Posts tagged with "iCloud"

It’s Time To Change iTunes

Jason Snell makes the case for a new, better iTunes over at Macworld:

If Apple’s going to embrace the cloud wherever possible, it needs to change iTunes too. The program should be simpler. It might be better off being split into separate apps, one devoted to device syncing, one devoted to media playback. (And perhaps the iTunes Store could be broken out separately too? When Apple introduced the Mac App Store, it didn’t roll it into iTunes, but gave it its own app.)

In March 2010, a few days ahead of the original iPad’s release, I wrote:

iTunes is obsolete,and so is the concept to use iTunes as a centralized hub for music, videos, photos, settings, backups, calendars – basically, everything. Think about it: all the stuff you have on your iPhone was either created on the iPhone itself or synced via iTunes. You can’t transfer information from your computer to the iPhone without iTunes. And thus I think Apple has been very lazy in these past years, not willing to update iTunes or finding another solution for our needs.

To which I followed-up in September 2010 after the introduction of Ping:

iTunes is a bloat. Slow. Unresponsive. Clunky. A huge piece of software with thousands of features in it, a couple of online Stores and now a social network, too. A few times in the past I wrote that Apple needed to move this stuff out of iTunes, or at least re-imagine the whole purpose of the app. Many said that would happen with the 10 version. Not so fast. Apple doesn’t want to change iTunes. Thus, the feature creep. Not only they left the Stores, apps, books and sync options in iTunes – they thought that adding a completely new layer of social networking would be a good idea. Again, I’m not criticizing Ping: I’m talking about iTunes as an outdated container of features.

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with iTunes: in the age of iCloud, iTunes is a weirdly old-fashioned desktop software to organize media and manage devices in the same way we did 10 years ago. Only with more features and content types. iTunes is the epitome of old interfaces and interactions trying to hold onto the present.

iTunes works, but it doesn’t work simply. It’s not just complex, it’s complicated and not intuitive: I can’t tell you how many times I was asked by less tech savvy friends about backups, syncing apps, music playlists, video conversions, iOS folders, Address Book contacts, and even software updates. Jason makes some great points in his article – it’s time to simplify. People don’t “get” iTunes anymore. Is it a music app or a media manager? Or is it a device management tool? A Store? A social network? A horse? A radio?

iTunes tries to do so much while doing so little to help users understand its features and differentiate between computer content, cloud content, and device content. Worse, because iTunes is so full of preferences and dialogs, sometimes it’s not clear what it is trying to do, and this often leads to deleted apps, corrupted music libraries, and ever-downloading podcasts. It’s not that Apple hasn’t educated users over the years; but there’s just so much help documents and subtle UI refreshes can do once hundreds of features have users confused and frustrated.

More importantly, iCloud has shown that a better way to manage media and apps for Apple’s devices is possible. And that is, no management: songs and movies downloaded from the iTunes Store are stored in the cloud and they don’t have to be converted; apps are stored in your Purchases and they are downloaded instantly on all your configured devices. Third-party podcast apps that have implemented iCloud sync are infinitely better than podcast support in Apple’s apps. iCloud keeps your bookmarks, notes, contacts, and emails in sync. iTunes Match even keeps your entire music library in the cloud, available at any time. iCloud is the future of Apple’s ecosystem.

So why are we still using iTunes? This is the question we should be asking. And admittedly, the majority of us are doing so for the extra convenience of media on our desktop computers. iOS devices aren’t always connected to a WiFi network, and they are limited in storage. It’s more convenient to keep large libraries of songs, movies, TV Shows, apps, and books on a computer. At least for now.

Is a world without iTunes possible? Maybe, but not today. People still need to be able to keep all their apps locally, alongside their music and movie files. In an ideal world, everyone is buying music and movies from iTunes, but in the real world people use web browsers to download media, and they want iTunes for that. Not to mention the features that iTunes sports on the desktop, which still haven’t been brought back to iOS. The way forward, however, clearly brings us to iCloud: with time, people will get used to iCloud even more, and Apple will improve its infrastructure in terms of reliability and functionalities. The fact that Apple is drifting away from a centralized desktop hub to a persistent hub in the cloud is also confirmed by the direction Apple is taking with Mountain Lion: aside from general iOS resemblances, the Notes app will be coming to the desktop, syncing its content with iCloud, no need for iTunes. And if the “iTunes in the cloud” initiative is of any indication, perhaps iCloud will really become the fundamental backbone of media management and syncing in the future – because, in theory, it needs no management.

But until that day, the stopgap solution to manage and sync content locally needs to be better than iTunes. Maybe it’s about splitting iTunes into multiple apps that execute their functions clearly, naturally, and reliably. Maybe it’s about offering a dedicated App Store app outside of iTunes that lets you easily switch between iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. iBooks for Mac might help in getting the books out of iTunes. Perhaps separating media playback from device management, while making everything easier to use would come in handy, too.

I hope that iCloud, as the company’s next big insight for the next decade, will help Apple provide a better solution for its users, so that in 10 years today’s iTunes will be a distant memory.

Tweetbot Gets iCloud Sync for Timelines, DMs, and Mute Filters

Two months ago, I took a look at the state of iCloud-enabled apps for Mac and iOS, sharing somewhat unsurprising results that showed few applications successfully were using iCloud sync across devices (not to mention platforms), and that developers were frustrated for the lack of extensive documentation by Apple. In these past 60 days, very little has changed on Apple’s side – if anything, we’ve only seen more third-party developers trying to figure out ways to properly use iCloud and make it work in their apps. Tapbots, makers of Tweetbot (our reviews for iPhone and iPad versions of the app), are releasing today an update to their Twitter client, which brings iCloud sync for various Twitter functionalities to the iPhone and iPad.

I have been able to test iCloud sync in Tweetbot for a few weeks now, and whilst I was initially skeptical about the service, I am pleased to report that Tapbots has come up with a solid, clever system that might just convince you switch from Tweet Marker – the only third-party solution to sync Twitter timelines that’s been widely adopted to date – if you’re planning to use Tweetbot as your main client.

iCloud sync, unlike Tweet Marker, works exclusively inside Tweetbot across its iPhone and iPad versions. You won’t be able to start iCloud sync on Tweetbot for iPhone and, say, find your timeline synced on Twitterrific. If you’re still looking for a real cross-platform syncing solution for Twitter, Tweet Marker remains your best option. If you, however, are you using the two Tweetbots as your default Twitter apps anyway and happen to be intrigued by iCloud sync, you might want to consider giving this new option in version 2.2 a try. Once enabled in the Sync settings, iCloud integration will sync mute filters, timeline positions, and DM read status across all instances of Tweetbot. This means that, if you’re using iCloud on your iOS devices running Tweetbot, the app will keep your position in the Twitter timeline synced similarly to how Tweet Marker works, only it will also sync your direct messages’ read status (if you read a DM on your iPhone, it will also be automatically marked as read on the iPad) and mute filters set in the app’s Preferences. In my tests, both Tweet Marker and iCloud have worked reliably when syncing timelines, but I switched to iCloud full-time for the added convenience of syncing DMs and filters across Tweetbot, and because of the lack of Tweet Marker-enabled apps (that I like) on my desktop. In fact, at least for the time being, I’m still using Twitter’s official client on my Mac. With iCloud sync, I can keep more data synced across Tweetbot for iPhone and Tweetbot for iPad, which I use on a daily basis. Please note that, while iCloud is supposed to be “invisible” to the user, working all the time in the background, there may be a short delay of 10-15 seconds when syncing the timeline position across clients, although I have noticed this sporadically. I suggest you use Tweetbot as you normally would, switching from one client to another when you really need to, avoiding keeping both apps open at the same time just to see if iCloud is working.

Version 2.2 of Tweetbot also brings other improvements and bug fixes throughout the app; most notably, images can now be closed with a pinch gesture on the iPad (similarly to how you can close images in Photos) and both iTunes and YouTube links have gained thumbnail previews in the timeline.

For the past months, I have been increasingly using my iPad as my primary computer, and thus Tweetbot has become the Twitter client I spend the most time using on my iOS devices. This newest update increases the overall stability and performances of the app, but more importantly it brings a native, consistent way to sync data across platforms that, at this point, can only get better in the future – and it’s already working admirably now.

You can get Tweetbot 2.2 on the App Store today.

- Tweetbot for iPhone

- Tweetbot for iPad

Sync Documents From iCloud to Dropbox→

Sync Documents From iCloud to Dropbox

TJ Luoma at TUAW has written the post I was going to save for the weekend: a simple way to sync documents from iCloud to Dropbox using Hazel on the Mac (our review of Hazel 3.0). Because a number of apps – text editors in particular – have started to offer a second option to sync documents with iCloud, and because iCloud, unlike Dropbox, doesn’t offer document versioning, finding a way to keep files in sync from iCloud to Dropbox might be a workflow worth considering.

The good news is that you can sync iCloud to Dropbox. The bad news is that it’s a one-way sync from iCloud to Dropbox. But if all you want to do is backup iCloud files and be able to retrieve previous versions from Dropbox, it’s pretty simple to do.

Aside from text files, the Mobile Documents folder used by iCloud can be configured on the Mac to do all sorts of crazy automated tasks when combined with the right apps. For example, you can use it with GoodReader and find the same documents on the Mac, in spite of the lack of a GoodReader app for Mac.

Check out TJ Luoma’s guide here.

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iWork.com Beta To Be Discontinued on July 31

With a support document updated today, Apple has informed users of iWork.com that the public beta of the service will be discontinued on July 31:

After July 31, 2012, you can no longer publish new documents to iWork.com from any iWork application on your Mac or iOS device. Documents already shared on iWork.com will not be available to you or to those you shared documents with.

Moving forward, you can use iCloud to share documents between your computer and your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Giving instructions to save documents already published on iWork.com, Apple is advising customers to start using iCloud instead. Currently, iCloud offers a functionality to store iWork documents online, and access them from the native iWork apps for iOS. With Mountain Lion, Apple will offer a new iCloud save interface, although it’s not clear yet whether this will translate in a storage UI for iCloud.com as well, or an update to iWork for OS X. Currently, iCloud.com offers no sharing system for documents stored online, either.

Apple never showed too much interest in bringing new features to its iWork.com service, which has always been labelled as “beta” by the company. Some minor additions were brought to iWork.com last year, but the company never specifically mentioned major new functionalities would be introduced. Especially after the launch of iCloud, many had wondered if iWork.com was set to be discontinued, like other MobileMe services, and it now appears those doubts were legitimate, as the company is looking to move every document-related feature to iCloud. Right now, it’s not clear whether native apps will gain new options for publishing and sharing, or if Apple will keep building more powerful web apps for storing and sharing documents online.

Apple has already confirmed that MobileMe will be discontinued later this year, on June 30.

ListBook Goes Universal, Adds iCloud Sync

When I reviewed the first, iPhone-only version of ListBook from noidentity last year, I called it “a good alternative to Apple’s Notes app for most iPhone users”. In the past 12 months, however, Apple shipped iOS 5, a major revision of its mobile operating system that, among other things, includes a native list-making app called Reminders. The writing was on the wall for developers of third-party list apps: Apple likes to “borrow” ideas from successful applications every once in a while, and simple todo lists are just something too common to ignore for a possible system integration. As usual after Apple comes out with its own take on a previously third party-only idea, many rush to declare Product X has been “sherlocked” by Apple. It happens every time. The opposite is quite true: Apple’s take on such ideas and workflows often creates an even bigger market for developers, raising the public’s awareness on a particular kind of software, leading more people to seek out alternatives and different takes from other developers.
The new ListBook, released today, falls exactly under this category. With a simple interface, lists, and iCloud sync, one could easily think it’s a Reminders clone with a price tag on top of it (the app is sold at $1.99 on the App Store). As I mentioned above, those looking for a different take on Reminders – which will also gain a desktop counterpart on Mountain Lion – will be pleased to find in ListBook some clever features implemented in a way that makes switching between the iPhone and iPad version as effortless as iCloud allows.

ListBook makes lists. On the iPhone, these lists are accessible from a button in the top left corner that you might have seen elsewhere recently;  on the iPad, the app uses a split interface that’s quite attractive and works fine.

Lists can be assigned an icon (the selection is nice), and you can disable Home screen badges on a list basis. Each list shows how many items you entered in total (tasks) and how many of them haven’t been completed (open). Because ListBook isn’t strictly GTD, but wants to combine text-based lists with a simple todo management system, completed items will stay in a list until you delete them permanently – a Filter button lets you view only “open tasks” if you prefer such view. This view setting, alongside lists and todos, will sync across devices using iCloud, and in my tests sync has been fairly responsive – it takes only a few seconds to see new items appear on another device, even if the app is already in the foreground.

Overall, I think ListBook 3.0 is a great update and the right path to follow for the developers, especially with iCloud, which would open the door to a possible Mac app in the future. If you like well-crafted user interfaces (the icon is also very polished and not blue or red), a simpler approach to list creation and supporting indie developers, you should give ListBook a try – it’s $1.99 on the App Store. For people who are just looking for a basic todo list app that syncs across devices, however, hitting the Buy button on this one might be a little hard. Apple’s Reminders does more, is integrated with Macs and PCs, and it’s free. Those users will be more than fine using Reminders, and I don’t blame them – Apple’s utility covers various aspects of list management very well, it’s got Siri support, and will gain a desktop version this summer. If, for some reason, you don’t like Reminders, or are simply intrigued by third-party apps in general, you should still try the new ListBook – it’s very nice and gets the job done.

OmniOutliner 1.2 for iPad Sets the Stage for iCloud Sync

OmniOutliner 1.2 Document Browser

OmniOutliner 1.2 Document Browser

The Omni Group have removed the carousel in OmniOutliner 1.2 for a new document browser that closely resembles Pages’. Giving a broader overview of your outlines, the new file browser makes it much easier to scroll through dozens of documents without having to individually file past each one. The new file browser doesn’t let you create folders or sync to the cloud, but the original WebDAV and iDisk implementations are still available for online storage.

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Apple Airs New iCloud Commercial: Harmony

Earlier today Apple posted a new TV ad on its website and YouTube channel, this time about iCloud. Carrying a new tag line “Automatic. Everywhere. iCloud.”, the commercial focuses on practically every functionality of Apple’s cloud service, from Photo Stream and Calendar sync to app downloads, Address Book sync, and iBooks. In particular, the ad shows the kind of integration that’s possible with iCloud – the video briefly touches upon Automatic Downloads from one device to another, and more prominently features Photo Stream for photos and calendar events synced across devices.

The YouTube description of the ad reads:

With iCloud, the stuff you love is everywhere you need it. Automatically.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Apple will start using this new “Automatic. Everywhere.” marketing slogan elsewhere. In the meantime, check out the video below.
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iCloud File Sharing

It is often said that Apple doesn’t offer a filesystem for iOS devices. Sure enough, it is indeed not possible to manage documents and folders on an iPhone or iPad as you can on OS X. Apple does, however, offer a very basic file management system that works with iOS apps, and you’ve haven’t probably used it too many times:

Introduced with iOS 3.2 and iTunes 9.1, iTunes File Sharing allows applications to import files copied from a Mac or PC using iTunes, and export to a computer. In iTunes, all you have to do is connect an iOS device, head over the Apps tab, and choose File Sharing below the Home screen app management interface. You can copy almost any kind of file into an app’s internal directory dedicated to file sharing, and several iOS apps use this method to import or backup files and documents such as bookmarks, videos, or spreadsheets. I’ve often used this feature to import .avi files to watch on my iPad.

iTunes File Sharing doesn’t seem to get the attention other iTunes functionalities do, and I believe there are a couple of reasons behind this. First off, it’s quite cumbersome: the interface for File Sharing is buried within an iOS device’s settings in iTunes, and there are no options to, say, automate the process of importing files or setting up favorite sources for documents. Second, iTunes File Sharing only solves a partial problem, in that the majority of iOS users don’t lament the lack of a proper Mac-to-iOS file management system as much as they’re asking for an iOS-to-iOS centralized file storage solution that would also happen to sync back to a Mac.

So, I had an idea. I think the same iTunes File Sharing feature would work a lot better as a dedicated, native iCloud app for iOS devices (and maybe the Mac too). After all, if Apple is providing an iTunes-based file management utility for Mac users, why couldn’t they build an app that enabled any third-party iOS app to save and import files from iCloud? This app would be built into the system and allow users to simply collect documents, like iTunes File Sharing. Developers could easily add options to their apps to import files from “iCloud File Sharing” and export files to it. Users would have the same feature set of the existing iTunes File Sharing, only with an interface they are already familiar with, because iCloud File Sharing would resemble the existing file management workflow of iWork for iOS or iCloud.com. The only difference is that it would be integrated on a system level, work with any iOS app, and basically be an extension of the “Open In” menu that already allows apps to communicate with each other through supported file types.

I wouldn’t call such an app “Dropbox from Apple”, as Dropbox is mainly developed as a solution to sync files between computers, running in the background all the time, whereas this would be more oriented towards giving apps a better file sharing system. In fact, I imagine Apple could go as far as indicating the apps that can receive an iCloud file as they currently do with iTunes File Sharing for better organization and to maintain the app-driven model. iCloud File Sharing would play well with this strategy, and it would offer a basic way for developers to integrate iCloud in their apps.

Apps like GoodReader have already implemented a similar system of iCloud-based file management, and some third-party developers are experimenting with providing standalone apps for file management purposes over iCloud. A default utility from Apple would have the obvious advantage of not requiring any additional download: it would be integrated as a system action in any app for iPhone, iPad (and even the Mac). Apps would still have their own iCloud libraries and synced data; the file sharing part would ditch iTunes and become iCloud-powered (iTunes File Sharing would be kept around as an option for transferring large files such as videos through USB).

You might argue that Apple is trying to eliminate the concept of the filesystem altogether by embracing the app model with data silos that are self-contained and user-friendly. As iTunes File Sharing seems to be suggest, though, I think that Apple knows the app model and iOS only solve so much when it comes to file management – Apple has to deal with the fact that many people still work with files and folders, export them, move them around, and manage them. I believe the real winning scenario for Apple would be to make the management process as lightweight and intuitive as simple by relying on iCloud. Thus, iCloud File Sharing would serve as a better solution than iTunes File Sharing, ans it would strengthen Apple’s offerings requiring no or little effort from developers, ultimately providing an accessible way to manage files atop of Apple’s existing free 5 GB of storage for every iCloud account.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the upcoming iOS 5.1 will introduce such a feature, and I’m not holding my breath for a surprise announcement during the iPad 3 event. But for the next major version of iOS, if Apple doesn’t think a better way to let apps communicate with each other is needed, I believe an evolution of iTunes File Sharing towards iCloud would be a sweet stopgap solution in the PC-free era.

Apple Releases iOS-like AirPort Utility 6.0 for Lion

Earlier today Apple pushed a series of updates for its AirPort Utility software, as well as a firmware update for AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule.

AirPort Utility has been updated to both version 5.6 (latest one was 5.5.3) and 6.0,the latter  available now as 14.3 MB download in Software Update. Whilst 5.6 is a minor update that “resolves an issue with using network passwords stored in the Keychain” and “works with AirPort Express 802.11g and AirPort Extreme 802.11g base stations”, AirPort Utility 6.0 is a major rewrite of the application that now resembles its iOS counterpart released in October of last year.

Above: AirPort Utility for iOS 5 on iPad. Below: the new AirPort Utility for Lion.

We’ll update this story with more details and screenshots in a few minutes. In the meantime, you can find the download links below. Apple also updated the AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule firmware, which reaches version 7.6.1 and brings the following changes:

This update is for all 802.11n AirPort Express, 802.11n AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models. It fixes an issue with wireless performance and provides support for remote access to an AirPort disk or a Time Capsule hard drive with an iCloud account.

Direct links:

- AirPort Utility 5.6 for Mac OS X Lion

- AirPort Utility 6.0 for Mac OS X Lion

- AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1