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Posts in Linked

iOS 8 Now on Over Half of Active iOS Devices→

Juli Clover, writing for MacRumors:

After five and a half weeks of availability, Apple’s iOS 8 operating system is now installed on 52 percent of iOS devices, according to new numbers posted on Apple’s App Store support page for developers.

The number is measured by Apple through App Store stats.

iOS 8 has been, in my personal experience, “difficult” to explain: some of its new features like widgets and extensions are best demonstrated with third-party apps that not everybody has, and additions like Handoff and keyboards aren’t immediately noticeable like a new design. It appears that more people are now upgrading to a new major version of iOS after a few updates, but there are also new iPhones and iPads with iOS 8.1 pre-installed that may have influenced Apple’s statistics.

Still, iOS 8 numbers are going up and that should be good news for app developers, but it doesn’t seem like iOS 7 can be completely left behind yet.

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What Photographers Need to Know About iOS 8.1 and Yosemite→

The new OS X and iOS jive better now than ever before. Both platforms are packed with new features and I’ve only touched on the aspects that are especially significant for photographers. I’m personally most excited about iCloud’s ability to give us access to our image archive at all times and AirDrop between Mac and iPhone.

Photographer Austin Mann (you may have heard of him before) has shared a good collection of tips and tricks for taking pictures and managing files on iOS 8.1 and OS X Yosemite. I’m trying iCloud Photo Library as my main photo management solution, and I’m positively (and surprisingly) impressed so far.

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Connected: An Italian Stephen→

This week, the boys discuss the ever-expanding iPad line and Stephen yells about Yosemite.

This week’s episode of Connected was recorded before I got my iPad Air 2, and it includes some thoughts on moving from the iPad mini to the larger iPad as well as software we’re not seeing from Apple. You can get the episode here.

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distribute()→

Created by Vlambeer (the indie studio behind Apple Design Award winner Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, and other games), distribute() is a new tool to help game developers keep track of a press list. From the website:

distribute() is modelled to save you valuable development hours you’d otherwise have to spend on distributing builds and maintaining press lists. Simply send out a distribute() link for your game to your press contacts, and distribute() will organise all required information into a neatly organised list the system manages and maintains for you. Furthermore, distribute() will simplify numerous public data sources into a simple Reach statistic to help you decide how to prioritise your press strategy for your new release.

There are several interesting ideas in distribute(), but this one struck me as a genius addition:

Verified press contacts help you avoid fake requests from video content creators or people pretending to be from larger websites or YouTube personalities. Verified press contacts are manually vetted and constantly updated to reflect the ever-changing games press landscape. Additionally, distribute() can be set to handle requests from verified accounts automatically, so that you can be sure esteemed members from the press can get access to your game as soon as you flip the switch.

Properly maintaining a press list is hard, especially if you have to focus on other aspects of launching a game on the App Store or other platforms. If you’re a game developer, sign up for the distribute() alpha here. Vlambeer also made presskit(), a free tool to create press pages.

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Twitterrific 5.8 with Share Sheets→

Twitterrific, the popular Twitter client by The Iconfactory, was updated this week with support for native iOS 8 share sheets, a new way to search for users when composing a tweet, and other improvements. I’ve always been impressed by The Iconfactory’s commitment to Twitterrific, so this week I took version 5.8 for a spin.

I like how share sheets have been implemented in the app. Like Tweetbot, you can tap & hold on links in the timeline and you’ll get action and share extensions in exchange for the ability to preview the full URL; you can also share directly from web views. What I like, however, is that you can tap & hold any tweet to instantly show the share sheet and pass its URL to extensions. I often use tweets as todos, and being able to save links to tweets with extensions in Twitterrific is fast, easy, and, overall, nice. Especially on the iPad – where Tweetbot hasn’t been updated and the Twitter app doesn’t support native share sheets – this aspect of Twitterrific is extremely welcome.

Twitterrific 5.8 is available on the App Store.

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Apple Launches TestFlight Beta Testing for Everyone→

After unveiling TestFlight beta testing at WWDC and rolling it out for internal testers a few weeks ago, Apple has today opened up TestFlight beta testing for everyone. From the Developer News website:

You can now invite up to 1,000 testers to beta test your iOS apps by simply sending them an email invitation through iTunes Connect. Once they accept your invitation, testers can install your beta app on their iOS devices, get updated builds, and provide feedback, all within the TestFlight app.

I tried the TestFlight app (released last month), and while it doesn’t have all the features (from a tester’s perspective) of Hockey, it’s nicely integrated with iOS. You can receive push notifications for new beta builds, and beta apps installed from TestFlight get a special orange dot on the Home screen.

As someone who installs dozens of betas every week, I’m excited to see how this works in the real world.

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Maps Connect: Apple’s Tool for Small Businesses to List on Apple Maps→

Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land has a great post that details how small businesses can use Apple’s Maps Connect tool to add their business to the Apple Maps database. It isn’t a completely new feature, as pointed out by Apple Spotlight, but new features have been added and Apple is now actively promoting the feature.

This afternoon Apple notified us of a new self-service portal to add or edit local business listings: Apple Maps Connect. It’s intended for small business owners or their authorized representatives (though not agencies) to be able to quickly and easily add content directly into Apple Maps.

Updates or new listings will show up within a week or could show up more quickly depending on the situation and whether the listing was flagged and/or there’s additional verification required. Beyond this, Apple has additional fraud prevention measures in place but didn’t discuss them extensively.

Sterling’s post has screenshots of the entire process, so if you’re interested I recommend reading it yourself. Also interesting is that as part of Maps Connect, businesses can apply for Apple’s indoor positioning technology which it launched with iOS 8. The website notes that Apple is currently focused on working with those businesses that have annual visitors of over 1 million, WiFi throughout and accurate maps, amongst other things.

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How One Boy With Autism Became BFF With Apple’s Siri→

For most of us, Siri is merely a momentary diversion. But for some, it’s more. My son’s practice conversation with Siri is translating into more facility with actual humans. Yesterday I had the longest conversation with him that I’ve ever had. Admittedly, it was about different species of turtles and whether I preferred the red-eared slider to the diamond-backed terrapin. This might not have been my choice of topic, but it was back and forth, and it followed a logical trajectory. I can promise you that for most of my beautiful son’s 13 years of existence, that has not been the case.

Beautiful story by Judith Newman for The New York Times.

It’s easy to dismiss tech companies as “greedy corporations that only strive to make money”, and in many cases that’s the simple truth. But in other cases, what they make truly has a positive impact on human lives that is far away from mere financial returns. This story about Siri and an autistic boy is a great example.

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