techcrunch: China is poised to overtake the U.S. & Japan in...

techcrunch:

China is poised to overtake the U.S. & Japan in iOS revenue within the next year. Over the course of 2015, iOS’s revenue growth was driven by China, as well as the U.S. and Japan – the three countries accounting for nearly 90 percent of the Apple App Store’s year-over-year revenue growth. 

Read more here. 

iOS app revenue is growing still.

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What is your must have app on your iPhone ? (Except for say slack or the relay app)

Tweetbot fo’ sho’

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staff: The perfect gift: It’s TUMBLR TV for the new Apple TV,...

staff:

The perfect gift: It’s TUMBLR TV for the new Apple TV, and it does exactly what you think it does. Here’s what it does: It shows millions of GIFs on your TV. It makes your living room a wonder to behold. Welcome to heaven. Have a good holiday!

To get TUMBLR TV for your TV, just search for “Tumblr” in the Apple TV App Store. To watch it on the web, click here.

Why?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the new TV. It’s absolutely the future of television, and apps are great. But what business does tumblr have being on the TV? This is stupid.

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parislemon: Mailbox: The Box That Dropbox Dropped It’s a...

parislemon:

Mailbox: The Box That Dropbox Dropped

It’s a little sad to see it go, but the reality is that Mailbox really stopped innovating, and fell behind. I’m not sure where else they could have gone with their product.

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Hands-on with Facebook M: the virtual assistant with a (real) human touch

Hands-on with Facebook M: the virtual assistant with a (real) human touch:

nerdology:

I love this. This is the future of personal assistants.

The question for me is whether this can be done without data mining (preserving privacy). Because, let’s not kid ourselves, Facebook is using this service to learn more about you so they can sell more relevant ads. That’s their core business; everything is always going to tie back to that.

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iheartapple2: iOS 9.1 New Emojis(via The Loop) This is why...

iheartapple2:

iOS 9.1 New Emojis

(via The Loop)

This is why you’ll want to update.

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techcrunch: A majority of iOS device owners have upgraded to...

techcrunch:

A majority of iOS device owners have upgraded to iOS 9, according to Localytics. The report pegs iOS 9 adoption at 55%. That’s a slight climb from the 50% adoption rate Apple officially announced last month, less than a week after the software had been released, and the 12% adoption rate seen within the first 24 hours. The rapid upgrades from the user base had already seen iOS 9 claiming the fastest adoption rate in Apple’s history.

However, the new report indicates that now, adoption is slowing down and says early bugs could be to blame.

Read more about this report here. 

This stands in stark contrast to Android.

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Why Apple Needs to Re-think Disallowing Game Controller Requirement on Apple TV

The new Apple TV.

It's actually a really great set top box. It's probably the best one on the market, honestly. Putting an Apple powered App Store onto a streaming box was definitely a long time coming, and I'm so glad that it happened.

What's great about apps? Well, you know, apps.
No, seriously, developers being able to put their streaming services onto Apple TV without being blessed by Apple, or working out special deals, or sacrificing their first born children like they had to do before is great.

Also games - games are really great on Apple TV. In the week and a half that I've had it, I've played more than my fair share of Crossy Road, Asphalt 8, Oceanhorn, Xenowork, Galaxy on Fire, Breakneck and other games. They're excellent (you should definitely check them all out), and I want more. Game controllers, as well as the Siri remote work really well, and there's something about games being on my TV that makes them feel more serious - more real.

Games were a huge part of the Apple TV launch spiel. And they have a brilliant future. Taking mobile, casual games more seriously is a huge market that everyone has been trying to tap for a while now. Remember Ouya?

There's only one problem, though: there are games that I dreamed about playing since the rumors of an App Store on Apple TV started going around. Games like N.O.V.A, Dead Trigger, Modern Combat, Shadowgun, Lego Star Wars, Midnight Star, FIFA, Afterpulse, Minecraft, and others are excellent on iOS and would be amazing on a big screen with a controller.

Unfortunately, this is not currently possible, even though I'm sure the developers are interested. Apple requires that all apps on the Apple TV App Store be able to work with just the Siri remote. Apps can utilize game controllers, which is a really good choice, but they cannot require (or essentially require through nerfing usability without) a controller.

What this ends up meaning is that apps with more complicated control schemes, such as first person games, shooters, and 3D world based games are simply not possible. This is really unfortunate, because it means that great games on iOS that belong on the TV cannot be on Apple TV.

This would be one thing if nobody else was doing third party games on set top boxes, but Android TV is doing just that. They happen to have Modern Combat 4 in particular featured in their TV store. Apple TV is the best media streamer (unless you are 100% YouTube + Google Play or all Amazon streaming [but now that's Google and Amazon's fault, not Apple's]) but it can't be called the best mobile game on TV box on the market right now.

Yes, I understand that this adds complications to the App Store, and users are generally bad at complications. However, I still think this is something that could be dealt with for the better gaming end. Also, Apple could either pop up warnings before you purchase a game requiring a controller, or could only display controller games if you've connected a controller to the TV before.

Am I the only one bothered by this? Let me know what you think in the comments. And if any of you have connections at Apple, please send this feedback their way.

Update: Checking out Apple's TV App Store again reveals that Guitar Hero Live is actually able to require a "bluetooth accessory," which is of course their guitar controller. This can be shown is this poorly shot photo of my TV because I don't have a USB-C cable to use to take a screenshot. 

So, apparently, at least if you are a certain developer, or perhaps only if your controller is not a normal gamepad, you can require it for use of the app. But officially policy is still to not allow MFi controllers to be required to play a game. Hopefully this requirement gets lifted.

1Password Sale

How do you manage your passwords? Do you use the same password across the web? Do you write your passwords down in a post-it-note near your computer (electronic or otherwise)? Especially in light of all the recent hacks, you really shouldn't be.

Password managers are wonderfully useful utilities which store your existing passwords and can help you generate newer, more secure passwords. 

Did you know that your passwords shouldn't contain any real discernible words? Here's the infamous computer security wizard Edward Snowden explaining good passwords to John Oliver (it's also funny and worth watching for that value):

Password managers store your passwords for you, allowing you to pull them up without having to memorize them, which makes secure passwords easier to use. You really should be using one if you are not. 

I personally use an app called 1Password, which works in all popular browsers, iOS, Android, OS X, and Windows. It's extremely secure, and on Apple platforms, it's always quickly up to date with all of the latest features (I can't speak to the other platforms because I don't use them). It can sync via Dropbox or via local wi-fi if you want extra security. 

1Password is free on iOS with in app purchases for pro features that are not in any way necessary, and $50 from the Mac App Store. That's a hefty price, but the security is well worth it. It's also available for $50 from 1Password directly with a free trial available. They also offer student discounts, but buying from the Mac App Store is well worth it if you also use iOS devices, because the Mac App Store version supports iCloud syncing. 

But, wouldn't you know, today on the Mac App Store, 1Password is discounted to $30. That's a $20 discount, which means that it's even cheaper than the student discount available directly from 1Password. 

I highly recommend you give 1Password a try, and even more so, I recommend you just buy it now for the discount that it's at. It's absolutely worth it. Let me know what you think in the comments. 

techcrunch: Google brings interactive watch faces and Google...

techcrunch:

Google brings interactive watch faces and Google Translate to Android Wear. You’ll be able to install interactive watch faces that allow you to pull up more information and launch apps with a tap right from the watch face.

Google Translate on Android Wear supports 44 languages and works with the built-in microphone in your watch. You simply speak into the watch, flip your wrist, and out comes the translation. Translate will automatically recognize what languages are being spoken.

Click here to read more on the update.

It’s funny that people think this is like new or innovative… This is literally what Apple did in watchOS with “complications” …

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appleloverapple: Clean MyMac 3 is a great software to have your...

appleloverapple:

Clean MyMac 3 is a great software to have your Mac fast as a new one 😃

Do any of you actually use apps to clean out your Mac? If so, do they live up to the hype?

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$3 Game for Free

I bet you didn't know about this one:

If you have the Apple Store App installed on your iPhone or iPad, you can get the game "Super Hexagon" for free, just by following a few steps.

9to5Toys:

Here’s how you can claim your free Super Hexagon download:

1. Install the Apple Store App for iOS
2. Open the Apple Store App on your iPhone
3. Tap on the ‘Stores’ button at the bottom of the screen
4. Swipe right twice on the image below the ‘One to One’ button
5. Tap the Super Hexagon image that says ‘Fast, action-packed fun.’
6. Tap the ‘Download now for free’ green button and follow the on-screen directions

The instructions will be different on iPad because of the slightly different UI, but the same basic principles apply.

It's really that easy, so what are you waiting for?

Let me know what you think of the game in the comments, and share this post if you think somebody else might like it.

Apple needs to overhaul Apple TV in 2015

Here it goes - I'm calling it:

This year, 2015, we have to see an update to Apple TV. This update must be both in hardware and in software. 

The hardware can come either in the form of an updated set top box, or our can be the long rumored full-on Apple Television we've been hoping for. What it looks like essentially doesn't matter. What matters is that it will have an A8 system on a chip and 1-2 GB of RAM minimum. The A8X from iPad Air 2 wouldn't be a bad thing, though. 

The software could definitely use a more modern face-lift, but that's not the most important thing for now. What we absolutely need to see is an App Store so that developers can take advantage of the space. What makes any product, but Apple products in particular, great is what they enable you to do with them. An app ecosystem open to developers is vital to this, and is the biggest reason we've seen iOS and Android take off in recent years. And yes, this App Store likely means games on Apple TV (because it certainly means the potential for games: and where there's potential, there are apps taking advantage of that potential). 

The only way around these upgrades is for Apple to do something like they are doing with CarPlay, where the device responsible for AirPlay-ing to Apple TV handles the processing, and Apple TV just acts as a wireless display adapter. Or, Apple could come up with some other crazy, Apple-style optimizations and blow our minds. Essentially, the hardware needs to get more powerful, the OS needs to get easier to run, or our iPhones/iPads/Macs need to be offloading the computing from the device.

But of course, it's possible none of these update will happen. The consequence for these updates not happening is that Apple TV will fail to remain relevant in the streaming/set-top-box world. Playing the AirPlay card to justify Apple TV's superiority has worked so far, but Android 5.0 has achieved this ability with Chromecast, so it's not as cut and dry of an argument as before. 

So, I'm calling it: we will see a major update to Apple TV this year, or it will fade into obscurity. Apple TV can no longer afford to be Apple's hobby device.

Do you think we'll see an Apple TV update this year? How will that manifest? Do you even care about Apple TV anymore? Do you even care about set-top boxes or streaming devices anymore? Let me know in the comments. 

Waze is mimicking some Google Now features in the iOS 8 notification panel

Finally, a developer is actually trying to do something useful with the notification center widgets in iOS 8.

Waze just released an update that includes a widget which can be added to the "today" view of the notification panel in iOS 8. The widget will show estimated travel time to two different locations, which are pre-set as "home" and "work." The widget is also a quick trigger to launch into directions to either location. 

Waze is a mapping service which uses crowd-sourced routes and live, crowd-sourced traffic information. It's always played second fiddle to Google Maps and Apple Maps, but it's still a useful service.

This is a pretty cool use of the today view, but Waze definitely borrowed this feature from Google Now.

Google Now has been displaying cards with directions to frequent locations since its inception, and this predictive information is a big part of what made it unique and useful.

But hey, I'm not complaining. Useful features are useful.

I just think that it's interesting that widgets have been on Android for a years, and there has been an incredible demand for them by consumers, yet developers seem slow to really adopt them. I mean, how many truly useful widgets have you actually found on iOS? To me, it seems like iOS 8 is one of the slowest adopted iOS versions by developers.

Are you using Waze? Will you try it out now that it has a cool widget? Are you an Android user still laughing at iPhone users who are thrilled about finally getting widgets? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Hearthstone is (finally!) available on Android

Source: http://toucharcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/hearthstone.jpg

One of my favorite games on iPad is now available for Android powered tablets.

That's right, as of right now, you can download Hearthstone from the Google Play Store to your Android tablet. The game is free to play, and offers in-app purchases. Let the downloading ensue.

There is talk that the game may come out for phones (Android and iOS) as well, being that current phone hardware is more than up to the challenge. I'm personally curious as to how they plan on implementing the game on a phone screen. I'm also curious as to whether or not anyone would want to play the game on their phone.

If you haven't heard of Hearthstone, it's an electronic trading card game based loosely on the mechanics of Magic the Gathering. It's been simplified from Magic's physical card game roots, but it retains all of the fun play-ability and strategy of the inspiration.

The game has been available on PC for over a year now in beta form and full release, and has been on iPad for a little less than a year. One of my friends was in on the beta, and he actually got me hooked on the concept. It's really quite addicting.

It's sad that in 2014 we still see Android launches lag behind iOS launches, but hopefully Lollipop and Google's recent developer focused efforts can remedy this.

Inbox by Gmail Review

I hate email.

Okay, so that's not exactly new: most people hate email. But I want to emphasize that I am very much one of those people. The constant notifications are awful, but necessary, but there haven't been great solutions to dealing with them as of yet.

And I have to use email. My job as an independant contractor essentially relies on email, and timely response to it. So I essentially have to have email connected with my phone and with me at all times.

I picked up Mailbox almost two years ago, and I particularly appreciated the user interface and features of the app. In particular, the focus on getting to "inbox zero" (having no emails in the inbox) was great. It only improved with auto-swiping features which automatically filtered mail as it came in so that you wouldn't have to deal with frivolous email immediately.

The biggest problem, however, was that the filtering didn't go far enough without going so far as to make me miss that one important email per day. That's where Inbox by Gmail comes in, and I'm happy to say succeeds.

I first heard about Inbox by Gmail the day it was announced and knew that immediately I wanted to try it. Google Now does so many things "auto-magically" that I figured it would work wonders with email. I applied for an invite and received it about a week ago, and have been testing Inbox every since.

Inbox by Gmail is an invite only public "beta" right now, and I managed to get an invite directly from Google (score). I say "beta" because it's incredibly stable, but it's not released for the general public the way that standard Gmail is. If you want your own invite code, keep reading for details on how to enter to win one.

Inbox is everything I loved about Mailbox, but better.

It really was what I was expecting: Google Now auto-magically sorting my email, only notifying me for truly important emails. I spend so much less time triaging emails, you have no idea. Google is very intelligent at sorting emails, and so far, I haven't received any frivolous notifications, nor have I missed important emails (my biggest fear).

The fewer notifications that I get is also great, because it means slightly improved battery life over what I was experiencing with Mailbox. I feel like I do check my email a few more times per day with Inbox (I had an "email hour" with Mailbox, where I would essentially delay all emails until nighttime), but I definitely have the app open for less time on any given day.

The app also has a clean interface that looks quite refreshing. Mailbox looked bad by no means, by Google's "material design" is pretty nice looking. I haven't experienced problems with the animations slowing down my phone either, which is a bonus. The icon also looks good, even on my iOS device.

Another thing that I like is that Inbox has a dedicated web app, so I can have the same experience on my phone as I do on my computer. It doesn't translate perfectly, since the interface definitely feels designed for touch interaction rather than mouse, but the consistent UI and UX is appreciated. Mailbox had this to a certain degree with their Max OS X app, but I don't yet own a Mac, so this is useless to me.

One downside on the UI side of things is the lack of dedicated iPad app, or optimization for the iPad screen. You can still run the scaled up version of the iPhone app, but it looks atrocious, and I've taken to just using the regular gmail app. I feel like the Android side of things is a little bit better, but this was an unfortunate oversight on Google's part.

What I miss from Mailbox is the quick swipe to delete feature. Inbox focuses more on their "done" feature, which is essentially a swipe to archive option, but I receive a lot of email that deserves deletion more than archival, and I wish Inbox made it easier. The feature does exist, and you can still do batch deletion, it's just not as fluid as a swipe gesture is.

The snooze feature also isn't as well worked as Mailbox's, where you can customize what "tomorrow" or "later today" or "this weekend" mean. It's still a nice feature in Inbox, and I use it frequently, but it's not as well thought out as I'm used to with Mailbox.

A nice feature that Inbox does include that Mailbox does not is reminders in the inbox as well as pinning emails to the inbox as a reminder. This works with your Google Now reminders to turn your inbox into the to-do list that it basically already was. This is a departure from the "inbox zero" philosophy, but one that I find to be useful.

So what do I think: am I going back to Mailbox? No, I think overall, my best experience with email has been with the Inbox by Gmail app. I won't be switching back unless it is to try new features that Mailbox may reveal. I think the best, most powerful feature of Inbox is Google's intelligent auto-sorting of email that only notifies you when you really need to be notified. That's been the game changer for me. I no longer feel like I need to buy a smartwatch just to triage email. That's an incredibly powerful feeling.

Now, about that invite:
I still have one invite for Inbox available, and I'm looking to give it out to you, my interested readers. To qualify, just leave me a comment with what service you use for email management and how that works for you. I will pick a winner at random from the comments section and contact you about the code.

Apple takes on Google Now on the wrist?

One of the biggest questions that I had for Apple Watch is how they would make the device a smartwatch, and not just a notifications hub like Pebble.

Google answered this with Android Wear through deep integration with Google Now. More so than being for notifications, Android Wear is about putting the power of Google on your wrist, and in doing so, receiving context relevant information only when you need it.

The problem for Apple is that they haven't really done this with their existing devices. They have Siri, sure, but you have to know what you're looking for to use Siri, whereas Google Now will tell you what you need to know, even if you didn't know you needed to know. Apple also added "Today" view to the notification center in iOS 7, and that displayed widgets with information. The problem was they were the same all the time, not context driven.

So naturally, I was surprised when I was reading "Here's how you use the Apple Watch" today and saw this:

"...One of the biggest UI paradigms on display here is Glances. These are little widgets of information that are quite similar to the Google Now widgets found on Android Wear devices. When you swipe up from the bottom of the watch face, you can cycle through these glances — the usual suspects like calendar notifications, music controls, message notifications, and so forth. Tapping on a Glance will open the full app on Watch."

Apple, it would appear, is taking on Google Now cards on Android Wear with what they call "Glances." This is certainly intriguing, and also makes me wonder if Apple will produce more of their own widgets for iOS 8, or if we might see a full app like an Apple style Google Now in iOS 9. However, you will notice that Glances doesn't sound particularly context driven, and I can't speak on how it compares to Google Now cards until the device actually launches and I have a chance to use it.

Are you excited for Apple Watch? Do you think it needs to be more than just a personalizable notifications dumping ground that tells time? Let me know in the comments.

Notifications, "Today" view, Contorl Center, and Software Interface

The "today" view in iOS doesn't belong in the notifications panel. I think this is something that Android has done well. A down swipe should bring notification center, which quick launches you into apps based on new notifications. The "Today" view should be somewhere else so as to not impede on notifications, nor be impeded on.

Google Now achieves this by a swipe up from the home button (not an option on iOS) or a swipe to the right on the Google Now launcher. I don't think it's the most elegant option, but it's better than iOS's implementation.

Likewise, I don't appreciate Google's choice to include their quick settings toggles (comparable to Control Center in iOS) in the same pull down notification center. It's messy. I much prefer Apple's approach where notification are in Notification Center, and controls are in Control Center. This makes sense for the user.

I really hope that Apple will find a better place for the Today view, and sooner rather than later. I don't want to wait a year for iOS 9 to address it. And I'd love Google to move the quick toggles, but they really have nowhere else to put them, so I don't see that changing any time soon.

Weather Channel for iOS App Review

The Weather Channel app for iOS recently underwent an update, and I decided to try it out due to the lack of included weather app on iPad. I was also interested in the app since Apple will be sourcing their weather data in iOS 8 from The Weather Channel.

With this being said, it should be noted that I am by no means a hardcore weather app user. I find my needs well met by the default iOS weather app on iPhone. I just need to quickly check the current and near future temperature, the UV index, precipitation chance, and humidity/wind chill. Just about any weather app more than fills this need, so bear this in mind.

Source: http://alliosnews.com/wp-content/uploads/
2014/04/The-Weather-Channel-Icon.png

For me, the experience of an app begins with its app icon; if an app is going to be on my homescreen, I don't want to hate looking at it. The most recent update makes the icon much flatter, matching the iOS 7 style quite well. I enjoy the color scheme and simple design. It also holds up to the pixel density of the Retina Display on my iPad Air, which at this point every app icon should. I'm not deleting the app for pure ugly factor; that's a win. That being said, everyone has different tastes, so you can check out the design for yourself on the right.

The next part of the experiment is the loading screen, and unfortunately here the app falls short. The load screen is not Retina optimized, and I can definitely make out pixels on my iPad Air. This is a shame, really, since it's a simple, static image, and Retina Displays have been around since the 3rd generation iPad.

The main screen of the app displays a concise summary of the weather (high, low, current temp, description of weather) in an opaque circle atop a nice looking picture. This is not dissimilar to the Yahoo Weather app, although Yahoo puts a lot more emphasis on the photo, in my opinion. Tapping the circle yields a breakdown of more detailed weather information like wind speed, humidity, visibility, UV index, etc. Swiping to the right gives a 10 day forecast, and tapping on any of those days gives more detailed information.

There is a navigation bar across the bottom of the screen that has a section for radar, news, video and health. This is also where you access settings and search for locations. These features aren't really useful to me, so I won't comment on them. If you do like weather radar, though, this is one of the apps that does include that.

A unique section to this app is the "travel" section, located next to the "search" button on the bottom nav-bar. Tapping this airplane shaped button brings up a small window where you can search for and add locations that you will be traveling to in the future. Once you select your location, a new screen transitions in where you can view climate differences related to your current location and you can add dates for when you will be in this location. It's very useful for people who travel, or who are planning on traveling; I really like the idea of the feature. Unfortunately, the implementation is poor. The screen displaying the place you are traveling to only works in landscape orientation, despite the app being generally navigated in portrait. This is a major oversight, and makes the app cumbersome.

My other gripe with this app is that there is no way to clear warning alerts that appear at the top of the app. I have had 3 flood warnings for the area I currently live in, and they have stayed for a week now. I get it: it could flood. The user should be able to clear these warnings once they have been read.

Also, ads. And no ability to pay to remove them. This is unfortunate, especially in today's age of freemium/in-app purchase apps, but I guess that's they only way the company thought they could turn a profit (or break even) on a free app. The ads aren't everywhere, so they aren't as annoying as they could be, though, so there is that.

So, what's the verdict, you ask? Are you keeping the app after this review, or finding another? I am going to keep it for now, and I'll explain why. I like the icon far better than my previous solution, Yahoo Weather. Sure, that's a small thing, but it matters to me. Also, while Yahoo Weather has more advanced/fancy in-app navigation, it feels at times like too much, and even a little confusing for me. You may prefer this, and that's okay. I encourage you to try them both out and see which one you like better (they're free apps, after all). I'm willing to put up with the quirks of The Weather Channel for it's dead simplicity. I'll even put up with ads for it.

Apple - WWDC 2014

In case you wanted Apple's WWDC news straight from the source, here you go.