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Apple has acquired Workflow, an automation tool for iPad and iPhone
- pkamb 10y agohttps://twitter.com/viticci/status/844696444787445761 https://twitter.com/viticci/status/844696444787445761
- glhaynes 10y ago(For those unaware, Viticci's is the name that sprang into every "power" iOS user's head when they saw this news. He writes often and well about using iOS devices as "computer replacements" and uses Workflow extensively. c.f. https://www.macstories.net/stories/one-year-of-ipad-pro/ https://www.macstories.net/stories/one-year-of-ipad-pro/)
- MBCook 10y agoIt wouldn't surprise me if he's one of the biggest users in the entire world, or even uses it more than some of the people who made it. Following him is the only reason I knew what this app is.
- okket 10y agoDon't miss his 'tweet storm' with retrospective thoughts and useful links spanning about two years of using Workflow intensively: https://twitter.com/viticci/status/844704558349733889 https://twitter.com/viticci/status/844704558349733889
- unexistance 10y agohttps://www.macstories.net/tag/workflow/ https://www.macstories.net/tag/workflow/ for the reading type p/s: I'm just doing this for my own bookmark :D first time reading about this app EDIT: more links https://www.reddit.com/r/workflow/ https://www.reddit.com/r/workflow/ | http://www.imore.com/how-use-workflow-ios-when-you-dont-know-where-start http://www.imore.com/how-use-workflow-ios-when-you-dont-know... |
- intrasight 10y agoCool. Apple does need such a tool in their ecosystem. The problem is that Apple isn't really well regarded in terms of their cloud tools. Will be interesting to see if they nurture it or kill it.
- kornish 10y agoWorkflow isn't a cloud tool – it's an automation tool for iOS.
- intrasight 10y agoLocal automation makes no sense.
- detaro 10y agowhy not?
- intrasight 10y agoBecause when your device is off, your automation doesn't run
- detaro 10y agoWhich is completely fine for automation of things on said phone, or that are only accessed from it.
- dragonwriter 10y agoLocal automation on a mobile device has a limited set of use cases (and arguably most of them are also included in the use cases of cloud-based automation), but it's not useless or completely subsumes by cloud automation.
- seanmcdirmid 10y agoThey have had similar tools in the past (automator, quartz composer) and they habitually have abandoned them despite of their success. Why are they making this move now?
- tekklloneer 10y agoThose tools weren't successful by Apple-sized metrics.
- canistr 10y agoCall me pessimistic, but how likely is this acquisition by Apple going to result in them integrating it directly into iOS versus completely shutting down in the future? Perhaps Apple is using the acquisition strategy as a method to shut down an app getting around iOS's "preferred workflow" and UX model. Sort of a strategy taken by Microsoft, Google, and Apple whereby they buy competitors, claim to leave the service running, but ultimately shut them down so it doesn't compete with their main product (see: Sunrise, Acompli, Sparrow, Timely, etc.)
- throwanem 10y agoYou're pessimistic. But perhaps you are not wrong to be so here. On the other hand, this functionality would be a brilliant match for Siri, and they've been looking to move in exactly that sort of direction for some while now, as Alexa and Google Assistant have increasingly made Siri's rough edges and limitations show by comparison. Also worthy of note is that Apple doesn't have a first-party tool in the iOS automation space. So I'm not sure what purpose you suggest it would serve to buy Workflow for the purpose of killing it.
- canistr 10y agoWell it's most a matter of Apple sherlocking features vs. shutting down because they want complete control over the user interaction model. As with most acquisitions, unless the team will continue to work on that app (and based on Sunrise, etc. even if they did), the existing version of Workflow will probably languish and the team's output probably won't surface to actual users for another couple of years. It's mainly the idea that Apple doesn't want anybody else dictating how iOS should be used.
- IBM 10y agoWorkflow can only be better if its integrated in the OS. They've also made the app free and said it's staying in the store. I don't think it will be pulled (if ever) until it's integrated.
- dkonofalski 10y agoWhile I think you are being pessimistic, I don't think the pessimism is unwarranted. That being said, I have a feeling that this is, more than likely, an acquisition to bridge the gap between Siri, HomeKit, HealthKit, and all the other built-in iOS functions that are just ripe for "friendly" automation.
- bootload 10y ago"Providing hundreds of actions that interact with the apps and content on your device, Workflow opens up infinite possibilities of what you can do with your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch." Interesting that Apple is looking at meta-tools ordinary users can program to organise their workflow over more applications. [0] [0] http://my.workflow.is/docs/introduction-to-workflows-and-actions http://my.workflow.is/docs/introduction-to-workflows-and-act...
- kornish 10y agoCongrats to the Workflow team!
- acomjean 10y agoWell since Sal Soghoian was let go and the mac automation group shut down[1]. As a mac user this isn't comforting 1 https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/17/mac-user-automation-sal-soghoian/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/17/mac-user-automation-sal-sogho...
- benguild 10y agoMy guess is that this app would have been hurt by an upcoming policy or developer change.
- benguild 10y agoWhy did this get downvoted? Haha... I'm excited about this acquisition, but Apple has been seemingly against the URL handler usage by third-party apps since having been abused by advertisers. Also, usage of these has been limited in recent iOS releases. Anyway, yeah.
- simonh 10y agoIt got downvoted because not only didn't Apple shut down the app, they chose to massively boost its user base by making it free. Not a policy very consistent with discouraging its approach.
- benguild 10y agoSo you're confident that they won't replace the URL handler behavior with something else?
- simonh 10y agoI've got no idea. Conceivably they could come out with a new approach and transition Workflow to it by having it support both mechanisms. That might be easier to do and be less disruptive to users if the app is in-house. But even if they do introduce a new mechanism, existing apps would still have to adopt it which would take years. So absolutely Apple could introduce a new mechanism, but their buying and encouraging adoption of Workflow is a strong indication to me that they have no intention of deprecating the URL mechanism any time soon.
- benguild 10y agoI agree here. If they do have an idea for improved inter-app automation or "dialogue", this would be a great example case and implementation of it. Plus this team's knowledge in this field could help guide what's needed, and also help out with Siri stuff to do on-the-fly "workflows".
- andyh2 10y agoCongrats Workflow team!
- Ezhik 10y agoI wonder if it'll result in just Workflow alone being able to access all the good stuff, like how Swift Playgrounds today is the only iOS coding app with the ability to fork().
- dmerrick 10y agoThis is so exciting! If it's an official Apple app, it will get access to all kinds of powerful things that other apps can't do. Finally a way to mute my phone when I'm on a certain wifi network, and other things IFTTT only wishes it could do.
- djrogers 10y agoOddly enough, I had a premonition about this happening a few weeks ago. I was thinking about how powerful iOS can be with simple workflow-like scripting, and how much better it would be for iPad productivity if workflow were a 'native' solution. This is really really great news!
- cstrat 10y agoYeah I am excited by what might come from this.
- brilliantcode 10y agoCongratulations. But there's one critical skill that lot of us here will not have. Luck. There's probably a dozen automation tools out there. There are dozen chat and dating apps as well. Yet all the effort and attention is focused on becoming a lottery ticket.
- macintux 10y agoLuck plays a huge role in everything, but by all accounts this team created one of the best apps to grace the App Store. This wasn't a generic automation app.
- MBCook 10y agoAgreed. It may have been luck that they were successful at first (I honestly have no idea), but it seems very clear that they took whatever advantages they had and how to execute on them to continue to make a great product and keep improving it. By the time you get to today I think it's fair to say they earned their place. They're pretty far past where luck alone would take you.
- brilliantcode 10y agoLocal Man Discovers Hindsight Bias, Shocked By It's Accuracy.
- simplyluke 10y agoI know the guys who started this a few years ago at MHacks and I can tell you that their luck was several years of pure hard work and talent.
- techwizrd 10y agoI was at the same MHacks I think! My team won a smaller prize, but we didn't really do anything with the app afterward. It's pretty cool to see a hackathon project with a successful exit. This is very good marketing for hackathons in general.
- dalacv 10y agoBought for the patents
- MBCook 10y agoWhat patents are those?
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- hyperbovine 10y ago> Workflow won an Apple Design Award in 2015, with Apple Accessibility engineer Dean Hudson waxed ecstatic about the way that it handled accessibility. “When I first saw the app, I was just like man, this accessibility is cray-cray. This is off the charts!” Wow.
- H4CK3RM4N 10y agoI think this is the strongest indicator that the won't axe the product.
- simonh 10y agoI think that's he strongest indication is that they made the app free. Why would they want to massively boost the user base of a product they intend to axe?
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- torrent-of-ions 10y agoThis quotation is the most concentrated form of hipster I have ever seen.
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- kainolophobia 10y agoI love that Workflow was started at a hackathon. Source: https://mhackswinter2014.devpost.com/submissions/20204-workflow https://mhackswinter2014.devpost.com/submissions/20204-workf...
- dejawu 10y agoI was there! I remember seeing them win. Blew us all out of the water.
- futurix 10y agoLatest update of Workflow that came out earlier today axed support for Google services and Uber...
- filleokus 10y agoNot only Google and Uber: > Get Street View Image, Google Chrome, Pocket, LINE, Telegram, Uber, and Workflow Gallery submissions are no longer supported https://workflow.is/whatsnew https://workflow.is/whatsnew
- Belphemur 10y agoDon't forget the part that the map engine is now Apple map. And the translation is now carried by Microsoft.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- ryanworl 10y agoApparently over the last few weeks they've been sending out contracts to the developers of apps they're integrating with to obtain written permission to use their URL schemes. Google and Uber could've just said no or not responded. This is according to Marco Arment a few minutes ago on the live recording of the Accidental Tech Podcast, who said he was asked to sign this document for his podcast app.
- canuckintime 10y agoGoogle offers contracts and standard business relationships for some commercial uses of their API. Workflow could have reached out to the appropriate Google product person/lawyer, instead of sending a generic email as Marco speculates, if they were keen to use Google Translate instead of switching to Microsoft Translate. Switching to Apple Maps exclusively over Google Maps is almost certainly a condition of the acquisition as I can't imagine Workflow would willing cripple their app that way, lack of Google email reply be dammed, without getting paid handsomely to do so
- filleokus 10y agoCould this be a response to the whole "Apple is ignoring the pros"-narrative (albeit planned, I'm not saying Apple is acquiring companies based on just som bad press)? And yes, yes, we want a MBP with 32 GB ram and a new Mac Pro and all other kinds of stuff, but I still feel there is somewhat of an overlap between the Workflow crowd and the "ignoring the pros"-crowd.
- erik_seaberg 10y agoPros are probably not comforted by an iOS acquisition after disbanding the team they already had working on macOS automation.
- cstrat 10y ago(I don't know enough about the team they disbanded - just my thoughts here) Could this be a sign that the team was not up to scratch and this acquisition is to replace them?
- bitmapbrother 10y agoBest part? It's free now. Worst part? If you had any Google workflows they probably don't work anymore.
- citrusui 10y agoLooks like the Workflow Gallery is completely unavailable, not just closed for new submissions. However, existing Workflow URLs appear to be working if you wait long enough for them to load: https://workflow.is/workflows/ca14840de5e542c88ceaad0f733f8df8 https://workflow.is/workflows/ca14840de5e542c88ceaad0f733f8d...
- conradev 10y agohow about now
- amelius 10y ago> a tool that lets you hook together apps and functions within apps in strings of commands to automate tasks I'm curious, how do they access functionality in other apps? Does iOS provide an API for that? Do the apps somehow cooperate? Or did they hack into the iOS kernel?
- 0942v8653 10y agoMostly by URL scheme. Each app can provide any number of url schemes like workflow: or app-settings: or etc. Then they can use data from that URL or the clipboard.
- jtth 10y agoApps register URIs, so methods and screens can be tied to addresses. Workflow routes data between them.
- chatmasta 10y agoWorkflow uses urlschemes mostly, but at least one co-founder (Conrad Kramer) has a background in reverse engineering and jailbreak tools, which probably helped him discover undocumented urlschemes in apps. Here's a great presentation he gave on reverse engineering lyft: https://realm.io/news/conrad-kramer-reverse-engineering-ios-apps-lyft/ https://realm.io/news/conrad-kramer-reverse-engineering-ios-...
- cstrat 10y agoI've had Workflow on my phone for years but have never found any reason to use it. Things that I wanted to do were just out of reach. Someone else mentioned in here changing wifi networks... but also things like: enabling/disabling bluetooth, scheduling mute and dnd, scheduling a text message, scripting auto replies to texts based on received texts etc... Hopefully this changes all of that!!
- aryehof 10y agoThis echoes my experience and thoughts exactly.
- wsinks 10y agoecho me too me too
- flukus 10y agoThere were tools like this for android back when the first android phones were being released. I had a few cools things set up, like making the ring volume silent when I got to work, but then when I upgraded phones the app (there were a few) never got reinstalled because they were never really missed.
- rahoulb 10y agoI rarely use it on my phone but it makes my iPad incredibly useful. I have a whole series of workflows for sending standard emails and automatically scheduling follow-ups, preparing for meetings, publishing blog posts and so on.
- Jonovono 10y agohah I emailed one of the guys on the team awhile back to ask him for help about how to dissect an iOS app after watching his video about reverse engineering apps. He was super helpful! Awesome to hear this!
- nathanvanfleet 10y agoI find it kind of weird that this is so similar to things like Automator and AppleScript. Which are things that Apple has never really put a lot of work into. They introduce it with sparse features and then it just stays that way forever. Apparently they already released a new version of the software that removes integrations which work with Google etc. So it's typical Apple, they're pulling back any features that aren't helping with Lock in and that's about it.
- cafebeen 10y agoReading about Workflow makes me wish HyperCard were still around. If all of iOS was essentially a HyperCard stack, this the kind of automation provided by Workflow would possibly be more natural and powerful. I hope this is a sign that Apple is moving away from the hard line between users and programmers, but maybe that's too optimistic.
- mindcrash 10y agoCongratulations to Ari and the rest of the team! You've come a long way dude! -- mindcrash (your former partner in crime at MacHeist)