Reconsidering Apple’s Default Apps→

Seth Clifford’s post on reconsidering Apple’s default apps on iOS and OS X comes at an interesting time, as I’m also in the (now annual) process of reevaluating which apps I use during the developer beta of iOS.

Something’s changed though–well, two things–in the past few years. I’ve lost my taste for fiddling a little bit, and the default apps Apple ships with its devices have gotten, well, better. Better than other things I could use? Not in all cases. But better… enough. I’ve been increasingly focused on reducing friction in my life, and having a simpler computing experience that works together with its component parts–as much as any multi-device connected computing experience can work without hair-pulling these days.

I go through this stage every year: Apple releases a new beta of iOS, and, for review purposes, I need to know what’s changed in their apps. This usually means that, for a few months, I go back to Mail, Podcasts, Reminders, Calendar, and other apps that gradually get replaced by third-party alternatives as developers release updates for their apps in the Fall. Some of Apple’s apps have stuck with me over the years, like Safari (which I believe is Apple’s best app on iOS); others eventually disappear from my Home screen as they don’t offer the kind of powerful features I think I need.

But as I argued on Connected last night, I wonder if this year will be different. Apple is bringing new exclusive functionality to their apps, such as the ability for Siri to create reminders for anything that’s on the screen (with deep links) and start audio playback depending on your habits, or handy links to create calendar events and update contact cards based on information found in Mail. In the past two weeks, I’ve made an effort to use Apple apps as much as possible, and, while minor, these subtle enhancements do add up. I like that iOS 9 can offer shortcuts gathered from conversations in email, and Reminder’s ability to create todos for any app content is convenient and clever.

Apple’s apps have always gotten better with each iOS release, but I wonder if this year’s additions – most of them featured under the Intelligence banner – will make me reconsider third-party apps I thought I’d never change again. It’ll be interesting to check back once iOS 9 ships.

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iOS 9 and Safari View Controller: The Future of Web Views

For a long time, iOS apps have been able to open links as web views. When you tap a link in a Twitter client, an RSS reader, or a bookmark utility, it usually opens in a mini browser that doesn’t leave the app, providing you with the convenience of not having to switch between Safari and the app. For years, in spite of some security concerns, this worked well and became the de-facto standard among third-party iOS apps.

With iOS 9, Apple wants this to change – and they’re bringing the power of Safari to any app that wants to take advantage of it.

Read more

Connected: I’m Afraid of Snakes→

This week Federico and Myke are joined by David Smith to talk about how WWDC felt for developers, the effect of a public beta for iOS, Reminders on iOS 9, and Taylor Swift.

On this week’s Connected, we take a look at WWDC from a developer’s perspective and I explain why I’m intrigued by the new Reminders features on iOS 9. You can listen here.

Sponsored by:

  • Casper: Because everyone deserves a great night sleep. Get $50 off with the code ‘CONNECTED’
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Lisa Jackson Promoted to Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives→

Lisa Jackson was yesterday promoted to the role of Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple. In a memo to Apple employees, obtained by The Washington Post, Tim Cook writes:

There’s much more to do, not just on the environment, but on other issues we value such as human rights, education, and accessibility of our products to those with physical or developmental challenges. Apple can and will play an important role in each of these areas. Already, we are actively working with 114 schools in the U.S. through our ConnectED program. We are putting more accessibility tools in the hands of our wonderful app developers. And we have made our voice heard on public policy issues that affect us including clean energy and equality. These issues are critical not only to us, but to our customers, our shareholders, and in the communities where we all live and work.

So I’ve asked Lisa to lead our work in these areas and to take on a broader role as vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. Lisa will apply her passion and her unique skill set to integrate teams across Apple and make our impact even greater. As part of her new role, Lisa will also take over management of our worldwide Government Affairs function. Lisa already interacts regularly with governments around the world so she is a natural for this new role leading our public policy teams.

You can read Tim Cook’s full memo at The Washington Post.

Jackson joined Apple two years ago, taking the position of Vice President of Environmental Initiatives after serving as the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for four years. Jackson accompanied Tim Cook and Eddy Cue on a recent trip to China last month.

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iOS 9 Beta Includes New Auto App Delete & Reinstall Feature for OS Updates→

As noted by some users on Twitter today, the just-released second beta of iOS 9 includes an option to delete apps to make room for a software update, with iOS taking care of reinstalling deleted apps once the update is complete.

Here’s Juli Clover, writing for MacRumors:

When attempting to install iOS 9 on a device with insufficient space, there’s a popup that offers to temporarily delete some apps in order to make room for the update. Apps that are deleted are then reinstalled and replaced after the operating system update is completed.

Between this and smaller sizes for apps and updates announced at WWDC, Apple wants to make sure owners of devices with low storage will always have a chance to upgrade to the latest version of iOS. We can only wonder if 16 GB iPhones will ever go away.

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How Apple Could Modernize iMessage→

I don’t usually cover concepts and mockups here at MacStories, but this idea by Michael Steeber is exactly what I’ve been wanting to see in Apple’s Messages app for a long time.

One of the best parts of these inline previews is that they aren’t limited just to the Messages app. The same previews could work in other Apple apps like Mail and Notes, or even in third party apps that support document-style text input. A feature like this, while subtle in implementation, has the potential to save a significant amount of time and remove points of friction in anyone’s workflow.

Steeber has come up with several ideas for inline previews, such as web links and Twitter, but also calendar invitations, documents, notes, and weather conditions.

Here’s what I wrote in my iOS 9 wishes in May:

Messaging services like Slack and Messenger have proven the utility of automatically generating previews for content shared in conversations such as direct links to images, tweets, or web articles. Considering Apple’s integration with Twitter and Safari’s Reader capabilities, I’m surprised they didn’t consider richer previews for content shared over iMessage before. Compared to the aforementioned messaging services, sharing links to web content on iMessage feels primitive, without the context granted by snippets of information embedded directly in a conversation. It’s time for a refresh.

As messaging continues to grow as an interface of its own, it only makes sense to make conversations faster and more contextual by using rich previews of what’s being shared. Considering that Apple is using open standards such as schema.org and Open Graph for rich results in iOS 9’s Search, they could use a similar system to build rich previews in Messages as well.

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NYT Now: Your Guide to the News [Sponsor]

Do you spend too much time searching social feeds looking for reliable news? Never know what’s important and worth reading? Head to the App Store and download NYT Now for free.

NYT Now is the fastest way to get caught up with the news, with headlines and story summaries that get readers caught up quickly. Designed for iPhone and on-the-go consumption, NYT Now offers a selection of the best articles from The New York Times, as well as stories from around the web curated and hand-picked by a team of NYT editors. NYT Now even includes a daily Morning Briefing, designed to prepare you for the day ahead.

I’ve been using version 2.0 of NYT Now for a while now, and I find it to be a fantastic way to find a curated collection of news and interesting articles. The app is completely free with no need to pay a subscription and no cap on the number of articles you can read – it’s free and unlimited.

The app itself has cards that indicate what an article is about and a sharing menu that supports iOS 8 extensions and even the ability to share articles with image previews on Twitter. NYT Now offers a great mix of NYT content and editorial picks from the web: I’ve been discovering and saving articles through NYT Now, and I appreciate the variety and balance of topics and authors presented in the app on a daily basis.

Head to the App Store and download NYT Now or visit nytnow.com to learn more. Remember, it’s now completely free to download and use.

Our thanks to The New York Times for sponsoring MacStories this week.

Apple Will Pay Rights Holders During Free Trial of Apple Music→

Following yesterday’s blog post by Taylor Swift on the free trial of Apple Music, Apple has announced they’ll pay rights holders on a per-stream basis during the three months of free trial of the service.

Peter Kafka spoke with Eddy Cue on the phone, who told him this is a decision he reached with CEO Tim Cook earlier today after Swift’s Tumblr post. Apple will be paying artists during the free trial at a different rate:

Cue says Apple will pay rights holders for the entire three months of the trial period. It can’t be at the same rate that Apple is paying them after free users become subscribers, since Apple is paying out a percentage of revenues once subscribers start paying. Instead, he says, Apple will pay rights holders on a per-stream basis, which he won’t disclose.

As I argued yesterday:

Apple’s terms for the free trial are controversial and I wonder if they could handle this differently. It’s not like Apple doesn’t have the resources to offer a free trial for users and make it up to artists on their own. I think Swift makes a solid argument here.

Good on Apple for reaching a compromise, even if it took the blog post from an influential artist to make this change. Due to the way the music industry is structured, Apple won’t be paying artists directly – but it’s still something and it doesn’t mean free music will be given away by Apple for three months just to promote usage of their service.

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Taylor Swift Criticizes Apple Music for Lack of Artist Compensation in Free Trial Period→

Taylor Swift, writing on her personal blog, criticizes Apple for lacking any sort of artist compensation during the three-month free trial period of Apple Music:

These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.

I realize that Apple is working towards a goal of paid streaming. I think that is beautiful progress. We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out.

This is not the first time Swift has criticized music streaming services with free trials that can’t pay artists enough (or at all). Notably, her latest album, 1989, is only available for digital purchase and has been withdrawn from streaming services – the same will be the case with Apple Music.

Here’s what Swift wrote in an article for the Wall Street Journal last year:

There are many (many) people who predict the downfall of music sales and the irrelevancy of the album as an economic entity. I am not one of them. In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace. Piracy, file sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently.

In a media industry increasingly driven towards free downloads and monetization through other channels, I find Swift’s overall position both sensible and a little too optimistic.

Apple’s terms for the free trial are controversial and I wonder if they could handle this differently. It’s not like Apple doesn’t have the resources to offer a free trial for users and make it up to artists on their own. I think Swift makes a solid argument here.

But I want to touch on the bigger theme as well. Swift is also hoping that an entire generation now accustomed to free YouTube videos and ad-supported streaming will somehow rediscover the lost value of the digital album. Nostalgia can be a powerful selling factor, but, in this case, I’d tend to believe that convenience of free services (or very cheap ones) is a stronger motivation for millions of people.

It sounds sad, but, for many, music has become an easily accessible good with no exclusive value – the money is in concerts and merchandising (basically, emotions and memories that are personal, not online). Ask Nickelback (seriously, read their story). The over 8 million global copies sold by 1989 are sadly an exception these days, and most artists are now rethinking what it means to monetize music at scale. Often, this includes using streaming services and social media to find and nurture future concert-goers.

When even Apple is willing to cannibalize traditional album sales with a cheap streaming service that has a feature to connect artists with fan, you have to wonder if the money really is elsewhere at this point.

If only there could be live shows for app developers too.

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