As with most in our industry, we cannot wait for the release of iOS 8. Our excitement is two pronged, one for the improved tools that will help us better market and manage our apps. And two, for the new technologies and APIs available in this new version of iOS.
On this second point, the standout technology in our mind is Extensibility. In layperson’s terms, Extensibility provides users of your app the opportunity to interact with its elements outside the confines of the app itself. Post iOS 8 launch you will be able to do things such as apply Instagram filters and post to the service directly from within the stock Photos app, tag images to Pinterest from within Safari or see your favourite sports scores in the notification centre.
Our app ETA is designed to quickly show you travel times to you favourite destinations. It was a no brainer that this type of information would be invaluable in the notification centre. So over the last week we’ve been playing around with the development of an extension to ETA that lives in a user’s ‘Today View’.
When your phone is unlocked a simple tap on a location will send you into your favourite maps app with directions ready and waiting.
The widget remembers your preferences, so if you change maps app it will be reflected when you tap on a location.
Simply rearrange your locations in ETA to select which three you want displayed in the ‘Today View’.
One thing we should make clear. If your phone is locked you’ll be able to see travel times to these locations but you won’t be able to get directions.
That’s it, we’d love to hear what you think so feel free to drop us a line on Twitter with your comments. If you like the look of ETA it’s available on the App Store. Finally, we’ll have new version of ETA available, including the afore mentioned Today View widget, when iOS 8 is released later this year.
