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Posts tagged with "iOS 8"

View Source 2.0→

I first covered View Source, an action extension to view source code in Safari, soon after the launch of iOS 8:

With iOS 8 extensions, apps like View Source can be possible thanks to direct integration with Safari and access to the DOM. Once enabled in the browser’s share sheet, View Source will bring up a full-screen panel with source code you can read and copy. A share button lets you copy all text to the clipboard, send as email, or choose one from eight themes that include dark backgrounds and lighter styles. All these themes support syntax highlighting – a better visualization than my old scripts that didn’t support highlighting at all.

View Source has been updated with numerous improvements since its first release, and most notably yesterday with the release of version 2.0. View Source now has two Solarized themes, line wrapping is optional, and you can search and highlight any string of text within the extension. Even better, the extension now has a full DOM browser so you can view and navigate to linked assets without leaving Safari. You can also write custom JavaScript and have it executed in the Safari webpage you’re viewing after you dismiss the extension.

If you’re a web developer and work with iOS, View Source has turned into a must-have. It’s $0.99 on the App Store.

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It’s the Storage Space, Stupid→

And speaking of iOS 8 update issues, great points by John Gruber:

This is a serious problem for Apple, because all those 16 GB devices (let alone the 8 GB ones) aren’t going to suddenly gain more free storage space on their own. A lot of these devices might never get updated to iOS 8, but would if the OTA software worked. Unless they can rejigger the OTA software update to require less free space, iOS 8’s adoption rate might lag permanently.

It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: iOS 8’s (upcoming) iCloud Photo Library and new message deletion settings could alleviate storage issues, but upgrading to iOS 8 is still required to use those features.

(It’d be interesting to see Apple porting storage-saving features back to iOS 7.)

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iOS 8 and Normal Users→

I love this post idea by Karan Varindani:

It’s been reported that iOS 8’s adoption has stagnated just two and a half weeks after launch and I’ve been wondering why, so I reached out to a friend who’s pretty much the quintessential normal user and asked for unbiased feedback on iOS 8. To be precise: “What you thought before updating, how quickly you decided to update, what you’ve noticed since, the things you like and don’t like about it, etc.” Here’s the original transcript, followed by my notes.

Note that “normal” isn’t used pejoratively – it simply indicates the way that people who don’t obsess about apps and workflows actually use their devices on a daily basis.

This is a great perspective and Karan’s friend makes some excellent points. Read the transcript, because that’s how most people see iOS 8. No mention of extensions right away, but instead a rumor (Touch ID on a per-app basis); too much free storage required to upgrade; positive comments about the new Messages app; confusion about Recent Contacts and Recently Deleted photos being turned on by default.

I’ve been asked the “So what’s new in iOS 8?” question by friends dozens of times. Most of them couldn’t upgrade immediately due to storage issues and they all asked me about stability and bugs (“Is it like last year?”, they all ask). Some of them know about custom keyboards (“Yes, like the Samsung Galaxy”) and they think widgets are cool but they don’t have many third-party apps that offer them. They have no idea whatsoever about action extensions and Handoff. They all note that audio clips in the Messages app have been “copied” by WhatsApp but they won’t stop using WhatsApp because “it’s faster and works everywhere”.

Make no mistake – they aren’t wrong and they aren’t dumb. They use their iPhones and iPads every day like millions of other people do. iOS 8 is a fantastic upgrade for people who work on iPhones and iPads with lots of productivity apps, but Apple needs to pay attention to the perception most people have of their software.

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iOS 8 Spotlight Search and App Discovery→

Hugh Kimura, writing about the new Spotlight search suggestions for App Store apps in iOS 8:

At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a way to optimize for Spotlight Search. Even searches for the most popular app names and keywords return inconsistent results.

It does help some well established apps. But we need to wait for Apple to refine the algorithm, in order for it to benefit more apps.

With ASO now being an important factor for developers to consider to properly market their apps, it’ll be interesting to see if and how search in Spotlight will evolve. I’m finding it to be much faster and intuitive than App Store search, but its results aren’t consistent.

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Clips Review: Actionable Clipboard Management for iOS 8

When I’m researching an article for MacStories or taking notes for an episode of our shows on my MacBook Air, I have full access to the system clipboard. I can copy a URL, a few bits of text, and perhaps even some images, and, when I’m done, navigate through past clipboard entries and put everything back together in Byword, Evernote, or Google Drive. For over six years, I’ve been using a nifty utility called ClipMenu, but I’ve been playing with Alfred’s clipboard history tool lately and I think I’m going to stick with it.

I’ve never had a clipboard manager on my iPhone or iPad. Clipboard apps existed before, but they were severely limited by the way iOS handled background processes: because an iOS app couldn’t monitor the clipboard in the background all the time, clipboard management utilities such as Pastebot or EverClip had to rely on manual activation and they could run in the background for approximately 10 minutes. After that, they’d stop monitoring the clipboard and you’d have to launch them again.

Clips, developed by Muh Hon Cheng and Lin Junjie (the same folks behind Dispatch), seeks to reinvent clipboard management on iOS by embracing the fact that it can’t replicate the experience of Alfred, LaunchBar, or ClipMenu. Instead, Clips takes advantage of new technologies available in iOS 8 to make it as effortless as possible to save bits of text from anywhere, archive your clipboard, and retrieve it in any app.

Clips is one of the most useful iOS 8 apps I’ve tried in the past couple of months, and it’s become a key piece of my iOS workflow. Rather than mimicking a desktop experience that still can’t happen on iPhones and iPads (even with iOS 8), Clips tries to go back to the underlying problem: how can you shift multiple pieces of information from Point A to Point B with fewer taps and less app-switching?

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iOS 8 Apps I’m Trying This Week

While iOS 8 user adoption may be slowing, the same hasn’t been true for third-party apps. Developers are embracing the new OS with app updates that take advantage of new features such as widgets and extensions, and since the release of iOS 8 last month I’ve been trying dozens of new apps and utilities in my daily workflow.

Some of these apps will turn into full reviews; others will likely be replaced over time. I’ve been having fun exploring the App Store and discovering new software for iOS 8, and I thought it’d be nice to keep documenting what I’m trying. Consider this a follow-up to my earlier post from September 19th.

You can find the list below and our complete iOS 8 coverage here.

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1Password 5.1→

Released today on the App Store, version 5.1 of 1Password brings, in addition to iPhone 6 support, better compatibility with Touch ID and a redesigned security screen.

When I tested 1Password 5 for my review, I noted that Touch ID had been working well for me, but the public release of the app revealed that iOS 8 was prompting for master passwords for many people due to memory constraints and other bugs.

Version 5.1 comes with redesigned settings that better explain how Touch ID authentication works, unify the master password and PIN options, and that also contain an option (in the Advanced section) to enable custom keyboards inside 1Password (they’re turned off by default as they could transmit keystrokes). According to Agile Bits, the implementation of Touch ID is more reliable now and the app should always honor its security settings. That means less master password prompts, unless you restart your device or Touch ID fails.

I continue to be amazed by the fact that 1Password can now be invoked in any app that supports action extensions. If you’re a developer and you’re making apps that handle web logins or other secure data input, consider supporting the 1Password extension. If you’re a 1Password user, get the 5.1 update from the App Store as it brings some welcome bug fixes.

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Keymoji Custom Keyboard Lets You Add Emoji by Typing Their Name

Emoji keyboards have become one of the most popular consequences to Apple offering third-party keyboard replacements in iOS 8. Apple’s default emoji keyboard leaves much to be desired, and developers are finding a new opportunity in being able to give users better input methods for the emoji millions of people use every day. Last week, I covered David Smith’s excellent Emoji++, but I’ve also been enjoying Keymoji, available for free on the App Store.

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Emoji++ Is an Emoji Keyboard That Makes Sense

I wouldn’t consider myself a professional emoji user as Casey Liss, but, like many others, I do use emoji to enrich communications with friends and colleagues on a daily basis. Apple’s Emoji keyboard never made much sense to me: it’s hard to find the right emoji in the keyboard’s questionable category choices and characters are organized in pages that you need to swipe multiple times. I often want to use new emoji I haven’t sent before, and it always feels like I’m playing a guessing game against iOS to remember where the koala or the monkeys are.

Thankfully, Underscore David Smith has accepted the challenge of improving the emoji keyboard and released Emoji++ today, an iOS 8 custom keyboard that makes it easier to find and use emoji.

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