Before I travel, I like to scout out a location to see what’s nearby. I don’t like to have a set schedule, but I do prefer to have a list of a few activities, sights, and restaurants in mind when I arrive somewhere. Modern Atlas, a new Universal app on iOS, is perfect for that. Whether you’re planning a trip, wandering around a new city, or just armchair traveling, Modern Atlas has a wealth of information and stunning photography that’s presented in a beautifully-designed app.
Modern Atlas, Your Travel Companion
1Password Adds Subscription Plan for Individuals
Last year, Agile Bits debuted a 1Password subscription plan for teams, which was followed by a family plan in February. So it only seems natural that today, Agile Bits added a subscription plan for individuals. Dave Teare, Agile Bits’ founder, writing on the company’s blog, lays out the unique features of the $2.99/month subscription:
Our new individual hosted service comes with everything you expect from 1Password, along with these new features:
- Built-in automatic sync across all devices
- Data loss protection
- Web access to your data on 1Password.com
- Item History for restoring deleted or changed items
- Secure Document storage
- Brand new multi-factor security model
In addition, an individual subscription includes 1Password on all platforms (even Android and Windows) and any updates during your subscription period at no additional cost. The main difference between the individual subscription and a family plan is that the individual plan does not include password and document sharing, permission controls, or account recovery for someone who gets locked out of their account.
Although Agile Bits now has three separate 1Password subscription plans, you can still license a copy of each app without signing up for a subscription if you prefer. The Mac app will remain $64.99 and the In-App Purchase that unlocks the Pro features of 1Password for iOS will remain $9.99. If you do decide to sign up for the individual subscription and do so before September 21st, 2016, you get the first six months free.
Agile Bits’ new subscription strikes a good balance. A 1Password.com account is backed by some serious encryption, but even so, not everyone wants to, or can, use a cloud-based sync solution for sensitive data like passwords, so it’s nice to see that you can still be license the apps separately. At roughly $36/year, an individual subscription is a good deal relative to the cost of licensing the apps separately, especially after you account for the unique features the subscription provides, and the fact that the first six months are free if you sign up before September 21st.
App subscriptions are becoming a popular business model because they ensure recurring revenue that helps developers continue to maintain the apps they sell. As a longtime user and fan of 1Password, I’m glad to see Agile Bits moving to what I hope will sustain 1Password over the long term. I’m also happy to see that in implementing a subscription model, Agile Bits has not done so at the expense of providing its customers with choice and a great value. If you are not already using 1Password, I highly recommend you give it a try.
Ulysses 2.6→
Fantastic update to my iOS text editor of choice, Ulysses, released today on the App Store. Version 2.6 adds native WordPress publishing, support for external Dropbox folders, and typewriter/focus mode in the editor, among other features.
I haven’t had enough time to test the beta of Ulysses 2.6 (I’m busy working on a big project in Scrivener), but I want to point out that I’m not going to be switching to Dropbox sync again. Ulysses’ iCloud sync has been rock-solid – I haven’t run into a single data loss/conflict once – and it has the added benefit of supporting notes and images attached to sheets. Dropbox only works with text sheets, and I’ve been relying to the ability to save images inside my text documents for Club MacStories and other app reviews at MacStories. Having image attachments live alongside sheets is what sets Ulysses apart from text editors I’ve used before, and it’s only possible with iCloud.
I’m also going to consider Ulysses’ WordPress publishing instead of my workflow. I like how Ulysses lets me preview a post with custom CSS, and there’s even a way to create linked posts by setting the title at the top of a sheet to a link (it automatically applies a custom field under the hood). It’s incredibly clever, with just the right amount of options to check before publishing.
Ulysses 2.6 is available on the App Store.
Remaster, Episode 15: The Power of Nostalgia→
How do videogame companies use nostalgia to repackage and remaster games for new audiences? Are established and well-loved characters a strength or weakness? And what are the latest hardware rumors on the Nintendo NX?
If you’ve ever felt like nostalgia makes for good business in videogames, the latest Remaster is for you. You can listen here.
Sponsored by:
- Squarespace: Enter offer code INSERTCOIN at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
- Igloo: An intranet you’ll actually like, free for up to 10 people.
Connected, Episode 102: Zwidge→
This week: new iPad keyboards, old ways of listening to music and a lot of emoji talk.
You know those new emoji that Apple added to iOS 10 beta 4 yesterday? There are some interesting details about them that we cover in the latest Connected. You can listen here.
Sponsored by:
- Squarespace: Enter offer code WORLD at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
- Ring: Create a ring of security that starts at your front door. Get $50 off!
- Pingdom: Start monitoring your websites and servers today. Use offer CONNECTED for 20% off.
Localized iPad Pro Smart Keyboards Arrive→
Apple has introduced new Smart Keyboards for the iPad Pro with localized layouts for several languages. According to 9to5Mac, the localized Smart Keyboards include British English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and others. The keyboards are available to fit both the 9.7 and 12.9 inch models of the iPad Pro and are available from Apple’s websites in the countries where the applicable languages are spoken, along with the existing US English version of the keyboards.
Logitech’s CREATE Keyboard for the 9.7” iPad Pro→
Logitech’s CREATE keyboard case, which I reviewed when the 12.9” iPad Pro launched in November, has received a new version for the 9.7” iPad Pro today. Logitech was able to fit all the features of the larger CREATE in this model – it’s a case that protects the front and back of the iPad, it’s got mechanical scissor keys with a full row of iOS-specific shortcuts, and it’s backlit.
Unlike the first CREATE, the 9.7” edition comes with an Apple Pencil holder that will allow you to carry an iPad Pro and a Pencil together with a physical keyboard in one package.
I wasn’t a fan of the original CREATE when it launched, but I feel like a smaller footprint and Pencil support could make the new version a much better deal for 9.7” iPad Pro users.
The new CREATE keyboard case is available today at $129.99 from Logitech’s website.
Instagram Introduces New Stories Feature
Today, Instagram is rolling out a separate feed of photos and videos called Stories, which expire after twenty-four hours, much like Snapchat’s stories feature. Instagram’s Stories, introduced with a post on the company’s blog, adds a separate row of circular avatars to the top of your Instagram feed. According to The Verge’s Casey Newton, who has an in depth look at the new feature and interview with Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s co-founder and CEO:
Each bubble represents an account that you follow on Instagram, and contains every photo and video clip (up to 10 seconds) that they’ve posted to their stories feed within the past day. (The avatars are displayed according to an algorithm that attempts to show your favorite accounts first.) Tap a bubble and their story will open in full screen, advancing automatically with a slick rotating cube effect. Unlike Snapchat, you can tap on the left-hand side of the screen to rewind the feed back to an earlier post.
Unlike the main Instagram feed there are no likes or public comments, but you can tap a photo to send a private message to the user. Privacy settings work the same way as your existing Instagram settings. If you account is private, only your followers will see your Stories. If your account is public, your Stories will be too.
The point of Stories is to get people to use Instagram more often. According to Newton:
Instagram describes its stories product as a way to promote the sharing of moments that don’t meet the higher bar of a traditional Instagram post. But it’s also designed to get people to share more, period. The Information reported in June that the average number of Instagram posts per user declined between 2013 and 2015. Meanwhile, consumption of video alone on Snapchat increased 25 percent between February and April, to 10 billion views a day, according to Bloomberg.
To reinforce the message that Instagram Stories are an informal place to share candid photos with friends, Instagram has added a series of tools to decorate your photos by using a limited set of filters, drawing tools, text and emoji.
It will be interesting to see to what extent Instagram users take to Stories. I know friends who view the relatively low volume of their Instagram feed as a feature of its own because it doesn’t need to be checked as frequently to stay current. I also wonder how well informal stories will co-exist with the more curated, artistic feel of the existing Instagram feed. However, in a world where attention and engagement are the main drivers of social networks, it certainly isn’t surprising that Facebook would take Instagram in this direction. The only question is how many users will follow.
You can watch Instagram’s video introducing Stories below.
Igloo: An Intranet You’ll Actually Like [Sponsor]
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The modern workplace is anywhere with an internet-connected device — and a modern intranet like Igloo works wherever you do.
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Our thanks to Igloo for sponsoring MacStories this week.