iA Writer Gets Microsoft Word / Markdown Conversion

I often hear from readers asking for an easy way to jump between markdown and Microsoft Word. It’s never really been that easy. The most recent version of iA Writer takes a lot of work out of this problem. They have built in a converter that goes between docx files (Microsoft Word 2007 or later) and markdown. You can drag and drop the word file on the icon and it opens as a markdown file. Conversely you can export a markdown file from inside the application to docx. 

Obviously there will be problems if you bring in multi column documents with advanced formatting outside the bounds of markdown. I tested it with a complicated document and it imported just fine but it did strip out some of the advanced formatting. 

There’s a lot to like about iA Writer and I’m glad to see they’re continuing to innovate.

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Scummy App Copycats

I cannot understate how repulsive I find the actions reported in this Ars Technica article. An App Developer made a successful photo app called “A Beautiful Mess”. The app was successful and then a group of copycats began submitting confusingly similar apps with names like “A Beautiful Mess Free” and “A Beautiful Mess +”. In some instances, the copycats used identical icons and screenshots. The article opines how some developers will even grab the code from the original app and reverse engineer it. How does Apple not see what is going on here? If I submitted an app called “Logic Pro X Free” do you think it would get approved?  When someone so blatantly rips off another developer, Apple shouldn’t only reject the app, they should also ban the developer. There simply is no excuse.

The tragedy is that with the approval process Apple has the ability to stop this practice in its tracks. Indeed, Apple is the only app store that can do this since it is the only one requiring approval.  As a community we need to put as much light on this as possible so, in addition to looking for malicious code, Apple also starts looking for (and banning) scummy developers. 

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Transporter Beta Software 2.0


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If you are a Transporter owner, you may want to log in and check out the public beta for the new 2.0 software. It improves the experience several ways:

Better Interface

The new interface is really easy to use with the things you do most often. Creating folders can now be done right in the Finder. Sharing files is a right click away. When you drag-and-drop files and folders to your Transporter folder they will now automatically sync across all of your Transporters with no further setup required. I’ve combined this feature with some Hazel rules to make uploading podcast files a breeze.

File Links

No longer do recipients need a transporter account to receive file links. Did you get that? Load a big file on your Transporter, right click, share with anyone. Boom.

The Transporter Library

You can now limit what content gets placed on your local drive. For instance, if you are putting a big movie library on Transporter, you can keep it off your internal SSD.

This is beta software but I’ve been using it for awhile and had no problems. Moreover, I can’t imagine going back to the version 1 software. I’m spoiled.

If you want to try it out, login to the Transporter management website using your registered email and click the “Desktop & Mobile Software” link on the left side of the page to download the beta 2.0. Learn more here.

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The Future of Cloud Sync

Over the past few years, cloud sync has become a “thing”. Users are working on multiple platforms now more than ever and they want their data to seamlessly show up everywhere. As this demand first emerged, we naturally looked to companies dedicated to providing cloud synchronization to offer solutions. This led to the rise of Dropbox, Box.com, and other similar service providers. Shortly afterward, the big companies got involved and now Apple offers iCloud, Google offers a variety of synchronization services, and Microsoft is also in the game with SkyDrive. When this first started, I assumed that that would be the end of the discussion. Companies like Apple and Google would offer synchronization services for which software developers would plug in and we’d move on. The reason I was so willing to think synchronization stopped with companies like Apple and Google was because the servers and back-end required to make that happen were so expensive that small developers simply could not roll their own sync services. I’m no longer convinced that is the case.

Tying a key component of your software—such as synchronization—to somebody else’s technology isn’t a good idea if it can be avoided. For instance if a developer wants to use Apple’s iCloud, she must sell her application through the App store. Even if there were no conditions tied to it, a developer is still relying upon the continued support from these large companies to keep their applications running. If it suddenly didn’t make sense for Apple or Google to continue supporting synchronization or perhaps they made a small change that breaks syncing, the developer is screwed. Another problem with giving synchronization over to a different company is the loss of control. If a customer has a sync problem, there is a good chance the developer can do nothing about it. Tying to an app to iCloud also makes it difficult if you are selling on multiple platforms as well. iCloud doesn’t support syncing to an android device.

For these reasons, app developers are looking to host their own synchronization services. This leads to what I would call the third phase of synchronization development. Specifically, app developer hosted synchronization. We are already seeing this happen. Earlier this year The Omni Group release its own synchronization service for its applications. I know that this was no small effort. The Omni Group spent years getting this right. Rovio has done the same with the popular Angry Birds franchise. The latest Dropbox initiative also seeks to provide a platform for developers to easily sync rudimentary bits of data for their applications. Wheels are now in motion.

While not all developers have the resources of companies like The Omni Group or Rovio, it is still early days. As people figure out this widget, it will get faster, easier, and cheaper to build. I suspect in the next two or three years, hosting and managing synchronize data will be a realistic option for small app developers. It makes a lot of sense for app developers to maintain control of this vital component of their software. 

So what does that mean for us users? For one thing, we are no longer going to have all our data-eggs in one synchronization basket. The reliability of a synchronization mechanism will become a key component when evaluating software. A great app with a lousy sync won’t make the cut. Another effect of this will be the overriding concern for security. Instead of giving all of our data to Google or Apple, we are going to have bits and pieces of it spread out between various companies. Users are going to have to make a decision as to whether or not they can trust the vendor with key data before giving it to them for their synchronization engines. I also hope this generates a bit of an encryption arms race between vendors, resulting in better cloud encryption for users. Most importantly, this allows developers to control the entire widget and should result in a better user experience. 

We’ve witnessed a revolution in data sharing and syncing over the last five years. I think the next five should prove just as interesting.

 

MPU 152: Back to School

Mac Power Users episode 152 is up. In it Katie and talk about hardware and software tools for getting back to school. Prepping for this show I was struck by how many great tools students have these days. 

Home Screens – Shawn Blanc


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I’ve read one book on my vacation, Shawn Blanc’s Delight is in the Details and it was an excellent choice. In addition to being an author, blogger, and all-around swell guy, Shawn (Website) (Twitter) loves his iPhone and agreed to share it here.


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What are your most interesting home screen apps?

  • VSCO Cam has become my favorite iPhone photo editing app. They’ve got quite a few filter presets, and several fine-tune-ability tweaks as well. When posting a cool photo to Instagram, I usually edit it first in VSCO Cam and then send it to Instagram.
  • The new Safari is my favorite iOS 7 app. There are quite a few design changes and improvements that make it leaps and bounds easier and more enjoyable to use than its predecessor.
  • Scratch is a great quick-capture app. I keep it in my Dock because it launches lickety-split with a blank text entry field. From there I can quickly jot down a fleeting note, a task, or whatever. And if I need to hang on to that note or do something with it, I can toss it from Scratch right into OmniFocus or Simplenote, or send it as an email or text message if I need to.

What is your favorite app?

I don’t know if I could pick a favorite. But…

If I had to pare my iPhone down to just one app, it’d probably be Simplenote. I share a lot of text between my iPhone, iPad and Mac. In the form of lists, ideas, notes, and articles-in-process. Right now those are split up into apps that do one thing well. So: OmniFocus for lists, Simplenote for ideas and notes, Byword (on Mac and iPhone) and Editorial on iPad for articles-in-process. But if I had to, I could consolidate those things into one app — Simplenote — and survive.

From a more personal context, Day One is also a favorite. Not only is the app itself well-designed and fun to use, but it’s become the place where I keep track of small and big life events.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Dots. A simple, whimsical game that seems so easy yet actually takes quite a bit of skill to excel in.

What is the app you are still missing?

A really great RSS reader that works tightly with Feed Wrangler.

When Google Reader shut down, I moved my RSS subscriptions over to Feed Wrangler. Reeder has long been my favorite RSS reading app, and though it works with Feed Wrangler, it doesn’t fully support all of its APIs (such as Feed Wrangler’s smart streams and filters). I’d love for Reeder to get tighter integration with Feed Wrangler, or else have another really great iPhone RSS app come along.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

Two less than the legal limit.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone?

Hardware-wise, it’s still the Retina display. Though LTE speeds are very nice, and the day-long battery life is great, the screen is the “window” into the soul of the iPhone.

Anything Else You’d Like to Share?

San Dimas High School Football rules.

Thanks Shawn.

 

Butterick’s Practical Typography

Mathew Butterick has been quietly fixing typography in the practice of law for years with his Typography for Lawyers website and accompanying book which, by the way, every lawyer should read once, pause, then read again.

Most recently Mathew has a new project, Practical Typography, which everyone should read. It doesn’t take long and includes great, useful typography tips such as:

“Avoid goofy fonts, mono­spaced fonts, and sys­tem fonts, especially times new roman and Arial.”

If you’ve wanted to clean up your own typography act but don’t want to spend a lot of time on the endeavor, check out Practical Typography. It will set you right.

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