more local times on when the eclipse will be near your area, and the safety precautions you should take when trying to view the event, check out NASA's web page.

Google introduced an anti-phishing feature for Gmail on Android earlier this year after millions of users were affected by a widespread attack. On Thursday, the company announced it is now extending the functionality to the iOS version of its mail app to protect users on Apple devices.

Going forward, whenever a user clicks on a suspicious link in a Gmail message on iPhone or iPad, Gmail will show a prompt warning them of visiting the associated site.

The cautionary feature is actually double-layered, so if users choose to proceed after the first dialog, they will be shown a page warning them against visiting the original URL given the high likelihood that it's a forgery.

Users don't need to install any updates to see the new anti-phishing feature as it will appear in accounts automatically, although Google says rollout could take up to 15 days for all users to see the change as it propagates through Gmail's scheduled and rapid release tracks.

Gmail is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Each week, Apple chooses an "App of the Week" to highlight, which means it can be downloaded for free. This week's pick is a puzzle game named Colorcube, which is normally priced at $0.99 and has never been free before since its July 2016 release.

Colorcube requires players to turn differently shaped pieces to blend colors and solve puzzles. The game is described as a "minimal yet visually stunning puzzler" with more than 250 levels. Apple's editorial description for the pick is below:

Calming colors? Check. Ambient soundtrack? Check. A refreshingly simple premise? Check. Colorcube has all the right ingredients for the perfect chill-out session at the end of a long day. With hundreds of levels to complete, this deceptively challenging game is as stimulating as it is serene... and surprisingly compelling to boot.

Colorcube can be downloaded for free for the next seven days, and after that, a new App of the Week will be chosen. [Direct Link]

Ulysses, the company behind the popular Ulysses writing apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, today announced that it is transitioning to a subscription model going forward.

Starting today, Ulysses will be priced at $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, with a subscription plan unlocking Ulysses for use on all devices. Ulysses is also offering a student plan with six months of access for $10.99, and there are now two-week free trials available.

With a subscription model, Ulysses says the company will be able to do steady, small releases more often, focusing more on the needs of the user base rather than aiming for big updates to lure in new customers.

Co-founder Max Seelemann about the new subscription model: "This step was necessary to put Ulysses' future development on a solid foundation. We weighed several alternatives -- paid updates among them -- and concluded that the subscription model, as it is available with the App Store since 2016, is best suited to meet both our customers' needs and our needs as developers."

To encourage existing customers to switch over to the new subscription model, Ulysses is offering a permanent life-long discount on the yearly plan, dropping the price from $40 per year to $30 per year (50% off a monthly subscription).

Customers who recently purchased Ulysses for Mac can get up to 12 months of free use, while customers who have purchased the app on an iOS device can get up to six months of free use based on grace periods calculated from the date of purchase. Ulysses plans to inform customers about the offers from within the app.

The single-purchase versions of Ulysses have been removed from sale but will remain functional. The apps are updated for High Sierra and iOS 11, but going forward, new features will only be added to the subscription versions of the apps.

Ulysses for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Ulysses for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]