Tag - Calendar
Hands On: Pocket Informant 4.91 (iOS, OS X)
In the two years or so since we last looked at this app, it's been updated 17 times. That somehow seems fitting for software designed to keep you productive. Pocket Informant 4.91 is for busy people juggling busy lives, and especially ones that revolve around both tasks and appointments.
Hands On: Fantastical 2.2 (OS X)
We're suckers for apps that look great: we reckon that if you're going to spend a gigantic amount of time in front of a computer screen, you should at least have something worth looking at. However, design is pretty much infinitely more that what something looks like and we've seen that the apps with the finest appearances tend to be the ones that are designed well in every way. It's not a universal truth but it is with Fantastical 2.2 for OS X which is gorgeous, powerful and now updated with some delicious extras.
Pointers: fix 'No More Events' error on Apple Watch
You can usually make this bug happen, if you really want to, by signing out of iCloud on your iPhone, and back in again. That's how we found it: having done that to fix another problem, we discovered that our Apple Watch then permanently displayed "No More Events," regardless of how busy our day really was. There are apparently other ways, other combinations of situations that make this happen, but there's one solution to fix them all.
Hands On: Parker Planner 1.7.7 (iOS)
This even looks like the kind of thing you'd have used in the Filofax era. The Parker Planner company says it began by making productivity tools on paper, and that the move to iOS was obvious. Yes. If they still sell any paper, the Parker Planner 1.7.7 app for iPhone is better.
Hands On: Sunrise 4.21 (iOS)
We were asked this question by @MattHelmGuitar over on Twitter: "Do you know a good iPad calendar app that syncs with Google Calendar? The built-in one is unreliable at synchronizing. Thanks." It proved to be one of those questions like when do you stop calling something bread and start calling it toast? Leaving alone that issue that you can only know if something is reliable if you really hammer it for years, there was also that word "good." We're going to say that the answer is Sunrise 4.21, but actually we're going to say it loudly enough that you don't hear us wondering what we'd find if we kept looking. Nor that we expect to change our mind during the year.
Hands On: Microsoft Outlook 2.0.0 (iOS)
Microsoft made no secret of how it had bought the companies behind calendar app Sunrise and email app Accompli. Now it's making a big deal of how it will be taking the best features from those and putting them right into its own Outlook. Microsoft Outlook 2.0.0 for iOS is the start of this process and for all the promise of what's coming next, it is just a start. If nobody told you, you might not spot for quite a while that anything is different at all -- unless you used the old Sunrise app.
Pointers: fix iOS Calendar's tap bug
File this under "simple, short and a workaround" while Apple fixes a bug. Since at least iOS 9, possibly earlier, there have been sporadic reports of a problem with Calendar on iPhones. If you go to the month view, tap on a date and nothing happens, you've got the bug. Fortunately, we've got the solution: double-tap instead.
Pointers: Go Further with Syncing Google and Apple Calendars
Last week Pointers covered scratching an itch that had come up for us: the need for certain people to see our calendars despite their being on Google and our being on Apple Calendar. The short version is that you can do it but it's a bit fiddly and involved a workaround. It turns out, though, that we need a longer version because all that worked fine when these people were in our group company Google Calendar. Now the people who needs to see it the most are not: they're remote workers and what they really require is to have our calendar appear alongside their own.
Hands On: Google Calendar 1.1.0 (iPhone)
Sometimes, Apple's automatic updating of apps is handy because there are versions you know you ought to have, but you'll get around to it later, or when they add something big. Google Calendar 1.1.0 for iPhone is not a big update. It's a good one, but it's not compelling. It's also still on iPhone alone, not iPad, which is a curious omission.
Pointers: Syncing Google and Apple Calendars
Stop us if you've heard this one: we want to share our calendar with someone, but we don't want them to know precisely what we're doing. We need them to know we're a bit busy on Tuesday morning but, on balance, we'd rather they not be able to tell that it's our DUI court case. To be fair, they don't want to know either.
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Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj
Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket
The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94
Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa
SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If
Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm
Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE
