Posts in Linked

Getting Safari’s Selection on iPad As HTML With A JavaScript Bookmarklet→

I modified this bookmarklet posted by “Tim Down” on StackOverflow to send selected text from Safari to Drafts as HTML. The result is the following code:

javascript:(function(){var%20h="",s,g,c,i;if(window.getSelection){s=window.getSelection();if(s.rangeCount){c=document.createElement("div");for(i=0;i<s.rangeCount;++i){c.appendChild(s.getRangeAt(i).cloneContents());}h=c.innerHTML}}else%20if((s=document.selection)&&s.type=="Text"){h=s.createRange().htmlText;}window.location='drafts://x-callback-url/create?text='+(h);})()

So let’s say you want to grab the first paragraph in this post. Normally, in Safari for iPad you’d end up with the plain text fetched by window.getSelection:

This is a fantastic report with lots of data points for any developer trying to get their apps featured by Apple. Dave Addey’s highly interactive regional graphs and notes are very well done. Be sure to check out Dave Addey’s other works on his main blog.

As you can see, formatting and hyperlinks have been removed. With the bookmarklet above, you’ll receive the HTML version of the selection – which looks like this. But what’s the point?

My idea was that I wanted to be able to automate the process of capturing rich text from iOS’ Safari; I wanted to achieve the same kind of functionality I have on the Mac, where rich text can be dragged from Safari or Chrome and dropped into Evernote, preserving styles, hyperlinks, and images. I thought that combining HTML output with an Evernote Append action (with the “Send as Markdown HTML” option turned on) would let me receive valid HTML content in Evernote starting from an iOS workflow. And, for the most part, I was right, because the workflow does mostly work.

As it turns out, Evernote is extremely cautious with the HTML tags they accept, and the ones that are supported follow the XHTML guidelines as ENML is a superset of XHTML. This means that my bookmarklet will work for something as simple as selecting a single paragraph, but may easily fail with multiple selections, inline images, complex styles, and so forth. When that will happen, Drafts will return an error when trying to append HTML to Evernote; obviously, this will work just fine with Dropbox, which doesn’t care about the kind of text you’re using in your actions. Even better, this should work very well with Textastic’s just-released update that supports x-callback-url.

I guess the solution would be to build a Pythonista-based converter for Evernote-approved XHTML tags and place it between Safari and Drafts, converting HTML tags Evernote won’t like to compatible ones. If you’re interested, my birthday is August 10.

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The Apps That Get Featured in the App Store→

Over the past few months, I’ve been researching the kinds of apps that get featured on the iOS App Store home page for different countries around the world. I’ve posted my initial findings as an online report with dynamic graphs and analysis.

This is a fantastic report with lots of data points for any developer trying to get their apps featured by Apple. Dave Addey’s highly interactive regional graphs and notes are very well done. Be sure to check out Dave Addey’s other works on his main blog.

The most interesting data point involves free vs. paid apps. It’s not really surprising in hindsight, but there’s a much higher number of apps that were free when they were featured compared to ones that had paid features. The exceptions seem to be books and productivity apps.

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Twitter for iOS Adds DM Sync, Twitter for Mac Updated with Connect Timeline→

In an update released today, Twitter brought direct message sync to its official iOS app. As explained by the company in the release notes, reading a DM in Twitter for iOS will now automatically mark it as read in Twitter for Mac, the Twitter website (both desktop and mobile versions), TweetDeck, and Twitter for Android.

It’s not clear whether DM sync will ever be made available for third-party developers through the API; right now, it’s a nice plus for users who receive several direct messages on a daily basis and use the official Twitter apps. It’ll also be interesting to see if Twitter will eventually consider syncing timeline position across apps – something that third-party apps like Tweetbot and Twitterrific are capable of using solutions like iCloud or Tweet Marker.

Twitter for Mac has also been updated to version 2.3 today, adding a Connect timeline for viewing tweets that have been retweeted or favorited, as well as new followers. Interactions can be viewed with notifications in real time, and the app also supports DM sync.

Last, in a blog post, Twitter details the search improvements they’ve made to simplify user discovery and retrieve new tweets:

For Android, iPhone, iPad and mobile.twitter.com, we’re making more improvements to search results. Now when you search for people on Twitter, you may see an expanded user result that shows a full bio. This account preview makes it easier and faster to find and learn more about the accounts you’re looking for. And if you swipe the preview to the left, you’ll find similar accounts –– for example, if you search for the MLB, you’ll see suggestions for ESPN, Ken Rosenthal, and other MLB-related accounts. Additionally, a new in-app indicator in search results will show you when there are new Tweets for your query, making it easier for you to stay up to date on the latest Twitter conversation.

Twitter 5.8 is available on the App Store; Twitter for Mac 2.3 is available on the Mac App Store.

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Will OS X Mavericks be Free?→

Thomas Brand of Egg Freckles commenting on Mountain Lion’s adoption rate and whether OS X Mavericks will be free following a discussion from the Accidental Tech Podcast:

A free mavericks sounds temping towards encouraging adoption, but I suspect Apple won’t change the price of the next version of OS X. As John points out any price above free can still be seen as an obstacle, and although Apple doesn’t need the money there is no point leaving it on the table. Marco also makes the point that Macs last a lot longer than their iOS counterparts, contributing to the overall Mac user base longer. And until Apple improves the upgrade process so that it is worry-free there will always be a hesitation over upgrading. With automatic application updates on the horizon for the next version of OS X, it appears as if Apple is taking the right steps towards worry-free, zero-cost, operating system updates. Just don’t count on Mavericks catching the wave this time around.

The first Mac I purchased and the Mac I’m still using is a polycarbonate MacBook, a laptop that’s been far surpassed by today’s MacBook Airs, yet still a computer that has plenty of life in it and is certainly capable enough for writing and browsing the net. It’s going to be a five year old computer this year, but I’m not sure if I’m really ready for another big purchase. Lion is the latest OS that will run on my machine, although I’m mostly content with that.

Upgrading an iPhone every two years is easy. It isn’t terribly expensive considering that most of us have two-year contracts and pay a subsidized fee for the phone every two years in the United States. Having the latest iPhone every couple of years, if you care, isn’t difficult when you’re already on a carrier’s schedule. The iOS adoption rate is pretty high because people usually have the latest iPhone or a pretty recent one and iOS software updates are pretty comparable to app updates.

Even upgrading an iPad every year or two isn’t too hard on the wallet when you can turn around and sell last-year’s model on eBay for a decent price. I’m handing down my iPads to my family who wants them or needs them, my first generation iPad still getting plenty of use elsewhere. I imagine iOS 7 will run just fine on my third generation iPad.

Buying a new Mac every couple of years isn’t cheap, and although Apple does the best job by far of having both a well rounded choice of computers and easy to understand configurations, it’s still a tough choice as it’s an investment and not a gadget. I think that’s sometimes hard to get across when we work around developers who want or need the latest Macs to get their jobs done, or other tech journalists who have to have the latest stuff just because, but honestly I think most people purchase a Mac with the intent of using it for a long time. If that means it can’t run the latest version of OS X, oh well I guess.

I think Thomas’ assumptions are correct in that people are generally hesitant to upgrade, more so when the press makes a big deal about the Mac App Store and 3rd party apps, Lion’s and Mountain Lion’s upgrade process, and the lack of real installation media. I wonder if it’s a combination of Windows stigmas for new Mac users and people who just don’t want to mess with something that works. Maybe people don’t understand how easy the upgrade process really is if they’re applicable. I also wonder if people feel there’s any real reason to upgrade Lion or Mountain Lion if they’re on Snow Leopard, provided that there are few visual changes or new and shiny things where people can really see the difference. I’d say the best feature in Mountain Lion is Power Nap, but only select MacBooks can take advantage of it and it’s not something you can really show off. Plus, how much press attention does OS X or new MacBooks get on any given day? iPhones, iPads, and iOS 7 are the hot things right now.

Then there’s the price. I don’t think Mavericks will be free either, but I’m not sure it would matter much either way. I think adoption will stay the pace — people who want to upgrade their Macs will upgrade no matter what. Apple will still have old Macs to contend with, people who fear the process, and people who don’t care as much about staying up to date on their Macs when they’re really not utilizing the Mac App Store and just their web browser and something like iPhoto. If apps like Notes and Reminders and didn’t get a large swath of people to upgrade to Mountain Lion, will people want to upgrade to Mavericks for iBooks and Maps? Especially when Maps got such negative attention in iOS 6? I don’t think they’re killer apps but they’re very to nice to have. I do think that if Mavericks’ power saving features work out and get lots of positive attention from the press, and last generation Macs actually get better battery life as a result, it will be a much more attractive upgrade since that’s a huge benefit. People like me might even finally buy a new Mac as a result.

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Apple’s Poster Celebrating 5 Years of App Store→

Ahead of the App Store’s fifth anniversary on July 10, Apple has sent tech reports a celebrative poster with a timeline of the App Store from 2008 to 2013. The Financial Times’ Tim Bradshaw received a copy and posted a photo (via MacRumors).

Two things stand out to me: Apple’s focus on third-party apps and games in the poster, and how much quicker downloads have been growing in the past year. It’s also nice to see the original Instagram icon in there.

It’ll be interesting to see if Apple will post an interactive “5 Years of App Store” page as they did with iTunes (when they also sent celebrative items to the press).

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“Jobs” Poster Debut→

Moviefone:

“Some see what’s possible, others change what’s possible” are the words sprawled across this exclusive poster for “Jobs,” which features a nearly unrecognizable Ashton Kutcher.

Kutcher is utterly transformed into late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the colorful new poster (below). Sporting Jobs’s signature round-framed glasses and beard, the actor certainly looks the role.

The movie’s poster focuses, unsurprisingly, on Kutcher, whose resemblance to Steve Jobs is almost uncanny in some shots (shown so far). But as I (briefly) argued last week on The Prompt, I worry that, with such a strong visual resemblance, Kutcher’s voice will break the illusion.

 

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Oh Hai→

So ‘Oh Hai’ was the eventual outcome. It makes use of iOS face detection and to address our bugbear, we removed the need to interact directly the photo by including two sliders (one for eyes and the other for the mouth). These enable fine adjustments to be made with a complete and uninterrupted view of the results. The final working version was technically finished after more or less three days of work.

A simple, fun app by ustwo. I tested it over the weekend, and it does exactly one thing, quite well, with a straightforward design. The iOS face detection technology behind it is smart and accurate. Free on the App Store.

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