The Hidden Potential of Apple Invites

I had a funny idea today. After updating the Apple Invites app, I wondered whether it could be used to create a photo-sharing space for a small group of people, since its features rely on iCloud services. It seems to have everything you need: a welcome page, albums, links to external websites, and options for managing guests and comments. I created a fake invitation to test the RSVP process from start to finish, and I have to say that signing up seems to be the weak point for now. An Apple Account isn’t required, but at first glance, that isn’t very clear. Apple Invites is iPhone-only, so there’s no iPad or web version for content managers. Too bad. Yet, something to think about.

Micro.blog > Ghost

My Ghost subscription is up for renewal in mid-November. Even on the lowest tier, it’s rather expensive at $300 US. It’s tempting to compare Ghost’s value proposition with Micro.blog’s. Ghost is heavily leaning toward newsletters. I’m not using Ghost enough because I share longer pieces there, which are harder to come by. There is no contest: Micro.blog wins at two-thirds the price.

Ordered, now patiently waiting

I ordered HomeView and should receive it by the end of November. It feels like a long wait for a device like this, but I’ll be travelling for much of that time. Lukewarm reception didn’t change my mind. I’ve always wanted something like this, a device that isn’t managed like an iPad or iPhone. If my experience with it is good, I’ll probably get one for my home office, too. And no, I don’t have the busy daily life the HomeView ad portrays.

On Siri AI: Working in English while speaking in French

Here’s a problem I haven’t been able to solve. I’m a native French-Canadian speaker, since French is my mother tongue. Yet I use all my devices in English and still prefer to interact with Siri AI in French. Since iOS 27.2, I can do that because Siri AI is now available in French, but only if my device is set to French. The device language and Siri AI language have to match; otherwise, I’m stuck with the older, unsatisfactory, frustrating, and much less capable Siri. Moreover, the Siri language syncs across my devices.

I blog in English on my MacBook Air, like I’m doing right now, so when I invoke Siri AI while writing, I want it to respond in English. But when I ask for tomorrow’s weather forecast, I want to ask in French and get an answer in French. The same goes for turning up the light using HomeKit. For mundane requests in French, I could set this up and use it on my iPhone or iPad, but on the Mac, I want it to be in English.

The best configuration for me would be to set up some devices in English end-to-end, while other devices use Siri AI in French even though the device is still in English. For that to work, the Siri AI language setting should stop syncing across my devices.

Am I alone with this issue? Is there a solution? BTW, turning off iCloud sync for Siri doesn’t fix the issue.

A Siri settings window shows that the Mac is set to English (Canada) while Siri is set to French (Canada), with options for Requests, Language, Voice, and Responses.

If your are looking for a reason to reconsider your return to X.com aka Twitter, here’s one. If this tweet is real, and I have reasons to believe it is, then don’t support his businesses and this moron. Disgusting. And tell me when is the time for Putin to go. And Trump. Disgusting.

About the Siri.app

While Apple’s new Siri.app in OS 271 is a welcome addition, it still feels buggy, especially on the iPad. But one thing I don’t like is that the app saves most, if not all, requests to Siri AI. For example, asking for today’s weather forecast for a certain city gets saved and synced across my devices2. Why does it matter? Because these requests are stored into my iCloud account, which keeps growing. I may have found a solution as I’m testing OS 27.2 beta on a few of my devices.

  1. You know, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. ↩︎

  2. More on that in an upcoming post. ↩︎

Is Apple pivoting away from keynotes?

So we got the HomeView without an Apple Event. If Gurman is right, the same will be true of the upcoming touchscreen MacBook Pro on October 28. Although the two products fall into different device categories, making it hard to tell a coherent story if they’re announced together, I’m surprised Apple didn’t, and won’t, opt for a prerecorded announcement. Is this the new Apple under John Ternus?