Category Archives: iOS

Weather Beautiful App Updated

The Weather Beautiful App has been updated to version 2.4 for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry 10. This version is quicker to refresh the weather and location when the app is relaunched. Additionally there was a bit of optimization done to the app to make the underlying code quicker and simpler.

About Weather Beautiful

Weather Beautiful is a simple weather app that displays stunning photography of your surrounding area. In addition to the current temperature and weather conditions, the app also allows you to scroll for a full weekly forecast. While temperatures are shown in Fahrenheit by default, there is an option to switch to Celsius.

Links & Information

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Projectile Physics app updated

shapeitappThe Projectile Physics app has been updated for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone. After this update the app now uses the official ISO value for acceleration due to gravity. Additionally iOS and Android users are now given the option to remove all advertising from the calculator with an in-app purchase.

About Projectile Physics

This app is a projectile physics calculator designed to solve for all of the components of a typical projectile motion problem. The app solves for both the vertical and horizontal components of the distance traveled, the constant acceleration, the initial and final velocity, as well as the time. These factors are solved for in real time in order to help you get back the factors of the equation quicker.

Links & Information

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Hockey Scores app now on iOS

shapeitappThe Hockey Scores app is now available on iOS. This app provides a simple and quick way to get the day’s NHL scores.

This new iOS version of Hockey Scores contains all of the same features as the BlackBerry version of the app.

About Hockey Scores

In addition to showing the scores of each game, the app also shows the game time, shot counts, hits, faceoff percentages, and a full list of all of the game’s goal scorers.

A one time in-app purchase can be used to remove all advertising from the app.

Links & Information

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The iOS password field is a mess of bad design

img_0028For such a simple element, Apple has really fallen behind when it comes to password fields in iOS 10.

First of all there is no option to show/hide the password that is being entered. With a virtual keyboard this is important to avoid mistakes in a complex password. This has been implemented by Android, Windows, and BlackBerry but is still lacking in iOS.

Additionally the keyboard ignores the “Character Preview” setting whenever you are entering a password. Furthermore the keyboard does not use the BlackBerry 10 trick of showing an additional row of numerical keys on password fields. Making the number keys easier to access encourages the use of stronger passwords by making it possible to quickly enter more complex passwords.

None of these are major problems by themselves, but overall you would really have hoped that Apple would be able to put to together a better UX by the tenth version of their operating system.

New York State Canal apps released for iOS

shapeitappApps for the Erie Canal, Cayuga-Seneca Canal, Oswego Canal, and Champlain Canal have been released in the iOS app store. These apps give you the ability to see the locations of all locks, boat launches, lift bridges, and guard gates along the canals.

The primary view of the apps shows a list of all the landmarks along the canal, with their distance along the canal along with a phone number that the app can dial in order to contact the marinas, and locks on the route. In addition to this, there is also a map view that precisely shows the location of everything along the canal’s path. An options page allows you to filter out the types of landmarks that the app shows (on both the list and the map).

Links & Information

Erie Canal

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Cayuga-Seneca Canal

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Oswego Canal

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Champlain Canal

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Buffalo Metro Rail app updated

iphoneThe Buffalo Metro Rail app has been updated to version 1.3. This update makes use of the new data format that is being used by the NFTA, and also adds support for iphones and iPads.

About the Buffalo Metro Rail app

This app shows the departure times for trains along Buffalo’s Metro route. The app automatically selects the proper schedule for the day, allows for sorting options, and also shows a map of the full light rail line. Additionally the app only needs to be synced once a month, and can otherwise be used without an active internet connection.

Links & Information

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Projectile Physics Calculator released for iPhones

img_0012The Projectile Physics app has been released for iOS. This app makes it easy to solve two dimensional projectile motion equations by entering the measurements you do have, and seeing the rest get automatically calculated.

About Projectile Physics

This app is a projectile physics calculator designed to solve for all of the components of a typical projectile motion problem. The app solves for both the vertical and horizontal components of the distance traveled, the constant acceleration, the initial and final velocity, as well as the time. These factors are solved for in real time in order to help you get back the factors of the equation quicker.

Links & Information

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Weather Beautiful app released for iOS

shapeitappThe Weather Beautiful app has been released for iOS in the Apple app store. This release of the weather app is on par with the Android and BlackBerry versions.

About Weather Beautiful

Weather Beautiful is a simple weather app that displays stunning photography of your surrounding area. In addition to the current temperature and weather conditions, the app also allows you to scroll for a full weekly forecast. While temperatures are shown in Fahrenheit by default, there is an option to switch to Celsius.

Links & Information

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Niagara Border Crossing app released for iPhone

img_20160927_172242The Niagara Border Crossing app has been released for iPhones in the iTunes app store This app shows wait times for border crossings over the Niagara River between the United States and Canada, and is also available for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows users.

Wait times are shown for all four of the bridges between Western New York and Southern Ontario. These include the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge, and the Peace Bridge. Separate times are shown for cars, trucks, and also for those using the Nexus lanes.

Links & Information

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Getting website text in Swift 3

Last month I noted that Swift 2 had not yet dropped its Objective-C origins when it came to retrieving website text. Fortunately, Swift 3 has great advances in this area. Getting source of a webpage is now a simple and straightforwards process…

let url:NSURL = NSURL(string: "http://ebscer.com")!
do
{
    let responseText:String = try String(contentsOf:url,
                            encoding:String.Encoding.utf8)
}
catch let error
{
    print("Error: \(error)")
}

Getting web site text in Swift 2

Update: This process has been simplified for Swift 3

Loading the text of a webpage in Swift has not completely dropped its Objective-C origins, which makes the process a little bit less obvious than it should be. Fortunately it is only a few lines…

let url:NSURL = NSURL(string: "http://ebscer.com")!
let request:NSURLRequest = NSURLRequest(URL: url)
NSURLConnection.sendAsynchronousRequest(request, 
    queue: NSOperationQueue(),
    completionHandler: { (response:NSURLResponse?,
        data: NSData? error: NSError?) -> Void in
            let responseText:String = String(data: data!,
                encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)!
            print(responseText)
    })

You may also need to edit your plist file to whitelist the domain.