Apps

References to drag and drop on iPad spotted in Apple Feedback app ahead of iOS 11 reveal

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2017

Apple's own Feedback app, that iOS beta testers use for reporting bugs, contains references to a drag and drop feature, as first spotted by developer Steven Troughton-Smith this morning.

An entry labeled “Split View/Drag and Drop” now appears in the list of preset options when filing a bug using the Feedback app. iOS, of course, lacks any drag and drop features that would admittedly be tremendously useful, especially in Split View mode.

That said, it's unclear that the Cupertino technology giant will formally announce drag and drop functionality in iOS 11 during today's live-streamed WWDC keynote.

Ukrainian developer Readdle's popular iOS apps were updated last week with the ability to drag and drop content between them in iOS's Split View multitasking mode on iPad, providing an early preview of how Apple's version of system-wide drag-and-drop might work in iOS 11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epzh9-rd-AI

MacStories editor Federico Vittici and his team painstakingly created some awesome iOS 11 productivity concepts, imagining new productivity features for iPad. Among them is—you guessed right—drag and drop functionality. “Because drag-and-drop would be fully multitouch-enabled, it wouldn’t block the iOS interface,” Vittici explained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyFUDQ5LLZw

“Another finger could be used to navigate in a different 'drop area' of an app, or a user could keep dragging until the Split View app picker is shown and drop an item onto an app’s icon, opening a contextual action menu.”

Late Sunday, Troughton-Smith discovered a placeholder listing for Apple's unreleased Files app on App Store. It's since been removed and no screenshots or official descriptions were provided, but we do know it's going to require iOS 11 and 64-bit support.

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App Store placeholder listing for Apple Files app appears briefly ahead of WWDC keynote

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 15, 2017

A placeholder listing for a new Apple Files app has briefly appeared on App Store ahead of today's live-streamed WWDC keynote, as spotted by iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith late Sunday. It's surfaced in the Utilities section of App Store and has since been removed.

No screenshots or the official description were provided.

The app requires iOS 11 and 64-bit support and is designed for both iPhone and iPad. It sports a blue file folder icon resembling the design for folder icons in macOS. It's entirely possible that the new Files app is really just a rebranded version of the existing iCloud Drive app.

It's unclear if the forthcoming app will be a new stock item in iOS 11 or an optional download. If I had to guess, I'd say it will likely come pre-installed with iOS 11. Since iOS 10, Apple has allowed users to hide most of the stock apps from their Home screen.

To help users easily re-install any removed stock apps, Apple has provided all of its first-party iOS apps that are removable as downloadable App Store items. iOS 11 will be previewed at WWDC later today along with tvOS 11, watchOS 4 and macOS 10.13.

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How to track your sleep using AutoSleep

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated January 10, 2019

You don’t have to be a scientist to know that a good night’s sleep is conducive to your overall wellbeing and health. On that note, a while ago we have screened the App Store for the best sleep trackers available on iPhone and Apple Watch so as to make it easy for you to pick and choose your new sleep companion.

While varying in looks and features, all of the apps listed serve the same purpose: record how you slept and explain possible discrepancies in perceived quality of sleep and your actual rest. With the hands-off roundup in mind, we decided to select the most requested and popular app featured - AutoSleep - and throw a complementary hands-on tutorial on sleep tracking into the mix. Want to learn more about how to track your sleep using your iPhone, Apple Watch, and the AutoSleep app? Then join us for the tour!

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Apple to announce Siri support for larger variety of apps at WWDC

Cody Lee ∙ June 3, 2017

Apple is expected to announce plans next week to make Siri work with a larger variety of apps, reports Reuters. Currently the digital assistant integrates with apps from just six categories: ride sharing, messaging, photo search, payments, fitness and auto infotainment.

The move will make Siri more competitive against other assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa, which is capable of handling some 12,000 different tasks. Apple has taken criticism for lagging behind other tech giants in the AI space, and next week it looks to close the gap.

In addition to announcing improved app support for Siri, Apple is also expected to unveil an Echo-like speaker featuring the assistant. Reports have said that it is cylinder in shape, like the latest Mac Pro, and it features a high-end sound system and a dedicated touch panel.

Apple's WWDC keynote begins on Monday, June 5 at 10am PDT. Be sure to join us as we cover the event, and all subsequent announcements, live. Also make sure you check out our inaugural WWDC Fantasy Draft.

Source: Reuters

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Halide, Clarity, Adobe Scan, and other apps to check out this weekend

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup includes a new camera app with a beautiful UI and powerful features, a wallpaper editor and a text scanner. And as usual, we have two great new games for you to check out this weekend.

Halide

The App Store probably didn't need another camera app, but Halide was just too beautiful to pass up. The developers describe Halide as a "groundbreaking camera app for deliberate and thoughtful photography." Its bag of high-end tools includes gesture-based exposure and manual focus controls, focus peaking, histogram, adaptive level grid and RAW support. Built by former Apple designers, this app is well-worth checking out. Halide is available for $2.99 (limited time).

Clarity

Clarity is a minimal, handy wallpaper editor. Simply load your favorite photo into the app and adjust things like Hue, Saturation and Opacity to ensure that any image makes a great wallpaper. Other features include 200+ gradients to choose from, as well as various blur and mask effects. The point is to make your photo light enough so that you can still clearly see the date/time on your Lock screen and icons on your Home screen. Clarity is available for free.

Adobe Scan

That's right, Adobe released a scanner app this week called Adobe Scan. Like similar apps, it turns your mobile device into a portable scanner that recognizes text automatically using OCR. Turn anything—receipts, notes, pictures, documents, business cards, whiteboards—into an Adobe PDF with content you can highlight, search and annotate. There are a few caveats here, such as you need an Adobe account to use the app, but this still looks like a solid option for folks in the market for a scanner app. Adobe Scan is available for free (with some IAPs).

Bouncy Hoops

Bouncy Hoops is a minimal basketball game for all the, in the developers' words, "street ballers and shot callers" out there. The gameplay is dead simple, with one-touch controls, and there is quite a bit of content to unlock—20 different basketballs and 5 unique locations to hoop in. It has a retro arcade style look and sound, and it's getting very favorable early reviews. The game is made by the same team behind Flappy Golf and Super Stickman Golf. Bouncy Hoops is available for free (with some IAPs).

SUP Multiplayer Racing

Gear up and make your engines roar for the craziest multiplayer mobile racing experience ever! Leave your rivals in the dust: drift, jump, blast off with boosters, and reach the finish line in one piece. Compete with up to 3 opponents from around the world on stunning tracks, smash others off the track and push your car to the limit! There is tons of customizable content and events to keep you entertained. If you're looking for a new racing game, this one is worth checking out. SUP Multiplayer Racing is available for free (with some IAPs).

More apps to check out Apple’s free app of the week: The Robot Factory Expand iPad’s Picture-in-Picture feature with PiPifier Skype is getting a major redesign with Snapchat-like features Plex app gets live TV support and DVR enhancements Twitter’s inbox now separates out messages from people you don’t follow
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Expand iPad’s Picture-in-Picture feature with PiPifier

Cody Lee ∙ June 1, 2017

The iPad's Picture-in-Picture feature can really come in handy—when it works. Unfortunately, some pages such as YouTube use custom video players that don't have a dedicated PiP button, rendering the feature useless. That's where the app PiPifier comes into play.

PiPifier lets you view every HTML5 (which is basically every web video on iOS) in Picture-in-Picture mode. It uses a Safari Action extension, so all you have to do is open Safari to your preferred web video, tap on the Share Menu, and select the Run PiPifier option.

As you can see in the screenshots, doing this puts your video into native PiP mode. This allows you to watch your clip in a resizable window that you can place virtually anywhere on your iPad's screen, all while performing other tasks, such as replying to emails and texts.

PiPifier is available for free.

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Apple updating Swift Playgrounds with support for robots, drones, and instruments

Cody Lee ∙ June 1, 2017

Apple today announced a significant update for its iPad app Swift Playgrounds. The app, which is geared towards teaching beginners to code in a fun and interactive environment, will soon work with robots, drones and musical instruments.

Scheduled to be released next week, Swift Playgrounds version 1.5 will support programming a slew of new devices including the Sphero SPRK+ ball, UBTECH Jumu Robot MeeBot Kit, Wonder Workshop's Dash, Parrot drones and LEGO Mindstorms.

“More than 1 million kids and adults from around the world are already using Swift Playgrounds to learn the fundamentals of coding with Swift in a fun and interactive way,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “Now they can instantly see the code they create and directly control their favorite robots, drones and instruments through Swift Playgrounds. It’s an incredibly exciting and powerful way to learn.”

“Today we’re combining efforts with Apple to provide even more students around the world with the opportunity to learn how to code,” said Esben Stærk Jørgensen, president, LEGO Education. “We’re pairing the familiar LEGO bricks and our hands-on approach to playful learning found in LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 with Swift Playgrounds' powerful learning platform so now anyone can program their LEGO MINDSTORMS creation with real Swift code.”

Swift Playgrounds 1.5 will be a free update for the app and will be released June 5.

Source: Apple

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Skype is getting a major redesign with Snapchat-like features

Cody Lee ∙ June 1, 2017

Microsoft on Thursday unveiled a major redesign for its Skype video conferencing app. Rebuilt from the ground up, the company says the new app vastly improves the ways you can connect with your favorite people, putting chat front and center.

Early reactions to the new design have pointed out that the interface has kind of a Snapchat vibe. Group chats are more lively, expressive and personalized, and there's a new Stories-like Highlights section that allows you to share a photo or video.

Highlights can be decorated with emojis and text, and they remain available for a full week instead of the usual 24 hours. They can be viewed by anyone who follows you on Skype, or you can choose to send your Highlights to a specific group or user.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU9w41tPXyc

Other new features include Facebook-like reactions to Highlights and chats, in-video chat overlays for emojis, text, stickers and photos, and the addition of smart assistant Cortana. Skype is also adding bots from Bing, Expedia, YouTube and others.

The Skype update hits Android first, later today, iOS within the next few weeks, and Mac and Windows devices within the next few months.

Source: Skype

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Plex app gets live TV support and DVR enhancements

Cody Lee ∙ June 1, 2017

Plex on Thursday announced that they're rolling out support for live TV to their various Plex apps. They're starting with Android TV and iOS, and say updates for other platforms like tvOS will follow suit.

The live TV feature is built right into the Media Server, so you'll be able to stream everything from game shows to sporting events in real time, from pretty much anywhere in the world.

The app is also getting other improvements: in-app DVR management, meaning you can now browse the program guide and manage recordings directly from within the app, and expanded tuner support. Last September Plex announced support for the HDHomeRun tuner line, and now it's opening up to tuners from Hauppauge, AVerMedia and many more.

Plex Live TV and DVR are available immediately for Plex Pass users only. The service costs $5 per month, $40 per year, or $120 for life (20% off for a limited time). It's a bit pricey, but it's definitely worth looking into if you're thinking about cutting the cord.

Source: Plex

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Apple: App Store developers earned over $70 billion in revenue since debut

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 1, 2017

Apple announced Thursday morning that developers all over the world for its platform have generated over $70 billion in total revenue, a new record since the launch of the App Store almost nine years ago in 2008.

The number 70 appears to be Apple’s lucky number this year, as app downloads have also soared 70% in the last 12 months, illustrating interest in numerous new app titles that took the App Store by storm.

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