ipados

October 7, 2021

Yoink for iPad and iPhone v2.4 – Improved Background Clipboard Monitoring

Yoink for iPad and iPhone v2.3.5 introduced Background Clipboard Monitoring, which, if enabled, stores anything you copy, even if Yoink itself is in the background, effectively giving you a clipboard history.

With version 2.4, I’ve improved it by adding the ability to only monitor for specific data types, and to temporarily pause the monitor.

Background Clipboard Monitoring in Action on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15

^{Captured on my iPad using iPadOS 15, lightly edited for brevity but otherwise unaltered}

^{For demonstrative purposes, I kept Yoink in the foreground as a Slide-Over app, just to show what gets added when.}
^{But all of this works even if Yoink is not visible on your display and put in the background.}

In the video above, I enable Yoink’s clipboard monitor and consecutively copy an image, a link, and some text; all get stored in Yoink.
I then use the Picture-in-Picture’s fast forward button to tell Yoink to only watch for text. With that option set, I again copy an image, a link, and some text; this time only the text is stored in Yoink.
I click the fast forward button again to make Yoink only save links, and repeat the copy-procedure of an image, a link, and some text; now, only the link gets stored in Yoink.
A final time I click the fast forward button to have Yoink only watch for images and – you guessed it – when I copy an image, a link and some text, only the image is added to Yoink.

Next, I pause the clipboard monitor by using Picture-in-Picture’s Pause button. Now, Yoink does not react to any copy events at all. By pressing the Play button in PiP, I reactivate the clipboard monitor.

Notes on the monitor’s behavior

The clipboard monitor attempts to ignore sensitive data, like passwords. For this, it refers to the pasteboard data types proposed at nspasteboard.org, and checks if there are any password-type app names contained in the pasteboard data types, like “1password”, or “keychain”, for example. If encountered, Yoink ignores the copy-event and waits for the next.

As for energy consumption, it is very light-weight.
The images you see in Picture-in-Picture are static – it doesn’t play video, it doesn’t play audio.
Yes, Yoink will continue running in the background because of this, but all it does is check your pasteboard every couple of seconds (and not even the data directly, only a “changeCount” value provided by the API).
If a change has occurred, it will save the content to Yoink and to disk.
Syncing – if enabled – only occurs when the app comes back to the foreground, so there is no added network activity.

Other Changes in Yoink v2.4

– I improved Yoink’s compatibility with GarageBand. Dragging an audio file to GarageBand from Yoink now works correctly
– Picture-in-Picture for arbitrary content now properly displays Map location items
– I fixed a memory leak and a couple of app crashes

Pricing and Availability

Yoink is available on the iOS App Store as a one-time purchase, for $5.99 / €5.99.
It is localized in English, German, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean, with more languages to follow.

I do hope you enjoy Yoink!
If you have any feedback or questions, don’t hesitate to mail me, I’d love to hear from you.

Stay healthy and safe!

September 20, 2021

Yoink v2.3 for iPad and iPhone is ready for iOS 15

Yoink v2.3 for iPad and iPhone is now available on the App Store and brings a couple of neat new features for users of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.

Yoink is a file- and snippet “shelf”, in a “hold this for me while I do something else for a while” sort of way.
Anything you can drag, copy, share or download, you can store in Yoink.
When you eventually need it, you can access files either directly from within the app, Yoink’s custom keyboard, and Siri Shortcuts. It also syncs across your iOS devices via iCloud.

First things first, with this update, I’ve decided to drop support for iOS 11, up to and including iOS 13, and will only support iOS 14 and newer going forward. After taking a look at the app’s usage statistics Apple provides on App Store Connect, having Yoink support iOS all the way back to version 11, which I did up until today, doesn’t make sense anymore.

What’s New in Yoink v2.3 for iPad and iPhone [on iOS 15]

+ Picture-in-Picture, with a twist.
With Yoink’s Picture-in-Picture you can, of course, play videos.
But you can also show websites, images, texts, eMails and PDFs in PiP.
Below are two videos showing a website being scrolled in PiP, and images being shown in PiP.

^{A website being opened – and scrolled – in Yoink’s Picture-in-Picture mode. Scrolling also works in text-, eMail- and PDF files.}

^{Images being shown in Yoink’s Picture-in-Picture mode.}

Now, you might ask, as I have when I first came up with the idea: “Isn’t this what Slide-Over is for, or Side-by-Side?”.
Well, yes. Until you’ve used this.
If you need an overlay wherever you currently are, not wanting to worry about having to manage the Slide-Over app when switching between full screen apps, this comes in very handy. I haven’t used it for a long while yet (this feature is internally maybe two weeks old), but I’ve been using it daily ever since. It also focuses entirely on the content it displays, without the app’s UI taking up screen space.

+ Support for Quick Notes
Select a file in Yoink and you’ll be able to reference it in a Quick Note, as you can see in the video below.

+ Mouse/Trackpad Band Selection on iPad
A minor improvement, but still very useful, you can now draw a rectangle around files to select them if you’re using an iPad with a mouse or trackpad.

+ Inter-app Drag and Drop on iPhone
Not really a new feature of Yoink itself, but of iOS 15 in general is drag and drop of content between apps.
This makes Yoink’s keyboard on iPhone now on-par with the iPad version, because now you can drag content from Yoink’s keyboard directly into the text area; no copy-paste necessary.

What’s New in Yoink v2.3 for iPad and iPhone [aside from iOS 15-only features]

+ Improved Info Panel
I’ve improved the Info panel, especially for Stacks. Instead of just showing the size of the Stack, you now have quick access to all files contained within it, which you can drag out, copy, or share right away.

^{The improved Info panel for Stacks now shows the files contained within, which you can drag out, copy or share right away.}

On iOS 15, the Info panel, depending on whether you’re using the app in full screen or not, is now presented as a sheet, allowing you to view more content at once.

^{The Info Panel as a sheet on iOS 15.}

+ Audio can now continue playing in the background
+ Yoink now appears in “Open In” dialogs
+ Many, many performance-, compatibility- and reliability improvements
+ Even more bug- and crash fixes

Where can I get Yoink?

Yoink is available for iPad and iPhone on the App Store; it’s a one-time purchase of $5.99 / € 5,99 / £ 4.99.
It requires iOS 14 or newer. To sync across your iOS devices, an iCloud account is required.

^{Yoink is also available for Mac on the Mac App Store.}

Further Links

Yoink for iPad and iPhone Website | Yoink on the iOS App Store
Yoink for iOS Usage Tips
Yoink for iOS Press Kit (.zip download)

Yoink for Mac Website | Yoink on the Mac App Store
Yoink for Mac Usage Tips
Yoink for Mac Press Kit (.zip download)

June 7, 2021

Transloader 3 – Start downloads on your Macs, remotely from your iPhone, iPad, or other Macs

I’m so happy to finally be able to announce the immediate availability of Transloader v3.0 for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
The app has been re-imagined, re-designed and re-developed from the ground up, with macOS Big Sur, iOS/iPadOS 14 and Apple Silicon in mind.
It’s been such a long time since the app received its last meaningful update, but oh boy, this is a great one, if I may say so myself.

^{Intro to Transloader}

What is Transloader?

With Transloader running on your Macs, you can assign downloads to it from afar – using your iPhone, iPad, and other Macs.

Say you’re in a Café, surfing on your iPhone and find out Apple has just released a new beta of Xcode. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could start downloading that huge xip file immediately on your Mac back home, and have it ready when you return? With Transloader, you can.

Send the link to your Mac, and it will start the download right away. When it’s done, it’ll also send you a push notification about it.
You can start downloads on Macs from Transloader itself, directly from within your browser using its Share extension, and – on iOS – with Siri Shortcuts.

What’s New in Transloader v3.0?

– Support for multiple Macs
You can now specify one or several Macs you’d like to download a link on.

– Start downloads from other Macs
Where in previous versions you could start downloads only from your iOS devices, Transloader 3.0 lets you initiate downloads on Macs from other Macs as well.

– Login to download
If a download requires a login on its website before you can access it (like the aforementioned Xcode beta), that’s no longer a problem for Transloader.
You can login to sites you anticipate to download from beforehand, or later, at any time, from any device.

– Link- and File Actions on Mac
Using Actions, you can modify Transloader’s behavior in different scenarios.

With a Link Action, you define an app or Automator Workflow that should be opened with a specific assigned link (based on criteria like the URL host, or URL scheme), instead of being downloaded in Transloader.
This way, you can send ftp:// links directly to your favorite FTP app.

File Actions make Transloader open specific files it has downloaded with an app or Automator Workflow you choose – based on criteria like the downloaded file’s type, or the original URL’s host. As an example, you could use this to organize downloaded files into folders automatically.

– Share Extension
Start downloads on Macs right from within your browser, or any other app that supports sharing links – on any device.

– Save links for later
Whether your desired Mac is not yet activated with Transloader, or you’d just like to wait for a later time until you start a download, you can now save links in Transloader for later, and assign them whenever you please.

– Push Notifications
Transloader can inform you about the status of your downloads, and that of your Macs.

– New App for iPhone and iPad
Alongside the new Mac app comes – naturally – a new iOS app.
Among other key features, the app now supports gestures, drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts, Siri Shortcuts for powerful download workflows, and a Share extension, which works like the Mac version’s.

Can I see more of Transloader in action?

Of course.

^{Login to Download}

^{Link- and File Actions}

What are Transloader’s requirements?

– An iCloud account
– At least one Mac with macOS 10.14 or newer
– An optional iPhone and/or iPad with iOS 14 or newer with the free iOS Transloader app

Where can I get Transloader?

Mac:
Free, 15-day trial: https://eternalstorms.at/transloader/Transloader.zip
Purchase on the Mac App Store ($4.99 / €5,49 / ￡ 4.99 introductory price at ~50% off): https://apps.apple.com/app/transloader/id572281534?mt=12&at=1001l8pT
Transloader for Mac will be available on Setapp in July 2021

iPhone and iPad:
iOS App Store (free): https://apps.apple.com/app/transloader/id572280994?mt=8&at=1001l8pT

It’s currently available in English and German – more languages will follow.
Transloader 3 is a free upgrade for existing customers.

Do you have more info about Transloader?

Sure!
Transloader Usage Tips: https://eternalstorms.at/transloader/tips/
Press Kit: https://eternalstorms.at/press/Transloader-3-Press-Kit.zip
Transloader Playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXlKHhRX6pIeaHIMKLVqeMSPA6HZSbeR9
Privacy Policy: https://eternalstorms.at/privacypolicy/#transloader

I hope you’ll enjoy this new version of Transloader for Mac, iPhone and iPad. Should you have any feedback or questions, please don’t hesitate to write me! If you’re a member of the press and would like to get in touch, please feel free to do so at any time!

October 12, 2020

Yoink for iPad and iPhone’s 3 Year Anniversary

Yoink for iPad and iPhone's App Icon

Today, Yoink for iPad and iPhone is 3 years old 🥳. Time surely flies when you have… bugs to fix.

It certainly doesn’t feel like three years. It feels like only yesterday, to be honest.
On the other hand, the release process, yes, that felt like it took three years, because I was eager to release alongside iOS 11 (which, due to its drag and drop capabilities, made Yoink for iOS possible in the first place), but there were some serious delays with App Review, who rejected the app multiple times because of its keyboard extension, and later, its File Provider (while other, similar keyboard/FP extensions were apparently perfectly fine and allowed on the App Store. This is my single biggest gripe with App Review – the inconsistencies in rejections. It’s obvious why these things happen, and it’s understandable, but it’s frustrating nonetheless).

But all that’s in the past. Yoink for iOS has been out there for three years now, and it has been doing great – thanks to all of you who use it, leave ratings, reviews or send feedback.
It’s been featured on the App Store on numerous occasions – here are a few examples:

Yoink featured on ios app store