Apple Announces New App Store Numbers and Milestones →

Linked By Federico Viticci

With a press release, Apple today announced new App Store numbers and milestones, as well as updated statistics on job creation in the United States and globally.

From the press release:

Apple today announced that the first week of January set a new record for billings from the App Store with customers around the world spending nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases, and New Year’s Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history. These milestones follow a record-breaking 2014, in which billings rose 50 percent and apps generated over $10 billion in revenue for developers. To date, App Store developers have earned a cumulative $25 billion from the sale of apps and games. The introduction of iOS 8, the most significant iOS update ever, gave developers the ability to create amazing new apps and offers innovative features which proved wildly popular with App Store customers around the world.

In the press release, Apple announced that 1.4 million apps are now available on the App Store, with 725,000 of them made for iPad. Apple estimates that the “iOS ecosystem” has created 627,000 jobs in the US, and, in an updated job creation webpage, they put that number at slightly over a million for jobs “created or supported” by Apple. The same mini-site includes other numbers related to the company’s future Campus 2, US-based customer support, and more.

The App Store numbers come at an interesting time for Apple – the company has been criticized for some of its App Store practices over the past few months, but the stats shared today appear to paint a more positive picture in terms of overall growth and health of the market. Below, I’ve included some tweets by Horace Dediu for further context and analysis.

Ten Years of Mac Mini – A Timeline →

Linked By Federico Viticci

This weekend marks the ten year anniversary of the first Mac mini. I feel confident in saying that no one has watched this little machine grow more intently than I have watched it. It’s the center of everything I do here at Macminicolo.

Macminicolo’s Brian Stucki has put together a timeline with highlights from the past 10 years of the Mac mini. It’s fun to look back at the original “iHome” rumor and I’m glad the mini (the small but powerful machine that runs this website) is still around today.

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Connected: 50% My Duty →

Linked By Federico Viticci

To ring in 2015, the boys spend some time with weird old browsers, Hackintoshes, the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air and Federico’s attempts to reinvent his nerd life.

This week’s Connected includes notes about my experiments with new apps and services as well as a good discussion about the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air. You can listen to the episode here.

The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide [Sponsor]

By Federico Viticci

Dropbox isn’t just a folder, and you can maximize its potential to simplify your work and personal life.

The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide was created to help the modern knowledge worker who wants to make their digital life more organized and efficient. The guide is a comprehensive look to power-using Dropbox, whether you’re just setting up your Dropbox account or already think you’re a pro.

Sample topics include: Comprehensive walk-throughs for photo sharing; best practices for organizing your folders and documents; keeping your files secure; and automating tasks using IFTTT.

Complimentary bonus products include a handy keyboard-shortcut reference page, 15 Tips and Tricks for Families, and Photosharing Guides for you and a beginning photo guide to giv eaway to your less-savvy family members who still want to see photos of your kids.

For more information and to preview free samples, check out The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide’s website here.

Our thanks to The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide for sponsoring MacStories this week.

The 2014 Panic Report →

Linked By Federico Viticci

Panic is one of my favorite software companies and I’m happy to see Cabel Sasser posting this today:

Panic is a multi-million dollar business that has turned a profit for 17 years straight.

It just hit me, typing those words, that that’s a pretty insane thing to be able to say. (And, sure, we barely qualify). Believe me, I know it won’t last forever — but wow, what a kind of crazy deal.

All the problems mentioned by Cabel in the post are related to the App Store. If you look closely, the 2014 Panic Report is also a well written summary of areas where Apple’s App Stores (plural, for iOS and Mac) could improve.

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Improving iOS 8 Keyboards →

Linked By Federico Viticci

David Chartier sums up my feelings on custom iOS 8 keyboards so far:

As interesting as iOS keyboards can be, their initial implementation at the OS level is severely flawed. They’re cumbersome to setup, switching between them is needlessly tedious, and limitations make it difficult to teach users about keyboard features. As far as I can tell, all these problems require solutions and improvements from Apple at the OS level.

I only use custom keyboards that solve a specific problem: Clips, for copying multiple bits of text; KuaiBoard, for visual snippets; Emoji++, because it’s better than Apple’s emoji keyboard. Even with these keyboards (which I only activate when I need them – as utilities) I’ve been annoyed by the system’s tediousness in switching between them and lack of consistency.

I haven’t been able to stick with any replacement keyboard as my primary one. In the first version of iOS 8, keyboards were too buggy to be used as daily drivers, but even after fixes I can’t use a non-Apple one on a daily basis. I’d miss the system autocorrection, QuickType, dictation, and shortcuts that I’ve grown to know over the years. Hopefully Apple will soften its stance on what’s off-limits to custom keyboards with iOS 9. Personally, I quite like Apple’s keyboard – I just wish it supported multiple languages at once.

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Balance

By Federico Viticci

When I started MacStories in 2009, two pillars sustained the narrative around Apple: its “attention to detail” and the “just works” aspect of its software. Since iOS 7, it feels like those pillars have begun eroding at a quicker pace.

Connected: The Illusion of Choice →

Linked By Federico Viticci

At the end of 2014, Stephen and Myke reflect on what proved to be a wild year in technology.

I wasn’t available for episode 20 of Connected, but Myke and Stephen did a great job in recapping 2014 and what we saw in technology last year. You can listen to the episode here.

Virtual: Skipping the Zombie Dinner →

Linked By Federico Viticci

This week Federico and Myke share their holiday experiences, before discussing what games are coming in 2015, Federico’s further time with Minecraft and Myke’s impressions of the Wii U.

And if you’re interested in getting started with Minecraft after listening to Virtual, don’t miss episode 20 of Inquisitive with John Moltz, co-author of The Visual Guide to Minecraft. You can listen to the episode here.