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.

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.

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.🤔

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.

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. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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

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.😔

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.

✅ WaterMinder

✅ Longplay

Timery 👀

Focused Work 👀

What else?

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.