Dragon Anywhere Initial Impressions



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Nuance has made some big changes in the last few months to its Dragon Dictate applications. They released a new version for the Mac, which I’ve been using and will be publishing a review about shortly. They’ve also changed their iOS strategy and released a new application, Dragon Anywhere (iOS App Store).

Dragon Anywhere is a dedicated dictation application for the iPhone and iPad. You may wonder why you would need such an application when Siri dictation is already pretty good. The problem with Siri dictation, however, is that it has a short fuse. At most you can get two or three sentences out before it stops. With Dragon Anywhere, there is no such limitation. You can leave the application open, turn on the microphone, and start yakking away. I’m doing that right now as I dictate this article. There are additional features, like custom words that synchronize between your devices.

Dragon Anywhere also brings a lot of PC and Mac functions to the iPad and iPhone that you don’t have with Siri. For instance I can select and edit text, use phrases like “scratch that”, and other dictation power user tricks.

I’ve only been at it a few days now but already I really enjoy using it on the iPad Pro. I’ve been opening it up as a split screen application with research on the left side of the screen and dictation on the right. It works great. Nuance claims 99% accuracy. I’m not getting it that accurate but it is more accurate than Siri dictation and adding my own words makes a bigger difference than you’d think. As an example, the screenshot below is the actual dictation without modification and you will see there are some errors. (Click on the screenshot for a bigger view.)



I can already see that the sharing tool needs some work. It is overly Microsoft Word focused. There is no one-tap the button to simply save text to the clipboard. I’ve been getting over that by using the verbal commands “select all” and “copy that”.

It still requires that you have an active Internet connection and it’s pricier than most iOS apps. It’s a subscription-based model that runs $15 a month or $150 year. While it may not be worth it if you only use it occasionally, if you dictate a lot, it’s at least worth consideration. (They have a free one-week trial.) I still have a few days left on my trial but I expect I probably will subscribe because of the amount dictation I do. Either way, expect a more thorough review of this product in a few weeks after I’ve had a bit more time to kick the tires.

Pixelmator Gets iPhone and iPad Pro Love


Today Pixelmator (website) (App Store) released an update supporting the iPad Pro including 16K image support and a new palm rejection feature. There are over 50 brushes that work with the Apple pencil.

I’ve been working on the family Christmas card in Pixelmator on my iPad Pro for a week now. When I loaded the image in the updated version of the app, I immediately saw the benefits. I particularly like the way they’ve taken advantage of the additional screen size.

This update also introduces support for 3D touch on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Force touching on the Pixelmator icon opens quick action shortcuts and inside the application they use 3D touch support to bring touch sensitive painting. Varying the pressure on the screen with your finger changes the thickness of a brushstroke.

Over the past year I’ve increasingly done my more complicated photo editing on the iPad. This trend will only continue with this new version of Pixelmator and the arrival of my Apple pencil.

DJay Pro for iPad


There are some applications for which the iPad is simply better than a traditional computer. One of those is disc jockeying. Today ­Algoriddim, developer of the popular DJ app, released DJay Pro (website)(App Store). The new application takes advantage of the iPad Pro to give professional level DJ tools including 4 Decks, HD Waveforms, and Video Mixing. The application can work with locally stored music or your Spotify account. The app also has support for many popular DJ controlers and multichannel USB audio interfaces.

In addition to four audio tracks, it can also handle two 4K video streams and works with the iPad Pro using keyboard shortcuts for cue points, looping, library navigation, search, and more. While these tools would all make a professional DJ quite happy, I think it is also great for amateurs. I was able to operate the app after just a few minutes fiddling in the interface. The next family party just got a significant audio upgrade. As a side note, when my kids heard me mixing tracks in DJay Pro, they thought I was a total badass.

Ulysses for iPhone

Ulysses is an interesting long form tool for Mac and the iPad. For me, it falls somewhere between a traditional text editor and Scrivener. I’m currently using it to write one of the two field guides I’ve got in development (Yes. Two.) and I’ve been pretty happy with the experience.

Today Ulysses’ developers, The Soulmen, announced they’re working on an iPhone version along with some iPad Pro tweaks to their already excellent iPad version. They’ve already announced that when complete, it will be a universal version and they’re looking for beta testers so now’s your chance.

iPhone Maps

The news about Apple Maps being used three times more than its “leading competitor” is being touted as a victory from Apple. I see it differently. In my mind, the built in maps app should be used ten times as much as anything else. When you take your new iPhone out of the box Maps is right there. If you use Siri at all, it goes to Maps. Are one in every four people who own an iPhone really motivated enough by their dislike of the built in mapping solution that they take the trouble to go into the App Store and download Google Maps. Ugh.

In fairness though, I think the general opinion of Apple Maps is much worse than what the product has become. Apple Maps had a bad launch and suffers from what I’d describe as the “MobileMe taint”. It started badly and now for a lot of people it’s a joke. For a year or so after Apple Maps launched I used Google Maps instead of Apple Maps but as Siri became more useful and everything got more integrated, I gradually switched over to using Apple Maps full time. I’ve not had any problems. Apple Maps coverage and traffic data in southern California is just fine. While I’ve kept Google Maps on my phone (primarily for street view), I think the Apple maps user numbers as reported by Apple reflect a perception more than reality.

Thumbs Up for Duet Display


I’m going to write more about my iPad Pro in the coming weeks but one thing that was worth sharing immediately was the way I’ve been using it as a spare monitor. There is a wonderful little application called Duet, made by some former Apple engineers, that lets you connect your iPad to your Mac and turn the iPad into a second screen. I’m now doing this often.

For example, while I record the Mac Power Users podcast, I have all of the recording applications running on the iPad through Duet. That way I can keep the main screen for the content as we record the show and still glance to the smaller screen to make sure all the pipes remain connected and the red light keeps blinking. With the iPad Pro and its additional screen size, this is pretty great. When I’m done and don’t need a second screen, I can disconnect the iPad and put it away and my desk is once again clear of a second monitor.

Duet gets even better on the road. I can connect it to my 12“ MacBook virtually anywhere and have a second screen. This is super useful when working with lots of data. The 13” iPad Pro more than doubles the screen space of my 12″ MacBook.

Setting up Duet is simple. You download the app from the iOS App store and then install a host application on your Mac. (There’s also a version for the Windows.) Using Duet I’m able to carry a second monitor with me that’s essentially the size of a piece of glass.

I’m not alone in loving this feature of the iPad Pro. In the past few days, I’ve spoken with several nerd friends that are also using their iPad Pro as a second monitor with Duet.

Checking in With Apple Watch

In a recent Mac Power Users episode, I recommended the Apple Watch as a year-end gift. This recommendation drew divided responses. Some wrote in agreement while others essentially asked me “is the Apple watch still a thing?”. Then out of the blue my wife asked me if she thought the Apple Watch was going to survive as a product. The question surprised me. My wife is, however, my window into the non-geek world and when she asked about the hypothetical Apple Watch demise, it made me wonder how many other people are thinking the same thing.

I think there is zero chance of Apple walking away from the watch. They view it as a key product moving toward the future and as technology gets better and smaller, the watch is going to improve dramatically.

Nevertheless, I’m generally bullish on my current Apple Watch. I wear it every day and use it to keep up with my fitness goals, set alarms and timers, check my calendar, listen to podcasts, turn on and off the lights, get directions, text my kids, and checkoff tasks. Oh yes … I also use it to tell time. This is the most useful watch I’ve ever owned. I put it on when I wake up in the morning and take it off when I go to bed. (That’s right, I even keep it on while I’m in my pajamas.)

Maybe it’s because there is this connection to the iPhone required to make it work or simply the fact that not many people wear watches and the Apple Watch was never going to be the big seller that the iPhone is, but there appears to be this perception that the product is flawed or not going to survive. I don’t think the product is perfect. The design, user interface, and software interaction can all use improvement. I expect there’s a group of people somewhere in Apple working on that right now.

I understand that some people did not take to their Apple Watch as I did. Maybe they wanted something more traditional or fashionable or maybe they just aren’t watch people. Nevertheless, having used one now since the Apple Watch was first released, I can’t imagine not having it. If something happened to my Apple watch, I would go buy another one.