hi, im mcdavis

Tumblr’s mobile site (and therefore their app, which just is a frame around their mobile version of the dashboard) are broken in the iOS 5 betas.  Sadly, if you attempt to visit Tumblr on an iDevice (that’s real, right?) with iOS 5 installed, you’ll be automatically redirected to the mobile version, therefore not allowing you to see any content.

Below are the steps to get around the issue:

• Open safari and visit Tumblr.com
• Log into tumblr if presented with a login option
• When presented with the empty blue page, change the URL in your browser to http://www.tumblr.com/disable_mobile_layout
• Enjoy using the non-mobile version of Tumblr on your device.

It’s that easy.

<nerd>Since tumblr’s mobile site is just javascript formatting a big JSON object (which contains all the post data), my guess is it’s just a JS change in a webkit update or a JS bug relating to the new OS updates.  It’s even possible something as simple as a user-agent change that prevents the right files from being included (although I’m less likely to believe that since I’d bet you wouldn’t be redirected to the mobile version if that was the case).</nerd>

Apple had its WWDC keynote address today in which it dove into the new features coming up in iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and iCloud.

Lion

Resume, Versions and Auto Save

Apple today announced that they’ll be bringing resume (the ability to resume the state the computer or app was in when it shut down or closed last), versions (automatic difference control for every change in a document or file) and auto save (literally automatic saving of files) to Lion.

These are ultimately game changing features for the desktop and laptop world. If developers are quick to adopt these features, expect to see other operating systems making similar moves to get everyone away from the CTRL+S/CMD+S world we live in now. (* Those are the save command keyboard shortcuts if you’re not as nerdy — or talented — as the rest of us).

Full-screen Apps

Not only will Apple release the ability to have apps full-screen in Lion, but they spent a large amount of time talking about this today. While I don’t find this personally useful (at least without having tried it out at this point), it’s as if they really wanted to give Windows fans another reason to mock Mac.

Airdrop

While instant discussion after the announcement of this feature was that this would be something to take on Dropbox, Apple’s site now presents it as something that’s limited to only people within 30 feet of you. So it’s essentially local network sharing.

iCloud

Bye bye MobileMe

With iCloud taking over most of MobileMe’s duties (and being free), we’ll be seeing the last of MobileMe. Currently, Apple’s support docs list MobileMe’s subscriptions as ending on June 30, 2012 (after a free extension given to all current MobileMe customers).

Email, contacts and calendar

Nothing new here really considering these are things currently available with MobileMe, Gmail or other services.

Photo Stream

Apple is positioning this as a feature for families. Take a photo of the kids and it automatically syncs to your iPad or Apple TV for easy sharing. I jokingly mentioned that this may totally revolutionize the sexting industry.

iTunes in the Cloud

Finally, after all the endless speculation we see what Apple’s cloud offering is and it’s definitely worth the wait. Instead of going the route of uploading all your songs to their cloud storage (similar to what Amazon and Google are doing with their cloud music products), Apple is automatically making all your iTunes purchased music available via the cloud.

Better yet, they’re not limited this to just iTunes purchases. Knowing they wanted something that “just works” (their famous tagline which they were happy to use often today), they’re offering the ability to access your entire library in the cloud (including non-iTunes purchased music — or even pirated music) for $24.99 a year.

iOS 5

Newsstand

Books, games and magazines to me always seemed like the ideal use cases for the iPad. Bringing magazine and newspaper subscriptions to the iPad (with automatic background updating) seems like the obvious next logical step for Apple with the iPad and I’m glad to see they made it. And, this fits well with Apple’s position that the iPad is the family room device (that is, it’s something to be left in a family room for all to access as a form of entertainment).

Notifications

Go ahead and say it Android fans. Apple just flat out replaced it’s terrible notification system with a system that is a twin (yet a bit better looking) version of Android’s current notification system. Not only in appearance does this new notification system mimic Android, but also in the fact it pulls down from the status bar upon being opened.

That out of the way, the new notification system (which includes a lock screen update) is exactly what iOS users have been dying to have. The ability to have animated widgets will be sure to keep the “ooh look something shiny” crowd happy as well.

Apple vs Developers

While Apple will be integrating (“stealing” for some)  features that many existing apps (both iOS and non-iOS-specific) have, a few are hit harder than others.

Apple announced today features that will sync files (including documents and photos) across multiple devices (iOS devices, Macs, and even Windows PCs) automatically. This could potentially be a blow to Dropbox, but the focus during WWDC seemed to be on how to move things from mobile into the desktop/laptop world wirelessly more than how to sync files between actual computers. Dropbox, with an already existing and rather larger userbase may feel some sting but will probably not be dealt a death blow as it’s already currently entrenched into people’s workflows. If anything, maybe this will be good for them in bringing the idea of syncing files between devices to a wider audience.

On a bit more of a direct hit, Apple released “read it later” functionality that bears resemblance to Marco’s Instapaper. And while Marco’s app is $4.99 in the App Store and this will be free, it won’t contain as many device options as Marco’s app currently does. This seems to be focused on how to avoid taking the time to reading something now and instead read it later on your iPhone or iPad. As with Dropbox, because Instapaper can be a bit more agile and is already very heavily used, this may actually turn out to be a good thing for Instapaper in that it’s turning more people onto the idea of saving longer articles or stories to read at a later time (cue: reading blogs on the toilet jokes).

Not all apps were as lightly scathed as Dropbox and Instapaper though, with popular iPhone app Whatsapp receiving a huge blow thanks to Apple’s new iMessage feature that’ll be rolling out with iOS 5. Previously, those with limited texting plans or those speaking across international lines used Whatsapp as a free method of texting and sharing photos and videos. With Apple’s iMessage releasing by default with iOS 5, expect Whatsapp (and other apps like it) to see high uninstall numbers. In fact, unless there’s a major pivot or new device inclusion on their part, it’s not likely they’ll be able to stick it out.

EDIT: It appears I was incorrect in thinking Whatsapp isn’t already on multiple mobile OSes.  While that’s true, I’d still guess iOS to be their biggest installed base.

Lessons

• Apple is not afraid to duplicate functionality in competing mobile OSes or even that exist in their own App Store

• The future sure will be cloudy

• Bushed metal is in right now. Today, with Apple using it to highlight many of the icons for their apps and features throughout the WWDC keynote, it’s hard to think anything but that. While it appears so far that may just be a keynote thing, Apple’s iCloud app will apparently keep the brushed metal look for its icon when it releases: