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Glenn Fleishman On Newsstand For Publishers

Glenn Fleishman, writing for TidBITS:

Put bluntly, Newsstand is a ghetto. Readers complain to me regularly about forgetting to read The Magazine, even though we use iOS notifications for each issue. If readers don’t read immediately and don’t remember to tap the Newsstand icon later, they forget about us entirely.

His article comes in response to Marko Karppinen, who writes:

The segregation of Newsstand apps into the Newsstand folder wasn’t ever a positive aspect of Newsstand, but we were optimistic and thought that perhaps readers would form new habits around it. As an industry, we decided to give it a go. Apart from some early successes, attributable to a first-mover advantage, that was a mistake.

As users, many of us complained about the old Newsstand’s folder nature and the inability to hide the app, but publishers aren’t so happy now that it’s possible with iOS 7. I’m curious to see if more publishers will chime in on this.

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Boxie Review: An Alternative Dropbox Client for Power Users

Boxie for iPhone

Boxie for iPhone

Dropbox is my filesystem. Every file that I need to have available across devices and that doesn’t require the rich text and search capabilities of Evernote goes into my Dropbox account: screenshots that I share with coworkers; PDF copies of my receipts and invoices; articles written in Editorial are stored in Dropbox. Even my photo backup workflow relies on Dropbox as an archival system that’s always in the cloud, readily available and easily shareable. With the Packrat feature, a $39 yearly add-on, I get access to the full history of my deleted files and file revisions, which have saved me on several occasions in the past.

The official Dropbox app for iOS is good, but it’s not great for power users and it hasn’t been substantially enhanced for iOS 7 yet. That’s what Italian developers Matteo Lallone and Gianluca Divisi (together, Tapwings) want to fix with Boxie, a $1.99 third-party Dropbox client for iPhone packed with advanced features and navigation options. I’ve been testing Boxie for the past month, and I think that it’s off to a solid start. Read more



Weather Line Review

Weather Line

Weather Line

I am not a weather nerd. I don’t commute to work[1] and I don’t need to know the percentage of precipitation and humidity for the next three weeks. I spend most of my days in Viterbo and Rome, where the weather isn’t particularly crazy; I never get to try the fancy weather apps with Dark Sky integration and “radars” because those features don’t work here. You may argue that I’m forced to be a casual user of weather apps; I honestly believe that I don’t need to know everything about the weather to have a good day. I don’t travel much, and therefore I rarely need to plan my trips according to weather conditions. I enjoy simple weather apps like Today, Yahoo Weather, and even Apple’s built-in Weather app for iOS 7 because they display all the data I need without overwhelming me with terminology I don’t understand.

This is why I was curious to try Ryan Jones’ Weather Line when he emailed me a few weeks back. His pitch was simple: “I had this idea for a weather app, and I’m great at making charts”. Sure enough, I remembered Jones’ work on the iPad mini “price umbrella” chart from last year, and he seemed confident enough in his app to convince me to try it. Weather Line is available today at $2.99 on the App Store, it’s iPhone-only, and it is one of the nicest and most unique weather apps I’ve tried lately. Read more


Testing The iPhone 5s In Patagonia

This iPhone 5S beats out the 5 in every camera test and in many ways I prefer it to my DSLR. Sure it has its pros & cons… but for the first time ever, I didn’t bring my Canon 1DX and I didn’t regret it one bit. That’s saying a lot.

Austin Mann (via Shawn Blanc) went to Patagonia to properly test the new iPhone 5s camera, and he came back with some amazing photos and videos. Even better, he provides explanations and comparison shots between the iPhone 5 and 5s, showing how the 5s takes better pictures better suited for processing. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to take pictures as good as Austin’s, but the fact that Apple is hiding complex technology behind the software gives me hope that, when I’ll get my 5s, I’ll enjoy features like SloMo and better Panoramas without having to care about their settings.

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A Ship In Troubled Waters

Ben Kuchera:

These numbers should serve to show you the power and nearly limitless earning potential of Nintendo franchises, and this is why you should never take anyone seriously when they suggest that Nintendo games should come to iOS or Android devices as a way to boost revenue. Anyone who thinks Nintendo would be better off selling $3 versions of games that now move 10 million units at $40, often selling multiple copies to the same family, is insane.

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YouTube 2.2

The official YouTube app for iOS received an update earlier today. You can now choose the quality of videos you want to stream (tap the new icon on the video player); unfortunately, after two months, the app still isn’t built for iOS 7.

Previously, YouTube announced that an update set to be released in November will add a new feature to download videos for offline watching.

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Terminology 3 Review

Less popular than Drafts but equally impressive in terms of functionality and inter-app communication, Greg Pierce’s Terminology, a dictionary and thesaurus app for iOS, is relaunching today for iOS 7 with a new Universal app that adds sync, configurable actions, and a redesign that matches iOS’ new general aesthetic. I have been testing Terminology 3 for the past few months, and this new version holds up to expectations by honoring Terminology’s tradition of simplicity and bringing powerful new features.

We first reviewed Terminology in 2010, when it was an iPad-only app that already showed how developer Greg Pierce wanted to focus on words and definitions rather than heavily custom graphics and fancy effects. A few months after the iPad version, Pierce released a standalone iPhone version, called Terminology Ph, that carried all the features of the tablet counterpart onto the smaller screen; a year after version 1.0, Terminology 2.0 was released, refining the user interface and adding new app integrations. Throughout 2011, 2012, and the better part of this year, Pierce maintained Terminology with compatibilty updates but otherwise focused on Drafts, which, as MacStories readers know, has contributed to redefining iOS automation and the idea of a “quick notepad” for iOS.

The new Terminology represents a break from the past, fully embracing iOS 7’s new design philosophy and offering customers an easier purchase experience with a Universal version. As a new app, you will have to buy Terminology again – something that is perfectly acceptable after three years of usage of the same app. Read more


Nike+ Move App For the iPhone 5S to Arrive on November 6th

Announced alongside the new Fuelband SE was an update to Nike+ Running, and the new Nike+ Move app which Phil Schiller showed off during September’s iPhone 5c + 5s Keynote. The Nike+ Move running app is a sort of “Fuelband lite”, being previously detailed by Engadget as being an introductory experience into the Nike+ ecosystem. From today’s press release:

Nike+ Move App

Launched by Apple at their recent event, the Nike+ Move App is an introductory NikeFuel experience for iPhone 5S users. Nike+ Move measures when, where and how you moved and uses NikeFuel to motivate you. Nike+ Move then lets you compare your movement with that of your friends or other Nike+ Move users around you.

The Nike+ Move app will be free to download on the App Store.

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