While the Instagram app allows downloading your stories, it doesn't let you download other people's stories. But there are ways to do it. This tutorial shows you how to download and save Instagram Stories to your iPhone's Photos app.
Unlike virtual reality which completely immerses you in computer-generated images, augmented reality superimposes virtual objects on top of your world rather than close it out.
Mixed reality, on the other hand, (sometimes called hybrid reality) merges the two worlds so that physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time.
A new recently published demo combines an ARKit-driven app running on the Unity 3D engine on an iPad Pro with real-time input from HTC's Vive virtual reality headset and controller. Created by NY-based virtual reality developer Normal VR, the app features a cute avatar drawing a virtual painting in the middle of the company's office.
What's really interesting about it is the fact that a person wearing a HTC Vive is revealed when the camera pans right, proving that the app captures the moves of the person in real-time and projects the resulting actions in their real world through augmented reality.
“This is going from East Coast to West Coast (server) and back. We definitely do some extrapolation to account for ping,” developers wrote. You could easily imagine the possibilities for remote interactions between people across the globe in mixed reality.
Blobbing in the studio today w/ the Vive + ARKit. Definitely some huge mixed reality potential here. #arkit #vr #indiedev #gamedev pic.twitter.com/C1zANBuSrx
— Normal (@normalvr) July 10, 2017
Not sure about you, but I'm really impressed by this demo.
There's a lot going on here as this app brings objects from the virtual world into the real one, in real-time—not only does the avatar realistically replicates the person's actions, it shows the digital painting on top of the real world as it's being created, updating it constantly.
Welcome to the future of mixed reality!
We showed you many demos powered by Apple's ARKit framework for building augmented reality apps on iPhone and iPad, ranging from a simple but awesome measuring tape to home decor shopping, accurate room measurement, Tic Tac Toe, food ordering and more.
Even Ikea has jumped on the AR bandwagon by partnering with Apple on an ARKit-powered app that will let you try out virtual furniture in your home, with support for in-app ordering.
The beauty of ARKit is that it does all the heavy lifting, allowing developers to focus on app design rather than deal with things like plane detection, lighting estimation, tracking, etc.
Using computer vision and other techniques, ARKit does all that by analyzing live camera feed and data from iPhone or iPad's built-in sensors. ARKit requires the A9 or A10 chip, meaning augmented reality apps will require an iPhone 6s or newer or one of the latest iPad models.
As first spotted by The Next Web, Facebook is testing an in-app GIF creator with a subset of users of its mainland mobile app for iOS. The feature is available through the app's built-in camera and allows users to quickly create animated GIFs for sharing with friends and family.
You can also post the GIF to a Story or save it to your device.
GIFs can be spiced up using Facebook's range of built-in camera effects. According to the publication, any GIFs created through this feature are short, lasting only a few seconds.
As I mentioned before, the feature is only available to certain users.
We'll let you know when the in-app GIF creator launches for everyone. Until then, let us know in the comments section if you're part of Facebook's limited test of this feature.
Just a month ago, the social network rolled out the ability for users to express themselves better by posting animated GIFs in comments.
Download Facebook at no charge from App Store.
The App Switcher in iOS automatically opens to the app you last used upon launch rather than the one you were using when you opened the interface, and love it or hate it, a new free jailbreak tweak called AppSwitchCurrent (9 % 10) by iOS developer DGh0st flips this concept around.
Although fewer people are as excited to play Pokémon GO today as when the game first launched last Summer, it still stands as one of the world’s most popular mobile games.
A new Pokémon GO companion app called Pocketdex is now available on the App Store, and was created with love by two prominent members of the jailbreak community: iOS developer Majd Alfhaily and graphic designer Surenix.
A great little ARKit-powered hackathon project by Melbourne, Australia developer Jacqui Hyslop of RedBubble shows off the tremendous potential of Apple's new framework for building augmented reality experiences for iPhone and iPad with iOS 11.
The simple proof-of-concept app allows the user to place virtual cushions (and other home decor items) on a couch and other pieces of furniture in their real world, but without the psychedelic surface-shifting effect plaguing many other AR platforms.
This app clearly proves that home decor shopping in augmented reality beats having to drive to a store just to see how that cushion would look like on a bed that isn't yours in a showroom that shares little resemblance to your own home.
The video demonstration, embedded below for your viewing pleasure, highlights the full sophistication of ARKit's reliable plane and object detection and precision tracking. It's remarkable that all of this is happening so fluidly without any special hardware involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwNAykf4IKw
ARKit uses machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision and sophisticated algorithms to analyze live camera feed and “see” the world around you. It also taps into data from on-board device sensors, such as the accelerometer and gyroscope, to detect horizontal planes in your real world, determine local lighting conditions and so forth.
Those kinds of ARKit-powered apps should be even better on iPhone 8 due to the rumored rear-facing 3D laser sensor that will allow the device to accurately sense depth and map objects.
Be sure to watch another sophisticated ARKit demo showing off an app that basically allows the user to map out the floorspace by walking around a room. It calculates total footage of the room and may even produce detailed blueprints that could be exported to CAD apps.
And here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw9MPZoPqCQ
The future of furniture shopping looks bright, too, as furniture giant Ikea has partnered with Apple on an ARKit-powered app of its own that promises to let users try out virtual furniture at home before placing an actual order right inside the app.
Just imagine the possibilities: with Ikea's app, you could make sure that the bookshelf you've been eyeing for some time would fit in that corner—again, without being bothered to actually, you know, visit one of their stores.
Are you excited for ARKit-powered apps?
If the augmented reality (AR) tape measure app we recently featured has gotten you excited for the possibilities that Apple's ARKit framework brings to developers, you're wholeheartedly recommended to watch this video demonstration of an upcoming ARKit-driven app that will let you take precise room measurement by pointing your iPhone's camera at the corners.
The app will help generate 3D models and automatically calculate the footage for the user. It's a really cool-looking demo and I can't wait to try this app out when it releases.
Watch the demonstration video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw9MPZoPqCQ
The app was created by a company called Smart Pictures, which provides the Measurement Cloud system that enables dimensioning intelligence for the interior world.
Here's a recent ARKit-powered tape measure demo that set the Internet on fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7DYC_zbZCM
This level of precision is made possible by ARKit's accurate plane detection and reliable object tracking. On existing devices, the ARKit framework leverages data from on-board sensors and uses computer vision algorithms constantly analyzing live camera feed.
ARKit-driven apps should be even better on iPhone 8 because Apple's OLED iPhone is said to feature a dedicated 3D laser sensor on both its front and back for even better augmented reality features and faster, more precise autofocus.
Developer FlexiBits today released a major update to the Mac edition of its award-winning calendar application, Fantastical, that you may be familiar with.
Version 2.4 brings a host of improvements, including new features like time to leave alerts, attachment support for iCloud and Exchange calendar events, undo/redo and more.
You can now view, create, and edit attachments on iCloud and Exchange (or view them on Google Calendar). With this feature, you can attach things like images, videos, Keynote presentations and other files to your calendar events.
The feature works on other CalDAV servers that support managed attachments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2lJ5p8hd8A
Another new feature, aptly named Travel Time, allows customers to receive notifications when they need to leave to help ensure they reach an event on time. You can even define your own travel time so you can plan how long it will take to reach an event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tVOwXgnipE
Fantastical 2.4 also improves invitation support for Google Calendar and Exchange with response messages, invitation guest count for Google, the ability to forward Exchange invitations and the option to respond to Exchange invitations without sending a reply.
TUTORIAL: How to create app-specific passwords for Fantastical and other apps
The app includes a bunch of refinements and under-the-hood fixes, like full undo/redo support for adding, editing, and deleting events and reminders, the ability to combine identical events that are on multiple calendars, to mention a few.
There's also a new More link in the Month view to show additional events and reminders, Facebook push updates are now instantaneous while new options in preferences at long last permit you to customize the number of weeks per month.
Have a look at everything new in Fantastical 2.4 for Mac.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZm3PWDBh5k
Last but not least, you can now forward invitations to other people on Exchange accounts, see the year of the anniversary for contacts and respond to an Exchange invitation without sending a message to the sender by clicking and holding the Accept, Decline or Maybe buttons.
Fantastical requires macOS El Capitan 10.11 or later.
Current users can get the update for free via the Mac App Store's Updates tab or through the in-app updater if the app was purchased directly from the Flexibits Store.
Fantastical 2.4 for Mac is $49.99 on Mac App Store.
A three-week trial is available via the Flexibits website.
This week's edition of our App of the Week roundup features a new map-based social app, a to-do list with a twist, and a new app that keeps you informed on new music releases from your favorite artists. And as usual, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.
YouMapEvents are constantly shaping the way we interact with each other and helping us decide where we go on any given day. With YouMap, you can let the world know what you’re thinking, seeing and feeling, while getting the latest updates at a moment’s notice. Obviously we're skeptical anytime a new social network comes on the scene, but YouMap seems to have the UI and user engagement needed to gain some traction. The early reviews are glowing, with one user saying this is the first social app to "get the map thing right." So if you're feeling adventurous this weekend, see what's going on around you with YouMap. It's available for free.
Purp To-Do List & Goal TrackerPurp is a well-organized helper, to-do list and task manager app that allows you to achieve your goals and complete your daily tasks. Whatever your goals are—like completing projects, managing daily tasks, work todos, learning languages, mastering skills, sports or travel—Purp will help you to collect, keep, organize and track them, so you can reach them. Features include iCloud sync, task timer, progress dash board, and much more. The first reviews on iTunes are pretty rough, but the UI are feature set are unique enough that I think it's worth checking out. Purp To-Do List & Goal Tracker is available for free.
RecordBirdRecord Bird informs you about new and upcoming music releases of your favorite artists and genres. Be the first to know of a new album or single by your favorite bands and musicians and share the news directly with your friends. With Record Bird, you will never miss a new release again. There have been more than a few apps that have tried a similar strategy, that didn't gain much traction. But the early user feedback (4.5 stars on 90 ratings in iTunes) suggest this one might have finally gotten it right. RecordBird is available for free.
Mini DAYZ - Survival GameHow long can you survive in a post-apocalyptic world? Find out in Mini DAYZ—an official pixel art rendition of the massively successful PC survival game (played by over 3 million fans). It's you against the world in Mini DAYZ: explore a randomly generated map and scavenge for food, ammo and supplies. Use anything you find to craft advanced items. Protect yourself against aggressive infected and ferocious wolves. But most important of all: make sure to stay dry, warm and well fed at all times. The weather out there can quickly get under your skin and your wounds will not heal without you treating them. Mini DAYZ - Survival Game is available for free.
Flippy HillsFlippy Hills is an original arcade game with cool physics that will give you plenty of thrills, spills, epic wins, fails and tricks in two modes of your choice: campaign or arcade. Campaign mode features an adventure spanning over dozens of levels that get progressively harder, and arcade mode puts you in an endless barrage of assault courses to compete with your friends and gain records. The gameplay is surprisingly addictive, but you are going to have to put up with some annoying ads unless you're willing to fork over a few bucks via an in-app purchase. Flippy Hills is available for free (with some IAPs).
More apps to check out Apple’s free app of the week: Ridge Racer Slipstream You can now reply to Instagram Stories with photos and videos
Instagram today announced that users of its popular photo-sharing service can now reply to Stories from people they follow with photos and videos. “From selfies to Boomerangs, now you can be even more fun and playful when you respond to friends,” said the company.
The new feature requires Instagram version 10.28 for iOS.
To reply to a Story with a photo or a video, hit the new camera button that appears while you're watching a Story. If you don't see the icon, the feature has not launched yet in your country.
Like with regular posts, you can pretty up your reply using Instagram's creative tools, allowing you to use face filters, stickers and the Rewind feature. “Replies also include a sticker of the Story that you can move around and resize,” said Instagram.
You'll get a message via Direct when someone replies to your Story with a photo or a video.
You can tap the message to view the reply and also see a sticker of the original story that’s only visible to you. As with disappearing media in Direct, your friends will know when you’ve taken a screenshot (Android only) or replayed a reply.
To learn more about these new features, be sure to check out Instagram's Help Center.
Instagram for iPhone and iPad is available free from App Store.
Apple's ARKit framework is slowly but surely emerging as one of the best new features in iOS 11. Many developers have built everything from virtual tape measures and Minecraft to ballerinas made out of wood dancing on floors. It's remarkable that most of the ARKit demos we've seen so far were built in a matter of hours or days, not weeks or months.
Today, we want to highlight a few additional ARKit demos that we've curated. These videos highlight ARKit's incredibly reliable and accurate tracking features that don't require any special hardware beyond the sensors and the camera already present in your iPhone or iPad.
First up, we have this demo showing jumping between different planes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj3PbRTgpQk
ARKit automatically detects horizontal surfaces, called planes, such as tables and floors, and can track and place objects on smaller feature points as well. This is all handled automatically, with uncanny precision, using only data from your iOS device's camera and sensors.
The following pair of videos demonstrate a virtual character interacting with the environment by autonomously jumping a flight of stairs and between different surfaces of the real world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vozrtqe7MZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7REJj_bN-c
Interactions between virtual objects and real people are easy as a pie with ARKit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdAqD4uIbX0
The Tracking Monster demo, seen below, uses ARKit and the Unity engine to track a monster with the dynamically updated shadows based on changing lighting conditions in the real world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IYT-OCWqDg
Maze games will never be the same!
Speaking of games, here's Tic-Tac-Tio in augmented reality, developed By Bjarne Lundgren.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBBq473vuMo
And last but not least, Mixed Reality Design posted the following example of an augmented reality app depicting an alien vessel hovering ominously above a construction site.
Hollywood will soon invade your smartglasses airspace → fact https://t.co/jLYm1YcBW2 pic.twitter.com/to2qqfFIVr
— Mixed Reality Design (@MixedrealityD) July 4, 2017
Head over to the Mixed Reality Design's Twitter account for more AR examples like this.
While it's not entirely clear that this particular demo uses ARKit, it does highlight the possibilities for AR movie trailers that could be coming soon to your phone.
Be sure to check out other interesting ARKit apps and demos, including an upcoming furniture-ordering app from Ikea, a measuring tape that blew up on the web, an ARKit-powered VR mode in Maps, an inter-dimensional portal and much more.
“I think there is a gigantic runway that we have here with the iPhone and the iPad,” Apple executive Greg Joswiak said of ARKit in a recent interview with The Australian. “The fact we have a billion of these devices out there is quite an opportunity for developers.”
How do you like these ARKit demos? Which one is your favorite, and why? Chime in with your thoughts and observations in the comments section below.
Learn how to move several apps between Home Screen pages on your iPhone or iPad at once or add them all to a folder in one fell swoop, saving you time.