Tuesday 5 November 2013

Resolved For iOS! 'OK Google' Works in UK

One of the most useful features in the ever expanding tool set that is Google Now is the 'OK Google' Hotwords. Unfortunately many people are discovering that this handy feature is not active outside of the US. With Google releasing an update to their iOS app over the last couple of days this annoyance has spread to Googles iOS users too. However there does appear to be a handy fix.

When you go into the application settings you'll notice that it's impossible to activate Hotwords. Changing your language in the application won't make a difference. However, go to 
iOS Settings -> General -> International and update your language to plain 'English'. Once the phone has finished applying it head to the Google app and Hotwords should now be on by default.

I haven't found any issues with this so far but please be aware that I accept no responsibility for any damage or other inconvenience caused to your device or yourself through following this tip. I'm offering it simply to let you know how I got this working on my iPhone 5.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Team Former For iOS Available Now

I'm proud to announce that my first iOS app, Team Founder, is now live on the app store!

The app lets you quickly and easily split any group of people into teams for sports, games or even classroom activities. Just enter the names of everyone playing along with the number of people you want in each group and hit Create. The app then creates your teams and lets you share them with friends and followers through email, Messages, Twitter and FaceBook.

The app is free so please go ahead and download it from iTunes and give it a go. I have lots of plans to make this app bigger and even better in version 2.

iTunes Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/team-former/id689018834?ls=1&mt=8

The app is built for all supported models of iPhone and iPod Touch running iOS 6.1.

Monday 10 June 2013

WWDC 2013 Wish List

With WWDC due to start today I thought I'd compile a quick wish list for iOS, OS X and iCloud. 

1. Better sharing on iOS. I'm thinking in particular of the share cards in BB10 and Android. A central area that developers can hook into and allow you to share media from across your device.

2. Widgets. This is an awkward one. I want a more customisable experience but I don't want the Android widget model which I find gets messy. Maybe an expansion of the search screen and better use of notifications?

3. Cross service integration. This seems unlikely but being able to grant calendars and images access to people with Google logins would be a big winner for me.

4. Dropbox. The expansion of iCloud to include a Dropbox style service again. I miss having somewhere to store files that aren't in Pages, Numbers or Keynote.

5. On the Mac I'd love to see better syncing across multiple computers. For example an iPhoto library on my MacBook could be kept easily in sync with one on my desktop.

6. A new version of iWork.

Lets see what happens in a few hours but these would be some very useful additions to an already formidable arsenal of digital services and features.