Archived Post

Notable apps and updates, Dec. 9-14

On a regular basis, Apple World Today posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they’re popular and deserve mention. Here are this week’s picks.

iOS

Magnin & Associates has launched Railroad Logistics Challenge 1.0 for iOS and tvOS. In the $2.99 game, you try your hand at railroad logistics. 

Among your chores; reading daily job cards, deciding which order to pick up the various cars, where to fill them (if needed), and then where to deliver each. There are variety of railroad cars including box cars, flat beds, gondola cars, and tankers. You simply back your train into the car you want to pickup and it couples automatically.

macOS

Dirk Stichling has announced the 10th anniversary of myTracks, his photo geotagging app for macOS (10.10 and later). In celebration of the anniversary, the popular app is now available for $7.99 (50% off) for a limited time. 

With myTracks, GPS tracks can be downloaded from various hardware GPS loggers and the tracks organized into a library. The tracks can be displayed on a map, using various map types. myTracks’ geo-tagging feature allows it to write GPS information into photo files (both jpg and raw).

myTracks can be used with the macOS Photos app, as well as numerous other photo organizing applications, including Adobe Lightroom, GraphicConverter, or even the macOS Finder. It handles the JPEG and RAW photos formats. GPS tracks can be exported in the GPX, KML or KMZ file formats, and can be used with Google Earth.

In addition to using myTracks for macOS with dedicated GPS loggers, app developer Stichling also offers a free iPhone app, “myTracks – The GPS logger” to record GPS tracks. Users can use the apps to synchronize all of their tracks between their iOS and macOS devices via iCloud. The iPhone app is available at the Apple App Store.

Zevrix Solutions has released ArtOptimizer 3.0.5, a compatibility upgrade to company’s image workflow automation tool for Adobe Illustrator. 

ArtOptimizer helps users reduce the size of Illustrator links and automate complex image transformations. The software also offers image format and color conversion, batch processing, settings presets, and much more. Version 3.0.5 adds support for macOS 10.15 Catalina and improves compatibility with Illustrator 2020.

ArtOptimizer can be purchased from the Zevrix website for $120. Licensed users of earlier versions can upgrade to ArtOptimizer 3 for $60. A demo is available for download. ArtOptimizer requires macOS 10.8-10.15 and Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop CS6-2020.

CoreCode has rolled out MacUpdater 1.5, an update to their app updating utility for macOS.

The utility runs in the background and scans any Mac’s Applications folder, identifying any applications that have updates available. The identified apps can then be updated with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Version 1.5 now offers advanced filter options for all displayed apps, as well as the ability to sort apps by any column. Other new features include more options for ignoring updates for a designated period of time, the option to skip scheduled scans when the Mac is running on battery power, and more.

MacUpdater 1.5 requires macOS 10.3 or higher. It’s a free download and is available exclusively through the CoreCode website. You can scan for updates for free and update up to 10 apps for free. Pay $9.99 to unlock the ability to update additional apps.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.