Federico Viticci

10758 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

Logacal: A Smarter Visualization Of Calendar Events

Logacal

Logacal

In the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with finding the best Calendar and Reminders clients for my iPhone and iPad. While I wouldn’t call myself a calendar power user, I do rely on iCloud Calendar to organize my daily appointments and events that require my complete attention, and I’ve been lured by the simplicity and immediacy of Reminders. As I noted in my article on living with iOS 7, I’ve also been liking the OS’ new Today view in Notification Center, which gives me a summary of all the things – events or reminders – I have to do today.

I don’t like calendar apps that are limited by old rules defined by physical calendars. For instance, what’s the point of showing a full month with past events when our devices know what the current day is? Why showing empty days in views that should list upcoming events? Our devices have a little, powerful silicon brain inside them, and yet so many calendar apps – supposedly, digital assistants for the modern age – are still stuck with concepts and metaphors of two decades ago. This is a topic that other smart people have also touched upon in the past, and I recommend reading this piece by Jason Snell.

Earlier this week I was browsing the App Store and I came across Logacal, a $2.99 iPhone app developed by Czech developer Pavel Doležal. I was intrigued by the app’s clean iOS 7 design and description:

Unlike traditional month, week or day-based calendars, Logacal doesn’t split time equally, but instead depending on how far in the future it is.

And:

Its design is vastly inspired by logarithmic scale that enables you to see and manage your calendar in a very natural and intuitive way.

Now, I’m no expert of logarithmic scales and other high level mathematical theories, but I’m good enough at clicking the Buy button in iTunes and doing some reading on Wikipedia. Apparently, some of our senses operate in a logarithmic fashion, and Pavel’s idea was to represent future days, weeks, months, and years on a scale that gets less granular as you move further in time. Read more

Steve Streza On Discounted App Upgrades→

But people have no right to complain about an update that costs 99 cents/$2/$3/etc. when their iPhone cost hundreds of dollars!

This privileged point of view comes from people who love supporting developers and who have spare money. And while it’s noble, it doesn’t reflect how most customers think about apps. The toothpaste isn’t going back in the tube here; people are now used to free and cheap apps with updates. Your app isn’t why they bought an iPhone; it’s an accessory, one that can be discarded as easily as an iPhone bumper.

Steve Streza makes a compelling argument against the theory that Apple should allow paid upgrades on the App Store. The reality that Steve describes – apps as cheap, replaceable accessories – is sad and harsh, but true. None of my friends “care” about particular apps or developers – they just want their problems solved and their entertainment taken care of.

That said, paid upgrades or not, I hope that developers of fine, well-crafted apps will continue to find ways to stay in the business – perhaps by catering to a smaller audience that doesn’t mind paying more and more often.

Permalink

Evernote Essentials 4.0→

Speaking of Evernote news, my friend Brett Kelly released version 4.0 of his Evernote Essentials eBook today. Brett’s book provides, in my opinion, the best introduction to Evernote for anyone who’s always been curious to try it as it covers all the basic and advanced features of the service.

In version 4.0, Brett also added a chapter called “How I Use Evernote” that includes practical examples of how he relies on Evernote to organize his life, and I can’t wait to read it. I’m also looking forward to the next update to the book, which should cover the major redesign of Evernote for iOS released last week.

Get the book on the iBookstore.

Permalink

Evernote Market→

Besides Skitch 3, the big news from today’s Evernote Conference is the company’s entrance in selling physical, lifestyle goods in the new Evernote Market. From their blog:

We want Evernote to make you smarter. To let you elegantly move through the giant flood of information that’s always coming at you in your personal and professional life. We want Evernote to appeal to the types of people who have a life’s work, and we want to create products that make your life’s work better.

Today, we’re launching a series of “Evernote Editions”— beautiful technology and lifestyle products made through partnerships with some of the most creative companies and designers in the world. These partners have been inspiring us for years and it’s an honor to work with them to make something truly great.

It’ll be interesting to see how this will play out for Evernote. The company has clearly cut deals for revenue sharing on branded goods, and some of them, such as the Adonit stylus or the ScanSnap, will directly influcence and integrate with Evernote software. Aside from socks, water bottles, and wallets, will products that directly enhance Evernote apps convince people to buy them? Personally, I am very satisfied with my Evernote Moleskine and I would love to try out the ScanSnap. The looks and functionality of the new products and services are promising.

The Verge also has a feature story on Evernote Market with an interview with CEO Phil Libin.

Permalink

Skitch 3: Reimagined for iOS 7

Skitch 3

Skitch 3

Released today during the third annual Evernote Conference, Skitch 3 is a complete redesign of the app that Evernote acquired in 2011 and started integrating into the main desktop and iOS apps. Skitch 3 has been redesigned and rebuilt for iOS 7, stripped away of the direct integration with an Evernote notebook, rebranded, and relaunched as a visual note-taking app focused on quick and fast markup. I have been testing Skitch 3 for the past few weeks, and, after an initial shock, I think it’s an excellent change. Read more

Apple Releases iOS 7.0.2

With an OTA update, Apple has just released iOS 7.0.2. The update, which comes 8 days after the public release of iOS 7, fixes bugs that could have allowed users to bypass the Lock screen passcode and reintroduces a Greek keyboard option in the passcode entry screen. On September 19th, Apple confirmed to AllThingsD that they were working on a fix for a Lock screen security flaw first reported by Forbes.

No other improvements or fixes are mentioned in Apple’s changelog. The update can be downloaded now by checking for software updates on an iOS device.

Evernote and 3M Team Up For Co-Branded Post-It Notes→

Alice Truong:

What makes the new stickies so special? Much like Evernote’s partnership with Moleskine last year, Evernote’s app has received slight enhancements to help users record hand-written notes. In Moleskine’s case, the notebook’s special dotted lines helped improve image capture by a phone or tablet. With Post-it Notes, color plays a major role. The lineup for the new Post-it Super Sticky Notes includes electric blue, electric yellow, neon pink, and limeade. The Evernote app has been designed to recognize these colors, automatically digitizing and organizing the notes into different categories.

I have multiple Evernote-branded Moleskine notebooks, and I love where Evernote is going with this. Not only is it an intriguing idea (digitalizing the analog world without giving up on physical notebooks or notes), but it also is cool from a technological standpoint. The Moleskine notebooks have special dotted lines and you can put stickers on the pages to have the Evernote camera automatically tag photos; doing the same for different post-it colors is ingenious.

Permalink

iOS 7 and Podcast Apps→

Chris Gonzales on the state of podcast apps on iOS 7:

The point is, I don’t think I would necessarily call any of the current podcast apps the “best one” right now. They’re all going through a phase of change and experimentation, like a kind of adolescence — all the kids are going through it, and there’s no telling what the mature results will be like until the awkward phase is over. A painful analogy? Maybe, but I’m sticking with it.

I agree. Podcasts are more popular than ever, and iOS 7’s new technologies lower the barrier to entry considerably for developers. It’ll be interesting to see what Apple is planning for the Podcasts app.

Permalink