Launch Center, a new shortcuts app for iPhone, aims to make everything from sending messages and mail to posting on Facebook and Twitter, to turning on your LED flashlight, faster and easier via an extremely clever, borderline audacious use of URL schemes and iOS 5′s Notification Center.
Produced by David Barnard of App Cubby fame, it boasts an absolutely gorgeous user interface that lets you easily set up which actions you want to appear in your Notification Center from a robust set of shortcut that include Phone, SMS/iMessage, Email, Twitter, Facebook, Flashlight, Google search, and Custom URL schemes. (That last one, for more advanced users especially, should make Launch Center an instant buy.)
Live from Macworld|iWorld 2012, David showed off some of the new features in the recent Launch Center 1.1 update, including scheduled launch actions — for example if you know you need to SMS your wife every morning or email your boss the report every friday at noon.
David’s keeping Launch Center in his dock now, since using Launch Center to quickly call a favorite or send a message is faster than tapping and pecking through screens of apps and layers of menus.
Hopefully Apple finds a way to balance security and accessibility in the next version of iOS so apps like Launch Center can start to do even more fantastic, time saving things.
- $0.99 – App Store link
RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins, spoke to Kevin Michaluk of our sibling site, CrackBerry.com, about some his thoughts and ideas on where RIM and the BlackBerry platform are heading. When the iPhone launched, BlackBerry was the biggest, baddest competition on the planet but in recent years, Android has taken much of their place, and given Apple’s recent results it’s going to be tough for RIM to regain their relevancy in the mobile space.
Rene and I are at Macworld 2012 and had the pleasure of talking to Penultimate developer Ben Zotto. You, the iMore nation, asked us to ask Ben his thoughts on styli for the iPad, so we did! Check out the video above for Ben’s insights on the personal decision of choosing a stylus.
Here’s a list of the ones he mentioned:
Probably like many of you, I received my new Google Privacy Policy via email this week, and while couched in language about creating a more “beautiful” experience for us, the users — read: products — it’s also clearly about Google leveraging their popular services like Search and Gmail to help their new services, like Google+, become competitive with Facebook and Twitter.
Because Facebook and Twitter scare the shit out of Google and when companies, like people, are scared they do dumb things.
Yahoo has been in the mobile space for quite some time and as such, they’ve managed amass a good amount of apps, but now — Yahoo is looking to cut some of their weight and move on.
Strategy Analytics has crunched most of the fourth quarter results announced this week (including Apple’s), and figures the iPhone maker is now the top manufacturer, but only by a sliver.
We’ve rolled through this week and now we’re heading on into the weekend, we’re gathering up plenty of MacWorld coverage for you all so you’ll want to stay tuned for that. You can register now to get started today and while you’re at it, check out some of the threads below:
- iPhone 4S Forum: Keep getting failure exclamations!
- iPhone 4 Forum: 16GB vs 32GB – The space argument
- iCloud Forum: Picasa to iCloud Help
- iPad Apps and Games Forum: Tweetbot vs. Tweetcaster
- Jailbreak and Unlock Forum Help with Jailbreak-Absinthe crashes
If you’re not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now!
In the latest episode of CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” titled “Beta Test Initiation”, Raj Koothrappali starts a relationship with a well-known woman – Siri.
Sam and Max, the quintessential dog and bunny duo, are coming back to iPhone to start the next season of their episodic game series. Episode one of “Beyond Time and Space” is called “Ice Station Santa”.
Many big-name companies are already switching to the iPhone, and though BlackBerry is the biggest competition in the enterprise arena, iOS is doing a great job of cutting Android out of the picture. According to the latest data from Good Technology, the iPhone 4S was just as popular among businesses as it was among consumers in the last quarter, commanding 31% of enterprise activations.
