We’ve been having the conversation regularly at the day job recently about how much time and effort we should be investing in dark theme component variants, and Brad Frost coincidentally just linked to a great article from CommandBar exploring that same question.
∞An Event Apart is shutting down: aneventapart.com
AEA Austin in 2012 was one of the first big design industry conferences where I didn’t feel like a complete impostor. At least not for the entire time. Ha. I was making plans to attend An Event Apart in DC in 2020 when everything shut down.
∞Lottie is an iOS, Android, and React Native library that lets you easily add high quality, small file size animations to any app. Be sure to also check out the free LottieFiles.com resource for tons of animations to download.
∞Adapting the Booking.com mobile site for the iPhone X notch. Good details about the thought process and the CSS about dealing with the iPhone X notch particularly in landscape orientation.
∞React Native – write native apps with React.js
Facebook just announced React Native, a way to build native mobile apps for iOS and Android with JavaScript using React.js.
Looks interesting but I think I’ll be more comfortable with using Xamarin for my next app development. I’ll take a closer look at React Native though before making that decision.
UX Check Google Chrome extension
Interesting tool. UX Check is a Chrome Extension that helps you identify usability issues through a heuristic evaluation.
Barbie Can be a Computer Engineer
They wrote a book entitled “Barbie Can be a Computer Engineer” and somehow turned her into a complete idiot who doesn’t actually code a thing and has to run to boys for help because she can’t do anything right. WTF?
Embeddable, interactive iOS app previews using App.io
App.io (which used to be Kickfolio) allows users to create interactive previews of your iPhone and iPad apps. Not sure exactly how its working but pretty darn cool. Check out Airbnb example below:
I think this will be overkill for a lot of apps where simple screenshots will work, but it’s amazing tech and would be useful for certain types of apps that might need a little more in-depth explanation/preview before a person is willing to plunk down 2 bucks.
I would not recommend using App.io if you’ve got a free app. Get those potential customers to the App Store as quickly as possible to download your app and that can be the “demo”. I will be trying App.io out soon, as much to see how it works as anything and will post my thoughts about it afterwards.
Finally: Linked Smart Objects in Photoshop
A new update bring us linked smart objects in Photoshop CC! Finally!!
Put the same smart object in multiple files, change it once and you’ll see the change everywhere it is used. Sorta. Watch the video: