November 16th, 2009

iPhone UI: The age gap and other stats

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 1:01 pm

Categories: Developer, iPhone, iPhone 3.1

Tags: Apple iPhone, Developer, Apple Inc., Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, David Morgenstern

Sessions at this month’s iPhone Tech Talk in Seattle revealed differences in usage by age groups, according to a developer report from the conference.

Developer Brian Lane, posted a rundown of the sessions he attended, including sessions on UI design, application purchasing, networking and database handling. He pointed to a number of interesting stats about iPhone use.

At the UI Design Essentials session, Lane was told that a majority of users purchase new apps from their phones. He was surprised by this and so am I since I never buy on the fly and instead check out on iTunes reviews and other editorial before buying.

Because of this buying behavior, developers were told to refine their icons and app titles.

Your icon is your business card and it will make or break the success of your app. Most users buy with their phones (this surprised me, I buy with iTunes) so all they see is your icon and the name of your app in their search results. The brain processes shapes and colors first, then texture and smaller details. This means your icon should have distinctive colors and a clear outline, not a complicated and cluttered design.

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November 13th, 2009

Rogue Amoeba: App Store 'broken'

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:22 am

Categories: App, App Store, Developer, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Macintosh, Apple Inc., App, Rogue Amoeba, Desktops, Smart Phones, Hardware, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s story about how Joe Hewitt, developer of the Facebook app, is leaving the project in protest of Apple’s ridiculous review process comes another high-profile defection.

This time Rogue Amoeba has announced that they will no longer develop apps for the iPhone following frustrating treatment by the App Store team.

Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil Speakers Touch 1.0 app (pictured) was approved months ago, after discovering a bug the company submitted an update to the App Store. The update took Apple three and a half months to approve because the company used Safari logos and Mac images as part of the User Interface.

The company contends that the logos and images were only used as navigational elements - usage that’s permitted in Apple’s Mac development rules.

Paul Kafasis, CEO of Rogue Amoeba, said it this way:

We urge you to do two things. First, be aware that Apple is acting as a gatekeeper, and preventing you from getting the software that developers such as ourselves are trying to provide you. We wanted to ship a simple bug fix, and it took almost four months of slow replies, delays, and dithering by Apple. All the while, our buggy, and supposedly infringing version, was still available. There’s no other word for that but “broken.”

Kafasis goes on to say that Rogue Amoeba won’t develop additional apps and that updates to its existing iPhone applications “will likely be rare.”

The iPhone platform had great promise, but that promise is not enough, so we’re focusing on the Mac.

Tip: 9 to 5 Mac

November 4th, 2009

Bare Bones updates BBEdit

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 10:29 am

Categories: Developer, Software

Tags: Folder, Behavior, BBEdit 9.0, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Apple Mac OS X, Apple Mac OS, Enterprise Software, Software, Operating Systems, David Morgenstern

BBEdit, Bare Bones Software’s leading HTML code and text editor was updated to Version 9.3 on Tuesday with new features and interface tweaks.

The product page for BBEdit 9 is topped with “It doesn’t suck.” And they are right.

Bare Bones said the update is free for all customers with BBEdit 9.0 through 9.2.1. Here are some items from the change list that caught my eye:

Invisible File handling. In previous versions, BBEdit would let users search inside SCM administrative directories when they uses the “Search Invisible Folders” command. Now, that’s an option that customers must turn on via a pref.

When scanning folders for various purposes (multi-file search, Find differences, and others), SCM administrative directories are specifically ignored, even if “Search Invisible Folders” is turned on: CVS, .svn, .git, .hg, .bzr. This avoids potential disasters that can result from indiscriminate search and replace in such directories. If, however, you choose to live dangerously, you can allow BBEdit to see inside of these directories:

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October 12th, 2009

Are Mac OS X and Apple servers making inroads with the Feds?

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 6:49 pm

Categories: Corporate, Developer, Server

Tags: Apple Mac OS, Apple Macintosh, Performance, Apple Inc., Apple Mac OS X, Performance Management, Desktops, Servers, Human Resources, Workforce Management

A recent article points to traction in the goverment market by a Mac-based surveillance system vendor. Despite the resistance from PC-centric IT managers, the Mac’s performance and easy support appears to be winning contracts.

A Security Systems News story by L. Samuel Pfeifle tells of videoNEXT, a company offering a range of video surveillance software that runs on Mac OS X clients and servers. In the summer, the company released Cavu Free, Cavu and Cavu Pro: iPhone-based surveilance management client apps costing nothing (go figure), $19.99,  and $49.99, respectively.

According to a government VAR sales manager quoted in the story, the “Mac conversation” begins with the Mac’s lower profile with the hacker community. Later on in the purchasing process, the customer is won over by the Mac’s better performance, storage availability, and ease of use, all of which come at the same price point as a competing Windows system, he said.

According to Chris Gettings, CEO and president of VideoNEXT, quoted in the story, there are still a number of hurdles when approaching government IT shops. He said sites familiar with Linux systems offer much less resistance.

In addition, Gettings reported that Apple’s hardware decisions made integration and quality assurance easier.

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August 25th, 2009

Developer calls for Apple to eliminate App Store review process

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:04 am

Categories: App Store, Developer

Tags: Developer, Apple Inc., App, Jason D. O'Grady

Joe Hewitt, a software developer best known for his work on Facebook for iPhone and early Firefox, has a radical proposal about how to fix the App Store: eliminate App Store review process completely.

While I agree with the spirit of Hewitt’s argument, it will never happen.

The premise (and title) of his blog post is that apps should be “innocent until proven guilty.” Hewitt thinks that Apple should emulate the open and transparent model of the worldwide web and allow the market to police itself. He also states that Apple is overwhelmed and incapable of keeping up with the rapid pace of app development.

Apple does not have the means to perform thorough quality assurance on any app. This is up to the developer… Apple may catch a few shallow bugs in the review process, but let’s face it, the real things they are looking for are not bugs, but violations of the terms of service.

Hewitt also takes issue with Apple’s justice system of guilty until proven innocent.

They don’t trust us, and I resent that, because the vast majority of us are trustworthy.

While all good points I can’t help but think that a wide-open Apple Store would invite many untrustworthy opportunists all too eager to take advantage of the growing flock of iPhone owners. After all, if Apple can’t keep up with the pace of apps submitted to the store, how could they keep up with all the complaints and investigations that would result from a “Wild West” approach?

What would stop developers from lodging fake complaints against their competitors in order to stifle competition? Although the “vast majority” of developers may indeed be trustworthy, what about the ones that aren’t? What about the opportunists and thieves that would love to prey on unsuspecting iPhone owners?

Although I see Hewitt’s point, Apple is unlikely to ever auto-approve apps, the App Store is simply too popular with too much profit potential for unscrupulous developers. That being said, there has to be some sort of middle ground between Apple’s iron curtain and the Wild West.

My proposal after the jump…

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July 19th, 2009

iPhone OS 3.1 dev builds phone home

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 7:32 pm

Categories: Developer, iPhone, iPhone 3.1, iPhone OS 3.0

Tags: Apple iPhone, Phone, Beta, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

If you’re not a registered Apple developer and are considering installing iPhone OS 3.1 beta 2 acquired from a (ahem!) third-party source you may want to re-consider. A source tells me that the iPhone 3.1 beta 2 phones home to the mothership in Cupertino to verify that your iPhone’s unique identifier (a.k.a. its UDID) is on file with Apple. I’m not sure if this was just added in beta 2 or if its been there since beta 1, but either way you may want to sit this one out — or cough up the $99 to become a legitimate iPhone developer.

July 15th, 2009

iPhone OS 3.1 beta 2 released to developers

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 5:56 am

Categories: Developer, Software, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, Developer, Apple Inc., Wi-Fi, Beta, TUAW, Wireless LANs, Wireless And Mobility, Jason D. O'Grady

According to Ars Technica, Apple released the second beta of iPhone OS 3.1 to developers last night. Labeled build 7C106c the new iPhone software beta is said to give developers the ability to do limited development over WiFi instead of being limited strictly to connecting their phones via USB.

A source speaking to Ars called the feature “huge for developers” noting that freeing up the USB port during the development process would add convenience. Apparently Apple has warned developers that USB will be faster and is somewhat more desirable because it draws less power than WiFi. A pre-install advisory notes that applications cannot be installed from Xcode nor can debugging be done over WiFi.

TUAW adds that Apple has closed the IPCC tethering hack loophole in the new version of the OS.

June 30th, 2009

iPhone OS and SDK 3.1 betas distributed to developers

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:30 pm

Categories: Developer, SDK, iPhone, iPhone 3.0, iPhone 3GS

Tags: Apple iPhone, Developer, Operating System, SDK, Video, Beta, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

Apple made betas of iPhone OS 3.1 (build 7C97d) and iPhone SDK 3.1 (build 9M2736a) available to developers today on its iPhone Developer Connection Web site.

According to QuickPwn.com changes include:

• The baseband has been updated to 5.08.01 - ultrasn0w users should not use the iPhone OS 3.1 beta, otherwise their iPhones could be permanently locked!
• iPhone 3GS - When you’re trimming your videos you now have the option of saving the original video by tapping the “Save as copy” button.
• Voice Control is finally working over bluetooth now!
• When you move your icons around the iPhone vibrates
• MMS is enabled by default but does not work for AT&T users
• The AT&T profile is updated to 4.2
• Improvements to OpenGL and Quartz
• There’s now a VideoEditorController API - Allows third party apps to call up video editing UI
• Video picker API

June 9th, 2009

The 'incredible' growth of the Mac

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 6:56 am

Categories: 10.6, Developer, Mac OS, WWDC

Tags: Developer, Apple Macintosh, Sales, Company, Desktops, Apple Mac OS, Apple Mac OS X, Operating Systems, Hardware, Software

Apple rarely directly addresses the size of its installed base. In its financial reports, Cupertino will talk up units sold and the percentage of growth. But to rally the troops at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, the first flag raised was of Mac growth.

Phil Schiller, senior vice-president of worldwide product marketing, took the stage, telling the crowd that there were many reasons for the excitement and anticipation surrounding the developer conference. One big one could be seen in the chart projected behind him.

He pointed to a chart showing the first 5 full years of Mac OS X, from 2002 to 2007 which went from about zero installed base to about 25 million.

Of course early on right after the release of Mac OS X, much of the growth was the transition from the Mac OS to Mac OS X. However, since the introduction of the Intel-based Mac hardware and the rise of the Apple Store, sales have picked up. And then there’s the “halo” effect from the iPod and the collapse of Microsoft’s Vista transition.

However, Schiller didn’t go into details. He wasn’t offering a history lesson.

“It shows great, steady growth of adoption of Mac OS X — this isn’t shipments, it’s actual active users,” he said simply. “But something incredible has happened over the past 2 years,” he continued.

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April 29th, 2009

iPhone OS 3.0 beta 4 released to developers; iTunes beta hints at Blu-Ray

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:39 am

Categories: Developer, iPhone, iPhone 3.0, iPhone SDK, iTunes

Tags: Apple iPhone, Developer, Beta, Blu-ray, Apple iTunes, Jason D. O'Grady

Apple posted the fourth beta version of iPhone OS 3.0 in the iPhone Developer Center yesterday, exactly two weeks after its previous release. In order to get access to the 3.0 beta software you have to be a registered iPhone developer.

Little information has been released about the new beta but there are a bunch of comments under stories at MacRumors and Engadget that are worth a peek.

The release, labeled build 7A300G, arrived exactly two weeks after beta 3. What does that mean? No much other the fact that Apple is working really hard on OS 3.0 and is trying to get all the bugs squashed in time for the June 8 announcement at WWDC. Oh, and we’ll probably see beta 5 around 12 May.

• Beta 1 (7A238J) was released on 13 March
• Beta 2 (7A259G) was released on 31 March (18 days later)
• Beta 3 (7A280F) was released on 14 April (14 days later)
• Beta 4 (7A300G) was released on 28 April (14 days later)

Update: A MacRumors forum poster discovered references to Blu-Ray data from Gracenote in the latest iTunes 8.2 beta implying that support for Blu-Ray may be in our not-too-distant future.