Access to Insight Update

Finally got around to uploading a new version of the Access to Insight application. This one has proper support for the iPad, and has been updated with the latest content from the web site including the Pali versions of translated suttas.

For those who have requested features including enlarging the font size, I haven't forgotten about you. Some of these types of things are next on the list.

Thoughts on Today's iPad Announcement

After all the rumors and hype, Apple finally came out with all the details about their new device today. Finally I can stop hearing all the silly speculation and seeing the latest thing claiming to be a leaked photo!

If you haven't yet read all about the iPad, check out Apple's iPad page. Other than perhaps the lack of a front-facing webcam, it's pretty close to what I expected. As a developer I'm very pleased that they made the SDK and iPad Simulator available for download today.

Anyway rather than repeat all the usual hype and complaints out there, I'm just going to talk about what the iPad seems to be intended for product-wise and give my first impressions of the SDK.

First, this thing is intended to kill netbooks and the Kindle. It's a netbook and ereader killer or at least it's supposed to be. Right now some people carry a smartphone and a laptop around, then find they want to spend hours reading PDF files or ebooks. The laptop is too clumsy and drains batteries too fast. The smartphone is less clumsy and has perhaps better battery life, but is too small and painful to use for reading books. So they buy a dedicated ebook reader device with a reasonably large e-ink screen and very good battery life, but it doesn't do anything but read books, and now they're carrying around three devices.

It's pretty much a given that you'll have to have a phone of some sort, so you're pretty much stuck with carrying a cell phone be it super tiny or smartphone-sized. The iPad's gambit is that it can replace some amount of the smartphone's smartness, the ereader's ereaderyness, and the netbook/laptop's desktop computerishness with one device that's able to fill all needs well enough for people traveling around, sitting in cafes, airports, or in class.

Will it succeed? I think that it mostly will for what most people would need a PDA, ereader, and netbook/laptop for, but it's going to have user interface awkwardness issues for a while.

The iPhone UI was designed very well for a little screen. The first thing I notice when playing with the iPad SDK is.... what the heck do I do with all this space now? If I take an iPhone application, port it to an iPad app, then try to rearrange the controls on a screen that seems almost 10 times as large now, I start to feel like someone took my house, increased it's square footage by an order of magnitude without increasing the number of rooms, but didn't give me any more furniture.

Of course, Apple is giving iPad developers more furniture and more ways (in the form of new view controllers) to divide up the suddenly much larger house into a larger number of smaller rooms, but at the moment the springboard (home screen) still looks sort of like a bathroom the size of a basketball court. The "room dividers" in the new SDK may remain a little awkward until the concept of adapting a specialized small-screen UI to a larger screen becomes more refined.

So the iPad may start out as a bit of an awkwardly musclebound iPod Touch, but I doubt it will be more than a year before that awkwardness totally goes away and a new user interface paradigm that handles screens from book to phone size will truly be born. Overall I think that Apple is on the right track in trying to pull the iPhone UI "up" rather than pulling "down" the standard desktop windowing system UI (which hasn't changed much since Xerox came up with it over 30 years ago or something).

At the bookstore? See that book? See that barcde? Scan it to find the book at your local library!

I'm a little overdue on writing about this one, but thanks to the design of Occipital's RedLaser app ($1.99 in the US) it was so easy to do that it didn't seem like any big deal. I guess people are finding this useful though so here's some info. (I don't want to sound too self-important or anything here, but I am starting up a business and I suppose I should toot my own horn a little bit so.... I was the one who originally created the three bookmarklet/applets things for RedLaser shown in the right in that image. Occipital made it so easy though that all I really had to do was come up with the idea.)

Anyway, using the iPhone bar code scanning application RedLaser in combination with this Mobile Safari bookmarklet, you can tap an icon on your phone, scan in a book ISBN/EAN barcode, and immediately see which libraries in your area have the book. Bookstores have got to hate that.

This is turning out to be useful enough that it's gained a little bit of media attention:

• Point, Shoot, Reserve: OCLC brings library information to RedLaser
• iPhone App Provides Access To Local Libraries (from a local TV station, with video)
• Mucho Cool for iPhone Users from OCLC! RedLaser iPhone app and WorldCat, Find Books in Local Libraries

If you have RedLaser installed on your phone:

1. Launch Mobile Safari
2. Navigate to this page (type in appmagination.com)
3. Tap on the following link: WorldCat Scan Bookmarklet
   

Follow the directions that appear and create an icon on your home screen using Safari's "Add to Home Screen" feature.

If you don't have RedLaser, well it's only $2 and well worth that price. This has to be the best application I've seen for $2 and I'm not exaggerating.

Here's a blog post from the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) showing what the launch icons looks like, as well as two other bookmarklet-type links for searching online catalogs: one for AADL, and one for MeLCat (Michigan's automated inter-library loan system). If you're in Michigan, the MeL applet will be particularly useful since it will allow you to have a book sent from almost any library in the state to your local library in a barcode scan and a few taps. Pretty convenient.

Here's a blog post at WorldCat talking about further RedLaser integration with WorldCat.

Here are some instructions from Occipital on  how you can create your own applet for RedLaser quickly and easily with no programming knowledge required. All you really need is some understanding of how query URLs work with search engines.

Note that Occipital also has a RedLaser SDK that they license to developers that allows their bar code scanning functionality to be embedded into almost any iPhone application. So if you need some functionality related to barcode scanning that you can't accomplish using the simple applet search integration scheme described above, it's possible that a custom iPhone application that utilizes the RedLaser SDK could meet your needs.

If you need any custom application development done and don't have a developer, Appmagination might just be able to help you out. Feel free to contact me for more info.

New Application: Access to Insight (eBook)

I'm happy to say that my latest application, Access to Insight, is now available on the app store. Woohoo! Wow, that was a fast approval. I think it only took a few days. Anyway, see the previous post for some background. Please don't hesitate to submit comments or bug reports. Here's the app store description:

The best  "eBook" about Buddhism on the app store!

This application contains the entire offline version of Access to Insight (www.accesstoinsight.org), a compilation of material about Theravada Buddhism, the predominant form of Buddhism in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Much of the material is also applicable to all forms of Buddhism.

Herein are contained over 1,000 translations of suttas (sutras), the canonical texts of Theravada and other forms of Buddhism. Many essays from famous monks and scholars on Buddhist philiosophy, meditation, and practice are also included.

This is high quality material that is suitable reading for personal interest or academic study. Much of the material is also available in printed form. Many of the sutta translations also link to iPhone accessible online audio readings on suttareadings.net.

Double tap on the screen to hide or show the toolbar and status bar. Landscape and portrait modes are supported, as are bookmarks which save the current scroll position of the current page.

Except for the search and audio features, network access is not required as the full text is stored locally on your iPhone OS device.

Feedback and bug reports are always appreciated! Please send them to support@appmagination.com.

New Application in Testing: Access to Insight (eBook)

A new application is almost finished. It's basically the offline edition of http://www.accesstoinsight.org encapsulated in an iPhone application that serves as a sort of eBook reader.

The Subject matter is Theravada Buddhism. There are a few reasons I developed this application:

• There aren't really any good free eBooks on the App Store about Buddhism, so this fills a need for anyone studying the subject for whatever reason be it personal or a comparative religion class, etc.
• I wanted to create a decent HTML eBook reader template application for encapsulating HTML content. I expect to use this for other materials so expect more eBook type apps in the future.
• Access to Insight is an ideal site for this purpose because the pages are all very simple in formatting and consist mostly of text, therefore it's very easy to edit the CSS to format pages for the iPhone's screen and hide elements (such as the search form) that don't work in the offline edition. The offline version is also redistributable providing that content isn't edited and no money is charged for distribution.

The app should be available on the app store in 3 weeks or so, maybe sooner if we're lucky.

New Application: Safety Flasher (free)

Safety Flasher is the first title from Appmagination.

I'm aware that this sort of function has been done to death, but I thought I'd improve on the functionality, and price, of some of the others.

First, as with any sort of application or game that presents flashing lights or visuals to the user, let me provide you with a standard health warning that appears in the licensing terms for many software products. Note that this applies to all of the similar applications on the app store even though they may not bother to warn you about it!

PHOTOSENSITIVE SEIZURE WARNING.  A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in software applications.  Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these “photosensitive epileptic seizures” while using applications that display such lights or patterns.  These seizures may have a variety of symptoms, including light-headedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects.

IMMEDIATELY STOP USING THE APPLICATION AND CONSULT A DOCTOR if you experience any of these symptoms. Parents should watch for or ask their children about the above symptoms - children and teenagers are more likely than adults to experience these seizures.

Here's the description of Safety Flasher from the app store:

A very simple application that flashes the screen of the device for the purpose of increasing a person's visibility in low light conditions. It is especially appropriate for use with an armband holder while walking at night. It is provided without warranty or guarantees of any sort in the hope that it will increase your safety when used responsibly.

Why another flasher/strobe application you say? Well, here are some features/advantages over others:

• It's free!
• Launches immediately into the correct mode. Doesn't try to be a flashlight or anything else.
• Very simple settings with a preview area make it very easy to configure the application for the level of conspicuity you want without lots of unnecessary options.
• Flash, pulse, and burst modes imitate the most common flashing patterns of real safety lighting.

Note that the screen of the iPhone and iPod Touch isn't really very bright compared to a real safety light, so this application is intended to be better than nothing, but it isn't a real substitute for an actual dedicated light. Do not depend on this application for emergency signaling, especially in a situation where an emergency signaling device is required! It is only intended to make it easier to see someone in normal low-light conditions.

Note: If anyone wants the source code for this, please send me an email. I haven't bothered to put it up for download yet.

(Thanks to Russ Connell for pointing out the possible health issue.)