This Week's Sponsor:

Direct Mail

Professional Email Marketing Built Just for Mac Users

Diet Coda Relaunches as Coda for iOS→

The excellent Diet Coda for iOS (which I first covered three years ago) has been relaunched by Panic as Coda for iOS today, bringing a new iPhone version, support for Panic Sync, and tons of other enhancements that make this a desktop-class text editor and file manager for web developers.

As I noted on Twitter, I’m no developer, but Coda feels exactly like the type of app we need on iOS. A full-featured iOS counterpart – not a “remote” or “companion” app – that brings over features that make sense on iOS and that can be even better because of the portability of an iPhone or iPad. While not everyone will always manage a site completely from iOS, such goal doesn’t sound ridiculous anymore, and I’m glad that Panic has brought Coda back and made it more powerful in the process. Between this and OmniFocus 2.6, it’s been a good week for productivity software on iOS.

Coda for iOS is $9.99, but a free update for old Diet Coda customers. Great deal.

(Please note: the tweet above is sarcastic.)

Permalink

Apple Posts Four New Apple Watch Commercials

Apple has posted four new commercials for the Apple Watch today, showcasing the device’s capabilities for private communication and fitness, as well as a variety of third-party apps for international users. The new commercials follow the same stylistic choices and presentation of the first Apple Watch ads that debuted in April.

In the first two ads, called Closer and Goals, the company demonstrates how it’s possible to stay in touch with others and achieve a healthier, more active lifestyle using Apple Watch. In Closer, Apple Watch use cases include Digital Touch, making phone calls, using the Watch as a remote for music, and even playing games. Rather than showing the Watch as a gadget that absorbs a user’s time and attention, the message is that Apple Watch can bring people closer to each other in new ways.

In Goals, on the other hand, the company shows how the fitness tracking capabilities of Apple Watch can extend beyond workouts. From brisk walks to yoga and even filling the last three minutes of the activity rings with jumping jacks in the bedroom, achieving goals with Apple Watch includes workouts, but it can be more than that. Also in this case, Apple puts the focus on some of the fitness-oriented third-party Watch apps that have been released so far.

Lastly, in the Beijing and Berlin commercials Apple Watch is presented as a travel companion and a useful extension to the iPhone. While Apple has previously marketed the iPhone as a handy device for traveling thanks to its camera, built-in maps, and rich app ecosystem, the Watch is shown as having more or less the same role but in a more discreet and contextual fashion. These two ads are more focused on the story of Apple Watch as an everyday companion, and traveling to another city or country enables the company to easily condense features and apps in 30 seconds.

As I wrote when the first Apple Watch commercials were released:

Notably, the ads never dwell on each example too long, using multiple mini-stories to convey the glanceable, spontaneous, and brief nature of Watch interactions. With simple and elegant ads Apple is saying that the Watch is a device to get out of technology obsession and let apps come to us (and vice versa) only when necessary.

You can watch the ads below or on Apple’s YouTube channel.

Read more

Safari View Controller as Onboarding Tool→

Cluster’s Rizwan Sattar has been playing around with Safari View Controller on iOS 9, and he discovered that it can be used as an onboarding tool to make users sign up for web accounts in apps more easily:

In the past I always worried about building a seamless first-time experience for our users. None of the “magic” solutions felt elegant.

Using a hidden Safari View Controller to help identify your user removes user confusion and makes your app feel magical when users use it for the first time.

The videos show how much of a difference using Safari View Controller for authentication in the background makes compared to existing solutions. Even if the background method used by Sattar stopped working, the automatic login and dismissal flow (second video) seems magic compared to shared web credentials with iCloud Keychain, which is already very useful (I love it, for instance, in Junecloud’s Deliveries). Yet another reason why we should keep an eye on Safari View Controller and hope it’ll be widely adopted on iOS 9.

Permalink

New iPod Benchmarks and Notes→

Over at TechCrunch, Matthew Panzarino was able to run some tests on the newly updated iPod touch. Unsurprisingly, the device appears to be underclocked when compared to the iPhone 6 but has 1 GB of RAM. I noted this morning that the iPod touch would make for a decent test device, but I wonder if performance differences in CPU could be a problem there (I don’t think so – unless there are some graphically intensive apps that really push the A8 to the very limit?).

9to5Mac points out that the iPod touch comes with Bluetooth 4.1 – a first for Apple (the iPhone 6 has Bluetooth 4.0). The updated standard will likely be adopted on new iPhones in the Fall as it has some interesting upgrades for communication between LTE and Bluetooth radios, but it also includes changes for connected “Internet of Things” devices – perhaps Zac has a point when he envisions the iPod as a smart home remote.

Last, we noted this morning that the refreshed iPod nano doesn’t feature an updated user interface to match the post-iOS 7 era of design at Apple. John Gruber has heard the reason why that might be the case, and it’s quite sad.

Permalink

Apple Watch Workouts and Water→

Craig Hockenberry has published an in-depth report on the capabilities of Apple Watch while swimming in the Pacific ocean:

After the watch shipped, I discovered that I wasn’t the only person interested in the watch’s ability to be used during swim workouts. Ray Maker at the DC Rainmaker blog did a series of tests, including diving off a 10 meter (33 foot) platform and 40 meter (130 foot) pressure test. The Apple Watch passed these tests with flying colors, and along with the research below, I was convinced I wouldn’t have any problems. So far, that analysis has proven correct.

I suspect that the watch’s water resistance has been undersold by Apple just like battery life: it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver. Still, it’s a personal decision on whether you want to ignore Apple’s recommendation. You’re not likely to get much sympathy at any subsequent trips to the Genius Bar.

Now that we know the Apple Watch can go in the water, how does it work while submerged?

There’s a lot of interesting data in this post and some good ideas for how controlling workouts on the Watch could be improved in future versions of watchOS. It definitely seems like Apple hasn’t added proper support for swim workouts because they don’t want to advertise the device as being completely waterproof yet.

See also: Dr. Drang on stress corrosion cracking and Apple Watch.

Permalink

Apple Releases New iPod touch, New Colors for Entire iPod Line

Apple this morning released an updated slate of iPods, featuring a big update to the internals of the iPod touch and updated colors for the entire line of iPods. The new iPods are available for purchase now on the Apple Online Store and Apple Retail Stores.

“iPod touch gives customers around the world access to Apple Music, the App Store and iOS, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, starting at just $199,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone, iPod and iOS Product Marketing. “With big advancements like the A8 chip and the 8 megapixel iSight camera, customers can experience next-level gameplay, take even more beautiful photos and enjoy their favorite music, TV shows and movies.”

The iPod touch can now be purchased in space gray, silver, gold, pink, blue, and red. The same new colors are available for the iPod nano and shuffle, also updated today with new colors but without changes in price or tech specs.

The new iPod touch now has an 8 megapixel rear camera, a big increase from the previous 5 megapixel camera. The internals have also been brought up to date with a 64-bit A8 processor and an M8 Motion chip to track steps and elevation. The iPod touch still starts at $199 for a 16 GB device, with the 32 GB model available at $249 and $299 for 64 GB, but there’s also a new 128 GB model for $399. Today’s update to the iPod touch is the first since Apple released the fifth generation iPod touch in October 2012.

Aside from the new colors, the iPod nano and iPod shuffle remain the same feature-wise, including the pre-iOS 7 style icons on the iPod nano. The iPod nano costs $149 and the iPod shuffle costs $49.

Beats 1 Schedule Calendar→

Created by Marc Boquet, this is an unofficial calendar for the schedule of Apple Music’s Beats 1. You can subscribe by visiting the link above on your Mac and iOS device, and then you’ll be able to check the schedule of upcoming shows directly from your calendar app of choice. Obviously, because this is an unofficial calendar, keep in mind that it may be subject to changes and inconsistencies.

Via Zac Cichy, who has been enjoying the ability to view the Beats 1 schedule on his Apple Watch. Handy, indeed.

Permalink