Did you know that you can use iCloud+ with a custom email domain? Yep, that’s right. This is what I was doing for hello @ numericcitizen.me until this week when I started my migration to Fastmail. But there is one challenge that I didn’t expect: I wanted to bring this custom email to Fastmail, too. Custom email domains with iCloud+ is managed only on the iCloud website.

Having Apple Advanced Data Protection (ADP) is cool and nice but can make managing iCloud+ Custom domains a pain. As a reminder, to use ADP, you must turn off iCloud web access. I’m not really sure why. As soon as this is turned off, you can no longer manage your custom email domains that you might have configured for use with iCloud+. To complete my migration to Fastmail, so that I could write and respond from that custom email address from Fastmail, I first had to remove that domain from iCloud+, but it’s only possible on the iCloud website. To do that, ADP must be turned off. Once done, you can re-enable iCloud website access, then remove the custom email domain. After some cleaning up of Apple-related DNS records, you can re-enable ADP and disable iCloud website. Only then I can go on Fastmail Settings and configure my custom email domain.

Now you know.

Spent a few hours in Fastmail to get it ready to fully replace my HEY Mail subscription. Got my new email domain name set up in Cloudflare. The Screener functionality that I liked in HEY is now fully operational and is based on a Contacts Group. The Paper Trail is also set up and based on another Contacts group. Basically, if an email uses a contact not in the Screener, it will be moved in The Screener label. The same happens for the Paper trail. If I want a specific email to go to the Paper Trail, the contact is created and added to the right contacts group. One email account (Gmail) has been configured for Fastmail to pull content from it (no need to use email forwarding, so everything is configured from Fastmail. My Gmail account is a low-volume account so that I can tweak things before connecting my primary email accounts (both are Apple-provided).

I’m making progress in cleaning up my email mess. I closed my Yahoo Mail account, which I only used for Flickr when the authentication backend moved from Flickr to Yahoo¹. I closed two Gmail accounts: one of the two was used when I was developing iPhone apps between 2009 and 2013. This means I have three fewer email redirections for HEY Mail. Most of my newsletter subscriptions are now redirected to Inoreader, which is another dependency removed from HEY Mail.

So, what’s left in HEY Mail? Two email redirections: one .me email account¹ and my primary iCloud mail account. These are my biggest email accounts. Of course, I also have my HEY Mail account that I use in a few dozen places. That’s the last part to move out. The question is: which email account should I use instead of my HEY Mail? Is this where Fastmail comes into play? Or should I merge them into one of my Apple-hosted mail accounts? If I choose the latter, I don’t see the point of using Fastmail unless I want to replicate the Paper Trail functionality of HEY Mail. Even then, Apple’s latest updates to Mail offer something similar. I should probably try the latest betas on my Mac and see how well it performs. Stay tuned for the next update on my emails shuffle.

I acquired the skill of programming in Objective-C and developed iPhone applications between 2009 and 2013. Since I had learned programming concepts during my Computer Science degree, I didn’t have to begin from scratch. However, with the advent of generative AI, I can’t help but wonder how my learning experience would have unfolded differently. I think that it would have been significantly expedited while exploring creating different apps beyond the one I was developing.

Just got a reminder to close my Readwise account, probably because the subscription renewal is coming soon. That’s not a cheap one. Beyond serving as a repo for text highlights from Micro.blog and Inoreader, I don’t really have a meaningful use for it. I don’t use the Readwise Reader either. I export highlights into Bear from time to time as markdown files. I almost never search them. Sometimes I’ll read a few highlights with amusement or nostalgia, but nothing more. Why am I doing all this, then? 🧐🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m a frequent user of generative AI, primarily for my work, but also to assist with my activities as a blogger and content creator. I subscribe to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and mainly limit my generative AI use to this service. I realize that OpenAI is becoming my new Apple, as I prefer to concentrate on one service to maximize the benefits of my subscription. I appreciate what they offer, including their services and apps.

However, OpenAI is not the only option, and I should explore other services as well. I don’t want to use Meta’s or Google’s offerings. What else is available? Perplexity? I started using it this morning and I like their offerings, but I’m still on a free plan. Do you have any suggestions besides Perplexity? What about Claude? I’m curious about their respective market shares.

I’m currently testing OpenAI Deep Research on two very specific subjects. So far, I’m quite impressed, not only about the end-results but also with the progress status report during the researching phase. It’s a great way to start looking into specific domains, and it gives many hints as to what to look for. Coupled with OpenAI Canvas, this is a powerful tool for a writer like me.

What a great time to be alive to test those things and see how I can take advantage of all this to be a better human.

I’m likely spending an excessive amount of time reading the news through various channels and sources. However, given the numerous events unfolding right now that will significantly shape our lives over the next few decades, I believe it’s crucial to pay close attention to them. Regardless of the method, one day, these events will undoubtedly have a clear and immediate impact on me and my loved ones.

Tomorrow, Apple is introducing a new family member. It’s not expected to be a new HomePod with a screen, nor a lower-priced version of the Apple Vision Pro. It’s rather a low-but-wisely-priced iPhone. It’s the next iPhone trick to keep the money printing machine humming. The only thing that I’m curious about is the future cellular modem benchmarks. Supposedly made by Apple to eventually kick out Qualcomm, this modem will be under the microscope of many to see how it performs.

The other thing maybe that we could see at the same time: the next round of betas for iOS 18.4 and Apple Intelligence. But I’m not holding my breath for that one. I prefer to set my expectations very low, near zero actually, just to be sure.

I maintain a daily journal at work where I jot down the day’s highlights. I write about what went well, the current challenges I’m facing, and any opportunities to do something different. I also note the clients I spoke to and the reasons behind it. I’ve been doing this for a while now, but I never refer to the journal once it’s written. It’s just a dump of my thoughts.

I wonder why I’m doing this. I think the act of writing it down is the ultimate goal, not the end results. It’s the same with my personal journal. I rarely write in it, but I do occasionally. I rarely, if ever, refer to it. Why is that?

Now, let’s talk about blogging. Why is all that? Is there a pattern here?

I don’t know how many Americans will read this post, but I feel the need to get the message out by amplifying this post from a Ukrainian soldier. How do you feel about Trump wanting to talk to the enemy, because this is exactly what he is? I find the link with 9/11 especially right on. The only difference, there as been hundreds if not thousands of 9/11 in Ukraine since February 2022. And it goes on, and on, and on. Wake the fuck up.

While Netflix is sorry for making their product too convenient by showing up on Apple TV app for a few hours to a few users, Apple is making Apple TV app available anywhere, including Android more recently. Netflix seems run by stupid guys. Apple? I prefer not to answer that one. It’s tricky and complicated when looking at the big picture (pun intended).

I understand this is only the beginning, but I find it strange that summaries aren’t available at post time, only at edit time, after the initial post publication. It’s like a backward rollout. For my first test, I used the AI-generated version. For this one, I’ll write it manually. The first part of my experiment is available here.

I’m testing the new blog post summary feature of Micro.blog. For now, according to my assessment, the summary field is only available while editing an existing post, which seems a bit strange. It’s a work-in progress and a few updates should help complete the full vision of blog post summaries. If AI support was disabled, the feature isn’t available. More info here.

DHH at 37 Signals praising Musk for his business (and now) government spending management is yet another red flag and a no-go for me. I won’t link to this post. I’m going to vote with my money and cancel my HEY Mail subscription this fall when my subscription is expiring. If Musk buys ChatGPT, I’ll again vote with my money and cancel my ChatGPT subscription in due time. As Trump is imposing 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, I’ll vote with my money and cancel my yearly business trip to the US this fall. Some of these changes are a pain to implement but resisting is never an easy thing.

Three apps, three different designs. On the left, Tapestry, in the middle Reeder (new), on the right Reeder (old). For me, the winner is the new Reeder which offers a much cleaner design. I’ll keep an eye on Tapestry, but I don’t see how its design could change much.

Apple told the developers that building an iPad was a matter of clicking a checkbox (more or less). Now, why is Apple Sports, Apple Journal and more recently, Apple Invites are not optimized for the iPad? 🤨🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m finally enjoying this moment where I can show the title field while writing a blog post on Micro.blog.

Thought on the morning: I think that apps like Tapestry and Reeder¹ are failing at one thing: a single timeline where content converge is enough. It isn’t. I came to realize that the world is complex and requires many angles of content consumption. Another problem is the diversity in feed velocity. If one feed takes over the timeline, it’s crash the whole thing. Until they add multi-timelines and find a way to moderate high-volume feeds, I’ll refrain from adding these apps into my daily routine.

Update #1: I stand corrected by one of the founders of the Iconfactory: you can have multiple timelines within the app and switch across them at will. As a backup of Tapestry on Kickstarter, I should have known better. Sorry about that one.

I just realized that my face was on a few screenshots of Micro Social, an app currently being developed by Greg Morris. He shared an article today on his blog where he talks about the timeline feature. That’s cool. What is even cooler is that I decided to support him with a $1 a month subscription via his “Buy me a coffee” page. Can’t wait to test this myself.