Parker Ortolani for 9to5Mac:

But what if you could add other kinds of things to your Home Screen too? (…) Apple could add the same ‘Add to Home Screen’ button to the share sheet in Music, in Podcasts, in News, and in TV. Each content type could have a distinct shape for differentiation. Albums, podcasts and publications could have more squared off icons. Magazines could be more narrow to show off covers. TV Shows and movies could use the same artwork that appears in app.

Frankly, I love this idea. On the iPad, it could be the ultimate playground to play with this feature, thanks to the device size. I can see me adding all kind of stuff like my wife iMessage contact, an RSS feed to my favourite content creators, a shortcut to a podcast or an Apple Music playlist or artist. So much possibilities.

The idea of adding all sort of content on the home screen is not new, yet on iOS and iPadOS, current design feels really restricted. We are ready to go to the next phase in evolution. I want freedom in folder size and placement, I want Apple Watch complication-style widgets. I want freedom. Apple, by any chance, are you listening?

Consider this added to my WWDC, iOS and iPadOS 15 wish list.

“I upended my life for Apple. I sold my WA residence which I built with my own hands, relocated myself, shut down any public media presence and future writing aspirations, and resolved to build my career at Apple for years to come,”

Well, now that he has been fired, he is complaining on Twitter that Apple knew in advance… maybe, maybe not. My gut feeling is that the C-Level knew, but not the upper management. When it came to their attention, they acted in accordance to their well-known values.

Source: Antonio Garcia Martinez says Apple fired him, company was ‘well aware’ of his writing | AppleInsider

Mr. Martinez Twitter thread is here.

(…) there are only 17k Watch apps: like Amazon’s Alexa, the Apple Watch is a huge success but has largely failed as an app platform. Source: Benedict Evans’ takeaways from the first week of Epic vs. Apple | Philip Elmer‑DeWitt

Only 17K apps for the Apple Watch?? Calling this a failure is a bit surprising. The Watch is a narrow platform compared to the iPhone, the iPad or the Mac. I don’t expect as many apps to be available for the Watch. This form-factor isn’t obviously suitable for a lot of applications categories. I think 17K apps is quite a lot actually because I don’t get a sense of it when I browse the App Store from the Apple Watch itself or from my iPhone. This is where Apple is failing: discovery of Watch apps is miserable, just like it is in general on Apple’s App Store.

One of the cooless by-product of the Apple strategy is the unification of the processing unit among its product lines, leaving the form-factor the unique differenciation attribute.

Previously there were many people who wanted a laptop, but ended up buying a desktop because it would be more powerful. Now the only choice the customer has to make is whether they prefer the MacBook or iMac form-factor, because the internal hardware is the same in each. Source: Apple execs praises how M1 enables same performance for different devices in interview - 9to5Mac

Apple’s macOS Big Notifications Center is probably the most frustrating, infuriating and un-Apple experience of all. Man this thing is badly designed. Who at Apple think it ok? He or she is a C player! Hoping for major re-work for macOS 12. There, I said it. 🤬

Browsers look more and more like operating systems. Apple knows this, and they are probably afraid for their App Store business.

This article from Alex Russell of Infrequently Notes is very convincing: Apple purposely delay implementation of new web standards to refrain developers to build web applications. New web standards are enablers for new kinds of web applications with richer features set. Those richer apps could go against Apple’s App Store profitable business. No wonder why so many people are using alternative browsers to Safari. But that’s not all. Since Apple, in general is a big player, its influence is unquestionably high, the lack of support from them for so many basic and essential web standards discourage new application opportunities. That’s too bad and makes me wonder how sites like Mailbrew who offers a web application could improve if all browsers, including Safari would support most web standards. Mailbrew is already good on the iPad, closely mimicking a native application, yet I wonder.

Can we hope for changes at the next WWDC conference?

Apple is under so much pressure on so many fronts these days. It is so fashionable to put pressure on them. The App Store is one big target. I’m getting tired of people wishing for changes that I don’t want to become reality. Sure Apple is far from perfect, yet, people should be careful for what they wish for. I decided to express my voice and started to write on the subject. It will be controversial, but it will be honest and true to my beliefs and wishes. I don’t really care if I’m right or wrong. I expect to publish my article just before WWDC. Stay tuned.

On Apple’s Shortcuts notifications: I second this! Notifications are not needed for most of us and should be silenced in iOS 15. At least, provide an option to make it quieter. I like the idea of a status bar indicator, just like the localization services when they are trigerred.

Apple Shortcuts Is Great, but It Needs a Notification Toggle - Initial Charge