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iOS 6 and Files.app

Rene Ritchie thinks Apple should provide direct document access with iOS 6 through a dedicated Files.app:

A unified document repository, modeled after the existing unified image repository, rounded out with more consistent attachment options, could be the best of all worlds. Users wouldn’t have to remember which folder a document was in, nor which app. They wouldn’t have to jump around to edit or share. Users could simply open any app capable of editing or sharing a certain type of app and go to work.

I agree with the notion that the current Open In, app-based document transfer model of iOS is broken. The simplicity brought by iOS freed average users from the complexities of the filesystem; people who like to get their daily work done with iOS devices, however, miss a unified document filing system. Paradoxically, the “simple” iOS, with its “Open In” menu and multiple copies of the same document, requires people to manually manage more.

In February, I envisioned something similar to Rene’s proposed Files.app solution:

So, I had an idea. I think the same iTunes File Sharing feature would work a lot better as a dedicated, native iCloud app for iOS devices (and maybe the Mac too). After all, if Apple is providing an iTunes-based file management utility for Mac users, why couldn’t they build an app that enabled any third-party iOS app to save and import files from iCloud? This app would be built into the system and allow users to simply collect documents, like iTunes File Sharing. Developers could easily add options to their apps to import files from “iCloud File Sharing” and export files to it. Users would have the same feature set of the existing iTunes File Sharing, only with an interface they are already familiar with, because iCloud File Sharing would resemble the existing file management workflow of iWork for iOS or iCloud.com. The only difference is that it would be integrated on a system level, work with any iOS app, and basically be an extension of the “Open In” menu that already allows apps to communicate with each other through supported file types.

After having tried the latest developer releases of Mountain Lion and putting some more thought on the matter, though, I am not so sure about the centralized repository system anymore. Namely, I am not convinced it should be a separate app.

Rene rightfully compares the possible Files.app to the existing Photos.app for iOS. Files could present document folders the same way Photos displays image albums, and it could have the same systemwide hooks to let other apps access documents from the unified repository. However, there is a difference worth noting: Photos.app gets its contents from a primary, hardware-based component of iOS – the camera. A user takes a picture, it goes into Photos. Same for videos and screenshots – the interaction is simple.

What is a file, though? Is it a text document? RTF or .txt? If so, does Files.app come with preview capabilities for those file types? Or is it about PDFs, .zip archives, folders, and .cbr files? And how do you get documents into Files.app?

Even by only slightly mimicking the Finder, Files.app could reset the past five years of “simple” iOS interactions in one big fell swoop. Photos itself, which is extremely straightforward, is criticized for its file management features. Now imagine that applied to the general concept of “files” with folders, views, sorting options, settings, and previews.

Today, I think what I wrote back in September could make for a better solution: inter-app communication.

Why can’t Apple build an invisible layer that lets Elements edit a text document from Evernote and Pages access the same file?

It turns out, a possible implementation of such layer already exists, but iOS won’t let apps communicate with it. Enter iCloud Documents & Data:

The same interface is available on OS X:

And in Mountain Lion, the standard file-saving dialog has been enhanced with the addition of an iCloud option (image via Macworld):

The design is slightly different since the first Mountain Lion Developer Preview that Macworld reviewed, but the concept has stayed the same throughout betas: Apple apps like TextEdit and Preview can “hold” documents into a special iCloud folder (located under Library/Mobile Documents/appname/Documents on OS X); these documents also show up on iOS under Documents & Data; currently, they are not available on iCloud.com, nor is Mountain Lion’s file-saving UI allowing, say, Preview to easily grab a file from TextEdit’s own iCloud “folder”. However, on Mountain Lion, Apple says that you can get your “existing documents” into iCloud by dragging them from the Finder or “other apps”.

If the system Apple has been putting in place is of any indication, I think enhancing the app-based model with better communication would actually outmatch the possible benefits of a separate Files.app. Documents & Data could become a document picker developers can enable in their apps with an API; because apps register file types they support, Apple wouldn’t have to worry about creating a Files.app capable of previewing every single format out there. GoodReader could open a PDF from Pages’ iCloud, and Pages could later access that same PDF with the changes made by GoodReader.

I am arguing that apps should become their own centralized locations that other apps can access and interact with – without creating duplicate files. Apple can’t provide the basic preview/edit functionalities of Photos for every possible format supported by Files.app, but 600,000 App Store apps might have the solution for that. Rather than creating an additional layer of management – disconnected from apps – iOS 6 could turn the interface already in place into a document picker that gives files their proper meaning: the app they belong to. Only with the addition of inter-app access and “universal save” to avoid duplicates.

Making changes to a single file with a variety of apps is something we do every day on our Macs. On OS X, there’s the Finder that acts as a glue between apps and files. By design, the technical constraints of iOS have turned non-destructive editing into a clunky and confusing experience, as we’ve seen with iPhoto. I am arguing that instead of building a “Files.app” or “Finder for iOS”, Apple could leverage the existing iCloud Documents & Data UI, and rework the iOS architecture to allow for changes to the same document from multiple apps.

The centralized Files.app idea is certainly appealing, but Apple has heavily invested in the app metaphor for the past years, and rather than replacing it with a new layer, I wouldn’t mind seeing it get smarter.

Google Launches Complete Redesign of Search iPhone App

Today, Google launched a major redesign of its official Search app for iPhone, which reaches version 2.0 and is now available on the App Store.

Inspired by the iPad update that was released last year, the new Google Search app for iPhone brings a completely redesigned start screen with options to sign in, search, and access Google apps. A shortcut for settings is available at the top alongside an icon to switch between search results and the search field at any time.

Searches can be performed by typing, or through two new shortcuts for voice and Goggles. These functionalities were already in place, but Google says they are now faster and more accessible thanks to the new interface. Similarly, the standard search results have gone through a major overhaul as well: as you scroll, controls are hidden and results are displayed in full-screen; like on the iPad, results open in a separate panel that you can dismiss at any time with a a single swipe. You can share results via email, open a webpage in Safari, and even search for specific text inside a page. Along the bottom, new tabs for Images, Places, News, and more allow you to easily switch between different types of Google results.

Furthermore, Google has redesigned image results to be displayed in full-screen, and a new Apps tab in the main screen allows you to load Google apps “on the web” or “from your iPhone”. As a side note, the app has also received a slightly redesigned icon, and both the iPhone and iPad version of Search can now save images to the Camera Roll.

Google Search 2.0 is now available on the App Store.

Drafts 1.2 Saves Quick Notes To Evernote, Facebook→

Drafts 1.2 Saves Quick Notes To Evernote, Facebook

Agile Tortoise released version 1.2 of its “quick note-taking” app Drafts today, adding support for Facebook and Evernote. As an Evernote user, the addition is more than welcome, as I now have the possibility of quickly saving a time-stamped note into my account in seconds. Previously, I used FastEver for this functionality. I don’t post to Facebook much, but the integration sounds handy as well:

Like Drafts’ existing twitter features, this update adds the option to post drafts to Facebook. The first time you post you will have to go through an authorization process, allowing Drafts access to your wall – from then on out it’s a simple tap. Those of you that use the Facebook app know, launching it and waiting for it to load to post an update is cumbersome – now you have a quick alternative.

Other improvements in Drafts 1.2 include a new “new draft after success” setting, support for calendar event creation, and integration with OmniFocus notes and Due. These add to the new icon, fixes, and Dropbox support that came in Drafts 1.1.

Drafts is available at $0.99 on the App Store.

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Keyboard Maestro 5.3→

Keyboard Maestro 5.3

I love Keyboard Maestro. It is one of my most used OS X utilities – I use it every day, I rely on it to automate processes and tasks that would take repetitive and tedious clicks and selections otherwise, and my work is ultimately faster and more efficient because of it. I have covered Keyboard Maestro in the past on MacStories, and after using the app for over a year now, it still feels like I’m just getting started with it. Keyboard Maestro offers an infinite amount of possibilities, because it is capable of automating almost every aspect of OS X.

With today’s 5.3 update, Keyboard Maestro gets even more powerful, and adds support for one specific area that is going to dramatically speed-up my workflow once again: image manipulation. From the press release:

Version 5.3 adds a bunch of new Image manipulation actions, allowing you to create new images, flip, rotate, resize, and crop images, composite images, styled text and shapes onto images, display images, get the size of images, and even find the image on the screen. You can also capture the screen or a window to an image, or highlight a location on the screen.

Let alone the other improvements of version 5.3 (here’s the full changelog), let me quickly focus on the image capabilities of the app, as I have set up two new macros that are going to substantially enhance my screenshot-taking duties for the site. Firstly, the image above: taken with Keyboard Maestro, set it to a specific clipboard, modified with the addition of a pre-defined watermark, saved as .png and renamed with (previously copied to clipboard) front window’s file name. Execution time: 1 second.

Then, iPhone screenshots. For iPhone apps, I like to take two screenshots, place them side by side, and generate a single image. Until today, I had to manually drag the image out of Photo Stream (or use Scotty), resize them with Preview, create a new image in Acorn, drop the images in there, adjust their position, and save. I came to the point where the process took less than a minute, but still it required a manual and boring effort on my side. Enter Keyboard Maestro 5.3: I rename the images I need to use “1” and “2”, respectively (“1” goes on the left side); I tell Keyboard Maestro to run an Automator workflow to scale them; Keyboard Maestro creates a blank image in its clipboard, composites files 1 and 2 onto the image at a specific pixel position, and creates a new .png file on my desktop. Like this one. I don’t need to manually switch between apps anymore as everything’s automated, and takes 2 seconds, literally.

Keyboard Maestro has a lot to offer, but that’s up to you. Check out the app’s tour, full documentation, then buy it from Stairways Software for $36.

Update 9/30/2012: Here’s an updated version of the “Combine iPhone screenshots” macro for the new iPhone 5 resolution. (thanks, @PiratXMac)

Update 10/7/2012: A better version of the macro is now available here.

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Review: FontBook for iPad

I’m a typography addict. Since I watched Gary Hustwit’s “Helvetica” documentary film, I constantly follow several type foundries and blogs (of which I consider I Love Typography and Typedia the top-notch sites) to keep myself updated on the latest news and typefaces. Hence after I saw the introduction of FontBook by FontShop (which was recently updated to version 2.1 with a Retina-optimized UI), the app was an instant-buy for me. Finally I can discover new typefaces, designers, and foundries wherever I go, offline, just with my iPad.

I usually discuss an app’s design separately at the end of a post, but FontBook has to be an exception from that, since the app itself is showing perfect use of digital typography and content curation — in no other area of design, content and design are connected as closely as in typography. FontBook is developed by a 10 person team at FontShop, one of the largest and the longstanding typeface resellers on the Internet, founded by renowned Erik Spiekermann in 1989, so it is no real surprise that it executes this need for exact design with pure perfection. Read more

Review: iTV Shows 2

iTV Shows 2 is a handy app for keeping track of your favorite TV shows across all of your iOS devices. It has an improved interface, a slick new icon, local notifications for shows about to air, and it supports iCloud sync just to name a few of its features.

The user interface in iTV Shows 2 is extremely well done; the developers definitely hit the mark with this version of the app because not only is it gorgeous but it is also easy to use and contains all the features one would expect from an app dedicated to informing you about TV shows. To use the app, one needs only to search for (and add) some TV shows to the “My Shows” list. I immediately noticed an improved performance when simply searching for a few TV show titles. iTV Shows 2 definitely seemed snappier and more accurate with its search results. After adding my favorites “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory”, I jumped back to the main screen and noticed the large beautiful icons separating out the shows. These are simply categories to help the user visualize when the TV show is going to air, if it has already aired, or if the next season has yet to announce a specific start date.

Another feature I enjoyed in iTV Shows 2 was the Genius tab which displays TV shows it thinks I might also enjoy watching. It was extremely accurate with its selections, however I am not entirely sure how it derives these suggestions. Perhaps I just enjoy very common and popular TV shows. Some of the shows it suggested that I happen to truly enjoy include “Dexter”, “Breaking Bad”, and “New Girl”. These are very different shows, but the app was spot on suggesting that I check them out.

Other features include a handy calendar view in which you can tap around and view episodes throughout the month. It also supports all of the latest iOS buzz words including universal, Retina Display ready, local notifications, and iCloud synchronization. I know people have come to expect iOS apps to be universal but I still appreciate each developer that decides to essentially give away two apps for the price of one. The iPad app seemed to have all of the love and detail that went in to the iPhone version. The iCloud sync worked flawlessly during my brief test, all of the shows I added while setting up the app on my phone were already added to the iPad version after simply launching the app on the second device.

The only issue I experienced was with the local notifications. I had received my first notification for an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” exactly 1 hour late. I immediately assumed it was a time zone setting issue in the app. Sure enough, I figured out that I had to go in to Settings > Preferences > Time Zone > and enable “Perform correction”. The note by the developers state to only use this setting if the app fails to automatically perform the time zone, so perhaps you readers will experience no issues at all. Other than this small hiccup the first day using iTV Shows 2, it has been very reliable.

I have to admit, at first I questioned whether or not I needed an app to remind myself to watch a TV show since 90 percent of the time I don’t watch TV shows live anyway, I use a DVR or stream the show on a network-connected device. This touches on what I feel is an industry wide shift in how consumers are interested in viewing TV shows – many of which are opting out of standard cable television services in favor of web services like Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video on Demand. I actually have traditional cable service but still subscribe to all three of these services (don’t ask me why), yet I was surprised to find as much value in iTV Shows 2 as I did. My wife and I enjoy watching entire seasons of TV shows at a time so checking off episodes as we watched them was a useful feature. I would be nice if the app eventually added some statistics about the number of TV shows I watch: maybe it could calculate the number hours I spend on TV (I am a statistics geek). Furthermore, I enjoyed the supplied information per show, e.g. what TV shows have seasons coming up, like HBO’s True Blood which is starting soon. iTV Shows 2 even has Twitter integration to share episode details with friends which was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, iTV Shows 2 has a sharp new user interface along with some pretty unique features. It may not be my most used app but it does serve a specific purpose and has definitely earned a permanent spot on my iOS devices.

iTV Shows 2 is available on the App Store for $2.99

MacRumors Posts Leaked Photos Of Alleged Taller iPod touch Panel→

MacRumors Posts Leaked Photos Of Alleged Taller iPod touch Panel

Eric Slivka, reporting for MacRumors:

In line with today’s claims of taller iPhone prototypes with 3.95-inch displays, one of our sources has provided us with images of what are claimed to be new next-generation iOS device parts being carried by a supplier. The most significant of these parts is a claimed front panel from the next-generation iPod touch, with the supplier claiming that the display would be taller than the current model and measure in at 4.1 inches diagonally.

Rumors of Apple gearing up to release a new iPhone with a bigger screen have been extremely persistent, albeit discordant in the past few weeks. Last week, The Wall Street Journal claimed Apple was ordering new screens for an iPhone measuring “at least 4 inches diagonally”; Reuters, on the other hand, said the new iPhone will measure “4 inches from corner to corner”. This morning, 9to5mac published a report claiming that Apple is internally testing an iPhone (codename N41AP) with a bigger, 640 x 1136 screen “very close to a 16:9 screen ratio”.

Of course, rumors of the iPhone getting a screen overhaul are nothing new. Here’s an allegedly leaked part from February 2011; a design document from March 2011; and here’s a report that, back in April 2011, suggested Apple’s “iPhone 5” (that turned out to be the iPhone 4S), would carry a bigger, 3.7-inch screen with a thinner design.

Since last year, we at MacStories have decided to refrain from posting the majority of “reports” and rumors that come out on a weekly basis depicting allegedly leaked parts, codenames, design documents, and theories from people familiar with the matter. Today’s photos from MacRumors, however, provide an interesting point of discussion as they effectively show a “leaked” component, and suggest Apple may be willing to increase the size of all iOS devices, not just the iPhone.

Check out the photos here.

For further discussion on the matter of iOS and bigger screens, check out Dan Provost’s mockups of a 16:9 iPhone, Rene Ritchie’s excellent roundup of possible ramifications for a 4-inch iPhone, and these other mockups from The Verge Forums.

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