-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
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.
-
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
-
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.
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
What am I doing wrong while doing https://numericcitizen.micro.blog from Safari from iPadOS 14? @help
-
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.
-
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.
-
Is this a sunset or a sunrise? #apple #appleevent
We should never read too much in Apple’s invite graphics. They rarely have anything to do with the content of the event itself except maybe with the iPad with Retina Display invite a few years ago. Remember the finger on the screen?
Besides the obvious, an iPhone 12 line up announcement, what’s in store? AirTags? Updated Apple TV with Apple’s own game controller? HomePod mini? Don’t expect Apple Silicon Macs until November. I don’t expect Apple to talk about these next week. Apple Silicon Macs need their own stage time in their own event.
Funny is the fact that iOS 14.1 is held back by Apple to fit this event. Probably contains a lot of hints of what is coming down the line.
The year 2020 can be an exciting one after all. I guess.
-
On Ulysses Latest Release for iPadOS 14
Using the latest release of Ulysses for iPadOS 14, it is a joy to write on the iPad. Now, what am I writing, you might ask? More than 1700 words to express my current view of iOS 14 widgets: where are we, whatās left and where it could be going. It was supposed to be a 5 min reads… now Iām at more than 7 min. Oh well. Should be out in the coming days on my main blog at https://numericcitizen.me
-
HEY, here is an important update!
Today is Christmas! Basecamp just released version 1.1 of their email client for HEY which supports WIDGETS among other things! I played with it and I LOVE the way they added the feature. Nicely designed and useful! Congrats to them!
Now, I have to get back to work on my article on widgets and remove HEY as an app without widgets support!
-
Nine years, already.
I miss him. The world is different. Apple has become something else. He would probably like what it has become without him, probably not all of it but most of it. I don’t care what he would have done differently. It’s no longer relevant as we need to keep looking forward, something he always did. But I still miss him dearly.
