Category: Apps

Here are some Overcast-related headlines that I’ve been workshopping:

• Overcast: Cloudy with a chance of podcasts
• Finally.
• Overcast rains on Instacast’s parade
• Orange you glad Overcast is out?
• Overcast: The BMW of podcast clients
• BREAKING: Overcast does support shows on networks
• Overcast beats Fast Text for iOS 7 to release
• Something Something Accidental

Joking aside, Overcast is great. It’s been on the home screen of my iPhone from the very first beta, and even though it isn’t as full-featured as some of the competition, it’s a real winner. The app’s Smart Speed feature which dynamically shortens silences, which has saved me over five hours of time over the last few months. Overcast actually makes you younger.

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This week marks the sixth anniversary of the App Store, as Jim Dalrymple reminds us:

On July 10, 2008, Apple launched the App Store, forever changing the way we use smartphones, tablets and many other devices. Think about how you used devices before apps, and how you use them today—there is no comparison. The iPhone and apps have changed the world.

(This means the iPhone 3G and MobileMe are also six years old. This batch of releases is one reason I left the Apple Store.)

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Peter Cohen:

Apple’s shown over and over again that it’s willing to cause some short-term discomfort to users of existing products for long-term benefit. iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Pages, Keynote and Numbers — there are lots of examples where Apple has essentially scrapped the product and started over because a different path was chosen. And they’re doing it again with Aperture and iPhoto.

The difference this time, as Peter points out, is that Apple isn’t replacing its pro offering. My guess is that a lot of Mac-using professionals are going to be migrating to Lightroom.

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Jim Dalrymple:

Apple introduced a new Photos app during its Worldwide Developers Conference that will become the new platform for the company. As part of the transition, Apple told me today that they will no longer be developing its professional photography application, Aperture.

Aperture’s death has been rumored for years, but I’m a little surprised Apple’s new Photos.app is holding the smoking gun. I had assumed iPhoto would have been replaced, with Aperture remaining for pro users.

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xScope is a great Mac app that makes it easy to measure on-screen dimensions with a wide range of tools. I use it frequently during the work day dealing with websites under development. Version 4 brings a ton of new features that I can’t wait to play with.

xScope 4 can be bought directly from Iconfactory or via the Mac App Store. The regular price will be $49.99, but is currently on sale for $24.99.

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Sarah Perez:

PhotoDrive, a fantastic photo uploading service powered by Flickr, is being shut down – but that’s because its founder, Jeff Bargmann, is now joining Flickr, as it turns out. This one-man startup machine had earlier impressed us with his mobile apps and newer photo uploading service, which worked something like Dropbox (or the recent Dropbox acquisition Loom) to provide you with an “infinite Camera Roll” of sorts. However, instead of building out his own cloud storage platform for his latest creation, PhotoDrive instead let you tap into the 1 TB of free storage offered by Flickr.

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When Unread for iPhone launched back in February, it earned a spot on my home screen.

Today, it’s big brother, Unread for iPad is here.

The tablet version brings the same great gesture-based controls and clean design that Unread users are used to, but the reading experience is even better.

Because of its sliding panel design, Unread only ever shows one type of content at a time. For example, tapping on a list or filtered set slides in that content, one screen at at time, creating a clear hierarchy and path of action for the user.

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Background

I’ve used OmniFocus on and off over the years, but I’ve never used it to its full potential. I don’t use Contexts or Start Dates. I use one custom Perspective that has been replaced entirely by the app’s excellent Forecast mode.

All of that aside, I’ve been keenly interested in OmniFocus 2 for Mac’s development. When the initial beta phase ended, I was discouraged. OmniFocus 1 for Mac was aging, but once the betas fired back up, I jumped back in head-first.

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A great app for sending iOS notifications to your Mac via Bluetooth. I’ve got it setup for GroupMe notifications and it works great, but this is something that iCloud should be able to do.

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If the Mac App Store isn’t irrelevant to power users now, the time is quickly coming. Apple’s restrictions have strangled it.

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Federico Viticci:

For users in the United States and “parts of Canada and Japan”, Google has added lane guidance, a turn-by-turn navigation feature that allows the app to show the lane to stay in or move to; lane guidance is often found on dedicated GPS devices, and it should enable Google Maps to provide drivers with more precise directions.

The update also brings Uber intergration, better location filtering and more.

While Apple’s Maps app rarely gives me issues, the day I can set Google Maps as the default app on my iPhone, I will.

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Clear for iOS and OS X are well-known for being easy and fun to use. Today, both apps have been updated to support reminders. Here’s Realmac’s Dan Counsell on the company blog:

We’ve been busy working away on the next big update to Clear, and today we’re thrilled to announce that Clear with Reminders is now available on the App Store. Set a reminder, and Clear will remind you across all your devices as Clear for Mac also gets this new feature today as well!

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