Missing Features: iOS “Share Via”

Jan 162012

One feature that I use a hell of a lot on my Android phone is the “Share Via” feature, I’m not sure exactly how it works but as I see it applications can register themselves to the OS as being available to share different types of content. When a user wants to share something the sharing application then asks the OS what applications are available to share this content for example:

The first application then seamlessly hands the content over to the second application which can do whatever the hell it wants with it. This is great for sharing to your chosen social network etcetera but it really comes into it’s own when you want to consume content and then blog about it.

One of the first applications I downloaded when I got my iPad was Flipboard, it seamlessly weaves together RSS feeds, Twitter feeds, Tumblr, my Google reader account, Facebook and anything else you throw at it, it’s great for consuming information. But… when I find something I like and want to share I am limited in what I can share to:

The only reason I can even share to that many things is because it’s built into FlipBoard iOS only allows you to share via email or (new in iOS 5) Twitter, either way I have to go through a rather convoluted process to share an item to my blog which I can do fairly simply on my phone.

From Safari all I can do is Tweet or email pages:

Its a shame because I really would like to be able to browse crap on my iPad and post directly to my blog from Safari it seems really natural that this should be easy to do, and sharing data from one application to another should be simple. I guess it would break Apple’s segregation of applications philosophy, but I think if the OS handled passing data from one application to another, like it does in Android, it’s fairly safe.

As it stands I have an email alias set up that I use to store any links that I want to blog, I then forget I’ve sent the email and forget to blog about whatever it is that I wanted to blog about.

 

Incoming Category: Missing Features

Jan 162012

I’ve recently gotten an iPad and I’ve decided that I’m going to log anything that I find missing from either Android or iOS that I really like in the other in a series of mini blog posts called Missing Features. Partly because I miss these features and partly because I think the features are actually missing from the respective OS.

How to fix software issues.

Dec 122011

 

How to fix software issues.

Via A secret place

Life of a Software Developer.

Nov 092011

Life of a Software Developer.

via A secret place, A sweet escape

How to Land a Job in Tech [Infographic]

Oct 122011

Interesting infographic on hiring trends in the tech industry in the UK.

Via MastersDegree.

iPhone 5 Website Leaked?

Aug 102011

Has the iPhone 5 been leaked on Apples own German website? I’m surprised this isn’t generating more buzz I’ve only seen one link to it on twitter and it’s not zoomed to front page of Reddit yet, are we too skeptical?

If it’s legit Apple have adopted the same slimline design they used for the iPad2 and have upped the camera to 8 megapixels. They have also gotten rid of the 16Gb model and added a 64Gb one ( I’d assumed there was a 64 Gig one before but apparently not according to Apple’s UK website).

It’s got a 4.2″ Retina display, a contrast of 800:1 and they’ve upgraded the processor to a dual-core A5.

I don’t see anything revolutionary here, which leads some credibility to the site, as apple tend not to shoot leaps ahead, they play it safe and incrementally upgrade their phones. These specs and iOS 5 brings the iPhone in line with the current generation of Android phones which is where Apple want to be.

Worth noting, the image of the supposed iPhone5 shows “No Service” as it’s reception, I don’t think that Apple would let that be on their official website, especially after the issues they had with the iPhone4.

Capcom Tries to Stamp out Used Game Sales By Destroying Replay Value

Jun 282011

In a move this is going to make the gaming community irate but is probably going to have little to no effect on first hand sales Capcom have decided that they are releasing Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D with one save slot that cannot be reset.

I understand the logic behind this, if you can’t reset the save slot then when you pass the game on to someone else they maintain your progress.

I’m not sure how much of an effect this will have though, I’ve not played a Resident Evil game in a while but the last few Capcom games I’ve played have had a level select that allows you to play through any level you have completed. If this is the case for RE:M3D then I don’t see not being able to wipe the save to be an issue.

I really don’t hope this becomes the norm as it would kill certain genres of games, games where your decisions mattered would be terrible if you couldn’t replay them and make different decisions. Somehow I don’t think that it’s going to matter very much for RE:M3D though. Assuming anyone actually buys it first hand to start with, as if it’s anything like the RE demo I played at the 3DS road show it’s going to be a terrible game anyway.

Via DVICE.

Wii U Passing on DVD, Blu-ray Is This A Good Idea?

Jun 162011

Apparently the new Nintendo Wii U won’t support video playback, but will instead use a proprietor y format 25Gb disk.

I know the Wii did perfectly well despite not having a DVD player, and that was indeed because most people already have a DVD player plugged into their TV, but… The Wii U’s controller has the potential to do something really cool here:

Imagine your kid is watching cartoons on the TV, they have been home since 3 or 4 (or whenever kids come home from school these days) you come home from work exhausted wanting to watch some hard earned TV. You have to kick your kid off the TV to do so, but wait! your kid is watching their cartoons using their Wii U. At the flick of a button they are watching their cartoons on the Wii U controller and you are watching whatever crap TV you watch to wind down after a hard day in the office.

Nintendo have already demonstrated that this kind of thing is a valid use case for the Wii U’s new controller, it’s the first thing that happens in the video where they announce it. Okay so maybe they have to pay a little extra for the patents required to playback DVDs, I think it’s probably worth it though.

Alternatively Nintendo could be hedging their bets on having streaming/stored video options on the Wii U, these are I guess easier to monetize as you can rent/sell content to people and try and make your home console more of an entertainment centre. I doubt this is what Nintendo are planning though, as they seem to shy away from making their consoles into convergence devices unlike Sony and Microsoft who embrace any and every way they can to sap money from you after sale.

GameSpot.

The Importance of QA

Mar 292011

In my current job I work in a small development team where developers usually work alone on short term projects, as such there is very little emphasis on QA (Quality Assurance/Testing). We run tests, and when possibly implement unit testing, but usually testing an application is just a case of the developer running through a test script which they have put together as an afterthought.

This is in stark contrast to my last job where we had an entire QA team who were dedicated team whose job it was to break whatever software the developers made in new an interesting ways.

I’ve been working with a customer recently who have set up a team to QA a product we have made for them, and it’s highlighted the importance of decoupling QA from development.

When a developer tests things they think of the program from a developers point of view, and it’s very hard to escape this mindset. Small bugs will get overlooked, certain paths through the application will be ignored, and certain usability issues will just be missed.

The reason behind this is probably that developers are developers and it’s sometimes very hard to escape the code, and it’s very easy to fall into an attitude of “That’ll do”, especially when the developer is the one who’s going to have to fix it. A dedicated QA tester doesn’t care about the code, they care about the user experience and correctness, their sole responsibility to to find holes in the project and to ensure that someone fixes them.

In short: It’s very hard for someone to switch from finding bugs to fixing them, the two require completely different mindsets. Having different people doing each makes everyone’s life easier.

 

Fallout New Vegas Intro Bug Makes It A Lot Creepier

Oct 262010

I’ve not bought Fallout new Vegas and I probably wont be buying it till December, so hopefully I’m not too likely too see the bugs that have been plaguing the game since launch. This bug right at the start of the game however gives the game a totally different feeling, from the video above I assume you wake up at the start of the game having been shot in the head, the creepy rotating head of the “Doctor” who has fixed you up lends to this, and makes it look like you have suffered more than just cosmetic damage though.

The way his head spins, they way he creepily hovers around… It’s like you are either on some serious drugs or you have had one hell of a brain injury.

via YouTube – Fallout New Vegas intro bug.

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