Algorithm-Free Listening for Music Lovers
As noted by MacRumors, Apple has seeded a new build of OS X 10.6.7 to developers earlier today. Build 10J869 doesn’t list known issues and, according to developers, Apple keeps asking to focus on Safari, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers testing.
The seventh beta of 10.6.7 was seeded last week. This leads us to think the final release of the OS update is nearing completion, also considering the small increment in build version number from last week’s beta.
Byword, a new app by Metaclassy, aims at bringing a minimal, focused writing environment to the Mac. The OS X platform isn’t new to this kind of applications that want to take the distraction away from your writing experience: Ommwriter for Mac tried to provide an uncluttered background for your text that, eventually, turned into a distracting experience for many due to the use of sounds and animations; the usual Text Edit, on the other hand, still maintains a strong hold on users with its minimal UI and powerful text editing features. When combined with apps like Think, Text Edit can become the ultimate writing app for the Mac.
Byword, however, wants to step up the game with a really minimal interface made of no toolbars, and just text on a light background. You can run the app in its own window, but Byword is meant for distraction-less fullscreen mode that will feel just right on Lion, but works well on Snow Leopard as well. When you’re writing in Byword, nothing else is on screen. Just you and the cursor. Read more
ScreenFloat by Eternal Storms Software – the same developer behind Flickery for Mac – is a new app released in the Mac App Store last night that allows you to take screenshots that will float above other windows on your Mac. Why would you want to do that, instead of the classic CMD + Shift + 4? Because sometimes information can’t be copied & pasted, and a screenshot is the best you can do to have the information you need a few clicks away. With OS X’ default screenshot-taking capabilities, you’ll still be forced to switch between the main app you’re using (say, the browser or a text editor) and the screenshot you just took, perhaps opened with Preview or Quick Look. So Eternal Storms thought that, when screenshots are the best way to quickly capture information, your Mac should be able to let you easily and quickly take a look at the image. Read more
Popular file manager and FTP / cloud uploader Cyberduck was updated to the long-awaited version 4.0 today, which adds a lot of features for Mac and Windows users. The new version of Cyberduck (not yet available in the Mac App Store, which still reports version 3.8.2 as the latest one) comes with a series of bug fixes and enhancements but, most of all, better Finder integration on OS X and Dropbox support through API.
Finder integration seems very useful as the app puts a new option in the Services menu (contextual menu on right-click) that lets you upload any files to a specific Cyberduck bookmark directly from the Finder. Just choose a file, hit Upload and Cyberduck will ask you where you want to upload it. Besides the Finder, this should work in all apps that supports the Services menu – ironically, you should be able to upload files from Transmit to Cyberduck.
Also interesting is initial Dropbox support to access your files stored in Dropbox without leaving the Cyberduck interface. The implementation in version 4.0, however, is kind of convoluted as it forces you to download a special configuration profile and log in with a developer API (which you need to generate on Dropbox) to grant the app access to your Dropbox files and folders. I wish this Dropbox integration was easier to set up like in many other iOS apps we’ve seen in the past months.
You can read all the details of what’s new in version 4.0 here. Cyberduck is a free download, although donations are recommended.
Earlier today Apple seeded the seventh beta of OS X 10.6.7 (a Snow Leopard update, not Lion) and is available for developers at the Mac Dev Center. The build number is 10J868.
There are no known issues with the build and as has been a similar case with previous betas, Apple is asking developers to focus on Safari, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers.
[Via 9to5 Mac]
If you use the OS X Dock as much as I do, then it’s likely that you’ve always wondered why there’s no easy way to assign a keyboard shortcut for apps placed in the Dock. Snap, a $0.99 app available in the Mac App Store, solves this problem by providing an easy solution to cycle through Dock apps using the keyboard.
Once downloaded, Snap will let you assign numeric shortcuts to Dock apps starting from the Finder and the app right next to it. All you have to do is choose a modifier key that, together with the numbers, will enable you to switch between apps in seconds. The modifier key can be Command, Control, Shift or Option. Personally, I chose Option so I can switch between tabs in Chrome using CMD. If you don’t want to have shortcuts for Dock apps, however, you can also manually pick an app from the “Other” menu and virtually create shortcuts for any app on your Mac.
I like Snap because it’s simple and allows me to quickly open apps using easy to remember shortcuts – always faster than heading over an icon with your mouse cursor. Go download it here.
Two weeks ago I realized I needed a way to send a webpage not only from my Mac browser to an iOS device, but from the iPhone or iPad to my Mac browser as well. The reason is simple: I find an interesting link on my iPhone I don’t want to bookmark or Instapaper, yet I want to simply check out later on the desktop. There’s no easy way to do it. So with the help from a friend and support from my Twitter followers, I created a folder action script for OS X that receives links shared from iOS through Dropbox and opens them in a new tab in the system’s browser. The method still works for me and it’s a really easy (yet powerful) way to save just about any link for later desktop usage, but I saw many had trouble trying to make the script work or integrate it with Dropbox. So here comes an app for that. Read more
After the release of the first Lion developer preview last week, we have seen Apple is bringing several aspects of iOS to the desktop: the Launchpad mimics iOS’ Springboard and folders, gestures allow you to move between apps like in the iOS 4.3 beta, Resume lets Mac OS save the state of apps (window, position, content) even after a logout or restart. We did a little bit of digging in the Lion preview, and we found some files in the Finder’s resources that suggest a direct connection between iOS devices and Lion’s Finder could be coming in the future.
The files, located in the System folder, clearly show iPhone, iPad and iPod touch icons at three different sizes, likely to be used in the Finder’s sidebar. Other icons currently not used by Lion like “Mobile Documents” (first spotted by 9to5mac) are in there as well. While the presence of mobile documents suggests a Dropbox-like functionality for the Finder is coming with MobileMe / iWork.com, we speculate these iOS device icons might be for a future direct connection between iPhones, iPads, iPod touches and the Finder itself.
Basing on pure speculation, we wouldn’t mind seeing Apple implementing the AirDrop functionality (which lets you share files between Macs running Lion with a single drag&drop) for iOS devices as well. Users with a Mac and a nearby iPhone or iPad could drop files into the Finder and instantly share them. A direct iOS-Finder connection opens to many possibilities, though: what about PDFs, photos, mobile downloads, documents coming from apps? Currently, these things are all handled by iTunes. While many users appreciate the comfort of a single application to manage all kinds of media ending up on their iOS devices, there’s no doubt having an iPad accessible in the Finder would be much more convenient for certain tasks like document sorting or sharing. Perhaps with a little bit of cloud integration.
Again, we’re just speculating here – but the icons are there and ready to be implemented in some way through the Lion Finder. There’s an Apple event tomorrow, iOS 5 is rumored to be previewed alongside the iPad 2 – maybe we’ll see what this connection between iOS and the Mac could be about.
Last week, Apple released the first developer preview of Mac OS X Lion. New and improved OS aside, something set apart Lion from the previous beta releases Apple seeded in the past years: Lion needs to be downloaded through the Mac App Store. That’s right: a 3.6 GB download, available for developers in the App Store infrastructure. How did this happen? Well, the how is easily explainable: developers can log in the Dev Center, request a Lion build and a unique promo code is generated. With the promo code, developers can fire up the Mac App Store and start the OS X Lion installer download. The promo code, as an additional security measure to prevent people from sharing it, can only be used once, on a single machine.
While the method is really clever and brings a bit of fresh air to the developer community (no need to have a download in your browser, you can just leave the Mac App Store do its job), this has raised some questions on the future of Apple’s OS downloads for consumers. Namely, some people are speculating the Lion developer preview is clearly pointing to a summer 2011 featuring Mac OS X 10.7 Lion available only in digital format. Apple is killing the CD, and physical Mac OS purchases. Read more
