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About the Store, the Store Tab.
There is so much to think or write about a simple “Store” tab. Something so “obvious” can lead to weird design decisions, even for Apple. I love this (rare) blog post from Ken Segall.
Sarcasm ON: “Iām feeling inspired by Appleās new way of thinking. Itās liberating. Who needs āAppleā when you have āStoreā? Generic is just so much easier, donāt you think?” - Ken Segall
To be honest, I don’t remember when there was a dedicated Store section on the Apple.com website. Apple brought it back, leaving “Buy” buttons scattered around every single product pages. It is now so much easier to buy something from Apple these days.
Sarcasm OFF
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(Re)Introducing the Store Tab
Yesterday, Apple made some changes to their website with the introduction of a new Store tab at the top of their website. Not only that, but the store design has been completely redone. I find it a bit disorienting at first, but after a few minutes, I think the elements and general reorganization make sense; I find it easier to navigate in general. Apple chose the horizontal scrolling sections instead of going vertical. Iām not always sure this is the best way to go, though. The bouncing effect is inconsistent, itās there while going to the right but not when hitting the limit on the left. AirTags have their section, which is surprising for such a small device.
Itās interesting to note that Appleās top navigation bar is now spanning a store, physical products, services, support, search, and a shopping cart.
Apple is getting ready for this fall slew of new products. Oh, one of the first thing I noticed is that the Magic Keyboard With Touch ID that is bundled with the 24ā iMac is now sold separately. I ordered one for my M1 Mac mini. It will take less space on my desk and Touch ID will so much more convenient for the mini. One last thing: convenience has a price: 179 CAN$. Ouch.
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Magic Keyboard with Touch ID for Mac models with Apple silicon ā available separately. š³š¤šš»
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I Love This Machine
It is light, fast and an absolute design gem. Small, but not too small. It runs a powerful operating system. Itās highly portable. It is venerable. It is a rare āspeciesā. There is something really special about it. Furthermore, it has a real keyboard that I can trust. Battery life is good. It is out of the way. Itās the perfect device for writing and blogging.
Itās a 2013 11ā MacBook Air.
Iāll explain in the coming week or so.
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Apple: everything is at least to taps awayā¢ #apple #safari15 #newdesigntrend
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Itās always saddening me a bit when, on the day of a new issue of my newsletter is being published, a few people decide to unscubscribe. I know, I cannot please everyone, people are busy, etc. And yetā¦ š oh well. š¤·š»āāļø
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I’m mostly done with the latest issue of my Numeric Citizen Introspection newsletter. It’s been a year since I started this free monthly newsletter and I still love it. While waiting for the next issue tomorrow, why not give a look at the previous one here. Subscribe, it’s free!
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Documenting past home screen arrangements
Matt Birchler had an interesting blog post this week about a screenshot of his 2013 iPhone home screen. There are a few interesting things to note. In 2013, it was the arrival of the controversial iOS 7 redesign. It’s interesting to look at the Camera+ icon design which was still not updated for the new style. The dock design style was pretty basic and felt out of place. A few apps are not longer among us these days: Path (which was really a great design example) but most of the third-party apps are still available today.
I wish I had kept screen shots of previous home screen arrangements in the past. Something that I have kept is many screen shots of my password manager user interface dating back pre-iOS 7 era. Here is an example below. When I saw iOS 7, I didnāt have the courage to rework my design. The development of my app stopped right there. I made five thousands dollars with this adventure, between 2009 and 2013. Now Iām using a combinaison of 1Password and Appleās passwords vault.
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On Safari 15 in iPadOS 15 Beta 4
Apple is slowly but surely getting there with this release of beta 4 of iPadOS 15 and Safari 15. I like what Iām seeing, on the iPad. Yet, āwhen you donāt know what is best, just add an option to Settings so the user can decideā strategy seems to be the way to go this time. You know whatās my choice, donāt you?
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Iāve been invited to test Safari 15 Preview on Big Sur
Iām going to jump in because on macOS, I donāt see the change as controversial as on iOS 15. I find it surprising that Apple seeks feedback on the new design. Itās a good thing but also surprising has they tend to do their thing alone. Now, they look a bit in distress while searching for a solution.
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Four days week day? We can only dream it seems
Again, Matt Birchler:
technology and improved general productivity always had the promise of letting us work less, and yet today we work more than ever and have less than before Source: A Four Day Work Week? Yes, Please!
I sure wish we had this four days work week. I cannot see the day it will become reality. The problem in IT where I work, there is a worsening trend of a lack of qualified people for many IT fields. This trend puts pressure on those who are qualified to do more working hours.
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I wish I could have used Ā«Ā Digital CitizenĀ Ā» instead of Ā«Ā Numeric CitizenĀ Ā». Oh well. Itās a branding issue, nothing serious.
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Hey, @Medium, what are these updates all about? Are you counting weeks, days? Meanwhile, on my iPad, using splitviewā¦ this has been an ongoing bug since foreverā¦ If you want to be taken seriously as a reading platform, get your act together and fix your app, once and for all. ā¤ļø
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Do you remember when you switched to Apple's ecosystem?
Matt Birchler writing about Apple ecosystem stickiness:
“As I buy more and more Apple products, all of those Apple products get better. My iPhone is more valuable because of the HomePod Mini I AirPlay my podcast to while Iām working. My iPad gets more valuable because it has seamless file sync with my Mac. Reminders is better because it works with Siri in a way no other app is allowed. The list goes on. But this is of course also a bit of a trap. I canāt really get an Android phone, even if I think I would enjoy it more than my iPhone, because then my HomePods become worse, my Mac gets worse, my iPad gets worse, and my Apple services get worse. Because each additional Apple product makes all my other Apple products better, likewise removing something from that mix brings down everything else.”
You cannot use an Apple Watch with an Android smartphone. In Apple’s garden, every product has an extension that takes the form of a service or another physical product from Apple. Did we forget that once upon a time we made a switch from platforms like Windows or OS/2? When a new offering is really making a difference, we tend to switch. Back in the days, a Windows PC was an island, leaving it for the Mac meant that you had to re-buy new software, a few accessories. All things equal, the switch wasn’t necessarily funny. Today’s digital world is quite different, for sure, but pose a similar kind of challenge when switching.
Photo by Miguel TomƔs on Unsplash
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Part of my digital garden focusing on Apple’s rumours has been updated this morning. Most recent rumours about upcoming iPhone and Macs now added. Made with @Craftdocsapp.
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On iPadOS 15 Photos improvements
Iāve been using Photos in iPadOS 15 since beta 2 and I must say that Apple is in fact offering a major update to their photos application. Beyong the updated Stories automatic creation and management improvements, face recognition has become quite impressive. According to a published article by Apple, people faces should be more detectable and recognizable in more extreme conditions. I can confirm this is actually the case. A large number of new photos were surfaced by Photosā improved algorithms which brings more potential content for new stories creation. Managing tagged faces is easier too and provides a refined experience overvall. Photos enhancements in iPadOS 15 is a big reason to upgrade.
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Thought of the day: you know that you are entering a post-COVID world when you’ve had your two vaccin doses for a while and when you get your first cold in nearly two years. š³š¤§
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Moving Adobe Lightroom from one machine to another
I’m finally done moving Adobe Lightroom Classic from my iMac to my M1 Mac mini. A few takeaways: it’s a tricky process involving many folders to copy (presets, settings, photos, catalog, etc.). Lightroom is bad at managing digital assets when things need to be reorganized. The Apple Silicon optimized version is faster but not as much as I thought it would be. My Mac mini never stop to impress me, it’s such a fast device. I’m close to being able to put my 2017 iMac for sale.
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How many times one of my colleage at work, knowing that Iām an Apple zealot, said that iPhone was losing ground to Android? Countless times. Where is this guy now? www.ped30.com
Apple vs. Android: In the U.S., theyāre neck and neck
