As I noted yesterday with Mr. Reader’s update, the upcoming shutdown of Google Reader has resulted in a fast uptake of third-party RSS services by existing clients for iOS and OS X, leading to a more variegate, rich ecosystem of apps that sync to different web services that aim at replacing Google Reader. Among the new contenders for the RSS throne there’s David Smith’s Feed Wrangler, which has become my favorite alternative to Google Reader and that, after Mr. Reader and the upcoming Reeder for iPhone update, is now supported by Slow Feeds and ReadKit. Read more
The Prompt, Episode 2: “Explode Into a Pile of Stars”→
This week, the 5by5 delegates to the UN from England, Italy and Tennessee gather to discuss some follow up, Windows and the Apple cult.
I also got to talk about Nintendo and Steve Ballmer. You can get the episode here, or subscribe via iTunes.
Responding To iOS 7→
Winning apps won’t merely take Apple’s default look and mimic it. Think about how boring it would be if all of our apps looked like iOS 7 Calendar or Settings. It would get old really fast. But that’s nothing new. Think about if all the apps on iOS 6 looked like iOS 6 Calendar and settings… Yep, it would be really boring.
Jeremy Olson has some great thoughts on how designers and developers should respond to iOS 7 in the coming months. From what I’ve seen so far, this summer will be an interesting one.
Apple Details iOS 7 Business and Education Improvements→
Last night, Apple updated its iOS 7 mini-site to include links to two webpages that detail improvements coming for Business and Education users.
For Business, the biggest additions are Per app VPN, more controls on “Open In”, third-party app data protection, and more options coming to MDM with streamlined enrollment. New MDM options are also coming for Education users, alongside single sign-on for an institution’s apps, App Store license management, and more.
Macworld has a good overview of the changes coming in iOS 7 for Business and Education. As noted by Bradley Chambers, the new Apple ID features for students under age 13 are a notable addition.
Dropbox for iOS Gets Easier Sharing→
The Dropbox app for iOS received a nice update last night. It’s now possible to swipe across any file to bring up a bar containing icons to share, mark as starred, move, or delete; you can also easily share any folder or multiple photos at once with other users.
I’m particularly happy about improved photo sharing, as it fits well with my photo archiving workflow.
Mr. Reader 2.0 Adds Support For Feedly, Feed Wrangler, Fever, and More
With Google Reader shutting down in less than a week, developers of RSS clients for iOS and OS X are rushing to get updates approved by Apple and let App Store customers continue using their apps with other RSS services. In the past two weeks, details have emerged on a variety of new RSS platforms that are launching on the brink of Reader’s demise, such as Feedly, Digg Reader, and AOL Reader; I’ve already covered Feed Wrangler, the service I’m currently using, and Reeder’s update with support for Feedbin. It’s not clear if one service will stand out as a “winner” in a post-Google Reader world; for now, what’s apparent is that most third-party developers are deciding to support various Google Reader alternatives rather than picking a single service (as it happened with Google Reader in the past three years). Today, my favorite Google Reader app for iPad, Mr. Reader, has been updated to support six new RSS services, with a version 2.0 that doesn’t add new sharing or reading functionalities, but that ensures the app will continue working after July 1. Read more
Pushpin 2.0: A Powerful Pinboard Client for iPhone
On the first episode of The Prompt podcast, I chose Pushpin 2.0 as my weekly pick, and I thought the app deserved a mention here on the site as well.
In January, when I first reviewed Pushpin, I noted how the app didn’t look as good as Pinbook, another Pinboard client that, back then, didn’t support some of the power-user functionalities that were available in Pushpin. Many Pinboard clients have come out in the past few months; as MacStories readers know, my choices have always been Pinbook, Pushpin, and Pinbrowser – while these three apps were all made for Pinboard, each one of them had a peculiar feature that made it stand out. With Pushpin 2.0, I feel like the difference is now marginal, as the app takes important steps towards becoming the only Pinboard client you’d ever need to add, manage, and browse Pinboard bookmarks. Read more
iOS 7 and Virtua Fighter→
Then one day, on a trip to my local arcade, I saw something completely new: Virtua Fighter. The first ever 3D fighting game sacrificed a lot of visual detail in order to achieve real depth rendered via multiple polygons on a projected z-axis.
When I first saw Virtua Fighter I was not impressed. The graphics were terrible compared to my favourite at the time, the also just released Mortal Kombat II, but it was the start of a new era that still continues today: the vast majority of new videogames are first or third-person perspective 3D.
James Russell has come up with an interesting analogy for Apple’s prioritization of depth in iOS 7 (and, as an old-time watcher of the Nintendo vs. Sega wars, one that I can understand and reminisce).
How to Make a Vesper→
An in-depth post by Dave Wiskus on the design decisions behind Vesper. A good reminder that simple and opinionated software is often made by people who sweat every detail.