web apps

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on web apps:

Apple backtracks on killing iPhone web apps in the EU

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iPhone web apps: Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna
iPhone web apps are not about to break in the EU after all.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple changed course and is not disabling iPhone web apps in the European Union. The method for turning websites into applications will not disappear with the release is iOS 17.4 after all.

The flip-flop is just a small aspect of big changes coming to iOS because of EU legislation.

Why you shouldn’t care that Apple began phasing out web apps

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iPhone web apps: Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna
The few available iPhone web apps are about to break in the EU.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Are you familiar with iPhone web apps? No? Turns out you aren’t alone. Apple admitted that the method for turning websites into applications never caught on.

It must have been a tough admission, given that Steve Jobs’ original plan for iPhone was that it would only support web apps, with no native third-party applications allowed.

Make battery-hogging apps like Spotify better with DIY web apps

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Web apps that don’t suck
Suck away battery life, that is.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

There are a bunch of not-great apps like Spotify and Slack that suck battery life, because they basically run a full copy of Google Chrome inside each window. Chrome is a notorious energy hog, and running multiple copies of its Blink engine inside four different apps can take unnecessary memory and resources.

But you can create your own, much better versions using web apps in the upcoming release of macOS Sonoma.

Web apps in Sonoma are easily made directly in Safari and live in your Mac’s Dock. For apps that you use every day, like Spotify, Discord and Slack, it’s easier to launch them from the Dock and move them around separately from your browser tabs.

Safari web apps won’t drain your battery and they’re incredibly easy to use. Although they can be launched and quit independently from Safari, they share the same system resources, so they barely make a splash on performance.

Let me show you how they work.

This flipbook app makes any PDF a real page-turner

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Create interactive PDF booklets with this discounted subscription.
Create stunning PDF flipbooks in minutes with FlipBooklets.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

How you present information is often as important as what you present. Instead of relying on the same menu of tools every other professional uses, you can make yourself stand out with a clean, refined digital book.

FlipBooklets lets you create interactive PDF flip booklets that can be read on any device. And right now, the app’s on sale for $99 (regularly $360).

Turbocharge your productivity with this highly customizable web dashboard

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Boost your productivity with this top-rated dashboard, less than $50 for life.
Manage your tasks better with this productivity dashboard deal.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

With custom web dashboard Start.Me, you can turn your web browser’s startup page into a highly customizable portal. You can add all the tools and data you need to get things done, making everyday tasks easy.

It’s a total game-changer for productivity. And right now, you can get a Start.Me Pro lifetime subscription for just $49. That’s more than half off the regular price of $100.

iOS 15.4 paves the way for web apps to deliver push notifications

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2021 iPad mini packs 5G
A big improvement for mobile apps on the web.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s first iOS 15.4 beta, rolled out to registered developers last week, lays the groundwork for web apps to deliver push notifications.

The feature, long available in Safari for macOS, always stood out as a notable omission on iPhone and iPad. Fortunately for those who use mobile web apps frequently, that looks set to change in the near future.

This app lets you create user-friendly layouts for apps and websites

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Make a better webspace with Zen Wireframe.
Zen Wireframe is like building blocks, but for web and software design.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

A lot of the work in web design is just figuring out where to put everything. You have the information, the visuals, the links, and everything else, but actually arranging it all in a pleasing way can take so much longer than creating the content itself.

Zen Wireframe Pro generates blueprints of websites, apps and more in an instant. And right now, you can get a lifetime subscription on sale for just $65 (regularly $1,080).

Free web music app imitates iPod Classic click wheel

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Tanner Villarete's free music player web app simulates the classic iPod click wheel.
Tanner Villarete's free music player web app simulates the iPod Classic click wheel.
Photo: Tanner Villarete

The iPod’s iconic click wheel had a good run, launching in 2004 with the iPod mini. It joined the fourth-generation iPod’s design later that year. It even auditioned in the odd product concept over the years. Finally, in 2014, the company phased it out with the iPod Classic.

But nothing great is gone forever, as a free new web music player app shows.

Speedometer 2.0 lets you put your browser speed through its paces

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Speedometer
A benchmark for modern web app responsiveness.
Photo: Apple

Apple has released Speedometer 2.0, a benchmark that lets you test your browser’s web app responsiveness. The tool is part of Apple’s contribution to WebKit, a collaboration between Apple, Adobe Systems, Google, KDE, and others.

Speedometer 2.0 works by simulating “user interactions.” Essentially, it runs 480 tasks and then measures how long it takes your browser’s speed in carrying these out, before providing you with a report.

How to use two powerful tools to collaborate on writing projects

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scrivener
Literature... and latte. Photo illustration Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

 

These days you can easily share data and collaborate on almost anything, from Rdio playlists to photo streams. But when it comes to plain old written text, your options are terrible. You’re pretty much caught between working on a shared file in Google Docs or shuttling versions of your work back and forth via email. Add more than one collaborator and this becomes a total nightmare.

Thankfully, tools exist to smooth the process of collaborating on writing projects. I’m currently editing the second draft of a novella, and I’m looking for a way to work with “beta” readers. I’m testing several pieces of software, and so far one called Draft is in the lead. Not only does it let you share a document with other people, it lets the team comment on any part of the source document and also allows them to edit a copy. Then, when they submit their versions, you can preview any changes before accepting or rejecting them.

Better still, because Draft can sync with a document in Dropbox (as well as several other cloud services), you can sync the edits from your beta team with a local app, like Scrivener. Here’s what you need to make the collaborative magic happen.

Google Brings Chrome Apps To iOS

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Screen Shot 2014-01-28 at 8.35.14 PM

Over the last couple of years, Google has been trying to turn its mobile Chrome browser into a sort of meta-operating system in its own right, by allowing Macs and PCs to run dedicated cross-compatible ‘apps’ right within Chrome. It’s actually a cool idea, but because of Apple’s closed iOS ecosystem, it’s been functionality that iPhone and iPad owners can’t take advantage of. But no longer. Google has just brought Chrome apps to iOS.

Apple Buys Particle, A Small HTML5 Web Development Company From San Francisco

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Screen Shot 2012-10-16 at 10.35.54 PM

Apple rarely buys other companies, so when the Cupertino giant makes an acquisition, it’s worth noting. CNET is reporting that Apple has recently purchased Particle, a small creative consulting company based in San Francisco that specializes in HTML5 development. Particle is a relatively small firm, but it has done some big projects for companies like Google, Sony and even Apple.

What does the acquisition mean? While the reason behind the deal remains unknown, Apple likely wants the web talent from Particle.

USDA Rolls Out Thousands Of iPads, Says Other Tablets Don’t Measure Up

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iPads help USDA service survey farmers and collect agriculture data across the country.
iPads help USDA service survey farmers and collect agriculture data across the country.

The USDA is working its way through an ambitious iPad deployment that may come to serve as a model for a range of government agencies within the U.S. and around the world. The challenge was to develop a simple, intuitive, and effective field survey and data collection system.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is a division of the USDA that is charged with surveying and reporting agricultural data across the country. NASS operates in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. With a staff of around 3,000 enumerators NASS conducts thousands of survey each year about agriculture across the country. The service has been operating since the mid-1800s and, until the iPad, it conducted surveys and collected data in pretty much the same way that it had back in the 19th century – with paper forms filled out by hand and mailed to various field offices. Although various technology initiatives have been tried by NASS since the 1980s, none was a successful fit before the iPad.

Instagram Is Working On Adding More Features To Its Website

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Is Instagram's web experience about to get a major facelift?
Is Instagram's web experience about to get a major facelift?

A new discovery suggests that Instagram is working on improving its experience on the web. The popular photography network added the ability to comment on and like photos from the browser several weeks ago, and a “View Profile” option was spotted in the wild today by web designer Cole Reinke. While the new menu option returned a 404 error, the finding reveals that Instagram is indeed developing a more full-featured web app for its users.

There’s a plethora of third-party web apps like Webstagram, but as the largest mobile-only social network in existence, an official Instagram web app would be huge.

Why Publishers Are Ditching Their iOS Apps For The Web

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Is the Financial Times leading a mass exodus from Apple's Newsstand?
Is the Financial Times leading a mass exodus from Apple's Newsstand?

When Apple announced the terms for Newsstand and digital subscriptions, many publications felt that the company was being too hard on them. Apple’s requirement that publishers offer the same deals through the App Store that they do elsewhere while still taking its typical 30% cut of the income ruffled a lot of feathers in the publishing world. While there was a lot of angry discussion about the policy when Apple announced and implemented it, many publications decided to accept the policy – at least initially.

Since then, however, a handful of publications have decided to abandon their presence on iOS devices. Some are planning to build a web app as their only iOS or mobile presence. Others are looking to create deals with various news aggregators. Regardless of their plans, Apple’s terms are one of the key reasons that publishers are getting out of the App Store.

Use Your iPhone To Build Mobile Apps With Startup iGenApps

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iGenApps lets you create mobile web apps right from your iOS device
iGenApps lets you create mobile web apps right from your iOS device

Puerto Rico based iGenApps showed off its signature service at the DEMO Spring event in silicon valley this week. iGenApps offers the ability to create iOS and other mobile apps with no programming knowledge and just a basic working knowledge of HTML. The service is centered around web app development, but the company claims a premium service will turn web apps into native apps for a price.

FileMaker 12 Turns The Volume Up Way Past 11 [Review]

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FileMaker launches new version centered on iOS development
FileMaker launches new version centered on iOS development

I’ve always thought of FileMaker as “databases for the rest of us” – the software is easy to understand for even novice users, it has an immense focus on visual design that allows users to create impressive looking solutions quickly and easily, and it packs quite a bit of power. All of those traits get a boost in FileMaker 12, which was released this morning.

My first impression on using FileMaker 12 is that the company took all the things I’ve always like about FileMaker Pro and Server and turned them up to 11 – particularly when it comes to making mobile solutions.

IBM Offers Insight Into Its BYOD Program And iPhone/iPad Management

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IBM relies on user education, device management to leverage BYOD
IBM relies on user education, device management to leverage BYOD

IBM, once known as on of the most straight-laced companies in the world, has jumped on the BYOD bandwagon with a level of enthusiasm rarely seen in such large and established enterprises. The company has big plans for BYOD – rolling out a program out that covers all 440,000 employees worldwide.

That’s a big challenge and one that Big Blue has yet achieve. However, the company currently has mobility solutions deployed to about a quarter of its workforce (120,000 users) two thirds of whom (80,000)  are supplying their own devices and service plans. The company, which had been a predominantly BlackBerry shop, began to shift gears as iPhones and other devices began showing up in its offices.

While not a model for every company, IBM’s BYOD policies can serve as a great starting point.

Should Business Embrace Apps Or Settle For The Mobile Web?

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App Icons Downloading into Smart Phone

Often the first and biggest question that confronts any company developing a new mobile presence (or revamping an existing one) is whether to focus on developing a native app or a mobile web site. While each approach has its pros and cons, one way to decide may be to look at how users are accessing content on their mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.

Unfortunately, the latest news from comScore is that users are evenly split between using a dedicated native app or using a mobile web browser to access content – making that criteria alone useless when it comes to developing a mobile strategy.