Windows 8, by trying to be like iOS and Android and providing a simplified “one app at a time” interface (or more precisely 1.3 apps at a time) means that Windows is no longer good at what Windows was always good at. I already have a tablet, and I reach for my Windows laptop when I need to do something my iPad can't. That inevitably means I head straight to the desktop. This is why Windows has failed to reinvigorate the PC market, Windows no longer offers a great desktop experience or a mature tablet experience. I'm sure it will get better, and really hope we see Office for Metro sometime soon.
Author: Marc
iOS Disappearing Calendar Notifications – Mystery Solved
Ever turned in your iPhone to see a calendar notices suddenly disappear from the lock screen? I've been seeing this a lot lately, and it's really bugged me – especially when my phone is on silent (as it is most of the day), so I can check it at chosen intervals rather than be disturbed (developer thing, no doubt) .
Well it turns out iOS will remove a notification after the event has finished. Kind of makes sense, although it does mean if you totally miss an appointment, you'd be none the wiser unless you pay very careful attention and see it before the notification quickly disappears.
Odd quirk, but probably not a bug – just a design choice (I would say it makes sense to remove them from the notification centre, perhaps not the lock screen) and Apple should probably hide it before the screen turns in to avoid the confusion of seeing something for a split second.
Apple Podcasts Update – Now Works!
Apple have finally updated their Podcasts App, and the good news is that it now works brilliantly. Before it used to crash, downloads would fail to start, and synchronisation between devices wouldn't always work. The animated cassette player has also been removed, while I quite liked the animating, the app is much more intuitive without it (more akin to the original iPod App in iOS) and that's got to be a good thing. The best feature of this app is by far the synchronisation of positions between devices. It mean you can listen to a show on your iPad at home in the kitchen, and when you go to the gym later on it has remembered where you got to.
The one thing the app is missing is the ability to download podcasts automatically without opening the app. iOS really could do with an API that allows apps to schedule in long, power-hungry tasks to be performed when the device is plugged in and idle.
Search 'Podcasts' in the store.
