Faruk Ateş compares the iPhone 5’s opening weekend sales against the top 3 opening weekend records for movies as well as the all-time grossing movies (even adjusting for inflation). (Via Horace Dediu.)
Month: September 2012
What’s Better in the Reminders App on iOS 6 →
Dave Caolo reviews some of the improvements to the Reminders app. This is an app that I never use because it’s so difficult to navigate unless it’s through Siri. It’s nice to see that setting time- and location-based reminders has gotten far more simple (but still not as simple as using Checkmark).
Sponsor: Scratch →
My thanks to Karbon for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote their awesome, newish iPhone app, Scratch. Scratch is one of the 3 apps in my iPhone’s Dock. It launches quickly and is great when you just want to jot a thing down and not think about where to jot it down. Scratch lets you act on that text (like send it to Simplenote, or email it, or whatever) or you erase it if it was something temporary. Anyway, I’m a big fan and this $3 app that’s already been updated for your iPhone 5.
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Great ideas need to be captured immediately. Scratch for iPhone cuts through the barriers of note taking and gives you a clean slate to get your idea down fast. You don’t have to come up with a title or navigate a long list of notes. Just open Scratch, type, and worry about it later. Scratch remembers everything so you don’t have to.
Once you’re ready to work with the note, Scratch gives you the options you need to move the text where it belongs: Dropbox, email, your favorite text editor or just about anywhere else.
Interview with Ryan Cash →
This week on The B&B Podcast, Ben are I were joined by Ryan Cash, former marketing director at Marketcircle and founder of Snowman, makers of the iPhone reminders app, Checkmark.
We talked with Ryan about his transition and motivation to go from working for a medium-sized company to starting his own indie iOS dev shop, the challenges of building and shipping an iPhone app, and more. All in less than half an hour.
iOS 6 and Every-Day Life
Remember in 2010 when Apple held an iPhone 4 Press Conference as an answer to the “Antennagate” hubbub?
After his presentation, Steve Jobs was joined by Tim Cook and Bob Mansfield. They all sat on barstools at the front of the room and had a Q&A with the press in attendance. John Gruber asked if any of them were using cases on their iPhones. All 3 of them held up their iPhones to show no case. Steve even demonstrated how he uses his phone (by holding it using the infamous “death grip”) and that he has no reception issues.
What these guys also showed was that they’re using the same phones we are. Three of the top leaders at Apple sitting in a room full of writers and broadcasters, and everyone’s got the same phone in their pockets.
We like to think that Cook, Mansfield, Ive, Schiller, Forstall, and the rest of the gang are walking around with private versions of the 2014 iPhone and its corresponding (though surely buggy as all get out) version of iOS 8.
Everyone knows Apple is an extremely organized and forward thinking company that puts a lot of thought and energy into the planning and testing of its future products. But Apple is also riding on the cusp of its production and engineering capabilities.
After Apple announces and demoes the latest iOS at a WWDC event, most developers wait for the first few rounds of updates to ship before installing the iOS beta on their main devices. And it’s far more likely that the hardware prototypes for the next iPhones are locked away in some design vault, and the software roadmap for the far-future versions of iOS is still mostly on the white board. Meanwhile the folks at Apple are using the same daily driver iPhone and the same operating system you and I are.
Today, right now, we’re using the same mobile operating system with the same apps as the guys in Cupertino who dream this stuff up and make it happen.
And it seems to me that there are several things in iOS 6 which reveal just that. This version of iOS is not full of any one amazing new jaw-dropping feature that will have our minds spinning. Instead it’s filled with dozens of little things that will get used by real people ever day. And it will make our lives a little bit nicer and a little bit easier.
Things like Do Not Disturb mode, and the slide-up options you can act on when you get an incoming call, and VIP emailers, are all things that were thought up by guys who uses this device day in and day out and says to themselves, man, I’m tired of always declining phone calls when I’m in a meeting, texting the person back, and then forgetting to call them when I’m done with my meeting. (Or, perhaps, man, I am tired of getting text messages from my crazy uncle at 2 in the morning, but what if my mom calls and it’s an emergency?)
With that said, here are a few of things in iOS 6 that I am most glad about:
Open Browser Tab Syncing via iCloud
The browser tabs you have open on all your devices are now shared via iCloud. Had a website open on your Mac but then had to jet out the door, no problem. You can open it right back up from your iPhone or iPad.
If your Mac is running Mountain Lion, click the cloud icon in Safari and you’ll see the list of tabs open on your iPhone and iPad. And from your iPhone or iPad, tap the bookmarks icon in Mobile Safari and the drill down into the iCloud Tabs bookmarks folder.
Do Not Disturb
Another one of those features that is so simple and obvious, and yet has a significant impact on the day-to-day usability of our phones. You can activate Do Not Disturb mode from the Settings app.
You can turn it on and off manually (like Airplane mode), and you can set it to automatically start and stop at pre-defined times. (Not unlike Glassboard or Tweetbot allow you to set sleep options for when you do not want to get a push notification.)
To fine tune your Do Not Disturb schedule, and who you’re willing to allow to get through, drill down through the Settings App → Notifications → Do Not Disturb.
The Slide-Up Options on Incoming Calls
This has become my main “show off” feature.
When a friend asks me what’s cool about the new iPhone software I ask them to call me. Then I demo the slide-up menu for incoming calls and watch as they “get it” instantly. We’ve all been in that situation — whether it be a board meeting, dinner, a movie, or whatever — where we have to decline an incoming call from a friend or colleague. This is a feature that makes perfect sense and makes you scratch your head a bit about why it took so long to get here.
Pull to refresh in Mail
We were all doing it out of habit anyway. Now it actually accomplishes something.
Notifications for VIPs
I have worked in places were emails are sent like text messages. I often would get an email asking for me to come to a spontaneous meeting that was starting in 5 minutes.
Or how many times do you watch for that email from your boss or assistant or whomever? There are whole conferences centered around the idea of how checking your email every 5 minutes is a massive productivity killer (and it’s true). But that doesn’t mean the fact remains: a lot of workflows and company cultures are still very much dependent upon people being near-instantly-reachable by email.
VIP emails — and, more specifically, the way iOS (and OS X) are helping us to set them apart — are a great example of how iOS is becoming increasingly usable in real life.
High-Resolution Spinner on shutdown
I mean, finally, right?
Folders shown in Spotlight
After 4 years worth of App Store, some Home screens (including the one on the iPhone that’s sitting here on my desk) are getting unwieldy. There are apps I know I have, but I don’t know where they are. For those I have no choice but to use Spotlight to get to them, but say I want to move them to a more prominent spot?
Now when you use Spotlight to launch an app, if it’s in a folder Spotlight will tell you the name of that folder.
This is one more (of what feels like a) bandaid fix towards a better way to launch and mange apps.
Launching Apps using Siri
Siri is becoming the way of “ubiquitous capture” on the iPhone. It’s the quick-entry popup of OmniFocus on the Mac. Assuming Siri can connect to the servers, she is the fastest way to get sports scores, directions, set a timer, log a reminder, and now launch an app that’s not on your first Home screen.
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The mobile phone industry has is no shortage of impressive, whizbang features which sound great and make fun ads but which rarely get used by real people in their day-to-day lives.
The niceties shipping as part if iOS 6 are great because they’re the sorts of little things that will play big, unsung roles in our everyday lives.
Sleep it Off →
Yesterday I was a guest on Brett Terprstra’s new show, Systematic. Brett is just an awesome guy, and I had a blast talking with him. This is the first time on a podcast I’ve talked at length about martial arts. We also talked about blogging, how I got into doing this gig full-time, working from home, faking it, and sleeping.
John Gruber’s Review of the iPhone 5 →
This is a really nice review.
CNET’s Review of the iPhone 5 →
If you’re just looking for pics, CNET’s got some great shots.
The side-by-side comparison of the iPhone 5, the Nokia Lumia 900, and the Samsung Galaxy S III, proves that a 4-inch screen doesn’t have to be an unwieldy screen.
And the side-by-side comparison of 1080p 16:9 video playback on one each of the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S, shows just how much more content the iPhone 5 screen can display without being all that much bigger to navigate.
Jim Dalrymple’s iPhone 5 Review →
Great overall review of the new iPhone in classic Jim Dalrymple style. The issue that is most important to me is if the new screen is still easily usable with one hand:
I am able to easily navigate through the iPhone 5 menus and options using one hand. My thumb reaches the top of the screen to tap on options and hit the back button without shuffling the phone in my hand.
This is a mobile device, not a desktop computer. We want to operate an iPhone with one hand. This is a device that we use on the go, with a coffee in one hand and an iPhone in the other. We can send an email, visit a Web page or make a phone call.
We can also use the multitude of apps available, but the second you require two-hands, you take away functionality and convenience from the user. That is a design failure.
Review: Tenkeyless Clicky Keyboards
Mechanical keyboards are addictive.
I think I have a problem. But I’m quitting now. Once you’ve acclimated to the tactile feedback and the clickety clack, typing on anything else doesn’t feel (or sound) the same.
Earlier this year I spent a nerdy amount of time testing and comparing the three most popular Mechanical Keyboards for the Mac. I landed on the Das Keyboard as the winner and my preferred keyboard for typing.
My Clicky Keyboard conclusion ended thusly:
If you too want to adorn your desk with an ugly keyboard — one with a loud personality and which increases typing productivity — then I recommend the Das Keyboard. I prefer both the tactile feel and the sound of the blue Cherry MX switches, and though I find the Das to be the ugliest of the bunch, a serious typist knows you shouldn’t be looking at your keyboard while you’re typing.
I’ve been typing away on the Das every day for the past 6 months, but there has always been one thing in particular which bugs: the size.
Every time I’d reach for my Magic Trackpad I was reminded of how big the Das is. Aside from improved aesthetics, the only thing that could make the Das Keyboard any better would be the removal of its number pad — a tenkeyless Das would be a dream.
Last month, at the recommendation of several readers, I bought a tenkeyless Leopold with Blue Cherry MX switches. These are the same switches in use by my Das, and though the Leopold is technically intended for Windows use, a bit of tweaking in OS X’s System Preferences has it working fine with my Mac (see below for more on that).
The Leopold
I used the Leopold for a month, and as a keyboard I liked it pretty well. I especially liked having the Magic Trackpad back in the same zip code as the rest of my rig.
But when compared to the Das Keyboard, however, I find the Leopold to be slightly inferior in certain areas:
- The Leopold has an ever-so-slight ring from a few keys that you can hear if it’s quiet in the room and you’re really pounding away. I hardly ever notice it, but sometimes my ear catches it.
This was perhaps my biggest gripe with the Matias Tactile Pro. It was a fine keyboard and felt great to type on, but nearly every key press brought with it a slight ring. The Das Keyboard does not ring.
- The Leopold’s key action is not as “quick” or “snappy” as my Das. Technically this is not an issue of inferiority at all — it’s just a difference. But I’ve grown used to (and apparently fond of) the way the Das clicks.
However, there are things about the Leopold which I find to be superior to the Das, not least of which being the smaller footprint:
- Obviously the Leopold is smaller because it is tenkeyless, but it’s smaller in other ways as well: (a) the bezel around the whole keyboard is thinner, and (b) the keyboard has a slightly shorter stature (that is to say, the top of the space bar is closer to the top of my desk).
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The Leopold is cheaper by about $35. But you cannot return it unless you get a DOA unit.
I suppose the best way to compare the two is that when using my Das I was frequently bothered by how far away the Magic Trackpad was. However, when using the Leopold, I rarely ever think about how it types differently.
The Filco Ninja Majestouch-2 Tenkeyless
Not being completely satisfied with the Leopold, I decided to give one more keyboard a try. (After trying and testing 4 mechanical keyboards so far, what’s one more? Right?)
And so I ordered the Filco Ninja Majestouch-2 Tenkeyless.
It’s “Ninja” because the key caps have the lettering on the front side instead of the top, which I think looks awesome. And I made sure to get the one with Cherry MX Blue switches.
Filco has a great reputation for their keyboards. Part of the reason I didn’t go with the Filco over the Leopold in the first place was because a few of the reviews I’d read said the Filco rings a bit. But there is no ring. At least with the model I bought.
The Filco has a high-quality build and the same “quick” typing action like the Das. Moreover, it has the small footprint and thinner bezel like the Leopold (the Das looks like a boat when pulled out next to the Filco). It’s the most expensive of the three (about $20 more than the Das and $50 more than the Leopold), but it’s worth it — the Filco Ninja is superior in every way that’s important to me.
In short: the Filco Ninja is the best keyboard I’ve used yet. This is my new keyboard, and I’m done trying others.
Aside Regarding the Windows Keys
Part of the reason I didn’t originally review any tenkeyless keyboards was because (so far as I know) there are none made specifically for the Mac.
Both the Leopold and the Filco are Windows keyboards. Basically all this means is that the Command and Option keys are flip-flopped — both physically on the keyboard itself and within software.
Swapping the physical keys is easy. The Filco comes with a key cap puller; Elite Keyboards sells one for cheap. This little tool makes it a piece of cake to easily change any key on your keyboard.
And flip-flopping the keys in software is easily done from System Preferences → Keyboard → Keyboard → Modifier Keys.
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So, which mechanical keyboard should you get? It ultimately just comes down to the question of the number pad.
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If you want a number pad — or if you don’t care either way — go for the Das. It’s Mac-specific, high quality, and a bit cheaper than the Filco.
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If you don’t want a number pad, go for the Filco Ninja. It’s the best-looking of the bunch, it’s of equal quality as the Das, and it’s easy to set up to work on your Mac.
Fox 5 New York Gets Suckered by a Year-Old iPhone 5 Concept Video →
Um, wow. Who goes to YouTube to research a breaking news story?
Should You Get an iPhone? →
I love this article by Brian Lam:
Should you get one? If you want, sure. […]
[T]he things that makes the iPhone the best smartphone are the ecosystem of apps, Apple’s wonderful support, and the general sensation of swish that the operating system gives me when I use it. And the care and sophistication and polish that pull the entire thing together.
Function, Form, and Future
Three things to think about for whether or not a gadget, app, or any other product is worth your continued investment of use and money:
- Do you actually use it?
- Do you like to use it?
- Is the company who makes it trying to make it better for you?
Number 1 is important because a product you never use is basically worthless to you.
Number 2 is important because a product you always use should be the best version it can be. The easier and more enjoyable it is to use, the more you’ll want to use it and thus the more utility you’ll get out of it.
Number 3 is important because if the company behind the product cares about making the next version better for you, then it means you’ll be rewarded for sticking around.
Sponsor: WeatherSnitch 2 →
My thanks to Snitchware for sponsoring the RSS feed this week.
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Finding the perfect weather app isn’t easy. Most apps rely on free information; providing the bare minimum and accuracy that leaves much to be desired. They lure you in with fancy effects and a flashy interface, distracting you from what matters most — the weather forecast. WeatherSnitch throws these tired gimmicks to the wayside. Focusing on highly detailed, highly reliable weather forecasts and an interface void of any ads, clutter and other convoluted features that get in the way.
Powered by SnitchWeather, you have access to 30,000 local weather stations in over 240 countries. Get detailed 15-day forecasts, precise hour-by-hour forecasts and near real-time observations for millions of locations around the world. Try it today and see for yourself why iTunes named WeatherSnitch 2 the best iPhone weather app in App Store Rewind 2011.
This week you can get WeatherSnitch 2 for only $1.99.