![]() ![]() I have a “Favs” group where I keep shortcuts for websites that I frequently open during the day, and I like how I can now see them with their real icons and not my homemade versions. įor website shortcuts, Contrast applied the same concept: wouldn’t it be better to have icons that use a website’s official apple-touch-icon file rather than trying to cobble a replica together using custom colors and glyphs? In Launch Center Pro 2.0’s icon editor, you can select Web Clip as icon type and, if the action contains a URL for a bookmark you want to launch, the app will grab the icon off that website’s server and use it. ![]() I don’t know why Contrast didn’t think of this feature before, but now that I have it, it just makes sense and I wouldn’t go back to system icons for Contacts-related actions. It’s easier to find actions by looking for a person’s face rather than an anonymous green Messages icon. I am using photos for friends and family members in my Call and Text groups, and, besides giving a personal touch to Launch Center Pro (which fits well with iOS 7), they also directly increase the recognizability of actions. The underlying structure of Launch Center Pro is unchanged, but you can now create icon templates based on the new Apple default icon shape (old icon textures are still available) and groups have circular outlines now. Launch Center Pro’s most visible change is the adoption of the iOS 7 design language: the app doesn’t lose its identity in terms of custom design and layout (you’re still facing a grid of icons for actions and groups), but it gains some new thinner iconography, redesigned settings and prompt dialogs, and new toolbar buttons for editing actions and adding tags (variables) to them. With today’s Launch Center Pro 2.0 for iPhone, a free update for existing customers, Contrast wants to ask: in the era of Drafts actions and Control Center, can Launch Center Pro still have a spot on a user’s Home screen, and possibly in the dock? UI Changes I remember, however, that back then App Cubby’s David Barnard – the same developer behind the recently released and successful weather app Perfect Weather – started telling me about his plans for the future of Launch Center Pro and expanding to other supported services, apps, and devices. The app’s library of supported third-party apps kept growing as more developers took the opportunity to address the interest sparked by Launch Center Pro to add URL schemes to their apps. In March 2013, App Cubby released Launch Center Pro 1.1, which focused on TextExpander integration in URL schemes, Action Composer tweaks, and deeper system integration with clipboard actions for text and more. In looking back at the past year of iOS automation, I think that Launch Center Pro 1.0 was a major turning point in that it proved that many iOS users wanted to create actions and workflows to save time and be more productive. Initially envisioned as a Notification Center tool, following an Apple rejection in late 2011 the app was released as Launch Center in the summer of 2012, App Cubby completely reworked the inner workings and design of Launch Center and turned it into Launch Center Pro, allowing users to create custom actions with personalized URL schemes and therefore kicking off a series of months that saw the apperance of several other apps focused on actions, URL schemes, and automated workflows. Launch Center Pro, developed by Contrast (née App Cubby), can be considered the app that spearheaded a small revolution among iOS power users. ![]()
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