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A simple wish (@ulyssesapp @microdotblog #writing #blogging #tools)
You know what I would like that would be really really cool and useful for me and probably for many others? Iād like to see Ulysses add support for Micro.blog as a publishing destination (Ghost, Medium and WordPress are already supported). That would be really nice. šš»I kind of like Micro.blog native app for the iPad but itās not a writing tool in my opinion. My fingers are crossed. Please, share this post if you think you would benefict from this as a writer and Ulysses user.
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Look whoās in town (#rssreader #rss #reading @reederapp)
The venerable RSS reader app Ā«Ā ReederĀ Ā» turned to version 5 yesterday. I donāt know how I missed that one. Maybe because I moved from Reeder to News Explorer. I pay a lot of respect to the developer of Reeder. Iāve been using it for a long time. I wanted to have a look at version 5 so I bought it. Here is why.
Widgets. News Explorer hasnāt been updated to support them yet. Reeder now does. I love them. Read Later. Sending URLs to Reeder Read later is interesting and provides a better experience than in Safari Read Later. Tracking my own RSS feed for quality control. Oh and Shortcuts are also supported, something News Explorer donāt.
I think Iāll have to update my blogger workflow. š¤
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Is this called āEvolutionā or āModernism"? (#apple #ios7 #UI #design)
An image is worth a thousand words. We are still paying the price of this shift in design, every single day, for every single interaction we have with our iPhone… who asked for that? Why? Will we return to normalcy? Iāll never forget the ābeforeā it was so shitty. Never.
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Software is art (@airbuddyapp, #macOS)
If you have a Mac, many battery-powered Apple devices, you need AirBuddy. Version has been in the works for a very long time and it is a major update. Iām so anxious to get my AirBuddy updated!
We don’t get to see this level of craft on computers these days. This reminds me how dire the macOS native application landscape has become over the years. With macOS Big, Catalyst, Apple Silicon Macs and universal binaries, one can hope for a brighter future.
Am I alone who think the AirBuddy logo is upside down?
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Is there a pattern? (#apple #airpower #magsafeduo)
With the (re)introduction of the MagSafe for iPhone, Apple is trying to redo their AirPower introduction of 2017. On paper and on video, MagSafe looks cool, MagSafe Duo seems even better (more useful, transportability), but no word on availability and pricing, just like with the initial AirPower announcement. Is there something Apple didn’t learn here? Whatever happens, it is on my wishlist even if I’m not going to upgrade to the iPhone 12 this year.
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Secured. (@medium, #blogger, #blog)
A word about my other home: Medium, which I love. Following their latest update, they now offers publishers to secure their own domain name as well as allows better customization of publisherās profiles. This is mine).
Im still pondering how I’ll make use of Mediumās new love for bloggers.
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Iāve been robbed by... @duggu24 (#bloggerlife #blogger)
For the first time in my numeric life (at least, from what Iām aware of), one of my article has been robbed by another guy. After discovering it, I asked for immediate removal but without success. So, today, Iām calling him out.
The robbed article is the one about upgrading from an Apple Watch Series 4 to Series 6 published on my main blog on October 3 of 2020 and on Medium. You can see the stolen article there. This article was then pushed on this fake Twitter account with 1628 followers. This Twitter account is apparently owned or operated by this guy, the thieve who is following four people and has only one follower (poor guy).
This hosting website seems to enjoy quite a bit of traffic. Good for him. All his articles is stolen stuff without any mention of the source. He must be proud of himself, I wonder if his parents are, though?
The main take out: Iām must be a good writer after all so people are starting to notice and copy my stuff.
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I won't upgrade to the iPhone 12 Pro (#iphone12pro #appleevent #apple)
As great looking and powerful the shinny new iPhone 12 Pro might be, I’ll skip the upgrade this year. Sure, I tend to skip a few generations but there is one unexpected reason not to do so and another one more obvious. First, the problem is because of the current pandemic, I cannot see when I’ll return traveling around the world. Traveling is the best photography opportunity for me. Without travel, working from home all the time, there is no need to get the latest smartphone technology. Second, 5G networks maybe powerful, but the coverage is spotty at best. I prefer to wait a year for this coverage to increase before making the jump on the new iPhone.
Last year I upgraded from an iPhone 7 to an iPhone 11 Pro and I was delighted.
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It Just Worksā¢
Yesterday, just like mostly everyday since March 13th of 2020, I went for a long walk with my wife. Both of us had their AirProds Pro with us. I had the idea to try the audio sharing feature of iOS 14 (introduced in iOS 13 if I’m not mistaken). We both put our AirPods in and I selected a playlist. Then, using the media playback UI, I selected the audio sharing option, waited for my wife’s AirPods to show up, after tapping this pair, she then had to accept my invitation and voilĆ ! We both had music in our ears! Itās a great case of āIt Just Worksā, something that we see less and less often these days, I guess.
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On newsletters rising popularity #blogger #blogging #writing #writers
The rising popularity of paid newsletters is good news for many reasons. First, it’s a signal that people are willing to pay for great content without ads all around it. Second, some people value the direct relationship feeling with the writer compared to a traditional website. Third, the popularity of independent writing is rising which is giving back control to the writers.
In a recent article by Nick Heer on Pixel Envy, the author writes:
Yet, despite all of these clear advantages, I still find it difficult to think of my email inbox as somewhere I will go to find something enjoyable to read.
I find newsletters a wonderful medium that cut the noise from social networks. The reading experience can further be improved with a great email client like Basecamp’s Hey which provides a specific reading mode for newsletters call The Feed. You can read my review of this email client here.
Read more comments from Mr. Heer in his blog post. I started a newsletter a few weeks ago. For now and the foreseeable future, it will be free. I have to prove myself that I can meet the deadline every month with quality content. I’ll see how it goes.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
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The web in 2020.
Please, have a look at this ten seconds GIF to appreciate how bad the web experience is in 2020. This is the āiPhone in Canadaā website. I won’t include the hyperlink in this post. There are 30 trackers in this web page according the Apple’s Safari. Thirty. This is just one example of so many more that illustrates what happens when you no longer care about the actual end-users.
I accidentally clicked on a link to this website and then I remembered why I stopped reading it a long time ago.
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Third-party Apple Watch Faces - Yes but no
Here is a super interesting article from David Shayer on Tidbits about why there may never be third-party Apple Watch Faces. According to this software engineer who worked on the first two releases of watchOS, there may be four reasons why Apple probably wonāt make a watch face store: battery life, buggy code, Appleās image, copyright worries. Besides many interesting insights on watchOS development and testing, the reason that caught my attention is about Apple desire to control their image.
What is the killer app of the Apple Watch? The watch face, duh! Apple is an image control freak and I donāt think they want a watch face store full of crappy and bad taste designs to show up on usersā Apple Watch. They lost control of the App Store, they donāt want the same story to happen with the watch. And I agree with this position. But there could be some sort of compromise, though. As pointed out by Matt Birchler in his commentary post to Tidbits article:
āCarPlay is a great example of how Apple could do this right with watch faces: only allow a certain number of companies to make custom watch faces. have them sign additional agreements and have them go through tougher reviews. Maybe there are literally 10 companies who are able to make watch faces. Maybe Apple can reject a watch face simply because they donāt like how it looks.ā
My guess is that Apple will look to add more watch faces through collaborative work, just like they did in watchOS 7 with the Artist watch face.
Photo by Daniel Korpai ā Unsplasg
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Thanks Apple, youāll make me like November
Bloomberg, via Mark Gurman, is reporting that Apple will hold another event in November for Apple Silicon Macs. Besides my comments yesterday on the opportunity for Apple to present redesigned Macs, having a separate event is a no brainer to me. This is a major transition for Apple and they certainly wants to get the message loud and clear.
If rumors are sound, Apple still have some time ahead to polish the upcoming macOS Big Sur release. As it is today, it is not ready for prime time. It may be the equivalent of the iOS 13 buggy release of this year. Even if Apple announces Macs in November, they could be ready to ship only in December, who knows, giving Apple even more time. Anyhow, Iām not is a rush to upgrade to Big Sur. Apps will have to follow the new look and feel and Iāll wait for them to be updated first. The list is long.
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On the upcoming Apple Silicon Macs
While many pundits still wonder which Mac Apple will start transitioning the platform to their shiny and speedy silicon, my attention is on something else. Iām wondering if Apple will take this opportunity to introduce redesigned machines. Letās say they start with the MacBook Pro, could they use this occasion to reimagine the laptop? What about the iMac which is way overdue for a redesign?
There are two avenues for Apple. One in which they opt for continuity. The other is to make a bold statement and turn the page on the Intel-based era. If prefer the latter as Iād like to see what it looks like after the era of Jony Ive. Itās a golden opportinity IMHO. Besides my preference, Tim Cookās Apple is conservative and they will probably opt for the former approach.
What do you think?
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Deliveries 9.0 - Does it deliver?
Here are a few quick comments on Deliveries 9.0 that came out recently. Deliveries 9 helped me track my Apple Watch Series 6 (read me review here).
As you know, Junecloud, the maker of Deliveries, switched to a subscription model with this release. I donāt really like this model but what can I do? Their pricing is fair and they give to previously paid users a six months break.
Version 9 brings refined visuals and more details tracking history among other things. The importation workflow has been updated and simplified too. Once delivered, package tracking can be archived forever. iOS 13ās dark mode is now supported but iOS 14 widgets arenāt yet. I think Deliveries is the perfect candidate to support widgets and I canāt wait to see what Junecloud will come up with in that regard.
All in all, as a long time user of Deliveries, Iām ok with this update albeit the switch to the subcription model. If it getās more frequent feature additions, Iām ok with it, I guess.
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Ready for a 99$ convenience
At 99$ each, the HomePod mini would find a space on my desk for sure. I care more about size than Siri lacking intelligence with the HomePod. Being able to play music while I work without having to use headphones would be an improvement for me.
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Thanks again, leakers!
Will there be anything left for Apple to announce next week at the Hi, Speed event? Thanks to leakers on the internet, probably not much. I can’t thank them enough for spoiling things, again.
There was a time where leaks helped people to adjust their buying decisions, but I feel they no longer fit that purposes. It is more like a search for some kind of fame.
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Oh. my. god.
What iOS 14 widgets could have been. Much more interesting interaction model which looks to be more ādirect manipulation-orientedā. Will we have to wait for iOS 15 or even iOS 16 before seeing something like this? That is something Apple could have done…
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How well will it age?
I’m keeping that one mockup to see how well it will age when Apple releases the new iPhone lineup next week. I like the dark blue color. But what is missing from these mockups is the edge of the devices. The iPhone 4 and later the iPhone 5 squarish design were one of the best Apple came up with. We’ll see how they execute around the same idea with the iPhone 12.
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MMMM everything comes in mini version?
Rumors are swirling around upcoming products from Apple. What is becoming more persistent is the possibility of an HomePod mini announcement. I’m not sure if it is already “dead on arrival” or if Apple is about to give the smart speaker market a second try. Will it take more than a smaller footprint, better sound quality and lower price? Yep: an ecosystem of apps built on something like “siriOSā. There are no signs at all of this… which would be a massive surprise.
