Check for recent app updates

December 2021 - the New Year is upon us. 

Zoom - online meetings, Camera+2, ProCamera, Snapseed (Dec 17), Prisma, Darkroom, Dropbox, Waterlogue, Metapho, Pic Scanner Gold, PicCollage and more. 

I waited along time before updating Snapseed after reading recent reviews four months ago. First updated on iPhone and test edited an image. The sample features all worked. So I've updated Snapseed on iPad Pro as well. Baby steps when updating a critical app. Snapseed remains a free app. 

Halide Mark II is moving to subscription and I’ll be deleting it because many of our other camera apps shoot RAW. 

Some apps continue to work with a reduced set of features while they offer to unlock everything with a subscription. I try to find apps that ask for a reasonable price without subscription. 

After a rash of updates, it might be time to restart device. Just cuz .. 

On the photo walk today, James asked a great question: "How do I know if an app has been updated?" Go to the App Store and search for the app and read the details provided by the developer. 

Do you want to be in-charge of app updates? You have the choice between Auto Updates On or Off. 

• Go to Settings > App Store > Apps > OFF 
• Settings > App Store > App Updates > OFF 

Now go to the App Store app and find your account (upper right corner) and tap. Now scroll the screen up to see all the apps that have released new updates. You might update most of the apps without further thought but pause to read about important camera or editing apps. Tap the Update button for a fresh download and install, or tap the name of the app to read about the changes included. Maybe the developer added language support for a language you do not speak ... then no need to update immediately. Maybe the developer included a feature you'd like to use in a stylizing app. Open to the details screen, read the RECENT Reviews and ... take a chance. Try out the app to be sure it is working for you. If you have both an iPhone and iPad, then you can update an app on one device for testing and once satisfied, update on the other device. What? Editing mostly on iPad? Then do your trial edit/stylize app updates on iPhone. 

If this level of control is bothersome, you can tap the Update All in your account view or return to the Settings > App Store > App Updates > ON. 

Past Participants will be enrolled

Mixing things up again. Enrollment for Spring semester will include past participants in iPhone Photo Studio, not newbies. People who are familiar with Shared Albums, the Camera and Editing apps and Zoom environment we use will be enrolled up to 20 participants. 

Feb 3rd is the “Meet and Greet” session which will be offered in-person at a local park or parking garage (anticipating rain) where I can review some of the specifics of camera apps (Camera+ 2, ProCamera and Slow Shutter). 

Shared Album Plan for Spring 2022

I’m learning so much from you. Because you’re creative and patient with my experimenting. So, Spring 2022 will have a modified approach from Tease Me activity: 

1) no more class time wasted in uploading photos

2) no more insisting that teased response images are grouped together

3) additional nudges will be added with each new challenge. “What ‘nudge’ do you have in mind?” you might ask. Something like … Use 3 apps or use an unfamiliar/new app, use an app that’s been neglected. Easy peasy. 

During class I will announce the challenge for the next week. Look at the postings from studiomates and download to process by whatever inspires you. You can get started now by selecting your photos and adding captions!

Step one: Take time to gather UNEDITED images based on this list: 

• Landscape
• Macro
• Shadow
• Texture
• Reflection
• Abstract
• Shape
• Color
• Animal 

When searching back through your Photo Library, use the Caption feature to identify possibilities (“tease-landscape” or “tease-shape” — without the quotes). Use the Photos Search feature to collect photos and move to the Tease Me Album created last semester. Step two: During class, post one photo. Maybe the photos you’ve captioned are edited. I’d like you to post unedited photos. The best way option so far is to keep your edited photo, but use Share > Duplicate the photo and then in Edit > Revert.

It breaks down to just one new Shared Album with our current discoveries and on-going experiments and our Teased Work interspersed. One place to post, anytime.

iOS 15.2 is Available

This update looks good on my iPhone 13 Pro. Some additional protections and features offered. 

iPhone 13 Pro Macro Photography is getting better. MacWorld article How to master the macro camera on your iPhone 13 Pro will inspire you. But remember Camera+2 has had a wonderful macro mode for ... maybe two years. And a clip-on macro lens is still an exciting window to the small world around us. 

New in iOS 15.2 is Digital Legacy. Read more at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212360 and begin to 1) think about it, 2) discuss with other iPhone users, 3) discuss with potential designees (trusted family or friends), 4) RE-READ article and take the first steps … Is it easier just to give someone your Apple ID, password and a credit card to maintain your iCloud files? But will that person share your content as you want? Don't stop at your Apple digital assets, what about other online services you use? 

More Calendar Ideas

Just found Austin Mann's new link for his calendars displayed on a wood tray. 

Workflow and Kitchen Sink

Many thanks to Cheryl and Mike for their iColorama demonstrations last week. Took me awhile to find Help - under the Import Photo menu (but it is now missing after a little update). 

By now many of you have jumped into iColorama - with both feet. Because this is not for the timid or someone who wants to put a toe in the water. Did I equate iColorama with kitchen sink (in the old-timer reference of a deep catchall for many things)? 

Several of you have mentioned digging deeper and finding references on social media or YouTube and ... that is just the shallow end of the pool. (See how I am mixing metaphors here, it is a word salad that reflects my frustration with this enormously powerful app.) 

In previous semesters the workflow was described as "app stacking" where an image is stepped through several apps and saved/exported as a new image at each step. My linear lizard brain could grasp that process. But iColorama has such a different workflow ... 

Reflecting on features

• Photo editing 
• Filter effects 
• Styling 
• Blend modes
• Painting
• Masks 
• History
• Foreground / Background

Maybe jumping into Painting and Masks was my point of confusion. Or, maybe I've not set aside enough time to play and experiment with iColorama. 

New approach 

Open an image, use the photo editing features to adjust exposure, convert to B & W, etc

Open an image, use any menu and submenu and review the Presets looks

Practice the Apply (adds a Step) feature - aka History

Share > Save / Export (PNG for higher resolution ...?) 

Adopting any new app - thoughts on workflow

• Create an album of sample images including the original and several effects that show my favorite export images 
• Mark the images with Caption to report the app and features used 
• Download a new app 
• Play with the app - touch all the buttons
• Find the Help feature and the developer's website 
• Process sample images 
• Does the new app mimic previous apps - are the results better or the same? 
• Does the new app change the resolution of the image? 
• Compare to app with in-app gallery
• Compare to app with layers 

 

Tease Me Lessons

I hope this post doesn't jump the line too far, but the Tease Me activity will show the spotlight on editing possibilities. Maybe. 

We continue to take photographs to improve our eye for the scene and composition of the elements. Camera orientation, landscape or portrait, and position of the horizon change the story. Some of the lessons will encourage us to take more photographs at the moment or return when the light is different. Taking more photos using the various lenses and modes and using 3rd party apps with special features means more curating and deleting - but - better pictures in the long run. 

When we know what retouching can do, then that pole or tin can will not bother the composition. When we know how stylizing can push a drab day into an emotional scene then taking the photo is right. Now. 

Photos & Shared Albums - Pro and Con

Some thoughts .... will be updated from time 

What's to love about the Apple Photos app: 

• Photos are synced via iCloud to iPad and computer 
• Albums - created and curated by me
• Albums photos can be sequenced and arranged to tell a story 
• Search feature with Artificial Intelligence and metadata access 
• Caption field was introduced in iOS 14 

Struggling with Apple Photos 

• Interface for 3rd party editing apps is not standard 

What's to love about Photos Shared Albums 

• Not counted against the paid iCloud storage
• Keep photos online even when deleted from a device & iCloud
• Allow comments and likes from shared album subscribers

What is missing in Shared Albums 

• Search with A.I. image recognition and metadata 
• Export to Books with subscriber comments