Category: Mac

That’s right! AppStorm has now landed on Google+ and will be delivering you app related goodness right to your Stream! We’re excited to let you know that now, in addition to Twitter and Facebook, you can get involved with Mac.AppStorm over at Google+! We’ll be using Google+ to let you know about the latest app news, reviews, how-tos, and roundups. Read on to find out more…

AppStorm on Google+

Through Google+, we’ll be publishing links to our new reviews, how-tos, roundups, and lots more! It’s going to be an extension of the AppStorm site and community, in the same way we treat Twitter and Facebook.

Don’t have a Google+ account? You can head over and create one here, or find out a little more about how it works.

AppStorm on Google+

Head to the overall AppStorm page for easy access to all of your favourite AppStorm sites, or click here to check out Mac.AppStorm – add us to your circles and get involved!

Browsing the App Store for a decent RSS app brings you little else than Reeder, which is an amazing app, and its hoard of clones, which tend to be not so amazing. As great as Reeder is, it seems to have given developers a mad case of tunnel vision that they just can’t get over.

For this reason, I’ve been pretty excited about Caffeinated, a soon to be released Google Reader client from Curtis Hard. Though it builds on the advancements of Reeder, it stands on its own as a gorgeous new take on the RSS reader. We recently got our hands on Caffeinated for a review, read on to see it in action.

Meet Caffeinated

Caffeinated uses a familiar three column interface with your subscriptions on the left, the individual items in the middle and the article preview on the right.

Caffeinated

At a glance, Caffeinated looks like your typical Mac-style interface. However, once you spend a few seconds with it, you can see that it’s somehow much slicker and more refined. There are subtle gradients and hints of texture that really give Caffeinated a polished feel that you don’t get from other apps.

There’s a sort of layered appeal that makes the interface seem slightly three dimensional without taking skeuomorphic metaphors too far (the preview area is a different story, more on that later).

Subscriptions and Article List

Browsing Articles

In the screenshot above, you can see the typical RSS app workflow: you’ve got unread, all articles and starred sitting above the folders that you’ve set up for your subscriptions. In addition, without any articles selected, the main content area shows the super attractive Caffeinated icon with an unread count.

The Unread Count

There are a lot of little UI touches that make this app great. For instance, if you select an article from the second column, it not only highlights but also rises above the other content and stays fixed while you scroll. This allows you to easily see which article you’ve selected from any point in the list.

Your selection stays with you as you scroll

There’s also a search bar at the top of this list that allows you to quickly filter the content. It’s not where you’d expect it to be, but it’s prominent enough that you can’t miss it.

Reading Experience

The real thing that sets Caffeniated apart is the reading experience, which definitely breaks the typical mold.

The Caffeinated Reading View

As you can see, this area is super attractive and bursting with custom detail. Here we see the app flirting with some of that faux realism that Apple has decided is its new preferred method of UI design. I’m not too crazy about it in iCal and Address Book, but I think this app implements the same idea in a nicer, more subtle fashion (perhaps a little too much texture on the paper).

Reading articles in Caffeinated is a pleasant experience. The contrast ratio is just about perfect, the images are attractively styled with a thin white border and hint of a shadow and the content column (including both text and images) responds immediately to window size changes while the other columns in the app keep their size.

Hovering over an image or link brings about this pop-up menu

Customizing the Text

In truth, I found the default text size to be a little small in Caffeinated. Further, every time I see Arial I can’t help but think, “Why not Helvetica?”

To me, a good interface is one that I can make my own and fortunately the developer of Caffeinated seems to agree. Right-clicking on the preview area allows you to customize the text to your liking. Addressing my issues with the font took only seconds.

Customizing the Text

Other Goodies

Caffeinated is stocked full of all the features you need and want in a Google Reader client: plenty of sharing options, Read It Later/Instapaper support, control over refreshes and how long to keep old articles, there are even options to turn on and off animations and control the full-screen look.

Other Goodies

More to Come

Interestingly enough, the features that I’m most excited about weren’t even ready for me to try yet. Namely, custom theming and third party plugins.

The mere presence of these two items means great things for this little app in the future. As soon as the API is released, you can expect to see a nice influx of new visual options and awesome features. I can’t wait to see how the app evolves with these additions in the future.

Still In Beta

Keep in mind that Caffeinated is still very much under development and not ready for a public release yet. Consequently, I did run into a major issue that led to an extremely lengthy initial launch that maxed out my CPU and pretty much crippled my machine.

However, once I played with the app long enough to get everything loaded and limit the number of unread downloads, everything sped right up and it’s been downright zippy ever since. Other than that, I haven’t experienced any other issues. In fact, the developer promises me that the final release version will contain what he believes to be the fastest Google Reader API ever built!

The Reader to Watch in 2012

The wait is nearly over for the official launch of the app, but in the mean time, anyone can participate in the public beta at GeekyGoodness. Go try it out and be sure to follow @caffeinatedapp for the latest news and updates regarding the app.

The slick UI, awesome attention to detail, buttery smooth functionality and upcoming extendability will make this a major contender for Google Reader fans in the year to come. I’ll hold off on scoring this one for now just because it’s undergoing so many changes at the moment. When it’s released we’ll have an updated review for you to check out. In the mean time let us know what you think in the comment section below.

With the multiple common web browsers these days, designing websites that work on all of them can be a strain, especially when they each read CSS in different ways. Even if you’re not someone who creates websites, you’ve no-doubt heard the complaints of many a web coder about the different formats for the multiple web browsers.

JumpZero pounced on the opportunity to create what they call “the missing link between web designers and colors,” and at a launch sale of just $4.99, I think they may just have found it. Head past the break to get an in-depth look at Gradient.

The Basics

When you first set eyes upon the app you’ll immediately notice its simplicity. Just one small window, with a few options. The app, as you would expect, has one main purpose – creating gradients for web browsers; and it has three core functionalities to make them: selecting the two colors, setting the gradient appears, and creating it in CSS.

The one and only screen

Getting The Colors

There are multiple ways of selecting your colors. Clicking on either of the colors in the top section will bring up a color wheel where you can very accurately select your color of choice. Among the choices are the option for Color Sliders, Palettes and even Crayons – all giving you a multitude of ways to get the desired color.

Choosing your colour – spoilt for choice

There are more ways as well; the system-wide color picker can be used for precise selections. This is really useful especially if you see a color and want to be able to recreate it, and it will work on anything on your screen whether its a video or a computer game.

The system-wide colour picker extremely useful

And yes, even more ways. If you really know your colors, or happen to have a certain color memorized, you can enter it via its RGB, HEX or HSL code in the slide-down section. This could be fantastically helpful and make color selection significantly quicker, as well as being able to edit the color very slightly each time.

RGB, HEX and HSL Editing

Setting The Gradient

Once you’ve gone about selecting your two perfect colors, you want to accomplish what you purchased this app for – getting a great looking gradient. You have two options at first, indicated by the slider about one-third of the way down the app, either a linear gradient or a radial gradient.

Linear (left and radial (right) options for your gradients

By choosing “linear” you must then settle on one of four directions; down, right, diagonally down and diagonally up (you may wonder why it there isn’t a left or up etc, but that is because at the top you can easily swap the two colors around, eliminating the need for a left and up). If you select a radial gradient then you have a few more choices as to where you want the gradient to centre. You have nine different options, providing lots of variations for your designs.

CSSing

You’ve chosen your colors and set your the gradient, and you’re just rearing to start implementing it on your site; all that’s left to do is grab the CSS and go. First however, you have the option to customize the CSS output by selecting which browsers you wish to support, color fallbacks and the output type.

Code preferences

Clicking on the “CSS” button will give you a live preview of your code at any time in a popover, and when you’re happy with what you’ve got just click ‘Copy’ (or ? + ? + C) to copy the code into your clipboard and ready to paste into your favorite editor.

Previewing your code

Verdict

Overall this app is excellent at what it’s main purpose is; creating awesome gradients. It’s light-weight and incredibly simple to use, while also packing a bunch of great features such as a universal color grabber and the ability for multiple different gradients.

A nice update would be the ability to create all kinds of custom gradients and not be limited to only nine radial directions, as well as more color stops to create even more interesting gradients. However, I’ve spoken with the developer and I’m certain we’ll see plenty of great updates in the future. In all, the design is simple and elegant, the app runs very fast with smooth animations, resulting in a very pleasant user experience and great end results.

Today I’d like to talk about three tech companies that have each had their ups and downs. Apple, Nintendo and Kodak: How are these companies alike? How are they different?

We’ll discuss how an industry leader falls from grace and whether or not it’s possible to be saved once that happens.

A Heritage of Innovation

You might think that Kodak, Nintendo and Apple are a fairly odd mix of companies to lump together, but I see them as very similar, especially from a historical perspective.

None of these companies really invented the product that they would become known for: Kodak didn’t invent the camera, Apple didn’t invent the computer and Nintendo didn’t invent the video game console. What they did instead was turn their respective product niches into something commonly found in American households.

In 1900, Kodak released the Brownie, which was definitely the Macintosh of the camera industry. It wasn’t the best camera ever produced, instead it was a simple cardboard box. The innovation was that it was both extremely cheap (only $1 when it first arrived) and extremely easy to use. I have a No.2A Brownie from 1920 sitting on my desk which I’ve recently used to snap a few photos and I can attest to the allure of its simple design and user-friendly nature. The Brownie was the first mass market personal camera. It was a huge hit and continued to be a big seller for decades.

My Still-Functional 1920 No.2A Brownie

Nintendo has a similar story, though it began with the dethroning of another great innovator. Atari had really been the pioneer in home game consoles and was selling millions by the early 80s. However, in the great video game crash of 1983, Atari and its competitors hit a slump, likely due to increased competition from the PC market. Companies were declaring bankruptcy, Atari was treading water, it looked like the end for the console gaming industry. Then Nintendo came along with it’s amazing 8-bit console, simple controller and intensely addicting games like Super Mario Bros. The NES changed gaming forever and marked the launch of decades of Nintendo consoles and games, creating addicts like me who spent far too many weekends indoors playing Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.

The Apple story you already know. Both the Apple II and the original Macintosh are widely regarded as some the most significant products responsible for the personal computing industry that we know today.

Falling Out of Favor

Another major similarity between these companies is that they all had a pretty long fall from the top of their markets.

Nintendo has struggled with competition for decades: first Sega, then Sony and finally Microsoft were all responsible for the bruises that Nintendo’s market share took over the years. By the time the Gamecube rolled around, Nintendo was starting to look like the old guy who just couldn’t keep up.

Similarly, Kodak and its film-driven legacy have been all but destroyed by the rise of digital cameras. They fought the change for far too long and chose to invest too much into ultimately unprofitable markets such as inkjet printers. In 1996, Kodak’s stock was selling for over $80 per share, today it hovers around a dollar and whispers of bankruptcy are on the rise.

After Jobs’ ouster in the late 80s, Apple tanked. Microsoft and Windows took over the world and Apple tried unsuccessfully to regain the fame that it once had. A stream of poor leaders and a fragmented product line very nearly killed the company.

Sink or Swim

The history of these three companies teaches us an important lesson. Innovation that changes the world certainly isn’t easy, but perhaps even harder is reinventing yourself and repeating that success after the world has moved on to something new.

The really key to this story comes when you look at how each company handled their pending doom.

Apple

Apple was by far the most drastic of the three: the board fired the CEO and brought back the man who started the company, who then ironically fired the board in addition to scrapping most of Apple’s products. Rather than clinging to the past, Jobs took Apple to the future. He made the iMac, which challenged our very definition of a computer.

More importantly, he led Apple to create the iPod, which launched them on a journey that has led to their worldwide dominance in music players, cell phones and tablets. Apple went from staring bankruptcy in the face to being the most valuable company on the planet. They performed this feat by turning an unremarkable computer company into the most stylish and innovative personal electronics company around.

Nintendo

Nintendo was less extreme, but they still made a huge gamble. The Wii (originally codenamed “Revolution”) represented a complete re-imagining of how we interact with video games. When I first saw that controller I couldn’t believe my eyes. This would surely either mark the rebirth of Nintendo or the death of it.

Fortunately, it turned out to be the former. In the early days the Wii outsold the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in just about every location where they were sold. More importantly, it brought gaming back from the depths of nerd-only purgatory and back into something that anyone could enjoy. Suddenly grandparents were lining up for video game systems that they wouldn’t then hand off to their grandkids, but would instead hook up to their own televisions and play for hours on end.

Without a doubt, Nintendo did an admirable job of re-inventing itself and indeed the entire industry (the Wii sparked competing gesture-driven systems from both Playstation and Microsoft). The major question we’re now asking is, “Was it enough?” The quickly aging Wii is now losing its grasp, getting a beat-down from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and its hoard of wildly successful games. Nintendo is once again faced with the choice of whether to cling to its past successes or fight to win the future. Hopefully, their upcoming “Wii U” system with its fancy new touchscreen controller will be enough. It doesn’t quite sound like a major industry game-changer to me, but I hope they prove me wrong. There is perhaps a new looming foe in this market as well. If Apple ever decides to bring its “anyone can make games” App Store model to television-based gaming, Nintendo will face its largest threat to date.

Kodak

Kodak’s story is currently not an uplifting tale of rebirth, it’s a tragedy. This once beloved and powerful company is now desperately grasping for air. Unlike Apple, a company that cut out their old products in favor of a few choice gambles on the future, Kodak clung to aging technology and feared the revolution that eventually left it in the dust.

Like post-Steve Apple in the early 90s, they spread out into plenty of other areas, which led to a similar fate. Their focus was never clear and they chose not to innovate but to look around and jump into wherever they could find even a hint of a potential market. If you look under the “Commercial Businesses” section of the Kodak website, you see a confusing gaggle of ventures ranging from commercial packaging to gelatin manufacturing.

As Kodak continues to publicly deny its impending doom, they’re undoubtedly in need of some Jobs-like leadership capable of completely revolutionizing who the company is and what it stands for. Unfortunately, many fear the opportunity for such a change has long passed.

The Apple Way

The point of this article is to serve as a case study for why Apple was so successful in bringing itself back from the grave. It’s a rather precarious thing to do and we can clearly see from Kodak that not every company sees such success in this venture. Even Nintendo, a clear leader in innovation, is staring at an uncertain future only a few years after taking back its throne.

As I think of other companies that fit these archetypes, Microsoft brings to mind a clear example of a company that could turn into Kodak if it doesn’t pull its act together. It was once on top of the world, but innovation after innovation from competing companies over the last decade has left it playing catch-up, and its doing a poor job of it. Failures like the Zune, Kin, Windows Mobile, tablets that never launched and even Surface make us all wonder how sustainable Microsoft’s future really is.

Looking around the industry, do you see any other Apples, Nintendos or Kodaks? Where does Google fit into this story? How about Amazon?

We’d like to say a big thank you to last month’s Mac.AppStorm sponsors, and the great software they create! If you’re interested in advertising, you can purchase a banner advertisement through BuySellAds, or sign up for a Weekly Sponsorship slot.

Thank you to the fantastic applications we had sponsoring each week during the month, all of which we personally recommend you download and try out!

• SpyCam – Security apps can be a pain to setup, but Spy Cam is so simple that anyone can use it. As soon as I opened up Spy Cam for the first time, I immediately knew how everything worked. You simply set the interval for how often you want Spy Cam to automatically record a movie using your Mac’s built-in camera and indicate how long each movie should be. From that point on, you can easily keep track of who is snooping around on your machine.
• PopClip – An awesome utility that brings iOS style copy and paste functionality to your Mac. It’s a great idea and the implementation is solid. I really love having these controls appear right in place and specifically find the define and spellcheck functions to be quite useful.
• Raven – An innovative new web browser that turns your favorite sites into apps. The app’s Smart Bar allows you to effortlessly switch between your favorite websites and web apps in a way that makes them feel almost native. There’s even a dedicated AppStorm Raven App!
• Disk Drill – Disk Drill recovers data from HFS/HFS+, FAT, NTFS & other file systems right on your Mac. It helps you undelete Mac OS files using its two powerful Mac recovery methods: Quick or Deep scanning. Disk Drill data recovery for Mac OS X locates and recovers deleted files from any mountable media like your main drive, external hard disk, memory cards, iPods Classic, etc.
• FreeSpace – FreeSpace is a menubar utility that can show you how much space is available on all local, connected, network drives, and disk images with a single click. All the partitions and drives are grouped into their own categories. FreeSpace also allows you to eject all connected drives by 1 click on the menu, or eject individual drives by clicking an eject icon next to each drive name.

Finally, thanks to you for reading AppStorm this month, and for checking out the software that our sponsors create. I really appreciate it – you make the site what it is!

We’ve collected the top four reviews, roundups and how-to articles from across the AppStorm network in February. Whether you’re interested in Mac, iPhone, Web, or Android apps, there’s bound to be something you didn’t spot over the course of the month. Now would be a good time to explore a part of the AppStorm Network you’ve never seen before!

Thanks for reading AppStorm, and I hope you enjoy looking over some of our favourite posts from last month!

Best of Android.AppStorm

Best of iPad.AppStorm

Best of Windows.AppStorm

Best of iPhone.AppStorm

iCloud Is Broken and It Needs to Be Fixed

Many years ago, back before I was a convert to the world of Macs, I wanted to find a way to sync the contacts on my various computers, that way I always had the right phone number on hand. To do that, I used a new online service, which didn’t really work the way I expected it to. I always found myself with doubles or missing contacts, which essentially defeated the purpose.

Today we have iCloud, which is supposed to be an improvement on the problems we had with MobileMe. But with those improvements comes a problem — relying on the system. And when it doesn’t work, then there’s a problem. A big one.

Orchestra: Everybody Plays a Part

There is no shortage of to-do apps in the App Store. There are apps that will sync across platforms, apps that only reside on your phone and apps that live primarily on the web. I would say that behind games and camera applications, to-do apps are the most popular in the store.

They all offer different features, and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Today we’re going to take a look at Orchestra, the app that aims to be home for your own personal to-do list and the tasks that need to get done by, or are assigned by, the other people that you work with. It also has a companion app which we reviewed on our sister site, Web.AppStorm as well.

Meet The Developers: Emmanuel Crouvisier from Tagg

It’s funny how small this world is. Take, for example, Emmanuel Crouvisier, the owner of Emcro and developer of Tagg, a new application that allows you to easily and quickly tag the pictures taken with your iPhone using facial recognition. I worked with him a few years back when we were both at a magazine in Arizona, and then I went my way and he went his, but we kept in touch. Flash to today, and not only has he built quite a few apps for other companies, but now he’s branched out on his own and developed Tagg for the iPhone, and pushing iOS 5 to the max. With the launch of his new app, we figured it might be a good time to sit down and talk about development, what he’s doing with Tagg and the future of app development. Enjoy.

Securely Store Anything With 1Password

I’m not a big fan of applications that store passwords and information like that, and it’s for a very good reason: once you stop with the habit of remembering passwords yourself, you forget them, since you’re relying on an app to do it. Apart from that, there’s the security issue, since your passwords are being stored in a potentially insecure system.

That said, 1Password isn’t any password management software. Like its name doesn’t suggest, it can store almost any kind of information, not just passwords. This comes very handy in case you need to buy something online but don’t carry your credit card around. Plus, it boasts hardware accelerated AES encryption, so even if you lost your device, someone would have to go through a tough time to gain access to your passwords.

Best of Web.AppStorm

Best of Mac.AppStorm

Share Your Ideas

Is there something in particular you’d like to see on the site next month? We’d absolutely love to hear your suggestions for articles, topics and giveaways. Just let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading AppStorm!

Today’s roundup is a list of seven travel utilities that together make up an unbeatable group of tools that you’ll want to make a permanent part of your trip routine. From converting time and currencies to tracking flights and checking on weather, we’ve got everything you need to plan your next amazing journey!

Arrivals and Departures

Arrivals and Departures is a native hub for all your flight tracking needs. With it you can keep an eye on arrival and departure times for flights from over 4250 airports worldwide. You can also view other important information like terminal and gate info, local restaurants and weather forecasts.

My favorite feature here is the collection of flight maps, which illustrate the paths for flights around the world. If you’re a frequent flyer, Arrivals and Departures is a must have.

Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: UnitConvertr

Arrivals and Departures

Seasonality Core

Some weather apps are cute and quirky, they provide only the information you need in a quaint little interface. This is not one of those apps. Seasonality Core is a loaded information center, packed with all of the weather information you could need for anywhere in the world. Weather maps, forecasts, favorite locations, wind, cloud cover, dewpoint, humidity, visibility, chance of precipitation; this app has it all.

The thing that really sets this app apart from the competition is the gorgeous custom graphing, which allows you to quickly view and interpret historical weather information. When your travel plans depend on the weather, Seasonality Core is an invaluable tool.

Price: $24.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
Developer: Gaucho Software, LLC.

Seasonality Core

KAYAK Explore

The free Kayak Explore app is a really unique way to plan your next vacation. The interface is super attractive and features slick animations and a really simplified workflow that allows you to enjoyably explore the possibilities. It’s a breath of fresh air when compared to boring travel websites.

You can choose where you want to go or leave it up to the app to come up with suggestions based on criteria like the type of destination (beach, historic, etc.). I find the app to be a little sluggish at times but it really is quite fun to use!

Price: Free
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Kayak

KAYAK Explore

Translator Translate with Voice

This is basically a native implementation of Google Translate featuring over 50 languages. The app quickly and easily translates words or sentences and features automatic language detection for your input.

Translator Translate with Voice borrows the popular Twitter for Mac style UI, which makes for a very attractive translating experience. If the price tag is too high to justify, check out Translate Tab, a menu bar utility with similar functionality that will only run you $2.99.

Price: $4.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: NibiruTech Limited

Translator Translate with Voice

Currencies

A simple menu bar currency converter with support for over 130 worldwide currencies. The exchange rates update daily so you can effortlessly stay on top of the constantly shifting currency financial climate. You can also manually refresh the rates by hitting Command-R.

Currencies features a slick, glossy interface that is both attractive and efficient. Even without international travel, I’m always receiving payments from clients overseas and having a good currency converter handy is essential.

Price: $0.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Edovia Inc.

Currencies

Clocks

The little world clock app on the iPhone is immensely helpful for quickly checking on times for everywhere from one state over to half a world away. Unfortunately, your Mac’s clock is much more primitive and doesn’t really offer much in the way of features.

With this app, you can build a list of world clocks just like the one on your iPhone. It sits conveniently in your menu bar so the correct time for your favorite locations is never more than a click away.

Price: $1.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: StudioDP

Clocks

Knapsack

Knapsack is an all-on-one travel companion that helps you with every aspect of your trip. With it you can research and find interesting places, plan out every last detail with a custom-built itinerary, organize your upcoming and past trips and even review the places that you visit along the way.

At $29.99, it’s not the cheapest app around but the functionality is really nice to have. I kept a simple text journal of a recent trip to Europe and looking back I definitely wish that I had the kind of rich history that I would’ve been able to create with this app.

Price: $29.99
Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 or later
Developer: Outer Level

Knapsack

What Are Your Favorite Travel Utilities?

Now that you’ve seen our list of seven seriously useful travel apps for Mac, it’s time for you to chime in using the comment section below. Have you tried any of these apps? What did you think of them? Also, what other travel apps have you found to be useful in your own experience?

Can you believe it’s been almost a year since the Mac App Store first launched? Today I was poking around store and had a look at the Purchases tab. Here you can see everything you’ve ever downloaded from the store. My list has over forty items dating all the way back to my very first download: Twitter for Mac on January 6, 2011 (an app I still use daily).

For today’s poll question, stop by your own list of purchases and tell us how many apps you’ve downloaded over the past year. Once you’ve answered the poll, tell us your thoughts about the Mac App Store in the comments section below. Have you found it to be as useful as you thought it would be? Do you use the apps you’ve downloaded regularly or are they collecting dust in your Applications folder?

Our featured sponsor this week is Clarify, an awesome utility for capturing and editing screenshots.

Taking screenshots is easy enough, but when it comes to compiling multiple screenshots with text annotations, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Clarify drastically simplifies this process and automatically creates a single document from multiple screen captures. It’s fast, easy and looks great.

In no time at all you’ll be whipping up custom, screenshot-based communications with your own shapes and annotations. Whether you’re outlining a step by step process or marking up feedback on a web design, Clarify will help you get the job done.

Go Get It!

Clarify is available on the Mac App Store so be sure to cruise over and grab your copy today. If you’re not convinced, you can try it free from the Clarify website.

In one of my previous articles, I wrote about LyX, an easy way to produce documents in TeX without any prior knowledge of the typesetting language. However, for anyone with a knowledge of TeX, LyX can seem a little limited in its functionality and can, sometimes, be complicated to use. To really appreciate the power of TeX and what it can really do (especially if you do a lot of writing), it is worth taking some time out and learning the typesetting language (which is a lot simpler than it actually seems!).

There are quite a few TeX editors out there for the Mac however most of them are simply ports of native Windows or Linux editors and don’t really make use of OS X’s design and functionality. However, this has now changed. Independent developers Valleta Ventures have come up with TexPad, a native TeX editor for OS X with some handy features that make TeX editing a breeze. Let’s take a closer look.

Getting Started

TexPad is available exclusively from the Mac App Store and works on all Macs running OS X 10.6 and upwards. Before you start running TexPad, you will need a TeX distribution installed on your Mac which helps process and render the documents. A good free one is MacTex, which is available here, however leave some time for downloading and installing it (the file size is roughly 2 GB).

MacTex is a great, free TeX distribution for OS X

Once you’ve installed MacTex and run TexPad for the first time, you are greeted by the splash screen, which gives you the option of starting a new .tex file or continue working on a previous one. If your TeX distribution installed successfully, then you should see a little green tick and the location of the distribution on the splash screen as well (if not, try reinstalling the distribution again).

The splash screen of TexPad

Creating A Document

To start creating a new document in TexPad, simply click on New .tex file and the editor pops up, where you can start creating your document.

The main screen of TexPad

In TeX, before you start writing your document, you have to define the type of document that you are writing, which helps the TeX system define the formatting (such as titles). You can either do this via typing it out or clicking on File > New From Template, which gives you the choice between an article, book, letter, report or presentation; the most commonly used templates. If you are going to type it out, the TeX command which would create an article (a standard document with a title and author), would look something like this:


\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\begin{document}
\end{document}


All of your TeX code for the document you are writing should lie in between \begin{document} and \end{document}. Any commands in TeX (known as control sequences) start with a backslash (\) and TexPad makes it easy to see commands by highlighting them in a different color.

TeX commands are highlighted in blue, making them a lot easier to see

Auto-Complete

TexPad features a built-in library of most TeX commands and when you type in a control sequence, a little menu pops up giving you a list of commands possible. This can save you a lot of time in the long run as it avoids you typing out the same commands over and over again.

The auto-complete function in TexPad

Error Correction

One of the most frustrating features about typing in TeX is any errors are not flagged up straight away, and most TeX editors do not explain what the problem is or where it is. This can be a real pain when you have been typing away at a document for 3 hours then having to spend an extra hour going through the document finding all the errors. TexPad makes this a thing of the past. Any errors are flagged up before the rendering process (i.e., turning the TeX document from meaningless code into a formatted document) and you can easily correct them before you carry on.

Any errors in your TeX coding are flagged up during the rendering process

In the above example, I deliberately inserted the command (line 36) \usebox without any definition after it, for example: \usebox{cmd} thereby causing an error. TexPad flagged up the error during the rendering process, allowing it to be corrected.

Typeset View

Once you’ve rendered (or, in TeX-speak, typeset) your document (hopefully without any errors), it will be displayed in a separate window on the right of your TeX code.

Once a document has been rendered (or, alternatively, typeset) a preview of it appears to the right of your code

After your document has been typeset, you can either carry on editing it further or you can e-mail, save or print it as a PDF if you have pdfLaTeX installed (this is included in most TeX distributions, including MacTex). Bear in mind that before you typeset a document, you have to save it onto your hard disk first.

Final Thoughts

TexPad is a great, native Mac OS X TeX editor and works really well. The simple interface and helpful built-in features (such as auto-completion of TeX commands) make it a worthy candidate as a fantastic TeX editor on OS X and one that you don’t really mind parting with fourteen dollars for.

There are free alternatives out there, but they don’t perform with the flair of TexPad (the program is even optimized for Lion with a full-screen view) and if you do a lot of writing in TeX, then it really will become an incredibly useful utility that you won’t want to be without.

Slowly we have seen how Apple has implemented iOS features into the Mac, and have made them work delightfully. Lion was aimed right at making the Mac more intuitive and more iOS like. Everything from the scrolling direction to the gestures were all improved with the iOS experience in mind, and it shows.

But there are still plenty of things that iOS has that Mac OS X doesn’t. For example, the cool little copy and paste pop up menu. Today we are reviewing an app called PopClip that brings this functionality to the Mac. How well does it work? Read on to find out!

Getting Started

PopClip

The first time you open PopClip, a small window will appear in your menu bar, showing you a little message about how to use the app. To activate PopClip, simply select any piece of text and PopClip will automatically show you a little toolbar almost exactly like the one you’d see on an iOS device.

Funcitonality

In Action

What the pop-up displays once you select a piece of text depends on what you are highlighting. The app is pretty intelligent and it can detect email addresses and links to websites and display the right options for each one of them. If you select any sentence, it will only display the usual Edit shortcuts (Cut, Copy, Paste) and a search feature that will launch a Google search for that phrase.

If you select just one word, it will display all of the previous features and also a button to launch the dictionary and look up the selected word. If you select an email address, it will show you the Edit and search features, as well as a feature to launch a new message to the selected address through your email client. The same goes for links, if you select one, you’ll be shown a button to launch the address in your browser.

Other Features

Other Features

It’s pretty notable how intuitive and well-thought the app is. Even though it freaked me out the first times I selected anything after I installed it, it is actually pretty smart and non-intrusive. For example, the popup window will immediately go away as you start scrolling, or as soon as you click elsewhere.

The app also comes with a menu bar component that you can disable anytime. In it you can check off a few settings as well as turn off the popup. Also you can check off any features that you might not be using, and increase the size of the popup window. But the most useful of these is the “Excluded Apps” list, which lets you select apps where you don’t want the popup to appear.

Keyboard Shortcuts vs. PopClip

This little pop-up window works on the iOS because there you have no faster way of doing actions like copying and pasting text once you select it. While you are using the computer, it’s probably faster for you to use your handy CMD+C and CMD+V for doing tasks like copying and pasting text, even though this could change depending on the situation (maybe you don’t have your keyboard handy, for example if you are reading an article).

I can feel cynicism bubbling up. Why would you buy this if it really only does basic stuff that you can do for free? Well, yes, there are faster ways of getting some of these things done in your computer, but first off: it looks pretty cool and makes your computer feel even more like a mobile device. Second: not all tasks that this app does can be done with a keyboard shortcut. So, while PopClip might not be as fast in some areas, it does provide more speed in certain tasks, like launching the dictionary or sending an email to a certain address.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with it, even with the idea of bringing more of what makes the iOS so great, to the Mac. If anything, I’d love to see the mail thing work with the web version of Gmail, instead of interacting with my default email client (which I don’t use).

Conclusion

I was pretty unsure about this app when I first heard about it, and I had a feeling that I was not going to enjoy using it. I felt like it would be just another gimmick that I would forget after a few uses, like I do with many of the apps that I download. So, yes, at the beginning it was a bit weird getting used to it. I didn’t really expect or need the popup most of the time that it showed up, but I learned to love it and I really like that it let me tweak stuff like the size and the features that I wanted it to show me.

This is an example of a well-executed app that’s simple in nature but it delivers on the configuration without getting too complex. I think I’ll continue using it and see how it grows on me as time passes. What about you? Do you think you would enjoy iOS-like copy and paste functionality on your Mac? Have you tried PopClip? Let us know in the comments!

As fantastic as the Mac OS is, there are plenty of reasons you might want to run Windows from time to time: maybe you need to run some old school XP software for work, or you want to try out some PC games, or (like me) you have to test websites in Internet Explorer.

If you’re going the virtualization route, you can try out the free VirtualBox, but if you’re looking for something more powerful and user-friendly, the two main competitors are Parallels and VMware Fusion. I’ve tried both, and have been happily using VMware Fusion for the year and a half. VMware recently came out with a major update packed with new features, so let’s take a look at what it has to offer.

The Basics

VMware Fusion is a virtualization program — it lets you run another OS alongside your host OS, without rebooting your computer. Given enough RAM and processing power, virtualization can offer a nearly seamless integration between your Mac and native Windows applications.

Setup

VMware fusion offers 3 ‘view modes’ to run your Windows installation: one-window mode, where you have Windows running in a regular application window; ‘unity’ mode, which lets you run Windows applications as if they were Mac applications; and full-screen mode, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Setting up a virtual machine with VMware fusion is a pretty painless process, you just need either Windows installation discs, or an .iso disk image. You’ll have to go through the regular Windows installation process, set up user accounts, and all that jazz you thought you’d escaped when you bought a Mac. You’ll also have to pick some settings like RAM allocation for your virtual machine — you can safely leave these at the defaults and change them later if you’d like.

My virtual machine "library" is pretty sparse so far

You can also import virtual machines from Parallels, earlier versions of VMware Fusion, Microsoft Virtual PC, or a Boot Camp installation.

Integration

You can control the level of integration between your Mac and ‘guest’ system, deciding which directories you want to be mirrored between machines. I have my documents, downloads, and pictures folders mirrored, plus the desktop. It’s pretty handy, the desktop instantly updates when you add a new item on either your Mac or PC.

Desktop vs. Desktop

New Features

VMware Fusion 4 features a lot of refinements over earlier versions, as well as a handful of new features:

Lion Integration

Fusion 4 was designed with Lion in mind, with integration with most of Lion’s fancy new features. You can add Windows apps to your Launchpad, use Mission Control/Exposé, assign apps to different spaces, and go full screen.

I have to say I don’t think I’ve looked at my Launchapd since I reviewed Lion in July, but the Mission Control feature is a very welcome addition, especially for web design, when you’re often juggling a number of programs and windows.

Some Windows apps chilling with their Mac buddies

My favorite new feature is the Lion full-screen mode (with version 4.1) that takes full advantage of Lion, allowing you to run your Windows machine full-screen in it’s own space, completely seamlessly, which is awesome.

Full-screen everything makes me happy

Unity Improvements

One of the coolest features of VMware Fusion is Unity mode, which lets you run Windows apps just as you would Mac apps. In lieu of the Start Menu, there is sort of a reverse Start menu in the menu bar, giving you access to all your Windows programs, as well as virtual machine settings. I find this menu-bar Start Menu to be one of the biggest advantages of VMware Fusion over Parallels. Unity apps behave exactly like you would expect them to, you can access them via the dock and the application switcher, launch them through Spotlight, and find them in your applications folder.

Unity Mode with Internet Explorer. It feels so wrong.

Performance

VMware claims that Fusion 4 is up to 2.5 times faster than previous versions, and it’s a pretty noticeable difference. Performance is generally the biggest concern with virtualization software, because you’re dividing your computer’s resources in two. A slower computer will struggle to run two systems at once, so any speed improvements are a huge help. I can confirm that while Fusion 3 was only just usable on my late 2010 MBP with 4GB RAM, I was able to do what I needed to do (though not run games without burning my lap) much more easily with Fusion 4.

In all honesty, before you get your hopes set on running two OSs at once, you really do need to consider whether your computer can handle it. VMware Fusion 4, while faster than earlier versions, still took quite a while to boot up and shut down, and it really got my fans going when I had a few applications running (particularly IE9).

With 4GB of RAM and a 2.66GHz processor, it was a bit of a pain to run Fusion while using the apps I needed on the Mac side (Photoshop, Browsers, FTP clients). However, I recently upgraded my RAM to 8GB (well worth the $45 for anyone frequently using graphics or virtualization software), and my Windows installation now runs beautifully and boots up in seconds.

I found graphics performance to be good, but not perfect using Fusion 4, I get some jitteriness moving unity windows, and I’ve been having some rendering issues in IE9. Diablo II runs almost flawlessly, with some occasional lagging, and it’s definitely playable; I’m not sure many of the newer, more graphics-intensive games would hold up so well. If you’re looking to do serious PC gaming on your Mac, dual-booting is probably a better option.

I've missed this so much. Lion killed my Amazon 🙁

Lion Virtualization

VMware Fusion 4 allows you to run a virtual installations of Lion and Snow Leopard (and respective Servers). Though this may not seem important to the average user, it’s a great tool for app developers, and could also allow you to run PowerPC-only applications without reverting to Snow Leopard.

There's a Lion in your Lion, so you can Lion while you Lion

You’re not limited to just Mac and PC either, you can run your favorite Linux distribution as a virtual machine too (though Parallels really has simpler Linux installations).

Pause Feature

The ability to “pause” or “suspend” your virtual machine can be essential when you’re working with a less RAM. Suspending the virtual machine frees up its resources for your Mac, so you won’t experience slower performance if you’re going to ignoring Windows for a bit. I use this feature a lot, and it’s a huge time (and CPU) saver.

Conclusion

I’m pretty happy with VMware Fusion 4, it definitely speeds up my workflow and lets me perform tasks essential to my work with ease. The new Lion integration features are very slick and useful, especially the full-screen mode.

Comparisons will always be made between VMware Fusion and Parallels, and it’s a pretty tight competition. I’ve tried both, and it really comes down to personal preference. Price-wise, they’re both being offered at discount prices at the moment, with Fusion being the slightly more affordable option at $49.99 (vs. $59.99). I’m satisfied with Fusion 4, but I know Parallels is a great piece of software too. They both have free trials, so it can’t hurt to give them both a try while the prices are low.

If you’re hesitant to spend money on virtualization software when you have to shell out for a Windows license, take a look at the free VirtualBox, which will let you accomplish the same basic tasks with a more bare-bones interface and fewer features.

So here’s the poll: what do you use? I’d also like to hear about experiences with virtual machine performance using different systems and specs, or experiences with Parallels 7.

Are there any folders which you access more often than others? And does it bug you that you have to navigate the folder structure again and again?

True, you can just create an alias on your desktop, but that really looks awful and cluttered after a while. So why not give Desktop Shelves a try? The Mac app lets you access your folder content beautifully and easily directly from your desktop.

Getting to know Desktop Shelves

So, let’s assume you have a folder that you need to access a couple of times during a workflow each day; maybe your Pictures or Movie folder, or maybe a folder within your Documents.

You can either run through the Finder every time or drag an Alias to the desktop. Both ways are not very elegant. Enter Desktop Shelves, which displays the contents of your folder, file by file, on a shelf. Right on your desktop, so you can pick the file in question with a single click.

Your folders content on your desktop

You can mouse over the files and see a larger preview image, complete with the file name displayed beneath it. It works for text files, movies or images.

Hover for a larger thumbnail

Hit the space bar, just like you would in the Finder and the currently selected (hovered on) file will open in Quick Look, allowing you to quickly take a look at videos, read text documents or get a better impression of an image.

Adjusting Desktop Shelves To Your Liking

By default, the shelves resemble bright wood and the file icons are very close together. If you don’t like the look, simply jump into the preferences and adjust the shelf size and item spacing.

Adjust the layout of the shelves

By right clicking on a shelf, you can also change the design of the shelf or download even more looks from the app’s website.

Find a look to match your wallpaper (literally)

Going beyond looks, the right click offers other important options, among them adjusting the sort order of the files displayed. Depending on the content of your folder, different sorting options will make sense.

Sort files like you need them

Additionally, you can have the content shown in the Finder or you can make the entire shelf disappear from the desktop as well. Very easy, especially if you set it up for use in a single project and need to free up some desktop space quickly after completing it.

When playing around with these adjustments, one drawback of Desktop Shelves becomes apparent rather quickly: the limited number of files which can be shown.

While you can drag the width of the shelf with your mouse to reach across your entire screen and while you can set the files to be spaced very narrowly, there are only so many items which will fit on a shelf. And if there are more, there’s no way to access them.

Speeding Up Your Workflow With Desktop Shelves

Desktop Shelves is not only about being beautiful and accessible. The app can also enhance your workflow once you’ve figured out just what it can do.

First of all, you’ll need to understand basic shelf behaviors to avoid mistakes: Dragging a file from a shelf to another place, like the desktop, actually moves the file on your hard drive. The same applies the other way around: drag a file from anywhere to a shelf and it’s moved there.

Drag files onto a shelf

A very handy feature is the ability to drag files into applications. For example, if you have an image on your shelf and want to open it in an image editor, simply drag the file from the shelf onto the app. The behavior is the same as if you would perform the action from the Finder: the file remains where it is, but will be opened in the editor of your choice.

Desktop Shelves also allows you to create new documents by dragging highlighted text and images to a shelf. That creates a RTF document.

To be honest, I found it quite difficult to grab and drag highlighted text and images from a webpage; depending on your skills it might go faster if you simply copy and paste it. Maybe in the future there will be a right click option to add selected content to a shelf.

Verdict

Everyone’s work flow is different so it’s never easy to predict how an app can be incorporated into an individual set up. Given the limitations of the app, namely the ability to only display a limited number of files before the shelf ends, it will not be of help to everyone.

As I mentioned in the introduction, Desktop Shelves will appeal most to those who need to access the same folder continuously and have created aliases on their desktop. With Desktop Shelves, there is not only a more beautiful solution but also a more practical one (immediate hovering over files, immediate quick look etc.). I see the most practical use for project work: setting it up in Desktop Shelves will grant super fast access combined with immediate previews of the content.

Which method do you use to quickly access folder content? Share your ideas in the comments section.

Join us as we take yet another walk through recent Apple history and set the stage for the imminent arrival of the Apple television. We’ll take a look at how Steve Jobs went from denying that televisions and computers would ever merge to personally fueling the fire for the next great Apple media frenzy.

You Watch Television to Turn Your Brain Off

Every time someone discusses anything regarding Apple making the successful jump to our living rooms, I can’t help but think of the quote above from the February, 2004 edition of MacWorld. To be fair, Steve was no stranger to public denial that Apple was working on a project when in fact that’s exactly what they were doing. However, this seems a little more genuine than that. Beyond simply downplaying the idea that Apple would work on a product for televisions, he attacks the entire idea of computing being brought to the realm of TV.

Here he openly admits that Apple at the time simply didn’t see these two lines of products merging because they had fundamentally different purposes. So was Steve just flat out wrong or were the rules of the game changed somewhere along the way?

From my perspective, I would say the latter. While the PC has always been the home of gamers, the Mac historically wasn’t a place for entertainment so much as it was an outlet for creativity. This is why Steve makes the comment about coming to the computer to turn on your brain. However, there’s been a major shift in the last decade that has brought the home computer to the forefront of the entertainment industry. The iPod and iTunes, the ubiquity of DVD players in computers, the rise of YouTube and its subsequent clones, and iTunes’ entry into video were all major pushes that turned the Mac and indeed all computers into media consumption devices. Suddenly, it seemed the creative types were outnumbered by people who were indeed turning on their computers to turn off their brains.

More recent products like Hulu and Netflix streaming have cemented this notion. Myself and many of my peers have abandoned cable and even free network television altogether in favor of 100% Internet-powered media. Why pay a monthly fee for tons of channels and programming that I don’t need playing at times of the day when I can’t watch when I can use my web browser to access the content I love whenever I have the time to watch it?

The Apple TV

In September of 2006, nearly three years after the quote above, Steve announced a project known as “iTV” which would later be renamed “Apple TV.” It seemed that the wizards at Infinite Loop weren’t quite as hesitant to break into this market as Steve indicated (remember that three years is an eternity in Apple’s world).

By March of 2007, the Apple TV was shipping and just around a year ago in September, 2010, Apple released the second generation of the device. In the past few years, the Apple TV has always felt like an odd mix in the Mac hardware lineup. Coming from a company with a clearly defined strategy for every single product, the Apple TV seems all over the board. With each major software and hardware update, Apple keeps announcing that they’re “rethinking” the strategy and focus behind the Apple TV and finally getting it right. However, critical spectators still disagree with that statement.

From the MacBook Air to the iPad, Apple’s products always have clear allure over the competition. The one place where this isn’t true is the Apple TV. Sure, it lets you view pictures and watch movies, tune into Netflix and check out the latest funny cats on YouTube, but so does everything else these days. Half the television sets in a given electronics store now perform these functions without an external box and if you don’t have one of those televisions, your XBox, Playstation and even Wii will perform many or all of these functions.

Connection to the iTunes store and access to streaming content from a desktop or iOS device are clear competitive advantages, but they haven’t proved enough to bring the Apple TV into the realm of a must-have device. I’m the biggest Mac evangelist there is and I never find myself telling anyone how much better their life would be with an Apple TV as I do with just about every other Apple device that I own.

Directly following the initial Steve Jobs quote in the same article was this statement from Jobs, “most of these products that have said, ‘Let’s combine the television and the computer!’ have failed. All of them have failed.” Apple obviously set out to break this trend, but I’m not sure they have. Though the Apple TV isn’t necessarily a failure, it has seen decent sales numbers in the growing millions, I’m not sure it’s fair to categorize it as a major win for the company either. A win for Apple is the iPhone or iPad, a product that changes everything in its genre forever. The Apple TV simply doesn’t seem to fit this description.

“I Finally Cracked It”

As soon as the iPad and its successor made their way into the hands of the masses, we all began to wonder what was next. Many leading experts went to far as to predict that Apple would cool it for a while in the innovation game and just sit back and soak up the profit from a decade of tech leadership. I’ve always thought that this notion is completely against everything we know about Apple’s culture. I’m not sure they could sit still if they tried.

This leads everyone but the skeptics looking for Apple’s next big thing, and many have known for a long time that the Apple TV was a prime target. This idea was cemented when Steve Jobs’ biographer, Walter Isaacson, recently spilled the beans about Steve’s inability to prevent himself from gushing over his desire to completely rethink the television. Steve spoke of an iCloud integrated and extremely easy to use television. “It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

This statement has sent the rumor mill into an uproar. After the release of the iPhone 4S, the popular opinion is that “the simplest user interface you could imagine” is something along the lines of Siri’s human-like voice activated functionality. The combination of well-implemented natural speech recognition with television was a distant dream for the future only a year ago, now it seems inevitable.

Steve’s Final Sleight of Hand

You’ve likely heard much or even all of the information above. Everyone now thinks that a true Apple television, not simply a set top box, is on its way. The hype is so widespread that you might be already thinking that we’re bound to see this product hit sometime in the very near future. However, the key piece of information that hasn’t sunk in for most people is the timeline for this thing.

Remember when the iPad rumors started? We endured years of whispers about an Apple tablet. In the end these proved true but not before everyone grew nearly averse to any piece of speculation as a result of complete over saturation of wild theories, fake product mockups and even impressive video hoaxes. Welcome back folks, because we’re entering this very stage with the Apple television.

Incredibly optimistic (and perhaps naive) claims foresee this product launching around this time next year. Realistic timelines put it arriving in 2013. The Isaacson leak is likely a carefully calculated ploy to get the press into a manic state, searching daily for new bits of speculation that will ultimately result in a euphoric frenzy on launch day. Absolutely no one is better at this than Apple and I smile when I think about how Steve pulled it off one last time, incredibly placing himself as the source of the information to make sure it was taken seriously. We always wondered if these types of leaks were intentional Apple trickery, now the answer to that question seems clear.

As I look forward to what is without a doubt one of the last great projects that Steve Jobs was able to influence directly, I will resist annoyance at the inevitable wave of false information and inflated hype that we’re already seeing the crest of in favor of a final hat tip to the only man I’ve ever seen with the ability to turn a nerd-only realm of rumors into mainstream news. Bring on the era of the Apple television, I can’t wait.

I love Spotify. In my opinion it’s just about the best thing to happen to radio in my lifetime. I use it more than Pandora, more than Last.fm, even more than Grooveshark.

So what happens when this loyal Spotify user finally agrees to cross over and take a look at Rdio? Read on to find out.

Checking Out the Competition

I had the privilege of checking out Spotify for the first time far before it came to the United States. I had a buddy in the UK sign me up for a free account and I was able to use the service for two weeks in “vacation mode,” after which the service would cease if you continued to use it in a location where it wasn’t supported. From the minute I first opened the app, I was hooked. It was everything I’ve ever dreamed that radio could be. When it finally came to hit the U.S., I published an article telling everyone to go sign up as soon as possible.

The responses that I’ve received from that article are largely directed towards what is perhaps Spotify’s most significant competitor: Rdio. They offer a very similar service that lets you listen to whatever you want whenever you want. However, I was quick to point out to Rdio fans that there wasn’t a free account. There’s a long list of things I don’t mind paying for, but radio is not one of them, especially when Spotify is such a worthy free alternative.

The folks at Rdio seem to have realized that Spotify poses a significant threat and have decided to let you use the service without paying a cent. In fact, they go one step further than Spotify and even offer free users 100% commercial free music.

Sound to good to be true? It is, there’s a big catch that we’ll get to later, but in the mean time, let’s jump in and see what this Spotify fan thinks of Rdio. There is of course a web application for Rdio but today we’ll be checking out the Mac app.

Rdio Jump Start

As I open Rdio, for the first time, I’m not sure what to expect. I hadn’t done too much research because I wanted the experience to be fresh and honest. Spotify has a nice, dark iTunes-like interface that I really like so I was ready to be disappointed with whatever Rdio had to serve up. Before the main interface launched though I was greeted with this window:

Rdio Welcome Screen

The stuff on the left is pretty basic, you can use your Mac’s keyboard to control the app and you can rest assured that the full Rdio web experience is present in the Mac app.

The item on the right though was much more interesting. In a few quick clicks, I was able to tell Rdio to look at my iTunes library and automatically add the music on my computer to my Rdio collection. It wasn’t able to match my entire library, but it did impress me by finding and adding over 1,800 songs.

Understanding what this means is important. Spotify has a feature that looks at my iTunes library and allows me to play it locally, thereby saving me from opening iTunes. But I still get ads, even in my own music, and again, this is a local feature. With Rdio though I suddenly, without any work, have access to a healthy chunk of my personal music library from anywhere that I have an Internet connection. Eat your heart out iTunes match.

This impressed me right away. Maybe Rdio will give Spotify a run for its money as my favorite music service.

Using Rdio

After getting a huge head start on my Rdio collection, it was time to check out the main interface. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. The design is fairly unique (not a Spotify ripoff in the least) and super attractive. It sort of looks like iTunes thrown on top of the Rdio web interface (in a good way).

The Rdio Dashboard

I’m not a huge fan of sticking web pages into a frame and calling it a native app, but I’ll make an exception here as the experience is very smooth and enjoyable. The Dashboard is your homepage, where you can keep an eye on what your friends have been listening to, look in on your queue and view your history.

Searching and Browsing

The first thing you’re going to do on a service like this is search for music to listen to, so the features for this represent an important aspect of the service for me.

As it turns out, Rdio nails music search better than either iTunes or Spotify. When you start to type, the results are instant and appear in this friendly pop up categorized by artists, albums, etc. Hitting enter brings you to a page that’s similarly organized.

Searching

Unfortunately, the same praise can’t really be given for browsing music. Clicking on the “Browse Music” tab gives you great options for looking around the new release, recommendations and popular sections, but that’s all you get.

Browsing Music

Neither Spotify nor Rdio give me the ability that iTunes does to simply look around within a given genre. This seems like a pretty basic feature for browsing music and I’m not sure how these guys miss it. However, if I had to compare the two, Rdio comes out on top for both searching and browsing.

Listening

In my own testing, the Rdio library doesn’t quite seem up to par with Spotify, but it’s still quite exhaustive and you’re perfectly likely to come to the opposite opinion depending on the obscurity of your tastes.

Listening to music with Rdio is a pretty standard experience. The quality is just fine to a non-audiophile’s ears and you have all the options you need to build playlists and queues to your heart’s content.

Listening

For each song you have the option to share, buy, add to your collection, throw in a playlist, or sync to your mobile device (premium accounts only).

No matter what window size you prefer, Rdio has you covered. There’s a Lion full screen mode, the standard windowed mode and even a clone of the iTunes mini player.

Rdio Mini Player

Wait, Is This Really Free?

So to review, Rdio is nearly as good as Spotify in some areas and flat out better in others. The service is stellar, the Mac app is beautiful and functional, it’s a great package. To sweeten the deal, it’s ad free. For those that haven’t tried Spotify, the frequent multi-ad breaks on the free plan can be brutal.

So should you from drop Spotify right now and run to Rdio to sign up for your free account? Further, with such an awesome free plan, how will Rdio make enough money to break even, much less turn a profit?

It turns out that Rdio isn’t very enthusiastic about talking about how the free plan works. I had to dig around quite a bit just to figure it out on a basic level and I still have some unanswered questions.

For starters, your free access is limited to a certain number of streams. How many you ask? They don’t say, but they do give you a meter that sits in the top right of your app that shows how much free music you have left.

The Free Music Meter

I listened for a long time before that meter moved even a little bit, but I still couldn’t help but wonder what happens when it runs out. Does it fill up again the following month? The Rdio documentation is quite scarce on the subject. They simply love to tell you that it’s free and don’t care to elaborate.

I found the solution by going back through the sign up process. There’s a single sentence on the sign up screen that seems to hold the answer.

A generous number of streams per month for a limited time

Here we find the key to the entire quandary of the Rdio free plan. First of all, the statement implies that your limit is in fact monthly, which is great because that means I didn’t come close to hitting my limit before getting a fresh month’s worth of streams. More importantly however is the most significant piece of information you can find on the subject: for a limited time.

This leaves Rdio the right to revoke this amazing free service at any time. You sign up, get hooked, accept the monthly limit in light of the ad-free listening, then one day it all goes away and they start asking for your credit card number.

Sounds sleazy doesn’t it? Spotify fans can’t point the finger though, because Spotify is following the same strategy. The free unlimited streaming at Spotify is only for a limited time, they eventually plan on throwing a cap on your monthly streams like they’ve already done with the UK.

Of course if you don’t mind a monthly subscription, this is all moot. The two services offer very similar paid plans so you should pretty much just try each out on the free plan while you still can and decide which you like better.

Premium Plans: Rdio vs. Spotify

Rdio vs. Spotify: Who Wins the Free Plan Battle?

This is a complicated question. From a pure app standpoint, I’d say that they’re pretty evenly matched. There are a lot of things that I like about the Rdio app better than Spotify app, and vice versa. I definitely can’t help but admit though that Rdio wins on both searching and browsing, which are key to the listening experience.

As a service too, it’s a close call. Both have enormous libraries of music that you can listen to with complete freedom. Last I checked, Spotify wins the most tracks prize (and performs better in my own tests). However, Rdio does have the awesome feature that allows you to listen to a good chunk of your local music from anywhere. It’s a simple idea but it saves you a ton of time that you would be spent manually making playlists on Spotify.

I’m completely blown away by how many times during this article that I’ve been forced to admit that Rdio has the upper hand in a given area. It’s an amazing service and I’ve been using it like crazy lately. In the short run, there’s a strong argument for using it instead of Spotify, the leading logic being the lack of ads. Listening cap or no, you can’t beat ad-free listening.

However, in the long run, I say this one is impossible to call at this point. The reason I say this is that both services are effectively in campaign mode. Just like a presidential candidate making promises he’ll never be able to keep, Spotify and Rdio are giving us a glimpse at a utopian world of radio that will never truly exist.

Sure, Spotify gives me unlimited, ad-supported free streaming, but who knows when they’ll decide to cap that and how many streams they’ll give me? On the other hand, Rdio already caps the free plan but they still give me a ton of free streams and go for the kill with ad-free listening. If you read the fine print though you see that this is only for a limited time. Once that time is up, I’ll likely end up right back at Spotify where I started.

What Do You Think?

Let’s keep the discussion here limited to the free plans since that’s really the focus of the article (the services are pretty closely matched on the paid plans). I’d love to hear what you think of Spotify’s free plan versus that of Rdio. Will Spotify impose a cap soon and if so, how much? Is the Rdio free plan worth using instead of Spotify in the short run? If so, what happens in the long run?

I’m anxious to hear your answers to these questions so be sure to chime into the conversation by leaving a comment below.