"If there is an app for that"

Swift Playgrounds: Apple’s new iPad app to teach you how to code

June 13, 2016 by macjeff

In wrapping up Apple’s WWDC keynote this morning, Tim Cook announced a new iPad app called Swift Playgrounds for teaching people how to code. Cook specifically says “the best way to teach everyone to code,” but it definitely looks like it was built with kids in mind.

The app looks a lot like other learn-to-code apps (Hopscotch!), but it’s cool that Apple is using its scale to get such a tool into the hands of more people. The company says the app “combines the powerful Swift programming language and the powerful capabilities of iPad.”

Updating…

Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/06/13/swift-playgrounds-wwdc-2016/

iOS 10’s Phone app gains Voicemail Transcriptions, Spam Alerts, VoIP support (UPDATED)

June 13, 2016 by macjeff

  iOS 10 was shown off at WWDC 2016 on Monday, and with all of the new features Apple brought to the table, the Phone app is certainly one of the spotlights that deserves attention. Apple’s new Phone app in iOS 10 is going to get a lot of useful new features to make using the phone aspect of your iPhone a whole lot better.  

A new Phone experience for iPhone?

Starting with improvements to voicemail, the Phone app in iOS 10 will now convert any voicemail you receive into a readable text that you can read rather than listen to out loud. This will come in handy when you’re somewhere where the background noise is just too loud and you can’t hear your voicemail. The Phone app also improves the experience with incoming calls, because when you receive a phone call from an unknown phone number, iOS can automatically tell you whether or not the call is likely to be a spam call. Since unknown number phone calls are often annoying, it’s good to be able to know which ones are legitimate and which ones are probably just solicitors or scammers who are trying to waste your time or win you over. Spam alerts will show right underneath the unknown phone number on the Lock screen when an incoming phone call is happening in real time.

Support for VoIP via API

Apple is also allowing third-party developers who make VoIP apps for the App Store to integrate with the Phone app so that calling notifications from those third-party apps actually fill the screen, rather than appearing as a useless Lock screen notification.   As a result, you can actually take calls from those VoIP apps from the Lock screen just like they were native phone calls. A slide to answer bar will appear at the bottom of the screen just like a phone call would, and the call will route through to the third-party app’s VoIP services. This will work for various services, such as WhatsApp, but it’s not yet known what app developers are likely to take advantage of this. It would be nice to see Viber, Skype, and Facebook Messenger take advantage of this in the future.

Wrapping up

Since the Phone app is one of the most important parts of using an iPhone rather than an iPod touch or iPad, these are notable new features that will change the Phone app experience for Apple’s smartphone platform for a long time to come. What are your favorite new features for the Phone app in iOS 10? Share in the comments! Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/06/13/ios-10s-phone-app-gains-voicemail-transcriptions-spam-alerts-voip-support/

Messages app updated in iOS 10 with new emoji features, Bubble effects and more (UPDATED)

June 13, 2016 by macjeff

Also getting a big update in iOS 10 is the Messages app. New features include inline rich links, which open YouTube videos, images and other types of media—videos now play right within the app!—a built-in Camera viewfinder, and some great emoji improvements. These improvements include 3x bigger emoji images within your messages, so you can see the icons in greater detail, and predictive emoji. Apple calls this “emojifiable.” So the Messages app in iOS 10 can essentially guess emoji images for the words you tap on. Also new in the Messages app is what Apple is calling “Bubble effects.” This allows you add nice little transitional effects to your Bubbles and even the full screen for the person you’re talking to. Some of the effects demoed on stage include swipe-to-reveal, zoom, full screen of balloons and much more. This is actually really cool-looking, and you have to see a demo of it in action to really understand. Other Messages announcements: the ability to scribble or hand-write a message, Messages app APIs for developers (yes this means third party for Messages). Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/06/13/messages-app-in-ios-10/

Maps app gets smarter in iOS 10 with improved search, Quick Controls and more

June 13, 2016 by macjeff

Eddy Cue is on stage right now, at Apple’s WWDC keynote, talking about the new Maps app in iOS 10. The stock mapping application gets a lot smarter in the upcoming update, with improved search, en route traffic information and a new feature called Quick Controls. Updating… Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/06/13/maps-app-in-ios-10/

Here’s all-new Apple Music redesign from the ground up

June 13, 2016 by macjeff

The beautiful new design language in a revamped Apple Music is now a reality. According to Apple, the first tab within the app is now Library that gives you quick access to your songs as well as your downloaded music. A new Recently Added section makes it easy to pinpoint new songs and albums you’ve added to your library. Apple Music now has inline lyrics, which is pretty awesome.

The top of the For You tab now has a Discovery mix, a Recently Played playlist, a daily curated playlist in an obvious shot at Spotify and more. Content from the Connect tab is now integrated within the For You tab rather than live in its own tab. What do you guys think so far? Are you liking the new look for Apple Music? Does it feel rushed a bit? I’m still torn… Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/06/13/heres-all-new-apple-music-redesign-from-the-ground-up/