If there was a common theme for WWDC 2014, Tim Cook articulated it at the end. He said what's great about Apple products is that their operating system, devices, and services work together in harmony, creating a seamless experience for users. And that seamless experience was expanded in dramatic fashion today, with the announcement of new technologies such as HomeKit, HealthKit, iCloud Drive, and Continuity. Apple also announced a ton of new features for built-in apps in iOS 8 such as Mail, Messages, Photos, and Safari.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the beginner app developer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure and you will experience how much fun turning your app ideas into reality can be! This is part 41 of the series. If you are just getting started, check out the beginning of the series at this link.

These days, more and more iOS apps offer users the option of logging in with Facebook. If you want your app to go viral, this is a great first step. In fact, 80 percent of the top-grossing iOS apps use social media logins. As stated in the Facebook documentation:

When it came to the iPod, I was an early adopter. And boy was it emancipating to no longer tote around CDs in my car or carry a Discman with me on the run. In fact, it was incredible.

At the time that the iPod emerged, smartphone apps were science fiction, like flux capacitors and hoverboards. But now, smartphones are not only ubiquitous, they are boasting more flexibility and nearly as much storage capacity as iPods. Could it mean the death of the iPod in the coming months and years? Maybe…

As much as I love Apple, I like what Microsoft is trying to do. But, heaven help me, I can't stand their commercials. "Honestly" starts each actor's fake testimonial. As if it wasn't obvious that these are primarily actors (except Seattle Seahawks player Russell Wilson) reading someone else's lines, by using the same words and format, Microsoft is being phony from the beginning in commercials that start and end with the word "Honestly." It insults the intelligence of the audience. Not to mention the valid charges of sexism. Interestingly, when searching using Yahoo (powered by Microsoft's Bing) none of the negative articles about the commercials show up, but under Google, they do. Whose search engine is being honest, now?

Emoji symbols add a touch of whimsy to text messages, notes, and emails. But did you know that they have names besides "the pink flower," "the other pink flower," "dead dudes one and two," and "the not-quite-full moon—is it waxing or waning? I can never remember"? The easiest and most hilarious way to find out what the Emojis' official names are is to have your iPhone read them out loud to you.

If you're a music lover or an iOS gamer, you already get this, but it's hard to appreciate the full scope and flavor of our media when relying solely on our iOS device's speakers. Even if the extent of your media consumption on your iPhone or iPad (or laptop or desktop) doesn't stray beyond watching movies and videos, you'll have to admit, the in-built speakers these gadgets come with don't necessarily broadcast the most stellar audio. For crystal clear, pristine sound reproduction we have to look to the world of headphones and external speakers. With that in mind I'm always on the lookout for great headphones and speakers to share with iPhone Lifers. This week we'll be taking a look at Skullcandy’s Crusher over-ear headphones ($99.99).

To help you prepare for your warm weather adventures with all of your devices in tow, I recently compiled and reviewed some of the best, rugged, Bluetooth speakers currently on the market. All of the speakers featured in that particular roundup were of outstanding quality and durability, but one thing they all had in common was the fact that they were all too large to comfortably tuck in your pant’s pocket or clip on your belt loop or backpack. Many adventurers these days would appreciate having a more portable Bluetooth speaker solution, and with that in mind, the following roundup features some of the best portable bluetooth speakers available.

If you haven't already, you should take a moment to introduce Siri to your family. Once you have done so, you can quickly ask Siri to message or call your wife or your brother without having to say their full name. If your spouse's full name is a multi-syllabic mouthful like my husband's, this can be pretty handy.

But first you're going to have to introduce yourself to Siri.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the beginner app developer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure and you will experience how much fun turning your app ideas into reality can be! This is part 40 of the series. If you are just getting started, check out the beginning of the series here. 

One of the hottest technologies to come out of iOS 7 is iBeacon. In case you haven't heard, iBeacon is Apple's trademark for what it calls "a new class of low-powered, low-cost transmitters that can notify nearby iOS 7 devices of their presence." This new technology solves one of the biggest problems with Location Services on iOS devices—pinpointing the location of a device when it's indoors. Unlike GPS technology that determines a device's absolute location in terms of latitude and longitude, the iBeacon technology measures a device's relative distance to an iBeacon in an established location. Since iBeacons work without the need for a WiFi or cellular connection, it makes them ideal for indoor use.

I have been a fan of Google Drive for a while now. I mean, how can you go wrong with 100 GB of storage for $2 a month? I don't think you can.

And if you don't know, part of Google Drive is their software suite that includes  Docs (documents like MS Word) and Sheets (spreadsheets like MS Excel) to name two.  At first glance, I loved this set up.  Everything was in the cloud for me, accessible wherever I had an Internet connection.

Houston, we have a problem

But then I purchased a Wi-Fi iPad Air. That's when I discovered that there is a huge flaw in Google Drive: no Internet, no access!

Creative, a company well known for their Sound Blaster PC audio cards, is making a bigger splash these days in the wireless speaker market. I favorably reviewed their Sound Blaster Axx 200 a few months ago, and Creative has also released a speaker with an emphasis on the discerning mobile audiophile. Read on to learn how the Sound Blaster ROAR SR20 compares in the very crowded market of Bluetooth stereo wireless speakers.

I'm finally back at the helm after attending last week's Macworld / iWorld 2014 conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco! My company had a booth at Macworld again this year, selling books in my iOS App Development for Non-Programmers series, and it was the best conference for us to date! There was a lot of positive energy at the conference and we met lots of great people who are interested in getting into iOS app development.

Here are some of the highlights of Macworld / iWorld 2014.

DragonVale App Review

By Guest Blogger

 

 

If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to own a dragon, the app game DragonVale can make that a virtual reality for you. This game lets you become the parent of a variety of dragons while you decorate your own colorful island and chat with friends who are just as dragon obsessed as you.

 

Sennheiser has made quite the name for themselves when it comes to premium headphones. It’s almost common knowledge that their wired headphones are like the Porsches of the headphone world. That’s all well and good, but what about their Bluetooth headphones; how do they rank against other high quality Bluetooth headphones currently available? I got to spend some time with the Sennheiser MM 550-X over-ear Bluetooth travel headphones ($499.00), which are Sennheiser’s top-of-the-line pair of Bluetooth headphones. Read on to find out how they performed and how they stack up in an ever more competitive Bluetooth headphone category.

How To Use Game Center

By Paula Bostrom

My grandmother lives in a retirement community, and several times a week she heads up to the social center and plays cards and other games with her friends. For the rest of us, most of our gaming entertainment comes from an interactive screen. Our iDevices provide that entertainment and Game Center ties it all together.

There's really no limit to what you can do with your iPhone. In this interview, I get the opportunity to talk to Kristian Day, a filmmaker from Iowa who managed to shoot an entire TV show with his iPhone, and sell it to a local network. He talks about how he got started, the best apps for filming, and overcoming rejection. Check it out below!

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