Federico Viticci's Overview of iOS 9

As every Apple nerd on the planet is more than aware of, today was the big WWDC 2015 Keynote. Loads of interesting things were announced, including OS X El Capitan (I'm still not sure about that name, but moving on…) and watchOS 2.

As a full-time iOS user though, the announcement of iOS 9—particularly the iPad productivity enhancements coming with it—were easily of most interest to me. I would explain more about these new features myself, but Federico Viticci already has it completely covered.

He sums it up nicely in the “iPad and Multitasking” section:

As someone who uses the iPad as his primary computer, the productivity and multitasking features announced today seem spectacular. The iPad was at an inflection point — still failing to convince some tech circles of the benefits of a tablet — and the changes coming with iOS 9 are a reassuring sign of Apple's commitment to the uniqueness of the device. With Slide Over and Split View, Apple isn't trading off the inherent simplicity of the one-app-at-a-time model for more complexity: they're adding an option for those who, like me, want to work with an iPad and do more at once.

I love that Apple is acknowledging how great the iPad can be as a primary device. Hopefully more 3rd-party developers take note and stop treating the iPad like a second citizen.¹

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1. I'm looking at you, Squarespace. Managing pages and site design is still a joke on iPad. How about a full-on iOS app for such things? I still don't understand why something like that doesn't exist and yet Portfolio and Note do. ↩

Act 2 of 'Broken Age' for iOS is Here! [App Store Link]

It's been nearly a year since I played Act 1 of DoubleFine's point-and-click adventure game, Broken Age for iOS. All the while, I've anxiously awaited the second act to drop so I could complete this wonderful story.

Now that Act 2 is finally here, I may have to clear my schedule for the rest of the day.

[PSA: I've only ever played the iOS version, but if you're more of a Mac gamer, Broken Age for Mac is currently on sale for $18 (down from $25).]

Our New Favorite Podcast App for iOS

Over at The Sweet Setup, we've chosen Overcast as our new favorite podcast app for iOS, edging out Pocket Casts as our previous top pick.

Once we have a top app pick—in any category—it's very rare that we switch to anything else. In fact, as of this writing we've only done it one other time. So, trust me when I say it was a tough decision, especially because we still love Pocket Casts to death. In the end however, it was the right call.

Lickability is Going Indie

As of today, Brian Capps of iOS app development studio Lickability is officially becoming the first full-time member of the team.

One thing that we’ve always done at Lickability is take our time and do things the “right way.” We take our time to ship releases because we want them to be up to our standards and make sure that they’ve got the features and polish that they deserve. We’re taking the same approach with our company. For the past two years we’ve worked on app releases and client projects that have allowed us to save enough money to pay me full time for more than half a year. Without taking any external investment, we’re funding this experiment entirely from the proceeds generated so far by Lickability. While the initial outside funding approach has worked for many, we’re proud to be responsible to no one but ourselves for our future.

They're giving themselves six months to see if the business can become profitable while paying Brian a full-time salary. I'm super excited for them, and hope to see them pull it off. Congratulations guys!

(On a more selfish note, I'm also excited that Quotebook for iOS will be getting some love. It's long been a favorite app of mine.)

Federico Viticci's Review of the iPad Air 2

Federico's review of the iPad Air 2 is far more than a breakdown of its specs and features. It's a credo for why the iPad has become his primary computing device.

“The iPad’s screen and body are glued together physically and conceptually. [...] as a computer [it] truly disappears in your hands, feeling like a display that you grab and touch and swipe and throw away when you’re done.

[...]

Three years ago, when I was stuck in a hospital bed and I wanted to continue my work, I started using the iPad out of curiosity, challenging myself to get more done on iOS in spite of its limitations and differences from OS X. Today, some of those limitations still remain, but the iPad and new versions of iOS have solved most of my problems in new and unexpected ways.

The iPad is the best thing that happened to my professional life.”

Like Federico, the iPad—mine is the 4th-gen model—is my primary device. In fact, I don't even own a traditional computer anymore (unless you count my wife's Windows 7 laptop, which I avoid using at all costs).

I'm in a better position than most to find any holes in Federico's argument, but I can't disagree with a single word of his review, or more importantly his philosophy concerning the iPad. It truly is an incredibly versatile device. Most shortcomings with it I've ever come across have been due to lack of developer interest, but even that problem is getting less and less prevalent by the year.

Just to give an example, here are some of the apps that help me get my writing work done:

• I write in Editorial, with a bevy of workflows and TextExpander snippets that make my life at least 10x easier.
• I publish in Squarespace Blog.
• I capture ideas in Drafts and often move my more long-term personal notes over to Simplenote.
• As I come across interesting links in Twitter and RSS, I save them in Instapaper and archive the best stuff in Pinboard (which I often access using Pinner).
• My teammates and I at Tools & Toys and The Sweet Setup use Slack and Basecamp to communicate and stay on top of upcoming projects.
• I use a mixture of apps for managing blog photos: VSCO Cam for editing, Pixelmator for creating and/or combining images, Reduce for resizing images to appropriate widths and file sizes (with EXIF Wizard Pro to double-check EXIF data), and Droplr for hosting Spark Journal images.

And this list is just the tip of the iceberg. The iPad has limitations, sure, but those are more and more becoming edge cases. Nearly all my needs are covered by the iPad, and I have almost no desire for anything more.

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Further reading: Josh Ginter's review + gorgeous photos of the iPad Air 2 on Tools & Toys.

Suggested Uses for Day One

In my recent review of Day One, I listed a few ways to put the journaling app to good use. Over at The Sweet Setup, Shawn Blanc's review of the same app contains a running list of other great ideas worth checking out.

This bit at the end is so true:

“Thanks to tagging and searching, Day One can serve as all of these things at once. That’s the beauty of a personal journaling app, it can be filled with all sorts of topics and media types, with no need to keep it “focused.” And I think that’s the road best traveled. Because a huge part of what makes a successful journal is constant use.”

Using VSCO Cam for iPad

Shawn Blanc shares his first impressions of VSCO Cam for iPad, along with his new photo-importing process that involves a Lightning-to-SD card reader.

“Long have I wished for an iPad-centric workflow. For one, the larger screen of the iPad is far better suited to photo editing. Moreover, for extended trips, I’ve always wanted to be able to edit a dozen or more photographs and then send them out to the relevant friends and family. But importing them one at a time and then editing them on my iPhone just never felt appealing.

But, now there is VSCO Cam for the iPad. Combined with the Lighting to SD Card Camera Reader, my wish may have been granted.”

As Shawn details, it's not a perfect setup and probably won't entice many photographers to switch to a primarily-iOS workflow. Still, it feels like we're getting closer to such a world every day—and as someone who is already 99% iOS-centric, you can bet I'm watching this space closely.

VSCO Cam 4.0 Released

I don't often make a habit of linking to app updates on this site, unless there is good reason. Today's release of VSCO 4.0 provided one very good reason: iPad support.

That's right, the interface has been retooled for the iPad display. Let's just say I might have jumped up and clicked my heels when I found out.

Pixelmator for iPad [App Store Link]

I've been wishing for an iPad version of Pixelmator ever since I bought the device. Now it's ~finally~ here, and was an insta-buy for me. Still can't believe it's just $5, considering how powerful it is.

The best part? No more putting up with the eccentricities of Photoshop Touch.