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Businessweek Interviews Cook, Ive, and Federighi→

On the launch week of iOS 7, the iPhone 5s, and iPhone 5c, Businessweek scored an interview with Apple’s top executives. The interview doesn’t focus on the new iPhones or thinking behind iOS 7, it’s not very long, and it dwells a bit too much on the implications behind Android’s market share and the old Apple-Microsoft war in the 90s.

But there are some good bits, such as this one:

The line against Apple is that its pace of innovation is off, but Ive and Federighi dismiss that. The two are keen to point out not just new features, but also the deep layers of integration that went into each one. Of the 5S’s fingerprint scanner, Ive says, “there are so many problems that had to be solved to enable one big idea.” Without mentioning competitors (Samsung), it’s clear the two executives think some of what passes for innovation is illusory at best. “We didn’t start opportunistically with 10 bits of technology that we could try to find a use for to add to our features list,” Ive says.

Federighi jumps in: “New? New is easy. Right is hard.”

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Feedly Opens Up API→

From the Feedly blog:

Millions of users depend on their feedly for inspiration, information, and to feed their mind. But one size does not fit all. Individuals have different workflows, different habits, and different devices. In our efforts to evolve feedly from a product to a platform, we have therefore decided to open up the feedly API. Effective immediately, developers are welcome to deliver new applications, experiences, and innovations via the feedly cloud. We feel strongly that this will help to accelerate innovation and better serve our users.

API documentation here. I’m looking forward to playing with this in the next couple of weeks.

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iOS 7 and VoiceOver→

A great overview of Apple’s improvements to VoiceOver (and Accessibility in general) in iOS 7 by Josh de Lioncourt. I am not an Accessibility expert, but I keep hearing from smart people like Josh and Steven that Apple is far ahead than its competitors in this area.

Just by reading through the overview linked above, I was impressed by this tidbit about the Handwriting feature and how it integrates with Safari:

When in web content, such as in Safari, Handwriting mode has yet another use. Write a letter corresponding to a rotor option, and VoiceOver switches to that form of navigation. For example, writing “H” switches to Headings, and two-finger swipes up and down will move you through the headings on the page. Draw an “L”, and now you are navigating links. This will be particularly nice for users who keep a lot of items in their rotor and want a faster way to move through various HTML element types.

The accuracy of the recognition of this mode is superb, and with just a little practice, many users are likely to find they enjoy this form of text entry. Hats off to Apple for incorporating this in such a fluid and intuitive way.

For more on Accessibility, check out Apple’s main webpage, VoiceOver section, and developer page.

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Fraser Speirs On iOS 7’s Web Filtering→

iOS 7 comes with solid additions for education and business users, and Fraser Speirs offers a good explanation of one of them, Web Filtering:

This feature impacts schools at a number of levels. While I don’t think it will allow schools to ditch the filtering on the school network, I think it will allow some relaxation of policy.

For schools that have disabled Safari in favour of some janky third-party filtered browser, it’s now feasible to allow Safari again. Similarly, schools which have implemented policies banning apps with embedded web views, that policy too can be relaxed since the filtering applies there too.

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Apple Posts New “Designed Together” Commercial for iPhone 5c and iOS 7

Alongside the release of iOS 7 and a refresh of the App Store for newly updated iOS 7 apps, Apple has today posted a new commercial for the iPhone 5c and the new OS.

Called “Designed Together”, the commercial focuses on how the design of the iPhone 5c and iOS 7 complement each other in various ways. Apple’s message is that, with the iPhone 5c and iOS 7, the difference between hardware and software has been blurred, much like many aspects of its new operating system. There are playful animations that see iOS 7 features morphing into iPhone 5c hardware, and parts of the iPhone 5c’s colored shell becoming pieces of the iOS 7 interface.

The interplay between hardware and software is something that Apple has been remarking for the past week since the announcement of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, and it’s no surprise that the company is now promoting the idea to the general public through a fun, delightful ad.

You can watch the embedded video below. Read more

Apple Launches “Designed for iOS 7” App Store Section

Following the public launch of iOS 7 earlier today, Apple has now launched a new section on the App Store aimed at showcasing apps that have been redesigned and updated to take advantage of iOS 7.

The section, called “Designed for iOS 7” can be accessed by opening the front page of the App Store on any iOS device. At the moment of writing this, the section collects 45 iPhone and iPad apps that have been updated for iOS 7, including big names like Evernote, TED, and OpenTable, as well as apps from independent developers like Twitterrific, Reeder 2, Pocket Casts 4, and Perfect Weather.

Today, Apple is also promoting individual iOS 7 apps on the front page of the App Store with custom banners and links to other iOS 7-related sections, such as Newsstand apps.

Back in July, I wondered how Apple would promote apps made for iOS 7:

Apple isn’t new to custom sections and features for apps that have been enhanced for new system features, OS releases, or new devices. iOS 7, however, will effectively split the App Store in two: apps that were built before iOS 7, and those from developers who care about supporting this major change. This wouldn’t be a problem if every app on the App Store was updated regularly; unfortunately, cleaning the App Store’s back catalogue isn’t a new topic of discussion – today, there are apps on the Store that haven’t been updated in 2 or 3 years (I found apps last updated in 2008) and that will likely remain unchanged with iOS 7. Does Apple want to treat those “classic” apps in the same way that modern iOS 7 apps should be treated?

Apple isn’t new to custom, curated sections on the App Store, and it’ll be interesting to see how they will continue to promote iOS 7 apps over time and organize search results to highlight apps that have been updated in recent months.

You can view the “Designed for iOS 7” section here. Our coverage of iOS 7-ready apps can be found here. Read more

Instapaper 5.0: Sorting and Filtering Options, Tweaked Interface for iOS 7

The first major update since the app was sold by original founder and developer Marco Arment to Betaworks earlier this year, Instapaper 5.0 has been released today on the App Store as a free update for existing owners of the app. Instapaper 5.0 doesn’t add any new major functionality to the app, which is still largely similar to the version 4.0 that was first released two years ago. Betaworks made the app ready for iOS 7, polished the interface, and added some new minor functionalities that, however, nicely complement the reading experience. I’ve been testing Instapaper for the past week on my iPhone 5 and iPad mini running the iOS 7 GM seed. Read more

Pocket Adds Instant Sync, Improved Reading Experience with iOS 7 Update

Pocket for iOS 7

Pocket for iOS 7

When Read It Later relaunched as Pocket last year, I was intrigued by the service’s focus on allowing users to “save everything for later”. In the months that followed, Pocket received a native Mac app, better browser extensions, deeper integration with iOS apps thanks to a new SDK, and started expanding to more devices and OSes, following Nate Weiner’s original strategy to bring Pocket to as many platforms as possible. Today, Pocket is updating its iOS app to take advantage of iOS 7 and ensuring that content is always available on an iPhone or iPad, even if the app isn’t running. The new Pocket is a good example of developers using the new iOS 7 APIs to enhance existing apps. Read more