Apple Approves Third-Party Apps with Touch Bar Support as New MacBook Pro Shipments Begin
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Orders for Apple’s 2016 MacBook Pro refresh are due to arrive soon. Apple, in turn, has begun approving third-party Apple Store apps with Touch Bar support.
Over the last few days, Cupertino has begun approving apps on the App Store that have been updated with Touch Bar support. Support for the new MacBook input method has only been available to registered Apple developers for the last couple of weeks, according to AppleInsider. On the other hand, most of Apple’s proprietary apps have already been updated to support the Touch Bar.
Some of the third party apps that will have some sort of Touch Bar functionality include vector graphics tool OmniGraffle, audio playback controller Speed-Up, minimalist reminder app Gestimer, email designer Mail Designer Pro, photo editing and composition utility PicFrame, to-do list manager Opus One, and memory utility tools Disk Aid and Memory Clean. These apps are only the first wave of those with Touch Bar functions, of course. We can be sure that more apps will begin to incorporate support for the new input method in their updates.
The way these apps utilize the Touch Bar differ, but are likely to be incredibly handy for users. For example, in OmniGraffle, users will now have access to manipulation controls, text controls and shape, stencil or image options on the Touch Bar, according to MacRumors. The Speed-Up app will add audio playback controls to speed up or slow down audio.
Apple first unveiled the Touch Bar at its October “Hello Again” event. It is a 2180×80, multi-touch display that replaces the top row of system function keys on the MacBook Pro. It also includes Touch ID support — a first for any MacBook Pro. While it retains a menu for system function keys, the Touch Bar is contextual, and will change depending on which app the user has open.
The Touch Bar will be included on both the 13-inch and the 15-inch 2016 MacBook Pro refresh. The new Touch Bar equipped computers will start at $1,799, and are just beginning to ship out to customers.
