We are proud to announce a new 2.5.0 release of "Alloy - Launcher and Automator".  This release includes:


Improved Drag & Drop on iPad

Alloy now allows to utilize either installed Actions or Actions form the Actions Directory to handle dropped data. In addition to existing ability to drop data right to an Action to handle it now it is possible to drop data to a new Drop Drawer. The Drop Drawer will be automatically shown on a side of the app when dragging data inside the app. If you drop data to the Drop Drawer - you will be presented with the list of Actions to choose from either Favorites, installed Actions or Actions from the Actions Directory. If an Action from the Actions Directory is chosen - you will be prompted to either "Launch", "Install" or "Install and Launch" it.


    


For example, you can utilize drag & drop to create a bookmark for an URL. Do do this:

  1. Drag a URL to Alloy.
  2. Drop the URL to the Drop Drawer.
  3. Choose the "Bookmark" Action form the Action Directory.
  4. Choose "Install".
  5. Follow the instructions.
  6. See a new "Bookmark" Action for your URL in the app.


Universal Links Support

Alloy now provides support of Universal Links to its Actions. A Universal Link is basically a https:// link that allows to launch Alloy and its Actions from other apps and Web Pages. A sample link for launching the Weather action would be: https://32parrots.com/action/weather?alloy-ask=0. Format of the Universal Links is very similar to format of the links that use alloy:// URL Scheme. You should just use https://32parrots.com/action/ instead of alloy://. To get a Universal Link for any Action:  show context menu for that Action (long press or 3D Touch and swipe up) and choose the "Copy | Copy Universal Link".

For example, Universal Links  can be useful to associate Actions with NFC tags so a certain Action can be promptly launched just by moving your iPhone over an NFC tag.


Using NFC Tags to Launch Actions in Alloy

Now it is possible to bind Actions to NFC tags so a certain Action can be promptly launched just by moving your iPhone over an NFC tag. Alloy provides two ways for binding: direct and indirect. 


  



Direct Binding

To directly bind and Action to a NFC tag:

  1. Copy a Universal Link for your Action.
  2. Write that link to a NFC tag using either a NFC tag writer, tag writing service or a compatible Android device :).
  3. Hover a compatible iOS device over that NFC tag.
  4. Tap on a popped-up notification.
  5. See Alloy and your Action running.


Indirect Binding

To indirectly bind and Action to a NFC tag:

  1. Write a link in format https://32parrots.com/tag/<ID>  to a NFC tag using either a NFC tag writer, tag writing service or a compatible Android device :). Where ID is any unique identifier of your choice. It is useful to batch encode several NFC tags with incremental ID's like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.
  2. Hover a compatible iOS device over that NFC tag.
  3. Tap on a popped-up notification. 
  4. See Alloy running. Note: do not hold iOS device over an NFC tag during binding to avoid accidentally launching bound Action right after binding complete.
  5. Respond to a prompt to bind that NFC tag to some Action and follow the instructions.
  6. After that you can hover a compatible iOS device over that NFC tag.
  7. Tap on a popped-up notification.
  8. See Alloy and your Action running.

Indirect binding is very flexible so you can re-bind Actions to NFC tags on the fly with no need to re-encode tags. You have to remove current binding by editing bound Actions and clearing their NFC Tags ID's. Then you can rebind corresponding tags as stated above.


Drastically Improved "Add Action to Home Screen" Functionality

Alloy now includes drastically improved functionality that allows launching Actions right from the Home Screen - Actions now will be seamlessly launched without opening tabs in Safari and with no prompt to the user.


Improved Association of Actions with Locations

Alloy now includes improved functionality that associates Actions with certain locations:



  1. Ability to setup both "When Arrive" and "When Leave" conditions
  2. Ability to handle location change in background. It can be turned ON using the "Launch Action in Background" option in the Action's Location view. If location change in background is turned ON - either Location Workflow or Background Workflows will be launched to handle that change. If neither of them are specified - either Main Workflow will be launched (app in the foreground) or a notification will be posted. 
  3. There is a new Workflow dedicated to handle location change - Location Workflow.


Also do no miss new great features introduced in previous releases of "Alloy - Launcher and Automator":

  • v2.4.1: this release introduces  improved Siri Shortcuts and support of animated GIF.
  • v2.4.0: this release introduces iOS 12 and Siri Shortcuts support.
  • v2.3.0: this release introduces new iMessage Extension, lots of Actions and Task updated to support iMessage Extension etc.
  • v2.0.0: this release introduces Glances, Background and Menu workflows, new Widget, new Action Extension, bunch of new actions utilizing Glances etc.