While Apple hasn’t had the best history with cloud computing services, their new iCloud platform promises to bring something completely new to the space. Instead of offering their traditional mix of Google Apps and Dropbox, Apple has reinvented the way they see the Cloud.

That being said, the platform hasn’t seen the rapid adoption of some of Apple’s other products, but we’ve still been able to round up a variety of great “hidden” features, newly-compatible apps, and other little tweaks to help you get the most out of your iCloud experience.

Hidden Features

While Apple has been touting their Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and iTunes sync iCloud still has a few more tricks up it’s sleeve.

1. Back to my Mac: While this service has been available for some time now, with the release of iCloud it is now completely free. Back to my Mac allows you to access the files on a computer of yours remotely as well as even accessing and controlling it’s screen from afar. Think of this as sort of a Mac OS X Server for home use. Back to my Mac should be considered a must have for anyone with more than one Mac, and why not -it’s free.
2. Bring back the iDisk: With the introduction of iCloud Apple axed it’s iDisk offering from it’s cloud package, but with a little Finder know-how you can gain most of that functionality back. Once you’ve signed in with an Apple ID on your Mac, inside your Library you’ll find a folder called “Mobile Documents”, simply right click it to create an alias and and drag it to wherever you like.

   With the introduction of Mac OS X Lion the Library folder is now hidden by default. To easily access it, open Finder, hold down the Shift+Command+G keys and type in “~/Library/” (without the quotation marks, of course).

   Now, whenever you want to keep a file in the iCloud, just drag it into the alias and let the syncing magic begin. It’s worth noting that this space will count towards your free 5GB of storage, so use it wisely unless you want to shell out a bit of extra cash.

3. iChat: These days everyone is using FaceTime and Skype, but for some reason most people seem to forget about the venerable iChat. It has the cross platform compatibility of Skype (vis-à-vis Google Talk and AIM) and the Mac-esque look and feel of FaceTime, in my view, iChat is still king. I’ve never liked using an AIM account, though, as it just seems out of place, not to mention you have to sign up for AIM email and a whole lot of other “stuff” just to get started. iCloud makes using iChat easier, just use your new (and free) .me email address. There’s nothing else to it.


Using the App Store to manage my Apple ID.

4. Share Apps, Not Email: With the introduction of the Mac App Store, it’s become tempting for families to use the same Apple ID with multiple Mac’s in order to share them across computers. With iCloud, though, your Apple ID now includes includes email, contacts and calendars. That means whoever you share your Apple ID with also has all that extra information. A quick solution is simply to use two Apple ID’s, one personal and another for purchases. When setting up a new Mac or iDevice you’ll need to make your purchase-specific ID the default account in order to make it the go-to for app purchases. In addition you can just turn off email, contacts, and calendars in System Preferences for the shared account to keep things simple. While Apple doesn’t necessarily condemn this practice, it should be considered a bit of a grey area.

Apps Built for iCloud

Although there aren’t many iCloud ready apps for the Mac just yet, we’ve found a few gems in the rough.

Wrap Up

This is just the beginning for iCloud, being a free service, it will likely attract far more developers over time than MobileMe and .Mac ever could, meaning the possibilities for you, the user, will be even greater. In these first months since its release, we’re already starting to see some really cool apps that are taking full advantage of the platform. Apple is betting their future on the cloud, so make no mistake, this is just the beginning for them.

These days news articles about Apple are anything but scarce. Every day there is a fresh new crop of speculation, rumors and discussion regarding the future Apple’s product line and how it will continue to shape the way that we interact with technology.

However, the media hype is largely centered on the exciting and revolutionary products: iOS and its supporting devices. Google “iPad 3″ or “iPhone 5″ and you’ll find no shortage of juicy gossip. If the media gives attention to any Mac, it’s likely going to be the MacBook Air. But what about our favorite desktop machine? Where will the iMac go in 2012?

Our Old Friend The iMac

Once upon a time, this venerable product was the hallmark of Apple’s offering. Despite being usurped by smaller, fancier machines, the iMac has continued to evolve/improve and is still the key player in Apple’s desktop strategy.

For $1,199, you can snag yourself an awesome machine: a beautifully bright 21 inch screen, 2.5GHz quad-core processor, 4GB of memory and a 500GB drive being the highlights. And let’s not forget how truly amazing it is that all of that is packed into a machine with such a small footprint. In fact, the iMac is so good that it has significantly crept onto the radar of the customer base that once gravitated towards high end workstations like the G5 and Mac Pro, leaving an uncertain future for that line.

The goal of the iMac’s evolution in recent years has been simple: slim down the outside, beef up the inside. Like many of Apple’s products, the design has become so wonderfully minimal that it’s hard to picture a major physical redesign any time soon. When your product is virtually all screen, where do you go from there?

Aside from hopes of getting ever thinner iMacs with more powerful cores (the smoking fast i7 will no doubt soon be the default), where does this leave us for future updates? What else do we have to look forward to in the next-gen Mac?

Looking Around

Everyone’s favorite way to speculate about the future of one Apple product is to look around at their other products and choose features that are likely to begin making their way across the line.

Though it’s an unimaginative approach that completely discounts Apple’s taste for innovation, it’s still a decent way to venture some logical guesses about the future. Let’s try this ourselves to see what we come up with.

Retina Displays

One technology that we all love is the iPhone’s gorgeous retina display. It’s only a matter of time before a high resolution screen makes the jump to the iPad, and from there the next logical step is the Mac. This notion is reinforced by the discovery that deep in OS X are a few hints at higher resolution displays.

Obviously though, this involves some pretty overzealous reasoning. Manufacturing a 3.5-inch retina display is a far cry from manufacturing a 21-inch one. Technical hurdles and inevitable cost increases make this seem like a fairly remote possibility for 2012.

The most logical path is that the retina display will first jump to the iPad and then to Apple’s new favorite Mac: the MacBook Air. The small size of this product makes a high resolution display more feasible and the Air is the major point where Apple is channeling Mac innovation at the moment.

Will we see a retina Mac in 2012? Perhaps, but will it be the iMac? Don’t hold your breath.

Cheaper Solid State Storage

It’s no secret that Apple is betting on solid state drives for the future. Once again, we can look to the MacBook Air as a great source for speculation about the future of the iMac.

If you’ve ever used a MacBook Air, then you can instantly see the benefits of an SSD. These things are fast. Hit the power button and less than 15 seconds later you’re ready to check Facebook. Beyond speed, solid state drives require less power and aren’t as prone to mechanical failure (they don’t spin like traditional drives).

Once again though, we see some major technical hurdles to this technology making the jump to the default configuration on the iMac. At the same price point as an iMac, you can get a MacBook Air with 128GB of storage. That might be justifiable for a notebook, but that’s downright laughable for a powerful desktop. Bumping that up to 256GB costs you an extra $300. This is the largest SSD that Apple offers, matching the 500GB default iMac drive won’t be easy without a significant price bump.

So does this mean we won’t see an SSD iMac any time soon? It turns out, they already exist. For an extra $500, you can in fact get a 256GB SDD in your iMac. This is currently only available in the 2.7GHz and up models, where a 1TB drive is default. So you go from 1TB to 256GB and pay $500 to do it! That means your cheapest route to an SSD iMac is $1,999.

Obviously, this isn’t an ideal situation. Apple is pushing this technology enough that I don’t think it’s a stretch to see a $1,199 SSD 256GB iMac in the future, possibly as the default configuration on the bottom tier.

Recent shortages in the supply chain due to natural disasters in Taiwan are working against this idea with hard disks, causing prices to increase. However, Apple did just buy an Israeli SSD company so the older drive shortages may be a separate issue.

Wild Speculation

A distant future with a high resolution display and a near future with a more affordable SSD, is that the best we can hope for with the iMac? Obviously, it’s evident that Apple is spending much of their R&D money on other products, leaving the outlook fairly run of the mill for the future of the iMac.

That being said, the crazy ideas are out there. Obviously touchscreen Mac rumors won’t die anytime soon. However, we’re not there yet. It may happen one day, but it’s not on Apple’s immediate radar so don’t make this the thing that keeps you from buying a new iMac because you could be waiting a long time.

The topic that’s been receiving more focus lately is whether or not the upcoming iTV will in fact be an entirely new piece of hardware or simply an upgraded iMac with TV functionality. Forbes started this rumor and its being picked up by every Mac speculation site around.

Call me crazy, but I simply don’t see Apple trying to convince everyone to take their iMacs off the desk and place them on the entertainment center. A new standalone product seems much more likely.

When Will We See a New iMac?

Whether or not you would’ve preferred that I tell you that a touchscreen iMac is on the way, you have to admit that a Quad-Core i7 iMac with a 256GB SSD for under $1,500 would be a more than desirable near future. Perhaps I’m being too conservative with my estimates, or maybe I’m taking them too far? What do you think? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts about the 2012 iMac.

Once thing is for certain, the iMac is in fact nearing the end of its lifecycle. The last two iMac upgrades came exactly 280 days after their predecessors, the average gap is even less at 273 days. We’re less than two months away from this mark. The shiny new iMacs will be here soon, what will it take for you to buy one?

Many of us have had to learn a foreign language at some point, whether it was in school, in preparation for travel, or out of personal interest. We all know that learning a new language can feel like a never-ending process of skimming dictionaries and memorizing vocabulary, and without the proper tools, many learners end up getting frustrated.

One of the most essential tools for language learning is a quality bilingual dictionary. While people often head to the bookstore and look for a nice print dictionary, a dictionary app can be a good idea because of how fast and easy it is to look up words by typing. As far as dictionary apps go on the Mac, Ultralingua is one of the few solid, comprehensive choices. Read on to see how it can benefit your language studies.

Language Selection

Although Apple’s built-in Dictionary app has always been an excellent reference for English, and somewhat inexplicably contains Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries, it has never expanded to include any other languages. Ultralingua fills that need perfectly, providing dictionaries for a large selection of languages (even Klingon!).

Ultralingua has created many of its own dictionaries, and additionally offers an assortment from well-known publishers Collins and Vox. Most of the dictionaries are bilingual, though there are also monolingual dictionaries available in English, French, and Spanish.

User Interface

Much like Apple’s Dictionary app, the interface of Ultralingua is elegant and simple. There is a drop-down menu to switch between languages, and a side-pane full of tools that can easily be hidden via the toolbar button if a basic dictionary is all you need.

Search results appear as you type, and the word entries are bolded and colored to help you skim for the one that you are looking for. The entries also clearly identify certain linguistic qualities of words such as whether it is a noun, adjective or verb, masculine or feminine, etc.

All of the dictionary brands that Ultralingua sells also include example phrases, which can be vital to understanding how a word is used in context.

Key Features

Lemmatized Search

An extremely useful component of Ultralingua’s search functionality is something called lemmatized search, which sounds fancy, but is quite simple. A lemmatized word is one that has been altered in some way, such as when a verb gets conjugated (“to go” turns into “I went”), or when a word is pluralized (“goose” becomes “geese”). With Ultralingua, you can input any form of a word and it will tell you the word it derives from, something that a print dictionary can’t do as well.

Conjugation

One of Ultralingua’s most useful tools is its conjugation screen, which lets you input a verb, choose a tense, and see all of the conjugations of the verb in that tense.

If you are not sure what the difference between “pluperfect” and “past progressive” are, don’t worry, Ultralingua has you covered. It provides a tool called Reference which defines what those tricky grammatical terms mean.

Word Hunt

Sometimes you have a word on the brain, but can’t remember exactly how it is spelled. For this problem, Ultralingua provides an excellent Word Hunt tool that will help you find words when you are missing some of the letters.

This feature works amazingly well, for both cheating on crossword puzzles, and figuring out words that you can’t remember how to spell. Use a “?” to signify any single character you are missing, “*” to signify zero or more characters are missing, and “+” to signify one or more characters are missing.

Flashcards

Whether you are a student preparing for a vocab quiz, or just need practice in your personal studies, the Flashcards feature is a simple and effective approach to committing new words to memory. Once you have made your cards, you can view them and quiz yourself in a sleek fullscreen interface.

Additional Tools

Ultralingua also has Translation and Discussion tools, although I find neither to be particularly useful. The Translation tool simply opens the Google Translate webpage within the Ultralingua window. The Discussions tool displays a forum that Ultralingua hosts where people can ask for assistance with a language, but I find the free and well-known website Word Reference to be more comprehensive and useful.

Dictionary Comparisons

Something important to keep in mind when purchasing a dictionary is that Ultralingua sells some it created itself as well as many made by Collins. Those made by Ultralingua are thorough and very useful, and are offered at a lower price than Collins ($35 versus $45). However, in my experience using both the Ultralingua Spanish-English and the Collins Spanish-English, the Collins versions have a lot more to offer.

The Collins dictionaries are usually more comprehensive and better at differentiating the possible translations of a word. For example, if you look up the word “walk,” it does a better job of telling you which translation refers to a stroll and which a hike. It also provides more phrases and example sentences to help you understand the words in context.

Pricing

Ultralingua has a pay-per-dictionary model. Most of the dictionaries must be purchased through the Ultralingua website, but they recently made their French-English dictionary available in the Mac App Store and stated in a press release that they are working to eventually make their entire collection available.

The Ultralingua-made dictionaries all sell for $34.95, which is a decent price for all of the available features, but somewhat expensive compared to modern Mac apps, which are often in the $5-20 range. Collins-made dictionaries are more costly at $44.95, but you are getting a lot for that extra ten dollars.

At the highest end of the price range are the medical dictionaries, which include around 50,000 additional medical terms and come in at $49.95. These are not what the average user is looking for.

Also of note: if you would rather have these dictionaries on the go, Ultralingua has universal iOS versions that are more affordable and might be more convenient to pull out in real language situations.

Alternatives

The prices of Ultralingua’s dictionaries are somewhat high, and if you are interested in more than one language, buying multiple will add up quickly. At a glance, the Mac App Store has some bilingual dictionaries, but the majority are sketchy and poorly designed. The most promising one seems to be One World Dictionary. It comes in a free version with very limited vocabulary, and you can purchase the full dictionaries at $9.99 each.

If you are willing to use a web resource, there are also some excellent, free sites available, the most well known of which is probably Word Reference. This resource lacks the convenience of offline access though, and you’ll have to put up with ads.

Conclusion

If you are an avid language learner, Ultralingua may just be the perfect tool for all of your linguistic needs. It is an elegant app with comprehensive dictionaries, and an excellent set of additional tools.

At $34.95-$49.95, the prices may seem a bit high for the average user, but as a person who loves languages, I use Ultralingua daily, and have yet to find a resource that is more useful and reliable.

Dribbble is a delightful little online community specifically created for designers to share bite-sized previews of what they’re working on. Each “shot” is a 400px by 300px image that a user has chosen to share with the Dribbble community, often for the purpose of feedback (and a little showing off here and there).

Whether or not you’ve scored an invite to participate in the exclusive community, it’s a great place to stop by and browse for loads of gorgeous visual inspiration. Today we’ll be taking a look at the Dribbble community through the eyes of Play by Play, an awesome new Mac application that lets you check out all the latest Dribbble action without venturing into the browser (and without having an account). Let’s see if the app lives up to its awesome icon.

Meet Play by Play

Play by Play is an app designed in the increasingly popular Twitter for Mac style, which uses a dark, icon-filled sidebar next to a main content stream (see also Sparrow, Raven, Reeder, and others).

If you think about it, modeling this app after Twitter’s makes perfect sense. Dribbble is a lot like Twitter in the early days, only instead of sharing tiny written thoughts, you use share pieces of art and design.

Basic Controls

The main area on the right shows your timeline of content, pulled from your selected category on the left. Each shot shows a visual preview along with the the counts for view, likes and comments.

Every shot in the feed shows up as unread by default. This is indicated by the little page fold at the top right of the item. Once you click on a shot, the fold will disappear, indicating that it is now marked as read.

On the bottom you can quickly mark all the items in the feed as “read” or jump to the next unread item. The Dribbble logo on the top right will open the Dribbble site in your browser.

Navigation

Play by Play gives you quick access to all your favorite sections of the Dribbble website via the sidebar on the left. Admittedly, even though the icons are fairly attractive, they’re a little vague and difficult to decipher. Here’s another shot with the category names added:

As you can see, the checkmark takes you to a stream of content from only those users that you have elected to follow. This is similar to your primary timeline on Twitter.

Next up is the little sports play illustration. This takes you to your Activity feed, where you can get a quick look at which of your shots has been commented on, liked, etc. This is similar to the “Connect” or “@” section on Twitter.

The next three sections are Popular, Everyone and Debuts, which are pretty self explanatory. Popular shows the content that’s been getting the most attention, this is a great place to find new people to follow, Everyone is a real-time feed of all Dribbble uploads, and Debuts are initial shots from new users.

Taking a Closer Look

All of the screenshots above show Play by Play’s simple, contracted view. This shows you a small preview of each shot in your selected stream. However, if you want a closer look at a specific item, simply click on it to expand the web view.

You can use the web view to see all the relevant information relating to a shot such as its author, upload date, views, comments, etc. You can also use this view in the Activity feed to see the item that’s being discussed.

Interaction

In the web view, you can accomplish all of the Dribbble interaction that you would normally go to the site for. You can “like” a shot, follow new users, leave comments, run a search; it’s all here!

Worth a Download?

To be honest, I didn’t really think that I had any need for a Dribbble Mac app. The site is quite good and I enjoy stopping by once per week or so to see what’s new. However, as soon as I began using Play by Play, I fell in love with Dribbble all over again.

This really is a stellar way to keep a watch on this awesome community and actively participate. There’s something about having a constant stream of inspiration on your desktop that keeps your mind fresh and pushes you to be a better designer.

Play by Play isn’t without its faults. As I mentioned, the icons are a little vague and take some getting used to, but my two primary complaints are much more important. First of all, there’s no shortcut to my own profile in the sidebar. This seems like a pretty big oversight, but the fix is easy so hopefully something like this is in the works.

Most annoying however is the thirty shot limit in any given stream. When you scroll down to the bottom of the timeline, you expect the app to load more items, as with Twitter. However, despite the wealth of available content on Dribbble, this app refuses to load anything beyond thirty shots at once.

I poked around the Dribbble API a bit to see if this is actually an official limit imposed on developers, but as far as I can tell, that isn’t the case (if you know otherwise, leave a comment).

Aside from these issues, Play by Play is the best use I’ve seen of the Dribbble API and is definitely my new favorite way to view and interact with the Dribbble community.

What Do You Think?

At a mere $2.99, I think Play by Play is worth every penny. Much like Twitter, it seems that Dribbble is a network that becomes much more accessible and interesting with native apps and I look forward to seeing this category grow.

Give Play by Play a shot and let us know what you think in the comment section below. Have you tried any other great Dribbble apps? We want to hear about them!

At AppStorm, when we get excited about great Mac software, we love to give the developers who worked hard to bring it to us the credit and recognition they deserve. Back in 2010, we ran a post highlighting some awesome software developers and the apps they make that we love to use.

As you may be aware, the Mac App Store has launched since then, providing a grand stage for even more rockstar devs to strut their stuff. Today I’m going to take a look at another handful of these developers. Hit the jump to see what I’ve rounded up this year!

For clarity’s sake, developer links will take you to their webpage, while app links will link directly to the Mac App Store. The exception to this is apps that aren’t available on the app store, which will be marked with an asterisk.

Acrylic

I assure you, Acrylic will be the only developer I cover today that we also covered last year. There are two reasons I decided to mention them again, the first being that I’m absolutely in love with everything they develop. They have a gorgeous style and UI design in everything they do. The second reason is because last time we ran this type of post, Acrylic’s unique RSS reader was called Times, which has since been updated to Pulp and expanded to an iPad version. Likewise, Wallet has been improved dramatically, and has also spread to more devices since last year.

• Pulp
• Wallet

Rovio

Some might suggest that the Angry Birds craze is played out, but I’d be willing to bet I’m not the only one still killing a few minutes here and there with our vengeful, winged friends. While Rovio is predominantly known for their success on iOS, I have to point out that they are clearly doing something right. Angry Birds and it’s various flavors are successful games on virtually every platform you can think of, from Mac to iOS, Kindle, Nook, Android, and even Google+ Games.

• Angry Birds
• Angry Birds: Seasons
• Angry Birds: Rio

Pixelmator Team

I tried to limit the number of developers that I included on this list who only had one app to offer, but I simply couldn’t ignore the rockstar status of the Pixelmator Team. If you haven’t heard, Pixelmator received the “App of the Year” award on the MAS. With a $30 price point, people are almost unanimous in their support for this Photoshop alternative. While I’m not a graphics person by trade, I do admire the elegance of Pixelmator, and I hope these folks develop more software soon.

• Pixelmator

Rocket

Rocket is the developer of a great app called Concentrate, which allows you to define profiles that you can activate for time periods of productivity, limiting your access to websites and apps that will just hold you back. Due to the nature of the app (read: root access), Concentrate isn’t available in the app store, but Rocket’s other apps–Galleried and Launch It–are. As a developer, they seem to focus on inspiration and productivity, which is something that I can personally identify with.

• Concetrate*
• Galleried
• Launch It

Logan Collins

I began using Schoolhouse back during version 2, when Logan Collins was a student himself, and developing this free app during whatever spare time he had. I couldn’t have possibly been as organized during my college years without it. Schoolhouse has since entered version 3, and while it now has a price tag attached, $4.99 isn’t a lot to pay for the impressive work of this rockstar independent developer.

• Schoolhouse

Red Sweater Software

Red Sweater software is probably best known for it’s versatile blogging app MarsEdit, but they are also the creators of Black Ink, one of the most refined crossword apps I’ve used. Additionally, they produce a series of utilities such as FlexTime, FastScripts, and Clarion, and every single one of them is implemented thoughtfully. I admire the work of Red Sweater, and the fact that founder Daniel Jalkut is a former Apple Software Engineer might have something to do with it.

• MarsEdit
• Black Ink
• FlexTime
• FastScripts
• Clarion*

Agile Bits

The minds at Agile Bits are responsible for what is arguably the most popular password manager for Mac: 1Password. With a gorgeous UI and intelligent integration with your web browser, it’s no wonder people prefer 1Password to the alternatives. Less well known is the aptly-named file encryption utility Knox, which is said by Agile Bits to be the perfect complement to 1Password.

• 1Password
• Knox*

Bloop

Bloop is a development firm that, prior to the launch of the Mac App Store, focused almost exclusively on iOS development. Since the MAS launch, however, Bloop has hit the ground running and now has more than a handful of Mac apps under it’s belt. Everything from social media to project management and finance is tackled by these guys, and they are showing a lot of potential for developing graceful apps to make doing your everyday activities that much easier and more enjoyable. I’ll only list a few of their apps here, but make sure to check out their website to see the entire catalog!

• Life Stream
• Social Weather
• Time Track Pro
• Projects

Indeeo

Indeeo is responsible for one of my favorite graphics apps, iDraw. While it’s popularity pales in comparison, I see iDraw as the vector version of Pixelmator, and I wholeheartedly believe they deserve recognition on the same scale. iDraw even has an iPad version, which makes vector illustration on the go that much more pleasant. In addition to the Illustrator alternative, they also develop a versatile app for customizing your menu bar called MenuStrip.

• iDraw
• MenuStrip

PoweryBase

I have been given the opportunity to test and write about both apps produced by the folks at PoweryBase, and over the course of the last few months, I’ve grown quite fond of them and their products. NotifyMe is a free, cross-platform task manager that syncs with a cloud server at no additional cost. Take that, Hit List! Bills, while offering no Mac version, is also worth mentioning, as an elegant financial aid for iOS. Frankly, I wouldn’t be upset if these guys decided to write more software.

• NotifyMe
• Bills (iPad)

6Wunderkinder

6Wunderkinder is the brilliant developer behind the wildly successful task management app Wunderlist. Like NotifyMe, Wunderlist boasts a simple and beautiful design, cross-platform compatibility (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Web, you name it), and free cloud-sync. What is most exciting for me, however, is that the Kinder are currently working on a follow-up called Wunderkit. From the very limited information they’ve released, Wunderkit looks like it could be the be-all, end-all of all productivity apps. Keep an eye on it, as they currently plan to go public-beta in early 2012.

• Wunderlist
• Wunderkit*

Sparrow

Okay, so this is another developer who only has one app at this point. Less of a formally-named development company, in fact, and more colloquially known as “The Sparrow Team.” Regardless, I simply had to include one of the fastest growing mail apps in recent memory. Anyone who’s used this attractively priced and gorgeously designed app knows that Sparrow completely changes the way you do email, and for good reason: it adopts a UI similar to the Twitter app and makes email feel more social and less mundane.

• Sparrow

Mariner Software

Mariner Software is another “jack of all trades” type developer. However, don’t let that make you think they’re cutting corners. Mariner designs beautiful apps for all sorts of uses: MacJournal for your diary keeping and blogging, MacGourmet for your recipes, and a series of apps dedicated to helping creative writers with script development, screenwriting, and novel construction.

• MacJournal
• MacGourmet
• Montage
• Storymill
• Contour

Eternal Storms

Eternal Storms is a developer who focuses on small, handy utilities to make your day to day a bit easier. First and foremost is Yoink, which fits your Mac with a contextual shelf for dragging and dropping files between apps and spaces. Upon upgrading my Mac to OS X Lion, I must confess that I found Yoink to be a godsend. Additionally, Eternal Storms also develops a Flickr app and a screenshot utility.

• Yoink
• Flickery
• ScreenFloat

Apple

Call me a fanboy if you’d like, but I simply couldn’t ignore Apple when considering rockstar developers. Aside from the digital distribution of OS X Lion, Apple has used the launch of the Mac App Store to push their other office and creative software to new heights. New (lower) price points and digital downloads have made purchasing and using apps like Logic, Final Cut, Aperture, and the iWork suite easier than ever. And it’s clear that it’s working out for them, since (at the time of this writing) 9 of the top 10 highest grossing apps on the app store were developed by Apple. (For those of you wondering, the outlier on that list is actually Pixelmator, MAS App of the Year.)

• Pages, Keynote, Numbers
• iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand
• Logic, Final Cut, Aperture

Silvio Rizzi

Ah Reeder. Arguably the app store’s most popular RSS feed aggregator, Reeder was released earlier this year, and was designed to be a Google Reader front end for your Mac. As a user of the app, I can say that it is one of the most pleasant RSS readers out there, and the consistency between the Mac version and both iOS versions is refreshing. If you haven’t checked it out yet, do so. Silvio Rizzi has struck gold, here.

• Reeder (Mac)
• Reeder (iPhone)
• Reeder (iPad)

Algoriddim

Algoriddim is the developer of one of the best music apps I’ve ever used: djay. djay, like Reeder, has the fantastic quality of being fluidly and consistently functional on all Apple platforms including Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It imports the music from your iTunes library and lets you DJ just about any event using any of the previously mentioned devices. I’ve used several of the DJ applications available on the App Store, and djay is by far the most Mac-like experience. It also received App of the Year Runner Up!

• djay (Mac)
• djay (iPhone)
• djay (iPad)

AutoDesk

AutoDesk, the developers of the world-renown design software AutoCAD, has developed a line of Mac software for the app store. In addition to the uber-powerful AutoCAD for Mac, they’re also the minds behind the popular drawing app Sketchbook Pro, which I happen to know is a favorite of my brother, a graphic designer and fellow Mac enthusiast.

• AutoCAD
• Sketchbook Pro
• Motion FX

The iStudiez Team

One final entry from a single-app developer (by which I mean “developer who should make more software”), iStudiez is another app geared toward students. Sporting a beautiful design and cross-platform cloud syncing, iStudiez has made more than just a few students successful in academia. Part task manager, part calendar, part grade book, iStudiez Pro is a perfect solution for anyone going to school, or even teaching a class.

• iStudiez Pro (Mac)
• iStudiez Pro (iOS)

SuperMegaUltraGroovy

Last, but certainly not least, is SuperMegaUltraGroovy. Aside from what is quite possibly the single most awesome company name in software development history, SuperMegaUltraGroovy sports a lineup of great Mac applications dedicated to Mac-native musicians. Using advanced audio technology, Capo can slow your music down without affecting the pitch, Fuzzmeasure can analyze an audio signal, and TapeDeck recreates the classic experience of a tape recorder on OS X. And not to mention, the interfaces are beautifully designed.

• Capo
• Fuzzmeasure*
• TapeDeck

Conclusion

Phew. We’ve covered a lot of ground here today. Hopefully you’ve learned about some new apps. Perhaps you’ve been reminded of some that you had forgotten. Whatever the case may be, I want you to leave here with an elevated appreciation for the work that the developers of our favorite apps put in. Sure, they create apps because they’re driven to create. It’s the same as any other creative profession. But I’m willing to bet that it makes it all worth it to know that the end user is enjoying the final product.

Whether or not I mentioned you here today, if you’re a software developer for any platform, I want to extend a “Thank You,” on behalf of all of us here on the AppStorm network. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you. Keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll keep appreciating you for it. Promise.

As usual, let us know if you have any favorite devs that didn’t get a mention here!

Site-specific browsers (SSBs) are web browsers that allow you to focus on specific sites. The benefit is that you can easily turn web applications like Gmail and Facebook into a neatly wrapped app that sits in your dock. This separates these apps out from your normal browser and allows you to run them independently.

Today, we want to know which SSB you prefer. Is the the tried and true Fluid browser or its popular alternative Mozilla Prism? Both offer similar functionality and easily allow you to create standalone applications for web apps. Or perhaps you prefer Raven, the newcomer in the SSB game. Raven has some unique tricks up its sleeve and is quite unlike any other app. Instead of creating standalone dock apps, Raven uses a sidebar with dedicated shortcuts and custom controls for all your favorite sites. There’s even a free AppStorm Raven app!

Cast your vote in the poll on the right and then leave a comment below explaining your answer. Have you tried all three apps? Which SSB do you prefer? Why do you think it’s better than the competition? We want to know!

Our featured sponsor this week is MailTab Pro for Gmail, the best way to check Gmail from your menu bar.

If you’re hunting for a quick and slick way to keep an eye on your Gmail account, look no further than MailTab Pro. It’s never more than a single click away and it gives you full access to Gmail’s features. Check, search and send email all right from the menu bar.

You can choose between the desktop and mobile interfaces, use the integrated fullscreen mode or even reduce the opacity and operate in stealth mode. MailTab Pro for Gmail gives you Growl notifications and even has full Google Talk support!

Go Get It!

MailTab Pro for Gmail is currently on sale for $1.99 (50% off), so be sure to grab your copy from the Mac App Store before this deal is over!

The latest iteration of the Macbook Air was released this year and it caught my attention immediately. It was such a beautiful device. I found myself going to the Apple Store website over and over to look at pictures and mull over the specs.

I felt like this version of the Air covered almost all of the shortcomings I saw with previous versions. In fact, it was a more powerful machine than my current Macbook. The one factor that kept making me hesitate was the hard drive size. Would it be enough for me and for future growth? Can I work around the limitation? Should I work around that limitation? These were the questions bouncing around in my head. I decided the constraint would be a good thing and I’d figure out ways to work around it as needed. Enter TuneSpan.

The Situation

I purchased a 2011 Macbook Air with a 256GB hard drive. By today’s standards this isn’t all that large. In fact, it’d be on the small side, but the big differentiating factor is the fact that it is a Solid State Drive. The speed enhancements are huge and the cost follows suit. I had about 240GB occupied in my existing Macbook which would be under the storage capacity of the Air but not by much. I was a little worried about this, but decided other elements of the device weighed that out.

A month or so after I had my new machine set up I was working on some ways to manage my photo library between my Air SSD drive and my external drive. I found some interesting tricks and thought it’d be great to apply some similar principles to my iTunes library. I want to keep everything digitally stored, but some things I just don’t need to have with me all the time.

After some research, it seemed there were some manual ways to go about this, but they seemed pretty cumbersome and I had visions of creating a gigantic mess of my iTunes library. I then stumbled upon an application called TuneSpan. This app essentially takes all the tricky aspects out of that process and makes storing some media on an external drive while still keeping it in your iTunes library super easy. Let me take you on a tour of the application to show you how it works.

Spanning

Spanning is the core feature of TuneSpan. What is meant by the term is that you’re able to span your iTunes library to different storage spaces. In my situation, I want to store my movies and TV shows on my external USB drive. By spanning, my iTunes library is seemingly unchanged. The differentiating factor is that I’ll only be able to play that media when connected to my external drive or restore it back (we’ll talk about that shortly) to the SSD as needed.

The Spanning Process

TuneSpan will display your iTunes library and you’ll see all sorts of ways to filter and search your library for specific items. I only have an interest in spanning movies and TV shows right now so this is helpful for me to quickly locate those specific items. The interface is very iTunes-esque and for better or worse you should feel comfortable navigating the application.

You’ll see a long gray bar towards the bottom of the application window that reads “Drop Media Here to Select for Spanning”. You’ll see queues all over this application to aid you in performing each task. This works exactly as advertised.

Locate the media and drag it to this gray bar. You’ll see a running total of the items selected to span along with the total time and disk space. You can continue to add items to the bar for spanning and your running totals will adjust accordingly. Clicking on that gray bar will allow you to browse what files you currently have selected. If you’re doing a pile of items all at the same time this can be really handy to keep track of what you’ve already selected and make sure you didn’t miss something.

If you’re viewing all media you’ll see blue dots next to those items that are already spanned.

The second part of this process is selecting where you want these items spanned to. Here is where we pick a space on our external drive. I’m going to follow the queue and “click here” to open up a file browser window. I’m going to locate the iTunes Archive on my external disk, select that directory and press open. A subfolder per the iTunes organizational model will be created and if it already exists the item will be placed there. The selected directory shows in the space at the very bottom of the application window. Another method to selecting the span location is to simply open Finder and drag the director it into the lighter gray space at the very bottom of the application window. A dotted line box makes it pretty obvious where to drop it.

Once you’ve selected the items you’d like spanned and the location where you’d like them spanned to you can press the button at the bottom of the window to initiate the span. First an “are you sure?” dialog box will appear providing some useful information to make sure your span goes without a hitch. After clicking the span button on that box a window will appear displaying the progress of the span.

If you’re working with a handful of songs it will be really quick. If you’re dealing with multiple movies this will take some time. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes after all. If iTunes is open you will get notified to close it. This has caught me a couple times. I couldn’t figure out what was taking so long. TuneSpan was just waiting for me to close iTunes before continuing on.

You’ll be notified when completed and can either hop back into TuneSpan to continue spanning or close the application and move about your business. Your iTunes library will look unchanged. All of the spanned media will display as usual in iTunes. The big difference now will be that the spanned media will only play if the external drive is connected.

Restore

The reversal of what we just accomplished is also possible and TuneSpan calls this a restore. At the bottom of the application there are a couple buttons. They essentially act as a switch telling the application what to do. By default the Span button is selected. To restore we simply press the Restore button. You’ll see an updated set of queues at the bottom of the window.

TuneSpan remembers the original location of the items you’ve spanned so we don’t have to worry about that step while restoring. Just as with the spanning process you locate the files that are spanned and drag them into the space that now reads “Drag Media Here to Select for Restoration”. As you would guess, once you have your items selected, pressing the Restore button will initiate the process. A progress window will appear to let you know how things are going and when it has completed its work.

This may be handy for multiple situations, but the major one that I see is that I’m able to easily move media back and forth as needed depending on my situation. For example, if I’m going to be doing some traveling and won’t have my external drive along I may restore a few movies back onto my Air drive. I don’t have a need to have these on my Air all the time, but knowing that I can easily move them back and forth is comforting to me.

Final Thoughts

TuneSpan has really been a key application, and will continue to be, in my disk space management. The bulk of my drive space is occupied by media so managing that a little more intelligently makes all sorts of sense. I will say that I’m actually enjoying the restriction the Air disk space puts on my computing world. I’m more thoughtful as to what I install and what I save. It’s resulted in a much more tidy machine and the minimalist in me loves that. On the flip side I do want to have, maintain, and sometimes access all sorts of digital media that I just wouldn’t have the disk space for on the local drive. TuneSpan allows me to manage all of that content in a simple, smart way, while still keeping it all very accessible.

TuneSpan isn’t an incredibly complicated application and it essentially does one thing very well. It performs a useful function for a growing crowd of people. The people who’s media libraries are growing faster than their disk space. If you’re one of those people (and I suspect some of you are) I would highly recommend trying out this free application. And if it works for you I’d encourage you to throw a few bucks at the developer.

There are a bunch of websites to allow you to share and discover new music, especially from artists that aren’t as big or popular as they deserve. Perhaps the most widely used of these is one called SoundCloud, which is used by many artists personally.

The app that we are reviewing today is a native SoundCloud client for Mac, made by the same folks behind the website. How good is it? Let’s find out.

Getting Started

SoundCloud.com is a music service that lets you upload, share, and listen to tracks from people all over the world. It isn’t the only site that does this, but it is one of the most popular players in this genre. There are a bunch of artists and labels that have their own accounts and upload free stuff that anyone can listen to.

The SoundCloud Mac app is a client that lets you use the site’s service on your computer while giving you pretty much the complete functionality of the site. Or does it?

Interface

The app does a good job at feeling like a native Mac app. On the top, you can find things like the search button, the volume control and a refresh button. In the center, you have the main frame and two sidebars. The left sidebar is where you can record something, or navigate between different menus like your tracks or your feed of incoming tracks. The main frame is where you can select tracks and view information from them.

The sidebar on the right is the one where you’ll be shown information about the track that is currently selected. Here you can see the cover, name, tags, user, and more information; as well as favorite or buy the track.

On the bottom you have a small box where you can see the title and artist of the track that is being played, as well as the control buttons (pause, play, forward) and the navigation bar for the track.

Features

I guess what the SoundCloud people push the most with this app is the ability to directly record a sound into the app and upload it right then and there. But I don’t think it’s a very functional feature, especially if you are a serious musician who might need a more complex tool for editing and recording with several layers. Still, the feature is there, along with a few others that the site does not have, like queueing tracks.

Aside from those, there is everything that you can find on the site, almost. You can love, search, buy, and listen to tracks. You can share what you’re listening to on sites like Facebook and Twitter, view your own tracks and create playlists. There’s also support for the Incoming and Exclusive features from the site, which are used when other users share music with you (though I can’t seem to get the Incoming feature to work).

Shortcomings

Something that has always annoyed me about SoundCloud is the lack of support for Last.fm’s scrobbling. I’m a huge fan and user of Last.fm, and this issue has stopped me from using SoundCloud a bunch of times, and instead going out to try sites like The Sixty One or Grooveshark. Unfortunately, this app doesn’t fulfill my wish of combining scribbling with SoundCloud.

Also, there are some features that should be pretty basic and that should obviously be included in the app, but somehow are missing. For example, you can’t exactly directly upload a track of yours, you can just record a track into the app and then upload it. There is also no way to look at the tracks that are “Hot,” like you can do in the site. This flaw, coupled with the fact that the “Incoming” feature does not work for me, makes it a bit hard to discover new music.

Conclusion

Overall, this app does a decent job of being a SoundCloud client, but nothing more than that. Even though it seems like it tries to add something more to the functionality of the site, it actually fails and gives us less options than there are in the site. I think the fact that there is no way to view the current popular tracks is a huge flaw, especially for a music discovery app.

I like the SoundCloud service and I’ve used it many times before, but I don’t think this app could help me with what I use the service for. For example, I can’t exactly use this app for uploading my own tracks or if I want to listen to a track that I got a link to from my Twitter feed. I like the playlist and queue features, but I don’t think they are very useful if you don’t have a functional source for new cool music.

What do you think? Have you tried SoundCloud or similar services before? What about this app?

When you purchased your Mac, you probably wanted the best web browser offered, whether it be Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, or some other worthy candidate. After all, quality hardware should also contain quality software. There has been much controversy on what truly is the best browser available for a Mac. Some say that Chrome is, and always will be, the best ever.

Others believe that it’s easier to stay with the default browser because it offers more functionality to the OS. While this is true and I’m not going to attempt to change those believers’ opinions, there is more to the situation than just that. For instance, Chrome does offer more than plugins than Safari does extensions, but this doesn’t necessarily make the latter a weak and functionless application, it just makes it a bit less desirable.

If you’re interested in finding out what browser truly holds the best functionality, speed and other elements then please join in after the break for some information that should fulfill your desires.

Warning: Strong Opinions Inside
When reading the content below, keep in mind that this is an opinion piece. The viewpoints are based on personal experiences and the conclusions reached are perfectly arguable. That’s where you come in. Feel free to leave a respectful comment stating your own thoughts.

Safari

First and foremost, it seems rather fitting to take a look at the famous Apple browser: Safari. Safari, as most know, is the default browser for all of Apple’s platforms, including iOS. I absolutely love Safari for iOS because it offers very simple browsing at a fairly adequate speed.

Features

Nearly everyone knows that Safari has a lot of great features for the Mac, some of which are exclusive to the browser. Directly below you will find a brief list of the most notable features within Apple’s browser.

Exclusive

• iCloud. Yes, that one word alone is worth using the browser. iCloud syncs all of your bookmarks between your Mac and iOS devices automatically. It’s extremely useful when you’re not in the mood to sync your iPad just to add some bookmarks.
• Reading List. Before the introduction of Safari 5 and OS X Lion, folks used online services such as Instapaper, Readability, Read It Later, and others to compile a list of articles that they would like to read at a later time. These were great for people who were in the middle of a task or at work and couldn’t read the important news immediately. Apple saw how often users made use of these wonderful services and integrated it into their new version of Safari that was included with Lion, their latest OS released in July of this year. The built-in browser plugin works extremely well as an alternative to the services that I previously referred to, especially since it syncs the list between all of your iOS devices, providing an easy and fast way to have something with you wherever you go. However, one thing that Reading List doesn’t offer is the offline reading capability that Instapaper apps do. Let’s hope this isn’t an intentional feature omission, but instead just a future idea that will most likely be introduced along with a new update.
• Extensions. While Safari’s expandability is minimal, several (I know, there aren’t that many, but the quantity is constantly getting bigger) of the extensions offered for the browser are actually quite good.
• User agent switcher. Here’s a helpful feature that can only be turned on by an extension in both Chrome and Firefox. Have you ever wanted to test out your website on another browser and not have to switch to it? You can do this with just a few clicks in Safari’s Develop menu.

Common

• Web Inspector. One of the hidden gems of Safari is the integrated web inspector for developers. While this isn’t necessarily useful to the average user, web developers find it extremely helpful when trying to locate an error in their code or modifying a certain element on a page.
• Activity. Safari provides a way to monitor the resource usage of your current browser session with its built in task manager. You can find the “Activity” function within the Window menu. This feature is also available in Chrome, but not Firefox.

… And lack thereof

Yes, Apple left out a few what I would call vital features in their main Internet browser, but it’s only customary because that’s how Apple’s evolution works. Some of these excluded features include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Themes. While this is Apple and the company isn’t big on customization, theming is available in both Chrome and Firefox, leaving Safari in the dust on the customization front.
• Link hover. Most users of Chrome know what this is. I’m talking about that little feature that lets you peek at a link’s location before clicking on it. It’s located in the bottom left corner of the screen. There’s actually an extension called “Invisible Status Bar” that enables it on Safari, but I wish Apple would officially add the feature to the browser one day.

Issues

Don’t think for a minute that just because it’s Apple browser means that it doesn’t have any problems. In fact, it has quite a few of them. These aren’t mere feature omissions that I’m speaking of, but rather bugs and performance issues that actually inhibit the browser’s ability to do it’s job. I’m not going to write an entire paragraph on them because it’s easier for you to just skim over a list, so I’ll let you evaluate these aforementioned “issues” for yourself below. And don’t worry because judgement day will come for the competition as well.

• Spellcheck says “I don’t want to work right now.” At random times during the day, I experience a loss in spellcheck abilities. This is fine for people who don’t write all day, but it’s not helpful for people who type a lot at a fast speed because they tend to make mistakes. Fortunately, there is perfect solution that’s two clicks away — provided that it’s working.
• Sorry, but it’s beach ball time. I often experience lockups and screen freezing when scrolling up or down a page. This isn’t because I have only 4 GB of RAM either, since nearly three of those are free at the time of use. I think the problem is Safari’s constant CPU and disk usage that sometimes just gets snagged. The issue here is, I experience it at least 10+ times per day and it’s not very helpful when you spend most of your day working on the Internet.
• Reader sticks to the desktop when minimized. I’ve had several issues with the integrated Reader function of Safari when it’s minimized. Check out the screenshot here to understand what I’m talking about. It’s a pretty major bug that could probably be fixed easily, but currently the only way to fix it is by pressing esc.

Chrome

 

 

Next up we have Google’s famous browser of “speed.” Since its inception in 2008, the browser has been going strong with an average of 30% of the browser market share, and it’s growing rapidly. But why is it so amazing? Let’s investigate.

Features

Chrome has a vast array of useful features that are nearly as great as the competition, but there are a few great exclusive features thrown in that make it a valuable browser — for some folks. Shall we take a look at them?

Exclusive

• Sync. As most know, Chrome has a built-in synchronization system that will back up nearly any of the features that you use in the browser and save them in case your computer crashes. This is also very helpful if you have a few computers and wish to sync your apps, auto-fill, bookmarks, extensions, Omnibox history, passwords, preferences, and themes between them all. The drawback is that there’s no support for mobile devices, such as an iPhone, iPad or Android device, so Apple’s browser naturally wins here with its iOS sync support — even though the mobile browser technically doesn’t have extensions and themes to sync, you get the point.
• Apps. Even though this is Apple’s biggest thing, Google took the idea of a web-based application for their browser. The Chrome Web Store has a lot of great browser apps and games available to anyone for free. Chrome web apps also help if you’re using the “new tab page” as your homepage because a lot of them are practically bookmarks on the new tab page, as opposed to the traditional bookmark bar and menu.
• Multiple profiles. This feature was just added to the Chrome stable release a few days back. It aims to give members of a large family a personalized browser so that they may have their own set of apps, bookmarks, auto-fill, etc. This feature can also be used if you have a few different emails and want to get a different browsing experience — with some extra bookmarks and other such data that may be tied to a certain account — on all of them.
• Speed. Google says that “Chrome is designed to be fast,” and when using it, you’ll definitely be able to tell the difference between something like Firefox.
• Simplicity. Chrome is supposed to be simple, but in some areas I most humbly disagree. In fact, at times the browser can get downright complicated and unusable.
• Translation. This is by far the most useful element of Chrome for me. Google has integrated their Translate service into the browser to make it easy for readers to be able to translate web pages with one click. While Google Translate is far from accurate, it’s close enough for people to get an idea of what they’re reading so that they may continue their browsing ventures. I still think that it’s annoying to see such translation issues at times, but the system will only mature with time.
• Themes. Customization is a feature that many users love, and Chrome offers themes to change the somewhat-dull default appearance of the browser. Safari does not offer this, and it’s customary because Apple would never do such a thing. Firefox and Opera also allow this feature. Opera allows it in “Skins,” however. There are many beautiful themes available for Chrome, and you can even make your own, which gives it an advantage over Safari in the customization section.

Common

• Web Inspector. Chrome, too has a way to inspect the webpage that you’re currently visiting (Like Safari, Chrome is built on Webkit so they share several features). By right clicking the page and clicking “Inspect Element,” you will be brought to a screen where the page’s HTML code is displayed. Again, this is helpful for web developers only and traditional daily users won’t care about it.
• Extensions. Even though this wasn’t a “common” element in Safari, it is in Chrome because the only difference is the quality of browser add-ons. Chrome has a Web Store where extensions can be found, as Safari has a webpage where they can be found. There’s a ton of stuff on the Chrome Web Store though, much more than you’ll find on most lists of Safari extensions.
• Multi-touch gestures. Chrome has these, but they’re cheesy at best. In Safari, the whole page moves and it feels natural, but in Chrome it’s just an ugly transparent/white arrow that moves across the screen.

… And what’s lacking?

Chrome, sadly, does not have a “Reading List” or a built-in reading interface as Safari does, which leads me to the latter. I really love these features and use them daily, but if you don’t then there’s no big deal. I find that the other issue with Chrome is that if you want any additional features, such as the one that I just mentioned, then you’ll need to get an extension for it. This isn’t hard to do, but it does take some extra computer resources which is disruptive if you’re trying to keep the browser “simple.”

Expandability, such as the themes that I mentioned above, is good, but it’s also a resource hog at times. When you go into the Activity Monitor, it’s not welcoming to see that Chrome is using 300 MB of RAM for one single tab. Then you can head to Chrome’s own “Task Manager” to find out what is using all of these resources. This lack of speed is the reason why I left Google’s browser for Safari, among other reasons that I mentioned above.

Issues

This could be my favorite section (and yours), because it’s a place where I have the opportunity to bash Chrome, but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I will point out the obvious and most prominent issues within Google’s browser. Please note that I am not using the beta or developer versions of the browser, but instead just the stable build. When venturing into the testing path, I warn you that it may be filled with a bit of crashing and constant lock-ups.

• Known issues. Every browser has these, but Google actually has a public page to tell you what they are. The issues range from installing the browser to the usual crashes. The thing that I notice most with my evaluation of Chrome is the frequent crashing that I experience. I wouldn’t say that it happens every day, but it does occur more than I’d like to see it. So far, Safari has only crashed about once in my three months of use — which is pretty good, even though there is the somewhat-frequent somewhat-not appearance of the beach ball.
• Chrome occasionally wants to join in on the beach ball game. Yes, this is also a prominent issue, but it occurs just about as much as it does in Safari.
• Images decide to stay on their own servers. Many people have experienced image loading issues with certain web pages in Chrome.
• Full screen glitches. If you use Chrome on a daily basis with Lion, then you’ll notice a few glitches in full screen mode, such as the bookmarks bar disappearing or the dock getting stuck on the bottom of the screen. Google just has to work out some of these kinks over time, but Safari is working perfect in Lion since it was practically built for the OS.
• “Aw, Snap!” Seen that? I have. In fact, quite a few web pages tend to crash randomly and won’t ever work. I’ve tried restarting Chrome, restarting my Mac and even reinstalling Chrome … All to no avail. For some reason, the browser has some major issues with some websites. However, there are a lot of sites that Safari isn’t fully compatible with as well, so this is technically a tie.

Firefox

 

Now here’s one of the legends. It’s surprising that anyone even uses Mozilla’s once-famous browser anymore. I’ve found that it’s extremely sluggish and just doesn’t measure up to the competition these days, but some people still tend to stay with their ways. Below you will find out what’s so valuable about this browser, followed by the issues with it.

Features

The classic browser is mostly composed of common features that are shared between all browsers, but there are still a few exclusive ones in it. Check them out below.

Exclusive

• “100,000s of Ways to Customize.” Mozilla claims that there are hundreds of thousands of ways to customize their browser, ranging from theming to the many add-ons available. Firefox really stands out in this area, both the themes and the available extensions are stellar.
• “High Performance.” Even though I’ve never had a good “fast” experience with Firefox, the developer claims that it is supposed to be fast. I find that it has a lag on some pages, while others completely slow down my computer. There’s no excuse for this except for the obvious fact that it’s not polished. When I have a fairly speedy Internet connection (1 Mbps+), I’ve found that Safari, Chrome and even Internet Explorer are much swifter at loading web pages than Mozilla’s browser is. (Obviously IE is on a Windows machine, but it has nearly the same specs as my Mac.)

Common

• Sync. Firefox, too, offers a synchronization solution for mobile users. The nice thing is they actually have an iOS app, which allows you to sync all of your bookmarks with your mobile iOS device — that is, providing that you use their browser and not Safari’s, which is not exactly helpful since the app is very underdeveloped and needs some feature enhancements.

Again, what are the lacking ingredients here?

I could go on forever about what Firefox is lacking, but I do not wish to bore you. I personally don’t think that the browser is very polished, nor has it kept up with Mac OS X’s development very well. Firefox isn’t optimized for Lion, which means there’s no multi-touch gestures, full-screen mode, Lion scrollbars, or smooth bounce-back scrolling that you find in Safari and Chrome. It’s a shame too, because the browser could actually score better if it were more modern. With every update of an entire version (+1.0), Mozilla just adds a few performance improvements and bug fixes with no exclusive features, which pushes their browser to the bottom of the wanted list.

Issues

Firefox isn’t saturated with issues as some of the more feature-inhabited browsers are, but that’s merely because it lacks the features mentioned above. I suppose it’s suitable for people who don’t mind some sluggishness and prefer a simpler browser with less menu items, but for me it just lacks too many things.

Others

There are a few additional alternatives to Safari out there, but I prefer to stick with the basic and most popular solutions. For instance, Opera has served me well, but the interface is ugly and the browser is not compatible with certain websites that I visit daily. If you’re in the market for something else, check out these 10 Amazing Web Browsers That Aren’t Safari.

Conclusion

So there you have it! As you can probably tell, I personally prefer Safari since it has the most usability and offers the best features on a Mac. Not to mention it’s developed by Apple and has some integration into the OS which other browsers just can’t match. On a Windows PC, I would recommend Chrome any day. I leave the decision of what you should use to yourself because I’ve shown every pro and con (that I could find) of each browser. Hopefully this was both informative and entertaining. If you have a favorite browser, then please share it with us in the comments and tell us why it has been so good to you.

Thanks to iTunes, podcasts have become increasingly popular, and with the power of the Mac anyone can harness that popularity and create their own.

This guide will walk you through every step of creating your own podcast, from getting the right hardware to publishing it online. This is the definitive guide to podcasting on the Mac -just add content!

You’ll need a few things before we get started.

Hardware

All you really need to get started podcasting is a Mac and a microphone. Your Mac probably has one built in, but you might want to invest in a nicer microphone and a few other goodies.

As far as microphones go The Yeti Pro by Blue is a great choice for around $220, and, at only $70 Samson’s C01U delivers good sound quality, but at a much more affordable price. No matter which microphone you choose try to buy one that is USB powered, they tend to work nicer for podcasting purposes. You’ll also need a decent pair of headphones to avoid any echo/reverb, earbuds will work just fine, but remember, you’ll likely have to wear them for a while so they should be comfortable.

Anything else should really be considered optional. A good mixer is great if you have a dual microphone setup and a large hard drive is preferable for the huge files you’ll accumulate over time.

Also worth noting is the room where you’ll record the podcast., Use common sense for this part, avoid large and/or noisy spaces and opt for a small room without much echo or background noise, trial and error will be your best friend for this step.

Software

Luckily, the Mac includes much of the software you’ll need to get started. If it’s just you recording in-studio you only really need to use GarageBand, which comes preloaded on every new Mac.

Most people, however, will want to bring in guests over iChat or audio from their computer (sound effects etc.), for that you’ll want a really great app from Rouge Amoeba called Audio Hijack Pro. At only $32, it’s an awesome bargain.

Rouge Amoeba just released an app called Piezo which is essentially a trimmed down version of Audio Hijack Pro, it’s only $10 and should work well for more simple projects.

In addition, for remote guests Skype works okay, but I’ve found that iChat sounds and works better overall, so we’ll use it for this guide. Like GarageBand, it comes free on every newer Mac.

You’ll most likely want to edit your podcast after your done, for that GarageBand will work, but the free Audacity is far more powerful. Finally you’ll need a free app from the Mac App Store called Podcast Assistant, which we’ll discuss more when we get to publishing your podcast.

Recording your Podcast

If you’ve got the right hardware and downloaded all the required software we can move on to actually recording your podcast. For this example we’ll record with one remote guest over iChat, which is a pretty standard scenario.

Step 1:
You’ll first want to fire up Audio Hijack Pro and click on the iChat Preset. Press the mute button to avoid an echo, then press “Hijack.”

Step 2:
iChat will now open, Audio Hijack Pro is now also listening to iChat’s audio as well. Call your remote co-host.

Step 3:
Once they’ve accepted your call and you are ready to begin, press the “Record” button in Audio Hijack Pro. When you’re done, hit the same button again.

Post-Production

At this point you’ve finished recording your first podcast and you’re ready to make it nice and shiny with some post-production. If you like you can edit it in a program like Audacity or GarageBand, these programs are very popular and you should have no problem learning how to use them with a quick Google search (we have a great GarageBand intro series). You’ll also want to have some album art at a 600px by 600px resolution in jpg format.

Getting it Published

Some services such as Podomatic offer to do the rest of the work for you, but their free plans are limited and their “pro” plans are really overpriced. Instead, we’re going to do a little DIY magic and publish your podcast on the cheap.

Step 1:
You’ll need a flexible Web Host of sorts. For beginners try Weebly. If you’re feeling more advanced WordPress should do the trick. I’ll use Weebly for this example, their Pro service is only $32 a year and it allows unlimited file bandwith and individual file uploads of up to 100mb each. That’s enough for an audio podcast up to 2hr15min uncompressed.

Step 2:
Open up Podcast Assistant, click “Start a Podcast” and fill in all the fields. Be descriptive, iTunes likes having thourough descriptions. You’ll need to have uploaded your first episode and album art to your server by now.

Step 3:
Upload the XML file you created with at least one episode to your web host. Keep the URL to this file the same every time you add an episode. For example it should always look like mysite.com/podcastname.xml so iTunes knows where it should look.

Step 4:
Now head over here to submit your podcast to iTunes. Thanks to Podcast Assistant you won’t have to do any additional work. Just know that Apple reviews their podcasts so it might take awhile before it appears in iTunes.

Conclusion

Making a Podcast is a great way to get your voice heard. With the help of the Mac and a few tools your podcast can really shine, and more importantly, be seen, thanks to it’s presence in the iTunes Store.

Believe it or not this post covered just the basics, I didn’t even mention live streaming your show or distributing a video podcast, but I might cover those topics in a future post of their own. The Mac can be a really powerful tool for content creation and a podcast is just the tip of the iceberg.

For the freelancer or small business owner, client management, job management, time tracking, and invoicing all tend to be more complicated than is often necessary. But iBiz greatly simplifies all these processes by providing a clean and intuitive interface that is not overwhelming or hard to understand.

Keeping track of the time spent on a project, invoicing, invoice tracking, managing clients and job history are all items iBiz handles with ease.

Solving a Problem

A few years ago I found myself needing to track and manage clients, jobs, invoices; in general I needed small business management software. So I got the software you’re supposed to get for that sort of thing: Quickbooks. The problem was that Quickbooks was so far above my needs or my level of understanding I eventually gave up in disgust.

I switched to tracking my time with spreadsheets and creating my invoices with Excel (and later Apple’s Numbers) and saving them in an invoice folder. Then of course I would hope to remember which clients owed me money. But when my wife switched our home finances from Quicken to iBank by IGG software earlier this year, she also suggested I look into IGG’s iBiz. I downloaded the trial and was immediately impressed at its ease of use compared to what I learned to expect with Quickbooks. After a few days with the software I easily made the decision to purchase.

The Interface

When you first open iBiz 4, you are presented with an easy and intuitive setup wizard. There are just 4 steps to go through.

1. Company information and logo (if you have one)
2. Initial Clients
3. Default Rates
4. Document Monitor

You are then presented with the iBiz interface.

I’ve traditionally been a bit flummoxed by any type of financial or bookkeeping application, but as you can see iBiz looks pretty intuitive. There aren’t a gargantuan amount of buttons or an undue amount of functionality hidden away in menus. I’ve found it very easy to work with. Getting started is as easy as selecting (or adding) a client and adding a new project.

Estimates

In the estimates tab below the project browser you can add job events, anticipated costs, mileage or anything else you can think to throw in there. This makes it easy to set up a job and submit a bid. Unfortunately this is where I ran into my first small hiccup. While there are a few starter invoice templates, there were no job bid templates. I was able to duplicate and modify the simple invoice template to make a bid/estimate template, but it wasn’t ideal.

The invoice template editor uses the same controls as Apple’s Text Edit which has the advantage of being somewhat familiar, but the disadvantage of being somewhat limiting. I was able however to create estimate and invoice templates for my use that I’ve been happy with. The nice thing about estimates is that even though you create one with the same command you use to initiate an invoice, and it appears in the client billing area, iBiz still treats it as an estimate.

Job Events

Adding an actual job event is just as easy as adding estimate events. After switching to the “Work” tab, clicking the plus button brings up the same job editor as the estimate tab. Optionally, you can also copy and paste jobs from the estimate tab.

An optional way of adding timed events to iBiz is to use the job timer, but I rarely find this a good fit for my workflow. I can see how it could be quite useful, I simply have not found a completely practical use for it.

Invoicing

Creating an invoice is fairly straightforward. There are jobs that I do that require me to invoice as I go, and there are jobs that require me to invoice after the entire project is complete. iBiz does either type. The only caveat is that when you create an invoice for a project, it will create an invoice for all un-invoiced work. It’s a little annoying if you need to invoice for, say the first five job events, but you’ve also entered job events 6 and beyond.

The best way around this is to create the invoice before you add job events beyond the one you wish to invoice up to. But the other work around is to toggle the checkbox next to the job event(s) you do not wish to invoice yet. This checkbox is the “invoiced” status checkbox. It tells iBiz this item has already been invoiced. Just be sure to uncheck those events after your invoice is created.

I did tweak my invoice templates just a bit. I started with the “Simple Invoice” template, but even that had too much clutter for my taste.

I duplicated that template and removed everything I considered to be extraneous for my needs.

Once an invoice is created, the client list will show the balance for the client, and you can easily see open invoices for a client in the “Billing” tab (overdue invoices will show the balance in red lettering, as well as the number of overdue invoices in the client sidebar).

Once payment has been received, you can right click on an invoice and choose to add a payment for the selected invoice. Nothing could be more simple.

iBiz also has several other features that many will no doubt find useful. I can see how iBiz can be used for even more things than I use it for. Some additional features are:

• Statements
• iCal Sync
• Address Book Integration
• To Dos on a per project basis
• Document Monitor
• Reminders
• Client Groups

My Take

At the price point of $39.99 this was a no brainer for me. In fact I’m calling this software a real steal at that price. The ease of managing clients, projects and invoices have greatly simplified my life in dealing with clients and keeping track of who owes me money, which lets me do more of the work I love to do.

I give this app an 8 of 10. I did have to dock some points for the templates. I feel like IGG Software has a bit of work to do in that area. Estimate/invoice templates just aren’t as intuitive as they should be, and the “Text Edit” style template editor leaves something to be desired. But if you are intimidated by Quickbooks, either because of the price point, or because of the ease of use factor, I’d say iBiz is the app for you.

If you’re a fan of CSS preprocessors, then you know that despite their usefulness, they can be a bit of a pain to work with at times. Most of them require some sort of Terminal voodoo to compile, which immediately scares off a good portion of potential users.

As always, the Mac development community has come to the rescue with some amazing tools that completely take the effort out of the process. Follow along as we take a look at five great apps that will help you work with LESS, Sass, Stylus and even some non-CSS languages like CoffeeScript and HAML.

What Is a CSS Preprocessor?

A CSS preprocessor is a tool that makes writing CSS easier, more flexible and arguably even more fun. Some purists despise preprocessors and wouldn’t dream of using them, but others, such as the folks at Twitter, have used them as the cornerstone for massive frameworks that rapidly speed up web development.

Typically, a CSS preprocessor adds some interesting functionality to CSS such as variables, mixins, functions, nesting, etc. Some even seek to dramatically redefine the CSS syntax so it’s quicker and easier to write. Developers differ on which preprocessor is the best, but ultimately the output is plain old CSS so which you want to use comes down to a matter of preference. Here are the three current forerunners in this area:

• LESS – The dynamic stylesheet language
• Sass – Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets
• Stylus – Expressive, dynamic, robust CSS

As I mentioned in the introduction, there are several Mac apps that make working with CSS preprocessors much easier and more enjoyable. Let’s take a look.

Five Apps to Process Your Files

Commenter Additions

Our commenters have pointed out a few great apps that should be added to this list. Here they are:

• SimpLESS – A free and simple LESS compiler.
• Scout – An open source, free compiler for Compass and Sass.

Conclusion

No matter which CSS preprocessor you favor, the tools above will help you compile your code and perform various other functions with almost zero work on your part. Considering that most of them are completely free, you might as well give these apps a shot and see what you think!

Have you used these or any other similar apps? Leave a comment and let us know!

“It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”
– Steve Jobs

According to Walter Isaacson, these words were spoken by Steve Jobs regarding a new television that Apple is working on (reportedly not a set-top box like the Apple TV but a real television). Over the past couple of months the rumor mill has been overflowing with speculation and supposed proof surrounding this mysterious device.

The only thing that we know for certain at this point is that we currently have no way of knowing which rumors are true, which are pure fabrication and which are somewhere in between.

One of the most interesting points of speculation surrounding the Apple television (iTV?) it is the timeline. Some say that the device is something that Apple is planning for the distant future, perhaps when the cost of displays comes down. Others see a 2012 release as imminent.

What do you think? Is this thing real? If so, will we get our hands on it in 2012? Cast your vote in the poll and explain your answer in the comment section below.

It might be a mouthful, but the AppStorm Business Productivity Bundle Giveaway is here! It’s holiday season, and AppStorm has got you a real treat…

We have 5 bundles to giveaway, each including a license to Daylite and Billings Pro – it’s the perfect combination for getting your business organised and making money!

Read on to find out more about these two awesome apps, and how to get a chance to grabbing both of them for yourself.

Daylite

Daylite is a business productivity manager designed to help you manage your business and your team. More than just a CRM, Daylite can be used to manage your company’s projects, sales, contacts, tasks, appointments, meetings, notes, and email.

Daylite can be easily customized to suit the exact needs of your business, and has an illustrious array of users all over the world. We’re big fans of the excellent software that Marketcircle has created, and I’m pleased to give you a chance to power your business with it!

Daylite is a first class solution for managing your business on OS X.

Billings Pro

We took another look at Billings Pro last year and how to make team management simple. Ian Tromp noted how;

If you’re a small or medium-sized gang of workers frustrated by the limitations of not being able to bring together your various projects, without needing to pay sometimes hefty monthly subsciptions, then Billings Pro is an excellent option.

Billings Pro is a professional, multi-user time tracking and invoicing solution for the Mac and iPhone, with a simple web interface for timekeepers. Today we’re giving you the opportunity to get a license for both Daylite and Billings Pro, two apps that could increase your business productivity and profitability by leaps and bounds!

We have 5 bundles up for grabs, each with a license for both Daylite and Billings Pro – get involved!

How to Enter

Entering the competition is really easy. All you need to do is:

1. Post a link to this competition – either on your website, or via Twitter
2. Leave a comment, letting me know where you posted the link and mentioning the top 2 struggles that you have with running your business

Best of luck, and I’ll be picking the winners in a couple of weeks.