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As noted by MacRumors, Apple has seeded a new build of OS X 10.6.7 to developers earlier today. Build 10J869 doesn’t list known issues and, according to developers, Apple keeps asking to focus on Safari, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers testing.
The seventh beta of 10.6.7 was seeded last week. This leads us to think the final release of the OS update is nearing completion, also considering the small increment in build version number from last week’s beta.
With an official announcement on the Twitter Google Group, head of platform and API at Twitter Ryan Sarver has told developers to stop building third-party Twitter clients that “mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience”. Basically: no more unofficial Twitter apps that look just like the official iOS, Mac, Android or BlackBerry apps and don’t add any value to the experience. Instead, focus on different areas of the whole Twitter experience. Uh oh.
The move is quickly causing a reaction among developers on Twitter that didn’t expect such a response from the company. Basically, although in a subtle way, they’re telling everyone to stop wasting time trying to emulate the official Twitter apps because 90% of users are already using Twitter through the officially provided tools. On top of that, though, it’s not only a matter of choice: it seems like Twitter is really going to force developers to stop building apps by “holding you to high standards to ensure you do not violate users’ privacy, that you provide consistency in the user experience, and that you rigorously adhere to all areas of our Terms of Service”. Some key parts from the announcement:
With more people joining Twitter and accessing the service in multiple ways, a consistent user experience is more crucial than ever. As we talked about last April, this was our motivation for buying Tweetie and developing our own official iPhone app. It is the reason why we have developed official apps for the Mac, iPad, Android and Windows Phone, and worked with RIM on their Twitter for Blackberry app. As a result, the top five ways that people access Twitter are official Twitter apps.
Developers have told us that they’d like more guidance from us about the best opportunities to build on Twitter. More specifically, developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no.
As we point out above, we need to move to a less fragmented world, where every user can experience Twitter in a consistent way.
Many things have been said about the iPad as a content creation tool, rather than a device to consume media like music, movies and photos. In spite of the plethora of apps released in 2010 that proved you can actually do stuff on an iPad, at the iPad 2 event last week Steve Jobs himself wanted to remember the audience how the tablet is “no toy”, also thanks to the upcoming iMovie and GarageBand apps. But no matter how many apps allow you to produce and create original content using only your fingers and the virtual keyboard, there’s still a niche market Apple hasn’t addressed yet: coding apps. Read more
With the final release of iOS 4.3 final yesterday, several readers asked us whether or not Apple pulled the multitasking gestures that had been implemented in developer betas of iOS 4.3. As we noted in January, multitasking gestures for iPad were only meant for testing purposes so developers could test the integration of gestures in their apps. The feature needed to be activated with Xcode.
We received word from several developers that the multitasking gestures can still be enabled in the final version of iOS 4.3 (build 8F190, same as GM), but you will need Xcode and an Apple Developer account to register the device for development and activate the gestures panel in the iOS Settings app. Again, the process takes less than a minute and you can find the instructions here.
The gestures in iOS 4.3 final are the same of earlier betas: four or five finger pinch to Home screen, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, swipe left or right to switch between apps. So if you have Xcode and a dev account, update your iPad to 4.3 final and you’ll still be able to activate gestures. [via RazorianFly]
First came iOS 4.3, then Safari 5.0.4 and now Apple just pulled the trigger on Xcode 4. The final release of the new development suite is available for download here.
Xcode 4 is the new version of Apple’s powerful integrated development environment for creating great apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Xcode 4 includes the Xcode IDE, Instruments, iOS Simulator, and the latest Mac OS X and iOS SDKs.
Xcode 4 is a major new version of Apple’s development suite which sports lots of new features and a new single-windowed UI. The first version of Xcode 4 preview was released during the WWDC in June 2010. It appears that Xcode 4 will also be released for $4.99 in the Mac App Store, according to Apple’s Support Center:
Mac and iOS Developer Program members have access to the latest Xcode developer tools, SDKs, and pre-release software. Program members can download Xcode 4 from http://developer.apple.com/xcode.
If you are not a member of either the Mac or iOS Developer Program, you may purchase Xcode 4 from the Mac App Store for $4.99. If you are registered as an Apple Developer, you can download Xcode 3 for free at http://developer.apple.com/xcode.
This should be the link for Xcode once it goes live in the Mac App Store (it isn’t available yet). This is an interesting move for Apple, as it’s clearly aimed at people willing to try Xcode 4 without an Apple Developer account. It also marks (once again) Apple’s transition to the Mac App Store as a unified distribution method for software updates. Here’s a great video overview of the Xcode 4 interface.
Update: As for the $4.99 price of Xcode 4 in the Mac App Store, that might be for the same reason why FaceTime wasn’t released for free: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Technically, it would be illegal for Apple to distribute this new free software on Snow Leopard. Same happened years ago with the 802.11n unlocking fee, and recently FaceTime sold at $0.99 in the Mac App Store. Read more
After the announcement of the iPad 2 last week, we reported developer Firemint, well known for its award-winning Real Racing series, announced they were seriously interested in updating their iPad game for the new device, and had actually been considering its tech specs for a while, even before the official announcement from Steve Jobs. Firemint sort of knew the iPad 2 would be thinner and lighter for a better handling, have a faster processor for improved graphics, and so forth. The iPad 2 has an Apple A5 CPU with graphic performances up to 9 times faster than the iPad 1 – a feature Apple is promoting and Steve Jobs mentioned multiple times on stage. With the iPad 2 available later this week, Firemint will be able to test its updated version of Real Racing HD with gyroscope support, better graphics and perhaps a new control system built around the new tablet form factor.
Firemint, however, isn’t the first game developer that’s excited about the possibilities offered by the iPad 2. MacNN reports industry-leading company Unity has announced that, in spite of their framework already working with dual-core processors like the A5, they’re going to “really fine tune and really optimize it to run fantastic on the iPad.” We guess iOS developers relying on Unity will take advantage of the new features available once the engine is updated with full iPad 2 support.
What about the popular Unreal Engine 3? Epic VP Mark Rein (Epic Games is the company behind the Unreal Engine, or games like Infinity Blade for iOS – based on Unreal) says the iPad 2 is already capable of taking advantage of the iPad 2’s improved performance:
You can see Unreal Engine 3, what happens as we get more power, you can take a PC and put a much more powerful graphics card in, and turn all the dials up in your game to get more detail, more textures, more shaders – things like that. Clearly those are the kinds of opportunities here. More CPU means potentially more physics and more enemies on the screen, a wider view of an environment. It’s just really fantastic.
These are interesting days to see how game developers are quickly announcing support for the iPad 2, unveiled last week and available “on short notice” this Friday. I wonder how many games with “iPad 2 support” in the changelog will be released next week, and how many will need additional weeks to pop up in the App Store. In the coming months, it would be nice to see Apple update its App Store interface to specify features only available for certain devices – it didn’t happen with the powerful iPhone 4, but we’re betting on the iPad 2 to bring an easy-to-read tech specs page to the App Store this time. [via TUAW]
According to German website Macerkopf.de, Apple will hold a media event at the corporate headquarters in Cupertino to give a sneak peek of the upcoming major version of their mobile operating system, iOS 5, and the new MobileMe. The website reports [Google Translation] invitations will be sent out in the second week of April, and admittedly this rumor corroborates several blogs’ speculation that Apple wanted to save iOS 5 for a proper dedicated event instead of a quick preview at the iPad 2 event on March 2.
Previous rumors suggested iOS 5 would get a completely new notification system, deeper integration with the cloud (thanks to the data center in North Carolina) and several location-based features. As for design changes, patents Apple had been awarded showed new scrollable menus and other interface styles. MobileMe is also widely believed to come with a new, free version for all customers with cloud backup support for iTunes and other media. Steve Jobs once said in an email to a customer that MobileMe would get “a lot better” in 2011.
Code references found in early iOS 4.3 betas pointed to a new feature in development called MediaStream for photos and videos. In the past months speculation also indicated Apple was working on a smaller version of the iPhone strongly based on cloud services, although the rumor has been debunked from various sources since then.
There is no doubt, however, that Apple will prefer holding a single event focused on iOS 5 rather than including the preview in other product announcements. With an iOS 5 preview and beta likely to ship in April, developers will have plenty of time to update their applications for a possible launch of the new OS at the WWDC in June alongside the new iPhone.
Earlier today Apple seeded the seventh beta of OS X 10.6.7 (a Snow Leopard update, not Lion) and is available for developers at the Mac Dev Center. The build number is 10J868.
There are no known issues with the build and as has been a similar case with previous betas, Apple is asking developers to focus on Safari, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers.
[Via 9to5 Mac]
In a note posted on the iOS Dev Center and, most specifically, on the webpage that lists the new features of the upcoming iOS 4.3, Apple is asking developers to update their apps for the iPad 2 to take advantage of the improved hardware performances of the device.
With a new A5 dual-core chip running at 1 Ghz per core, Apple clearly mentions that most operations inside applications will be faster “ouf of the box” but developers can further tune their software with tools like OpenGL Profiler for “greater performance”. Even though Apple hasn’t stated how much RAM went inside the iPad 2, the A5 chip alone should be twice as fast than the A4 in iPad 1 with graphic performances up to 9x faster. Most apps will be generally faster on the iPad 2, but developers can manually update their apps to use the new iPad 2 hardware if they want to.
Developers are also asked to enhance their apps “with new user experiences” thanks to the iPad 2 cameras and gyroscope + accelerometer. While the possible implementations of rear and front-facing cameras are pretty obvious (self portraits and HD video, expect a lot of Photo Booth and iMovie alternatives coming from 3rd party developers), Apple has put the focus on the precision granted by the combination of gyroscope and accelerometer with “6-axis of motion sensing, including user acceleration, full 3D attitude, and rotation rate”.
The iPad 2 will be released on March 11 and it will come with a special version of iOS 4.3 (containing FaceTime and Photo Booth) pre-installed.
