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Televised→

Televised

I don’t watch American TV shows as soon as they’re aired, mainly because, being based in Italy, I don’t have access to legal TV subscription. However, I do like to “stay in the loop” with news and episode dates so I can later download everything in iTunes. Televised is a new iPhone app developed by Robocat that wants to provide a way to easily catch up on “status updates” for TV shows you’re interested in.

Televised takes a very visual approach. TV shows are presented as posters of the current season and the entire app features a custom design by Michael Flarup that is a mix between the dark style of Plex and a remote. In fact, you can tap on the hamburger button in the top left to open a section with buttons for Settings, Help, and “Add Shows”. Unlike most iOS apps, this section doesn’t open from a side, but from the top, with an animated light reminiscent of a TV remote. The design is very particular, but I found it to be slightly confusing coming from apps such as Facebook or Rdio (and really, just about any other app these days), which use a standard side-panel navigation. However, considering Televised’s highly custom approach to navigation, sounds, and modal views, I think the alternative take fits with the rest of the app.

The core element of Televised are the show preview thumbnails. You can tap on one to bring up a modal “card” that comes in the foreground with a nice 3D animation. Each card contains information about a show’s upcoming episode with summary, background photo, airing date, and three buttons at the bottom. These buttons let you share an episode, turn on notifications (which I haven’t been able to test), and “View on IMDB”. Televised uses data from TheTVDB, but if you have the IMDB app installed it’ll try to display a selected episode’s information on the service. I say “try” because – I don’t know if this is related to Televised or IMDB itself – in my tests I haven’t always been redirected to an episode’s proper page.

Televised focuses more on the “upcoming” aspect of TV shows rather than providing a fully searchable archive of a show’s episodes. There are some nice touches (the static effect as background for modal cards is one of them) and some aspects I can’t comment on (such as the future reliability of notifications), and the app does undoubtedly look good on the Retina display. I recommend checking out Televised on the official website, where there’s also a promo video.

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PDF Expert 4.4 With PDF Converter Integration→

PDF Expert 4.4 With PDF Converter Integration

PDF Expert by Readdle is my preferred PDF reader app for iPad. It comes with a polished UI, various annotation tools, and, more importantly, Dropbox sync. The latest update to PDF Expert for iPad, version 4.4, features integration with Readdle’s other PDF app, PDF Converter. As Readdle describes it:

Anyone who has already installed Readdle’s PDF Converter on the iPad can easily convert any files into PDFs from within PDF Expert. Once you send a document to convert in PDF (action button -> convert to PDF), it instantly converts to PDF and is saved back in PDF Expert for annotation. So far, users that have .doc, .pages, .ppt now can convert these file in PDFs and annotate them in PDF Expert.

I have tried the feature with .rtf files (which I often receive), and it works as advertised. Essentially, it works with a URL scheme that from PDF Expert can forward a document to PDF Converter (if installed); this is done through a “Convert to PDF” menu available in the upper toolbar of the document viewer. Once pressed, PDF Expert will send the document to PDF Converter, which will convert it and automatically send it back. I have asked Readdle whether this kind of integration was achieved using x-callback-url, but they told me they’re using their own implementation called RDIntegration.

I personally run my own remote PDF converter through Dropbox, but the option in PDF Expert works nicely and it’s entirely automated, so check it out if you’ve been looking for something like this on iOS and Readdle’s apps.

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Tweetbot 1.1 For Mac→

Tweetbot 1.1 For Mac

An update to Tweetbot for Mac – my go-to Twitter client – was released today on the App Store. Tweetbot 1.1 doesn’t bring major new features, but it’s got a fair amount of bug fixes and minor improvements that I like.

For Mountain Lion users, there’s an “All Notifications” option in the Settings to, literally, receive all notifications for your stream. This means you’ll see every tweet from every user you follow show up in Notification Center as soon as they tweet. I can’t use this because I follow too many people (I would get a notification every few seconds), but it can be useful for timelines following less users. What I really like is the option to show a Visual Sync Marker (like on iOS) and to globally invoke the app/new tweet window with a hotkey.

Last, there are many other fixes and improvements such as new keyboard shortcuts, better “pin to top” for non-streaming columns, and better compatibility with Moom. Tweetbot continues to be my favorite Twitter client on the Mac and it’s available at $19.99 on the Mac App Store.

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The Brand New Apple Services, Stores, and iCloud System Status Page→

The Brand New Apple Services, Stores, and iCloud System Status Page

On Thursday afternoon, Apple updated their System Status page for Apple Services, Stores, and iCloud. In an effort to be more transparent with customers, each of Apple’s main services has been broken down into categories that gives an overview of the products that are currently online or experiencing issues. Below the status board, a detailed timeline explains any issues experienced and when they have been resolved. In short, iOS users troubleshooting problems with Mail for example will no longer be left wondering if issues are on their end or Apple’s.

Via The Next Web

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Google Maps SDK For iOS And URL Scheme→

Google Maps SDK For iOS And URL Scheme

Alongside the launch of its official Maps app for iPhone, Google has also released a developer SDK to let third-party apps embed Google Maps directly. As detailed by Andrew Foster at the Google Geo Developers blog, the SDK – which requires signing up for API access – will allow developers to integrate Google Maps with their own apps, displaying embedded 2D or 3D Maps views with markers and info windows. The blog post also confirms that the SDK will work on the iPad; Google has confirmed to The New York Times that a native iPad version of Maps is indeed coming.

The SDK features vector-based maps that load quickly, allowing users to easily navigate 2D and 3D views, rotating and tilting the map with simple gestures inside your app. Developers can also change the Google maps view to include information such as traffic conditions, and control camera positions in 3D.

In the SDK documentation, Google says that the appearance of Maps embedded through the SDK is the same of the Google Maps apps, and that the SDK “exposes many of the same features”.

However, the SDK isn’t the only way for developers to integrate with Google Maps. Using a URL scheme, developers can point to the Google Maps app and launch it from their app into a specific view or map object. Documentation for the URL scheme is available here. Developers can link to Google Maps with specific views, modes (standard or Street View), set zoom levels, and pass directions with the URL scheme.

It’ll be interesting to see how and when Google Maps-compatible apps such as AroundMe or WhereTo will support the new Google Maps SDK. The addition of a URL scheme shouldn’t be underestimated either, as it’ll enable regular users to launch the app using tools like Launch Center Pro.

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Gruber On AppleScript→

Gruber On AppleScript

John Gruber, in an AppleScript retrospective for Macworld:

To recap: Decidedly old-school-Apple/pre-NeXT technology. A programming language syntax that frustrated experts and failed to achieve its intended goal of empowering non-programmers to program. A technical mismatch with the Cocoa application framework. You need this historical context to understand how unlikely AppleScript’s long-term success was. Someone with access to a time machine could make a lot of money by going back to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 1998 and accepting wagers that AppleScript would be alive and well in the year 2012.

But alive and well it is.

Just last night I tweeted that, while Apple may still support AppleScript, it doesn’t look like it holds a spot in the list of “top priorities” for Mac OS software. And that makes perfect sense, as the company has been focusing on other areas for the past few years: removing cruft and bringing consistency across its desktop and mobile devices.

The fact that AppleScript still works on Mountain Lion after the Gatekeeper and Sandboxing changes is, alone, quite remarkable. But there’s no denying that “supporting AppleScript” isn’t generally regarded as a feature that needs to be in version 1.0 of an app. Apple itself supports only one command for Reading List – a major feature of Safari 5 – a whole year after its introduction. Of all the new third-party apps I’ve tried in the past year, only a very few of them support AppleScript: Rdio, Fantastical, PopClip. And then again, they don’t have extensive AppleScript dictionaries. On the other hand, apps that already supported AppleScript continue to offer that kind of integration: I think of The Omni Group’s apps, Evernote, PDFpen, BBEdit, or Acorn as notable examples.

You may argue that “supporting AppleScript” was never in the list of features a Mac developer had to support when shipping version 1.0 of an app. That’s probably true, but, again, my point is different.

The OS X landscape has changed. In the past two years – especially after the release of the iPad – developers have prioritized cloud sync, consistency, and gestures over inter-app communication and scripting. Those have to be priorities because those qualities have created a stronger ecosystems for everyone. When it comes to scripting and inter-app communication, you know where I stand. I don’t know if AppleScript will ever be a “priority”, because maybe it really isn’t meant to be one.

Like Gruber, I’m just glad it’s still around. In fact, I look forward to finally releasing a little AppleScript project I’ve been working on since September.

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Rdio Launches Notifications For Your Artists→

Rdio Launches Notifications For Your Artists

On the latest episode of the Generational podcast, I have discussed the reasons why I’m using Rdio over Spotify; among various features and design choices, I mentioned how Rdio has, for me, a superior presentation of New Releases. Not only is the New Releases section of the website and apps easy to browse and filter by week, the Rdio team is also very precise and timely in updating it every Tuesday with new music. In my year as a Rdio user, there hasn’t been a single Tuesday that has gone by without new music. But still, you have to manually go to that section to find out about new music.

Today Rdio is introducing a new feature that is ideal for those who, like me, use the New Releases section on a weekly basis: Notifications.

Notifications will alert you to the latest jams through the web and desktop apps as well as email. You’ll never be out of tune with your favorite artists again.

Right now, notifications are only available on the website and Mac app, and I’ve already found out Queen have added A Night At The Opera to their Rdio catalogue earlier today. I look forward to having notifications on the iOS apps.

 

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Angry Birds Turns 3.0→

Angry Birds Turns 3.0

To celebrate the third anniversary of Angry Birds 1.0, which was released on December 10, 2009, Rovio has today released Angry Birds 3.0, a major update to the original game that, after three years, is still sold at $0.99 on the App Store.

Angry Birds 3.0 comes with a new “pink bird”, 15 new “Birdday levels” and other 15 Bad Piggies-themed levels. On top of that, Rovio has updated the game for the iPhone 5’s Retina display as well; the update is also available in the HD version for the iPad. Rovio isn’t new to releasing free updates to an existing game that users only purchased years ago; in fact, many have argued that one of the points of Rovio’s main strategy is creating “brand loyalty” through free updates that add new levels, features, and, for those interested, in-app purchases.

Just over a year ago we charted Angry Birds’ road to half a billion downloads; since then, Rovio has released a different game, Amazing Alex, and more entries in the Angry Birds franchise, including the popular Star Wars tie-in and a different take on the typical Angry Birds gameplay, Bad Piggies.

Angry Birds 3.0 is now available on the App Store.

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Audiobus Inter-App Communication On iOS→

Audiobus Inter-App Communication On iOS


I’ve been on a personal “quest” to find examples of iOS inter-app communication. I’ve set up workflows with Pythonista and the apps I use, and I’ve searched for apps that have implemented x-callback-url in meaningful ways. I believe Apple will eventually have to address the need of letting iOS apps better communicate with each other with something more powerful than an Open In... menu.

Today I was sent a link to Audiobus. The developers call it an “inter-app audio routing system” – a way to bring music apps together to avoid sending files back and forth between different apps. It is, essentially, a way to record on an iPhone an iPad using the capabilities of multiple apps at once: with a system based on inputs, outputs, and effects, Audiobus routes audio through specific apps and keeps playing audio from different apps in the background. The videos are really the best way to understand the whole concept behind this solution, as it doesn’t look like anything that has been done on iOS before.

I would love to know the technical details behind this. From what I can gather, Audiobus provides an SDK that developers can use to register their apps as input and output sources, or effects. Once registered, Audiobus creates a “workflow” for these apps and displays a “panel” at the side of an iPhone or iPad, showing the apps that are playing in a single session. I don’t think there’s a time limit on background audio, and it appears the side-panel is also capable of stopping audio from specific apps and switching back to them.

I am intrigued by the possibilities offered by a third-party SDK for better iOS inter-app communication: right now, Audiobus already works with apps like Rebirth for iPad, Loopy HD, SoundPrism Pro, and MultiTrack DAW, and more developers will join the program soon. I’m not sure how the panel concept would translate to tasks that don’t involve audio; however, imagine, say, being able to copy a URL from your browser into your text editor without switching back and forth between them. Or getting a file from the Dropbox app embedded into a Pages document without a tedious variety of multitasking gestures and Copy & Paste menus.

Check out Audiobus here.

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