HACKmemphis is a community-run event focused on bringing together the Memphis tech community — developers, coders and designers alike — to formulate amazing ideas, creative code, and awesome hardware hacks.
If you’re in the Mid-South and a nerd, you need to check this out.
No. No. No.
iOS 7, of course, is bringing sweeping UI changes like the operating system has never seen before. Many developers are currently hard at work, building iOS 7 versions of their apps.
From what I’ve seen, it’s paying off. I’m currently running several betas of iOS 7-only apps, 1 and many of the apps in my SECRETS! folder feel right at home on my sacrificed-to-the-beta-gods iPhone.
But they all feel awfully similar.
I can take a look at screenshots of them and tell them apart, mind you. Developers are using color in some very exciting, unique ways on iOS 7, but white frosted glass is everywhere, as are the standard UI controls found in Apple’s first-party apps.
While I don’t have an app for sale, I can appreciate the tough spot developers are in with all of this. Not embracing iOS 7’s new UI will make apps instantly feel old, leading some users to look at alternatives that might feel more updated.
I think many developers are staying close to what Apple has done in apps like Mail, Messages and Safari.
In all honesty, it’s probably a good move. Time will tell what will remain fashionable or acceptable, and staying in Cupertino’s shadow for a bit should be safer for now.
(Of course, the fact that most of what Apple has done with UIKit looks pretty damn good doesn’t hurt, either.)
Federico Vitcci chimed in on this earlier on Twitter:
I wouldn’t be surprised if it took until iOS 8 for 3rd party devs to experiment more. So much stuff still in flux.
A repeat of 2008 (App Store) and 2010 (iPad launch) seems likely. Follow Apple’s model, then start iterating and experimenting more.
As Freddie V. brings up, this phenomenon isn’t new. Looking back at apps from the early days of the App Store, it’s clear the developers and users both have gotten more comfortable with UIs that branch out from the conventions outlined by Apple.
I’m looking forward to see what sort of creativity iOS 7 sparks within designers. Until then, I suppose, things will be a little more uniform than what we’ve all gotten used to over the last couple of years.
hashtag humblebrag ↩︎
My buddy Bradley’s article on smartphones and photo management has been making the rounds this week. Here’s his premise:
If you grab a co-worker’s iPhone and they have 2500 photos on the camera roll, then you know they don’t. They’ll just keep taking photos and assume “the cloud” or whatever is backing it up. For a time, it is. That is until their backup hits the mythical 5GB mark and iCloud starts pestering them to remove data or buy more space. Some people buy more space, but most just continue to ignore it and hope Apple has their back. I hate to break it to them after their iPhone takes a swim in the lake, but they don’t. Multiple companies are stepping up and trying to solve this problem in different ways, though.
Bradley lists Dropbox, Google+ and Everpix as solutions to the problem of backing up the iPhone’s Camera Roll.
About a year ago, I exported all my photos form Aperture and started storing them on Dropbox.
I’ve really come to enjoy this setup. I have access to all of my photos as long as I have an Internet connection. They are safe and sound not only in Dropbox, but on both of my Macs, their Time Machine Backups and their respective CrashPlan accounts.
I’ve gotten several questions about organization. I’ll admit that sorting images into folders isn’t as powerful as combining things like Events and Faces in iPhoto, it’s simple. Yes, I can’t easily find all the photos of my daughter, but by breaking them into folders like “Allison’s 3rd Birthday Party” or “Florida 2013,” I can usually find what I’m looking for quickly enough.
(It’s the only thing I use Cover Flow for in Finder.)
When I initially moved to Dropbox for my photo management, I was letting Photo Stream and some AppleScript import my photos into a folder that Hazel would watch. The app would rename the photos based on the time they were taken automatically.
Today, my upload system is a little different. I still have Photo Stream enabled on my iPhone, but I use Dropbox’s iOS app to upload my images directly to the service.
When enabled, the feature creates a “Camera Uploads” folder on the root level of the Dropbox folder. I have Hazel watching that folder, and set to automatically move images and movies into a folder inside my Photo Library folder named “aaa Process.” Once a file appears in that folder, Hazel renames it in this format:
This system lets me open the Dropbox app and simply wait a moment to have all of my pictures in the Process folder, ready to be sorted, shared and/or deleted. I don’t have to find a cable or worry about iCloud. (I do still have to manually clear the Camera Roll, but Dropbox is smart enough to only upload new images.) I also don’t get duplicate file names, unless I’ve shot something in HDR mode on the phone. Those files simply have a –1 added to the file name.
Since buying my first micro four-thirds camera earlier this year, I’m shooting with my iPhone less and less.
To get those images into my system, I have Image Capture on my Mac set to import from the SD card right into my aaa Process folder. Hazel sees them and they get named with the exact same rule iPhone-shot images are.
I know this setup is nerdy, but it’s not all that complicated. I get all of the benefits of using Dropbox and Finder, and don’t have to worry about dealing with iPhoto or Aperture, both of which need some serious attention from Apple. I can edit my images in whatever app I want, save them and know they are synced to my computers and being backed up with no extra effort on my part.
With Federico on the beach, Myke and I discuss Larry Ellison, the future of Apple and iPhone rumors.
Don’t miss the corresponding After Dark, in which we discuss the first episode of Breaking Bad’s final run. Expect spoilers.
Adrianne Jeffries:
Of course, depression can be difficult to synthesize into a math problem. The cause is usually a combination of cascading factors that are often difficult to trace. The solution can be even harder to pin down.
A fascinating read about a truly tragic phenomenon.
Brent Simmons steps to the chalkboard to discuss the grammatical error that drives me more insane than any other. It is shocking how many people get this consistently wrong.
Marco Arment, writing about the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000:
The 4000 had two major flaws: its keys were too mushy, and its right side extended out so far that I practically had to keep my mouse in New Jersey, which isn’t great for ergonomics.
[…]
The Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard looks nice, is wireless,2 and appears to fix the size issue by splitting off the numeric keypad, but those keys have me worried: they look like cheap laptop-style scissor keys, and have a good chance of being too mushy.
I had the same issue with the 4000 as Marco. It was great on my hands and wrist, but the mouse being so far to the right really killed my shoulder and elbow, especially after my surgery last year. I’m looking forward to giving this new keyboard a spin when it ships this fall.
Zack Whittaker:
For 30 days, I ran a pre-release version of iOS 7 (which iteratively improved when newer updates were released and installed) on my iPhone 4S. While first impressions are important — these were covered in part in the review of the user interface and experience changes — the critical check is the test of time.
The purpose of this particular review was to see how an average user’s productivity and user experience altered, if at all, over the course of a longer-term period, such as one month.
Uhhhhhhhhh…
John Gruber:
Make no mistake: Apple’s current strategy has been remarkably successful. They sell a ton of iPhone 4S and 4 devices, and have expanded the iOS market by doing so. But there are several factors this year that suggest a change in strategy.
If Apple does unveil an iPhone 5C, I expect them to concurrently abandon the iPhones 4 and 4S. Their three pricing tiers for the next year would be a new iPhone 5S at the high end, today’s iPhone 5 in the mid-range, and the new 5C at the low end. This way, all new iPhones would sport 16:9 aspect ratio displays, and all would have Lightning adapter ports. Adios both to 3:2 displays and the grody old 30-pin port.
Makes a lot of sense to me.
Horace Dediu talks about what it means to be Apple-like.
There are a lot of movie bundles on sale right now over on iTunes. I picked up a couple at a ridiculous price.