This post is brought to you by Code Atlas, maker of Veer.
Sometimes great innovations are really just refinements of something few would have thought of trying to improve. If you think Apple’s already figured out the best way of reaching out to your contacts in iOS 9, Veer will make you reconsider. It’s a novel new iOS app and Notification Center widget that blends seamlessly into your iPhone’s normal operations, simplifying and streamlining how we use the device to reach people.
Getting out of the way, your way
Veer’s strength lies in the way it improves upon iOS 9’s Siri contact suggestions. With Apple’s default system, Siri presents the contacts it thinks you’ll want in the right-swipe suggestions window, along with the option to call, text or FaceTime with those people.
That’s it. It’s an Apple-approved, fixed set of functions — and Veer’s developers have now opened it up for users.
After Veer is installed and selected for the iOS Notification Center, a simple swipe down reveals the icons for your favorite contacts. Unlike Siri’s suggestions, you can choose exactly which contacts are made available this way.
Pressing a contact reveals a selection of actions you can choose from, whether you need to make a phone call, dash off an email, send a WhatsApp message, or pin your location on a map. Essentially anything you can do with a contact is integrated into the quick-launch screen, replacing and expanding upon Apple’s Siri suggestions, which feel limited by comparison.
Veer also makes elegant use of 3D Touch, Apple’s latest iOS trick for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users, letting you choose a “fast action” that’s accessible by pressing firmly over a contact. This bypasses the menu of actions and takes you straight to dialing, texting or any other action you choose. (It also works for earlier models of iPhones, which are not 3D Touch-enabled — simply hold down a contact to activate the fast action.)
The combination of simple features like these mean, over time, Veer will save you a lot of unnecessary steps and swipes.
Veer is free — and hassle-free
Veer is a free, simple app that brings a lot of extra functionality to the way we interact with our contacts. It also offers expansions to the app’s core functionality, with in-app purchases for adding additional contacts and new action slots, like Facebook Messenger, Twitter mentions, Skype calls and more.
Take Veer for a spin and see if you ever go back to Apple’s much less function-rich take on contacts. You can find Veer on the iOS App Store (and Google Play too).
