LaunchServices
Latest
iPhone devsugar: SwapKit
iPhone developer Emanuele Vulcano has been working on a new iPhone OS data exchange protocol called SwapKit [Apple Dev account required for link]. Hosted on GitHub, SwapKit provides App Store-friendly application-independent ways to publish data with custom metadata for sharing between applications. SwapKit can automatically find all other SwapKit-using applications on a device and determine which of those applications can perform specific actions on that data. For example, a developer might send a string to the first Twitter-ready client it finds and request that client to post the string as a new tweet. SwapKit basically offers a Mac-style LaunchServices for iPhone. Open source and provided under the MIT license (basically "use however you like"), SwapKit remains in early development. The screencast shown above demonstrates basic SwapKit features, demoing both sending and receiving functionality.
TUAW Tip: Freshening Up 'Recommended Applications'
Reader Julius wrote in with an annoying problem: Whenever he tries to open a file by selecting "Other" from the "Open With" contextual menu item in the Finder, he's presented with a list of "Recommended Applications" that (more often than not) has the app he wants grayed out. Ideally, there would be some preference to automatically show "All Applications" instead of just "Recommended Applications," but that doesn't seem to be the case. Sorry. The best option for you comes from our own Erica Sadun, who says to drag the file onto any application icon with the Command and Option keys held down. That way, the Finder will force the app to open the file. This works with items in your dock, or just with an open Applications folder in the Finder. Otherwise, every application maintains a list of the kinds of files it can open. Launch Services, a part of the Mac OS X system, reads these lists, and compiles the set of "Recommended Applications" that you are presented with. As such, many users recommend keeping your Launch Services tidy by rebuilding it using the Terminal, or a utility like RCDefaultApp. It will at least remove the cruft from your list of available applications. Thanks and good luck, Julius!
