Getting Started with Workflow→

Speaking of iMore – they asked me to work on a guide to get started with Workflow, which was published today.

Workflow is the Minecraft of iOS productivity: By deeply integrating with native iOS features and apps, Workflow’s hundreds of actions are the building blocks that will help you save time when performing any kind of repetitive task. For both novices and more advanced users, Workflow is a beacon for iOS automation, and there’s nothing else like it on the App Store.

It’s the most powerful app on my iPhone and iPad — I wouldn’t be able to work without it, and, almost two years after its release, I’m still discovering its infinite potential. And, with luck, this article can help you along your Workflow journey, too.

I’m happy with how this turned out. If you’re intimidated by the many features of this amazing app, hopefully this should be a good place to start playing with it.

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Handwriting Recognition with Apple Pencil on iOS→

Serenity Caldwell, writing for iMore, would like to see iOS gaining handwriting recognition at a system level, especially now that iPad users have the Pencil:

There are plenty of reasons why Apple hasn’t yet implemented system-level handwriting recognition in iOS: For one, you need an exceptionally good pen input, and — until the introduction of the Pencil — no third-party stylus had the precision or the lag reduction to be a truly useful tool.

There’s also both the processing power and stigma to consider. Like Siri, handwriting recognition works as a transcription service; in order for it to translate your physical marks into typed characters, however, it needs a substantial dictionary and the power to transcribe your words using your phone’s processor or online servers. That means more cloud infrastructure or more powerful iOS devices — or both — as well as the engineers to craft a smart dictionary.

If Apple does add this to the Notes app – and I believe it would make sense – OCR for images and documents would also be another welcome text-related improvement.

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Facebook Buys Popular MSQRD Face Swapping App→

Alex Heath, reporting for Tech Insider:

Masquerade’s app lets you overlay playful, animated filters over your face using your phone’s selfie camera. The effects range from Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars (right) to a monkey, and they’re fun to play with. You can record video in the app or take a still photo to share on other social networks.

And:

Expect Masquerade’s face swapping filters to show up in the Facebook app eventually.

The social network also plans to keep Masquerade operational as a standalone, free app, as well as integrating its technology into Facebook. The effects join a line of creative tools Facebook has added to its app already, like stickers, finger doodles, and photo filters.

Masquerade built impressive technology for real-time camera manipulation (I also featured the app in a recent collection of MacStories Weekly for Club members). The acquisition makes sense – from anecdotal experience, in the past couple of months I’ve seen a lot of my friends post selfies modified with Masquerade and Face Swap.

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Review: Ulysses 2.5 for iPad and, now, iPhone

Ulysses 2.5 for iPad

Ulysses 2.5 for iPad

Maybe I’m biased because I’m a writer, but when it was announced in 2010, the iPad struck me as a device which could become a great tool for, amongst many things, my craft. A number of good writing apps (and accessories) have appeared in that time, but when I found Ulysses about a year ago, something clicked.

Made by an 11-person team in Germany called The Soulmen, Ulysses is pitched to authors, bloggers, students, and every writer in between. Much more than a typical ‘distraction-free’ Markdown editor that hooks up to Dropbox, I think of Ulysses as a writing environment. It has a full suite of tools including a post-Finder document system, the most thorough Markdown shortcut keyboard I’ve ever seen, the ability to split and merge documents, a unique approach to attachments, and so much more.

I’m writing this review because The Soulmen just released Ulysses 2.5 for iPad, Mac, and, for the first time, iPhone, though I’ll focus on the iOS version for this review. The company told me this is the largest iOS update it’s ever released, and having helped test the beta for the last couple of months and perusing the release notes, I believe it. Surprisingly, not only is this major upgrade that makes the iPad edition universal, it’s free to existing owners.

Ulysses arrives on the iPhone

Ulysses arrives on the iPhone

With the modern maturity of the App Store and no shortage of writing apps with myriad specialties, though, how does a premium app stand out from the crowd?

Let’s find out.

Read more

Igloo: An Intranet You’ll Actually Like [Sponsor]

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Igloo is an intranet you’ll actually like.

Our thanks to Igloo for sponsoring MacStories this week.

On Google’s iOS Apps

MacStories readers and listeners of Connected are no strangers to my criticism towards Google’s Docs suite on iOS. For months, the company has been unable to properly support the iPad Pro and new iOS 9 features, leaving iOS users with an inferior experience riddled with a host of other inconsistencies and bugs.

Earlier today, Google brought native iPad Pro resolution support to their Docs apps – meaning, you’ll no longer have to use stretched out apps with an iPad Air-size keyboard on your iPad Pro. While this is good news (no one likes to use iPad apps in compatibility mode with a stretched UI), the updates lack a fundamental feature of the post-iOS 9 world: multitasking with Slide Over and Split View. Unlike the recently updated Google Photos, Docs, Sheets, and Slides can’t be used alongside other apps on the iPad, which hinders the ability to work more efficiently with Google apps on iOS 9.

Today’s Google app updates highlight a major problem I’ve had with Google’s iOS software in the past year. One of the long-held beliefs in the tech industry is that Google excels at web services, while Apple makes superior native apps. In recent years, though, many have also noted that Google was getting better at making apps faster than Apple was improving at web services. Some have said that Google had built a great ecosystem of iOS apps, even.

Today, Google’s iOS apps are no longer great. They’re mostly okay, and they’re often disappointing in many ways – one of which1 is the unwillingness to recognize that adopting new iOS technologies is an essential step for building solid iOS experiences. The services are still amazing; the apps are too often a downright disappointment.2

No matter the technical reason behind the scenes, a company the size of Google shouldn’t need four months (nine if you count WWDC 2015) to ship a partial compatibility update for iOS 9 and the iPad Pro. Google have only themselves to blame for their lack of attention and failure to deliver modern iOS apps.

  1. I could mention the slowness to adopt iOS 9 across their other apps, or the lack of Picture in Picture and background audio in YouTube, or the many problems with rich text in Google Docs, or the lackluster iOS extension support across all their apps. ↩︎
  2. And for what it’s worth, Apple’s services still leave a lot to be desired, too – especially Siri. ↩︎

iTunes Connect Adds Weekly Analytics Reports

Last night emails were sent to develpers by the App Store team announcing a new iTunes Connect feature – weekly App Analytics email reports. This is a welcome addition to iTunes Connect. I check App Analytics occassionally, especially after a significant app release or marketing push, but getting analytics data on a regular schedule is a nice way to keep on top of analytics more regularly.

You can opt into emailed reports with the link provided in the email you receive from the App Store team, or go to iTunes Connect and opt in under the Users and Rolls section.

You can opt into App Analytics email reports under Users and Roles.

You can opt into App Analytics email reports under Users and Roles.

Canvas, Episode 5: Typing→

On last week’s episode of Canvas, Fraser and I talked about typing on the iOS software keyboard. We covered some tips and tricks to become a better keyboard user on iOS, such as the ability to swipe on keys, tap & hold shortcuts, text replacements, custom keyboards, and more. It’s a good one. You can listen here.

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