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What if nobody really knows what is going on? (#google #privacy #surveillance)
What if nobody at Google knows exactly what their data hungry engine is all about? I mean, what if nobody has a global picture, so nobody can say āoh my god, it’s terrible, we must stop it!ā. This makes me think of the nazis in second world war: very few had a global picture of what was really going on. It was devised this way so it was easier to āmanageā and keep the machine humming. Continue reading ā
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Another coat of paint to Windows UI mess? (#windows11)
So Windows 11 is a thing. Is it a revolution to Windows? Maybe, maybe not. It depends if you can install it on your PC, which is far from certain. But letās say you can, how deep goes the UI refresh? Is it like it was for Windows 10 which was supposedly a redesign of Windows 8 which was tweaks to Windows 7 UI that came before it. Here is a simple question: Did Microsoft really clean up the Windows UI mess that it has become over the years? Continue reading ā
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Thought of the day: for me, Appleās Widgets are more transformative to the iPad experience than they were to the iPhone, by far.
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I made many updates to my Apple-centric rumours micro website which happens to be made entirely with Craft. Enjoy.
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Since I began extensively testing iPadOS 15, my idea of upgrading my 2018 11ā iPad Pro to a 2021 12.9ā version is suddenly less temptingā¦ what does this even tell about the very nature of iPadOS 15 for the iPad Platform?
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On design trends ā sadness
While reading a recent article from Basic Apple Guy about News+, there is this illustration that shows how far Apple News icon has come since its beginnings. I have included the illustration here. It shows how bad design has become in the last five to ten years. That is really depressing to see. As much as things like AR and LiDAR technology help bring real world and virtual world closer together, UI design seems to go the opposite direction. Continue reading ā
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A few observations on my iPadOS 15 beta2 experience so far
So, I took the plunge and installed iPadOS 15 beta2 on my iPad Pro. A few observations. Itās beta and it shows. Home screen and widgets placement is janky. One springboard crash so far. All my apps are working just fine. Battery life is taking a hit. Text recognition in pictures is jaw breaking and open up all sort of new use cases. The QuickNote feature is a nice addition that will complement my blogger workflow. Continue reading ā
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When hackers strikes personal NAS-type devices
Pool Western Digital My Book Live NAS ownersā¦ many of them woke up to find out that their content was gone from their devices. Apparently, hackers came in by using an unpatched vulnerability on devices where the last update was issued in 2015 by Western Digital. This brings me to ask the following questions: were those devices directly connected on the internet? If yes, that dumb. If this was a known vulnerability, why WD didn’t issue a patch? Continue reading ā
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iPadOS 15 beta 2: install or not, that is the question (#ipados15 #ipadod15beta2)
Iām on vacation. I have some time to spare. My vacation time is spent between my home and a rented chalet. The iPad Pro and my iPhone 11 Pro are my main devices. Beta 2 came late this week and reports are starting to come in. In summary, lotās of fixes, a bit faster and apparently no big show stopper. Iām mostly using Craft these days and Appleās stock apps like Reminders and Notes. Continue reading ā
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Are Facetime Links Enough to compete against Zoom or Teams?
Benjamin Mayo on FaceTime 15 in the landscape of collaboration tools like Zoom and Teams: FaceTime is more like an add-on of Messages, competing against WhatsApp and traditional phone calls if anything. You also see this in how each service handles identity; Zoom and Teams have abstracted user accounts, whereas on FaceTime you connect by sharing your personal phone number or email address ā information that you only want to give out to close friends. Continue reading ā
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One design doesnāt fits all device sizes ā Safari in iOS 15
This Safari redesign concept misses the point of Appleās decision to redesign Safari on iPhone. Appleās intention was two-fold: provide a better navigation on the iPhone with the thumb and bring the navigation model of switching across open websites closer to switching between apps. Appleās intention were good but where they fail is to provide the exact same design for things like opened tabs the same across all screen sizes. Itās probably not needed on the Mac, itās good on the iPad but messy on the iPhone. Continue reading ā
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On Gruberās annotating Appleās latest white paper
This blog post by Gruber is probably one of its best. He annotates Appleās publication regarding Anti-Sideloading White Paper. You may disagree with him (I do agree with him), he points to very solid arguments. By having side-loading available, I can already see a bunch of lazy-scammy developers who will skip the App Store because, you know, itās a pain in the ass to deal with these app reviewsā¦ so letās drop a bin file with a download link on a Facebook page, that should be just āgood enoughā. Continue reading ā
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Apple and Architecture
This is one of the many reasons why I love Apple. They put so much money into this building restoration, it is mind blowing. The amounf of efforts that went into renovating this historic site is beyond any public-founded projects could have done. This brings me to this interesting question by Basic Apple Guy: (ā¦) should corporations be allowed to get their hands on this historic architecture and turn them into private businesses? Continue reading ā
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Appleās Shortcuts and Photo processing
Now that Darkroom officially supports iOS Shortcuts (and will support Shortcuts on Monterey this fall), I canāt wait to get Pixelmator to do the same, as this is my go-to alternative to Lightroom CC for photos editing on the iPad. I like Darkroom by the way but I do have to make choices. Screenshot from MacStories. Continue reading ā
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Let me repeat it: we donāt need another Android platform (#apple #privacyprotection)
As I wrote in this essay, we donāt need another Android platform. I understand Apple being on a PR blitz. I know Apple is holding a contradictory position when talking about the iPhone and the Mac. It is well documented that side-loading doesnāt fix the lack of choice issue, quite the opposite actually. I donāt accept the idea of weakening a platform in the name of āchoiceā for a minority of techy guys. Continue reading ā
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Reinventing my usage of the iPhone ā A start
Iāve been working hard in recent days to reinvent the way I use my Apple devices. The idea being to focus more, be more efficient, increase my experience quality and better grasb how and where I spend time as a blogger and content creator. Tools involved? Toggl, Timery, Shortcuts and Automation. The trigger? iOS 15. š¤š¤·š»āāļø Continue reading ā
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Never looked at soooo many YouTube videos on upcoming iOS releases. Iām very excited for what is coming. Canāt wait for the public beta.
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People are underwhelmed by Appleās updates, yetā¦
According to a survey by SellCell, people arenāt too much excited for iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. Without trying to read too much in these numbers, I think the next major revision of Appleās flagship operating systems will grow on people when they start to use them. There are some profound changes like focus modes that has the potential to change the way we use our iPhone or iPad. Itās hard to judge this feature just by looking at YouTube videos. Continue reading ā
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Full iOS 15 Beta Schedule Revealed! (#apple #ios15beta2)
As we are probably getting iOS 15 beta 2 this week (today?), here is a probable schedule for this summer betas. RED colour is for developer betas, blue is for public betas. We should get 8 betas for developers, first public beta set for July 7th. Letās see if these guesses are good or not. Continue reading ā
