App Roundup: New iLife and iWork apps for OS X, iOS go live

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Following Apple's announcement of retooled iLife and iWork apps for both iOS and OS X on Tuesday, the company has started rolling out the new software to users via the App Store.

App Roundup


For the launch of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Apple redesigned its iLife suite of apps, including iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand, as well as the iWork suite, which features Pages, Numbers and Keynote. The titles are now available for download on both platforms.

The new apps will be made free to new iOS and Mac device buyers, as well as users who purchased the software via the App Store. Both OS X and iOS versions retain the usual respective $19.99 and $4.99 price tags seen before the update.

iLife

For iLife, iPhoto nabs 64-bit support as well as iCloud sharing and user interface tweaks. To bring the title in line with the iOS 7 version, filters applied to photos are now supported in-app. Also included is a host of bug fixes from the software's previous version.

iPhoto


With the iOS version of iPhoto, Photo Books are now available for iPad. The new feature allows users to layout photos taken from a device's camera roll and lay it out in a book, which can be sent to Apple for printing. Also available are pro-quality prints in a variety of sizes, including square and panoramic.

iMovie


iMovie for OS X received a substantial working over, including a new UI that makes library browsing easier than before. The desktop version also has close ties with iOS devices, including support for movies shot with the new iPhone 5s' slo-mo feature. A centralized sharing service called iMovie Theater lets users compile clips, movies and trailers and share them with friends. A simplified drag-and-drop control scheme has also been implemented for inputting pictures and other content, while more templates and themes have been added.

The iOS iteration of iMovie also has hooks into the new Theater sharing service, while new enhancements like a full-screen video browser, new title styles and transitions, slow motion support and special effects like cutaway, picture-in-picture and split-screen, round out the package. The app is also 64-bit compatible for the new A7 processor.

GarageBand


Finally, GarageBand for Mac has been updated with an all-new look and sound library with fresh instruments and samples. The highlight feature, as shown onstage during Tuesday's special event, is a virtual session drummer that can adapt to directions with realistic beats. There are 15 players to choose from over a variety of genres, including rock, alternative, R&B and more.

GarageBand for iOS now supports 64-bit, like the new iPads, and can create songs with up to 32 tracks on A7-equipped devices. Other notables include the ability to drag-and-drop audio recordings to create samples and compatibility with Apple's AirDrop file transfer protocol.

iWork

As part of the biggest upgrade to iWorks Apple has made in recent years, the company's suite of productivity apps has been overhauled with a fresh new look and deep cross-platform integration between OS X Mavericks and iOS.

Pages


Pages for Mac brings an even simpler aesthetic to the already spartan word processor. Collaborative tools have also become a big part of the new software suite, and Pages is no exception, with read and write access granted to coworkers via iCloud.com. Over 60 Apple-designed templates are now available, while a new format panel automatically updates content based on selection. Styles and presets have been added, as well as new 2D bubble charts.

On iOS, Pages brings compatibility with the unified file format that allows users to create a document on a portable device, and edit it on a desktop or laptop. The same 60 templates from the Mac version are available for iOS users, while text formatting and other important usability assets are designed to be a tap away. With the constrained space of an iOS device, some menu items had to be moved, though the overall functionality is still there. AirDrop support is also offered, as is document sharing via iCloud.com. Finally, powerful graphs and animated content can be created on the go, a new feature for the latest version of Pages for iOS.

Numbers


Numbers for Mac focuses on simplifying the workflow of creating and editing graphs and charts with an all new look and UI. The app gains the new format panel seen in Pages, as well as a filter panel to sift through large tables of information. Tab navigation is also new, while the smart cell view allows for live forumla results, error checking, exact value and cell formatting. As with Apple's other offerings, new templates and styles, including interactive charts, have been added.

The iOS version of Numbers offers much the same in the way of charts and graphs, but adds a new calculation engine for faster performance. AirDrop support is built in, as is iCloud.com collaboration.

Keynote


Finally, Keynote for Mac includes the new format panel, but adds updated cinematic transitions and animations as well as updated Magic Move animations. The layout has been tweaked for ease of use, and the unified file format found in all iWork apps is supported.

Keynote for iOS brings new themes and animated interactive data charts to the presentation app. In addition, AirDrop and universal file format support is baked in.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    First impressions of new iWork for OSX is that it looks pretty but will take some time to adjust. The toolbars at the top now appear to be non user customisable which will be a significant change for my workflow (burying in menus stuff that I use regularly like Masks in keynote). I've also opened some legacy documents in Pages and found that background images are un-editable - actually unselectable (at present).. I'm sure there's some trick to it there but it's not clear what's the go. I assume these changes are to make the 'in the cloud' options all the same. My 2c from about 15 minutes of play. I'm glad they are updated but hope that the existing full functionality hasn't been sacrificed for continuity/similarity across all platforms. We shall see.. Keen to hear other's thoughts and experiences.
  • Reply 2 of 43
    Originally Posted by Fischstarr View Post

    The toolbars at the top now appear to be non user customizable…

     

    OOH, you’re right. That’s gonna get fixed REAL quick when people complain.

  • Reply 3 of 43
    Played with Numbers for a bit. Graphs and images are now easier to insert. Still missing Pivot table and inline formula argument suggestions, so hard core number crunches like me are not going to use it to... well, crunch numbers.

    The GUI redesign brings it closer to the iPad version. It's not the best interface for a desktop app, but neither was the one before. I'm keeping the older version around just in case I don't like it enough,
  • Reply 4 of 43

    By and large I always like Apple's SW updates. These look good to me. The best thing about Pages and Numbers is the professional looking charts. I'm not a numbers cruncher, but the cool looking charts I'm able to create make me look like I know what I'm talking about.

     

    I hate Word and Excel. I would prefer to use iWork any day of the week! :)

  • Reply 5 of 43

    A FYI on iMovie 10.0 released today, if you have a Mid-2007 iMac. Mavericks installed just fine, but iMovie says the graphics card does not support it, so it won't download an install. IPhoto worked, but GarageBand hasn't shown up for upgrade yet, so I don't know if it will work.

     

    I'm not impressed. I thought Mavericks would optimize my Mac enough for all of the new iLife apps to work but apparently not.

     

    My iMac has the ATI HD Radeon 2600 Pro 256 MB graphics card. I would think that would run iMovie if even at a slower rate given that Mavericks installs and runs quite nicely.

    I do hope that the new iMovie might be supported with a point update. Should I hold my breath? Sigh....

  • Reply 6 of 43

    OH TEH NOEZ! GARAGEBAND IS STILL SKEW OH MORE FICK! APPLE DOOM!

     

    Of course the real takeaway here is that it’s 64-bit and delicious. Finally I can finish everything I’ve wanted to do for a long time…

  • Reply 7 of 43
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GregoriusM View Post

     

    A FYI on iMovie 10.0 released today, if you have a Mid-2007 iMac. Mavericks installed just fine, but iMovie says the graphics card does not support it, so it won't download an install. IPhoto worked, but GarageBand hasn't shown up for upgrade yet, so I don't know if it will work.

     

    I'm not impressed. I thought Mavericks would optimize my Mac enough for all of the new iLife apps to work but apparently not.

     

    My iMac has the ATI HD Radeon 2600 Pro 256 MB graphics card. I would think that would run iMovie if even at a slower rate given that Mavericks installs and runs quite nicely.

    I do hope that the new iMovie might be supported with a point update. Should I hold my breath? Sigh....


     

    Quite possible that the new iMovie relies on grand central dispatch technologies to offload rendering operations to the GPU requiring a newer GPU than your iMac has. It's unfortunate that a six year-old machine is being obsoleted, but that's not bad the way Apple has been going lately...

  • Reply 8 of 43
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by djames4242 View Post

    Quite possible that the new iMovie relies on grand central dispatch technologies to offload rendering operations to the GPU requiring a newer GPU than your iMac has. It's unfortunate that a six year-old machine is being obsoleted, but that's not bad the way Apple has been going lately...



     

    I would have thought though that if my iMac was updateable to the latest OS, that the entire machine would be supported. I guess not?!!!?

  • Reply 9 of 43
    Originally Posted by GregoriusM View Post

    I would have thought though that if my iMac was updateable to the latest OS, that the entire machine would be supported. I guess not?!!!?


     

    OS ? application. iMovie is not Mavericks.

  • Reply 10 of 43
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    OS ? application. iMovie is not Mavericks.


     

    Greg ? happy

  • Reply 11 of 43
    Originally Posted by GregoriusM View Post

    Greg ? happy


     

    Hey, the Radeon 2600 HD isn’t exactly top of the line hardware anymore.

  • Reply 12 of 43
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Do we finally get password protected iWork documents in iOS? Do we have to run iOS 7 to use these updated versions?
  • Reply 13 of 43
    The new iLife/iWork suite might run nicely but 6 year old machines not supported is not fun, but I guess almost every IOS device is 6 years or newer.
  • Reply 14 of 43

    @ TS

     

    Well, apparently if you click on Update beside iMovie 10.0 a dozen times, and get an error message a dozen times, over the space of an hour, and then just leave the Mac App Store app open for another half hour, it decides to download the iMovie 10.0 app all by itself and install it.

     

    Opened it. Works fine!

     

    Greg = happy!

     

    :-)

  • Reply 15 of 43
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    Shame iWeb was dumped. A new version in line with the rest of iWork would have been pretty cool. I have Dreamweaver and a host of other Web design apps but I can still do a lot in minutes in iWeb that takes a long time in anything else.
  • Reply 16 of 43
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member

    That has got to be a bug. I run Final Cut Pro X on the same iMac.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GregoriusM View Post

     

    A FYI on iMovie 10.0 released today, if you have a Mid-2007 iMac. Mavericks installed just fine, but iMovie says the graphics card does not support it, so it won't download an install. IPhoto worked, but GarageBand hasn't shown up for upgrade yet, so I don't know if it will work.

     

    I'm not impressed. I thought Mavericks would optimize my Mac enough for all of the new iLife apps to work but apparently not.

     

    My iMac has the ATI HD Radeon 2600 Pro 256 MB graphics card. I would think that would run iMovie if even at a slower rate given that Mavericks installs and runs quite nicely.

    I do hope that the new iMovie might be supported with a point update. Should I hold my breath? Sigh....


  • Reply 17 of 43
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post

    Shame iWeb was dumped.

     

    That was 2006, though. :p

     

    At least it still works in Mavericks. 

  • Reply 18 of 43
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post

     

    That has got to be a bug. I run Final Cut Pro X on the same iMac.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GregoriusM View Post

     

    A FYI on iMovie 10.0 released today, if you have a Mid-2007 iMac. Mavericks installed just fine, but iMovie says the graphics card does not support it, so it won't download an install. IPhoto worked, but GarageBand hasn't shown up for upgrade yet, so I don't know if it will work.

     

    I'm not impressed. I thought Mavericks would optimize my Mac enough for all of the new iLife apps to work but apparently not.

     

    My iMac has the ATI HD Radeon 2600 Pro 256 MB graphics card. I would think that would run iMovie if even at a slower rate given that Mavericks installs and runs quite nicely.

    I do hope that the new iMovie might be supported with a point update. Should I hold my breath? Sigh....




     

    See my post above about how it downloaded and is working, although it still shows 1 Update even though iMovie shows as Updated. If I click on Update All, it gives me the same error message about iMovie 10.0, which is nicely running on my iMac.

     

    As I said above: Greg = happy :-)

  • Reply 19 of 43

    I'm still frustrated that iPhoto for the Mac still doesn't have the same feature suite as for iOS. All I really wanted was the auto horizon detection on the desktop. Oh well hopefully they'll have a better method to keep your photo libraries synced between the iPad and Mac but I doubt it 

  • Reply 20 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GregoriusM View Post

     

    @ TS

     

    Well, apparently if you click on Update beside iMovie 10.0 a dozen times, and get an error message a dozen times, over the space of an hour, and then just leave the Mac App Store app open for another half hour, it decides to download the iMovie 10.0 app all by itself and install it.

     

    Opened it. Works fine!

     

    Greg = happy!

     

    :-)


    I had a few issues with having to click in different spots (i.e. going to the "installed" portion instead of updates, and in some cases actually going as if I were to purchase it in the "Mac Apps" section of the app store)

     

    However, I have an '09 Mac Mini and got Mavericks, iLife and iWork updates for free.

     

    Not long before that Mac Mini I had an iBook, and was paying $150 for the OS and $70 for the i-suite products.  This 600 dollar mini is certainly getting stretched a lot further than I expected it to.

     

    EDIT: to gush a little more, what other tech company would ever allow someone who bought the cheapest product they produced (at the time) almost five years ago to get the latest productivity/OS for FREE?  It really is pretty telling that - though they charge a hefty premium for their premium devices - they don't appear to simply be greedy as many anti-appelites try to paint them

Sign In or Register to comment.