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Weekly Poll
CloudApp and Droplr are two apps that perform the same basic function. Both allow you to drag items from almost anywhere in OS X to a menu bar icon that instantly triggers an upload and copies a sharing link to your clipboard.
This is simply a fantastic model for effortless sharing that I personally use every day. The part that I’m not completely convinced about is which app is the best for this type of activity. I’ve used both extensively and find that they both are really solid apps with a lot going for them. Here are some of the things that they both do well: allow for several different types of uploads, let you browse an online web app of past uploads, and provide a public API for integration with third party apps.
That being said, I can easily point out areas where one is better than the other. The following are just a few of the many examples. For starters, CloudApp doesn’t put any ads on the page that hosts the shared content while Droplr does. However, Droplr generates nice short links and CloudApp generates big ugly links (CloudApp’s links are nice and short if you turn on public links). Further, Droplr has support for code sharing with syntax highlighting and CloudApp does not. CloudApp counters again with the ability to automatically upload screenshots taken with the default OS X keyboard shortcuts while Droplr forces you to memorize a new shortcut. Finally, Droplr also has an iOS app while CloudApp is only for the Mac.
Cast your vote in the poll and then leave a comment below letting us know why you think one app is better than the other. Have you tried both apps? Which features do you think are most important?
This week’s poll digs up a Mac user argument dating back over a decade. Upon seeing that the current operating system is spelled out with the Roman numeral “X”, many users pronounce the system’s name OS “Ex”. Others however, prefer to follow tradition (OS 8, OS 9) and always say OS “Ten”.
Today we want to test your Mac knowledge to see if you know which way is correct. Cast your vote in the poll on the right and tell us how you personally pronounce it on a day to day basis.
Which Way Is the Right Way?
After you vote in the poll with your personal preference, if you’d like to know the official correct way to say “OS X”, you need only to ask your Mac! Open up Terminal, type “say OS X” and hit Enter. It’s difficult to argue with the answer! If you’re still not convinced, you can also check out this Apple Support document.
We all know from experience that Mac users can get pretty nasty when this topic is brought up. Feel free to leave a comment below, but let’s all be nice polite adults shall we?
This week at AppStorm we’ve looked at not one, but two interesting iTunes companion apps. Notice that I used the term “companion” and not “replacement.” This is because these apps are meant to supplement your iTunes use, not get rid of it.
The two apps that I’m discussing are Ecoute and Sonora, both of which have the same basic goal: to provide you with a simpler, faster way to listen to your iTunes music library.
iTunes is a powerhouse of functionality and serves as the go-to hub for your syncing music, movies, books and apps to various iOS devices. But as great as iTunes is, the increasing popularity of apps like Ecoute and Sonora bring to mind interesting questions about whether or not iTunes has become bloated over the years. In iTunes you’ll find everything from half-baked social networks to ringtones, which is admittedly a lot of extra functionality when you just want to listen to your favorite tunes without all the distractions.
On the other hand, maybe the features aren’t the problem. Perhaps Apple just needs to rethink the interface entirely. The final possibility is of course that we’re all over thinking this. iTunes is exactly what we need and requires very few, if any changes.
What do you think? If you could change one thing about iTunes, what would it be? Vote in our poll and then leave a comment below with your thoughts. Have you tried Sonora or Ecoute yet? Do you think there’s a legitimate market for these types of apps? We want to hear your thoughts.
