iFive for the iPhone 76 (Transcript)

{{OPEN}} WELCOME TO IFIVE FOR THE IPHONE, EPISODE 76….. THIS IS THE BICENTENNIAL SHOW WHERE WE DO LAPS IN THE APP STORE, CRAWL FOR TIPS, NEWS, TRICKS, AND GOODIES AND WE DO IT ALL… WITHOUT WEARING OUR SWIM CAPS, BECAUSE GREEN HAIR IS WORTH IT. -------------------------------------- #1 - RAP GENIUS - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/genius-by-rap-genius-search/id709482991 WELL, IT'S NOT CHRSTMAS OR MY BIRTHDAY OR ANY OTHER REALLY SPECIAL OCCASION, BUT I FEEL LIKE IT IS BECAUSE ONE OF MY FAVORITE INTERNET SERVICES EVER, RAP GENIUS, IS NOW AN IPHONE APP. IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH RAP GENIUS, IT'S A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DATABASE OF HUNDREDS (THOUSANDS?) OF RAP SONGS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE ALWAYS LIKED BUT PERHAPS NOT UNDERSTOOD - THE SLANG OR HIDDEN MEANING OR WHATEVER. NOW, IF YOU HATE RAP MUSIC, THAT'S OK, BECAUSE RAP GENIUS IS MUCH MORE THAN THAT, IT JUST STARTED WITH HIP HOP.. YOU'VE GOT ROCK GENIUS, WHICH IS THE SAME IDEA BUT FOR A DIFFERENT GENRE OF MUSIC… POETRY, EVEN NEWS… FOR EXAMPLE, PRESIDENT OBAMA'S 2014 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS IS IN THERE. YOU'VE GOT A FEW OPTIONS IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR LYRICS… TYPE IN A SONG, OR TYPE IN A PHRASE FROM A SONG, OR USE RAP GENIUS TO IDENTIFY A SONG THAT'S ALREADY PLAYING. THEN GET A TON OF CONTEXT FROM A VERSE OR A BRIDGE OR A HOOK. AS A HIP HOP FAN I ABSOLUTELY LOVE RAP GENIUS SO MUCH I WANT TO MARRY IT, BUT AGAIN, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT RAP ANYMORE - IT'S A GREAT WAY TO GET A BUNCH OF BACKSTORY OR EXPLANATION ON LOTS OF MEDIA. AND TOTALLY FREE. ———————————————————— #2 - INSIDE - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inside.com-breaking-news/id719168944?ls… THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT WHETHER THERE'S ENOUGH GOOD, ORIGINAL CONTENT BEING WRITTEN ON THE WEB IS SOMETHING WE'RE NOT GOING TO TRY TO SOLVE IN THIS SINGLE EPISODE, BUT IT *IS* AN ISSUE, ONE THAT A NEW APP CALLED INSIDE IS TRYING TO SOLVE. THE IDEA BEHIND INSIDE IS A STREAM OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STORIES OF THE DAY, SUMMARIZED IN SHORT UPDATES. THESE UPDATES ARE HUMAN-POWERED, NOT ALGORITHMIC… AND INSIDE'S curators KEEP IT SHORT - 300-character SUMMARIES ARE DESIGNED TO BE READ NICE AND QUICK - AND INSIDE SAYS IT linkS ONLY TO THE most relevant and original sources with the best reporting. Customize your update feed by voting on updates - IT'S LIKE THE PANDORA MODEL FOR NEWS, BECAUSE THE PANDORA MODEL SEEMS TO PRETTY MUCH WORK IN ANY CAPACITY THESE DAYS. Swipe-right in any update to read through the topic archive, AND CHECK THE TOP NEWS FEED FOR THE 25 most important updates from the past 24 hours. IF YOU REMEMBER IFIVE COVERING AN APP CALLED CIRCA A WHILE BACK, INSIDE REMINDS ME OF THAT - THEY BOTH SUMMARIZE NEWS IN A HUMAN WAY, AND ARE DESIGNED TO SAVE YOU AND ME UNNECESSARY TIME READING DUPLICATE ARTICLES. BUT AFTER USING AND COMPARING BOTH, I THINK INSIDE REALLY SHINES ON DESIGN - AND I THINK THERE'S ROOM FOR A LITTLE COMPETITION IN THE SPACE OF TAKING THE FLUFF OUT OF NEWS, AND GETTTING BACK TO THE FACTS. INSIDE IS FREE, BY THE WAY. ---------------------------------------- #3 - DUH TIP: EMOJI FOLDERS GOT AN EMAIL FROM KAREN IN CONCORD CALIFORNIA, WHO'S GOT A COSMETIC DUH TIP THAT'LL KEEP YOUR FRIENDS GUESSING. SHE WRITES: "I recently renamed all my folders using emojis. I think that as long as I pick ones that I, and I alone, can associate with the contents of my folders it will help deter people from looking in folders if they don't know what's in them. If you don't care about looky-loos it will at the very least be a topic of conversation the next time some one borrows your phone. For example I use the emoji ???? for the folder with all my shopping apps." YEAH THIS IS A FUN TIP, KAREN, WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT IT IN FOREVER, ALTHOUGH I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF USING EMOJIS TO THROW PEOPLE OFF BEFORE… MAYBE YOU HAVE REALLY NOSY FRIENDS? BUT YEAH, THE POINT IS, YOU CAN USE WHATEVER KEYBOARD YOU HAVE INSTALLED TO NAME YOUR FOLDERS, AND THAT INCLUDES THE EMOJI KEYBOARD. SO GO NUTS… IT'S YOUR LIFE. -------------------------------------------------- #4 - KITCAMERA - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kitcamera/id766580003?mt=8 MARK IN HASTINGS, ENGLAND, WROTE IN WITH A PHOTO APP SUGGESTION. IT'S CALLED KIT-CAMERA, THE SUCCESSOR TO THE APP KITCAM, AND MARK SAYS IT'S PACKED WITH FEATURES, REALLY EASY TO USE AND NICE LOOKING TOO. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME, SO LET'S CHECK IT OUT. SO, IF YOU'RE TAKING A PHOTO YOU CAN View effects while shooting, WHICH IS NICE. YOU'VE GOT 16 lenses THAT ADD EFFECTS LIKE vignette, tilt-shift, fisheye, EVEN kaleidoscope, WHICH I HAVEN'T REALLY SEEN BEFORE. PLUS, 51 film types add A TON OF vintage and black-and-white effects, PLUS REALTIME WHITE BALANCING. KIT-CAMERA ALSO SUPPORTS Full HD video recording ON AN IPHONE 5 OR LATER, AND THERE'S AUTO-IMAGE STABILITIZATION BUILT IN. KIT-CAMERA CLAIMS THAT Photos taken in the dark are 4 times brighter, AGAIN, IF YOUR'E USING AN IPHONE 5 OR LATER… AND YOU'VE EVEN GOT SOME ARTSY BELLS AND WHISTLES LIKE MULTI-EXPOSURE, MULTI-SHOT, OR EVEN TIME-LAPSE EFFECTS. IN FACT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND SAY THAT KIT-CAMERA HAS MORE CREATIVE CONTROLS THAN ANY OTHER PHOTO APP I'VE TRIED, AND I'VE REALLY TRIED THEM ALL. THAT SAID, PHOTO APPS ARE IN GENERAL PRETTY GOOD, AND THEY ALL HAVE THEIR SPECIAL THING - SNAPSEED IS THE BEST FOR SELECTIVELY ADJUSTING PART OF YOUR PHOTO, FOR EXAMPLE. KIT-CAMERA IS VERY LIKELY A LOT MORE THAN YOU NEED IN A PHOTO EDITING APP, BUT IT SURE IS NICE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GO-TO YET, GIVE IT A WHIRL. ------------------------------------------ #5 - DARK SKY - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dark-sky-weather-radar-hyperlocal/id517… BY NOW YOU'D REALLY THINK WE'D ALL HAD ENOUGH WEATHER APPS IN OUR LIFE TO LAST A LIFETIME, RIGHT? MY CURRENT FAVORITE IS YAHOO WEATHER, A SUPRISINGLY BEAUTIFUL APP FROM THE MEDIA GIANT OR WHATEVER YAHOO IS CALLING ITSELF THESE DAYS… UNTIL A FEW DAYS AGO WHEN DARK SKY RELEASED ITS LATEST VERSION OF THE BEST WEATHER APP YET. SERISOULY, IT'S GOOD. LAUNCH DARK SKY AND RIGHT AWAY YOU GET AN OVERVIEW OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE SAFE TO WALK THE DOG OR DO ERRANDS BEFORE IT RAINS - OR SNOWS, OR WORSE. USING GPS, DARK SKY CREATES FORECASTS FOR YOUR EXACT LOCATION, AND OFFERS MINUTE-TO-MINUTE PREDICTIONS FOR THE NEXT HOUR AND DETAILED FORECASTS FOR THE NEXT DAY AND WEEK. YOU CAN EVEN SET PUSH NOTIFICATION ALERTS FOR PRECIPITATION, ANYWHERE FROM TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR TO ANYTHING THAT MIGHT REQUIRE BRINGING AN UMBRELLA. DARK SKY'S RADAR ANIMATION IS ADDICTIVE… FOR EXAMPLE, IT HASN'T RAINED ON THE WEST COAST IN LIKE FOUR MILLION YEARS, BUT I CAN SEE A STORM FRONT COMING IN AND I'LL PROBABLY BE DRIVING IN IT, SO I'M GOING TO SKIP MY CAR WASH TODAY. DARK SKY CURRENTLY SUPPORTS THE UNITED STATES, THE UK, IRELAND, AND SURROUNDING AREAS. IT'S 4 DOLLARS WHICH IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE APP I'VE EVER RECOMMENDED ON IFIVE, BUT I PROMISE YOU, IT'S A HOME SCREEN NO-BRAINER. ----------------------------------------- ONE MORE THING. WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM RYAN WHO HAS A LITTLE TIP FOR VLC, WHICH WE SHOWED OFF LAST WEEK AFTER IT GOT A BIG UPDATE. RYAN WRITES: "You mentioned VLC will play a lot of weird formats. This is true in general, however VLC for iOS won't play AC3 audio and can be finicky with other audio formats such as AAC. I know this because almost all of my videos have AC3 passthru encodes done in Handbrake.  But fret not, there is a completely non-obvious fix for this! Close out VLC completely, then go into Settings and change the time zone to a Canadian one such as Vancouver. Reopen VLC and your video, and you'll have sound." RYAN, YOU'RE AN INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MAGIC. THANK YOU. IT'S ACTUALLY NOT AN ISSUE I'VE EVER HAD, BUT I BET YOU JUST MADE A FEW FOLKS' DAY. IF YOU EVER SEE OR HEAR OF A GREAT APP OR TRICK ON IFIVE AND WANT TO GO BACK OVER IT OR PASS IT ALONG TO A FRIEND? JUST HOP OVER TO OUR SHOW NOTES AT TWIT.TV/IFIVE. THAT'S WHERE ALL OUR LINKS LIVE, AND ALSO WHERE YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE TO THIS FINE SHOW WITH THE FEED OF YOUR CHOICE. OR JUST ADD OUR SHOW TO YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP. EMAIL US AT IFIVE@TWIT.TV, LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL AT (614) ON-IFIVE, OR SEND US A VIDEO WITH AN APP REVIEW OF YOUR OWN! I'M SARAH LANE, THIS IS IFIVE FOR THE IPHONE, AND I'LL SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK! . THANKS FOR WATCHING,