Apple is introducing a handful of new ways to support U.S. National Parks. The company announced today it’s continuing its annual National Park donation initiative that allows Apple customers to send money to the National Park Foundation in several ways. Starting today, August 21 and running through August 28, the company will donate $10 to the National Park Foundation for every purchase made using Apple Pay on Apple’s website, within the Apple Store mobile app or in any U.S.-based Apple retail store.
Proceeds from the donations will be sent to the National Parks Foundation and aid in its mission to protect national parks. To garner support, Apple will encourage users to engage with curated content on Apple Maps and Apple Podcasts.
Despite the initiative’s positive undertones, the company will be capping its donation once it hits $1 million (or 100,000 purchases), which falls in line with years past.
“America’s national parks are a gift we share,” said Will Shafroth, the National Park Foundation’s president and CEO, in Apple’s press release. “Apple’s partnership and generous commitment help to ensure that all people see themselves in national parks and feel welcome in these places that belong to all of us.”
Image Credits: Apple
National Parks-focused content on Apple Maps and Apple Podcasts, this year, is centering on Indigenous peoples and their mark on the nation. For example, Apple Maps users can find a list of national parks curated by the National Park Foundation in the app’s “Guides We Love” section. The parks include those that highlight Native history and heritage, Apple says, like those that were the ancestral lands for many Indigenous nations, or where remnants of their settlements can be found.
The listings include photos, operating hours, distance and a description of what you can expect to find at the park. A link to the National Park Foundation’s website lets you learn about the park in more detail.
Although Apple wants users to engage with this content, its own National Parks podcast has not dropped a new episode since March 2022. However, the company did compile a list of podcasts featuring Native voices in light of today’s announcement.
In addition to this news, Apple Watch users are being encouraged to participate in a new activity challenge held on August 27. Users completing a hike, walk, run or wheelchair workout that is at least equivalent to one mile will earn a virtual achievement and sticker inspired by national parks — though there is no need to actually be in a national park to gain this digital reward.
“We’re proud to partner with the organizations and communities who maintain our parks, educate us about their history, and share them with the world. These treasures are well worth protecting, today and for every generation to come,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a statement.
The company also took time to highlight last year’s donation, though it did not provide a figure. According to the company, donations allowed Indigenous youth to attend service corps programs at national parks and provided continued support for the Leaders of Color service corps crew, a BIPOC conservationist group.
Apple kicks off fundraising effort to support US National Parks via Apple Pay donations
Архив метки: Apple Pay
iOS 14’s App Clips will save you from always needing ‘an app for that’
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The App Store ecosystem today is home to nearly 2 million apps. That means finding new apps to download is now more challenging than ever. This, in turn, leads app developers to funnel more money into App Store Search ads, traditional SEO and digital advertising in an effort to acquire new users. A new feature called App Clips, arriving in iOS 14 later this year, will give developers another option to introduce their app to users. With App Clips, users can instead load just a small part of an app on demand, when required. And when they’re done, the App Clip disappears.
The concept behind App Clips isn’t new. Google’s Android platform has for several years offered tiny app-on-demand downloads called “Instant Apps.”
Like Instant Apps, Apple’s App Clips are about making apps as seamless to use as the web. They are fast, ephemeral and eliminate the barrier to entry that is downloading an app from the App Store.
Today, many users don’t want to bother with a full app download when they’re in a hurry. For example, if a user is trying to pay for parking, they’re more likely to swipe their credit card in the meter to save time, instead of downloading the city’s parking app.
A customer waiting in line to place a food or drink order also doesn’t want to bother downloading the restaurant’s app to browse a menu and pay — they’ll just speak their order at the counter. And a customer wanting to rent a scooter just wants to tap, pay and be on their way.
Image Credits: Apple
An App Clip would work in any of of these scenarios, and many others, by making it as easy to use apps as it is to tap to check out with Apple Pay or launch a website.
While Apple will allow users to launch clips by way of a QR code, a new “App Clip Code” arriving later this year will offer an upgraded experience to kicking off these apps you find suggested to you out in the real world. App Clip Codes will combine both NFC and a visual code, so users can either tap or scan the code to access the App Clip experience.
Image Credits: Apple
For example, an App Clip Code placed on a parking meter would allow a user to quickly load just the part of the app where they pay for their time. They can even skip manual credit card entry by using Apple Pay, if included in a given App Clip.
The App Clips themselves are less than 10 MB in size and ship bundled with the app on the App Store. They’re built using the same UI technologies developers use today to build apps, like UIKit or SwiftUI. But using an App Clip doesn’t trigger the app to download to the user’s device.
A key advantage App Clips offer is how they address concerns over data privacy. Because App Clips are essentially a way to run app code on demand, they’re restricted from tapping into iPhone’s more sensitive data — like health and fitness information, for example. Plus, the App Clip and all its data will automatically disappear if it’s not used again within some period of time.
However, if a user begins to launch a particular App Clip more regularly — perhaps one for their favorite coffee order at their local shop, for instance — the App Clip’s lifetime is extended and it can get smarter. In this example, the App Clip could cache the customer’s last order and present it as a recommendation, to speed up the ordering process. Eventually, this repeat user may decide to download the full app.
In that case, the hand-off is seamless as well — iOS will automatically migrate the authorizations for things like Camera, Microphone and Bluetooth access, which the App Clip had already requested. Select data can also be migrated.
Image Credits: Apple
There are other ways for users to encounter App Clips besides out in the real world, though that may be a primary use case.
Apple says App Clips can be sent as links in iMessage, popped up as a suggestion when you’re browsing a mobile site in Safari, shown on a business’s details page in Apple Maps or may appear in Siri’s Nearby suggestions.
The idea is that wherever a user may be on their device — or out in the world — the App Clip can be there, too.
iOS 14’s App Clips will save you from always needing ‘an app for that’