There are three ways to choose what smartphone experience you're going to have: by carrier, by device, and by apps. Choosing by carrier places the quality of your voice and data service first, whereas making a decision based on the device means you're after a specific platform experience and hardware features. But choosing by apps is trickier.
The current array of mobile ecosystems is simultaneously fragmented and unified across the many platforms. Some major apps are available on all or most platforms, as are apps from smaller developers. Other apps are exclusive to a platform by virtue of features unique to the operating system or the resource constraints of the developer. But if you need that one app to do what you need to do, then the carrier or the device don't matter so much.
But what if all apps could be available on all platforms? Is cross-platform development something that developers should be concerned about, and what are the pitfalls that can be faced in doing so? Is it better to build an app specifically for each platform, or should the app be built with a cross-platform web-based framework?
Users and developers alike can agree that having an app available regardless of platform is a great ideal. But at what cost?
Feedly, one of the leading contenders to replace Google Reader, has announced the launch of Feedly Cloud and a stand-alone web version of their RSS client. Feedly is now beginning the process of migrating users from Google Reader over to their own services, and has announced the first 9 apps across different platforms that are built on the new service. Of interest to iOS users is Newsify.
Apple has just made the WWDC 2013 keynote available on their YouTube channel. So, whether you've yet to see it, or you just want an easy way to watch it again (and again), hit the play link above and enjoy all the OS X Mavericks, new MacBook Air, new Mac Pro, iWork for iCloud, and iOS 7 action.
Not only does iOS 7 seem to ever-so-slightly increase the size of iPhone icons, it seems to move away from the more common rounded-rectangle shape to the more complex superellipse. Hopefully Apple will provide tools to make generating curves of this type easier for developers and designers, but in the meantime Marc Edwards of Bjango has been doing a lot of maths (his spelling, not mine!) and has come up with something that seems to match up very well.
I love a lot of things about Messages for Mac. Even though it has numerous issues, the ability to receive and respond to iMessages, as well as AIM, Jabber, etc. if you really must, makes it enormously useful. Except, searching on it absolutely sucks. The moment you start typing in the search box, Messages freezes in a way that makes iTunes seem snappy. It's not good. It's the opposite of good. Enter Chatology.
iOS 7 wasn't the only star of the show at WWDC 2013, OS X 10.9 Mavericks was officially announced and released to developers the very same day. During the keynote we saw the numerous new features that would be coming to the new version of OS X, including some until now iOS exclusive apps in Apple Maps and iBooks, and a consumer friendly approach to password management with the new iCloud Keychain. But, we want to hear from you guys; what are you most looking forward to in OS X 10.9 Mavericks?
Parts of iOS 7 shown off by Apple during the WWDC Keynote and on Apple.com look like we're still seeing the design briefs or wireframes rather than the final assets. Palettes have been chosen, elements have been put in place, but so far it looks like iOS 7 hasn't been given the level of polish we've come to expect from Apple, even during the beta stage. From icons to interface elements to typography, we seem to be getting a very rare glimpse at a very early work-in-progress, and something that still needs of a second coat of design paint.
Services like iTunes and products like Apple TV have made it easier than ever for people to "cut the cord" from cable TV - enabling them to pay either a la carte for programming they want or to use subscription-based services they think are worth the money, like Netflix or Hulu Plus. Apple's latest changes to Apple TV sadly don't do anything to help that move - in fact, they work against it.
Whether you know it or not, your iPhone and iPad actually tracks what you're doing in Safari for several reasons. The main ones being to speed up browsing and to store logins. On the down side, website data can also be used for tracking purposes. If you'd rather not have sites track you, clearing out this data now and again is a good idea.
What will it take to get every app on every platform? That's the question we're asking on Talk Mobile today. When it comes to messaging solutions, there's definitely some fragmentation present. Odds are you have friends that don't have iPhones, but Androids or BlackBerries instead. Since iMessage is exclusive to iOS and OS X, you'll have to find another option to communicate with friends and family on other platforms. While texting is always a viable option domestically, international messaging is still an issue for many.
Here are the messaging apps we think you should check out if you need a better way to communicate with all the Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone users out there.
