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Do we really need yet another photo sharing app? No, we do not
Yesterday, photo-sharing app Cluster announced it had scored US$1.6 million in seed funding from a variety of parties, including Instagram investor Steve Anderson. Cluster v1.0 also hit the App Store yesterday, and as it swims in a sea of "me too" photography apps, you have to ask yourself: What's the point? Cluster claims to specialize in one very specific area: Helping people collect photos from events they may or may not have attended. The app's website presents scenarios like "Brenden, Rizwan, & Taylor collected 1,500 photos from their trip to Europe," and "7 friends created an album from their 250 music festival photos," suggesting that Cluster is the easiest way to collect the visual evidence of each event. You upload photos to a "cluster," invite friends either via email, Facebook or by handing out a special invitation code, and let the rest of the group populate the cluster with their own snapshots. You can comment on photos, tag favorites and share your favorites with Twitter, etc. In short, it's the photo section of your Facebook account, with fewer features. Let me say, for the record, that Cluster is a beautifully designed app and nails the aesthetics of what a semi-social photo app should be. That said, there's virtually no reason why this app should even exist. It's a classic case of a product in search of a problem to solve, and launching exclusively on the iPhone (web and Android versions are on the way) makes its existence even more puzzling. First, let's tackle the Facebook argument. Facebook is already the most widely used way to share photos with friends, and it's still the easiest. You can share photos in a very basic fashion or organize them into albums and then tag the individuals that the pictures will interest. So, say you take a hike with a pair of friends and want to share the photos. Would it be easier to grab each of those friends in the Cluster app, create a cluster, force everyone to download the images separately and then re-share them with the social circle of your choosing, or upload the photos to Facebook, tag your friends in the album and -- oh, wait, that's it. Go make yourself a drink. But maybe you don't want to share the photos on Facebook. Maybe you just want to have the photos yourself. You want to collect all of them to hold close to your heart forever. Fair enough. You know what's great for that? Almost every other photo-sharing app that has ever been released. But even if the iPhone didn't already have Bump, Shutterfly, Path, Flickr and a litany of other photo-sharing options available, there's Photo Stream. This is where the whole iPhone-exclusive launch part makes me scratch my head. Using Photo Stream -- which is built into both iOS 6 and Mountain Lion -- you can set up a cloud-based album where you can upload photos, invite others to view them and notify them when photos have been added to the stream. You can favorite, comment and share photos there as well. Sound familiar? It should, because it's exactly what Cluster does, only it's already been included in Apple's mobile and desktop operating systems. Oh, and if you happen to have already filled up your iCloud storage space, it's fine, because shared Photo Streams don't count against your storage limit. Nifty, huh? [Note: iOS 7 updates Photo Stream to allow multiple users to push content to a single album, including video, which will only further trivialize the need for third-party apps such as this.] This isn't just a problem with Cluster, of course, and it seems like a new half-baked social network or photo-sharing app comes out every week, but at some point developers are going to have to stop seeing opportunities where none exist.
Camera and Photo apps updated in iOS 7
We all know that the camera is one of the most popular features on the iPhone, and Apple has poured some new ideas into the camera app that should add to the joy of photography in iOS 7. At WWDC today, Apple announced that the camera app has had a completely revamped GUI. I didn't see a lot of new features, but different shooting modes can be selected by swiping. You can move from a standard photo, to video, to panorama mode, and to a square 4 x 3 aspect ratio. The are big changes are in the iOS 7 photo app, too. For the first time, Apple is letting you apply filters directly. Apple has also enhanced finding photos with a concept called moments, so photos you have taken will be intelligently grouped by time and location. Apple has also enhanced Photo Stream with an improved GUI and the ability for others to drop photos into your stream. Videos are now supported as well. Those are just the highlights, and we will learn more in the days to come. It's pretty clear that Apple has taken the best mobile photo system and improved it in several aspects.
Securing your iOS device for your children, Part 3: removing apps, limiting social features and other safety options
There has been a string of high-profile cases where children have racked up thousands of dollars in credit card charges through in-app purchases. In these cases and others like them, the iOS devices used by the children have not been properly locked down by the parents. In the first post of the series, we walked you through setting up a child-safe iTunes account and in part two we took a tour of parental controls (restrictions). In part three below, we put the finishing touches on your iOS device by removing stray accounts, deleting apps and turning off social features. Before you hand over an iOS device to your child, use this final checklist to clean up any leftover adult settings. 1. Remove all email accounts from your device. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Tap the name of your email account and then tap "Delete Account" at the bottom. 2. Remove all Facebook and Twitter accounts. Go to Settings > Facebook then "Delete Account." For Twitter, go to Settings > Twitter. Tap on each Twitter account and then select "Delete Account." 3. Turn off PhotoStream and other iCloud features, but leave on Find My iPhone. Go to Settings > iCloud and turn off all settings except for Find My iPhone. Find My iPhone will let you find the device or lock it if it is lost or stolen. 4. Remove all non-children apps, especially shopping apps like Amazon, PayPal and eBay. To remove an app, touch and hold any application icon on the Home Screen until the icons start to wiggle. Tap the "x" in the corner of the application you want to delete. Tap Delete to remove the application and all of its data from your device. 5. Set a Volume Limit for headphone use. Go to Settings > Music > Volume Limit and use the slider to adjust the maximum volume. 6. Turn off Game Center social features. Open Game Center and tap on the "Me" icon at the bottom. Then tap on your Account: name > View Account to access your Game Center settings. Turn off "Game Invites" and "Nearby Players" to prevent game invitations from strangers. Be sure the Game Center profile is set to private. Also remove all the email addresses from your email list by tapping "Remove Email from Account." Lastly, turn off Facebook Friend Recommendations at the bottom. 7. Get an Appropriate case to protect your iOS device. We recommend an Otterbox, Griffin Survivor or LifeProof case. For younger kids, there is also the iBuku Pets for the iPhone and iPod touch. Once you have completed these final touches, your iOS device should be extremely child-safe. If you have any other suggestions that'll help secure an iOS device from the tap-happy hands of a child, please share them in the comments.
Apple TV software beta 4 released to developers, addresses Photo Stream and control issues
Right alongside iOS 6 beta 4, Apple has also pushed out beta 4 software for its Apple TV -- useful for "testing AirPlay for iOS apps," according to the company. Not surprising, actually, considering that a bit of the polish from the former relied on updates to the latter. It's available as we speak to registered developers, and it promises to fix a number of niggles involving restarts while using the Remote app, the wrong resolution being displayed on one's HDTV, and a Photo Stream quirk that prevented some images from loading. The bullet-point breakdown is hosted up after the break.
Enhanced Photo Streams somewhat rescue soon-to-be-missing Galleries
There was a good deal of gnashing of teeth, including mine, about the loss of MobileMe galleries which will vanish June 30 as MobileMe becomes iCloud. It was dead easy to take a collection of photos and get them on the web, so clients, friends, and grandma and grandpa could share the images. Apple today announced a halfway-but-welcome enhancement to Photo Stream in iOS 6. You will be able to select photos from your Photo Stream for sharing. You tap a share button, select the photo or photos, and out they go. Friends and family on iCloud who are running iOS get the photos delivered instantly. Macs running Mountain Lion get the apps in the Photos app or iPhoto. They also can be delivered to an AppleTV. Here's the big improvement: If they aren't running Apple software and hardware, they can see the photos on the web. It's not quite as slick as the MobileMe galleries, but seems just about as easy. Even better, the shared photo streams don't count against your storage on your iCloud account, and you can share over a WiFi or cellular network. Of course iWeb and many of the MobileMe features, like iDisk are dead, and if you had Apple hosting a MobileMe website, you've already been warned to clean it out before it vaporizes at the end of the month. Still, I was hoping Apple would offer some worthwhile photo sharing options, and we'll have them in iOS6 and Mountain Lion. Is the enhanced Photo Stream something you are happy about? Let us know in comments.
Stolen iPhone photos unwittingly posted by Disney cruise ship employee
"This is Nelson," says iPhone owner Katy McCaffrey of the picture above, posted on her Facebook. "Nelson has my stolen iPhone." McCaffrey took her iPhone on a Disney Cruise back in April, where the phone was either misplaced or stolen. But it's been found, now. Photo Stream was still running, and pictures from the iPhone have started appearing on it of Nelson and his friends and coworkers on the boat. Disney has investigated the situation and says the phone has been recovered and will be returned to its owner when the boat that it's on is back in port. The employee in question is on "administrative leave," and his fate will presumably be determined when the current cruise is finished. Disney is doing its best to make things right, but yeah, shame on Nelson for not making sure the phone (which you have to imagine had McCaffrey's info on it, right?) was returned to its owner right away. [Via NPR]
Aperture updated to 3.2.3, enables Photo Stream deleting
Apple's pro-level photo editing application for the Mac, Aperture, has been updated to version 3.2.3. Aside from the usual fixes addressing "performance and stability," this update brings Aperture up to parity with iPhoto in allowing users to delete photos from Photo Stream, the iCloud service that allows wireless syncing of photos across all enabled devices. Oddly, this update has come out nearly a week after similar updates to Aperture's "little brother" iPhoto were issued, but Apple's support site claims the update actually went live March 6, the day before Apple's big iPad event and the launch of the iPhoto update. I know for a fact that Aperture 3.2.3 didn't show up in my Mac's Software Update until a few hours ago as of this writing, and MacUpdate's information on the Aperture update confirms it didn't go live until March 14 despite what Apple's support site says. The fact that this update came out almost a week after a similar iPhoto update, plus the incorrect date on Apple's support site, makes me wonder if someone forgot to throw the switch on the Aperture update on March 7. Whatever the case may be, Aperture 3.2.3 is available now as a 636 MB update. Now if you'll excuse me, I have about 200 iPhone screenshots to clear out of my Photo Stream...
Photo Stream is helping a man find his stolen iPad
We've heard a lot of stories about Find my iPhone helping people track their lost and stolen iOS devices, but here's one of the first stories involving Photo Stream. According to this Fox 4 Dallas report, it all started late last December in Dallas, TX at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Ken McLellan had just arrived home from a business trip. While he reached to pick up his checked bags, he put down his iPad along with his carry-on bag. You probably can guess what happened next. With bags in hand, he turned to get his iPad, and it was gone. As a loyal Apple user, McLellan also has an iPhone and an iMac in addition to his purloined iPad. He's also one of 85 million people using iCloud and had, rather fortuitously, turned on Photo Stream sharing. Imagine his surprise when new photos from his iPad began to hit his iMac a few weeks after his device was stolen. He's collected the photos of the people who currently have his device and posted them to Facebook. He's hoping to identify them and possibly get his iPad back. Getting his iPad back might not be that easy, though. Perhaps the thief resold the device to these unsuspecting buyers who don't realize it was stolen. It's also possible the thief returned the stolen iPad to Apple for a new device. A recent report details how a savvy thief can use Apple's generous repair policy to get a new device and leave the stolen one behind. It's also possible the people with the iPad are the ones who lifted the device and they'll dump it once they spot their photos on Facebook.
Google offers updates for Google+ this holiday season, fruitcake en route
If Google's idea of a stocking stuffer is tweaking Google+, its engineers are getting the gift-giving over with a few days early. Today, the company announced that it'll be introducing a few new features to its social network, including new controls that adjust how posts from a given circle are blended into the overall stream of posts, along with which posts are highlighted for your attention. The outfit also says it's working on refining its toolbar to highlight newer posts and see how widely your posts have been shared. For advertisers, up to 50 named managers can now administrate a Google+ Page, and a fix to the photo side of the site allow for improved navigation and better tagging. Head past the break to see full clips of the changes in action, and since Google bought out Santa's operation, expect to hear Eric Schmidt's footsteps on your roof come the 24th. Update: The Google+ Android app has also seen an update tonight, gaining the ability to start a hangout from a Messenger conversation, new photo album design and more. Hit the Android Market for more details.
Deep dive: Aperture and Photo Stream, how do they work?
I'm a bit of a shutterbug, so Photo Stream is something I was really interested in when it was announced as part of iOS 5's feature set way back in June. Frictionless, automated sending of photos from my phone to my computer? Sign me up! Of course, as is too often the case with Apple, the nitty gritty of how this would work wasn't explained in any detail -- particularly for Aperture, which often takes a back seat to iPhoto when Apple is showing off its apps. Hopefully, this article will answer all your questions about how these two products interact. If not, please leave a comment pointing out what I've overlooked. Before we start, some basic housekeeping. Photo Stream isn't going to appear in your Aperture at all if you don't first upgrade to v3.2. You'll also need OS X 10.7.2 or later, and iOS 5 on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You'll also need to go to the iCloud pane in your System Preferences and make sure that "Photo Stream" is ticked (thanks to commenter 'kootenayredneck' for the reminder). If you've done all that, you're all set. Accessing Photo Stream within Aperture This is Photo Stream's marquee feature: snap a photo with your iOS device and have it show up on your Mac. It's easy to do, though it comes with one small wrinkle. In Aperture, go into Preferences | Photo Stream and tick the appropriate boxes. The caveat is that you can only have Photo Stream active for iPhoto or Aperture, not both at once. Turning it on in one app turns it off in the other. With that setting in place, a Photo Stream entry should appear in your Aperture Library list. Clicking on this will show you all the photos in your Photo Stream, which you can look through. You can't make any edits, however, until you import them into your library: Clicking "import photo" brings the photo into your library and allows you to do all the usual range of Aperture adjustments to it. Note that the Photo Stream implementation on your iOS devices will only be active when they are connected to a Wi-Fi network. If you only have cellular 3G access, no photos will be transferred in either direction. However, don't forget that tethering creates a Wifi network. In a pinch, you could use an iPhone to create a tethered network and connect a second iOS device to it. That would give the second device full Photo Stream access. Note also that "Automatic Import" means Aperture is constantly copying Photo Stream pictures to your Aperture library. It creates a series of Projects, one per month. As long as you start Aperture at least once per month and once per 1000 photos, this guarantees you can never lose a photo placed in Photo Stream. Non-destructive editing Here's a neat trick that isn't immediately obvious. If you take a photo on the iPhone and use the new built-in photo editing features of iOS 5, when you bring the photo over to Aperture the edits are preserved as edits, in the usual Aperture master-and-version-file manner. So you can choose to change them as you please, perhaps replacing iOS's rather crude "enhance" wizard with Aperture's fine-grained adjustments. I would very much like to see this functionality available to third-party devs. It'd be great if the likes of Instagram and Camera+ were able to save clean copies of their filtered output without cluttering up your camera roll with duplicate versions. Of course, as those filters aren't directly comparable to Aperture's, that would only be possible via a single image file that is basically just two JPGs stuck together -- whereas I imagine the native Photos app is doing something more sophisticated. Putting photos into Photo Stream from within Aperture By default, when the third checkbox in my first screen grab above is ticked, all new photos imported into Aperture are automatically added to the Photo Stream by default. More on this "feature" in a second. If you untick that box, you can still manually choose to add specific versions by dragging and dropping them within Aperture to the Photo Stream entry in the navigation tree. However, before you go adding files en masse, remember that by default everything in the Photo Stream is going to be downloaded to all your iOS devices; that there's no way to delete images from Photo Stream except for a full purge; and that Photo Stream only deletes images when it's holding more than 1000 pictures or after 30 days. This can add to create quite a headache. It means that if you pull 400 1.5 MB JPG shots into Aperture, it's going to immediately upload 6 GB 600 MB of data to iCloud. If you're not on fast, unmetered Internet, that could be at best inconvenient (as it'll choke your Internet connection up for a prolonged period) and at worst expensive (if you go over your ISP's bandwidth cap). It's then going to download all of those photos, albeit at an "optimised resolution" to each of your iOS devices, exacerbating the problem. Testing on my iPhone 4 and iPad showed that Photo Stream optimised images are around 500 KB each. Continuing our example, then, if you have an iPhone and an iPad that's a further 4 GB 200 MB download for 10 GB 800MB of bandwidth used overall. (Thanks to commenter 'IhatePundits' for catching the mistakes in my mathematics.) This can also lead to problems with your iOS devices running out of disk space, which then has knock on effects that can start deleting app data you wanted. Overall, it's probably a good idea to leave "automatically upload imports to Photo Stream" to the iPhoto-using casual shooters. I'd go so far as to question Apple's decision to enable this feature by default in Aperture. RAW files and Photo Stream The problems with Photo Stream and bandwidth start to look much worse when you examine how it handles RAW files. According to the Aperture documentation, how RAW interacts with Photo Stream isn't immediately obvious -- but it is very important that you understand it. If you send a RAW file from Aperture to Photo Stream -- either automatically via the "import all" checkbox, or manually -- and if that RAW file has no edits applied, then it's the full-sized original RAW that ends up in Photo Stream. On the other hand, if it has had edits applied then Photo Stream ends up holding a JPG copy instead. This surprising handling also applies to RAW files imported to the iPad via the Camera Connection Kit. This is a common workflow for me when I am travelling, as I typically do not bring a laptop. Several times a day, I import all the images from my cameras into my iPad, partly for proofing but also partly for backup purposes. It's not unusual for me to shoot 15-20 GB of photos on a week long vacation (I'm very much a statistical photographer). With Photo Stream enabled, this means I'll be choking up the hotel's Internet connection for hours on end as well as making my iPad run slowly as it manages the upload process in a background task I cannot control or suspend. In my experience, hotel Wi-Fi isn't either the fastest or most reliable, so this could become quite hard to manage. Even at home, if you're on metered Internet, you could easily (and accidentally) chew through multiple gigabytes of your bandwidth allocation. Note, however, that as Apple states here, RAW files (like full resolution JPGs) are never delivered to iOS devices. If you put a RAW file onto the iPad or if you tell Aperture to add one to Photo Stream, it's an around-500-KB optimised JPG that ends up synced onto the other iOS devices. Most irritating of all is it is that unlike in Aperture, the Photo Stream option for iOS doesn't have a "download all photos but do not automatically upload new ones" option. It's on/off only. So I have to micro-manage the setting depending on whether I'm using my iPad to import photos from my camera en masse (in which case I want it disabled) or work with iPhone snapshots (when it has to be enabled). There's also a subtle interaction with the "automatic import" setting in Aperture. Files brought in like this are managed copies, i.e. with the master file living inside the Aperture library. If (like me) you maintain your Aperture library file on a small laptop drive and use external reference masters held on a network share or a larger external drive, then allowing Aperture to import a lot of RAWs through Photo Stream may cause you to suddenly run out of room on your laptop's drive. Now, it's only fair of me to note that if you are in the luxurious position of not caring about upstream Internet bandwidth, then there is an significant upside to this -- cloud-based backup of your photos. Even if you managed to lose your camera, your memory cards, and your iPad, up to 1000 RAW files are still safely in Photo Stream ready to be pulled into Aperture when you get home. There's definitely perks to this system, I just wish Apple had given the end users a little more control because we don't all live in Infinite Bandwidth Land. Remember also that Photo Stream storage does not come out of your main iCloud disk space allocation (the 5 GB you get free or any extra you pay for). That's admirably generous of Apple -- a full stream of RAW files could easily be 10-20 GB depending on your camera. Photo Stream and Apple IDs One final note. I've seen a few professional photographers around the web getting excited about using Photo Stream as a sort of low-rent proofing service -- for example, to consolidate work from multiple cameras tethered to laptops onto a single workstation back at the office where another member of staff is compiling picks in real time, or for a supervisor to keep an eye on pictures taken on a shoot in real time. Remember that for this to work well, you're going to need a lot of bandwidth at the shooting site -- particularly upstream bandwidth, which is often not that fast on low-end and medium range Internet connections. It also requires all the different devices and Aperture installs to be connected to the same Apple ID. Depending on the setup you are contemplating, that might not matter at all, or it could be a significant limitation.
Daily iPad App: Photogene
Unlike many, I didn't buy the iPhone 4S for Siri. It's nice to have a voice assistant, but what I really wanted was the camera. I shoot a lot of photos throughout the day using my iPhone and have been looking for a good image editor to complement its camera. Now with PhotoStream, I am no longer limited to using the iPhone for editing. I can automatically transfer my photos and edit them on my iPad, a convenience that led me to try Photogene for the iPad. Photogene is a fantastic editing application that's great for tweaking and touching up photos. You name it and Photogene has it. It lets you crop, straighten, resize, sharpen, reduce noise, adjust color, correct red-eye and remove unwanted blemishes or spots. If you want to get more creative, there's also specialized effects like reflection or vignette and standard effects like dodge & burn, blur, and grayscale. You can add captions and text to images and apply artistic filters such as sepia or charcoal. There's even several categories of presets that'll let you add a border or change the look of your photo in just a few taps. And if you don't like what you have done, there's multiple undo and redo. One of my favorite features is the collage creator which takes up to six photos and turns them into one image using templates. The app comes with a handful of collage templates and you can buy a pack of 60 that gives you twelve designs for each group of photos (12 templates for a 2 photo collage, 12 templates for a 3 photo collage, and so on). When you're done, you can export your images back to your iPad's photo library, upload them to an online web service like Dropbox, Flickr or Picasa, or share them via email, Facebook or Twitter. If you have a printer, you can use AirPrint to get a hard copy. Photogene is available for $2.99 from the App Store and is a must have for anyone that uses their iOS device for photos or image editing.
Mac 101: Disable automatic uploads to Photo Stream
It seems as though Apple is designing a lot of new Mac and iOS features from the perspective of people whose internet access is the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet. Photo Stream is a perfect example. The feature, built into Apple's new iCloud service, automatically uploads photos taken on any of your devices to iCloud, which gives you near-instant access to them on all of your devices. It's a great feature, and it's already streamlined the process of getting photos from my iPhone onto my iPad and Mac. But it was only this morning that I realized with grim horror what might happen if I imported 8 GB of RAW files from my DSLR into Aperture. With Photo Stream's default settings, those multiple gigabytes of data would be uploaded to iCloud automatically -- and since I live in an area with strictly metered data and very expensive internet access, a single import session in Aperture could cost me dearly. Fortunately, both Aperture and iPhoto allow you to disable automatic uploading very easily. Go into the preferences for whichever application you're using and select the Photo Stream pane. Once there, uncheck the box next to "Automatic Upload." As easily as that, your photo manager of choice will no longer send hundreds of photos into the cloud the next time you connect your digital camera. The followup question you must be asking now is, "That's great, but what if I want some of my imported photos to go to Photo Stream?" Fortunately, Apple made it easy to manually upload photos to Photo Stream. Just select the photos you want, then drag them to the Photo Stream item in the sidebar. You should see a green plus sign when you hover over Photo Stream. Release the photos, and they'll be uploaded into the cloud. Whether you're trying to avoid massive data charges or simply don't want hundreds of photos clogging up your Photo Stream all at once, it's quite fortunate that Apple has made it so simple to disable automatic uploading and manage your Photo Stream uploads manually instead.
Photo Stream, NHL, AirPlay mirroring and more added to Apple TV with software update
It got a bit overshadowed by Apple's other software updates earlier today, but Apple TV users also have a few new features to enjoy whenever they're ready to plop down on the couch. Version 4.4 of the Apple TV software is now available to download, which adds the new Photo Stream feature to view photos stored in iCloud, as well as AirPlay mirroring, plus content from the NHL and Wall Street Journal, and a new movie trailer section. You'll also now be able to view subtitles in Netflix (when available, of course), and you have a few new slideshow themes to choose from.
Apple TV update released, adds new content providers (updated)
With all the other iOS-based devices in Apple's lineup getting an update today, it's no surprise that the Apple TV received one as well. The update is expected to add access to Photo Stream and will also add the new iTunes Movie Trailers app that was released for iOS today. Other new features include content from the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Wall Street Journal Live. We'll update with a full changelog once one is available. Update (3:45 p.m. ET): After a lengthy update, the full changes include: AirPlay mirroring with the iPad 2 added Photo Stream activated Trailers installed National Hockey League content added with the ability to watch live games and view highlights, scores and more Wall Street Journal Live added with up-to-date news, business commentary and financial analysis
iOS 5 features: Changes to Camera and Photos
With the release of iOS 5, iPhone and iPad photographers now have a few new settings and features. The Camera and Photos apps have both been updated in iOS 5, but how those updates appear depends on the device you're using. On the HDR-equipped iPhone 4 (and likely on the 4S as well), the Camera app now displays an Options button at the top of the screen between the flash and camera selection buttons. A tap on the button displays two switches -- Grid and HDR -- that are used to turn on or off a rule of thirds grid and the High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDR) capabilities of the camera. On the iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS, neither of which have HDR capabilities, the grid switch is still available to assist in taking more aesthetically pleasing photos. %Gallery-136297% When you switch between the Camera and Photos apps, the Photos app now displays a bright blue camera icon so you can immediately jump back to the Camera to take another photo. The Photos sharing button now adds "Tweet" as a function in addition to emailing and messaging photos, assigning a photo to a contact card, using a photo as wallpaper, and printing. Probably the biggest addition to Photos in iOS 5 is the ability to edit photos within the app. When viewing an image in the photo library, tapping the new Edit button brings up an edit screen with four buttons: rotate, enhance, red-eye correction, and crop. Rotate spins the image 90 degrees counterclockwise with each tap, while Enhance works just like the same button in iPhoto. If you've taken a flash photo and are faced with a picture of a person who looks demonic, the red-eye tool works to "get the red out." Cropping is now possible, both free-form and constrained to different aspect ratios. Of course, there's also the ability to use Photo Stream to upload your new photos to iCloud and sync them to all of your other devices. That feature is so seamless that it really doesn't feel like a feature -- it just happens. I do find Photo Stream to be a great way of getting my photos back to the Mac. I take a photo when I'm out and about, and know that it's going to appear on the Mac by the time I return home. Photos works hand-in-hand with iPhoto, so any groupings by Faces or Places appear on your iOS device. That's fun, since you can quickly pull up all of the photos of a particular friend or family member, or view the pictures taken at a particular place. The changes to Photos make it a rough iOS version of iPhoto, making me wonder if the next version will gain even more features and be renamed to iPhoto. While the updates to Photos and Camera aren't earth-shattering, they definitely add functionality to these built-in apps that will be useful to those who don't want to buy third-party photography apps.
Aperture 3.2 adds iCloud integration, photo stream
Apple's pro photography app, Aperture, has been updated to version 3.2. The latest version changes all Aperture's references to MobileMe into iCloud integration instead. It also introduces support for Photo Stream, which allows photos taken on iOS devices to automatically sync to all of your registered devices via iCloud. Aperture 3.2 also comes with a load of bug fixes, detailed below: Resolves an issue that could cause the "Loading" indicator to reappear in the Viewer when cropping a photo Aperture now automatically relaunches into Full Screen mode if the application was in Full Screen mode when last quit Pinch-to-zoom gesture now automatically activates Zoom mode in the Viewer Left and right swipe gestures can now be used to navigate between photos in the Viewer Microsoft Outlook can now be chosen in Preferences as the application used by Aperture for emailing photos Fixes a problem that could cause Aperture, running on OS X Lion, to quit unexpectedly when using brushes to apply adjustments Loupe now correctly displays magnification levels between 50-100%. Fixes an issue that could cause Aperture, running on OS X Lion, to display the incorrect color profile on externally edited images Import window now includes an option to delete photos from iPhone and iPad after they have been imported into Aperture The Lift & Stamp tool now displays the correct cursor icons when being used in Split View and Viewer only mode The Aperture update is available via the Mac App Store if you bought it there. If you bought Aperture on disc, you can update via Software Update or direct download at Apple's support site. Note that due to the massive amount of software updates Apple has released today, Apple's support site's downloads page seems to be a bit unreliable at the moment.
New iCloud FAQ: Yes, there will be webmail
Since iCloud was announced by Apple on June 6, the TUAW inbox has been filled to capacity with questions about the many features of Apple's cloud computing platform of the future. Unfortunately, we have been just as much in the fog as you have about what features are moving from MobileMe to iCloud, and how the transition between the two services will take place. Today, Apple published an online document titled "Frequently asked questions about the MobileMe transition and iCloud" to clear away the confusion. As it turns out, I was wrong in my speculation that Apple was going to be getting rid of web-based versions of Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Find My iPhone (as was our friend and former Engadget colleague Josh Topolsky, who apparently got some bad intel from a misinformed or confused Apple PR staffer). Fellow TUAW editor Chris Rawson disagreed with me on that speculation, and it turns out that he was correct. Apple has publicly stated on the FAQ page that "Web access to iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Find My iPhone will be available at icloud.com this fall." Apple notes that "The core services provided by MobileMe have been rewritten to work seamlessly with iCloud." That being said, the FAQ shows that three services of MobileMe aren't going to make the transition -- iWeb hosting, Gallery, and iDisk. If you use MobileMe to host your iWeb-created site, be sure to read our posts on replacements for MobileMe hosting and WYSIWYG HTML editors for Mac. Apple has also posted a knowledge base article about transitioning your iWeb sites to another host. Of course, new features -- iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, auto-downloads and purchase history for apps and books, and backup and restore of mobile devices -- are to be added with iCloud. That may be cold comfort if you're a longtime iWeb user, have complex iDisk workflows or extensive MobileMe galleries... but it's something. For those of you with .mac or .me email addresses, Apple is going to let you keep that address into the future. The company states that you can "move your MobileMe mail, contacts, and calendars, as well as your bookmarks, to the new service. When iCloud becomes available this fall, Apple will provide details and instructions on how to make the move." Apple also provides knowledge base articles on how to save MobileMe Gallery photos and iDisk files. Other highlights of the document include info on merging MobileMe accounts (not possible), using multiple iTunes account for store purchases and iTunes in the Cloud (possible), what to do if you will be using more than the free 5 GB of iCloud storage (you can buy more), and submitting a refund request for unused or partially used MobileMe licenses. Be sure to take a look at the Apple document and associated knowledge base articles as they're sure to ease your mind about some iCloud questions -- and possibly raise other questions about your life in the cloud.
Photo Stream brings new power to your camera roll
It's not just documents and apps that will be using iCloud. Apple has just announced Photo Stream, which will sync the camera roll on your iPhone or iPad to the cloud, then keep your other devices updated, including your Macs, using iPhoto or even a PC where your photos and videos will show up in the pictures folder. Of course, Apple TV 2 will support Photo Stream as well. Your last 1,000 pictures will be stored in the cloud, but only for 30 days. Apple doesn't intend to replace all your local storage, but instead, provide a robust syncing service. So take a photo on your phone. In an instant, it is on your iPad, in your iPhoto library and available for big screen display on your Apple TV connected set. Go on vacation, and your pictures will be home before you are. Apple is talking about Wi-Fi, so no word on if the service works over 3G.
iCloud unveiled at WWDC, free for all 9 cloud apps, MobileMe RIP
Apple tipped its hat early, but now we have the details from the man himself. "iCloud stores your content in the cloud and wirelessly pushes it to all your device. It automatically uploads it, stores it, and pushes it to all your devices." And by "automatically," he means it: in addition to every day content, such as purchased music, iBooks, photos and videos, device settings, and app data that will be automatically backed up over WiFi, Documents in the Cloud will effortlessly sync Pages, Numbers, and Keynote data between all of your iOS devices. There will be no advertising (contrary to previous rumors), and calendar, mail, and contact sync is free (for up to five gigs). Also in store is the new Photo Stream cloud feature, which is essentially a gallery in Photos that exists on all of your iOS devices, Apple TV, your OS X and even your Windows PCs, and syncs through the cloud. Take a picture on your iPhone and it appears on your laptop and your iPad, and it's stored in the cloud for thirty days. And no, your Photo Stream pics do not count towards your 5GB total. iCloud will be released concurrent with iOS 5 this fall. If that isn't enough, Apple has announced iTunes Match, a $25 per year service that scans your iTunes library library and populates your iTunes in the Cloud account with any of your previously bought and ripped music -- in handy 256Kbps AAC, DRM-free files (as long as the titles already appear in the iTunes store). Last but not least, MobileMe is no more. If you're a current member, you can still access everything as usual through June 30, 2012 (according to Apple), but there will be no new enrollments. And if your subscription has auto-renewed recently? Well, we've received plenty of tips from readers who have received refunds this morning. So at the very least you have that to look forward too!%Gallery-125471% p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Lucida Grande'}
Photo Stream feature hints found in iOS 4.3
Possible confirmation of a Photo Stream service in iOS 5 has come after users spotted hidden references to the service inside the current version, iOS 4.3. We wrote about it a while ago here, but now a 9to5Mac reader has come across it while using a third-party app to browse his iPhone 4 photo albums. The expectation is that Photo Stream will work for your photos in Photos.app the same way Playlists work for music in iTunes, allowing you to send albums of photos to friends. Its background appearance in iOS 4.3 may indicate that it was pulled at the last moment and will instead be part of the major iOS 5 upgrade, which is rumored to be out this fall. Hopefully, Photo Stream will indeed make it into iOS 5. Sharing your photo albums via a revamped MobileMe with your friends and family, all in an easy-to-use Apple fashion, would be a great feature.
