Notifications are the single worse aspect of iOS. The notification pop-up blocks what you’re doing until you dismiss it, there’s no way to see previous notifications, and it’s way less attractive and useful than notifications in WebOS or Android. Notifications become even more important when you factor in the rumored iOS 5 system-level integration with Twitter (and other services, like Facebook and Foursquare), which constantly need to keep you updated on the go without having to open a specific app.
For any iOS notification system revamp, I’m looking for a few core features: - Non-blocking notifications that remain on screen until dismissed - Ability to see the last few email messages (or calls, texts, etc) with sender and subject preview - Notifications grouped by type, so I can see emails, Facebook, Twitter, texts, voicemails, etc. - Notifications shown on the lockscreen - Unobtrusive status bar icon, displaying how many missed notifications (perhaps by type) and a slide-down tray to view them.
MobileNotifier Review: I recently jailbreaked my iPhone 4 for the first time in order to try out some Cydia apps, knowing that I’ll probably be doing a full restore on my iPhone anyway in the coming weeks in an upgrade to the iOS 5 beta. There have been many Photoshop mockups and actual working Cydia attempts to refine iOS’s notification system, which only shows how bad the existing notifications on iOS are and how much demand there is for an overhaul. I had read about MobileNotifier, a notification service replacement which is fairly highly rated. Furthermore, the UI looks good, and follows my preference by clearly taking design clues from the notification systems on WebOS (which I consider the holy grail of notification UI), and the Android tray. Additionally, it’s been widely rumored that the developer of MobileNotifier has been hired by Apple to work on notifications, so it seemed like perhaps MobileNotifier could be viewed as a proof of concept for things to come from Apple in iOS 5. I had to try it, and I wanted to really like it. Unfortunately, I don’t really like it, and have uninstalled and reverted to the awful standard iOS pop-up notifications. Here’s why, and where such a notification system would need to be improved upon for an Apple-release:
Positives:
Negatives:
Here are a couple good mockups demonstrating some notification UI concepts. I can’t say there is a single concept that is perfect and blows me away in all aspects. However, if Apple took the good bits and pieces from various mockups, and WebOS/Android, it could create a dynamite iOS notification and lockscreen information system, with a fantastic UI to boot.
iOS 5 is due to be shown to developers for the first time at WWDC this summer, and released to the public this fall. Here is my wishlist of features I hope make it into iOS 5. Things like a new notification system, social integration, improved file copy, wireless/cloud syncing I think are necessary, and the rest of the items in bold are my top requests, in no particular order.
Official pull to refresh support
Safari: Stop bookmarks from popping-up when Safari is opened with no open tabs; Wireless bookmark syncing for free (sans MobileMe or a paid subscription); Ability to drag and re-arrange Safari tabs; Safari Autofill keeps auto-filling the wrong email (Should have an option to select what info we want to use from the contact card, like what email address)
About two weeks ago, Apple posted their iTunes Rewind 2010 - a roundup of the best and most popular Apps of the year. As I did last year, it’s also time for my 2010 Apps of the Year list, but this year, I’m also adding a boos & bravos section. Enjoy!
Game Honorable Mentions:
App Honorable Mentions:
Gameloft - for updating many (maybe most) of their existing (popular) games (like N.O.V.A., Uno, Let’s Golf 2, Shrek Kart, etc) for the retina display (EA has yet to update most of their lineup)
Firemint - for being at the forefront of iOS game development, releasing updates for Real Racing (and Flight Control) to add support for the retina display and gyroscope very soon after the iPhone 4’s release (one of the first to support either), and GameCenter with multiplayer support.
Rovio - for continuing to bring new content to both Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons without requiring additional purchases.
Apple - for making Find My iPhone free for iPhone 4 & iPad owners and for relaxing/clarifying App Store rules (finally allowing Google Voice, for example). Boo for removing shared AirPrint functionality, making AirPrint practically useless (unless you have a new HP printer) and not bringing iWork to the iPhone.
Chase, USAA, and PayPal - for remote check deposits. Boo for taking so long to process them (7 days for PayPal)
Developers for making separate iPad “HD” versions, instead of bundling them as a Universal app.
Two days ago, Code42 released the long-awaited 3.0 update to their fantastic CrashPlan backup application. Among the new features and changes are the merging of their paid CrashPlan+ and CrashPlan Central services, backup sets, and what this blog post is about, full support for Mac HFS+ xattr metadata! I wanted to see just how well CrashPlan 3.0 performs with regards to Mac metadata, so I ran a Backup Bouncer (enhanced) test on it. The full results are below for those interested. While it’s not perfect, CrashPlan 3.0 in fact does a better job supporting Mac metadata than most Mac backup apps, including Apple’s own Time Machine. The only pieces of metadata not supported are HFS+ compression added in Snow Leopard (decmpfs xattr - the data is still good though, just not compressed) and non-inherited ACLs. Overall, I’m very impressed! Great job, Code42!
Note: My feelings are still mixed on combining CrashPlan+ and CrashPlan Central. I may want a CrashPlan+ account for a computer which I have no intention of backing up to CrashPlan Central. Granted, there are now cheaper monthly/yearly 10GB plans, but these could still be more expensive than buying the old CrashPlan+ license.
sh-3.2# bbouncer verify -d /Volumes/Src /Volumes/Dst
Verifying: basic-permissions … ok
Verifying: timestamps … ok
Verifying: symlinks … ok
Verifying: symlink-ownership … ok
Verifying: hardlinks … ok
Verifying: resource-forks …
Sub-test: on files … ok
Sub-test: on hardlinked files … ok
Verifying: finder-flags … ok
Verifying: finder-locks … ok
Verifying: creation-date … ok
Verifying: bsd-flags … ok
Verifying: extended-attrs …
Sub-test: [ on files ] … ok
Sub-test: creation time … ok
Sub-test: modification time … ok
Sub-test: [ on locked files ] … ok
Sub-test: creation time … ok
Sub-test: modification time … ok
Sub-test: [ on directories ] … ok
Sub-test: creation time … ok
Sub-test: modification time … ok
Sub-test: [ on symlinks ] … ok
Sub-test: creation time … ok
Verifying: hfs-compression …
Sub-test: decmpfs xattr … not preserved
Sub-test: UF_COMPRESSED flag … not set
Sub-test: file contents … match
Sub-test: creation time … ok
Sub-test: modification time … ok
Sub-test: hard link inode … ok
Sub-test: hard link decmpfs xattr … not preserved
Sub-test: hard link UF_COMPRESSED flag … not set
Sub-test: hard link modification time … ok
ok
Verifying: hfs-compression_large …
Sub-test: decmpfs xattr … not preserved
Sub-test: UF_COMPRESSED flag … not set
Sub-test: file contents … match
Sub-test: creation time … ok
Sub-test: modification time … ok
Sub-test: hard link inode … ok
Sub-test: hard link decmpfs xattr … not preserved
Sub-test: hard link UF_COMPRESSED flag … not set
Sub-test: hard link modification time … ok
ok
Verifying: access-control-lists …
Sub-test: on files … ok
Sub-test: on dirs … ok
Sub-test: on locked files … ok
Sub-test: on non-inherited acls … FAIL
Sub-test: on inherited acls … ok
Verifying: fifo … ok
Verifying: devices … ok
Verifying: combo-tests …
Sub-test: xattrs + rsrc forks … ok
Sub-test: lots of metadata … ok
So I got an email from Apple Legal today. Long & short of it was that they were contacting me directly instead of just sending a C&D via courier since I’m a real developer working for a decent company. They told me that they believe my urftopdf implementation is derivative of theirs. I can’t…
(Source: quatermain)
There were a number of things that influenced my decision to move jeffawaddell.com to Tumblr, rather than another blog platform, such as Wordpress.com. I like Tumblr’s iPhone app and being able to post by email. I really like the ability to use a my own domai and custom themes, and the ease of editing them. It seems as easy to use as Tumblr is on the surface, there is a lot of power available to those who want to hack it via custom themes. All and all, though, Tumblr just makes Wordpress’s dashboard seem exceptionally complicated and non-user friendly. I’d compare the interface and usability of Tumblr vs. WordPress to Apple vs. Microsoft. However for all of the good, I have come across some issues, peculiarities, and areas where Wordpress, for example, still reins supreme.
I’ve already made a number of customization to the stock Ichi theme I’m using, and I’m sure there will be many more to come:
On a side note, I’ve been trying to integrate my last few Tweets into my page, and came across Tumblr’s custom HTML docs where it talks about adding a {block:Twitter} block. This works, but it only shows one Tweet (my most recent). I’d like to show five tweets. Does anyone know of a way to do that?
Over the years, I’ve used a number of blogging platforms for hosting my website and blog. Most recently, I’ve been using a self-hosted WordPress installation, but before that I went back and forth between Blogger and Wordpress.com. Even though I’ve rarely posted thoughts to my blog since the advent of Twitter and meta-blogging, there are times when 140 characters are not enough to express myself, and I resort to writing a new post. I’ve really enjoyed the flexibilty I’ve had these last two years with Wordpress, and it’s ability to easily install custom themes (and the vast number of themes available) and tweak features to my liking through extensions. The limited customization available with Wordpress.com and Blogger are what drove me away to begin with.
Alas, the fantastic $14 for two years hosting deal I have with DreamHost is coming to an end, and I really can’t justify the expense of a hosting plan relative to my current needs. So, I once again began the search for my blog’s new free (or cheap) home. I again considered Wordpress.com, but quickly ruled out Blogger, as it’s been languishing for years. However, there have been a few newcomers to the scene during my Wordpress absence that I wanted to checkout, and which honestly, impressed me a bit more than Wordpress.com. These included Tumblr and Posterous. After experimenting with my options, I ultimately chose Tumblr (at least for now), and here I am. Hello Tumblr. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Earlier today, Apple held their annual music-related event in California and announced their new lineup of iPods (iPod Touch, Nano, and Shuffle), iTunes 10, and an updated Apple TV. Here are my thoughts about Apple’s latest announcements in easy to digest 140 character or less tweets:
On the new iPod Nano and iPod Classic:
On the new Apple TV and TV/movie rentals:
On iTunes 10:
On the new iPod Touch and iOS 4.2:
Tomorrow marks the start of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, which kicks off with a keynote from Steve Jobs himself. While an announcement of the next iPhone and release of iPhone OS 4.0 (originnally showed off back in April) is widly expected, there are sure to be a few surprises. Notably, an announcement of Safari 5 and Xcode 4 has been rumored over the last few days. I have my own little wish list, which I thought I’d share in hopes that the Apple gods (and maybe even Steve himself) are reading and want to grant me my wishes! Here they are: (Note: Updated with actual WWDC announcements & comments in bold)
It seems two of my wishes have been granted, with a third possibly partially granted. Apple made no mention of my twelve other wishes, which is extremely disappointing when it comes to things like a new notification system (my #1 gripe with the iPhone - I can’t see at a glance new mail senders/subjects without opening Mail!), free MobileMe (which Apple really needs to do in order to compete with Google’s free services), and areas where other OS’s like Android are kicking the iPhone’s ass (voice recognition, wireless syncing, social network integration, etc.). Of course, there’s always the lack of a Verizon or T-Mobile announcement too, although I have some hope that maybe, if the stars align the right way, we’ll see something by the end of 2010 here (especially with all the rumors regarding CDMA iPhones and the fact that the iPhone 4 now supports T-Mobile USA’s 900mhz 3G frequency. Coincidence? I hope not.)I’ve become quite annoyed with Amazon.com (and Apple) lately. Even though I’m enamored with their new cloud computing initiatives, like S3, their core business practices are increasingly making me cringe and question my future relationship with them. First, I’ll give a quick rundown. Basically, in my opinion, Amazon seems to be systematically withholding shipment of orders for customers selecting their free shipping option. I’ve thought this for a while, but as I don’t order a lot from Amazon, I’ve never been able to definitely decide if this was the case until this week. Additionally, Amazon has begun to play strong-arm tactics with music and book publishers as part of its ever increasing price and distribution war with Apple (granted, Apple does this too, which is wrong). First, there were reports of Apple demanding music labels permanently end their relationship with Amazon with respect to Amazon’s cheap $5 or so digital album sales. These were good for consumers, and if the labels are ok and willing to discount their products in any way, then no one company (whether Apple or Amazon) should deny their ability to do so. Today, it’s been reported that Amazon in playing roulette with various large publishing companies, pulling ALL of their paper and ebooks from sale unless they agree to a new three-year ebook contract with Amazon, which would Kindle availability of all ebooks and ban publishers from selling their ebooks cheaper elsewhere (read: Apple’s iBooks store). Apple started this by requiring publishers not to sell their wares for cheaper elsewhere, and Amazon is just following suit. Amazon used to sell Kindle ebooks at wholesale prices, which is how it should be. Again, these sorts of pricing decisions should be the sole responsibility of the publishers, not demanded by content distributers, stores, or legal contracts. Pricing and availability should be flexible and apt to adapt to the market environment, otherwise everybody suffers. That said, I vehemently dislike exclusivity deals among distributers - products should be available everywhere, and let the market compete over best price, just like in the non-digital world. You can read more about this in an article from the New York Times.
As far as shipping goes, here’s the story: Last week, I order a book & a DVD burner from Amazon. I select free shipping, ok with not receiving the items right away. In my opinion, it’s ok to wait for longer for delivery if the items are in shipment, using ground or some other slow and presumably cheaper delivery process. However, waiting just for the items to ship is not right, especially when they seem to have been deliberately held-back just to make me mad. In my case, no part of my order was packed or shipped until exactly a week to the hour from my original order. Then, only the DVD burner ships (out of a distribution facility in GA, on its way to AZ). The following day, the book ships separately from a distribution center right across town in Phoenix, AZ. That’s right, It took Amazon a week to pack & ship something out!!! If I had not selected free shipping, it apparently would have shipped out right away. It doesn’t seem like Amazon was moving things around internally to save costs, nor was anything out of stock, & they still ended up shipping in two separate packages. The only reason for taking so long, in my opinion, is to persuade people not to use free shipping and to upgrade to their Amazon Prime service (free 2-day shipping for aprox. $80 a year, which doesn’t make sense for infrequent purchasers). What other explanation could there be?
Honestly though, what is Amazon achieving by withholding shipment in such a maner? It doesn’t seem like they’re saving costs, because free shipping seems to be the exact same as standard paid shipping, and they’re shipping my order in two different packages. The only thing Amazon gains is the ill will of their customers for taking so long to ship when their competitors ship much quicker. For example, I’ve never had to wait more than 48 hours (usually 24) for items to ship with free shipping from competitors like Newegg, Buy.com, & Barnes & Noble. Honestly, with such a policy, why should I buy from Amazon & not their competitors? What’s amazing though, is I’ve found very little on the internet talking about this. Some people say they do, others say they don’t. At least for me, I’ve noticed witholding of various degrees the last number of times I’ve ordered from Amazon. Withholding shipment like this is simply unacceptable & is a great way to piss off the customers which Amazon depends on! Way to go!
Disclaimer: All statements and opinions in this piece are my own. I have no proof of Amazon witholding shipment of orders, only my personal experiences with their shipment times in relation to that of their competitors.
I'm Jeff. A Tech enthusiast. Political junkie. Post-grad student. Part-time blogger. Francophile. .
