Shawn Blanc

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Ben Brooks tipped me off to this clever tip on this past week’s episode of the B&B podcast: you can use the volume up button on your iPhone earbuds to snap photos.

(Link via Duncan Davidson.)

Nice list. Tip number 1 is a no brainer (I try to avoid chain and corner restaurants as much as possible), but tip number 4 is a new idea to me. (Via Kottke.)

Jake Marsh wrote this post a month ago about this topic of linen in the Notification Center versus linen in the Multitasking Tray:

Both of these interfaces [Notification Center and Multitasking Tray] have our friendly neighborhood linen as their background texture. On their own, this wouldn’t be too much of an issue but consider what Apple’s goals are with the linen texture. I would argue it is to establish a clear hierarchy of content and controls, from back to front. The linen was used early on as the “underneath” texture of UIScrollViews and UIWebViews.

(Via John Gruber.)

Macworld’s picks for the best Mac hardware and software of the year.

Ah ha. This video by Max Rudberg (the same Max who posted the Multitasking Tray gesture video) demonstrates almost exactly what I was talking about in my last link about the Notification Center being “above” the Home screen rather than “under” it.

In his description of the video, Max also hits on exactly what my gripe is:

The linen texture has been used to denote that something is at the very bottom layer of the interface. For example, when you open a folder, the wallpaper separates to reveal the folder contents on a linen texture. Therefore, the Notification Center that slides out above the interface shouldn’t really use the linen texture.

Though I’m not sure I like the way the Max animates the whole Home screen “falling” and bouncing to the bottom of the screen, I do like the idea of the Home screen sliding down to reveal the Notification Center underneath.

The aforelinked reminded me just how off the Notification Center feels in regards to its “depth” within iOS and it’s interaction with the Home screen. I agree with the comment “Shrike” makes in this linked-to post on the AppleInsider forums.

In short, the Multitasking Tray is “under” the home screen. When you activate it, the Home screen moves up to make way. The same happens with Home screen folders. Again, the icons in a folder are “under” the Home screen and when you open a folder the Home screen slides to accommodate.

However, when you slide the Notification Center down, it slides right on top of the Home screen, yet it uses the same “underneath” design (linen) that folders and the Multitasking Tray use.

Just try going back and forth a few times between the Multitasking Tray and the Notification Center and you’ll see what I mean.

Update: iOS 5 Notification Center Fall Down Transition

My initial reaction to this is: yes, please. Four-finger swipe on the iPad is already my new default way to bring up the Multitasking Tray — it just seems much more convenient than double-tapping the Home button.

But then I think about 3 issues: (a) How infrequently I use the Multitasking Tray on iOS; and (b) how often I launch the apps on my iOS Dock by sliding my thumb onto the bottom of the screen; (c) how easy it would be to accidentally bring up the Multitasking Tray.

The third issue is the one in particular would be the problem for the vast majority of users. Ironically, the whole point of this linked-to concept video is to demonstrate an easy way to launch the Multitasking Tray, but I think the ease is exactly the problem.

The bottom-third of an iPhone is surely the area that gets the most touch input. It’s where the Home button is, the Slide to Unlock button, and the Dock of icons. How many iOS users regularly access the Multitasking Tray so often that a slide of their thumb onto the screen would be that much more convenient. I imagine it would bring up the Multitasking Tray far more often that desired — even by power users.

And Ken Yarmosh agrees. He had the gesture activated on a jailbroken device and found that it caused interference with using several apps. Surely a system-wide implementation by Apple would be better than a jailbroken implementation, but it’s very possible that the reason this gesture doesn’t exist on iOS is because Apple hasn’t found an elegant way to implement it.

He’s got a point:

What’s the point of single-purpose social networks if you have to publish content from one onto another? For Instagram, they may have built an app-only social network, but not everyone (like my family) uses it enough for it to be useful on its own. Foursquare and Gowalla suffer the same problem. So often in my Twitter timeline I see people saying where they are with a link to either site.

I love Instagram, but if I couldn’t post my ‘grams to Twitter on occasion then I don’t know if I’d be using it nearly as often.

Seth Godin:

There’s a huge sucking sound, and that’s the erosion of mass as part of the media model. Fewer people buying movie tickets and hardcover books, more people engaging in free media.

One of the core apps in my setup is nvALT, and Brett is the guy who forked it.

Another huge talent acquisition for Facebook. The guys at Gowalla do amazing work.