iOS 8 App Marketing Checklist→

Is your app ready for iOS 8? Have you updated it and added all the great functionality iOS 8 provides? That sounds great, but what should you do next? There are a few helpful (I hope) tips that I’m going to share.

Solid series of tips by Readdle’s Denys Zhadanov.

I’ll add these:

  • Use Tokens for promo codes;
  • Get in touch with the press early to give them (us) time to properly test apps and prepare coverage;
  • Consider Vine videos as a way to create easily shareable and digestible previews of new features in your app (see);
  • If you’re working on iOS 8 extensions, get in touch with other developers and try to figure out possible bugs together.
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The Hidden Structure of the Apple Keynote→

One of Apple’s most successful products—which rarely gets recognized as such—is made not of aluminum and glass, but of words and pictures. The Apple keynote is the tool the company uses a few times a year to unveil its other products to millions of people.

To understand their hidden structure, Quartz reviewed more than a dozen Apple keynotes, logging and analyzing key elements. Here’s what we found.

Dan Frommer collected interesting data about Apple keynotes over at Quartz. Good preparation for tomorrow.

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Mac Menu Bar Apps→

Ask any Mac power user about their menubar and you’ll get a different list of 5-10 must-have applications and utilities that boost productivity. The menubar is the mission control of a user’s computer, giving them an at-a-glance view of stats and apps that are important to them. The menubar can become so crowded, in fact, that’s there’s a menubar app that collects menubar apps. So meta.

Speaking of OS X features that haven’t been ported to iOS, Zach Hamed published an interesting look at the history of Mac menu bar apps last month.

As his images show, the landscape of menu bar apps is a jungle of different sizes, interfaces, keyboard shortcuts, and colors. It’s no surprise that Apple is setting strict and specific guidelines with iOS 8 widgets – admittedly, the closest thing to menu bar utilities we’ll soon get on our iPhones and iPads.

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The Terminal→

I’ve been using the Unix command line since 1983 and like most software developers, the Terminal app is a permanent fixture in my Dock. Over the years I’ve learned a lot of things that make working in this environment more productive, but even old dogs like me are constantly learning new tricks.

As much as I love them, these long “trick lists” on Stack Overflow have a problem: they’re poorly organized with little narrative describing why you’d want to use a technique. This long homage to the command line is my attempt to remedy that situation.

This is a fantastic collection of Terminal tips and tricks, elegantly narrated by Craig Hockenberry. Being able to do this sort of stuff is one of the things I deeply miss on iOS.

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Marc Newson to Join Apple→

As reported by Vanity Fair, renowned industrial designer Marc Newson is joining Apple:

Designer Marc Newson is joining Apple as part of senior vice president of design Jonathan Ive’s team, the company told VF Daily on Friday.

Ive was quoted in the article saying:

He is extraordinarily talented. We are particularly excited to formalize our collaboration as we enjoy working together so much and have found our partnership so effective.

Newson and Ive had indeed collaborated on a number of projects before, such as items sold at a special auction to raise funds to fight AIDS (including a red Mac Pro). Newson joining Apple is particularly noteworthy as it’s the latest in a series of design and fashion-related hires that suggest Apple’s rumored wearable device should have a strong fashion component.

See also: Vanity Fair’s interview with Ive and Newson in November 2013.

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Apple Updates iTunes Connect Design, Rolls Out TestFlight App

iTunes Connect

iTunes Connect

Last night, Apple launched the redesign of the iTunes Connect developer portal first previewed at WWDC in June. With an iOS 7-inspired design reminiscent of web apps for iCloud.com, the updated iTunes Connect offers developers and content producers easier access to information about items they made available on the iTunes Store and App Store.

One of the most notable announcements at WWDC was Analytics, a new set of data that will allow developers to monitor how users are discovering their apps and using them; new analytics will be opt-in for users, who will be able to decide to share anonymous analytics data or not.

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Withings Announces ‘Home’ Smart HD Camera with HomeKit Support

Withings, makers of popular smart devices such as the Smart Body Analyzer and Pulse activity tracker, announced Home earlier today. Featuring a variety of environmental sensors with field capture of 135 degrees and HD recording up to 1080p, Withings Home will allow users to monitor their home from an iPhone or iPad through a dedicated app, optionally using the Home device as a 2-way video calling solution.

Compatible with iOS 7 and above and carrying support for Bluetooth Low Energy, Withings Home will be capable of detecting motion and alerting users through push notifications sent to the free Monitor app for iOS. According to Withings, Home will recognize different types of activities such as pets moving or a crying child; each time a “noteworthy event” is registered by the camera, a 5-second video and a photo are saved for two days in a user’s Home Diary, where they can be downloaded or kept in the cloud for a longer period of time by purchasing a subscription plan.

In addition to a VOC sensor to measure indoor air quality, Withings confirmed that Home will support HomeKit, a new framework in iOS 8 to access and control smart accessories in a user’s home. Announced at WWDC 2014, HomeKit will let apps discover HomeKit-enabled devices, configure them, and assign them to groups (like “Living room” or “Kitchen”); HomeKit devices will also benefit from Siri integration and a unified API for developers to interact with. Withings Home will also work with IFTTT’s existing Withings channel, which lets Withings products communicate with web services and apps that feature IFTTT integration.

Home will retail at $219.95 and is launching “soon” according to Withings. You can watch a promo video below.

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