Transmit 4.1.5, Dropbox 1.0.20, Skype 5 all Out
This morning there were a few updates, one interesting story and the worst UI make-over I've seen in ages. Let's start with the non-story. Dropbox 1.0.20 was released, and I was sure this was supposed-to auto-update itself as it saw there was new code to deploy. But it seems that I need to manually update each time. Not a horrible problem, but it's somewhat annoying. Still, it's a great app as it just works. Nice.
Then there's the story of Transmit 4.1.5 - it seems the guys at Panic wanted to have the same release schedule for the App Store version and the "buy direct" version, so they held off on releasing the update to the "buy direct" customers, like myself. When it was clear that the App Store review process was taking more than a week, they decided that in all honesty, they couldn't withhold the update from the "buy direct" customers. So they released it. It's going to be a fact of life that developers will always be able to release apps faster on their own than going through Apple's review process. But so it goes. Vendors are deciding how they are going to handle the release time differences, and trying to be fair to all. It's a tough problem.
Then there's Skype 5. I don't get it. It's a competitor to iChat, Adium, and other IM apps as well as a front-end for VOIP calls and video conferencing. It's a simple concept. They went from a somewhat large-ish window, when compared to iChat and Adium, and they Pumped It UP! It's now a monster on the screen. Why? What possible reason could they have for making this thing bigger? Make chat windows small - or able to be small, that's easy. When you're on the phone you don't need a window - that's small. WHen you have video chat, make it a separate window. They blew this. Horribly. Worst. Redesign. Ever. Amazing.