iPhone
Great mobile app development tools
We all don’t have the luxury of a dedicated mobile development team so you need to find tools that will let you quickly and easily prototype your ideas and then actually get them built and posted. Over the past 6 months I have found two tools that can really help you out as you try to bring your grand mobile vision to life with a skeleton crew and a phantom budget.
Briefs
When I design for mobile, especially iPhone, I am a fiend for testing and tweaking my designs based on workable prototypes. The challenge for me has been that I just don’t have the time to learn all the features of Apple’s developers kit to be able to sit and work through my prototypes on my own which meant I had to do it in Flash and test it on my screen or put static comps on my phone. Neither solution was close to idea since the usability wasn’t right when I did it on computer and comps on my phone were in the right environment but had no interaction. Then I found Briefs which is a toolkit for packaging your mobile concepts into prototypes that run live on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
A brief is a single binary XML file that contains the structure and layout of your concept. All resources, including image data are bundled inside of a single .brieflist document. The structure of a brief is broken down into scenes and actors. Using a hierarchy of these objects, one can define an entire application flow and position controls into a designed layout. Right now you create the app by downloading their Starter Kit and doing some extremely simple coding where you define the stages, the graphic location and the position of any buttons. There will be a version in the App Store soon.
I have used Briefs a lot and it has been an essential part of my design process as it allows me to test user experience models and designs on anything from pencil sketches to full blown designs. If you are designing for the iPhone I would high recommend investing the minimal time it takes to get up to speed on it.
Mobile Roadie
Mobile Roadie is an interesting tool is a Web based app development framework that gives you all the tools to create and maintain iPhone and Android apps. Depending on your needs you can get Core, Plus or Pro packages with each tier adding more controls and options with the Pro package giving you almost complete creative freedom to create an app that looks exactly the way you want it to. Since it is a mobile framework the content is downloaded into the app which isn’t the standard experience but it does give you the flexibility to update the structure and content without having to push a whole new app that the use will have to download an update for. t is a really good solution for any designer, agency or company that doesn’t have the budget to hire an entire mobile development team but needs to create a mobile app presence.
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YouTube uses Apple’s playbook to launch mobile re-design
YouTube seems to have gotten tired of waiting for Apple to update their application on the iPhone and iPad and taken matters into their own hands. They just launched a redesign of the YouTube mobile site with a promotional video highlighting a number of new features that you would normally find on the non-mobile version of the site. The interesting thing is that they did it by taking a page from Apple’s product launch playbook and snubbed them while doing it.
Steve Jobs has always loved the technique of ‘let’s put someone down without naming names or coming right out and say what we are doing’. He lets you fill in the blanks but he does it in a way that we all know exactly who he is talking about. Google follows this technique to near perfection with the launch of their new mobile site and they started right out of the gate with the video description that echos my first thought and reads “As we make improvements to YouTube.com, you’ll see them quickly follow on the mobile website, unlike native apps which are not updated as frequently.”. From there you see a few other interesting details when you watch the video.
The first detail is that the video starts by showing the new site on an iPhone and it does it by launching Safari instead of the pre-installed YouTube application that is clearly visible in the upper left hand corner. For me this was so reminiscent of the iPad launch when Steve Jobs pulled up the New York Times web page with that large blue Lego symbol showing it could run Flash. Every second of his presentations are choreographed to the smallest detail and that was done to make a point without him having to say the obvious. The video ends by showing you how easy it is to replace the YouTube application with a Home Screen bookmark that will let you easily launch the site just like the application – only better.
More than the implied slight to Apple I think this is an important development because it’s the first major brand and content provider I have seen take a stand against the mobile applications with their slow and restrictive approval systems. The message is clear that YouTube wants you to ditch their application all together and go to the mobile web instead. I wonder how long it ill be until Steve Jobs announces that the bloated and closed system that YouTube runs goes against the peace loving Apple universe and must be destroyed.
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Giving FourSquare some Assisted Serendipity
It is always interesting to watch as new social media platforms are taken and used as the underpinning for new ideas. The latest one i found is Assisted Serendipity that uses Foursquare’s check-in data to give you updates on the male/female ratio at your favorite local hangouts. You define the places to watch and the gender ratio you are looking for and when the numbers turn in your favor the site will let you know. While it certainly seems like a more male centric service it is still in it’s infancy so there is no hard data to knowhow well it is really working and if we will see Assisted Serendipidy commercials competing with eHarmony any time soon.
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Easy iPhone/iPad sniffer
Have you been wanting to create a iPhone or iPad specific message or experience for users who come to your site but don’t know how? Here is how to do it in 3 easy steps.
Step 1
Copy this code into your index page right before the </body> tag
<script language=”javascript”>
if (navigator.userAgent && ( navigator.userAgent.indexOf(“iPad”) > -1 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf(“iPhone”) > -1 ))
{
window.location.replace(“http://www.YOUR-URL-GOES-HERE.com/iPhone-iPad.html”);
}
</script>
Step 2
Create your your iPhone / iPad message or experience and upload it onto your server.
Step 3
In the copy you copied to your index page change the ‘www.YOUR-URL-GOES-HERE.com” to your site and change the ‘iPhone-iPad.html’ to the name of your iPhone / iPad message or experience.
That’s it.
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Architecture + digital technology = N Building Tokyo
In tokyo near the Tachikawa station amidst a shopping district you will find the N Building. It is unique because if you have ever been to Asia you know that most ever building in these commercial districts has signs and billboards covering almost ever inch of the facade but not in this case. The facade of the N Building is one giant QR code that triggers up to date shop information, Tweets from building residents and even AR decorations for different seasons and events. Check out the video above for all the details but I think this is a fascinating direction for new retail experiences that can go far beyond the traditional store windows and branding.
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Is Apple’s snubbing Flash all about money or a sign of things to come?
Before the Apple press conference was over yesterday this image of a broken plug-in icon where Flash content should have been displayed was flying around the internet showing and the debate over why Apple refuses to put Flash technology on the iPhone, iPod Touch and now the iPad was reignited again. So what’s the real story behind all of this?
We have all heard the company line from Apple that they have not included Flash because they want to keep the platform stable and that is threatened by Flash because it is a resource hog and a security risk – which are both true. The problem is that it’s a convenient truth because the reality is that Apple could work with Adobe to fix the problem but it’s in their best best business interest to keep Flash off their platforms. Flash represents a risk to their substantial revenue generated from people buying TV shows, movies, apps and games through iTunes. It would threaten their development community as the appetite for those paid apps and games would shrink. So while everyone points to Apple as the creative thought leader the reality is that they are just like any big business where a threat to their bottom line is takes priority over everything.
No one paying attention yesterday even started to believe Steve Jobs when he said things like “The iPad is the best browsing experience you will ever have.. better than a laptop” after seeing that broken plug-in icon. You can’t make a statement like that when you are going to exclude 70% of online games, 75% of video on the web and millions of other sites from that browsing experience. You can’t make that statement after you just made fun of Netbooks for being useless but they support Flash content.
All of that being said this isn’t a love letter to Adobe and a complete condemnation of Apple. They have have forced a conversation a lot of designers and developers have had for a while now that Flash is in trouble. It has really languished since Adobe purchased it most of the changes coming in the form of useless filters and changes to the coding language but real strides to move the platform forward. The Web experience is moving more and more onto mobile devices and HTML 5 looking to take a good sides bite out stranglehold on the ability to create rich experience. Flash is struggling for the answer to how it will be part of this new future. Last year Adobe launched the Open Screen Project with more than 50 partners to get Flash and Adobe technology working across all platforms and devices. It sounded good but they haven’t shown any breakthroughs and it leaves me feeling that it was more of a PR stunt to show how everyone is working with them but Apple.
For me the bottom line is that their are faults and flaws on both sides of the isle.
For Apple we will agree that Flash is a flawed technology but millions of people create or consume Flash sites every day and that makes it a standard online technology we want on a device like the iPad. In the past we have been willing to somewhat forgive the exlcusion of Flash on the iPhone and iPod Touch because on those devices they are used to having a mobile device browsing experience where they get lighter versions of sites and paired back content. But with the iPad experience you are moving from that small mobile device screen and mindset to a laptop like experience and that changes all the expectations of what the device will do. The compromise of no Flash content is no longer acceptable and you can’t hide behind the company line anymore. For many people, including me, it’s a deal breaker that’s going to keep a $729 iPad off your bottom line because you’re protecting $1.99 apps. To me that’s just bad math.
For Adobe you need to evolve your platform and respond to the challenge because Apple is imposing their will on you and they have changed the game with the iPhone. When I consult with any business that gets retail traffic I tell them to stay away from Flash because with the number of searches being done from an iPhone you don’t want to risk business customers not accessing your content but being able to get your competitors non-Flash content and winning out. As designers you have to give us a solution we can work with or we will be forced to walk away from you because we have chose the success of our customers over nostalgia and platform penetration numbers.
For the rest of us another author said it better than I can when he wrote about this subject “We know some things are bad – quarterpounders, cigarettes, Jack Daniels and Flash animations – but we choose to consume them because the rewards frequently outweigh the risks.” Like with all products we vote with our wallets and we have a choice. Buy the device and accept the fact that Apple is restricting your choice and content or don’t and show them that we will like companies who take a creative leadership role just not at the cost of reshaping the online world solely for their bottom line.
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Graffiti Analysis 2.0 – Documenting more than just ink.
I found an interesting site today called Graffiti Analysis that studies the unseen motion involved in creating a tag as opposed to just documenting the results. The original version of Graffiti Analysis, developed in 2004 as part of thesis research at Parsons in New York City and can be viewed here. The new version is done with custom software that records the motion data and archives it in a free database housed at 000000book.com in Graffiti Markup Language (GML) files, a new digital standard used by other popular graffiti applications such as Laser Tag and EyeWriter. Influential graffitis artist such as SEEN, TWIST, AMAZE, KETONE, JON ONE and KATSU have had their tags motion captured using the Graffiti Analysis software.
The custom software they use is Graffiti Analysis 2.0 that are playback and capture applications available for free in OSX, Windows and Linux as well as the open source code for both applications. You can also get both in one package with their iPhone application called Graffiti Analysis available through the iTunes Store for $1.99. The downloadable desktop applications require some handy work to build an acrylic capture stand that isn’t that hard to make but the iPhone application may be easier starting point for most people. The iPhone application records your tags with line thickness based on the speed you draw the tag and you can uploaded your tags to 000000book.com for free just like the applications. The resulting tags rendered in 3-D space with the ability to rotate the phone rotates the tag in 3-D and use multitouch to zoom in and out.
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Adobe finally takes a stand on Flash for the iPhone
I’m not sure how long Adobe has been doing this but as I was testing a new site I am developing today on my iPhone, clicked on a Flash inset and was presented with this message on Adobe’s site. In the past it would just take you to the Adobe Flash download page which of course didn’t work. So it seems that Adobe has lost their patience with Apple’s delays and wants to make it clear where the problems lies for finally getting Flash Player on the iPhone web browser.
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Emirates iLingual lets your phone to the talking
Emirates has launched a interesting new iPhone app that helps you speak in three different languages (French, German and Arabic ). You take a picture of your mouth and then the app animates the photo so you can hold your iPhone in front of your real mouth and let the phone do the talking for you. The talking mouth gimmick isn’t original but unlike the MouthOff app this one actually has some real value beyond just a party gag.
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VW drives GTI launch with just an iPhone app
VW has decided to launch their new 2010 GTI soley through a new iPhone app that is an independent level of the racing game Firement Real Racing, which has already received 70-million downloads since launching back in June. In this version can choose between 6 different GTI to race with the best times competing to win one of six real limited-edition black GTI MkVI cars.
This is the first time that I know of where a brand is using an iPhone all as their only marketing and advertising for a product. The choice to build the app on top of an existing successful app was a smart one we have seen how badly building an app from scratch can go in the case of the Audi A4 launch application. This game actually makes the driving experience fun and gives consumers a strong impression of the car that could drive them into dealerships. I wish that link to the dealerships was more prominent because you have to realize that you will find that info under Showroom. Once you find it the functionality is well done as it uses your GPS location to find the nearest dealer and then ties into the iPhone nicely with options to call the dealership or map a route.
I think VW has made a lot of smart decisions in creating this app and an experience that will have a positive effect consumer who had this car in their consideration set but only time will tell if a free app can drive consumer to buy a $25-$30,000 car.
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