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Origami 2.0 and Origami Live→

Facebook’s mobile prototyping tool, Origami, has been updated to version 2.0 with plenty of new features that include code export, Sketch integration, and an iOS app. Called Origami Live and available for free on the App Store, Origami Live lets designers try prototypes in real time on iOS devices with interactions and animations.

Facebook’s Brandon Walkin writes on Medium:

Origami Live has changed how we design products at Facebook. It lets us interact with our prototypes on an iPhone or iPad while we edit them live. We can quickly try new ideas — using multitouch, device sensors, etc. — and fine-tune them with ease, without writing any code. Then we hand over our device to team members or users and have them try out a high-fidelity prototype that looks and feels like a final product.

And about the new presentation mode in Origami 2.0:

You’re able to go into full screen, show off your prototype in a phone with a hand and a touch point in front of beautiful backgrounds — like a mountain top, subway station, or even a Beyoncé concert. Personally, I’m fond of the one where you’re using your phone on a canoe (but somehow also paddling?). This gets presented all while you’re controlling the prototype with an iPhone or iPad running Origami Live or with your trackpad. If you want to show someone a multitouch or phone rotation interaction, they can use it on the device and the screen will be mirrored live on the TV to the rest of the room so others can see what’s going on.

You can check out Origami here and browse the new examples here.

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Arq for Mac Adds Support for Dropbox Backups→

Arq 4.8 is now available, and it includes support for backing up to your own Dropbox account!

If you already have a Dropbox with 1TB of space, now you can use that space for your Arq backups. The Arq backups go into the folder /Apps/Arq in your Dropbox account.

I’ve always wanted to try Arq and use the space I have in my Dropbox account. The latest Arq adds support for Dropbox backups and it even lets you combine multiple destinations (such as Dropbox + Google Drive or Dropbox + Amazon S3) to have specific files in locations you choose. Version 4.8 is a free update for existing customers.

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Twitter’s Dilemma→

Twitter is two things. It is a concept — everyone in the world connected in real time — that’s so obvious in retrospect that it is impossible to imagine it not existing. It is also a product that has had a rough time living up to that concept.

A good piece by Matthew Panzarino on Twitter’s recent launches and struggles to establish a product that makes sense to new users and investors. I’m curious to see where Twitter takes the service in 2015 – Panzarino mentions a redesign, which could be interesting (especially on iOS).

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Virtual: I Was Sad for the Lack of a Horse→

This week Federico tells his story of setting up his 3DS, Myke bemoans Pokemon Shuffle and they both discuss Majora’s Mask 3D and Alto’s Adventure.

A good show on last week’s Virtual. If you haven’t read it, check out my review of Alto’s Adventure here (and expect more this week). You can listen to the episode here.

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How Japan’s Line App Became a Pop Culture Phenomenon→

When the young people of Tokyo want to go shopping, they head for Harajuku. A fabled wellspring of youth culture, the neighborhood offers international retail chains on its main streets and tiny purveyors of bleeding-edge fashion in its back alleys. On this Saturday morning in mid-December, a throng of extremely excited twentysomething men and women crowd into the grand opening of a 1,700-square-foot shop located across the street from H&M and Forever 21. As they enter the store, they’re greeted by two costumed characters: a deadpan bear and an exuberant

I’ve wanted to understand Line for a while now, and Harry McCracken published an in-depth look at the company today. Fascinating story and impressive ability to turn something “simple” like messaging into wholly different monetization routes.

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Connected: Jony Magic Table→

This week, Myke, Federico and Stephen cover Jony Ive, Project Titan and iOS extensions.

A fun episode of Connected this week, but I’d recommend listening after reading The New Yorker’s profile of Jony Ive and Apple’s design team. You can get the episode here.

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Behind the App→

Today, my friend and co-host Myke Hurley is launching Behind the App, a special series of his podcast Inquisitive focused on app development. From the description of the first episode:

In the first episode of “Behind the App”, a special series of Inquisitive, we take a look at the beginnings of iOS app development, by focusing on the introduction of the iPhone and the App Store.

I’ve seen Myke working on this for the past four months, and I’ve listened to the first episode. Everything about Behind the App is top notch and you won’t find this kind of in-depth tech storytelling anywhere else. The pacing is just right. The story is fascinating. The music is by Brave Wave (seriously). The guests have something useful and relevant to say. The script is well done. I know I’m being impartial when I say that Myke had the right idea at the right time and he’s making the best of it.

As he writes (and he doesn’t write often):

As of today, I have three episodes recorded of the series. I expect it to run for maybe 10-15 episodes, but I’m going to see how that fares as I continue to plough through.

Making these shows has been an incredible amount of work, but I am so proud of them. It’s totally different in style and production to anything I have made before, and I am learning new skills as I progress. I think I’m getting better at it every day too.

I genuinely believe that my last five years in podcasting has taught me all of the base skills that I needed to do this, and ‘Behind the App’ is going to teach me what I need to know for the next five years.

I’m genuinely excited for Myke and the whole team behind this. Grab your podcast app of choice (or use a web browser), listen at whatever speed you like, and wait for the next installments of Behind the App. I know I will.

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‘All About Apple’ Museum Launches Crowdfunding Campaign→

All About Apple, an Italian non-profit organization that’s been operating for over a decade, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for All About Apple Museum, the “most comprehensive” exhibition of Apple and Apple-related products with over 9,000 pieces in its collection. The organization has assembled a team of volunteers and has been granted permission to use a new location in Savona, Italy, and they’re seeking funds to finish the project.

All About Apple has shared a video detailing their goals for the museum (in Italian, with English subtitles).

As seen in the video and campaign page (English version here), All About Apple has been curating pieces that range from classic Macs and NeXT workstations to old Apple marketing material, iPods, accessories, and even Steve Wozniak’s original toolbox from the 70’s.

I didn’t know this organization before, but it sounds like an incredible effort and an interesting project. You can read more about All About Apple here and back the project on Italian crowdfunding platform Eppela.

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Modern Family’s New Episode Takes Place on the Screen of a MacBook Pro→

Here’s something you don’t hear every day: next week’s episode of ABC’s Modern Family will take place entirely on the screen of a MacBook Pro. The Verge writes:

In the Modern Family episode, we’re looking at the computer screen of Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) while she’s waiting at the airport. She’s had a disagreement with her daughter Haley (Sarah Hyland) and can’t reach her, and over the course of the episode Claire jumps across multiple Mac apps and video chats to talk to her family and track Haley down (apparently everyone in the Modern Family universe uses Apple products for convenient FaceTime and iMessage sessions).

The best part, tech-wise, is that the graphics have been entirely recreated manually for resolution needs, forcing the authors to cope with changes in the Yosemite betas.

“I was building the assets for Yosemite back when Yosemite was still in beta,” he said. While it helped ensure the episode wouldn’t feel dated when it finally aired, it also led to the unfortunate situation of Brown finishing up assets, only to have to tweak or swap things around when Apple updated the interface in a new build. “It was frustrating to be like, ‘Act one, totally locked,’ and then come in Monday and hear the FaceTime notification has changed.”

And Re/Code:

The trick was producing footage that would look good (and prove readable) on a giant living-room TV. That required the technical intervention of a post-production team, which worked for months to create a replica of Apple’s OS X “Yosemite” desktop operating system painstakingly updated with every revision to the software.

“Basically, what you’re seeing on screen is all hand-made,” said John Brown, the show’s motion graphics producer, who had previously worked on commercials for the Google+ social network that uses a similar narrative approach.

Modern Family isn’t new to Apple devices. In 2010, before the iPad’s release, the show featured an episode focused on the device and Phil (one of the characters) struggling to get one on launch day.

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