Federico Viticci

10880 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
@[email protected]
@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

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iPhone 4 VS. BlackBerry Torch [Video]

And there are an old BlackBerry Bold 9700 and a Samsung Captivate in there, too. Just look at the scrolling, tap to zoom and yes, raw speed. As Dave Caolo also notices:

“As the tests progress, the testers get desperate for their horse to win. At one point, Dieter notes that enabling Wi-Fi on the iPhone 4 is “…a fiasco.” Grated, he did ensure that two unnecessary taps were required by leaving the Settings app in the Safari settings the last time he used it. Four taps to turn something on is hardly a “fiasco.” Do you know what is? When the entire European Commission and all of Saudi Arabia decide not to use BlackBerries. That’s a fiasco.”

Check out the video below.

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Flickpad: Facebook & Flickr Photos On Your iPad [10 Codes Up for Grabs]

Two weeks ago I wrote that the iPad is not only a great consumption device but, at least for me, an amazing gadget for content creation. Others seem to think the same, too. For as much as I stand up and say that I create content on my iPad, I’m not saying I don’t use it for consumption at all: consuming content (the 2010 way of saying “checking out photos, videos and read articles or books”) on the iPad is a beautiful and immersive experience.

If 2 years ago someone told me in a matter of 24 months I would check out Facebook and Flickr photos on a tablet the way I can with Flickpad I wouldn’t have believed him. Flickpad has been out in the App Store for quite a while, it was even featured by Apple in the New & Noteworthy section, but with the latest updated the Shacked Apps guys stepped up their game and released the best Flickr and Facebook photo browser for iPad.

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Evidence of iPad Retina Display?

Earlier today iLounge reported that, according to their source, a 7-inch iPad is in the works and that will be announced later this year. 9to5mac also speculated that they’ve been hearing rumors of a smaller tablet, equipped with a Retina Display - “something like an insane 1500x1920 type pixel display”.

Now, we’ve got some interesting findings to share and speculate with you.

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MiTube: Free and Simple Youtube Downloader for iPhone & iPad [Update: Removed]

Update: We knew this was going to happen. Apple removed the app.

Of all the apps in the App Store, I haven’t seen really great Youtube apps. Maybe because Apple’s one is installed by default and Youtube’s mobile website is even better than Apple’s app? Who knows. Anyway, here comes a new one: MiTube, formerly known as MxTube and sold on Cydia, is now available as a universal app for free in the App Store.

The app is very simple, but useful: you search for a video on Youtube, then you decided if you want to stream it or download it. You can choose to download low-quality or high-quality versions, and HD when available.

MiTube is available for free in the App Store here.

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Spring Cleaning: What Apple’s Address Book Was Missing

My Address Book is a mess. I know I should spend more time organizing it, importing Vcards and fixing the holes myself (missing emails, website info) but somehow I never find the time to do it. What’s even worse, though, is that there are dozens of contacts I never use on my iPhone but I don’t want to delete. Why? Because Apple’s mobile Address Book is broken: you can’t delete multiple contacts at once and it takes 5 steps to delete a single one. Five.

I must thank the guys over at Elegant Hippo for shipping Spring Cleaning, which finally brings proper contact organization to the iPhone.

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Elements: Dropbox Based Text Editor for iPad and iPhone

Ever since I bought my iPad I’ve wanted to be able to actually work with it. To write articles with it. First came Evernote, but I ditched for Simplenote. I was an avid Simplenote user on the iPhone, and when the iPad version came out I immediately made the switch. Simplenote is a very popular app, and it’s no surprise to see it used by many professionals out there. It’s simple, reliable and fast.

Then there’s Dropbox, the cloud-based storage solution everyone loves and would like to see implemented by default on Mac OS X. Dropbox allows you store and edit files no matter what device you’re on, so what’s stopping developers from creating note-taking applications based on it? That’s exactly what Second Gear are doing with their new iPad and iPhone app, Elements.

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