Simplicity > Usability ? - Talk About Apple's misleading message

I don't want to blame Apple. I have iPhone and I really love it. I can contact with my friends so easily with apps like WhatsApp or Skype without paying crazy amount of money to telecom companies. I listen to radio podcast, video podcast, I can take nice photos and editing them with Instagram or camera+. Most of all, without iPhone, more specifically Anki, Audiobook and NPR podcast, I would never be able to speak English fluently and never be able to get a job out here in U.S.

But come on Apple, you're like a family-run business on privacy issues, you can do it better.

This is totally a design fail, design of words. What the consequence? That makes Apple a deceiver if not a liar, or just so unprofessional, of course being unprofessional can make you a liar. Apple, You claim you're the most innovative company in the world, you're the most valuable company in the world, you want to be different from Google that you're more aesthetic, more responsible, more coherent, provide better user experience.

Please.. I really don't want to hear this kind of news.

Apple Loophole Gives Developers Access to Photos

Okay.. No wonder why this happened.

Basically this article says

Your address book is not safe
Some apps for iOS were taking people’s address book information without their knowledge.
  - But copying address book data is against Apple’s rules, and Apple is underway to fix this

Your Photos are also vulnerable
After a user allows iOS applications to have access to location information, the app can copy the user’s entire photo library, without any further notification or warning,
  - photo copying, is not specifically forbidden under Apple’s rules, so Apple did not respond yet.

The first time an application wants to use location data, for mapping
or any other purpose, Apple’s devices ask the user for permission

Why full access to Cameraroll is allowed?
On Apple devices, full access to the photo library was first permitted in 2010 when Apple released the fourth version of iOS. The change was intended to make photo apps more efficient. 

Once the data is off of the iOS device, Apple has virtually no ability to monitor or limit its use.

What developers is saying?
John Casasanta, owner of the successful iPhone app development studio Tap Tap Tap, which created the Camera+ app says,
“It’s very strange, because Apple is asking for location permission, but really what it is doing is accessing your entire photo library, The message the user is being presented with is very, very unclear.” 

What we believed Apple was doing
It was assumed that Apple would ensure that apps that inappropriately exploited it did not make it into the App Store.

Why Apple is doing wrong?
Apple and app makers should be making sure people understand what they are consenting to. It is pretty obvious that they aren’t doing a good enough job of that. 

What about Android Apps?
Google declined to comment on how its Android operating system for mobile devices handles this issue. - means copying is possible without any kinds of permissions, see here.

What happened this month?
This month, Apple allowed a fake 99-cent Pokémon app into the App Store. Even though it offered only a series of Pokémon images, it became one of the most popular paid apps before it was removed by Apple.
 - this sounds too cute after reading about possible danger of being stolen photos or contact data.

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The Fastest Way To Launch iPhone Camera

How do you react the moment you want to take a photo with your iPhone Camera. If iPhone is locked, click home button twice and tap camera button.

If you are using an another app, click home button and tap Camera app button. However, either way it takes too long, my iPhone takes 2~3 seconds, to launch Camera app, and you might miss the moment you want to capture.

In a Pre-GM build of upcoming iOS 5.1 update, it is said that the new way to launch Camera app has been added.

Source: Blog do iPhone (Portuguese)

Swiping the Camera button from bottom to top, that's the way. So far there's only a shot of locked screen - Camera button appears to the right of the unlock slider BY DEFAULT, and you can launch the app without fully unlock iPhone - but it is nice to have similar shortcut in home screen or while using other apps.

Another leaked update is Siri will speak Japanese as she herself admits.

But Siri, before learning other languages, you must improve your listening skill to understand some ignored English dialects such as Scottish, Icelander, Singaporean and of course foreign accents, your English need to be global.

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iTunes Store and iOS devices: The First Market in The Decade (ft.Anki & Instapaper)

Anki and Instapaper are similar. Because both started  off as a desktop application, and as the number of users increases both created iOS apps which are basically synced with the desktop apps in order to enable the mobile apps to do nearly the same thing as desktop apps.

Another similarity is that both of these two apps can be categorized in  ‘Productivity’ category, which means they are not providing 'Content' themselves. What they do provide is 'System' that transform your living more productive. With Instapaper, you can read online articles later by clicking the widget button in your browser, and when you open iPhone, you can see the same article. Anki is a flashcard apps with its own special algorism and user interface, you can create cards both in the desktop app and iPhone app and sync them each other. Neither of them have any contents in apps themselves before you collect or create contents by yourself.

They are also similar in terms of their user base. For Anki the number of people learning languages is huge, so it's naturally doing it's game in a huge market, and so does Instapaper as people reading articles online are more than unlimited.
Before iPhone or smartphones, people can only do these activities when they are in front of their laptops, but thanks to the iPhone and iTunes Store, these activities have been transformed and a completely new and huge market has been created. Why and How?


1. Before iTunes Store there’s no easy way to make money out of apps. Because charging process used to be very complicated.

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From consumers side, you have to enter your address and credit card numbers for each sites which provides useful apps in order to buy them. From developers side, you have to build up paying system in your own site and even you are able to manage to do it, you’re responsible for the security of customers information, which gives you a lot of additional work.

If you have iPhone and have used iTunes Store at least once before, your address, name, credit card information etc. are already hooked with your iTunes account , which makes the process purchasing apps very quick and saving a lot of time and effort for you if you’re a developer. In other words, iTunes Store is a enormously capable (or dominating) middle man in Apps market.


2. No border between Paid Apps and Free Apps

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To download Apps in the iTunes Store, you just have to sign in and for each downloading you just need to type in your password. This process is basically the same whether you’re BUYing apps or just downloading free apps. There is much more less chance to hesitate paying actual money or giving up typing a lot of information in the iTunes Store.


3. People spend more and more time on smartphones and tablets

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The first three quarters of 2000’s was the Laptop Era. In this period people learned how great it is to be able to carrying their own small computers and using them anywhere in the world.  Smartphones and tablets bring this experience to the next level. With laptops you still need tables to put them on and chairs to sit on, and you may need to find a place where internet access is available. These are no longer issues for Smartphones and tablets (with 3g connection), they’re so small and light that you can hold with one hand, having 3g connection as well as wifi. As a result the time you used to spend reading paper materials or killing time doing various things or even using laptops are now spent with Smartphones and tablets.

Smartphones and tablets haven’t reached the same level as laptops when it comes to editing but they, especially tablets, are great devices for browsing that even some people might find it easier to concentrate on smartphones and tablets displays which show only one content full screen at a time than on laptops’ which usually are messed up with miscellaneous things.
Phone, tablet users spend more time with apps than Web - CNN.com 


4. iTunes cards safely allow students to buy apps with their own money

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This is pretty self-explanatory. What kinds of parents would be willing to give their kids their credit card numbers (and, what is worse, passwords) to buy Apps even though that App is a good educational tool for kids??


5. The sexiness of Apple Products make your Apps look more professional and worth paying money

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This is pretty obvious. If you don't understand this one, please check these sites.
Android - This is good
Apple iPhone - But this is what we call Masterpiece.
I really believe you agree with me completely. If you don't, please plz make sure you're letting your instinct flow.


6. iPad and iPhone (iPod touch): There are only two devices, Great relief for developers

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Android and iOS, if you are a developer, which one do you choose as a platform you are making apps for?

If your goal is making money from your apps, then iOS is the one you should choose.

Not only because iTunes store is a better system to sell apps than Android apps market, but it is much easier to make sure that Apps you created actually work flawlessly in iOS platform. Why? Because there are only 2 devices for iOS, iPad and iOS, while there are ridiculously lot of different Android devices which have different screen resolution and different UI. Think about it. If you get money from your customers, you are professional, you can’t be irresponsible for the flaw of your products and services.

The conclusion

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Putting well-matched ads was once a revolutionary way of making money online, but  thanks to iTunes Store, which saves troublesome online purchasing process, and still market-dominating iOS devices, we now have the practical alternative which is almost as same as the way traditional business has been done, 'Selling services directly to customers'.

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