Longer posts

October 15, 2023 5:33pm

Numeric Citizen

I finally found the right setup to definitively fix my audio record quality. The problem triggering this endless trial-and-error journey is that the Blue Yeti microphone can be too sensitive and pick up too much background noise¹. On paper, the macOS Voice Isolation recording should fix this. However, ScreenFlow 10.0.9 has issues with audio recording from a USB microphone while Voice Isolation is active².

The solution? Use Audio Highjack³ to record from the USB microphone with Voice Isolation active and output to the ScreenFlow audio capture driver. When recording, I start the Audio Hijack session, then switch to ScreenFlow and hit record. Voilà. I do use Adobe Podcast Audio Enhancer too. The results are quite good! You can hear it in my latest podcast episode. A screenshot of my Audio Hijack workflow is included so you can look at it⁴.

October 15, 2023 4:55pm

Numeric Citizen

The timing was right, and the target was well-defined, but the potential traction was far from guaranteed. Would this project be worth all the effort? Someone said: for every yes, there are a thousand no. After many weeks of thought and pondering, I decided against doing a unique project.

Link: The Apple Rumors Hub

October 2, 2023 7:46pm

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Numeric Citizen

Objective: find a replacement for my lightning-based Finch Lavalier microphone¹. Did my research for a USB-C microphone. RODE microphones came up quite often. They received good reviews. I ordered the NT-USB model. It was hard to see which type of USB port it came with—I got the microphone². It comes with USB-A. Shit. It was tested on my Mac mini. Background noises are too easily picked up. Screenflow cannot use voice isolation³. It was tested on my iPhone 15 Pro Max with a USB-A to USB-C adaptor and Ferrite. Voice isolation isn’t possible, either. Not good. I tried to use the RODE companion app for Mac so I could adjust the microphone operating parameters. I downloaded and installed it but didn’t recognize the microphone when plugged in. Not good. It’s an expansive microphone, barely better than my Blue Yeti. Not good. After testing Screenflow, my iPhone connected via USB-C to my Mac, and with voice isolation activated once again⁴, I decided to return the product. It’s way better, close to what I had with my Finch microphone. Problem solved.

October 1, 2023 7:46am

Numeric Citizen

I’m finally publishing the details surrounding my reading workflow. It’s been long in the making. More than a year. The reason? Because this workflow was full of moving parts. One example: is the read-later service. First, it was Pocket, then came Matter, Readwise, to finally settle on Omnivore. All the details are here on the Numeric Citizen I/O metablog. Feel free to comment or ask questions! 😊

September 30, 2023 10:22am

Numeric Citizen

For those looking to buy a Peak Design case for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, just like I did. I love the case but… here’s the kicker; the action button is really hard to press with this case, the cutout should have a button instead which would press the action button, just like for the other buttons integrated into the case. They plan to fix this. Check out this video to learn more.

Update: The way the company is handling this issue is a prime example of how customer satisfaction should be handled. Bravo.

September 29, 2023 4:28pm

Numeric Citizen

I have a folder named “Noto” in my iCloud Drive folder that keeps populating empty folders inside of it, on all my devices. Noto is a note-taking app that I tried in Feb. 2020. Today, I found out that I had more than 30K empty folders sitting there. I deleted the folders from my Mac mini, and it came back. Same with the MacBook Air. It came back. I visited all my devices to see if Noto was still installed. Nope. I reinstalled it on the iPad to see if it would populate something. Nope. I went on Files.app on the iPad to delete the root folder. Still re-appearing. On all my devices, I reinstalled Noto, to disable iCloud sync. I visited the iCloud storage section within Settings on the iPhone. The Noto folder isn’t there. But, on the iPad, it was there. I deleted the item from iCloud storage management. Yet, the folder keeps coming back. What a strange bug. Help.

Update: the issue went away after rebooting my M2 MacBook Air to fix an issue with Screenflow screen recording permission request. I went back to the iCloud Drive folder and sure enough, the Noto folder didn’t come back. I guess the issue is resolved.

September 28, 2023 9:21pm

Numeric Citizen

So far, I have created four web apps on my Dock in Sonoma: Micro.blog¹, Pixelfed², Tinylytics, and Omnivore. I like this a lot³. For Omnivore, the web app provides a better experience than the “native” app, which is probably not really native⁴. What other apps could I set in my Dock now?🤔

September 24, 2023 7:00am

Numeric Citizen

I had the chance to spend some time with Manton Reece and ask him a few questions about Montreal’s poutine, Apple’s power and the App Store, Twitter¹ and the future of Micro.blog. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did doing it.😊

September 22, 2023 10:07pm

Numeric Citizen

It feels great in hand, similar in fact to the weight of my iPhone 13 Pro (not the Max), which is great. The back is darker than my iPhone 11 Pro, and I love it. I’m quite happy with the darker black. It’s a bit darker than I thought. It’s definitively a finger magnet. It’s very soft to the touch. Rounded contours are really making a difference. The device feels more approachable. The screen is so nice. The setup process is superbly executed. An update to iOS was required before transferring the content from my iPhone 13 Pro. Yet, there were many apps which required reentering my credentials. Data transfer was estimated at one hour¹. The data transfer took about 45 minutes. The Always On display is… always on. 😳 I don’t know if I’ll keep that option… on.

September 22, 2023 7:20am

Numeric Citizen

In the “Craptacular Is More Like It” article, this is @gruber@mastodon.social at its best. I read the original article earlier this week and concluded that Apple had difficult times ahead with its modem development. This morning, in my usual reading routine, I read the article from Mr. Gruber, and I think it succeeds in demonstrating this: the original article wasn’t any better than any ChatGPT-generated content.

Now I feel that I was deceived by the journalist who tried to fill me with unverified and barely possible facts tied together based on thin air. And you would think journalists can do better than AI-generated work? Not always. Thanks to Mr. Gruber for that one.

September 21, 2023 8:14pm

Numeric Citizen

Inspired by a recent podcast episode where Martin Feld interviewed John Gruber, for this fourth podcast episode, I decided to talk about my early years as a blogger.

Links:

• Really Specific Stories podcast: https://pca.st/pcp6rwjs
• Interview with John Gruber episode: https://pca.st/i0xdkxfh, his announcement on his blog: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2023/09/20/really-specific-stories-yours-truly
• A reply to John Gruber about his interview: https://micro.blog/numericcitizen/23822941
• Search for the “BuildingiPhoneApps” keyword on the internet archive for a glimpse of my very first blog, and locate 2010 and beyond on the timeline.

September 21, 2023 6:38am

Numeric Citizen

I opened the App Store this Monday to see how Apple would promote new app releases supporting iOS 17. Then I realized that I rarely open the App Store except to go and get app updates. When was the last time I went to browse the productivity category? When did I last browse the store for popular photography apps or new utilities? I can’t even remember when I last bought an app discovered in the App Store¹. I wonder if this is only me or reflects a more general trend.🤔

September 20, 2023 8:10pm

Numeric Citizen

Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness don’t click for me

I’ve been using Apple’s new AirPods features for the past week, and I’m sad to say that I don’t really understand either of them

I’m with Matt here. I fail to find the magic here. I’ve read Gruber’s take on the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, and I’m afraid I don’t feel anything magical about Adaptive Audio. When activated, I hear too much from the surroundings; I prefer noise cancellation. Can we get adaptive noise cancellation instead? 🤔

I feel that Apple’s engineers couldn’t figure out which new audio profiles to include and couldn’t decide, and they suggested including both. Then, the marketing guys came in and named these profiles Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness. Boom. I’m half-joking here.

I’ll keep trying in the next few days to find the magic.

September 19, 2023 10:05pm

Numeric Citizen

Today, I read many iPhone 15 Pro reviews and watched many YouTube videos too. For some reason, I get the feeling of a slight deception mood across many reviewers. Those are great upgrades, but since they are compared to last year’s iPhone, the improvements are dimmed as mostly minor. A mentioned the superiority of the iPhone in the video recording field, but in the photography field, it’s less clear. Sharpening seems a tad less aggressive with more natural tones. The 24MP resolution by default is a welcomed addition, and yet… it’s not a home run. Device physical tweaks are unanimously welcomed, though. Maybe tomorrow, my interpretation will be different. 🤷🏻‍♂️

September 18, 2023 10:21am

Numeric Citizen

Many apps are getting updates today and this week. Yes! 😃 But, so far, I have found some bugs in iOS 17 to display interactive widget content once they are added. They often stay blank with a white background. Rebooting doesn’t help. I don’t know if it is an iOS 17 bug or an issue with the app. 🤔 One design issue: if an app supports the StandBy mode¹, it should also support the landscape orientation, not only the portrait orientation. Tapping a widget to launch the app and the app comes up in portrait mode. It’s bad. WaterMinder is such an example, and… Apple’s Stocks app! The latter is inexcusable. In general, StandBy mode seems a work-in-press, to be honest.²

September 15, 2023 1:17pm

Numeric Citizen

I wanted to follow up a previous post of mine about using my Lightning-based Lavalier microphone with a USB-C device, like my 2018 iPad Pro¹. I ordered the USB-C to Lightning adaptor on the day of the Apple keynote. I got it this morning. If you are wondering if it works with Ferrite and Apple’s Voice Memos on my iPad Pro? No, it doesn’t.😔

September 15, 2023 6:56am

Numeric Citizen

Yesterday night, I spent nearly an hour reading articles and forum posts about the implications of closing my Adobe Photography subscription¹. The implications and how to recover my photos differ for Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC. It’s not that hard, but it will be a tedious process if I want to keep some organization that the Lightroom catalog currently provides. I’ll put this project on my list of things to do in 2024. This will give me some time to plan for the migration².

September 14, 2023 1:08pm

Numeric Citizen

✅ WaterMinder

✅ Longplay

Timery 👀

Focused Work 👀

What else?

September 12, 2023 9:22pm

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Numeric Citizen

These are my impressions of Apple’s latest product announcements.

The mother nature segment was funny, and I smiled quite often. It was a great way to communicate their progress toward better environmental protection and reduced carbon footprint. Video production quality was top-notch. Aren’t tech press people tired of going to Apple Park to watch a movie?

Many comments during the presentation about the desire by Apple to see people go into their stores to buy and activate the new iPhones¹.

We got a short update about the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, which is still on track for early 2024. That was expected but felt a bit short.

Onto the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch Series 9 is a mildly interesting update. The new finger gestures are cool but only for Series 9. Too bad. I’ll probably buy a few new bands later this fall. I’ll skip this year’s updates and wait for next year’s rumoured redesign.

Moving to the star of the show. The iPhone.

The iPhone remains the crown jewel of Apple. Everything else is peripheral. The design of the Pro line is absolutely gorgeous (rounded edges, great pro finishes). The A17 Pro (bye-bye Bionic) is a powerhouse CPU! I’ll go with the 15 Pro Max with 512 GB of storage. I’ll order the “USB-C to Lightning adaptor” to keep using my excellent Cavalier microphone (see my previous blog post about the issue).

The black finish is my choice with a blue FineWoven case². Best of both worlds. Thanks to this video, which helped me confirm my decision³. Those wallpapers are gorgeous, too! This is the first time in a while that I love them so much. I’m overall happy with this year’s Pro finishes and tones. Very classy.

I’m a bit surprised by the battery life capacity to be the same as last year’s Pro models. I was expecting longer battery life with the A17, but I guess since we get more features… something has to give. I expect next year’s iPad Pro to use a derivative of the A17 Pro announced today.

About cameras. A 5x range for telephoto, not 6x⁴. I’m surprised it’s not 6x. But 120mm is great for travelling. Shooting with the phone and having the preview immediately available on the Mac, just like pros are expecting. Wow. Do images on the 15 Pro line have less over-processing / sharpening? I certainly hope so. And about those immersive spacial videos to be shot on the 15 Pro but visioned on the Apple Vision Pro, coming later this year. Consider me intrigued⁵. The camera app has a few tweaks, judging by some video segments, for the 2x mode, where you can select the focal length. Cool.

There is no monstrous price increase, which is good. Some price adjustments on the entry-level iPhone 15 Pro Max. The speed limit of the USB-C on the non-Pro line is ridiculous⁶. iCloud+ storage tier at 6TB is a surprise, still 5GB⁷ at the entry-level, though. I like the action button flexibility.

I’ll order my new phone this Friday. That is all for now.

September 10, 2023 8:07pm

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Numeric Citizen

Here are some more details about my excitement for the next iPhone¹.

Besides the camera upgrades, here is a short list of things I’m looking forward to with the next iPhones.

1. I’m going to the Max. It’s the first Max model that I’m getting².
2. I expect better battery life than the iPhone 14 Pro Max³. I want a real all-day battery life for when I travel abroad.
3. I never liked the current chrome finish of the Pro line (since the iPhone 12 Pro)⁴. I like the titanium finish of the Apple Watch. I can’t wait to see the tweaked version for the iPhone⁵.
4. I’m ambivalent about the rumoured action button. I’ll want to configure it for the camera capture, but I want to keep the mute button.
5. The always-on display… I’m not sure. My wife has an iPhone 14 Pro, she disabled the always-on display because of the battery drain. I’ll see with the Max.
6. I’m curious about the grey version, but I will go either with a deep blue⁶ or the darkest one⁷.
7. I love the Dynamic Island. My hope is to see wider adoption by developers.
8. Finally, USB-C. Finally. 95% of the time, I charge my iPhone with MagSafe. It’s too convenient. On rare occasions, it will be handy to grab any normal USB-C cable and plug it in. As for transfer speed, I’m not in any use cases for this⁸.

I’ll catch you on the other side of the Wonderlust event.