Watch apps worth making→

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"Underscore" David Smith, developer of apps such as Pedometer++ and Sleep++, has been thinking about which kinds of apps make sense on the Apple Watch as it is today. He considers three major types:

  • Complications
  • Notifications
  • Sensors

I agree those three types make sense for apps on the Apple Watch as it is today. While I use Complications frequently, I haven't found myself using any from third-parties yet. So far I prefer the standard Weather, Timer, and Activity Complications.

However, Notifications and Sensors are both huge for me and why I love my Apple Watch so much.

Deliveries notifies me when that thing I ordered has reached my doorstep.

MacID let's me lock and unlock my Mac over Bluetooth with ease.

David's own Pedometer++ has been vital for improving my personal health since it ties into the Watch's accelerometer to help me see a better picture of my daily activity.

All of my favorite Apple Watch apps use either Notifications or Sensors, or some combination of both, in an extremely practical way.

Other apps are on the Watch just to be on the Watch, without having a sensible purpose. These are what causes the Watch to be perceived as having unclear purpose.

Some neat Apple Watch tricks→

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Jonny Evans at Computerworld has some neat tips and tricks for the Apple Watch. I knew most of these already, but this one was completely new to me:

A call comes in and you check your Watch. You know you want to talk to this person but want to use your iPhone to make it. Suddenly anxious you grapple through all your pockets to find your phone and the call drops. It needn’t be this way – just use the Answer on iPhone button at the bottom of the incoming call screen (turn the Digital Crown a little and you’ll see it). The person calling will hear a repeated sound while you search for your phone. Stay cool.

This is amazingly useful and I've already used it a couple times for incoming calls.

Dave Mark at The Loop adds:

This is designed perfectly. The moment you tap the “Answer on iPhone” button, the call is answered and Siri’s voice says, “Please hold on a moment”. Then, a series of repeating tones plays, that makes it sound like you are on hold. My instinctive response was to stay on the phone. This is great.

I have no doubt I will get a lot of mileage out of this unsung hero of a feature.

Pedometer++ 2.3→

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Today Underscore David Smith released an update to Pedometer++ that I've been waiting a while for. Thankfully, I've been beta testing it for a while.

Version 2.3 is entirely focused around building a rich and robust integration between the Apple Watch and iPhone. Letting you track your steps and reach your step goal in a much more complete way. The update focuses around 3 main features: data sync, complications and a workout mode.

David has created a clever system that intelligently merges step count data between the Apple Watch and iPhone based on which device is giving the best data in a given moment. This is in contrast to how Apple does it, where the Health app goes by device priority, falling back to the second device in a list only if the first is unavailable.

In my testing, David's approach seems to paint a terrifically accurate picture of overall step data in a day.

The watch face complications can be nice, but I find I prefer other complications and still don't mind swiping up the app's Glance to get a peek at my progress.

Finally, Pedometer++ adds a workout mode as an alternative to the Watch's included Workout app. It works well, and the only thing I'd like to see added is a mileage goal, as I use that in the Workout app to receive a tap at the halfway point, so I know when I should turn around and head home.

Pedometer++ is free on the App Store and is ad-supported, but David includes a tip jar with varying price points in the settings to remove the ads. Any tip amount will remove the ads. I suggest going for the Amazing tip, because the app is just that good.

"If you have a body, you’re an athlete."→

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A heartwarming story of a high school student with cerebral palsy thinking ahead to his years in college, and his desire for a shoe he could put on himself. He wrote to Nike, which developed a shoe for him, and is bringing it to market this fall for anyone with impaired motor skills.

This whole story is amazing, and what Nike is doing here reminds me of the kind of mindset Apple has with its products: leaving the world a better place, having a meaningful impact on people's lives.

Great work, Nike. Keep it up.

Eulogy→

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Matt Gemmell, on not waiting until someone is dead to tell them what you think of their life's works:

[…] Imagine if it were you instead. Wouldn’t you want to know?

It need only take a moment; 140 characters are more than enough. Believe me, each one counts. If they’ve made something that reached you, and – even just for a moment – left you better than you were before, don’t just move on. These are people, remember; like you. Don’t wait.

Tell them. Tell them now.

Tell them while they can still hear.

Matt takes it a step further beyond just speaking to your friends and family while they are still here. He extends the notion to those you take enjoyment from. Writers, artists, etc. If you found enjoyment in someone's work, tell them.

The closest example of this that has happened to me in recent memory is after I read a book last year titled A Drive into the Gap by Kevin Guilfoile. I wrote a review, mainly for myself, in Day One, and on a whim decided to use their new Publish service and I linked it on Twitter.

Not long after, Kevin reached out to me on Twitter. We chatted about his dad a bit. I thanked him for writing a story that ended up having profound effect on me.

That's what Matt is getting at. Say thank you to those who have great impact upon you. Say it while they are around to hear it or read it. Bless them as they have blessed you.

If not now, when?→

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My friend Stephen Hackett is taking his site, 512 Pixels, and podcasting network, Relay FM, full-time. This has been a long road for Stephen and an obvious goal of his ever since I first started reading his site (back when it was called forkbombr).

I can't describe how proud I am of Stephen. This is the endeavor all of us writers dream about. Godspeed.

Twitterrific 5.12→

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The past year has seen The Iconfactory really take twitterrific to the next level, building out the feature set and continually refining the overall experience. Today's release of Twitterrific 5.12 is no exception.

Twitterrific now adopts Twitter's new Quote Tweet feature, and it is really great. I've been using a lot while testing this new version these past weeks. Simply tap & hold on the regular Retweet button to compose a quoted tweet.

For anyone who has a tough time reaching the top navigation, you can now optionally move the navigation to the bottom of the screen. Doing so awards you an extra customizable navigation tab. This is honestly quite nice for the iPhone 6, and I imagine even more so for the iPhone 6 Plus.

In-app notifications are less terse, color coded for tweet type, and actionable. Tapping one will open the tweet it references.

Even Twitterrific for Apple Watch saw some speed improvements, and the ability to use Emoji in replies and a list of canned tweets to use, much like you can have in iMessage. You can configure those in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone.

Twitterrific continues to be my Twitter app of choice, and I love that The Iconfactory is making so many quality improvements to it, and I am boggled at how quickly they have been iterating this past year.

You can grab the terrific new update to Twitterrific on the App Store. Be sure to grab the Premium features via in-app purchase, so The Iconfactory can continue to make Twitterrifc the best way to experience Twitter.

Please Let Me Pay For My App→

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Carley Knobloch makes a case for paying for apps:

Here’s how I see it: You know where you stand with a company that makes a paid app. It’s an honest exchange: Company creates a product or service, and I pay you for it, much like I would someone who washes my car or makes me a smoothie. It’s how things have always been done. It just makes sense.

When Company creates a product or service that it gives to me for free, I have to do a lot of thinking about why Company is choosing to do that.

[…]

Companies like Google, Facebook, Snapchat and Apple aren’t altruistic, of course: They’ve built genius services we use every day for free, and while we don’t pay with money, we pay with a major invasion on our privacy. One that we signed up for (go back and read the Terms & Conditions). So, in essence, the business model is you.

Side note: I disagree with her inclusion of Apple there. Apple has proven time & again they are very privacy focused. And they make their money from hardware. Their software and services are something that are value-adds to drive hardware sales.

Beyond privacy reasons alone, is the fact real human beings make software. A developer making an app you love and asking for money is trying to make a living. Paying them supports their lifestyle, and also, frankly, enables further development of the app you love.

If you are unwilling to pay for that app, don't be surprised when it disappears because the developer can't afford to keep working on it.

Now, linking to Carly's article is slightly self-serving in that she uses 1Password as an example, and I make my living from 1Password's success. So yeah, I'm very biased on the paid software front. But please, support your favorite apps and their developers by paying for apps.