Blog

Dictating your diary with Siri

Tony Short — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:45:41 +0000

My Vacation has always given you the option to type or record your holiday diaries.

Siri, a new feature on the iPhone 4S does a good job at translating what you say into words. It's integrated into the keyboard display so available within all apps including My Vacation.

In a way it is half-way house between the current two methods for entering your journals. The input will be verbal and the output is written.

From my own experiments with my English accent it wasn't perfect on the first try, but it will be interesting to see how Siri stands up to regular use.

Tuatara - new My Vacation update released

Tony Short — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:06:46 +0000

The latest update to My Vacation is out, in all varieties (HD & Lite too).

iOS 5 compatible

The way you pick images should be fixed now. Sorry if this caused your any inconvenience - this was caused by a change by Apple late into the iOS 5 beta testing period.

Ability to optimise images

You can reduce your existing photo sizes and convert their format in order to save space. This will be of interest to you if you are running out of space on your device or on iCloud.

When My Vacation launched on the iPhone we decided to store your photos in PNG (.png) format which compresses images in a lossless fashion. However, for typical vacation photos there is little noticeable difference to store photos in JPEG (.jpg) and the space taken up is almost half that of PNG images. The Photos app on the iPhone and iPad also uses JPEG format, and we're choosing the highest quality JPEG conversion.

Photos are now stored in JPEG format, but the photos you have already taken before this change will be in PNG format. With the launch of iCloud, it is important to reduce the storage space apps take up, if possible. Therefore there are now options to reduce the sizes of your photos, and convert to JPEG format.

To apply these conversions:

Go to the Vacation list page, and click on 'Manage' at the bottom right corner of the page.
The bottom section 'Reduce image sizes' will be there if any of the conversions can be carried out e.g. 'Convert PNG files to JPG'
Each conversion explains what action will happen.

Added Tumblr support

You can now output your trip, or individual photos and videos to Tumblr. More information on this to follow later, but in the meantime can be found as an additional blog option alongside Wordpress and Blogger.

Browser display redesigned

The Browser display (allowing you to view your trip on a laptop/desktop connected to same Wifi network as your iPad/iPhone) now has a cover page and a separate page for each day, along with a couple of other cosmetic improvements.

Let us know on our support forum if you find any problems with the update.

My new camera, my phone.

Tony Short — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:06:57 +0000

Yesterday I got my hands on an iPhone 4S, like millions of other around the world. Each time I get a new camera I try to take it for a spin the picturesque city I'm fortunate enough to live in - Cambridge.

It was a pleasant autumnal day, and the results spurred me on to walk all day around most of the city and University area.

For those who haven't followed the iPhone 4S launch too closely, the camera has been updated from 5 to 8 megapixels, but the optics have also been improved. The backside is illuminated with a CMOS sensor which improves images in low-light conditions. The lens is 5-element based which apparently helped with the colour accuracy. The aperture is f/2.4 and images are 30% sharper. Compared to my 3GS it's astounding, as you'll see below.

First off I show a few shots before moving on to a little more analysis (click to see full size version).

Definition

First off let's see a comparison between the 4S and 3GS. There is a marked improvement in the 4S.

iPhone 4S

iPhone 3GS

It is also worth pointing out that despite a lack of optical zoom it is still worth zooming in rather than cropping later on. I noticed this when iOS 4 was released.

Macro

Using the obligatory flower shot you can also appreciate the improvement in macro shots.

iPhone 4S

iPhone 3GS

HDR

I took all of the photos in HDR mode which creates 2 shots for each photo, each with a different exposure setting, letting more or less light. You can see the effect here.

Compare this to the 3GS and it makes you realise how close the 4S comes to a dedicated camera.

Low light conditions

You need to take more care keeping the phone steady and manually picking a focus zone, but low light shots are still impressive. The first 2 shots here show some good examples.

Here is an example of how much variation you can see on a shot at dusk with auto exposure then the second one with manually selected exposure after clicking on the grass. Much brighter but you can see visible graininess.

Lastly, an example of how image blur can easily occur, although I think I could have been steadier for this shot!

Focus and depth of field

The camera can focus on obvious objects e.g. the leaves hanging from the tree, but it was harder to clearly focus on a particular railing in the below example.

Shutter speed

I did not experiment too much in this regard but in good light the camera snapped a fairly well defined bus speeding past.

Videos

Videos are now shot at 1080p and initially I was disappointed by the frame rate when played back on my laptop, although on the phone it was smooth. You can see the differences here between the iPhone 4S and iPhone 3GS.

Summary

The iPhone camera has evolved to the point of being a realistic option for your holiday snaps. The low light performance will encourage more evening use when you don't want to carry around additional cameras, and you can take a photo in less than 4 seconds from double clicking the Home button.

Combined with My Vacation app you'll have a truly integrated way to journal your trip.

The best camera is the one you have with you.

Warning for those upgrading to iOS 5

Tony Short — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:07:44 +0000

As I mention more on our support forum the new iOS 5 did sneak in a bit of a nasty surprise for My Vacation which could impact how you import images until our fix is approved. Read here for more details: http://getsatisfaction.com/jasperapps/topics/warningtothoserunningios_5

An update was sent to Apple on Thursday and I'll update you when it's approved.

Steve Jobs

Tony Short — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:33:40 +0000

I never use this blog to talk about topics unrelated to my apps, and this article is no different.

There were smartphones and apps around before the iPhone. However, it was Apple, driven by Jobs' vision and principles who created a device to capture the affection of the masses, not just the nerds.

An opportunity was suddenly there for me to break out from working for a large corporation to directly having control and autonomy over my own project, and potentially make a living out of it. That has to be the dream scenario for a lot of developers. It was for me!

I think it's fascinating to consider that such a controlled company created an ecosystem that let imagination run wild. Indeed, it's possible Apple didn't anticipate the demand for native apps over web apps. Then, once the native app took off, with the App Store approval process they also acted as more of a restraining 'parent' than Google. However, this was only to encourage high standards to complement the device's high standards and attention to style and detail.

High standards and attention to style and detail perfectly sums up what was special about Steve Jobs.

I have him to thank for the opportunity to change my career, and making it possible for apps like My Vacation to be created. There will be thousands of developers around this world sharing the same thoughts today.

Regards, Tony

iPhone 4S, iOS 5 and My Vacation

Tony Short — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:25:18 +0000

Like many others I was yesterday eager to find out about the latest iPhone incarnation from Apple. Whilst being labelled 4S rather than 5, it sounds like a solid update which will have me in the queues to buy.

What does this mean for the app? Let's recap firstly on iOS 5 which will be installable on 3GS and 4 too. Nothing has been added to the features I blogged about in June. The key features that will boost the use of My Vacation are:

iCloud
Photostream
Airplay and display mirroring
New camera features

Onto the iPhone 4S. It's faster, has more memory and a better camera.

The main feature for those using My Vacation will surely be the improved camera. It will shoot photos at 8 megapixel, allowing images with a resolution of 3264x2448.

From the Apple product page:

Great photography isn’t just about megapixels — it’s about light, too. The all-new, advanced optics in this camera work together to make sure whatever light you have gives you the best image possible. The custom lens uses five precision elements to shape incoming light, which makes the entire image sharper. The larger f/2.4 aperture lets in more light, so photos look brighter and better. And the advanced hybrid infrared filter keeps out harmful IR light, so you’ll see more accurate and uniform colours.

ars technica have published an article about the new iPhone 4S camera which was interesting to read. I'll follow up with actual photos once I've got my hands on one!

Gadget Feature: The olloclip

Tony Short — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:39:17 +0000

The olloclip is another innovative add-on for your iPhone 4 to add more creativity to the photos you import into My Vacation.

The olloclip contains three compact lenses: fisheye, wide-angle and macro lenses that clip onto the iPhone camera.

As they say, the best camera is the one you have with you. That said, camera phones are not quite out of the zone of being 'limited', even the iPhone 4 camera - which is impressive for its size.

I imagine this gadget will appeal to those who have embraced the iPhone as their main everyday camera. You can use photo-editing apps to recreate a little of what's on offer here but you will lose out on photo detail.

To see some examples of photos taken using the lens see:

http://populagram.appspot.com/tag/olloclip

http://www.blog.olloclip.com/

You can purchase the olloclip for $69.95 from this link.

My Vacation featured in iPhoneAppCafe Top 5 list

Tony Short — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:04:41 +0000

The folks at iPhoneAppCafe have included My Vacation in their top 5 list for July!

Not only does this application provides you with packing lists or photo organization, it is also well-rounded, sweeping in its scope, and surprisingly all-inclusive.

Thanks for the mention!

Tip #11: There's a Setting For That...

Tony Short — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:57:14 +0000

There is divided opinion on where app settings should reside. The 'Apple' way is for them to reside in the Settings App - i.e. outside the app. This is how it's done in My Vacation and My Vacation HD.

If this is news to you then you should head over there and find out what you can change in other apps, not just My Vacation! From some of the support queries we receive I can tell it isn't always natural to look there, although it does help to keep the interface uncluttered within the app.

To access the Settings click your Home button, then find the Settings App. Click on the Settings icon and scroll down to My Vacation:

You'll then see a page with some settings for My Vacation:

Saved Image Size - This allows you to change the maximum size of the photo stored by the app when you take a photo with the camera, or import from the Photos app.
Image Cache - This can improve the speed of the app by caching images as you go through the app. It can cause the app to run out of memory if you have a lot of other apps running so if the app quits while using this it's recommended you go back and disable this setting.
Traditional Picker - The traditional picker option refers to the photo picker used when importing photos from the Photos app. The traditional picker only allows you to pick one photo at a time, whereas if disabled a custom picker will be used that allows you to pick multiple images at once. You may want to use Traditional if you are importing from a camera roll with a large number of images.
Distance Unit - Pick between kilometres and miles when viewing the map screens.
Weather Unit - Pick between Celsius and Fahrenheit when viewing weather reports.

Journal Font - Pick from American Typewriter (serif), Georgia (serif), Helvetica (sans-serif), and on the HD version only - Bradley-Hand (handwritten style). This affects the font used when typing your journal.
Playback Font - The same choice as for the journal font, and this affects the font of the journal that scrolls up the screen on playback.
Slideshow Interval - This affects the speed of the full screen photo slideshows.
Playback Photo Flip Speed - This affects the speed of the photos flipping over during playback.
Playback Journal Scroll Speed - This affects the speed of the journal scrolling up the screen during playback.
Send Crash Reports - Enabling this helps us find problems that are causing the app to quit. For more information about this see here.

If you have any other settings you would like to see included feel free to comment below.

Tip #10: Blogger's Delight

Tony Short — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:40:18 +0000

I would imagine a large proportion of blogs are created to share travel experiences.

A blog is a great way to show off your trip. It can be styled personally and viewed by all.

My Vacation and My Vacation HD allow you to select the best of your photos and the app will intersperse these with your journal excerpts, then create a blog post - all from within the app.

Currently the app supports the main two platforms Blogger and Wordpress.

On each one you select which days and photos you want to publish. Let's remind you how to get to that stage first:

Go into the main summary screen.
Click on the Publish button.
Select Blog
Select which days to publish
Select which photos you want for those days based on rating.
Select your blogging platform (Blogger or Wordpress). For Wordpress there is the choice of a blog hosted on Wordpress as opposed to one hosted on your servers.
Enter your user credentials
For Blogger select which of your blogs to send to (some people have more than one)
Choose a post title
Choose whether you want to publish as a draft
Pick between showing larger photos within the post, or thumbnails linking to the larger photos.

A quick note for Blogger. When you send photos to Blogger they are hosted by Google's Picasa service (automatically linked to your Google account). Videos and audio are not compatible at this stage sadly.

The styling of the post is intentionally minimal because with everyone's blog having a different style it would be hard to please everyone. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to hear some feedback on the layout (maybe comment on this thread or our support forum). If you have adapted the style in your blog and would like to share your post with others then likewise let us know!

Let me start - here is the result of me using this feature on my New Zealand trip earlier this year.