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iOS Apps | Hello flatness, my old friend

Q

Quick

Banned
Flipboard redesigned their app for both iPhone and iPad. I haven't used Flipboard in a while, but the new way to get magazines might be a good way to just redo my followed feeds.

Spotify also redesigned their app for the iPad. It matches up more with the iPhone app, but kept the three-panel format for opening subdirectories on it. It looks a lot better, I think.

Facebook pushed its monthly (4-week) update. It would seriously be nice if they noted what changes (minor or major) are being made for each update.
 
J

Junior Mint

Member
I used to like Flipboard but the whole flipping animation just looks dated to me now. I also hate how most of the articles I read just end up taking me to the website which sometimes isn't even formatted correctly for mobile. Ended up uninstalling it again.

Speaking of which, which curated news app is everyone using? I've been using Google's Play Newsstand which is pretty good. Been trying out Yahoo News Digest as well but it's a bit limited.
 
T

tmdorsey

Member
Junior Mint said:
Speaking of which, which curated news app is everyone using? I've been using Google's Play Newsstand which is pretty good. Been trying out Yahoo News Digest as well but it's a bit limited.
Click to expand...

Would like to know this as well. Currently using Flipboard, but wouldn't mind a change n
 
X

X-Frame

Member
The Real Abed said:
If you use Safari, I recommend just using Reading List. Otherwise use Pocket. Unless you need all the other features Pocket offers, in which case there's only slightly more hoops but it's still viable. Both will download the sites to an offline cache. And I think both offer a reader view. The benefit to the Safari one is syncing without needing an extension or separate app on either side.

I used to use Pocket all the time until I switched to Safari. It does all I need it to do. Saves links for later. Actually I wish I could actually turn off the cache feature. I'm never offline. I just want to save the links. Though if I needed to I could just add them to my bookmarks and have the same effect, but that's more clunky since it's simpler to remove read pages when done.
Click to expand...

I dislike Pocket's reading view and it always seems to mess up the layout of articles, especially of there are embedded videos, pocket will just cut them all out and display at the bottom of the article which is confusing.

When I see this happening I always bring it into Safari and using the Reader view and it is perfect.

I have about 1,000 articles saved in my Pocket archive though and I tag them all so I can find them later, which I like and I don't think Safari offers.

So if I converted to Reading List I'd have to give up tagging. What about searching through titles or articles for keywords?
 
A

Ambitious

Member
reederuhq5a.png


About time.
 
N

Number45

Member
Is there a better way of finding a specific time in a YT video in the app than the high speed scrubbing slider? I've never really had to bother with it - but I've been watching a 7 hour video over the last few days (forwarding to where I want to watch) and it's fucking painful making small adjustments.
 
A

Ambitious

Member
Number45 said:
Is there a better way of finding a specific time in a YT video in the app than the high speed scrubbing slider? I've never really had to bother with it - but I've been watching a 7 hour video over the last few days (forwarding to where I want to watch) and it's fucking painful making small adjustments.
Click to expand...

Move your finger down while scrubbing. That way, you can adjust the scrubbing speed. It's still awkward, though.
 
N

Number45

Member
Ambitious said:
Move your finger down while scrubbing. That way, you can adjust the scrubbing speed. It's still awkward, though.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I'd been trying. I clearly suck at the touch interface, trying to find the specific times I wanted to were a constant frustration - in most cases it would have been quicker for me just to sit and watch all the guff I was trying to skip through!
 
F

FerranMG

Member
Another thing I hate about the iOS video player is that there's no direct access to change the resolution.
For Youtube videos it's painful, because they always play at a very low resolution (480p) even if I have a fast connection.
 
N

Number45

Member
FerranMG said:
Another thing I hate about the iOS video player is that there's no direct access to change the resolution.
For Youtube videos it's painful, because they always play at a very low resolution (480p) even if I have a fast connection.
Click to expand...
Is this in the YT app itself? Mine seems pretty reliably to get a good resolution, even when I'm not on the best connection.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
FerranMG said:
Another thing I hate about the iOS video player is that there's no direct access to change the resolution.
For Youtube videos it's painful, because they always play at a very low resolution (480p) even if I have a fast connection.
Click to expand...
Well you can still change it. Do you really need quick access? Tap the three dots in the corner.
 
F

FerranMG

Member
Number45 said:
Is this in the YT app itself? Mine seems pretty reliably to get a good resolution, even when I'm not on the best connection.
Click to expand...

The Real Abed said:
Well you can still change it. Do you really need quick access? Tap the three dots in the corner.
Click to expand...

In the Youtube app it can be changed. It sucks that the auto-detection doesn't work good at all, but I can live with this.
What really bothers me is that, whenever a Youtube video is played in the iOS video player (not in the Youtube app), this can't be changed AT ALL.

Does your Youtube app auto-adjust to HD resolutions? Like, ever?
 
N

Number45

Member
FerranMG said:
Does your Youtube app auto-adjust to HD resolutions? Like, ever?
Click to expand...
100% of the time, yes. I do a good chunk of my iPad YT'ing tethered to my iPhone (3G) and it's always adapting. Eventually settling on an HD resolution with the occasional drop.

I have an outstanding 3G signal at work.
 
T

threetri333

Banned
I just got the iPad Air 2 16GB and I have 6.6GB of Flash Storage left.

My Top 3 Apps that takes up the most Storage

  • Play Books - 2.4GB
  • Facebook - 155MB
  • Evernote - 115MB

Will 6.6GB be enough? I do enough streaming and I use Cloud Services such as Drive, Mega, OneDrive, Dropbox. I love streaming music and movies from Spotify and Netflix.

I need help getting into Onedrive, it won't let me sign on or enter my hotmail address.
 
H

Heel

Member
threetri333 said:
I just got the iPad Air 2 16GB and I have 6.6GB of Flash Storage left.

My Top 3 Apps that takes up the most Storage

  • Play Books - 2.4GB
  • Facebook - 155MB
  • Evernote - 115MB

Will 6.6GB be enough? I do enough streaming and I use Cloud Services such as Drive, Mega, OneDrive, Dropbox. I love streaming music and movies from Spotify and Netflix.

I need help getting into Onedrive, it won't let me sign on or enter my hotmail address.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could manage if all you do is stream, but you'll likely be fiddling and worrying about space sometime down the road. I paid for the jump to 32GB with an iPad 3 and I'm glad I did, as I still have to tidy it up every once in a while. The bump to 64GB is worth the peace of mind for the lifetime of your device if you can afford it, at least in my opinion.
 
X

X-Frame

Member
So I finally got an iPhone 6 Plus .. which means it's time to swap out any app that hasn't yet updated to accommodate the new iPhones.

First up, AV Player.

Is there anything comparable yet for watching any video files (e.g. MKV)?
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
FerranMG said:
In the Youtube app it can be changed. It sucks that the auto-detection doesn't work good at all, but I can live with this.
What really bothers me is that, whenever a Youtube video is played in the iOS video player (not in the Youtube app), this can't be changed AT ALL.

Does your Youtube app auto-adjust to HD resolutions? Like, ever?
Click to expand...
I only watch videos on Wifi at home but when I watch on my iPhone and iPad it always seems to switch to 720p as soon as it can.
 
J

JDeluis

Member
X-Frame said:
So I finally got an iPhone 6 Plus .. which means it's time to swap out any app that hasn't yet updated to accommodate the new iPhones.

First up, AV Player.

Is there anything comparable yet for watching any video files (e.g. MKV)?
Click to expand...

Apart from the text, what are you finding wrong with AV Player? I'm using it on my 6 Plus and videos look fine.
 
F

FerranMG

Member
Number45 said:
100% of the time, yes. I do a good chunk of my iPad YT'ing tethered to my iPhone (3G) and it's always adapting. Eventually settling on an HD resolution with the occasional drop.

I have an outstanding 3G signal at work.
Click to expand...

The Real Abed said:
I only watch videos on Wifi at home but when I watch on my iPhone and iPad it always seems to switch to 720p as soon as it can.
Click to expand...

Well then, it must be something with my Youtube settings.
I have it set so that it switches to HD whenever the connection allows it, but it's certainly not working as expected. :/
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
FerranMG said:
Well then, it must be something with my Youtube settings.
I have it set so that it switches to HD whenever the connection allows it, but it's certainly not working as expected. :/
Click to expand...
Are you also trying over WiFi? If so that's odd. I've never noticed it being a lower resolution video at least on my iPad.
 
X

X-Frame

Member
JDeluis said:
Apart from the text, what are you finding wrong with AV Player? I'm using it on my 6 Plus and videos look fine.
Click to expand...

It's just the UI, I am picky like that and find it annoying. It's been almost 2 months since the phones came out and no update.

It's a great app but I'm just wondering if there are any good alternatives, at least until AV Player updates.
 
F

FerranMG

Member
The Real Abed said:
Maybe your internet provider is throttling YouTube for some reason? I haven't had problems getting HD consistently for a while now. And I watch a lot of YouTube.
Click to expand...

I don't think so.
This happens both at work and at home, and also I've never heard of my ISP doing throttling practices.
 
V

Vyer

Member
I used to be pretty heavily invested in Downcast but I have to say I am enjoying Overcast a lot more these days. Better looking UI to me, I like the 'smart speed' features and it seems to do a better job of managing podcasts than Downcast did for me.
 
X

X-Frame

Member
Vyer said:
I used to be pretty heavily invested in Downcast but I have to say I am enjoying Overcast a lot more these days. Better looking UI to me, I like the 'smart speed' features and it seems to do a better job of managing podcasts than Downcast did for me.
Click to expand...

I switched from Downcast as well.

Though I like the UI of Pocket Casts and Castro better than Overcast, at the end of the day I use the app to listen to podcasts and since Overcast allows me to fine tune the speed of playback plus the Voice Boost and Smart Speed, I save a noticeable amount of time listening and yet I don't even realize that it is sped up.
 
G

Got the Shakes

Member
Vyer said:
I used to be pretty heavily invested in Downcast but I have to say I am enjoying Overcast a lot more these days. Better looking UI to me, I like the 'smart speed' features and it seems to do a better job of managing podcasts than Downcast did for me.
Click to expand...

X-Frame said:
I switched from Downcast as well.

Though I like the UI of Pocket Casts and Castro better than Overcast, at the end of the day I use the app to listen to podcasts and since Overcast allows me to fine tune the speed of playback plus the Voice Boost and Smart Speed, I save a noticeable amount of time listening and yet I don't even realize that it is sped up.
Click to expand...

I have gone through the days of using Instacast and Downcast. Switched to Pocket Casts recently and I really like it, especially now that they have an online web player that syncs with the app so you can literally listen to your subscriptions on any computer, iOS device, or Android device.
 
V

Vyer

Member
What is everyone using for a newsreader these days?

Got the Shakes said:
I have gone through the days of using Instacast and Downcast. Switched to Pocket Casts recently and I really like it, especially now that they have an online web player that syncs with the app so you can literally listen to your subscriptions on any computer, iOS device, or Android device.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I went Instacast-Downcast too. Web player sounds nice but I only ever listen on my phone so I probably wouldn't use it. Maybe I'll give Pocket Casts another shot one day but I remember not sticking with it when I tried it for some reason.
 
G

Got the Shakes

Member
Vyer said:
What is everyone using for a newsreader these days?



Yeah, I went Instacast-Downcast too. Web player sounds nice but I only ever listen on my phone so I probably wouldn't use it. Maybe I'll give Pocket Casts another shot one day but I remember not sticking with it when I tried it for some reason.
Click to expand...

After 14 days the web player costs $9 for a lifetime subscription so certainly not a selling point for someone who wouldn't use it much.
 
T

tmdorsey

Member
Vyer said:
What is everyone using for a newsreader these days?
Click to expand...


I've been asking this for awhile. Using Flipboard now, but ready to try something different I think.


Does Reeder support twitter feeds now in addition to RSS? That's a big requirement for me and what keeps me using Flipboard.
 
M

Megasoum

Banned
Anybody knows an app that would let me set complex stopwatch routine with vocal feedback?

When working out I can't always look at my phone or even look up at the wall (and my gym kinda sucks as far as wall clocks goes anyway...)

I'd like something that could vocally countdown in my ears and where I could setup a routine like

-Countdown from 5 to 1
-Count to 20
-Count to 10
-Count to 20
-Count to 10
-Count to 20
-Count to 10

etc

Any ideas?
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Vyer said:
What is everyone using for a newsreader these days?
Click to expand...
Does anyone use Unread? iphone, ipad

tmdorsey said:
Does Reeder support twitter feeds now in addition to RSS? That's a big requirement for me and what keeps me using Flipboard.
Click to expand...
Have you checked out Inoreader?

Megasoum said:
Anybody knows an app that would let me set complex stopwatch routine with vocal feedback?

When working out I can't always look at my phone or even look up at the wall (and my gym kinda sucks as far as wall clocks goes anyway...)

I'd like something that could vocally countdown in my ears and where I could setup a routine like

-Countdown from 5 to 1
-Count to 20
-Count to 10
-Count to 20
-Count to 10
-Count to 20
-Count to 10

etc

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Jailbreak

Swag said:
Does anyone use any of the alternate keyboards? Tried swift key but it seemed quite buggy
Click to expand...
iOS is buggy.
Try Nintype
 
A

Ambitious

Member
Calcbot 2 is out. It's now free but includes an $1.99 IAP to unlock Pro features, including a unit converter (used to be a separate app called Convertbot). However, apparently these Pro features are not available for those who bought an earlier version of Calcbot.
 
Q

Quick

Banned
Ambitious said:
Calcbot 2 is out. It's now free but includes an $1.99 IAP to unlock Pro features, including a unit converter (used to be a separate app called Convertbot). However, apparently these Pro features are not available for those who bought an earlier version of Calcbot.
Click to expand...

I've always wanted to try Calcbot, but I wasn't willing to pay for it.

Now they just need to release an update to Tweetbot for iPad.

IFTTT released a camera app, as well.
 
A

Ambitious

Member
Remember Backdrops, the official app of interfacelift.com? I was disappointed about the app apparently being abandoned. As far as I remember, it wasn't even updated for iOS 7.

Anyway, a successor called InterfaceLIFT Wallpapers has been released yesterday. It's free with ads. $0.99 IAP to disable them. They are extremely obtrusive: Everytime you tap on a wallpaper, a fullscreen ad is displayed. Pretty shitty. Makes me actually want to not give them money.

Visually, the app is fine. However, in terms of functionality, it's a huge step back from Backdrops. You can browse recent wallpapers, top rated wallpapers, random wallpapers and search for keywords. That's all. With Backdrops, it was possible to filter wallpaper in many different ways, for instance the dominant color, the kind of picture (e.g. ocean, mountains, space, clouds, ...), the location where it was taken and so on.
 
Q

Quick

Banned
I'll have to try out their maps app soon.

Speaking of Maps, any Waze users find that the turn-by-turn voice directions are coming off really quiet when hooked up to a car's sound system?
 
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