voice memos
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Apple is shutting down its Music Memos recording app
Apple is shutting down its Music Memos app and prompting users to export their recordings to Voice Memos.
Propellerhead's Take is a supercharged memo recorder for iPhone
Take Creative Vocal Recorder is a free iPhone voice recorder, designed by the fantastic Propellerhead, creators of great music-making apps like Reason and Figure. Thousands of musicians around the world use the iPhone's Voice Memos app to instantly and easily capture moments of creative inspiration. However, the app is limited to just a single take, with limited editing features -- perhaps that's its strength. Nevertheless, Propellherhead's Take capitalizes on those ideas, with an app that's just as easy to instantly grab and start recording, but with a few supercharged features. Take gives you three tracks to record on, so if you get a great idea down, it's really easy to build on that idea right there and then, adding a harmony and perhaps a second instrument part. Each track also has volume levels and a simple reverb effect. Previously I've laid down a catchy idea on the Voice Memos app only to realize my timings been all over the place, meaning it's not a usable guide for a later production. Take adds a simple metronome with adjustable BPM as well as beats and loops to keep you on track and further inspire your ideas. I only wish the metronome had other time signatures. Hopefully we'll see that in a later update. Finally, just like on the Voice Memos app, Take makes it really easy to share your ideas with friends and colleagues via email, Facebook and Twitter. One important thing to note is that Take works best with headphones. If you want to take advantage of Take's metronome or loops and beats, you'll need to plug in headphones, preferably without a built-in mic, so you don't get sound bleeding into your recording and you get the best audio recording from your iPhone's mic. Check out Take in action in the video below.
Belfry brings Stocks and Weather, other native iPhone apps to jailbroken iPads
Rounding out the honeymoon period with that freshly jailbroken iPad 2? Well now we have some new apps for you to play with, and you may already be acquainted. iOS hacker Ryan Petrich's most recent project, dubbed Belfry, lets you install stock iPhone apps that are otherwise absent from both versions of Apple's tablet including Clock, Voice Memos, Stocks, Calculator, Compass and Weather. As to why these aren't included already is beyond our knowledge, but at least there's an alternative. Users can install Belfry directly within Cydia for free from the BigBoss repository. If you're looking for proof to seal the deal, you can catch the bashful Belfry and his silent film antics after the break.
iPad apps: utilities you need
Utilities are the vegetables of the software world -- not fun, rarely pretty, but gosh darnit, they're good for you. Whether they're checking that your new TV has been mounted square on the wall, crunching your numbers, getting you up in the morning, or keeping track of your mad ramblings in the middle of the night, these little bundles of binary joy can save your job (or your marriage) every time an iPad game almost destroys it. We've taken a close look at a few of the utilities available to iPad owners in the first volley of native, high-resolution apps for the platform and come away with a few winners -- and even better, some of these suckers come at absolutely no cost to you. Follow the break for the full rundown -- and don't forget to check the rest of our app roundups after you're done!
Say It & Mail It: iPhone voice memos on steroids
Innovation is a wonderful thing. Developers are taking built in features of the iPhone and improving upon them. As Bookmarks is a subsystem for iPhone/iPod touch Audiobook listening, Say It & Mail it [iTunes Link] is a subsystem for Voice Memos that outclasses the Apple-designed feature by a mile. Apple's Voice Memo app lets you record a memo and optionally create an email to send it. That's pretty neat, but how about recording a voice memo and sending it as a pre-addressed email along with the option of attaching a picture (either shot from the camera, or photo library) and tossing in your location for good measure? Say it & Mail it does all this in the easiest and most intuitive way imaginable for $1.99. Start by tapping on 'Say it' and record a voice memo. Tap 'Play it' and listen. From this point you can Mail it, or tap on a camera icon to take or use an existing picture. Then click on the little 'Interstate 10 sign' icon and the built in GPS will find you, display a road map or satellite view of your location, and add the clickable Google Maps link to the email. You don't need to use it all, but you can't send email unless there is a voice memo created first. The other two options are, well, optional. Read on for more details & a video preview.
iPhone 3.0 feature roundup
If you've been listening to all the clamoring on Twitter, or perhaps have seen the updated Apple page, then you know there was an iPhone event today to discuss a new version of the iPhone OS, version 3.0. While you will have to wait until the summer to get the new version (unless you join the developer program), Apple showed off over 100 new features that we're all excited about. iPhone developers are also getting some love from Apple with over 1,000 new APIs. Some of the biggest updates include: Push notifications will be standard in iPhone 3.0. Apple claims that there was a scaling issue when they first announced this feature last year, with thousands of developers clamoring to use it, so it had to be delayed. Developers will be able to build message, sound, and badge alerts into their applications. iPhone will support cut, copy and paste -- copy text and pictures, then paste them in any application on the device. If you change your mind about the newly pasted data, just shake to display a menu asking if you wish to undo the paste. In-App purchasing -- developers will have the ability to charge a fee from within the application for more levels in a game, magazine subscriptions, eBooks, etc. This solves the problem of the 20 ebook readers that only allow you to read one book each. MMS -- you'll be able to use MMS on your iPhone 3G (yes, 1st gen iPhones will not get the fortune of using MMS due to the use of a different cell radio). The new Messages application will be taking the place of the SMS app and will allow you to send voice memos and pictures to your friends. Peer-to-Peer connectivity -- allows iPhone apps the ability to find other iPhone users over WiFi or Bluetooth. This can be using for anything from gaming to sharing data. Third-party Accessories -- app developers can now access third-party accessories attached to the iPhone. This could allow for developers to interface with their own accessories to create a truly unique experience on the device. One of the demonstrated uses was a prototype blood glucose meter for the iPhone, from a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, which is already getting attention from our readers; it's not for sale yet! Apple will now be allowing applications the ability to get GPS coordinates from Core Location and turn that into software that provides Turn-by-Turn directions for iPhone users. However, due to the terms of use with Google maps, developers will be required to license their own maps for this use (meaning that Turn-by-Turn GPS applications will almost certainly be paid apps). This isn't a problem for vendors like TomTom or Telenav, who already have licenses for their map data. A landscape keyboard option is now available in all iPhone applications, including the infamous Mail.app. Voice memos will allow iPhone users the ability to capture audio and then email it, or send it through the Messages application as a multimedia message. System-wide Spotlight searching is built right into the home screen. To the left of the first home screen, there is a magnifying glass, so by flicking to the left of the first home screen will show this search app. You can search for anything, including mail, music, and notes. There is no word yet on how this will interface with third-party applications. Stereo Bluetooth audio devices are now supported through the use of A2DP technology. iPhone owners should note that A2DP technology and the use of MMS will not be available on 1st generation iPhones. This is probably due to the iPhone Bluetooth spec used, and Apple has confirmed (during the Q&A session after the keynote) that MMS is not available because of the cell radio used. iPhone OS 3.0 will be available for regular users "this summer." iPhone developers will be able to get the beta of OS 3.0 sometime today -- Apple is still busy updating their iPhone Dev Center, but we'll let you know when it is available.
New iTunes hints at iPhone disk use and voice memos?
If you hadn't heard, iTunes 7.5 hit today, and while we were all busy yawning at the seemingly insignificant update, MacRumors Forums user "FreeState" was checking out some localized strings and tracked down a few gems. Number 4320.069 asks if you're "sure you want to manually manage your music on your iPhone?" Yeah, we're sure. While 4320.073 teases that "Enabling the iPhone for disk use requires manually ejecting the iPhone before each disconnect, even when automatically syncing music." We can live with those demands. Mr. 4320.075 is a bit more generic, but 4320.082 is the sexiest of the bunch: "The iPhone "^1" contains new voice memos. Would you like to move these voice memos to your iTunes library?" We've been waiting for months for the iPhone to add that no-brainer feature, so here's hoping that the next iPhone update will be swift and promise-fulfilling.
iPhone Voice Recorder Utility
My iPhone broke. The screen just died a slow death, getting brighter and brighter and then very hot and then...nothing...over the course of a morning. With no phone to play with this morning, I did a lot of thinking and hunting through iPhone foundation files instead. And I seemed to find quite a lot of interesting calls in the Celestial framework, specifically the AVRecorder class. I was pretty sure the capability was in there to begin with--after all, didn't the Steve promise us one back in the January Keynote? So that certainty made the class hunt go a little quicker. When I returned home from the Apple Store Genius Bar with my new loaner, I put all that thought into code and this is what turned up: my newly written iPhone Voice Recorder utility. Yes, it is little more than a proof-of-concept but (a) it works, and (b) is the first step towards iPhone VOIP. The recorder saves in Adaptive Multi-rate format (.amr files) that you can play back in QuickTime. I put them into the /tmp folder and tell you the name of the file when you finish your recording. As always, I'd love to hear feedback and questions.Update: Improved version with app wrapper is here
