Site Stuff

iDB 3.0: redesigned to be lighter, wider, and responsive

After going close to seven years without a major redesign, we are excited to announce that iDB finally got a well-deserved makeover. Regular readers will feel right at home, while potential new readers will find a site that looks more inviting and easier on the eye. Let me walk you through some of the design decisions.

iDB app v1.4: a new cache clearing feature and minor fixes under the hood

It's not because today is a holiday in the US that the hard working people of the App Review team are resting on their laurels. As a matter of fact, they were busy reviewing version 1.4 of the iDB app today, which they just approved following our submission a couple of days ago.

For those curious to find out what's new and what's been fixed, read on for the full changelog.

How we built the iDB app – part 2: from design to code

This is a guest post by Giulio Michelon, proud designer and CEO of Belka, the Italian studio that designed and developed the iDB app. We've asked Giulio to come here and share his experience developing the app, from the initial concept to the final product. Part 1 was published last week, and part 3 will be published next week.

In the previous part, we talked about the lo-fi design, which mostly iterates on the basic ideas and concepts. In this part I will talk about the high-fidelity design and the actual implementation of the product.

iDB app update brings our latest stories straight to your Apple Watch

If you've been staring at your wrist for the last four months hoping to one day be able to read iDB stories straight for your Apple Watch, then I have some good news for you.

The good news is of course that we have added support for Apple Watch, letting you browse our latest articles without even having to unlock your iPhone. Welcome to the 21st century!

How we built the iDB app – part 1: concept and design

This is a guest post by Giulio Michelon, proud designer and CEO of Belka, the Italian studio that designed and developed the iDB app. We've asked Giulio to come here and share his experience developing the app, from the initial concept to the final product. In part 1, Giulio will talk about concept and design. Part 2, and 3 will be published over the next couple of weeks.

iDownloadBlog’s app started with a concept from Sebastien: he asked us to build an app to discover the latest news for his blog in a fast and convenient way. He mentioned us some example of the result he wanted to see: something similar to Tinder, but for news.

Introducing the iDB app for iPhone

It took us several years to get here, but today we're pleased to announce that we have released an iDB app for iPhone, available now in the App Store. Before I go into the details behind the app's development, head over to the App Store to download it for free right now.

For the past several years, I’ve put off developing an app because, quite frankly, I didn’t feel there was a real need for one. Sure, a few loyal readers were asking for an iDB app, but in my mind, there was nothing substantial an App Store app could offer over the web-based version of the website that you can just visit in Safari.

Late last year, I began thinking about an app that would take a different approach from what every other blog has launched on the App Store. The core idea was that I definitely wanted to stay away from the vertically scrollable format used by most news apps or web apps. I also wanted a format that would give all content inside the app a chance to be seen, instead of accidentally skipped by a quick swipe up gesture. As a result, you’ll see the iDB app offers a different experience.

A final farewell from Jeff

Ladies and gentlemen...Today I say goodbye to a place I have called my online home for quite a few years. It's a bittersweet day. I'm moving on to another adventure, but I will always have fond memories of my time at iDB...

Happy New Year

This message might reach you a little late, or a little early, depending where you are in the world, but Christian, Cody, Jeff, Jim, Lory, Timothy, and myself wholeheartedly wish you and your loved ones a happy new year.

I’d like to take advantage of this occasion to also thank you for the continued support you have demonstrated. Having such a vibrant community surround iDB is a blessing we never take for granted.

As we’re about to start 2016, our most loyal readers will be happy to hear we are working on something new for iDB. If everything goes well, it should be available for prime time in the next month or so. Of course, we will let you know, but in the meanwhile, I’ll let you speculate about what it might be…

Here is to 2016. Happy new year!

How to search iDB quickly using Workflow

Searching iDB using the Google Site Search box embedded on the blog usually returns super-accurate and trustworthy results. But wouldn't it be cool if you could perform searches directly from a Notification Center Today View Widget?

If you have Workflow installed on your iOS device, it'll only take a few seconds to install my iDB Search workflow for super-quick searches from anywhere on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.