Today I deleted my Flipboard account, one of the first iPad apps I used daily. I was using it to cross-post content to a Flipboard magazine, hoping it would attract more readers, but it didn’t gain much popularity. As a user, I also didn’t rely on this service for content consumption, preferring an RSS sync service with my preferred client. I like the concept of flipping cards; it was novel back then, but not anymore.
Just finished watching: Widow’s Bay Season 1 📺 What a weird, unsettling ending. The table is set for season 2, I guess. Very unheaven storytelling.
Manton Reece amplifying a report from Gurman.
Worrisome indeed. I cannot believe Apple’s management team isn’t aware of developers’ discontent with the App Store. More than ever, it’s easy to write a bunch of simple apps, running as web apps, no store needed. Apple should pay attention.
In today’s world, it is surprisingly easy to go from a problem to a viable solution in just a few hours. The problem: I can’t query my published content hosted on Ghost beyond using the basic search capabilities1. Now, with the Ghost API endpoint, a Postgres-hosted SaaS, an n8n sync workflow, a Claude Skill, and Claude Desktop, I can.
Now, I wonder if I could reproduce this design for querying Micro.blog content. Let me ask Claude AI. Stay tuned.
Searching the article content base for research purposes is super useful. I can’t remember when I talked about a specific subject. ↩︎
I’ve been posting a few things on Moments recently. It’s another experiment, and I’ve liked it so far. It’s very niche, but it’s fun. I like Snapseed, my main app for creating these images. Below is an embed using an iFrame; I’m not sure how it will render, if at all.
I enjoy the weekend before the fall iPhone launch because of the unpredictability of last-minute leaks. It’s especially thrilling when it’s the year you’re planning to upgrade to a new iPhone. Upgrading from the 15 Pro Max to the 18 Pro Max will certainly feel like quite a significant upgrade. Also, I’m really looking forward to John Ternus’s first keynote. Will there be a one more thing? Would it be too easy, too early, during his first keynote to present a one more thing?
The one problem: I won’t be able to watch the live feed, and I might have a family thing at night that day… 🫤
After watching this YouTube video about the upcoming Apple hardware release, I must say it got me excited for the iPhone Fold or Ultra, or whatever name they decide on. Yet, I’m in for an upgrade to the iPhone 18 Pro Max… I’m a camera guy.
Today might be one of the few times I visit Facebook1😔. I’ll do so to acknowledge those who write, “Hi JF, happy birthday, and have a great day.” 🙂 and thank them. Over the years, fewer people bother to run their automated yearly greetings; they know I’m not active on Facebook. However, many, even if they have my phone number, don’t switch to iMessage to send their wishes.😔 True friends acknowledge my stance with Meta and choose to skip Facebook, sending their best wishes the right way. 🫠 Not posting on Facebook to say “hi” is a birthday gift itself. 🎁
I still have a Facebook account but don’t use it; I use it to respond to people who don’t know anything other than Messenger. ↩︎
I wasn’t expecting this at all. Last year, I started using Screen Studio for its dynamic zooming effects. I really like those, but one thing I thought was a drawback: ScreenStudio isn’t really a native Mac app and doesn’t have the polish of CleanShot. I bought it. I made a few videos with it, then stopped using it. I used CleanShot for screenshots and a few very short clips for bug reporting. CleanShot is a game changer.
Studio Mode recording is not only a welcome addition to CleanShot but a superb implementation. Everything seems in the right place, at the right time. I see no reason to return to Screen Studio. Not only that, but I expect my ScreenFlow usage to drop quite a bit.
I have included a short clip just for fun, demonstrating a few clicks in another excellent piece of software: Birchfeed.
Well, what a day… both at work and for my digital hobbies. I saw a teaser from @mattbirchler late last week, which made me think that he might be onto something with RSS feeds… Today I found my answer with the official release of birchfeed.app. There is quite a lot to unpack there.
First, from my experience with Birchfeed after a few hours using it (on the free tier), I came out impressed. It is another case of “build the best tool for myself”. Matt is an RSS feed junky just like me. I also built an RSS reader, but the end result is quite different. It’s not a sync service like Birchfeed, but an RSS reader for a blogroll (i.e. a very limited list of RSS sources).
Second, my RSS reader maintains its own data persistence. It’s not connected with my current RSS sync service: Inoreader. I’d like to have a single source of truth. Birchfeed seems to fit the bill, thanks to its APIs, and it would allow that for a fraction of the cost of using Inoreader APIs. After a quick investigation using Claude AI on my codebase, I could make the switch rather easily, and eventually drop Inoreader when my subscription expires next year. So I’m not in a rush, and Birchfeed will keep improving until then.
But, because I’m a nice guy who likes to support cool guys, I’m might subscribe to Birchfeed right before my free trial ends…