https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog.html Tips, tricks, and feature highlights for my iOS apps. en-us Copyright 2026 Detlev Voss. All rights reserved. Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hand-maintained from /en/blog/posts.js https://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/whats-new-in-timers-alarms-1-3.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/whats-new-in-timers-alarms-1-3.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Timer Quick timer Presets Widget Version 1.3 brings two new ways to get to a countdown: quick timers that start in two taps and delete themselves once they are done, and a gallery of ten ready-made presets from Pomodoro to Boiled Egg. Plus a Quick Timer widget for the Home Screen, haptic feedback in the app, further improvements and fixes. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/one-tap-to-see-how-a-photo-was-made.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/one-tap-to-see-how-a-photo-was-made.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss PhotoView Metadata Every digital camera writes the story of a shot into the file alongside the photo: aperture, shutter speed, ISO, the lens, often the place it was taken. PhotoView keeps all of it one tap away. Tap once and the metadata overlay appears, tap again and the photo has the screen to itself. Over 200 fields, grouped by topic, and you choose which ones you see. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/reads-the-xmp-your-editor-wrote.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/reads-the-xmp-your-editor-wrote.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss PhotoView XMP Keywords You put real work into Lightroom, Capture One, darktable or PhotoLab: star ratings, color labels, a keyword tree built over years, rights and edit history. That work is metadata, and PhotoView reads it. It reads the embedded XMP straight from the photo’s original file on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and on a Mac it also reads the .xmp sidecar next to a RAW file and the Finder details. Read-only and entirely on your device. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/photoview-public-beta.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/photoview-public-beta.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss PhotoView Public beta TestFlight Metadata PhotoView is now in a free public beta on iPhone, iPad and Mac. It is a full-screen viewer for your Photo Library with the metadata one tap away: the camera settings, the lens, GPS on a map, keywords and more, in an overlay you size and arrange yourself. Read-only, offline, no ads, no tracking. Try it on TestFlight. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/how-to-start-a-sudoku.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/how-to-start-a-sudoku.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Sudoku Sudoku technique Logic puzzle A blank grid doesn’t need a clever idea — it needs two simple moves, and both are just looking. How to open a Sudoku you’ve never seen before, without notes or guesswork. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/pencil-notes-not-pencil-marks.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/pencil-notes-not-pencil-marks.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Sudoku Design The app used to say “pencil marks.” It says “pencil notes” now — and that one word changed more than the vocabulary. A short post on how the words you choose for a feature quietly decide what it is. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/sudoku-launch.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/sudoku-launch.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Sudoku App Store launch Logic puzzle Design Sudoku is on the App Store today. A calm, distraction-free logic puzzle for iPhone and iPad — free, no ads, no tracking, no subscription. Optional tip jar inside the app. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/backup-restore-and-sync.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/backup-restore-and-sync.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Privacy Timers & Alarms saves your whole setup — timers, alarms, and preferences — to one plain-JSON file you keep. See how backup and restore work, why an open, readable format means your data is never locked in, and how the same file moves your setup to a new iPhone or a second device. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/hiit-and-workout-intervals.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/hiit-and-workout-intervals.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Workout Interval timer Build a HIIT or circuit workout as one interval timer in Timers & Alarms — a warm-up, your work-and-rest rounds, and a cool-down. See how to set the durations and rounds, give each phase its own sound, and read the current phase at a glance on the Lock Screen, the Dynamic Island, and the widget. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/live-activities-and-the-dynamic-island.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/live-activities-and-the-dynamic-island.html Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Timer Live Activity Dynamic Island A running timer follows you out of the app. See what Timers & Alarms shows on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island — the name, the live countdown, the current phase and round — and how to pause, resume, stop, or start the next round without opening the app. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/whats-new-in-timers-alarms-1-1.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/whats-new-in-timers-alarms-1-1.html Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Timer Widget Pomodoro Interval timer Version 1.1 adds a Tomato Timer widget family for Pomodoro on the Home Screen, warm-up and cool-down phases for interval timers, sorting by total duration, and steadier alarms across DST and time-zone changes. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/sudoku-coming-soon.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/sudoku-coming-soon.html Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Sudoku Logic puzzle A second app is on the way. Sudoku — a clean, distraction-free logic puzzle for iPhone and iPad — will be submitted to the App Store very soon. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/pomodoro-with-timers-alarms.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/pomodoro-with-timers-alarms.html Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Pomodoro Focus Interval timer A 25-minute focus block, a 5-minute break, four rounds, a longer rest. Here is how to run Pomodoro with one timer in Timers & Alarms. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/why-i-built-timers-alarms.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/why-i-built-timers-alarms.html Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms Behind the scenes Timer Live Activity Widget How I got one timer to show the same time in the app, on Home Screen widgets, on the Lock Screen, and on the Dynamic Island — and what changed when I moved to AlarmKit. https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/timers-alarms-launch.html https://apps.advoss.de/en/blog/2026/timers-alarms-launch.html Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Detlev Voss Timers & Alarms App Store launch Timer Alarm Timers & Alarms is on the App Store today. Why a timer and alarm app went first, what ships in version one, and what this blog might cover.