Posts in Linked

Why Apple Can’t Lose the Future Services Battle→

Good analysis by Ben Bajarin, who sums up various discussions I’ve read in my Twitter timeline lately about the quality of Apple’s services and the company’s approach to not collecting lots of data:

However, getting useful and good behavioral data is essential for Apple to make better products and services and, more importantly, compete with those services down the road. I’d almost prefer that, instead of Apple’s stance being not only to collect as little data as necessary and also to universally anonymize that data, they would simply say, “Trust us with your data. We will keep it safe and secure and we will deliver you superior products and services because of it.” I could also be satisfied with a hybrid approach where, for the most security conscious customers, Apple gives them the option to keep the existing privacy protocol as well as their differential privacy techniques, but also allow others to opt-in to giving them more data so that things like Siri, News, Apple Music, etc., benefit from that data and thus, deliver those customers a much more personalized and useful service. With some of the recent changes in iOS 10.3, I feel they are getting closer to exactly this scenario.

Ben refers to iOS 10.3’s upcoming iCloud data sharing option – a new (opt-in) setting to share iCloud-related data with Apple.

This is a complex problem: it’s still too early to understand the impact of Differential Privacy, and I don’t think Apple’s services are inherently terrible; but I also agree with the premise that by not collecting data, other companies may capitalize on Apple’s users in the future thanks to smarter services. I’d love to get more details on what Apple is working on for iCloud analytics.

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Scanbot Adds Todoist Integration→

I love it when two of my favorite apps come together with integrations that speed up and simplify my workflow. Last week, Scanbot – my go-to scanner app for iOS – rolled out a new Todoist integration that lets you scan and save a document as a task.

The feature is explained here, and it’s quite ingenious: tasks are saved with the name of a scanned document, which is also added as an inline attachment inside a task. You can add due dates and times directly from Scanbot, and you can even pick an existing project for automatic upload, which means that as soon as a document is scanned in the app, it’ll be automatically uploaded as a task to a Todoist project.

As I wrote two years ago, I was hoping Scanbot would consider integration with Todoist, and I’m glad it’s out now.

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The Battle to Control Home Automation→


Reuters reports on the on-going battle among Apple, Amazon, and Google for control of the home automation market. The article focuses on the different approaches taken by Apple and Amazon, which are in stark contrast. Reuters explains what’s at stake for Amazon:

The strategic importance of the “connected home” niche looms large: Amazon wants a way to own its customer interactions -mainly shopping online - without an Apple phone or a Google Web browser as an intermediary.

In contrast to Apple’s relatively slow, security-conscious approach to HomeKit, Amazon has lowered the barrier to entry to Echo support, which has given it a lead over Apple in terms of the number of compatible devices, which may be hard to overtake. Yet,

Amazon acknowledges that unlike Apple, it can’t guarantee the security of third-party devices. A company spokeswoman did note that sensitive commands like unlocking doors have an extra layer of security such as a voice-controlled PIN.

Still, it’s not clear whether Apple’s elaborate but slow-to-develop system will have enough advantages to overcome Amazon’s widening lead.

That’s precisely where things get interesting. Amazon’s strategy has captured device manufacturer support faster, but it’s a risky one. One well-publicized, mainstream security scare story could ruin Amazon’s home automation aspirations. At the same time, if that moment never occurs, the Echo’s lead could effectively bury HomeKit.

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MediaPlayer Enhancements in iOS 10.3→

Charles Joseph, developer of Picky, on the enhancements coming to the MediaPlayer framework in iOS 10.3:

I was genuinely surprised and elated to find that yesterday’s iOS 10.3 beta finally adds what looks like proper queuing functionality to MPMusicPlayerController and I excitedly tweeted about it. Scott Edwards asked if I could “explain why that’s important to a non programmer”, so I’m going to try to do that here.

Alternatives to Apple’s Music app (like Picky) need to be able to access and play the user’s iTunes library, unless they’re part of a streaming service (like Spotify) or providing their own syncing and library management and companion apps (quite the tall order). While developers can build incredibly advanced playback functionality with tools like AVFoundation, that’s only possible for an increasingly smaller subset of users’ libraries: only locally downloaded, non-DRMed content — nothing stored in the cloud and nothing downloaded from Apple Music. People are storing more and more of their music in the cloud and expect third-party apps to be able to keep up.

It sounds like Apple is listening to feedback from developers of third-party music players. The changes documented in the iOS 10.3 beta so far don’t address all the concerns Allen Pike covered last year, but it’s a good first step. I’m curious to see how apps will take advantage of the improved API.

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Remaster, Episode 27: The Year Ahead→

Federico and Myke talk about what they’re excited for in 2017.

On the latest episode of Remaster, we also talked about the updated Pokémon Bank online service and considered what might be announced at videogame conferences this year. You can listen here.

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Connected, Episode 126: iPhone ∞→

Federico’s back, Stephen is the Mac mini Spokesperson and Myke needs to buy some stuff.

On this week’s Connected, we also had some interesting discussions about home automation (which Myke likes) and sleep tracking (which Myke doesn’t like – yet). You can listen here.

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The Omni Group’s Year In Review→

Each year, Ken Case of The Omni Group takes a look back at the past year and ahead to what’s coming next for the company’s products. It was a good year for Omni, which released a major update of OmniGraffle for Mac as well as updates to OmniFocus for Mac and iOS and OmniPlan for iOS. The year concluded with OmniGraffle for Mac and OmniPlan for iOS making Apple’s ‘Best of 2016’ list.

In addition to planned updates to OmniGraffle for iOS, OmniOutliner for Mac, and OmniFocus, Ken Case outlined ambitious plans to bring new automation features to its iOS apps with some help from Sal Soghoian, who has been reviewing Omni’s efforts:

In 2016 we scratched the surface with URL automation on iOS, but in 2017 we plan to roll out user automation on iOS in a big way across all our apps with a much richer set of capabilities. This automation support won’t be limited to a simple set of URL primitives; instead, we’re adding support for running JavaScript code: code that has the same level of deep support for manipulating the data in our apps as we’ve previously exposed to AppleScript.

…

We’re also adding support for background scripts which can automatically respond to document edits.

Omni is going further with URL schemes too:

Oh, and did I mention that we’re including support for calling out to other apps by their URL handler? So you’ll be able to tie into the Workflow app and its already great ecosystem of automation. In OmniFocus, imagine the possibilities that open up when you can trigger a workflow just by checking something off!

The prospect of desktop-class automation in The Omni Group’s iOS apps is exciting and right in line with its original vision for the iPad.

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Additional Details on the New App Reviews API→

Apple spoke to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop about its new app reviews API for developers. In addition to the details we previously reported, Apple told The Loop:

Apple is also limiting the amount of times developers can ask customers for reviews. Developers will only be able to bring up the review dialog three times a year. If a customer has rated the app, they will not be prompted again. If a customer has dismissed the review prompt three times, they will not be asked to review the app for another year.

In addition, App Store reviews can be marked as ‘Helpful’ using 3D Touch from an iPhone, which is a first.

These limits strike me as fair and should help prevent the new app reviews API from being abused.

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