Duncan Wilcock

duncan@wilcock.ca

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Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Airplay Delay

Inspired by Allan Pike's naming and describing of Schrodinger's Shift Key, I'm writing this is to document my second most disliked change in iOS7 that regrettably has not improved in iOS8.

In a nut:  It used to be a lot quicker to flip music to Airplay speakers.  Prior to iOS7, Airplay used to engage with 2 quick taps.  Now it takes a full 5 taps & swipes to achieve the same result.


Two Taps on iOS6



Remember these two screens?

The airplay button automatically appeared if airplay speakers were available.

1. Tap the Airplay Button
2. Tap the Output you want

The screen dismissed automatically & you were on your way.


Five Taps on iOS7 and iOS8 


These three screenshots depict the five taps & swipe process of getting music to airplay speakers since iOS7.  The steps are:

1. Swipe up to access the Control Center.
2. Look for Airplay button and Tap
3. Tap the Output (Apple TV)
4. Tap Done (and wait...)
5. Tap the top of the screen to dismiss Control Center.




It's substantially slower, and I'm disappointed they didn't improve this on iOS 8.  I have submitted this feedback to Apple through iPhone Feedback, and I encourage you to do the same.

Monday, October 06, 2014

HeadsUp Drive

HeadsUp Drive is the driving companion app that I have been wanting, and have now successfully made for myself.  If you are looking for a simple, minimally distracting app to use on your daily commute or on roads where you don't need a route calculated for you -  I think you will like it.  Want to try it out?   You can download it from the app store for iPhone & iPad.

On first launch, most people notice that it's not very complicated.   That is entirely on purpose.  I have been wanting a simple app that I can just launch as I leave work and not have to do too much to use it.

I've tried  Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, and a few others.  My principal complaint with them all is that they take too much fiddling to use them day in & day out.    Often with those apps, they require  adjusting the view so that I can see the sections I need to (the same ones every day) and Waze too often prompts me for input, when all I want to do is just drive home efficiently.


HeadsUp Drive is a simple driving companion, designed to let you see the road ahead.  I think it's the the best, simplest app for everyday commuting.  It shows you Google Maps traffic and a chase-plane view so you can see what's coming, and plan ahead to avoid traffic jams.

There is very little interaction, and that's on purpose, because we should all keep our eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. The view adjusts automatically to show the traffic and roads in your direction of travel.

+ and - to zoom in and out, and a "?" button to remind you why the app is so simple.  It's designed to be simple!


I use it daily on my commute to & from work.  Below is a picture of it in action.  I hope you find it useful too.

Feedback and comments are welcome at: duncan@wilcock.ca