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A Screenshot Is Worth a Thousand Words

OneShot, Screenshot++, and Napkin

OneShot, Screenshot++, and Napkin

The easiest way to make a point about an app is often with a screenshot. This is especially true on Twitter with its 140 character limit, but it is equally true in a wide variety of other contexts. Designers use screenshots to communicate with clients and developers, or create mood boards and Pinterest-style collections that convey a look and style visually. Developers create screenshots to market their apps and writers use them to illustrate ideas for readers.

Regardless of the context, every screenshot is fundamentally about communication. But sometimes, a quick screenshot isn’t enough – you want to call out a feature or perhaps you have so many screenshots you need a tool to manage them. That’s where screenshot apps come in.

Screenshot apps tend to fall into one of two categories: managers and editors. On iOS, screenshot management apps dominate, likely because until Apple added a ‘Screenshots’ album to the Photos app with iOS 9, there was no good way to separate screenshots from snapshots of family and friends. On the Mac there are fewer apps, but their feature sets tend to be deeper.

The screenshot app market intrigues me. Although most apps address one of a couple basic problems, execution varies widely and there are gaps in functionality, especially on iOS. As a result, the screenshot app category is somewhat fragmented, but in a good way, leaving room for interesting solutions from clever developers.

Screenshots serve an important role at MacStories as revealed by the number of Federico’s 2015 must-have apps sprinkled throughout this article.1 After all, any post about apps that you read here is likely to include at least a few screenshots. But what works for MacStories may not serve your needs. Therefore, this article casts a broad net to provide an overview of the top screenshot apps on iOS and Mac and help you find the apps that meet your specific needs.

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VLC Update Adds Support for iOS 9 Split View→

The VLC app for iOS was yesterday updated to version 2.7.0, adding support for a number of iOS 9 features, as 9to5 Mac reported:

The latest update includes an updated watchOS 2 app for Apple Watch users and several new iOS 9 features for iPhone and iPad.

VLC now supports system wide search through Spotlight, Split View for side-by-side apps on the latest iPads, and Touch ID unlocking on iPhones and iPads with fingerprint scanners.

A solid update to VLC, with new features and adding support for iOS 9 and watchOS 2. But I must admit, I was surprised to realize that although they added support for iOS 9’s Split View, VLC still doesn’t work with iOS 9’s Picture in Picture mode.

The initial release notes incorrectly stated that the update added an Apple TV app for VLC – in fact it does not. But the VLC Apple TV app is coming, and soon.

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Pete Souza’s Year on Instagram→

Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer, writing on Medium:

Many followers have inquired about whether a certain photograph is taken with an iPhone or DSLR (digital single lens reflex camera). In choosing the photographs for my year on Instagram, I decided to select only iPhone photographs that were captured in the square format on an iPhone. For many purists, the square format was the original inspiration for Instagram. And I certainly admire those that continue to post only square photos taken with a smart phone.

My approach to my Instagram feed continues to be all square photos are taken with an iPhone, and full-frame horizontals and verticals are taken with a DSLR (usually a Canon 5DMark3, but I’ve also posted some from Sony, Nikon and Leica cameras).

There’s a beauty about Instagram’s original square format – a creativity derived from the boundaries of constraint – that I still see as the purest expression of mobile photography. Some of Souza’s photos are somewhat staged, but the majority of them have taken on the spur of the moment, where a smartphone makes for an excellent storytelling tool. Fantastic shots. I love the last one.

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Re/code: Beatles Coming to Apple Music, Other Streaming Services This Week→

I don’t usually link to rumors, but Peter Kafka’s report on the Beatles coming to Apple Music and other streaming services on Christmas Eve sounds like pretty much a done deal:

You can spend Christmas streaming the Beatles.

The world’s most famous band will finally be available on streaming music services, starting this Thursday, Christmas Eve. And they’ll be available very, very widely: Industry sources say that the Fab Four’s music will be on all of the obvious music services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play and Tidal, as well as some you might not expect, including Amazon’s Prime Music.

Also relevant: Kafka says that you can now stream a big selection of Beatles songs on YouTube, “legally, for free”.

Seems like Thursday is going to be a day we’ll never forget.

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iOS App Icon Colors in 2015→

Hwee-Boon Yar:

I wrote a couple of Ruby scripts and pulled charts from the iOS US app store using RSS feeds from Apple, downloaded the icons and extracted the primary colors used in each icon. I then wrote a Mac app to generate the numbers, charts and tables. The Newsstand category includes apps from several charts and did not have a separate paid app chart so while I have included the data for completeness sake, I wouldn’t be looking at it.

I extract the primary color from each icon and put them loosely into one of these color groups: red, green, blue, black, white and gray. If they are identified as black, white and gray, I look at their secondary color and try to place them into red, green, blue instead where possible (e.g a small, single blue letter on a white background might work better if it’s classified as blue instead of white).

The app icons for each chart are then stacked vertically. The taller a column is, the more commonly that color is used for icons in that chart.

The data was pulled over several days from 16 Dec to 22 Dec 2015.

You may remember a similar research by Stuart Hall from earlier this year. Hwee-Boon Yar’s builds upon it with more details for categories and a full breakdown of distribution of app icons. I’m always fascinated by these studies.

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Facebook Starts Rolling Out Support for Live Photos→

Harry McCracken, writing at FastCompany:

Facebook is announcing that it’s begun introducing support for Live Photos in its app for the iPhone and iPad, allowing users of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to upload Live Photos from their devices. The feature will be available to just a small percentage of members at first, and will gradually roll out to more.

People who are included in the app rollout and who view those photos on an iPhone or iPad running iOS 9 will see the photos you shared as Live Photos. Everybody else—such as those with Android phones, Macs, or Windows PCs—will just see a conventional still picture and be none the wiser.

Facebook follows Tumblr as the second big network to add native support for Live Photos. If only there was also a social network where you could post pictures as quick updates and they could animate in a timeline. That would be nice, I guess.

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#MacStoriesDeals 2015 Holiday Edition: Best Deals for iPhone, iPad, and Mac Apps & Games

Every year, thousands of iOS and OS X software deals are launched for the holidays. At MacStories, we handpick the best deals for iOS and Mac apps and collect them in a single post with links to buy or share discounted products directly. You don’t have to be overwhelmed by app deals; we take care of finding the best stuff for you.

Bookmark this post and come back to find updated deals starting today through next week. Updates will be listed as new entries at the top of each category. For real-time updates, you can find us as @MacStoriesDeals on Twitter.

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SCOTTeVEST – Multi-Pocket Clothing to Carry All of Your Gadgets [Sponsor]

You know the “gadget dance”, that moment of panic when you frantically try to find your smartphone? SCOTTeVEST eliminates that stress.

SCOTTeVEST designs multi-pocket clothing that lets you carry and use all of your gadgets and daily essentials. For over 15 years, SCOTTeVEST has catered to tech lovers by cleverly engineering pockets to balance the load and keep you comfortable while giving you easy access to your electronic devices.

With up to 42 pockets in a single item, you’ll have space for your iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iPod and other gadgets, plus your wallet, keys, sunglasses and more. Their patented Personal Area Network (PAN) solution provides built-in wire management and quick, tangle-free access to your earpiece. Additional features include an attached eyeglass chamois to keep your lenses and screens smudge-free, detachable key holders, and clear touch pockets that let you see and use touch screen devices without removing them from the pockets.

SCOTTeVEST knows that time is your most valuable asset. Their clothing keeps your
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Our thanks to SCOTTeVEST for sponsoring MacStories this week.

My Must-Have iOS Apps, 2015 Edition

Over the past year, I’ve gone all-in with iOS.

Following years of experiments, struggles to switch from a Mac-centric workflow, and encouraging signs of maturity from the platform, I chose to make the iPad my primary computer. I used the iPad Air 2 more than any other iOS device before, and the iPad Pro is filling that role now with great success. After being convinced to give the iPhone 6 Plus a try by a good friend, I realized that a bigger phone was better for my needs, which resulted in an instant 6s Plus purchase a few months ago. The iPhone isn’t only my pocket computer and Twitter machine – it’s my music, my camera (which I used to shoot this video), my portable gaming device, and my stream of living memories thanks to Live Photos.

At this point, I’m only using my MacBook three hours a week to record two podcasts on Skype. Effectively, all my computing – work or entertainment-related – is done on iOS, and I treat my iPhone and iPad with the same care and respect that others would treat their Retina iMacs and Mac Pros. The iPad Pro in particular is the computer that enables me to write and pay the bills. It’s not just a nice thing to have – it’s the tool upon which my livelihood hinges.

It’s not surprising, then, that I’m just as scrupulous when it comes to the apps I choose to get work done. While part of my job is about discovering new apps, such effort isn’t mandated by a shallow pursuit of “new” without merit. I’m constantly on the lookout for tools that can make me faster, produce better content in less time, and approach what I do in different ways. It’s a functional curiosity, not a shtick. The virtuous cycle of finding new apps, trying them, and documenting what trickles down to my daily workflow is at the very foundation of MacStories.

At the end of the year, I always like to take a couple of weeks to look back on the past 12 months and assess the state of my favorite apps. I’ve been doing this in various forms for five years now, but I’ve kept the same criteria in mind: which apps truly help me work from my iPhone and iPad? What are the tools that let me enjoy my devices for personal and professional use as much as possible?

With the increased importance of iOS 9 and the iPad Pro in my life this year and given some growing trends on the App Store, I thought I’d shake things up a little. Instead of having two separate articles for my must-have iPhone and iPad apps, I combined my 50 picks in a single list and organized them in eight categories.

  • Work Essentials
  • Social
  • News
  • Health
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Utilities
  • Photo & Video

I believe this makes sense given that only 7 apps out of 50 are not Universal downloads from the App Store. The vast majority of my favorite apps are available on both the iPhone and iPad and I use them on both platforms; it’s more logical to consider them as single entities.

Below, you’ll find my Must-Have iOS Apps for 2015 – the ones that have been essential for my workflow over the past 12 months. At the end of the list, you’ll also find my App of the Year and two Runners-Up. Each app has been listed with a direct link to its App Store page; wherever possible, I included links to previous MacStories coverage as well.

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