Top Bananas | Tag Archives: iOS

Slowly Improving Apple Maps

Posted on June 29, 2018 by admin Posted in Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple will soon improve their Maps app with data updated from their own test vehicles.

Apple Maps is largely still behind Google Maps, but there’s a reason for that. Google had years to refine their mapping app. Then Apple realized that if they relied entirely on Google for their mapping data, they would never have the crucial data needed to identify landmarks around an area. Even worse, Google held back features on Google Maps for iOS while releasing them for Android in an attempt to make Google Maps better on Android, thereby convincing more people to abandon iOS for Android. To improve Google Maps, Google asked Apple for more money. Apple refused to pay this additional fee so they simply created their own Apple Maps instead.

Initially, Apple Maps was more of a beta than a finished product, which showed obvious inferiority to Google Maps. Even to this day, Apple Maps often pales to Google Maps, but the difference is shrinking. Apple absolutely had to create their own mapping app to avoid being limited by Google and to access crucial driving directions that would be important for self-driving car technology. Apple literally had no voice but to create Apple Maps despite its obvious inferiority.

Apple has steadily been improving Apple Maps since its introduction in 2012 but it’s still an uphill battle. To improve Apple Maps, Apple has been sending its own vehicles around the world to map out roads. The eventual goal is to create maps that can handle construction and road changes in real-time.

Of course, we may need to wait years for this to happen, but at least Apple Maps is moving in the right direction. The key is that knowing the location of landmarks is vital data for self-driving cars and augmented reality. Apple needed their own mapping app so they can control their own fate, regardless of how painful this transition may be initially for themselves and their customers. This is why Apple is also rumored to be looking to cut their ties with Intel processors so they will no longer be dependent on Intel’s schedule (like every other PC maker).

If Apple Maps is any indication, expect Apple to slowly control their own future by developing their own technologies. Ultimately, it’s the only way companies can control their future.

The March Towards Smart Glasses

Posted on June 16, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Google tried smart glasses with Google Glass, but Apple may define the market in the future.

When Google released Google Glass, there wasn’t a compelling reason to use it. Beyond the creepy ability to video someone without their knowledge, Google Glass offered little in the way of features that would solve actual problems. That’s why Apple is refining augmented reality first on the iPhone and iPad. Once people find augmented reality useful and get comfortable (and dependent) on it, then they’ll be able to shift people easily into smart glasses.

Think of how Apple introduced the iPad. Rather than develop a tablet and expect everyone to adopt it for no reason (think of Microsoft’s original Surface tablets tuning Windows RT), Apple created the iPhone and got people excited and used to touch screens on a smartphone. Then it was easy to shift people to the larger iPad screen especially because the iPad ran iOS and could run iPhone apps as well. Now that people have embraced both the iPhone and iPad, the iPad is diverging from the iPhone but both products are firmly entrenched in the public’s mind.

Augmented reality is Apple’s way to hesitantly step forward into the future by offering features that gradually get people used to its uses. Beyond playing Pokemon GO, augmented reality will soon offer more interesting features that people will depend on, such as walking or driving directions that display useful sights along the way. Once people get used to directions through augmented reality, it’s a small step to put that augmented reality view in smart glasses that people can use.

Smart glasses will essentially be an iPhone screen visible at all times without forcing you to hold a device in front of your eyes. After people get dependent on augmented reality through an iPhone, smart glasses will be an easy transition.

Augmented reality is the key to the transition form the smartphone to the tablet to smart glasses. Google had to revise their augmented reality framework drastically to catch up to Apple, but Apple is slowly plowing ahead. With augmented reality easy to use on iOS devices, this will be one feature used to attract people to the iOS platform. Eventually Android will be forced to catch up but augmented reality will pave the way towards smart glasses eventually.

Augmented reality is a technology with more potential at this point than actual products, but that will change over time. Augmented reality is the next user interface that will drive the mobile and smart glasses wearable market in the future.

To learn more about Apple’s augmented reality plans, click here.

Porting iOS Apps to macOS

Posted on June 14, 2018 by admin Posted in Programming, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple will soon release a tool making it easy for iOS apps to run on macOS.

The iOS App Store contains millions of apps so Apple has created a software framework that will allow iOS developers to port their apps to macOS. The goal is to make it easy for iOS developers to sell their apps on iOS and macOS.

These iOS ports aren’t simply duplicating iOS apps on maCOS but to make it easy to create native macOS apps from iOS apps. Apple has done this with their own apps (News and Stocks) but the macOS versions of these apps will offer slightly different features that make them unique to macOS. By doing this, iOS apps won’t just look like boring duplicates of iOS apps that don’t quite feel or look right on a Macintosh.

Developers can quickly port their iOS apps to macOS but then they’ll need to modify their apps for the Macintosh screen, mouse, and keyboard. So if you’re looking to create an app, it would make the most sense to start with iOS and then port to macOS. Not only is iOS a larger and more lucrative market, but porting apps from macOS to iOS may be harder since you have to focus on touch screen interaction. It’s easy to adopt an app to go from a touch screen to a mouse and keyboard. It’s not as easy to go the other way since making a mouse and keyboard interface int o a touch screen can lead to awkward user interface designs. Just look at Windows 8.

Of course, developers can get lazy and simply do a port from iOS to macOS, but then their macOS app won’t look and feel optimized for the Macintosh screen, which will likely result in poor adoption. The bottom line is that this new software framework will help boost the number of useful apps available for the Macintosh.

ARKit 2 and the New Augmented Reality Features

Posted on June 5, 2018 by admin Posted in Programming, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple announced ARKit 2, the latest version of their augmented reality framework.

After Apple acquired Metaio, a German augmented reality company, Apple has yet to implement all of Metaio’s technology. If you look for old Metaio videos on YouTube, you can see features form back in 2013 that are still unavailable in Apple’s ARKit. Most likely, Apple is slowly integrating Metaio’s technology with their own Swift framework. That means if you want to see the future of augmented reality, just look at the old Metaio videos still available on YouTube.

Apple recently revealed their latest version of ARKit, version 2. What’s surprising is how ARKit now allows multi-player games where multiple people can share a single augmented reality view. LEGO demonstrated an actual LEGO kit surrounded by augmented reality images that two people can manipulate. Apple also demonstrated a two player game that displays virtual blocks on a table where each player uses a slingshot to knock the other player’s blocks down. The big future of ARKit 2 is that it allows one person to place an augmented reality object in the real world and a second person can see that same virtual image as well.

For now, ARKit 2 focuses on games but the ability to place virtual objects in the real world creates the potential for people to place virtual treasures in the real world so other people can view it later. Stores might place discount coupons in their aisles that only someone with an iOS device can find. By making shopping more like a video game, stores can actively engage shoppers and keep them in the store longer. The longer people are in stores, the more likely they’ll buy something.

The real potential of augmented reality likely won’t hit until ARKit finally matches Metaio’s technology from 2013. With augmented reality a key feature of iOS, expect augmented reality to start driving more people to use iOS just to use augmented reality in the same way that people once bought Windows PCs just to run Windows software. Augmented reality is still gaining traction int he real world, but it will arrive faster than you might think.

To learn more about ARKit 2’s latest features, click here.

Group FaceTime Chats

Posted on June 4, 2018 by admin Posted in Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple announced FaceTime will allow upon to 32 people to chat at once.

FaceTime gives people a chance to talk through audio and video, much like the futuristic telephone calling that phone companies have been predicting for decades. In the past, FaceTime only let two people talk to each other, but now in the new iOS 12 coming soon, FaceTime will allow up to 32 people to chat in a single FaceTime conversati0n. Not only can multiple people talk, but as soon as one person starts talking, that person’s image automatically comes to the front in a larger size so you can see the person actually speaking.

FaceTime group conversations will allow business people to share ideas without forcing everyone to meet in a single place. Unlike a meeting, you can be anywhere you want without wasting time traveling to a location and being stuck in a room. Now you can hide in the comfort of your home.

What’s even more remarkable is that iOS 12 will run on any iPhone or iPad that can also run iOS 11. Besides speeding up your iOS device, older iOS devices can run advanced features like FaceTime. This will allow more people to use FaceTime as well.

FaceTime will give people a chance to create impromptu chats as easily as making a phone call. While people may have made group chats in the past using special software, FaceTime lets people create chats without any special software at all so there’s no learning curve.

Group FaceTime chats may not be the main reason to upgrade to iOS 12 but since iOS 12 is free and speeds up your iOS devices, and runs on any iOS device that can run iOS 11, you might as well upgrade to iOS 12 and get FaceTime group chats if you want. By upgrading to iOS 12, you’ll get new features, faster performance, and (hopefully) fewer bugs. iOS 12 is basically a no-brainer upgrade so there’s no reason not to upgrade as soon as iOS 12 is available later this year.

Advanced ARKit Features Coming to WWDC

Posted on May 30, 2018 by admin Posted in Software Leave a comment

What it is: More advanced features of ARKit are rumored to appear at Apple’s upcoming WWDC in June.

When Apple introduced ARKit to create augmented reality apps, the demos were interesting but nothing impressive. What makes Apple’s ARKit seem so timid is that it’s based largely on Metaio’s technology, which is a German company that Apple acquired in 2015. Yet if you search for Metaio’s videos on YouTube, you can find an interesting augmented reality app called Time Traveler.

The goal behind Time Traveler is that if you stand in a certain location and aim your iOS device at a certain image, you can see a historical video playing. This lets you point an iPhone or iPad at a boarded up window along the Berlin Wall and see an old black and video of people climbing out of the window to jump to freedom in West Berlin. This type of augmented reality is still not yet available in ARKit three years later after Metaio clearly demonstrated these features back in 2013.

What this means is that if you want to get a glimpse of future features in ARKit, you just need to look at Metaio’s past videos on YouTube. Apple likely created ARKit to provide the foundation for augmented reality development. Now they’ll need to beef up its capabilities to match the features Metaio demonstrated yard ago.

Apple is simply transitioning Metaio’s technology to Swift and Objective-C as a software framework that they can develop further in the future. So while ARKit is still behind Metaio’s old 2013 technology, it points to what’s coming in ARKit. Once ARKit matches the features in Metaio’s old technology, it will only continue growing from there.

To see the future of ARKit, just look at the past with Metaio’s videos. The future is right in front of everyone’s eyes to see. It’s just a matter of time before people will recognize it.

To see what Metaio had planned for augmented reality years ago that included interactive manuals and educational apps, click here.