After being absent from the Apple Developer platform for 3 months I have updated uTime for macOS to version 3.0.3. The reason this update (and other updates) are taking a while is because as I am in my junior year of college I do not have as much time as I want to devote to app updates. However, there are big things in the making right now and it’s worth the wait. With that here is uTime macOS 3.0.3’s official changelog:
3.0.3:
Happy New Year! In this update the modify timer view has been changed so when you click out of the view it saves (no more done button!)
We are less than 24 hours away from Apple’s iPhone event and that calls for a rumor roundup. Instead of making a very long post on everything we have learned about what is going to be at the event I decided to make a video of everything we learned. My show notes are below but here comes some linkage for live blogs tomorrow and where I get some of my news.
Even though both the iOS and OS X developer portals are down for everyone due to a hacker on Thursday morning Apple has released the new OS X 10.9 beta 4 update to developers running OS 10.9. If you are a developer running OS 10.8 and want to upgrade you are out of luck till the developer portal comes back up which could be a while… However if you are running OS X 10.9 just go on the App Store and hit the Updates tab.
Apple even though pushed a new Mavericks update today they took a break from iOS 7 beta 4 from it’s 2 week cycle as we did not see an update today due to the fact the developer site is closed. We could see the update either next week or whenever the portal comes back because there are some crucial bugs that need to be fixed.
We are a little under 3 hours away from the World Wide Developers conference and right before the conference Apple has taken down the Apple Store. This could just be for some maintenance or it could be gearing up for the new hardware rumored to be announced today.
WWDC 2013 will be streamed through Apple Devices running Safari here.
You can read our rumor roundup for WWDC 2013 here.
The WWDC 2013 keynote will be live streamed to the Apple TV when the event starts this morning at 10 AM PST or 1 PM EST. No word if the stream will be on other iOS devices or Macs.
(UPDATE)Apple has posted that the event streaming will be online for Macs running safari and iOS devices running Safari here.
WWDC 2013 is happening in a little less than 3 days so it is time to take all the information learned about what Apple could release and put it into one giant post. Let’s get started
iOS 7
This is what most people are the most excited about it would seem I can tell you for a fact it is what I am most excited about. Last year Scott Forstall was pushed out of Apple by Tim Cook making Jony Ive in charge of iOS and that makes me very excited for a few reasons.
Flat Design
There is no real doubt of iOS getting a real change in design now after Tim Cook pretty much confirmed this at D11. Ive is expected to kill the “skeumorphic” or real world textures in the new iOS. For example if you were to go into the calendar it looks like an actual calendar. Ive is expected to get rid of this sort of design and actually I don’t know how I feel about it. It doesn’t really bother me but I want to see some changes and it will be interesting. Recently snapchat went “flat”.
It is told that iOS will be more of a gray and white texture with different colored navigation bars such as an app being white but with say blue or red buttons and navigation bars.
Hopefully weather will see an update to the new sort of design by Ive to be a more animated concept sort of like the weather channel app but in an Ive Apple sort of way. The image above shows a great example of what we could see.
Notification center could have much improvement and Apple knows it. There could be more information showed there. The Image above made by 9to5mac shows what could happen with more information such as news to be in a sort of widget. Hopefully if this does happen Apple will let 3rd party apps have the ability to take advantage of notification widgets.
Social
There have been news around saying iOS 7 may include the ability to quickly upload photos to Flickr and videos to Vimeo. This would sort of be like how you share with Facebook/Twitter for photos and Youtube with videos you take.
Apple may also include Airdrop between iOS devices and Mac devices in this update. This function would allow you to quickly share information to other iOS devices and Mac’s. What specifically would be allowed to be transferred could include photos, documents, contact information, and more. However there were rumors of this being tested in iOS 6 being pulled right before launch.
Maps
Maps for me is fine. It gets me from point A to point B very well to be honest but that is not the case for other users and it needs to be changed. Hopefully Apple has something up their sleeves for more 3D cities and better navigation data.
Siri
Siri again works well for me but I wish it could do more. It needs to have offline mode for some simple tasks such as opening an app and calling say a contact but even more important than that it needs developer support. I want to be able to tell it to play a pandora station or something. Needs to happen and I think Apple will bring it to us with iOS 7.
Multitasking
Everyone I have talked to has agreed the multitasking needs to be changed. It seems to be plain and boring compared to the multitasking of other OS’s including Android. While Apple may not do this a card style multitasking system may be introduced with the next version of iOS.
OS X 10.9
WWDC isn’t just going to be the hub of iOS, OS X 10.9 is going to be released at the keynote as well which yesterday Sea Lion for a name has been popping around due to the sort of wavy banner you see above.
Interface
While iOS 7 is supposed to get rid of the skeumorphic design 10.9 is rumored to keep the design keeping the calendar leathery. Eventually we will see the Mac remove these items and designs but for now it seems we are going to have to deal with them
Power
There has been word that 10.9 will add more features for power users such as myself while keeping the operating system relatively simple for those who want the OS to be as simple and user friendly as can be. An example of this would be tabbed browsing instead of multiwindow.
Full screen mode is supposed to have better support when connected to an external display. As it currently stands if you are on your Mac using a display for a secondary display and not mirroring and enter a fullscreen app you will have the basic Linen texture doing absolutely nothing for you. Apple knows of this problem and is going to let you do something with the secondary display in fullscreen mode.
Back To The Mac
The main point Steve Jobs made when introducing Lion was that Apple was taking what they had learned from iOS and what people loved and brought it to the Mac. Apple did this with more features in Mountain Lion and it seems they are going to be doing the same thing with 10.9.
Apple may bring the App Switcher in the current iOS or if they are making a newer one for iOS then the newer one and bringing it to the Mac. This would benefit users who are accustomed to iOS and would allow better power and battery management running multiple apps.
Siri is also expected to make it’s way onto the Mac to help you with the same things it does with iOS hopefully with developer support.
Hardware
As for hardware I wouldn’t expect any iOS devices to make an appearance with updated hardware at WWDC. However there may be some new Macbooks that come into light at the conference.
MacBook Air
9to5mac has pricing information that appears to point to new MacBook Airs to come to light next week. The additions seem to be duel microphones and faster processors. The update would also include faster 802.11 AC networking. A retina display seems unlikely but with the addition of Intel’s new faster and battery efficient Haswell chipsets it could happen but at WWDC may be unlikely.
MacBook Pro
There is little talk of the MacBook Pro retina or not being updated at WWDC but it is very possible that the 13inch Retina MacBook Pro could be updated with faster networking with a thinner design.
iRadio
Saved this for last because I am not really to sure about this one. Today it was told iRadio is a go as all major record labels had agreed with Apple’s terms for the service but if Apple decides to announce it at WWDC is a very valid question because they don’t have to they can wait for the launch of new iPod’s and iTunes later this year.
The service is expected to be a sort of Pandora style experience streaming what a user has previously listened to. Also the songs would be based of interest of the user and the service could pull user data from songs purchased through iTunes or on devices running iTunes in general.
Pricing would be free but there would be ads with the service and of course a paid version for all ads free.
Coverage:
I will be covering as much as I can through my twitter (@matthewjagiela) and I will have my twitter feed on the top right of the site the day of the keynote. It is yet to be known if Apple will allow users to stream it live. The Keynote is supposed to be 2 hours long with the Betas to released to developers after the Developer portal is back up.
Well it seems twitter has given it’s Mac App an update after not even touching it for a year… The update is available is at the Mac app store and includes:
Retina Support
A New Tweet Composer
Updated Icon
14 new languages
Personally I am going to stick with Tweetbot because I like it better but the update for Twitter for Mac will be great for someone who wants a free twitter client.
Apple announced earlier today that WWDC 2013 will be happening from June 10th to the 14th. Tickets will be available for purchase tomorrow at 10 AM PDT (3 PM EST). The event will show all of us iOS 7 and Mac 10.9:
Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, June 10-14, San Francisco
Tickets go on sale worldwide on April 25 at 10 a.m. PDT
Get an in-depth look at what’s next in iOS and OS X, and learn how to take your apps to the next level. With over 100 sessions, extensive hands–on labs, and engaging events, you’ll connect with Apple engineers and fellow developers for an incredible week of inspiration.
I am personally excited for both 10.9 and iOS 7. I hope to have my thoughts up on iOS 7 before it’s announced.
iTunes 11 is great. That’s really the only thing that has to really be said but I will give sort of a mini review right now for all.
It’s fast
iTunes 11 launches so fast and is so smooth it feels like I am using something else. It seems they have re-written the app from the ground up
Design
The design is amazing. I love it. Actually I think it is really the first major change to the design of iTunes ever. Yes there has been features added but never a real redesign. This is a complete redesign and it’s great.
Mini-Player
The mini player was really worthless in the other iTunes. Now it’s great. You can search for songs see the next song’s in the playlist, repeat basically everything.
That’s it for the Mini Review of iTunes 11. I hope you enjoy it!