Matt makes a compelling case for the feasibility of touch-based macOS:

I think Apple should add touch to Macs, and I think that this will allow them to not only make current form factors better, but it will allow them to create Macs that are more flexible, more powerful, and more accessible than any Macs before them.

That said, there are people in the Mac community who disagree with me here, and their number one concern is that macOS has a UI that is simply unusable with touch. It’s the ace-in-the-hole argument, and it’s honestly something I haven’t pushed back on because it feels true.

Yeah, I’m one of them. 🫣

There’s a narrative out there that touch is just so incompatible with macOS and that in order to make it work, the macOS UI would have to get blown up to comical proportions, but I don’t think that’s the case. Changes will be made, but I think macOS is more touch-friendly today than many people give it credit for. Source: macOS Isn’t as Small As You Think

I’m happy to report that I’m convinced that macOS is closer to being touch-friendly than I originally thought. Matt spent the required time to demonstrate that 90% of the job was already done. I’m happy to change my mind on this. Would I jump to use a touchscreen Mac? I hate fingerprints on any screen except on the iPad. 🫳🏻😵‍💫

No more questions, your honour.

No Olympic Games for Russians — Here's Why

Should Russians be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris, France, next year? The question is out, and the debate is already raging. For me, the answer is simple and unequivocal: no. My reasons are multiple. Here are a few of them.

First of all, we cannot pretend that Olympic Games are apolitical. Participation or non-participation in games can also have a political character. History has shown it on several occasions. In addition, the symbolism behind the Olympic Games and sports, in general, is not compatible with the behaviour of Russia internationally. The Russians are doing anything but show fraternity towards other countries like Ukraine.

Cases are well documented that local Olympic organizations are often close to the government, especially in countries like Russia and China. Governments jump at the opportunity of hosting or participating in games to promote political agendas, to make propaganda tacitly or explicitly. We cannot provide them with this opportunity.

Furthermore, we cannot contribute militarily, financially and humanly to the legitimate defence of Ukraine and, on the other hand, allow Russian athletes to come and strut as if nothing had happened alongside Ukrainian athletes. This is nonsense and an insult to Ukrainian athletes.

Some will say that it is not the role of the International Olympic Committee to act as a police officer. However, it is not about that but about a moral question that goes beyond the committee’s mission. The respective countries will be responsible for demonstrating their coherence with their actions towards Ukraine by abstaining from presenting themselves at the Olympic Games, if appropriate. I count on the Canadian government to show consistency and courage equal to that of the Ukrainians.

Finally, the question of the athletes themselves arises. Some will say that we must not unduly hinder athletes from participating in the games after so many efforts and sacrifices. Do I need to remind you that thousands of Ukrainian civilians are making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives? Russian athletes can stay home and suffer a little bit. Besides, isn’t this one of the objectives of international sanctions against Russia, to make the government and its people suffer? Otherwise, what good is it?

I say it, I repeat it, it would be immoral to allow Russians to participate in the Olympic Games next year, and even in any other sporting competition, as long as the war is raging and Russia has not paid reparations.

Microsoft Authenticator for Apple Watch to be retired:

The Microsoft Authenticator app for Apple Watch joins a long list of third-party watchOS apps that have been discontinued over the last few years, either because of perceived redundancy or lack of user uptake. Other notable Apple Watch apps that have been discontinued include Twitter, Instagram, Target, Trello, Slack, Hulu, and Uber. Source: Microsoft Authenticator Discontinues Apple Watch App - MacRumors

There is a clear trend.

I really hope we get iPadOS 16.4 beta this week because right now, I never experienced so many weird behaviours on my iPad since iPadOS 16. Stage Manager is one problem, weird keyboard placement is another, rotation bugs, etc.

Continuing with this usability musing on possible touch-based MacBook, Jack Wellborn writes in response to an article by Federico Viticci:

The Mac was also built for a mouse, and while I would argue macOS is more usable than Windows, there is no getting around the fact that controls optimized for pointers are inherently unfriendly to touch input. It’s foolishly optimistic to think that Microsoft or even Apple can make pointer interfaces as touch friendly as iPadOS without also destroying the very thing that makes them more productive than iPadOS — information density. Smaller controls means these platforms can disclose more information and interactivity to their users at once. That’s why a bunch of windows on even a 11″ MacBook Air feels natural while only four windows on a “large” 13″ iPad feels ungainly.

Conversely, it’s impossible to make iPadOS more information dense without sacrificing the very thing that makes it the best tablet OS — touch friendliness. iPad users want more information on screen because that will help them be more productive, but the only way to present more information in iPadOS without sacrificing touch friendliness is a larger display. Not only is a larger display not portable, iPadOS’s support for larger displays still sucks. There’s nothing Apple can do about large displays not being portable, but better support for larger displays? That’s a problem Apple can solve. Source: Touchability, Productivity, and Portability — Pick Two – Worms and Viruses

I couldn’t put my finger on it (pun intended), but this article brings up an interesting point that might explain something I couldn’t do myself: The size of controls in a user interface largely dictates information density. Many longtime Mac users decry the iPadification of its UI. I’m not one of them but I value information density a lot.

Just found out about iA Presenter, from the makers of iA Writer. Looking at the website, this app looks like a superb macOS app! I can see a specific use case here for me: writing queue cards for when I’m recording my YouTube videos. Is anyone on the beta from TestFlight here? Any thoughts?

Benjamin Mayo commenting on laptops with touch screen:

All the time, I see people swipe up and down on their vertical laptop screens to navigate webpages and zoom into photos with a pinch gesture. The ergonomics of this are naturally poor. Stretching your arm out forwards to reach the laptop screen quickly becomes uncomfortable. And yet, people still do it frequently. The touch screen is used as an accessory to primary mouse input. They swipe around a bit, then they go back to the mouse. They read a screenful of content, then they swipe to the next page, and put their arm back down. It’s a surprisingly subconsciously natural thing to do. Source: Apple Working On Touchscreen Mac Laptops — Benjamin Mayo

I wonder if Apple could get away with only supporting minimal gestures on their touchscreen Mac. I’m thinking about things like “pinch to zoom” or “swipe” but nothing else… I could imagine using my left hand for a vertical swipe and the right hand on the trackpad to click on a button or text field. This way, I see only a need for a minimal macOS user interface rework.

In the “Competition in the Mobile Application Ecosystem” report published by the NTIA recently:

Pre-installed apps, default options, and anticompetitive self-preferencing should be limited, including in search results. Source: Biden Administration Report Recommends Sweeping Changes to Apple’s Ecosystem - MacRumors

Can you imagine unboxing your brand-new iPhone, powering it up, and after completing the initial setup process, you end up on a mostly empty home screen? What should the user do next? Could Apple provide a single icon pointing to their App Store to download “The Full iPhone Experience” package? Would Apple even be allowed to do just that? Reading the recommendation again, I think it would go against it. It there a more effective way at killing a product?

A few people here probably already know that I’m a big fan and power user of Craft, the document creation app. Over the years, I created and shared many documents online for different purposes. Today, I’m sharing an index of all the published documents. My goal is to showcase many of Craft’s capabilities. If you are curious, you can ask me questions about these. I’ll be more than happy to respond.

You might have noticed that I’m experimenting with YouTube shorts. They are easy to create using the YouTube app but the next ones will be created with Apple’s Clips, if it’s even possible. 🧐