It's a rare day when I use only one or two apps in my work. I'm usually switching around between so many apps, I had to try hard to trim down my list of apps I use for AppStorm. But when I decided to take on making an iOS magazine app, I needed a set of tools just for that — some brand new to my workflow, and others old favorites I just needed to spend more time in.
So here's what I used to take Techinch Magazine from idea to inception:
The new writing app from The Soulmen has grown on me over the past few months, and it's now where most of my daily writing takes place (sorry, iA Writer). When I first started writing my article outlines for Techinch Magazine, Ulysses III wasn't around, and even when it first got released in April I didn't switch to it at first. But it's such a nice app, it seemed a shame to not put it to use — so I decided to make it the app to write and organize all of my Techinch Magazine content, even if I didn't use it for my other writing. It wasn't long after that I started using Ulysses III for everything.
Here's how I use it for Techinch. I made a Techinch Magazine folder, added sub-folders for each issue, then started article drafts under that. I can then jot ideas down in Daedalus touch, write articles in Markdown, preview them in Marked, copy them directly in Markdown to the TypeEngine console for publication, or export them together for my eBook versions. All of that's saved on iCloud, but I copy it to Dropbox also, just in case.
Ulysses III keeps everything together, works great, and looks great at the same time (especially with my favorite settings: full-screen, Pure Mode, Freestraction theme, and 17pt Pitch font). Now, the built-in search tool just can't come soon enough.
I love web apps, but I'm still not generally fond of doing all my writing in a browser (chalk that up to having way too many half-written articles lost because the internet connection dropped, an app logged me out, or a half-dozen other reasons). Still, Draft has found a spot in my Techinch Magazine workflow, thanks to its copy-editing service. I spent $5/article, and got some rather valuable edits on the two longest articles in Issue 1. It's also a great place to share documents with friends and others, to get their thoughts on something before publishing it — with all the changes in plain text and Markdown. It's great stuff.
Techinch Magazine is primarily an iOS app, but I wanted anyone who wanted to read it to be able to, so I made PDF and ePub versions of it as well. There's better tools out there for making eBooks, but you know what? Pages worked.
I exported everything from Issue 1 in RTF from Ulysses, then tweaked it a bit to get the fonts and colors the same as in the app. It took a tiny bit of work to add a background color to the PDF to make it look like the app (tip: you actually have to make a rectangle, stretch it to the size of your page, then move it to your document's section master from the Format -> Advanced menu), but everything else worked as you'd expect. I put it all together first for the PDF, then had to delete the auto-generated table of contents before exporting as ePub, because Pages automatically recreates an ePub style table of contents when exporting. Everything else worked great.
It might not be the best app for making eBooks, but it sure worked fine for what I needed.
Photoshop
I'm a writer, not a graphics designer or photographer, so I didn't initially plan to do much in the way of graphics for Techinch Magazine, especially since I had the new logo that Jaume Estruch designed for Techinch.com in April. But, making an app takes a lot of images — the app logo, magazine covers, launch images in more sizes than anyone should have to manage — not to mention mockup ideas and such. Then, I decided that I should go beyond the generic logo and make real covers for Techinch magazine, and it was time to pull the camera out (a Sony Cybershot DSC-W630).
For all of this, Photoshop was my handy tool. Sure, I didn't use even 10th of its features, but it was nice to have around for the magazine (and I still use it daily for logos and screenshots at AppStorm anyhow, despite not being a graphics guy). I'm rather sure Pixelmator or Acorn could fit the job too, though.
The Techinch Magazine app is in the App Store, where Apple takes care of downloads and billing and everything else, but the eBook versions are left for me to take care of. That job I outsourced to Gumroad. For 5%+$0.25 from each transaction, they let you sell your goods and have them sent directly to your customers — and then will pay you via bank deposit or PayPal. It's insanely easy to use and customize, and even lets you make subscriptions. You just about couldn't ask for more.
It's no secret that I'm a fan of Kirby CMS, the flat-file Markdown powered CMS that runs Techinch.com. When it was time to get a page added for Techinch Magazine, our app privacy policy, and more, Kirby made it simple to just write up what I wanted to say in Markdown and FTP it to the site. It's great stuff.
Email, Skype, and App.net
Working with a team to get an app in the App Store takes a lot of communications. With the TypeEngine team, I've had hour-long Skype calls and sent numerous emails back and forth. And, we've used App.net Private Messages quite a bit to chat about smaller details. I've found that App.net's private messages end up working a bit more like a private chat room than Twitter's DMs ever have, perhaps just because of the larger character limit in messages. Plus, I originally heard about TypeEngine on App.net. At any rate, we would have found it hard to get the app out the door and in the App Store without all of these communications tools.
That's a Wrap!
So there you have it: the apps that helped me get Techinch Magazine written, edited, developed, and in the App Store. Of them all, Ulysses III and Draft are the major stars: they're great, and if you're a writer, you should be using them already.
Oh, and Kirby. But you should already know that.
*****
Have you tried out Techinch Magazine yet? If not, I'd be terribly proud if you'd give it a try — in iOS app or eBook form. It's just $1.99/month, with a 2 week free trial.
I just wrote an overview of NeoCities, the new GeoCities take-2, on Web.AppStorm. NeoCities is a fun project designed to let anyone code their own site from scratch, with 10Mb of free hosting space. That's not much, but it's plenty to put together a basic site and more — one built with your own code, something you can't do on most blog engines and such. Go read my full review at the link below, or just check it out yourself.
NeoCities is an exciting project, if for no other reason than the fact that hopefully it'll inspire younger people to actually hand-code sites instead of just using pre-made WordPress themes. Sure, it'll have a ton of ugly sites, but I sure hope to see a lot of genius there too.
Perhaps you — or someone you inspire to start learning to code — can make that greatness.
iTunes Gift Cards can make the perfect simple gift, and they're one of the only ways to "giveaway" digital downloads of apps, movies, and music these days. They work in iTunes and the App Store, so anyone who owns an Apple device of any form or even a Windows PC can put it to use. You could pick one up at a store, but that takes away most of the simplicity. Instead, why not just buy one from iTunes directly?
The only problem is, the option to buy an iTunes Gift Card is a tiny bit hidden, and there's not even an option to buy a gift card from the Mac App Store. So here's what you need to do.
Just open iTunes on your Mac or PC, select the iTunes Store, then on the right-hand side under the Quick Links and account links you'll see a link to "Send iTunes Gifts". That's what you're looking for, so click that link.
Now, just enter your recipient's email address, a message (with a whole 60 characters more than Twitter), and choose the gift card size you want to send. You can even pick to have the gift scheduled to be sent later, so you can pre-schedule birthday gifts without even having to really remember everyone's exact birthdays. Click Next, and you'll get to confirm your info and send the gift card. The charges will be deducted from the default card you have on your iTunes account, so there's not even any payment info to have to enter.
If you happen to be on an iOS device instead, just open the App Store or iTunes, scroll to the bottom on the default page (Featured or Music, respectively), and select "Send Gift". The steps after will be practically the same as in iTunes for Mac or Windows.
I know, I know: I should have multiple backups, ideally locally and off-site. And I do, for my documents and most important data. But I had all of my photo backups on the same external disk as my virtual machines, and when something went wrong, everything went wrong and my whole external drive was wiped.
I panicked, but then figured there had to be a way to get most of my data back. There was, with Disk Drill. It turned out to work better than I hoped — only it didn't restore my file names, folder structures, and virtual machines.
Here's my full disk recovery saga, one that hopefully will be helpful for you if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.
Techinch Magazine has been on the App Store now for about 3 full days now, and has been officially launched for just over a day. It's been terribly fun seeing the reactions to the magazine app on the App Store, Twitter, App.net, and more. Here's my favorites so far:
Beyond the tech guy
"Evolution as Darwin suggested is long gone for us; humans now evolve through technology. What Techinch stands for is to humanize the world of tech. It's not a magazine solely for geeks and nerds, but people eager to evolve into an improved human being."
"The Internet's got tons of blogs, many of them like this one here. Most of them aren't worth reading. But Newsstand doesn't have a ton of magazines yet. Making one that speaks to Matt's interests with Techinch is an awesome idea, but it also indicates that it features better quality writing than just your average blog. I've read through the first issues a couple times this weekend on vacation, and it is much better than the average blog. As always, Matt's writing is impeccable and deeply insightful. If nothing else, I'm sure you'll find it interesting."
I'm terribly excited to let you know that my latest venture officially launches today: Techinch Magazine. It's taken a long time to go from idea to inception, but it's finally here and ready for your reading pleasure.
I first announced the upcoming magazine back in March, but I'd thought of making a magazine or a subscription part of Techinch.com for quite some time. Then, in January when I first heard of TypeEngine, I knew it was something I had to try. I'm always trying new apps anyhow, so the idea of a Markdown powered web app that'd let me publish directly to an iOS app was too exciting to pass by. It took a while to get done, but thanks to the amazing TypeEngine team we've finally got Techinch Magazine launched on the App Store. TypeEngine has made publishing on the iOS Newsstand almost as simple as blogging, and I'm excited that Techinch is one of the first sites to have a companion iOS app powered by TypeEngine's technology.
I've opted for a basic theme on Techinch.com, one that's focused on reading, and the Techinch Magazine app looks almost exactly the same. It's instantly familiar on iOS: you can change the font size and brightness from the gear icon on the lower left of the app, share articles from the share button on the top right, and open new articles and issues by swiping in from the right. It's free on the App Store, with a $1.99/month subscription (which will get you access to all of our back issues, as well as every new issue that'll be published once every two weeks).
The first issue includes 4 articles (plus a preloaded Welcome article, which you can also read here on Techinch.com/Magazine/Welcome), each of which I'm proud of and hope you enjoy. Here's what you'll find in the current issue:
Welcome — An introduction to Techinch Magazine, with more info into my vision behind the magazine and what I hope it becomes. You can also read online for free at Techinch.com/magazine/welcome.
You, Too, Can be Iron Man — A look at how everything from Google Glass to Siri points to a sci-fi future that's already here.
Serving Two Masters — Why you'll likely never find the best todo app for everything, and what to do about that.
Perspective — What we've lost in society's rush for the instant, and how we can get it back.
The Photo Apps to Try This Summer — A new take on an app roundup combined with short reviews, this article brings the scoop on the best iOS photo apps that have been released recently — and there's a ton of new good ones lately.
You can read all of those articles today with the Techinch Magazine app — and you can even read them for free with the default 7 day free trial. I've also made PDF and ePub copies of Techinch Magazine, so you can subscribe to the magazine even if you don't have an iOS device. You can purchase a copy of Issue 1, or you can purchase an email subscription to Techinch Magazine to automatically get the PDF and ePub copies sent to your inbox as soon as they're published on the iOS app.
I'd love to know what you think of the app, the articles, and the subscription options. I want Techinch Magazine to be something you'll want to read, so let me know what you want to see in it, and anything you'd like to see changed.
Just published on Web.AppStorm, here's the 5 RSS apps that are the very best online right now in my opinion. If you haven't left Google Reader behind yet, now's your last chance to switch, and you can't go wrong with these apps.
Personally, I went with Fever, but I think I'd be happy with any of these, especially after looking at the competition since March.
I happen to love Creative Cloud, and think it's a great move for Adobe, but there's a few things they could do to make it better. After reading comments and thinking about the discussion, I've got two ideas that I think could make Creative Cloud much more attractive to a far wider range of users: smaller suites with a smaller price (instead of the current 1 app or everything options), and a way to keep your current version of CC apps running without a subscription if you subscribe for a minimum of several years or so. Put those together with what's already great in CC, and you'd have something few could honestly complain about.
Or that's what I think, anyhow. Check out the full open letter and leave your thoughts in the comments there. And here's to hoping someone at Adobe actually reads it ;)
Wherein I take the new NetNewsWire 4 beta for a spin and see how it holds up. And it's good, very good in fact … but it's missing anything that takes it over the edge to great or unique, and that's sad.
But still, if you don't have a favorite web-based RSS sync tool yet, you should be sure to give it a try. It's the best stand-alone Mac RSS reader right now, I'd say. But since I'm committed to Fever for RSS syncing, I'm still enjoying ReadKit 2 as my native Mac RSS reader.
Jump over to Mac.AppStorm for the full scoop on the latest version of the most storied RSS app on the Mac: NetNewsWire 4 beta.
"…we are always trying to identify is a system’s unique appeal, its underlying concepts, [and] go from there."
~Max Seelemann, The Soulmen
I just had the chance to interview The Soulmen team about their work on Ulysses III and more at Mac.AppStorm. It turned into what I think is the most interesting interview I've published yet. Add it to your Instapaper queue for the weekend!
