“Handwriting in the digital age.” It was such a claim, along with its feature in Apple’s productivity sale, that drew my attention to Carbo. From reading the app’s description, developers Creaceed seemed confident in the app’s handwriting altering and organization. After spending some time with Carbo and thoroughly enjoying the experience, I now understand their confidence.
Carbo: Digital Storage and Editing for Handwritten Notes
MailButler Adds New Tools to Apple Mail
Like many of Apple’s stock Mac apps, Mail gets the job done without many bells and whistles. That leaves gaps for third-party developers to fill with their own apps and plugins. MailButler does just that – it’s a plugin for Apple Mail from Berlin-based Feingeist Software that adds six tools to Mail that are especially useful if you send a lot of email.
Canvas, Episode 2: Document Providers→
Federico and Fraser go in-depth on the Document Picker and Document Provider system in iOS 9.
In the second episode of Canvas, Fraser and I discussed what is perhaps one of the most underestimated features of iOS 8 and iOS 9 – Document Providers. The document picker is often overlooked, but knowing how (and when) to use it can enhance your iOS workflow to make you save time and better integrate apps with each other.
You can listen to the episode here.
Featured workflows:
Google Paid Apple $1 Billion to Keep Search Bar on iPhone→
Joel Rosenblatt, reporting for Bloomberg:
Google Inc. is paying Apple Inc. a hefty fee to keep its search bar on the iPhone.
Apple received $1 billion from its rival in 2014, according to a transcript of court proceedings from Oracle Corp.’s copyright lawsuit against Google. The search engine giant has an agreement with Apple that gives the iPhone maker a percentage of the revenue Google generates through the Apple device, an attorney for Oracle said at a Jan. 14 hearing in federal court.
It’s not surprising at all that Google is paying Apple for the benefit of being the default search engine on iOS, but this is the first time it has been confirmed, and a dollar figure provided. But it is also an awkward revelation for Apple, which has recently started to more aggressively position itself as the company that protects its user’s privacy. Remember Tim Cook’s note on “Apple’s commitment to your privacy”?
A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.
Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize” the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple.
Apple’s subtle (or perhaps not so subtle) privacy dig at Google looks a bit absurd and hypocritical in light of this court transcript. Apple may not build a profile on its users to sell to advertisers, but it lets Google do that (by default) and then profits from Google’s actions.
Unsurprisingly, Google and Apple weren’t happy about the disclosure by an Oracle attorney and sought to seal and redact the transcript. As Bloomberg reports;
The specific financial terms of Google’s agreement with Apple are highly sensitive to both Google and Apple,” Google said in its Jan. 20 filing. “Both Apple and Google have always treated this information as extremely confidential.”
The transcript vanished without a trace from electronic court records at about 3 p.m. Pacific standard time with no indication that the court ruled on Google’s request to seal it.
Timepage: A Beautiful and Clever Calendar App
Although I’m sure Moleskine has crossed your radar once or twice in the past, it most likely was for its collection of notebooks, diaries, or pencils. But you may be unfamiliar with Moleskine Timepage, a calendar app that is a step away from the traditional Moleskine image. Through some interesting features and a beautiful interface, there’s a good chance that you’ll be keeping Moleskine’s app development division on your radar.
CornerTube for YouTube Picture in Picture on iOS 9
Last week, I wrote about PipTube, a simple utility to watch YouTube videos with Picture in Picture on iOS and send YouTube links to the iOS video player with a widget. Coincidentally, Tiny Whale – developers of Lean and Lively, among other apps – has been working on a similar idea, released today on the App Store: CornerTube.
Apple Opening Europe’s First iOS App Development Center in Naples, Italy→
Interesting announcement from Apple this morning: the company will open the first iOS App Development Center in Europe – the second globally, as noted by VentureBeat – in Naples, Italy:
Apple today announced the creation of Europe’s first iOS App Development Center in Italy, to give students practical skills and training on developing iOS apps for the world’s most innovative and vibrant app ecosystem.
The iOS App Development Center, to be located at a partner institution in Naples, will support teachers and provide a specialized curriculum preparing thousands of future developers to be part of Apple’s thriving developer community. In addition, Apple will work with partners around Italy who deliver developer training to complement this curriculum and create additional opportunities for students. Apple expects to expand this program to other countries around the world.
Details are scarce at this point, but according to Repubblica, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi lauded Apple’s commitment to innovation for “over 600 people” (a figure only Renzi shared) and announced he is going meet with Tim Cook tomorrow to discuss the initiative.
Google’s Second-Class iPad Pro Apps→
Serenity Caldwell, writing for iMore:
Despite receiving several updates in the last few months, Google’s apps haven’t been updated for Apple’s larger tablet. And there’s no hope, as there is with Facebook, of using Google’s in-theory-HTML5-and-therefore-iPad-compliant website: Google’s standard web view on an iPad flat-out punts you to the apps—if the website even correctly detects you have the app installed. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen the websites try and send me to the App Store to open a spreadsheet, when I clearly have Sheets already available.
Trying to request the desktop version of the website won’t work, either: You won’t be able to scroll, or tap on anything that requires a double-click, and any link you do manage to make work will send you right back to the mobile environment.
As I’ve tweeted for the past two months, Google’s suite of Drive apps for iOS is an embarrassment.
Compare Google’s subpar iPad Pro “work” to Microsoft, which was quickly ready for the iPad Pro, iOS 9 multitasking, and Apple Pencil. I’ve switched to Office 365 for my personal spreadsheets and Word documents, and, if the situation doesn’t improve, I’ll consider other solutions for collaborative docs as well.
Logic Pro X: Greg Kurstin with Adele→
Fascinating look behind the scenes of Adele’s 25 album, featuring producer Greg Kurstin, published on Apple’s Logic Pro X mini-site. (via MacRumors)
From the backstory of Hello:
The chords were promising, and Kurstin and Adele were able to write most of the song that day. But they couldn’t finish it. “We tried different choruses, but we didn’t quite nail it,” he says. “And I didn’t know if we ever would. I thought maybe this one was going to end up on the shelf.”
But Kurstin was called back six months later to finish the song. He used Logic Pro X instruments and plug-ins to enhance the bass line and drums. More radically, he lowered the entire song a half step at Adele’s request. “We tried really hard with a bunch of different ideas,” he says. “And we finally got it right.”
Don’t miss the photos and details on Kurstin’s Logic Pro X workflow at the bottom.