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Rdio for iOS Update Brings “Song Stations”

In an update released today, Rdio has added a new radio functionality to the service, called “Song Stations”. Once again, Rdio is using The Echo Nest as a backend for stations.

Song Stations can be created through the sharing menu available by tapping & holding on a song; this will launch a new station based on songs from similar and related artists, with unlimited skips and possibility to look at four upcoming songs. Unlike Apple’s recently announced iTunes Radio, Rdio doesn’t let you “vote” on songs that have been automatically selected by the service, and, right now, there doesn’t seem to be an option to save song stations either.

Alongside various UI improvements and fixes, the latest version of Rdio for iOS also contains a new AutoPlay feature to “hear more like what you’ve recently listened to” after the music you’re playing has ended. AutoPlay is available in Rdio’s Stations menu as well (accessible by tapping on the blue Stations link in the Now Playing screen).

Rdio 2.2.1 is available on the App Store.

Quantifying the iTunes Video Store→

Horace Dediu of Asymco writes,

Apple states that the movie download rate is 350k/day. My estimate  was only about 126k/day.

As a result, my new estimate for the rate of spending on iTunes video is about $1.75 billion/yr. This is much more substantial than prior estimates mainly because movies are much more valuable. A tripling of the download rate shows up as a significant rise in the profile of video vis-à-vis the other media types.

Apps, music, and software are still king, but video on demand is still a growing source of revenue for Apple.

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HBO GO, WatchESPN, Sky News, Crunchyroll, and Qello Come to Apple TV

Apple is rolling out new programming with its latest software update, version 5.3, for 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TVs. HBO GO and WatchESPN are now directly available on Apple TV, in addition to Sky News (for US, UK, and Ireland), Crunchyroll, and Qello.

HBO GO and WatchESPN require a cable subscription:

HBO GO users get unlimited access to their favorite HBO shows, including HBO original programming, hit movies, sports, documentaries, comedy specials and more. This includes full seasons of the best of HBO, plus bonus features and special behind-the-scenes extras. HBO GO on Apple TV requires a subscription to HBO through participating television providers.

WatchESPN on Apple TV delivers a one-stop video destination for sports fans with live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line to those who receive ESPN’s networks as part of their video subscription from affiliated providers.

You can learn more about today’s update in Apple’s press release.

The Multiplane Camera→

Manton Reece:

It’s a return to basics. Simple things can remain simple, readable. When clarity is needed, everything goes flat. But it’s a framework that allows for subtle motion and depth without changing what works about the new, content-first flat design. iOS 7’s control center blurs the layer below. The home screen background sits deeper too, as if only the app icons are touching the screen. Photos scroll under the navigation bar.

This is a smart take. Right now, it’s easy to dismiss the new physics and depth of iOS as gimmicks that won’t alter and benefit our daily experience in meaningful ways. But I really do believe that, with APIs for developers, we’ll start seeing interesting new ideas after the summer.

I’d also like to thank Marco Arment for linking to Disney’s explanation of the multiplane camera. The similarities, both in Disney’s description and blueprints, are curious:

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Chatology Review: Flexibits Reinvents Messages.app Search

Chatology for Mac

Chatology’s main window. I only couldn’t buy it because the Store wasn’t available during the beta.

Chatology for Mac

Flexibits, run by Michael Simmons and Kent Sutherland, makes two of my favorite apps. With Fantastical for Mac, released almost two years ago, they removed friction from event creation on OS X through a simple yet powerful menubar app that leveraged natural language processing. Fantastical is the only calendar interface that I interact with on my Mac, as it can send events to configured accounts directly – in the background – without needing Apple’s Calendar. Last November, they brought everything they had learned on the Mac to the iPhone with the release of Fantastical for iOS, a fantastic Calendar replacement with native iOS integration, a gorgeous Day Ticker interface, and advanced features such as a URL scheme and multiple alarms.

With the Fantastical brand, Flexibits has established itself as capable of building apps that use existing Apple technologies to create new, enjoyable experiences that are equally efficient, reliable, and rich in detail. Today, with the release of Chatology, Flexibits aims at supercharging a tough and infamous subject: Messages for Mac. Read more

Sponsor: Drafts

Our thanks to Agile Tortoise for sponsoring MacStories this week with Drafts.

Drafts is the definitive scratchpad for your iPhone or iPad. It’s the fastest way to get any idea out of your head and onto something physical. You don’t have to come up with a title, choose a folder you’re going to save your text in, or even worry about formatting. Drafts intuitively keeps a blank page open for you, and even knows when previous drafts were written so you can recall your ideas later. It can integrate with services like Dropbox and Evernote so you can take your drafts anywhere.

Drafts supports Markdown, a markup language for generating text optimized for the web. And there’s little big things like action templates that makes everything actionable. Ultimately, Drafts can be your idea napkin, or a pro-tool that integrates seamlessly with most apps.

Drafts is available on the App Store. You can grab the iPhone version for $2.99, and the iPad version for $3.99. Learn more about Drafts and other Agile Tortoise apps here.

The iOS 7 Summer

When I launched MacStories in April 2009 I wanted to focus on – as the name implies – Mac apps and the stories of the people who made them and used them. In the summer of 2009, I bought my first iPhone[1], the 3GS. As I started buying iPhone apps[2] and increasingly using the iPhone as a work device, my focus quickly shifted from “a Mac-only site” to “a Mac and iPhone site” for news, reviews, and opinion.

This summer represents the biggest change for my work since July 2009: in just a few months, I’ll be writing articles about iPhone and iPad apps that are based on an operating system that’s radically different from the one that I got to know four years ago, when I bought a 3GS at my local 3 Store and demoed Copy & Paste to my friends. Read more