YOKOHAMA (Señor Tomato) – It’s been raining again in the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area AGAIN. And I couldn’t go jogging yesterday. Today, it’s not raining. But a forecast says it will tonight and tomorrow. Why does it rain so much this fall?

Software development for iOS and macOS has never been so challenging because of Apple’s continuous harassment and intimidation. Every time I submit a new software title for review, they will have a spam bot reject it. And they leave it there for several weeks. If you have several submissions waiting for review, these days, they will reject them all at once. 30 years ago, I loved this company. Microsoft Corp. used to be my enemy No. 1. Now, I don’t like either of them.

So why does Apple, Inc. boldly harass and intimidate software developers? That’s pretty much because they want to talk us out of new software submissions for review. It’s their solution to a surge in the number of software submissions because of AI, which now allows those who know little about software development create apps. Well, I don’t even know which software title vibe coders use. In fact, I didn’t know the term ‘vibe coding’ till past June or July. And I’m not responsible for Apple’s RAM shortage, either. Whoever is vibe coding isn’t my problem. As long as their users are happy, I don’t see a problem.

Anyway, I’m reluctantly announcing a new software title. This new software release is called Path Along. I’m quite certain that they will have their spam bot reject it within 24 hours.

The Maps app that comes with iOS has an interesting, useful feature that lets you estimate travel time between two ends. But you can’t tell the app which street to take. More interestingly, if you drop a pin, you may get a street view around it.

Path Along takes a few steps further and lets you create, save and reuse a route path. Touch the map, and the app will erect a number marker. Tap another, and the app will connect it with the first marker to create a route path. You can continue to add more number markers to the current path. Or you can tap and remove an existing one. And the app will automatically give you the total distance and the estimate travel time along the route with a given speed.

Connecting markers with a path isn’t the ultimate goal of Path Along. By having multiple markers between two ends, the app can create a slideshow by putting a street view picture at each marker point together. You can save this slideshow as an MP4 video, which you can open and view with Files.app.

These are simple steps in using Path Along.

(1) Tap the green Start button to start a new route project.
(2) Tap a point on the map to erect a number marker.
(3) Continue to add more markers to connect two ends with a path. If you have made a mistake tapping the map, tap the Undo button. You can tap an existing number marker to remove.
(4) Tap the gear toolbar button to open Settings to set your distance unit and a travel speed. You can also select a route path color and its width.
(5) When you are finished, tap the Save button. And name a route project so that you can reuse it at any time.
(6) If you want to create a slideshow to put street view pictures from each marker together, tap the video toolbar button. This process can take a while. So wait for the app to close the sheet and prompt you to name a video file.   Continue reading →