Friday, July 26, 2013

My iOS Must-Haves


  • PS View - While on the same Wi-Fi network, Using Remote Connection in Photoshop you can see your PSD's real-time on your iPhone. This has become a great tool for mobile design; for figuring out font sizes, button sizes and just getting a feel for how your app will look on the device. You can always email yourself pictures, but that's just dumb.
  • Check (formerly Pageonce) - I've been using this app to get my finances in order. Gives me a real-time snapshot of my money, portfolio, debt and credit score. Love it.
  • Rowmote - Control your Mac while on the same Wi-Fi network. I use this so I don't have to get up and put on the next Game of Thrones (I connect my laptop to my TV via HDMI). Gives you player controls, a touchpad (with gesturing support) and keyboard. So there's really nothing you can't do.
  • Evernote - Notes app that syncs to the cloud, so I have access to my notes no matter which device I'm using. I make notes on my phone and can access them on my laptop and vice versa.
  • Waze - Crowd-sourcing maps application. Real-time information about traffic speeds, accidents, visible cops, something in the road, as well as navigation all from other users. So good Google bought them for $1.1B a couple months ago.
  • Redbox - I use this app to rent my DVD's before I get to the kiosk, so all I need to do is put in my CC and out comes the movie. I sometimes use it when I'm waiting behind someone in line and snipe their movies.
Got any to add?

To be continued...

iOS 7 Bugs / Missing Features / Issues / UX - Part 2

Beta 3 has been out for nearly 3 weeks now. I didn't write about beta 2, not that anyone is actually reading this, but even for my own sanity, I never got around to it. There are still quite a few bugs (as is expected with betas), so here is a small list of the ones that are still bugging me.


  • Camera Focus - The camera still won't focus up close. This one is a real pain for me, as it affects every day use. Even simple shots 2-3 feet away sometimes won't focus.
  • Some apps become unusable - This may be an app issue, and maybe not an iOS issue, but some apps' buttons eventually stop working, and I have to restart the app in order to make it work properly.
  • Apps with custom dialog boxes may not work properly - I've had apps lock up on me once their custom dialog boxes appear, as there's no way to close the popup and it renders the app useless. I know this because our app is one of them. Doh!
  • Notification banner gets in the way! - This was an issue with iOS 6 as well, but there really needs to be a close X button on the notification banners. If I'm getting navigation, if I'm on the phone, or if I simply need to access to the top level navigation in an app, my new message banners get in the way with no way to close them.
  • Parallax really isn't that cool. I don't even notice it anymore. Not a game changer as some fanbois are claiming.
  • When you close an app that was opened from within a folder, you're still in that folder. I really don't like this. There are times I want to quickly get somewhere else, and this feels like an extra step.lo

Thursday, June 20, 2013

teehan+lax at it again - iOS 7 GUI PSD

http://www.teehanlax.com/tools/ios7/

Their PSD's have been getting better and better. Most everything is vector and very accurate. Some of the earlier PSD's had issues and obvious omissions, but teehan+lax, you're making the world a better place.

iOS 7 Bugs / Missing Features / Issues

I haven't written for a long time, not that anyone is listening anyway. I have been finding lots of issues with iOS 7 beta, so I figured why not post them here. Not only can I keep track of these for my own sanity, maybe Apple will stumble across this post and fix things/make note/or hire me. Pow.

- Kik Messenger not working - Kik crashes upon launch and has been completely unusable since I upgraded to iOS 7 beta. Kik released an updated app that fixes this issue.

- Instagram Photos disappearing - Photos disappear when you scroll back up to them.

- Control Panel gets stuck - sometimes the slide up control panel gets stuck, and when it finally disappears, the area of the phone's screen that it was stuck on becomes unusable. (buttons not clickable, etc.)

- Facebook - Buttons on slide out menu at the top are unusable. Headerbar color has changed to purple on pieces. notifications don't seem to work correctly. I'll see 6 on my badge, go in and see 2.

- Foursquare - Search area background has same purple header issue as Facebook above.

- Brightness - At times, the phone will be super dark, and no amount of adjusting brightness will fix. I have to turn off the screen to fix.

- App Store not clearing updated apps - I can't clear my updated apps list.

- Email Badge Number not changing - I erased about 2000 unread emails on Gmail, and the badge on my email app has yet to adjust. It's been a day.

- New Camera UI/UX is horrendous - It's very hard to figure out that you need to swipe the bottom to change the type of picture being taken. It's also done very poorly. Take a look at how Path does photo vs. video. It's simple and much better than the native camera app.

- Quick jump letters on lists (like phone contacts) are misaligned.

- Parallax has made some badges appear on the wrong screen.

- Autofocus not working well on camera - I can't get the camera to focus on close shots, like pictures of my computer screen, etc. I generally need this for submitting my company expenses (many receipts are digital, and apps like Concur let me submit pictures of them). This one is really bad for me. I can't focus on any close-up objects.

- Lock screen often overlays time/caller name with audio player controls.

- Siri's voice seems very slow (beta 2)

- Timestamps are not correct on iMessages. No Timestamps showing since 12 (it's after 4). (Beta 2)

- Cursor often disappears when zoomed into text fields

- Can we get Timestamps for every message? Hide it under the "more" menu if you have to

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UPDATE:
Beta 2 out today: http://news.yahoo.com/ios-7-beta-2-full-change-log-now-173332250.html