Christina Warren Reviews the iPhone 6S

I spent some time this morning reading all the iPhone 6s reviews so you don’t have to. The winner, in my opinion, is Christina Warren. She did a great job summarizing the new phone over at Mashable. One interesting tidbit she notes is that the texture on the side of the new iPhone is a bit grippier than the iPhone 6. This will make carrying it without a case easier.

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St. Jude Fund Raiser at 512 Pixels

In 2009, my friend Stephen Hackett‘s six-month old son, Josiah, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Over the past six years, St. Jude has taken excellent care of Josiah, who’s now in the first grade. This month Stephen is doing a fundraiser for St. Jude. It’s really simple. You give St Jude money and they use it to help kids fight cancer. I’m in. Are you?

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MPU 279: Word Processor Smack Down

A lot of people still use word processors and print out documents in 2015. In this episode, Katie and I tackle the strengths and weaknesses of Word, Pages, Google Docs and several third party alternatives.

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Home Screen Post: Chelsea Cook

This week’s home screen features Chelsea Cook. Chelsea is an impressive young woman. She has a physics degree from Virginia Tech, has given her very own TED talk, and happens to be blind. Chelsea enjoys astronomy, reading, and creative writing. Her ultimate goal is to become an astronaut who writes poetry in space. Chelsea also loves her iPhone. So Chelsea, show us your home screen.

What are some of your favorite apps?

Wow, that’s hard, as I’m always downloading and trying out new ones. I like Downcast and ooTunes for audio, FlightView for tracking flights and gates at the airport (sometimes faster than the airlines and mitigates having to ask gate agents if you know the airport), and Check the Weather because it tells you the weather forecast so precisely without having to swipe through a bunch of information. It also includes “feels like” temperatures, which is important in the high humidity-environment of the east Coast.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Definitely iAssociate 2. The developer has made a great effort at making the game both VoiceOver-friendly and fun to play. I bounce back and forth between different games to help me get to sleep, (another one is 2048) but I always come back to this one. When I’m in the mood for something humorous, I’ll pop open the Cracked Reader.

What app makes you most productive?

Sometimes it’s more the general features of the iPhone. When I got Siri, my productivity went way up, as it was just easier to add something to my calendar or make a reminder by voice than by typing. Siri helps in my homework as well by looking up astronomical conversions for me that I just put into a calculator as she reads them back. If I had to choose an app, though, I’d say… Mail. Before the iPhone, I was chained to my computer for email, and that was not very convenient for picking up things on the other side of campus. Now, I plan my day around my inbox in real time. Mail helps me manage the deluge, but also is a quick way for professors to communicate with me if they’ve gone out for coffee and I can’t read the note on the office door. I always hated carrying cash until I got the LookTel Money Reader; I didn’t want to carry around another device just to read bills, and this app is quick and accurate. My iPhone is with me all the time, so my currency reader is with me all the time, too. (I LOVE ApplePay for so many reasons, but the convenience and privacy can’t be beat anywhere else.)

What app do you know you’re underutilizing?

For sure: Workflow, 1Password, and blindSquare. Touch ID would probably make 1Password a whole lot easier to use. I like Workflow a lot, but have to be creative and spend some time actually thinking up things to do. And blindSquare is a multi-featured GPS solution that, combined with AppleMaps, has a lot of power and a lot of layers.

What is the app you are still missing?

The iPhone has opened up the world of apps so that as the device gets better, the apps get better; most of the specialized devices I used to carry around in a backpack now fit in my pocket. I still think the touch screen has huge potential to display mathematical content like matrices or graphs in a way that can be spatially understood by someone who is blind, similar to how you know where the icons on the home screen are. I know this is not an easy thing to code, but a VoiceOver-friendly graphing calculator or matrix manipulator would be awesome!

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

Almost all the time. iOS is so powerful and has so much potential. I use my iPhone when I’m out and the iPad when I’m home or traveling, because of that long battery life. I love having a charged phone to get me to my destination after a long drive or flight. My poor MacBook air is usually relegated to the tasks of “heavy duty”, “long session”, or “needs hardware keyboard”.

What Today View widgets are you using and why?

Today view is one of those underutilized features for me, because I don’t want it to get too cluttered. I mainly use Calendar and Dropbox, to see if events and assignments have appeared yet. I find the interface to be a bit clunky for some apps, and spend more time in there than I would like.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

Easily the versatility of these devices. I’ve always hated carrying around many devices (worrying about charging them, losing them, not having the right one for the job), so have been firmly entrenched in that “one device to rule them all” camp. Need a GPS? iPhone. Book reader? all different books in one place on the 128 GB iPad. So for me, it’s not one feature, but all of them, nicely wrapped up in a single, shiny package.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

Another loaded question. I’d demolish and rework iTunes on the Mac—but that’s for another post. I wouldn’t sacrifice performance or features for thinness, particularly in some of their machines. An iPad or a laptop makes perfect sense to be thin and light; a desktop Mac does not. (Can you tell I miss the SuperDrive in the old iMacs?) I would also want desperately to fix the television interfaces, or at least unleash the content from cable providers, especially their audio-described content. I know there has been a general trend (in both blind and sighted communities) griping about apple’s software lacking in quality, and I am glad to see that they are addressing it, so hopefully my small software pain points and bugs will go away.

Do you have an Apple Watch? Show us your watch face tell us about it.

My AppleWatch is growing on me, as I figured it would. When I’m having fun or feeling geeky, I love showing off the astronomy face and entertaining questions about our universe. When I want to be practical the rest of the time, I find the Modular face for me to be a good balance of information, provided you choose your complications carefully. I can’t wait to really take the appleWatch for a walk in a big city and release the power of maps. Oh, and add “tactile way of telling the time!!!” to the Apple changes above. I love having access to Siri on my wrist for things like quick texts and cooking timers. This device has been a long time coming, and it can only get better.

What’s your wallpaper and why?

I changed it when iOS 8 dropped, so don’t exactly remember which is my home screen and which is my lock screen anymore, but I always put in the space or astronomy-themed wallpapers. Something to do with galaxies this time around.

Anything else you’d like to share?

When I say iOS devices have been life changing, I’m not understating that. I can go to a new city and navigate independently. I can take pictures of money and documents without having to ask someone to read them to me. I can use the Internet and apps to collect all kinds of information that was previously unavailable or very hard to find and I can connect to a community who really cares about interfaces and experiences. I believe all those things, and more about the iPhone. Thanks, David, for giving me this opportunity.

Oh, and if people want to find more about my work, they can watch a TEDX video of me playing with 3D math shapes.

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New iCloud Storage Pricing

At last week’s event, Apple announced new pricing for iCloud storage. You can now get a Terabyte for $9.99/month, which matches Dropbox. They have a lower tier at 200GB for $2.99 and 50GB for $0.99. There still is no method for family sharing, which means I’m currently paying for three people. I like that the pricing is now more in line with Dropbox and other cloud storage providers. I still think the 5GB free storage is not enough when we’re buying expensive iPads and iPhones. You can see the international pricing here.

Right Pocket, Left Wrist

In a recent episode of The Talk Show, Ben Thompson talked to John Gruber about the problem with John’s watch disconnecting with his phone. Ben asked what pocket John keeps his iPhone in. This led to a discussion as to whether or not keeping your phone in the pocket opposite from your watch-bearing wrist causes a connection problem. As Ben explained, your body is a bag of water and by putting your wrist on the opposite side of your body from your phone, things get more difficult.

From personal experience I can confirm this is the case. I always carry my iPhone in my left pocket and wear my watch on my left wrist. I’ve never had any connection problems. Recently I had a pair of jeans with a hole in the left pocket. So for a few days I ended up carrying my phone in my right pocket. My watch disconnected from phone more times over those two days then I’ve had in the entire time I’ve owned the Apple Watch. If you’re carrying your phone in the opposite pocket from your wrist, you may want to rethink that strategy.

Clockwise 104

I recently joined in the recording of Clockwise podcast. In just 30 minutes we covered the new iPhone buying experience, blue-sky Apple TV apps, iOS 9, and the future of big tablets. Good times.

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Random Thoughts and Tips for iOS 9

Every year about June, Apple announces the beta for the new update to iOS. About that time I swear off the beta, reminding myself how miserable I was last time I installed a beta iOS. Then a little fuse gets lit inside my brain. It’s long enough to burn for a few weeks and then explodes in an explosion of complete disregard for common sense leading me to install the new iOS beta on my iPhone and iPad.

This year I installed the betas in late June and have now been using iOS 9 every day for over two months. I’m not going to write a thorough review. Instead I’m going to share a few thoughts and tips I picked up over the last couple months:

Here are some words I thought I’d never write: One of the stars of the new iOS is the Notes app. I’d written the Notes app off entirely years ago. (Remember Marker Felt?) The new version is really impressive. You can format text, add pictures, links, drawings, and add check boxes. Moreover, getting data into Notes is easy with the Notes extension sprinkled throughout the operating system in a way that only Apple software could. Syncing has been solid and I’ve been testing it with a database in excess of 250 notes. As Mr. Plain Text guy, I haven’t decided yet what I’ll do for managing notes but Notes is absolutely a contender, especially if you’re looking to store pictures and media with your notes. (Indeed this post has been a running bit of text in Notes throughout the beta.)
The iPad updates, including Slide Over and Split Screen work as advertised. Once you use your iPad with two apps open, you’ll never be able to go back. The keyboard improvements and mouse cursor with two fingers are also quite handy. Don’t forget you can do that two finger mouse thingy on or off the keyboard. While these are all nice updates, it feels to me like there is still work to be done on iPad “productivity”. For instance, why can’t I drag and drop between two split screen apps? It feels to me like the Apple train is now in motion in terms of increased iPad productivity but there is still plenty of work to do. Also, if you’ve got a keyboard connected to your iPad, command-tab is golden.
Siri continues to improve. I won’t tell you to try Siri again if you’ve previously given up on it since I seem to do that about once a month around here but it is getting better. There are new commands, “What’s a 20% tip on $23.32”, and dictation transcription continues to improve.
When I first heard Spotlight was going back to a separate screen (swipe to the right), I was unhappy. I didn’t want another screen. I was wrong. the new Spotlight is significantly better with recent people, apps, places, and news.
The ProActive assistant stuff sounds like a great idea but I didn’t see it in action as much as I expected. Guessing at who’s calling (by comparing an incoming phone number to phone numbers found in email) is awesome. I also liked when it would give me an ETA for my trips as I got in my car but that was inconsistent. I had several flights during this period and ProActive Assistant never sussed that out. I like that Apple wants to make the phone smarter without stepping over the creepy line but I suspect that like iPad productivity, this is going to take a few years for full realization.
Low Power Mode is for real and saved me a few times on days where I was running out of battery. I couldn’t tell if I was getting the promised extra battery life but that’s probably going to be more apparent after iOS 9 gets out of beta. (Today!)
Maps is like Siri. It just keeps getting better.
The News app is nice and now it’s on every iPhone. I’m interested to see how many people adopt this. (MacSparky.com is an approved publisher by the way but I’m still sorting out some issues before works properly in News.)
You can now search settings. The nerd in me loves that.
The San Francisco font gives the iPhone more personality than Helvetica ever could. After using the new font for a few months, I couldn’t imagine going back to the old one.
You can now know when the keyboard capitalization key is on and when it is not. Hallelujah!
I’m all for the new six digit security code. You can turn it back to a four digit code but if you’re using TouchID, why would you?

This year’s update isn’t nearly as big as last year’s and that’s a good thing. The new iOS includes some real nice tweaks and fixes but shouldn’t turn your world upside down. I think that’s exactly what we needed this year.

XOXO Fest 2015

Over the weekend I traveled to Portland and attended the XOXO conference. I first heard about this converence years ago and was finally able to attend this year. I almost didn’t go. I’m still digging out from getting behind over the last couple months and as I was packing, I was thinking how much work I could get done if I stayed home over the weekend and pretended I was out of town. I sure am glad that I went.

The conference is fantastic. The speakers are inspirational and all of the attendees are interesting with fun stories to tell about their own goals, desires, and careers. It was a great weekend where I heard some outstanding speakers, connecting with lots of old friends, and made several new ones. Coming back it reminded me of that warm fuzzy feeling used to to get returning from Macworld.

I will definitely be going back next year if I can get in.

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