On the other hand, iOS 9 and iOS 8.4 also take on challenging third-party developers who currently offer apps in 5 thriving app store categories. Many developers behind the apps in these categories are venture-backed and now Apple has become their competitor.
Here are the 5 categories that will be deeply impacted by iOS 9 and iOS 8.4.
Apple Music will be available on June 30 as a part of iOS 8.4 update. The revamped music app on iOS will feature Apple’s latest music streaming service. There are three parts to the new service from Apple.
The service will be priced at $9.99 per month and $14.99 per month for family plan.
Apple Music will directly compete with streaming giants like Spotify, SoundCloud, Rdio, iHeart Radio, Pandora Radio, TuneIn Radio, and even Vevo to name a few.
iOS 9 will replace Newsstand with all new Apple News app. It allows publishers to create unique experiences by providing engaging content with brilliant typography, animated objects, transitions and more.
Users will be able to find articles and stories relevant to their interest, bookmark and view recommended content. The new app will support iAd advertising for publishers.
News app in iOS 9 will directly compete with Flipboard.
In iOS 9 Apple is going after productivity apps that let you take rich notes with the all new Notes app.
The updated app allows you to add photos, scribble on your note, insert checklists, embed links and maps. It also has a new Attachments Browser that “organizes all the items attached to your notes in one simple view, so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.”
It will also support a share extension so that you can take notes within apps like Safari, Maps, and many more.
Notes in iOS 9 will compete with Evernote, Google News, Feedly, and many more.
Apple has been working on transit direction for iOS since a long time. The company is now ready to launch its own transit directions in iOS 9 Maps app. It will feature public transit information with routes and directions.
Since the Maps app works on both iOS and OS X, you’ll be able to plan your trip on the Mac and follow in on the way on your iPhone or iPad. It’s worth noting that Transit will be available only in select cities in the US for the time being,
The new Maps app in iOS 9 with transit information will compete with Moovit.
Apple announced its Health app as a part of iOS 8 last year. In iOS 9 the Health is receiving an update to track “Sexual Activity”. In the updated Health app users will be able to record the date and time you had sex and whether you used contraception or not.
With a special focus on women, the Health app will now be able to track menstrual cycles and help in monitoring physical changes.
This update will now put many third-party apps on alert. Some of the apps that help in tracking mensural cycles include Glow, Ovia Fertility, Clue and many more.
{via CB Insights}
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During the special keynote event yesterday Apple announced all new versions of their productivity and creativity apps for Mac and iOS. All new versions of iWork and iLife which includes Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band are now free with purchase of new Mac or iOS device. These updates are also free for existing users who purchased the older versions.
I own a Mid 2010 27-inch iMac which has been serving me well all these years. OS X Mavericks the tenth major software release for the Mac was also made available for free to iMac models dating back to 2007. After multiple failed attempts to download the software update due to Apple’s sever overload and then finally succeeding I was able to install OS X Mavericks.
After installing the new software update when I launched the Mac App Store to download other software updates I noticed Keynote as one of the app among other apps listed that had available updates. Now, this was interesting to me as I never purchased Keynote app for the Mac.
When I purchased the Mac I downloaded trial version of iWork (Apple did not have Mac App Store back then) and then later purchased only Pages and Numbers app as a digital download. Keynote app was still installed but never worked as the trial had expired.
After installing Mavericks I noticed under the “Purchases” tab it listed Keynote app with a purchase date of today. After the app was updated I launched it and it worked flawlessly.
In the past I’ve got lucky even with iCloud. Just when rumours about Apple announcing a cloud based service reached an all time high I registered for a free trial of MobileMe service. Since the trial was for 60 days and within a weeks time Apple announced iCloud I got extended storage of 25GB for one year without ever paying for the old MobileMe service.
iWork apps are also available on iCloud as web apps and now feature collaboration. The shift in Apple’s pricing strategy by listing its creative and productive suite of apps as free would certainly help in more customers experimenting with these apps and thus increasing its usage worldwide.
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The App Store is a powerful storehouse of some of the best content creation apps for the iPad. Creativity is no more limited to the confines of ones “desktop” and neither does it require heavy equipment to get the job done. iPad’s large screen and the ease of performing complex functions on multitouch screen has resulted in some amazing innovation in mobile software.
iDraw for iPad is yet another example of a power-packed app that enables you to draw vector shapes or any kind of illustration on your tablet. A quick look at the set of features the developer, Indeeo, Inc., mentions in description and the history of updates speaks about their commitment towards adding new features and how the app has evolved to become the best vector drawing app for iPad.
If you’ve ever used any drawing or iWork app for the iPad you’ll feel completely at home with iDraw’s user interface. The canvas area can easily be customised to fit the nature of project you’re working on. The app comes with blank, gradient, image, grid, graph paper, blueprint, looseleaf, notepad and lined paper based templates for the canvas as options to choose from.
All the commonly used brush, transforming and shape tools are stacked on the left. On the top left you have icons to open inspector windows to set different properties of the selected object for example, changing the color, adding gradient, set the position numerically, modify or arrange object relative to other objects and much more. The app supports layers so if you’re working on a project that requires you to use layers iDraw has you covered.
The app features dedicated buttons for redo and undo which is very helpful as you don’t have to dig further into menus to find the often used buttons. Additionally, the developers have also added a dedicated drop down menu for common functions such as copy, paste, paste in place, delete, select all and select none. This may sound like a small feature but it saves a lot of time by not having to press and hold to select or paste all the time.
Path selection tool has different modes to select more than one points and also includes convert mode that converts a straight line into a curve. Once you’ve created a vector shape the next step is to fill color and this is where iDraw offers powerful gradient tools that enables to pick as many colors you want and set the transparency level for each. So, if you’re working with shadows or just need that perfect skyline the tools included in iDraw will help you achieve it.
It doesn’t stop just at vector drawing. Even if you wanted to use iDraw to create flowcharts or more measurement driven projects such as a floor plan or mockup for a website or iPhone app iDraw works very well for any kind of illustrative project. For such projects the app has a dedicated line style called “length” that automatically inserts the measurement of the area where the line is drawn. It is small details like these that make this app the best out there.
The developers have even included a shape library with shapes commonly used in floor plans, iPhone mockups, iPhone sketch, numbers and symbols. You can even add your own shape easily for using them again in another project. The app also features the ability to import custom fonts.
Masking a shape or text with image is also supported and you can also align text to a curved line. The brush strokes can be fine tuned in the brush editor to fit the perfect roundness, angle or diameter you’re looking for.
While creating different shapes I found the modify menu very helpful as it automatically allows you to combine two or more shapes in union, make them intersect, exclude or even divide or subtract them. This saves time as you can get the desired result by using these options rather than using multiples shapes and then having them to move front, backwards etc.
Another area when the app shines is the recently added inner shadow, inner glow and outer glow. The combination of these options with custom fill, stroke and drop shadow effects allow you to create the perfect vector shape for your project.
In order to help you get started with a project iDraw can import image, font files, vector PDF or even SVG files. You can import your files to iDraw by connecting through iTunes file sharing or use Dropbox.
Once your project is complete you can share it in PDF, SVG, PNG or JPEG format and choose to include or exclude background. The project can be exported to iTunes, sent via Email (option to export as iDraw file is also supported), send to another app, copy as image, save to photos, save to dropbox, print and even share on facebook or twitter.
The overall performance of the app is very impressive and the advanced set of features make iDraw the best vector drawing and illustration app for the iPad in the App Store. If you professionally create vectors then you will really enjoy working on the iPad using iDraw. However, if you’ve never tried drawing or creating vectors then the ease of use of iDraw will compel you to get creative and make something you thought you couldn’t.
[rating: 5/5]What we like
What to know
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Smartphones and tablets are increasingly being adopted by businesses to be a part of the employees workflow. Major corporations are already deploying custom apps to increase the productivity of its employees. The App Store has seen a rise in the kind of business and productivity apps that make complex tasks easier with the use of the intuitive multitouch screen and iOS.
When we think about organising or developing a process for an activity or creating an event driven process the tool we all think of is mind maps and flowchart. These allow us to visually comprehend complex structures and the relation one activity has with the other. Even though there are many advantages of creating mindmaps and flowcharts often the complex nature of software required could possibly impact our productivity negatively instead of enhancing it.
Cubetto for iPhone and iPad developed by semture GmbH aims to offer an easy to use interface with a new approach that enables even an amateur to create complex flowcharts. Cubetto is a full featured app for creating business process, collaboration diagrams, event driven process charts, flowcharts and much more.
Instead of offering drawing tools for you to figure out which diagram or arrow or icons to use the app offers an intuitive template and wizard format which enables you to create your flowchart easily. Just like any flowchart or business process has a structure, the wizard and template format in Cubetto structures your diagram and automatically does the layout for you. The app is smart to set the size of the canvas and connects the different flowchart elements automatically. Even as most of the layout is handled automatically the app still gives you a lot of control over the look and feel of your chart or process.
You start a new project by tapping the ‘plus’ sign and then choosing whether you want to create BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation), Mindmap, EPC (Event-driven Process Chain), Flowchart, Notes & Edges or UML (Use Case, Class and Activity Diagram. After selecting the type of diagram that best meets your project need you start simply by tapping on the screen and a menu pop-up will appear which acts as a wizard to help you choose the type of content you want to use in your diagram. For example in a BPMN diagram the wizard offers content such as Activity, Data Object, Data Storage, Event, Gateway, Group, Message, Pool, Swimlane. As you select the content you further get options to fine tune the details and then choose the successor of the previous activity.
When you choose a successor you will get options to select the type of connection you want to establish which could either be an Annotation, Association, Message flow, Sequence Flow and much more. Each connector or activity box can be customised with text, description, colour and type of edges and nodes.
As you build your diagram and define the rules of each connection and relation with each activity Cubetto will intelligently do the layout of your chart or diagram. The app allows you to focus on creating the flow and handles the layout itself. This feature is very powerful and proves to be a great help when users are creating complex processes. It can be a bit of a daunting task to arrange the diagram when there are many boxes and arrows connecting so Cubetto handles this task very efficiently so that your diagram always follows the structure and flow that you intended.
There are infinite possibilities with this app and you can get very creative with the kind of diagram you want to create. The template feature in this app allows you to automate the creation of similar activities without the need to manually enter the settings again.
The powerful nature of the auto-layout is evident when with the tap of just one button you change the layout of your diagram from horizontal to vertical without the need to worry about the connections, text or any other setting. It’s very simple and highly intuitive. You can even create multiple models or diagrams and store them in a folder within one project. So, you can begin with creating a Mindmap for the Organization and then create an event driven process chain and even have nested folders.
Once you’ve created your diagram Cubetto allows you to export your project as a PDF, JPG, PNG and email it. It even allows you to export as XHTML, BPMN XML, Cubetto XML, iTunes folder, iCloud and Dropbox.
The app does not feature any in-app purchases so when you buy Cubetto you get a full-featured powerful app for your iPhone and iPad to create any type of flowchart, diagram or process that you want to.
Cubetto is available on the App Store as a universal download. The auto-layout, wizard and template features easily make it the most comprehensive solution for business process modeling and the illustration of organizational structures.
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Omnifocus is a great Task Management app for iPad that helps you get everything you have going on organized and put together in a manageable fashion. Omnifocus couldn’t have come along at a better time for me as my wife is due to have our first child soon and I have been running around trying to get everything at work and home in order. This app has made it a cinch to organize my tasks and develop a plan of attack.
Omnifocus for iPad has an amazingly sleek interface that is very intuitive yet in depth. It allows you to easily add tasks and projects in a quick method or in depth method. The quick method is great for just simply getting tasks down so that you don’t forget them. Omnifocus allows you to then come back later to add detail or add additional tasks with detail so you can develop a method of carrying out the tasks.
Projects and Contexts are two things that you will quickly become familiar with in Omnifocus. Projects are a way of organizing several smaller tasks beneath one main goal to make that goal easier to obtain. The contexts give you a way to associate the tasks with something, be it a task for home or for the office. There is also a “Map” option that helps you find out when you are near where a task needs to be carried out.
Perhaps my favorite options are the Forecast and Review options. Forecast takes all of the tasks that you have due and organizes them on a calendar and lets you know what you need to get done today. This helps me so I am not stuck looking at some looming task down the road. The review option allows you to review completed tasks and evaluate them which is often a part of the task management process that is overlooked that can be invaluable. This really helps me be more structured and organized and has been greatly beneficial to my productivity.
The true beauty of this app is that it can sync up with my iPhone app as well as an app for my Mac. Thus making me just as productive on those devices as when i have my iPad in front of me. You are given several syncing options: Sync with Omni Sync Server, Sync with MobileMe, Sync with OmniFocus for Mac via Wi-Fi and Custom Sync with WebDAV. You don’t have to sync as the app is great on the iPad on its own but i suggest giving the iPhone and Mac app a whirl if you like the iPad app as they are all amazing.
I have only found two cons in my dealing with Omnifocus. First the price is going to be an issue for some and I get that. It’s not cheap but I feel that the app performs up to its price tag so I would be glad to pay it. Second, is that there is no PC support. It works well with the Mac but for those of you that love iDevices but use a Windows machine due to cost constraints, you’ll have to use only the iPad flavor. However, I will say, the iPad version is like a full on computer version.
Overall, I have been very impressed with how much this app has helped me become more organized as I thought I was a pretty organized person to begin with. The downfall to many productivity apps is that you spend more time trying to make them do what you want them to do than you save from actually using it.
[rating: 4.5/5]What to know:
Here is the text from their post related to these new features…
We’re launching new cloud-powered capabilities: two-step verification to help enhance security and soon, mobile editing in Google Docs on Android and the iPad™. ..today we demonstrated new mobile editing capabilities for Google Docs on the Android platform and the iPad. In the next few weeks, co-workers around the world will soon be able to co-edit files simultaneously from an even wider array of devices. Only cloud computing is able to deliver the whole package of productivity-enhancing collaboration, superior reliability and virtually unlimited scale at a price that’s affordable for any size organization. Our Atmosphere event is a nice opportunity to step back and fully appreciate the power of the cloud with customers and future customers alike.
If you use Google Docs, either in the office, or as a team management tool for small projects or a home business you’ll be psyched about this.
Is Google Docs coming to an iPad near you a big deal, or just a meh moment? Have your say in the comments…
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Twitter Apps Compared: Tweetie, TwitterFon Pro, SimplyTweet, Twittelator Pro, Twitterrific, TweetDeck
Watch this Video and find out which one is the fastest!
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