John Gruber is asking:
But even if Apple is correct about that, at some point, after being handed loss after loss in rulings from courts and regulatory bodies around the globe, shouldn’t they change their strategy and start trying to offer their own concessions, rather than wait for bureaucrat-designed concessions to be forced upon them?
I’m glad he is asking this question. If Gruber is fed up with this attitude, I guess it’s time to think differently, Apple.
It appears that Apple will go ahead with paid ads in Maps sometime next year. I’m not happy about this for a few reasons. One is that Apple is becoming… less and less… Apple. Two, I hate ads. I despise the implications behind a platform that supports ads (user tracking, data collection, etc.). I hate the business model behind that, too. I hope that it’s a false rumors, but if recent years are any indication, it’s going to be a thing.
Why would an Android developer would use Apple’s Swift language now that it’s available for Android? Single code base?
In “Creative neglect: What about the apps in Apple?” Joe Rosensteel from SixColors discusses the lack of attention and updates for Apple’s creative apps. Of particular interest to me: Photomator. It didn’t receive meaningful updates since its acquisition. Don’t get me started with the Apple Intelligence support, it’s a gimmick. At the same time, I’m afraid of the Liquid Glass treatment Photomator will eventually get. It’s a strange vibe, not to be excited about any impending updates.
**OpenAI acquired Software Applications Inc **— a startup building an AI-powered user interface for Mac desktops. I’m not to aware of the product that company was building, but I wonder how portable it was. OpenAI is a multi-platform company, so focusing on a Mac-only app is strange. As a Mac user, I’m very curious to what will happen with this.
I can’t remember when the last time I visited an Apple Store. This means I didn’t go to see the new iPhone 17 series. Now with the availability of the M5 iPad Pro or M5 MacBook Pro, I might decide to go even if I’m not upgrading any of my things. What’s wrong with me?
I would be curious to do the exercise of going back in time and counting the number of occasions where Apple, after introducing a significant change in the design of a user interface element or its functionality, following users outcry, reversed its decision by adding a parameter in the Settings app to appease frustrated users. I applaud this change.
We are not out of the woods but this new Apple Liquid Glass toggle in iOS 26.1 beta 4 makes a significative improvement. We wish we had a more gradual toning, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
I visited a friend this weekend, who had an Amazon Echo Show 8 in his kitchen. Physically, not a bad-looking device, but man, this thing is slow, and Alexia isn’t that good. I’m really curious to see what Apple will do in this space in the coming years. I would probably get such a thing if software execution proves to be better.