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Connected: Don’t Be Scared, Myke. Go On.→

This week Myke and Federico share a potpourri of topics including FlexBright, malware creeping in to BitTorrent clients, Workflow, and rich text. Federico then covers the current state of text editors on iOS.

On this week’s Connected, we also discussed the differences between iOS and OS X for people who like to tinker. 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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Microsoft Builds Evernote Importer for OneNote→

Jason Snell, writing at Six Colors:

Today Microsoft announced a new Evernote importer app that lets you bring your Evernote data into its excellent OneNote application. If you’ve been thinking of leaving Evernote—especially if you’re already paying for Office 365, so you’re paying for OneNote—it’s worth considering.

Unfortunately, the tool currently only runs on Windows. Typical Microsoft. Fortunately, a Mac version is on the way “in the coming months.”

First Apple, now Microsoft. I wonder if Evernote is starting to regret adding the export option.

(I also wonder how much these import solutions are going to impact Evernote, and if they’ll decide to turn exporting off eventually.)

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Alien Blue Update Gifts Pro Users with Four Years of Reddit Gold→

Nice move from Reddit (via MacRumors): if you bought a Pro upgrade for Alien Blue (which was acquired by Reddit in 2014), the latest update will get you a four-year Reddit Gold subscription for free.

I realize that I’m spending quite a bit of time on Reddit each day (some subreddits can be surprisingly civil and informative), but I never really considered the Gold membership. It’s got some intriguing perks.

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Wikipedia’s New Focus on Discovery

For a long time, Articles by Sophiestication Software was my favorite Wikipedia app on iOS. But Articles is showing its age because it hasn’t been updated since September 2013 when developer Sophia Teutschler took a job on the UIKit Frameworks team at Apple.

Wikipedia has had its own official app for years, but for much of that time it wasn’t very good. Apps like Articles filled the gap, presenting a cleaner, better-designed experience. After years of using Articles, I lost track of Wikipedia’s iOS app, but was pleasantly surprised when I downloaded the just-released version 5, which has evolved into a great all-around Wikipedia utility.

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What Slack Is Doing to Our Offices→

Annalee Newitz, writing for Ars Technica, has a great profile of Slack and its impact on virtual offices and team communication:

Working in Slack feels like working at Slack for one simple reason. Henderson and his team built the software for themselves when they were developing the game Glitch with Tiny Speck, a company whose staff was split between San Francisco and Vancouver. “We started with IRC because we needed to chat somehow,” Henderson recalls. “We tried things for collaboration, like having a constant video link or open Skype calls all day. But the thing that was consistent was IRC.”

IRC, or internet relay chat, is a 28-year-old protocol for text-based communication that’s open and incredibly versatile. Henderson and his colleagues built their entire workflow on top of it. They shared game assets, migrated a game server with it, committed code—and, of course, maintained contact with the whole team. When they ceased work on Glitch in 2012, Henderson says, they agreed that they would never work together again without a customized IRC system like what they had at Tiny Speck.

The article goes deep into the possible negative aspects of a “Slack culture” where everything is an emoji reaction or private message. (See also: breaking up with Slack.)

Personally, having a small team that’s scattered around the world (we’d never be able to have physical meetings on a regular basis), I love how Slack’s virtual office enables us to work together every day. But, I recognize some of the concerns shared by Newitz. A recommended read.

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Apple Announces March 21 Media Event

As first reported by John Paczkowski at BuzzFeed, Apple has announced a media event for Monday, March 21, in Cupertino.

In the event invitation (pictured above), Apple says “let us loop you in”, possibly in reference to the fact that the event will be held at the company’s campus at 1 Infinite Loop.

According to recent speculation and rumors, Apple is widely expected to introduce a new “iPhone SE” which will feature a 4-inch display, a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and new bands for the Apple Watch. It is also expected that Apple will likely announce the official release of iOS 9.3, which has been in public beta since January. iOS 9.3 includes a number of new features including Night Shift, improved News and Notes apps, and more advanced tools and features for using iOS devices in education.

The event is also one day before Apple and the Department of Justice will make oral arguments before Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym in the San Bernardino case.

Update: Apple has set up a special page for the event, confirming that it will be streamed live on March 21. The video will be available here.

Sonos CEO on Voice Recognition→

In a blog post discussing layoffs and the evolution of music streaming services, Sonos CEO John MacFarlane included a cryptic final section on voice recognition and Sonos products:

We’re fans of what Amazon has done with Alexa and the Echo product line. Voice recognition isn’t new; today it’s nearly ubiquitous with Siri, OK Google, and Cortana. But the Echo found a sweet spot in the home and will impact how we navigate music, weather, and many, many other things as developers bring new ideas and more content to the Alexa platform.

Alexa/Echo is the first product to really showcase the power of voice control in the home. Its popularity with consumers will accelerate innovation across the entire industry. What is novel today will become standard tomorrow. Here again, Sonos is taking the long view in how best to bring voice-enabled music experiences into the home. Voice is a big change for us, so we’ll invest what’s required to bring it to market in a wonderful way.

I have no idea what MacFarlane is trying to say here – it could be an Echo/Sonos integration on the horizon (possible with a firmware update) or future Sonos hardware with voice tech built in (seems more likely given the overall tone of the post). “Taking the long view in how best to bring voice-enabled music experiences into the home” doesn’t mean much, but I’d love to ask Alexa to play music on my Sonos.

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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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