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Camera+ Updates with Slow Shutter, Deeper iOS Integration

A mainstay in iPhone photography, Camera+ was left without an update for over half a year – until today. With version 8.0, developers tap tap tap bring together new camera features and deep iOS integration, including:

  • Slow shutter with “ultra-low” ISO, with shutter speeds up to 30 seconds in manual mode and customizable ISO range

  • Import options for the last photo taken or a whole “moment” from Photos

  • Importing from Notification Center Widget, which brings a way to quickly bring a photo to Camera+’s lightbox without the need for launching an app

  • An action extension in the iOS Share Sheet, for sending a photo to Camera+ from “most apps” to start the editing process

  • The What’s New section, an all-new, in-detail summary of everything involved in the latest releases of Camera+.

Merged with the functionality presented in the previous seven versions, Camera+ 8 is the next great chapter in the app’s story – and, by the way, one that is free for current owners.

Those looking to try out Camera+ for the first time can purchase it in the App Store for $2.99.

Google Research Releases Motion Stills→

Yesterday, Google Research released Motion Stills, an app that turns Live Photos into movies or GIFs. There is heavy-duty computing going on behind the scenes to separate the foreground from the background, stabilize the video clip, and loop it, which is one of Google’s strengths. Here is a taste of Google’s explanation:

We pioneered this technology by stabilizing hundreds of millions of videos and creating GIF animations from photo bursts. Our algorithm uses linear programming to compute a virtual camera path that is optimized to recast videos and bursts as if they were filmed using stabilization equipment, yielding a still background or creating cinematic pans to remove shakiness.

There’s much more to what Google is doing to create Motion Stills clips, so I recommend reading Google’s entire post if you’re curious.

Image courtesy of Google.

Image courtesy of Google.

In my limited tests, creating clips was fast and easy, but I also had some trouble with Live Photos not properly displaying in Motion Stills. Occasionally, Motion Stills would seem empty or skip recent Live Photos, showing old ones instead. Hopefully Google will get those issues resolved in a future update because when it works properly, Motion Stills makes fantastic video clips.

Motion Stills is free on the App Store.

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Instagram Adds Basic Extension Support

Tucked away in an update to Instagram described as “Bug fixes and performance improvements” is a share extension that allows you to share photos to Instagram from Apple’s Photos app or any other photo app that supports share extensions. A share extension is a long time coming to Instagram, which previously required you to import photos into Instagram from your Photo Library or take a snapshot or video using Instagram.

Unfortunately, the Instagram share extension’s functionality is limited. All you can do is add a title to the photo you post to Instagram. There is no way to crop your shot, apply filters, tag people, select a location, or select social networks on which to share your photo, all of which are available in the main app. Even so, the addition of a share extension is a welcome addition to Instragram, which received a significant design refresh and new icon last month.

Apple Releases ‘Shot on iPhone’ Videos

Apple released eight short, fifteen-second videos as part of its ‘Shot on iPhone’ series today. The videos highlight each of the seven continents, plus a bonus video set in the sky between North and South America. Each video highlights features of the iPhone camera or effects that can be accomplished in apps like iMovie such as image stabilization, slow motion, reverse playback, and time lapse.

The videos, which you can watch after the break, also feature snippets of an eclectic variety of music.

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Daylite: A Business Productivity App for Mac and iOS [Sponsor]

This week is sponsored by Marketcircle, the developers of Daylite.

Daylite is a business productivity app for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It organizes your contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, emails, projects, and new business opportunities all in one app. What’s special about Daylite is that it links all these things together so get the full picture. Daylite is used by small businesses world-wide in all different industries.

Mark McClung and his team at Starbuck Realty in Denver, Colorado use Daylite to segment customers for marketing campaigns. They also use it to track their sales funnel when selling properties, and to delegate tasks to each other.

Barbora Sablova and her team at Skyform in Slovakia use Daylite in their design studio to organize their clients and projects. Barbora loves that Daylite integrates with Apple Mail so her and her team can link all their client emails to each project. When a client calls, she can quickly see all the emails her team has had with the client, and where they are in the project.

Daylite is a native app so you don’t need an Internet connection to use it. When you do get an Internet connection, it syncs in the cloud across your devices and with your team.

To learn more about Daylite and how it helps businesses to be more productive, visit Marketcircle’s website.

Apple Updates WWDC App for WWDC 2016 with tvOS, iPad Multitasking Support

Apple updated their official WWDC app earlier today in preparation for the upcoming WWDC 2016.

The app, now at version 5.0, has received a new dark icon and a tvOS version to stream and download videos for WWDC 2016 on the big screen. It’s also possible to watch videos from previous conferences from the Apple TV. Live streaming is now possible on iOS and tvOS, and the iPad version also supports iOS 9 multitasking for Split View and Slide Over.

In addition to a dark interface, the update has brought a preliminary list of sessions that developers will be able to attend during the event. As it’s been the case for the past few years, Apple hasn’t included the real names of the sessions yet as they would reveal the company’s announcements beforehand. This year, Apple has opted for Swift-inspired session placeholders such as ourLips = sealedOnThisOneToo and aWatchedPot != boils. The full schedule of every technical session will be announced after the opening keynote on Monday, June 13.

You can get version 5.0 of the WWDC app from the App Store.

Google Adds Find Your Phone Feature for iOS Devices

Google continues to improve and refine its ‘My Account’ features with a service that complements Apple’s ‘Find iPhone’ feature. Google’s ’Find Your Phone’ which has been available for a while for Android phones, allows Google users to:

  • find their iOS device and lock it by redirecting users to iCloud.com;
  • call an iOS device;
  • leave a callback number on an iOS device’s screen;
  • log out of your Google account;
  • contact your mobile carrier; and
  • locate a local lost and found using Google Maps.

To access Find Your Phone, log into your Google ‘My Account’ page on the web or use the Google iOS app on another iOS device.

Apple’s Back to School Promotion Goes Live

Continuing the yearly tradition, Apple’s Back to School sale launched today on Apple.com and in stores. Along with the usual education discounts of $50 for Macs and $20 for iPads, Apple is also including a pair of Beats wireless headphones with every order of either a Mac, iPad Pro, or iPhone.

On the Mac side, buyers have a choice from the selection of Beats Solo2 Wireless On-Ear headphones in 11 colors. Unfortunately, selecting a pair during the checkout process doesn’t display the color in the picture along the side, so make sure to check out how the colors look before choosing.

For both iPad Pro and iPhone, an order comes with one pair of Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless headphones or the equivalent value to be put toward a pair of Solo2 Wireless Headphones. The Powerbeats2 headphones come in 7 options.

If you’ll be taking advantage of this promotion, note that the cost of the Beats will be reflected on the total until checkout. After completing the process, Apple will deduct the price and it will reflect as savings.

This year’s Back to School sale started noticeably earlier than last year’s promotional period – which took place from July 23 to September 18 – and I have to wonder if this promotion is Apple looking to introduce wireless headphones to more people ahead of the iPhone 7 launch. If the iPhone 7 does indeed ship without a headphone jack, this promotion will be a great way to familiarize the public with Bluetooth headphones.

For more information on the discount, head over the the promotion page here.

Update: According to multiple redditors in this thread, Apple will honor the deal even if the computer was purchased within two weeks before the promotion’s launch. Although many people have been able to snag the headphones, be wary – Apple hasn’t released an official policy on this.

Alto’s Adventure Adds Zen Mode and Sharable Gameplay Photos

Alto’s Adventure, one of my all-time favorite iOS games, is getting a couple fantastic features today. The first is a zen mode that lets you play as long as you want without having to restart when you crash. If you fall, you can simply pick yourself up and resume from right where you are. There also aren’t any collectables, removing all of the potentially stress-inducing aspects of the game. It’s just you snowboarding down the mountain and doing tricks. The new mode is accompanied by a soothing new soundtrack that fits well with the more relaxed feel of zen mode.

Alto’s Adventure also adds the ability to take snapshots of gameplay. Pausing the game by tapping the pause button in the lower left hand corner of the screen lets you enter photo mode.1 Once paused, you can pinch, zoom, and pan the scene to frame the shot and then take a snapshot that can be shared using the system share sheet.

Zen mode and the new photo feature enhance Alto’s Adventure by making it even easier to soak in the stunning visuals and soundtrack of the game. As much as I like the new features, though, I like that both are neatly tucked away in the interface so neither interferes with the way the original game works.

Version 1.3 of Alto’s Adventure is a free upgrade to existing customers. New customers can purchase Alto’s Adventure for $3.99 on the App Store.

  1. If you don’t see a pause button, don’t worry, it’s there. The button just fades from view over time. ↩︎