Posts in Linked

Motion UI Design Principles→

Great collection of motion patterns in iPhone user interfaces by Grant Liddall (via iOS Dev Weekly and collected from Capptivate):

Steer clear of distracting or even confusing the user with too much animation, Subtlety is key. It should be used to maintain or help focus. Not take it away. Also don’t over elaborate aspects such as screen transitions. This becomes increasingly frustrating to the user over time. Or if they are simply left waiting for what seems like “forever”.

Since iOS 7 came out, I’ve seen developers who failed to acknowledge the new OS’ reliance on context through motion and, on the other end of the spectrum, those who implemented too many heavy-handed transitions and animations that always become gaudy and detrimental to the user experience after a few days. Even Apple is guilty of this with some of the animations throughout the OS.

As usual, it’s hard to balance the abundance of available tools with good design, but the best iOS 7 apps are the ones that meaningfully rely on motion when necessary, not just because it looks good or new.

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The Prompt: Is It Okay To Be Nervous?→

This week, with Myke at the Úll Conference, the Southern one and the Italian one discuss WebObjects, the recent MacBook Air update and OS X’s possible impending redesign before talking about what may be ailing the iPad as a product.

Our pre-WWDC discussion starts with concerns about a possible redesign of OS X, rumored to be on track for a June announcement.

Get the episode here.

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Twitter Experimenting With Mute Feature In iOS App→

Casey Newton, writing at The Verge:

One of the most-requested features for Twitter’s mobile apps may be on the cusp of arriving. Some users of the company’s iOS and Android clients are now seeing an option to mute accounts that they follow, preventing another user’s tweets and retweets from appearing in their timeline. The user remains muted until you manually unmute them. In essence, then, the mute feature works as a kind of stealth unfollow — you won’t be seeing another person’s tweets, but they won’t know that.

Alongside timeline sync and streaming, mute is one of the most popular features of third-party iOS clients such as Tweetbot and Twitterrific. Based on screenshots from people who can see the feature in their Twitter app, it looks like Twitter is experimenting with a simple account-based option; in Tweetbot, you can create complex mute filters for keywords and usernames.

While I don’t see myself moving away from Tweetbot 3 any time soon, I’d certainly welcome a mute button in Twitter for iOS (which I like to use when looking for news).

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One Year of Feed Wrangler→

Feed Wrangler launched a year ago today. David Smith’s RSS service is still my favorite one in the post-Reader era, and I’m glad I decided to support Smith and his vision last year.

Today, Smith has posted his thoughts on the past year and shared initial details on the Feed Wrangler roadmap. You can read them here.

The second year of Feed Wrangler is shaping up to be one with several substantial improvements. The first year necessitated a significant investment and focus in the backend and infrastructure components of the service. The second year should allow me to focus more heavily on the more user visible parts. I have a number of projects I’m actively working on to improve the overall experience of using the service.

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JavaScript Actions In Mr. Reader 3.1→

In an update released last week on the App Store, Mr. Reader has gained the ability to execute JavaScript actions based on individual scripts configurable in the app’s Settings. Developer Oliver Fürniß has documented the app’s new JavaScript integration here.

Mr. Reader already was a versatile and capable feed reader for iPad – notably, the app introduced a customizable Services menu that allowed users to set up their own sharing actions with URL schemes. The new JavaScript actions go a step beyond URL schemes as they enable Mr. Reader to store article information in a variety of new ways such as collections that can be copied to the clipboard.

I’m interested to see what Mr. Reader users will come up with to further extend the app. Mr. Reader has clearly taken the power-user approach for feed reading and management on the iPad, and the app remains a highly recommended purchase at $3.99. In the update, Mr. Reader also received native support for OneNote, Reminders, and improved search.

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Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi To Appear at Code Conference→

Kara Swisher, announcing the appearance of two Apple executives at Re/code’s conference in late May:

While we already have announced a stellar lineup for the first Code Conference — including General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Hollywood mogul Ryan Seacrest — here’s another pair to add to the mix: Top Apple execs Craig Federighi and Eddy Cue.

And:

We are very excited to have both Cue and Federighi at the event to talk about a range of things about the company that remains at the center of the action, especially in the important mobile sector. From the shifting entertainment and communications landscape to the fast-moving wearables space to, well, everything digital, these two play a very important role.

As John Gruber notes, the timing won’t allow Federighi and Cue to share details on the company’s announcements for WWDC. However, interviews with Eddy Cue are rare, and it will be interesting to see the duo address questions by Mossberg, Swisher, and the audience on stage.

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Jack for iTunes Connect→

New app by Christian Beer to compose and upload descriptions for iOS and OS X apps from your Mac to iTunes Connect.

Managing screenshots with drag & drop. Updating localizations without waiting for page loads. Add sale price intervals via a convenient date picker.

Jack uses the iTunes Connect Transporter tool to communicate with Apple’s backend, storing credentials securely in the OS X Keychain. If you’re a developer, Jack makes it easy to add and edit metadata for localization purposes, select pricing tiers, and manage screenshots with drag & drop from the Finder.

There are some limitations, but overall Jack looks like a handy utility to save time when managing app metadata in iTunes Connect. There’s a free trial (limited to 10 days and 2 uploads), and the app is 40% off until the end of April.

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Rdio To Start Offering Higher Quality Streams→

In a post published on their official blog last week, music streaming service Rdio has announced that they’ve started a conversion process to offer their entire catalog in higher quality:

As the initial step in this program, Rdio has begun to convert its entire existing catalog to the AAC format and will deliver 320KbPS as our new standard — without increasing our price. In addition, and as part of our ongoing commitment to the artist community, Rdio will work closely with artists and labels from around the world to continue to raise the bar higher on streaming quality where sufficient network bandwidth exists, and to improve stream delivery in markets around the world where network quality and bandwidth are often inconsistent.

Since its launch, Rdio has always streamed at a highest quality of 192kbps, with variable bitrates for mobile devices. Rdio is the latest music service to start offering 320kbps streams, as both Spotify and Beats Music already provide higher quality to paid subscribers (Beats Music included the option since day one).

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