Focus for iPhone, a new task manager by Oslo, Norway-headquartered digital marketing agency Dots Design, is a beautifully conceived application with a minimalist user interface which makes creating lists built around your lifestyle a breeze.
Available at no charge on the App Store, Focus, as the name suggests, is all about focusing on the task at hand. The minimal user interface lends itself nicely to keeping the app very easy to use, with gestures-driven actions and a single screen on which everything takes place.
Simplicity is the name of the game
While not as fully-featured as other task managers, Focus will be more than adequate if all you want is a simple to use app that helps you get things done.
As I mentioned, the app leans heavily on gestures. There are no multiple screens in Focus, no settings, no menus—just the highly focused UI with the tasks at hand.
Focus comes with built-in task lists that are based around a typical user’s lifestyle, but you can easily edit them, or create your own.
Gestures, gestures, gestures
To open or close a task list, tap its title.
To create a new task within a list, tap the plus button next to the appropriate task list. I like it that Focus lets me add multiple tasks within a list quickly by tapping the Another button after entering each one.
To mark a task as completed, simply swipe over it.
You can rearrange tasks within a list by tapping and holding, then drag a task to the new location. To edit a task’s title (which can be up to 26 characters), tap it.
And that’s about it when it comes to Focus’s feature set and ease of use, but don’t let the app’s simplicity fool you—if you need a minimal task manager to quickly create and manage shopping lists and other task lists on the go, this is it.
Final thoughts
I have a few smaller quibbles with Focus.
For starters, I would have most definitely welcomed some sort of settings interface to change the typeface and color scheme. Don’t get me wrong, I like Focus’s minimal UI but also understand that an all-red interface may not suit everyone’s tastes.
This app also begs for 3D Touch Peek and Pop gestures, which I have no doubt in my mind will be added in a future update.
Other than that, Focus is a cool app for those who are looking to simplify their productivity with a highly focused task manager for their iPhone. That it’s a completely free of charge app with no In-App Purchases is a plus as well.
The 26-character limit for task names should be removed, in my opinion.
Pricing and availability
Focus requires an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad with iOS 8.1. The app is English-only and lacks a native watchOS 2 component for the Apple Watch.
Anthony Bouchard Featured Home Screen
Opinions are like Home screens; everyone has one.
Because the Home screen is one of the most-used parts of any iPhone, and because people are always in search of cool new apps to download, it seemed appropriate for me to share what I have on the first page of my Home screen and talk about why I use what I use.
Following suit with my other colleagues here at iDB, I’ll be sharing mine as well.
The minimalist of all minimalists
One thing you can tell about me from looking at my iPhone’s Home screen is I don’t like changing things much. I’m not huge on customizing my stuff, and honestly, I don’t know why. All I can really say is I am a minimalist and I like to keep things that way.
One thing you can tell is that my daily driver, which is an iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 9.3.2, is not jailbroken. I keep it as stock as can be. On the other hand, there are a variety of third-party apps I like to use that I am happy to discuss.
I have only two Home screen pages; the first is completely full, and the second is only almost full and contains a single folder full of apps I don’t use. Although I won’t be talking about the apps I have stored in my folder, I will talk about the rest of my apps that I have installed.
The apps I use and why: Page 1
I have no real order to my apps, but I can say that I like to keep them in places on the Home screen where I’m familiar with so that when I unlock my iPhone, I can quickly have the muscle memory to go to the spot where I know the app always is and tap on it without having to search for it.
These are the apps I keep on my first Home screen page and use regularly:
Messages: need I say more? It seems pointless to have an iPhone if you can’t message people, and I do a lot of that, so that’s app #1 on my Home screen.
Calendar: to be honest, I hate the iOS Calendar app. I much prefer Fantastical 2, but the real perk to having the app on the Home screen is you can simply glance at the app icon to see what the date is.
Photos: I take a lot of photos, so I like to have quick access to them. So here they are!
Camera: it made sense to me to put the Camera app right next to the Photos app, and really, putting it where it makes it easy to get to the app and snap a quick picture.
App Store: my go-to place for finding new apps. I like to have this on my front page so I know when I have pending app updates.
Clock: I use the Clock app mostly for alarms, but it’s on my Home page so I can see the seconds in the time from the app icon itself. I work on cars a lot, so when I disconnect my battery and need to reset my car’s time, this app icon is useful for timing the clock down to the very second.
Notes: I jot things down all the time to remember stuff, so it’s easy to get to where it is.
Contacts: I’m always adding new people to my contacts because I like to keep friends and business partners in the loop.
Facebook: more than just for keeping in touch with friends, I manage social media for my day job, so this app is a must. Free
Facebook Messenger: because I like to keep in touch with my Facebook friends. Free
Twitter: to keep in touch with the jailbreak community and follow developers to make great tweaks, I have Twitter. Free
Slack: the best way for me to keep in touch with my buddy Sebastien and my other iDB colleagues. Free
Amazon: I order stuff. A lot. Leave me alone; I have a buying problem. Free
Ebay: for when Amazon isn’t enough, sometimes I find great deals on Ebay. Once again, I have a buying addiction, especially for Jeep parts. Free
PayPal: we all need to get paid somehow. Free
Discover: for managing one of my favorite credit card issuers and seeing my balance. Free
YouTube: I like watching videos. Most of the time, I am looking up how to do stuff to repair cars because I simply can’t afford to take my vehicles into the garage every time something makes a squeak. Free
Shazam Encore: almost every time I go somewhere, I hear something I want to know the name of, and this app helps with that. Here on my first Home screen page, it’s super easy to access the app and tag music. $6.99
Deliveries: since I have a buying problem, I also have a complimentary tracking problem. I like to know where my purchases are, and this is hands-down my favorite delivery-tracking app. $4.99
Screens: my absolute favorite VNC software for Mac; this lets me control my Mac’s screen while I’m away. $19.99
Settings: bruh, everyone’s gotta configure their device.
Google Maps: I like Apple Maps, but in my opinion, Google Maps will always be the best. It has never steered me wrong, and I do a lot of driving. Free
Yahoo Weather: my favorite third-party weather app because it has so much interactive information about the weather outside. Free
Skype: I honestly don’t use this app that much, but I keep in touch with my ex-coworkers with this app. Free
Phone: I don’t always call people, but when I do, I use the Phone app (don’t you too?).
Safari: I search for so much stuff, and all third-party web browsers pretty much suck. I like the speed and reliability of Safari.
Mail: for my many email contacts for my many needs, Apple’s mail app is my go-to.
Music: I actually just signed up for Apple Music not too long ago after my student discount for Spotify expired. I still miss Spotify’s streaming quality, but it’s nice to have streaming from a native iOS app now.
The apps I use and why: Page 2
Anthony Bouchard Featured Home Screen 2
MacID: I’ve talked about MacID over and over with you guys; it’s my favorite way to unlock my Mac using Touch ID. $3.99
Dropbox: I use Dropbox as a way to keep my files accessible on the go. Free
Fantastical 2: I use Fantastical instead of the Calendar app to keep up with dates and events. Its UI and feature set are so much better than Apple’s Calendar app. $4.99
Reeder: I like to keep up with news in the Apple world, and I do that with Reeder. $4.99
iTunes Movie Trailers: because I don’t watch much TV, I never know what movies are in theaters without this app. Free
Wallet: I use Apple Pay. It’s great. At least, it is when stores actually support it…
Calculator: for those tricky every-day calculations you always seem to have to make.
Voice Memos: I rarely use it, unless I want to record somebody talking to prove them wrong when they say they said something and didn’t.
Maps: as a backup for when Google Maps doesn’t work, which is basically never.
Watch: I love my Apple Watch, so I configure it here.
Shopkick: I find it fun to earn rewards and gift cards while shopping, and Shopkick lets me do that. Free
Walmart: I use the Walmart app to scan every receipt I get from Walmart to earn bucks with the savings catcher feature. Free
Instagram: I follow Jeep pages because I like Jeeps. Instagram seems to have endless photos of Jeeps. Free
myAT&T: since I have AT&T, and they can often be shysters, I use this app to make sure my data consumption looks right. Free
LongScreen: for making those abnormally long screenshots you often see in my tutorials. $3.99
iDB: to keep up with what’s being posted on iDownloadBlog. Free
CNN Politics: to keep up with what’s new in the 2016 presidential race. Free
There’s really nothing special about my Home screen layout, so I don’t expect to be the model for anyone’s Home screen desires, but it works for me. I’m pretty simple when it comes to looks and I never go over the top with these kinds of things.
My bland wallpaper
I used to be really into having cool abstract wallpapers, but I slowly realized that it was an endless and pointless search because I would always find something cooler week after week.
As a result, I just keep my wallpaper plain Jane stock. Until Apple releases a wallpaper that I totally can’t stand, I probably won’t even bother changing it.
Wrapping up
Like I said before, I’m a minimalist. I don’t really change a whole lot when it comes to my iPhone because I like things to stay as basic as possible. On the other hand, I’m a sucker for great apps, and that’s why you won’t find any junk on my Home screen.
What do you have on your Home screen? Send us an email and we might even feature you if it’s written decently enough to pass through editorial control.
Three days after the release of SemiRestore for Windows and Linux, the tool is also now supporting Mac OS X. Well, sort of, as the developer notes in the ReadMe file that “SemiRestore for OS X is provided on a ‘works for me’ basis.” So our initial warning about using this tool still applies here, as you might do this at your own risks.
For those unfamiliar with the tool, it is supposed to help you restore your jailbroken device to a fresh state while still preserving the jailbreak. This is particularly helpful if your jailbroken device is becoming unstable and you want to start fresh.
Apparently, SemiRestore has been tested on two iOS devices using hackinstosh setups running OS X 10.11.4 and 10.11.5. Although this tool is available for OS X, the developer makes it clear that support is not provided for that operating system, and that he “provides no warranty or support whatsoever for this OS X version.”
All this makes me wonder: why even bother to begin with then?
SemiRestore for Windows, Linux, or Mac can be downloaded from the tool’s dedicated website. Considering initial feedback from users, and the lack of proper support for OS X, we don’t feel comfortable recommending SemiRestore at this time.
Apple on Monday seeded the second beta of iOS 9.3.3 to developers. Registered iOS developers can grab the new build from the Apple Developer Center, or via an over-the-air update on a compatible device with the latest software.
The update comes two weeks after the first iOS 9.3.3 beta was released, and it’s mostly bug fixes. It’s also worth noting that Apple has seemingly fixed the 9.7-inch iPad Pro issue, as there’s now a beta available for the flagship tablet.
Keep in mind that we are now just a week away from Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, which is set to kick off on June 13. Apple has already invited the press to its keynote address, where it’s expected to unveil the future of iOS.
In addition to iOS, Apple also seeded new betas for watchOS, tvOS and OS X on Monday. The betas are available to registered developers, and can be installed via the Apple Watch app on iPhone, OTA in tvOS for those with the latest beta profile, and the update tab in the Mac App Store.
The software version numbers are watchOS 2.2.2, tvOS 9.2.2 and OS X 10.11.6, and from what we saw in the first betas, they’re not adding any significant new features. The 10.11.6 change log reads “improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac,” and the others follow suit.
Keep in mind that we’re now just one week away from Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, which is set to kick off June 13. The company has already sent out press invites to its keynote address, where it’s expected to introduce its vision for the future of its four software platforms.
Xbox One Preview screenshot 001
Microsoft’s personal digital assistant Cortana is coming to the Xbox One console with an forthcoming software update for the console, the Windows giant revealed this morning. Cortona is currently available on Windows as an integrated feature and on iOS and Android devices as a standalone app.
Cortana for Xbox One will let players find new games, see what their friends are doing, start a party, perform common tasks and even turn on the console with their voice.
Have a chat with Cortana on your Xbox One
Engadget reports that Cortana for Xbox One will also be able to get search results from Bing, pull up information on nearby restaurants and more. Signed-in users will benefit from having their Cortana history and notebook synced across devices.
Here’s a preview video of the new Xbox One firmware update in which Larry Hryb talks to Mike Ybarra from the Xbox engineering team about the new features, including Cortana, voice commands through headset, updates to My Games & Apps, Facebook friend finder and more.
Notably, this release of the Xbox One firmware combines the separate Xbox Store and Windows Store into one store as Microsoft continues work on unifying its Windows PC and Xbox One platforms. After the stores have been converged successfully, Microsoft should introduce additional features to let the Xbox One run universal Windows apps.
Cortona is a staggered released that will first roll out to Xbox One Preview testers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and Spain this week before arriving on the Xbox app on Windows 10 the next week.
Here’s the full list of the new features in the Xbox One Preview software update and the beta Xbox app.
Xbox One Preview
Cortana on Xbox One: Cortana is coming to Preview in the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Spain first, and gamers can expect the familiar Cortana experience found on other Windows 10 devices. Cortana voice commands on Xbox One will work with both headsets and Kinect. You’ll be able to use Cortana to find great new games, see what your friends are up to, start a party, accomplish common tasks, turn on your Xbox One if you’re using Kinect, and more. We’ll continue to build Cortana features over time and our vision is to use Cortana to help elevate your experience as your personal digital assistant for gaming. Just say “Hey Cortana” or launch the app to get started!
New Game Collection: We’re updating the Game Collection interface to make it faster and easier to find and launch the games you’re looking for. Now you’ll be able to see more of your Game Collection, quickly access your own ‘Ready to Install’ tab, and get more information about titles in your queue.
Facebook Friend Finder on Xbox One: Facebook Friend Finder is expanding from the Xbox app to Xbox One and is a great way to find and add your Facebook friends on Xbox. As more gamers link their Facebook and Xbox Live accounts, you’ll start seeing more suggestions for Facebook friends to add and game with on Xbox Live.
Improved sharing on Xbox One: We’ve made it easier to share your screenshots, GameDVR clips, and achievements on Xbox One. Gamers can now share their most epic clips and captures with the community in fewer steps.
Xbox app and Windows 10 gaming
Edit and share GameDVR clips on any video editor: Create that perfect gaming montage with your favorite video editor with clips you recorded on either Xbox One or your PC. Once you’re finished editing, you’ll be able to upload the clip back to Xbox Live through the Xbox app.
Updated GameDVR management: You can now manage your captures straight from your profile. This new destination allows you to share, start your own uploads, and see progress in the queue.
60 fps game clip recording with the Game bar: Using the new “Very High” video quality setting in the Xbox app, you will be able to record your game clips in up to 60 frames per second (in addition to 30 frames per second) easily, all from the Game bar (Windows + G).
Share to Twitter from Xbox app: In the Xbox app, you’ll be able to share game clips and screenshots from Xbox Live to Twitter through the sharing options on each capture.
Windows Game bar improved full-screen support: One of the most common requests we see for the Windows 10 GameDVR feature is the ability to use the Windows Game bar with more games running in full-screen. We’ve added support for six additional games in full-screen mode with Windows game bar: League of Legends, World of Warcraft, DOTA 2, Battlefield 4, Counterstrike: Global Offensive, and Diablo III. With those games, you can now use Windows + G to bring up the Windows Game bar when the game is running full-screen.
Xbox One and Xbox app
Top PC games show up on Xbox Live: We’re bringing the top PC games like League of Legends and XCOM 2 together with the Xbox Live community. Meaning, your favorite PC games will have their own Game Hubs on Xbox Live. Whether you’re on your PC, Xbox, or mobile phone, you’ll be able to see what PC games your friends are playing, share your own PC gaming clips and screenshots with the community, and message your friends on Xbox Live. On both Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, you‘ll also be able to party chat with your friends no matter what they’re doing.
Xbox and Windows Store convergence: We’re starting to combine the best of the Xbox Store and Windows Store to give gamers a single cohesive experience across their devices. On Xbox One, we’ve streamlined the shopping experience to help you find the games you love faster and at the best prices. You’ll be able to filter, browse and search results by genre, read reviews written by fellow gamers – including those voted “most helpful” by the Xbox Live community, easily recognize what titles are on sale with strikethrough pricing in lists, and more. We’ve also added several new channels to help you discover the content you love even faster. On the Windows Store, we’re adding support so gamers can browse and purchase bundles, episodic games, season passes, virtual currency and other game add-ons and DLC.
More personal Activity Feed: Being able to choose what’s posted to your Activity Feed across Xbox One and the Xbox app is a big fan-requested feature. With the new settings, you can now decide what will get automatically shared to your feed. You can now also craft the perfect Activity Feed posts. At the top of your Activity Feed, easily access and choose from recently unlocked achievements and captures, preview what your post would look like, and then share your greatest gaming moments.
More Cortana features will be ported over to the Xbox One over time, said Microsoft.
Aside from Cortana, the upcoming Xbox One update includes other features aimed at unifying the gaming console with the Windows 10 platform.
