Published stuff

My column this week is: Now winter’s drawing in, the gadget I most care about is a sunrise alarm clock. I’ve known for years I have have a form of SAD, and that means mornings are tough when it’s dark when I get up. So this column is my love letter to niche tech that deserves no love. Because although it’s effective, it seems uniformly designed by people who don’t understand actual humans use technology. 

Other than that, it was a week of Apple. I reviewed the new iPad mini (“a mini update in almost every sense”) for Stuff, and over at TapSmart mulled that it went ‘Pro’ but not in the way I was hoping. (I also updated my iPad guide.)

For Stuff, I also checked out the iPhone 16 Plus (“The iPhone you’d pick last for your team”), while TapSmart got a round-up of 20 cracking single-purpose iPhone apps.

Other stuff

The clocks change this weekend. I hate it. Losing an hour of daylight makes me miserable. And while people will doubtless suggest I get an up hour earlier, then, the world doesn’t bend to my schedule. Lighter evenings are times for playing with my kid in the street, and enjoying the final warmth of the day. That’s all gone until April.

It’s always interesting around now to see how divisive changing the clocks is. In the US, I suspect many people forget how far south they are. By contrast, here in the north of Europe, not changing the clocks would either make for bizarre summers with sunrises at 3am, or very late sunrises in winter if we stuck with summer time all year. 

On the latter, that’s the main reason I’m unconvinced that the UK should change the clocks one spring and then never touch them again. It’d be rubbish for Scotland and that’s not fair. But that doesn’t mean I have to like the status quo either. Time to fire up the SAD lamp again…

Published stuff

My column for Stuff this week is I’m converted: cheap and cheerful plug-and-play is a great way to revisit classic retro games. While I understand the love for original hardware and flexibility, I’m getting to the point where I just want to pick up a controller and play. Plug-and-play TV units do the job, but I’m also really enjoying the new Hyper Mega Tech Super Pockets, which are just play, rather than plug. 

Each one feels like a greatest hits album from a classic publisher. If you want to see the latest two in action, check out my 24-second YouTube first look ‘epic’.

Over at TapSmart, I wrote about iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro and asked whether the Pro is still worth it. And camera app Halide became the latest entry in my classic apps series.

Other stuff

Joan Westenberg asked people about the struggle between “the seamless simplicity of an all-Apple ecosystem [and] the freedom and flexibility of cross-platform independence”. I struggle with this myself. iCloud is too flaky to be reliable. Notes is a risk, because I for years had a scratchpad that had loads of stuff in, and it one day vanished. (I managed to get a version back by powering on a laptop I’d not opened in a week and turning off Wi-Fi before it could sync. That still lost me a week of input though.) Apps can help, such as Exporter, but I really wish Apple’s first-party apps were better at export. And that’s because I do value the simplicity of the ecosystem, and am now fully on board with the Reminders set-up I wrote about last week.

Elsewhere, I found myself in a discussion that comics are doomed because today’s children only love screens. Which is rubbish. What matters are habits, and those are driven by parents and accessibility.

Regarding comics, there are three issues. The first is that, for years (although this is changing), educators dismissed them. Children were taught comics were ‘lesser’ and not proper reading. I was therefore delighted when my daughter’s school specifically listed comics in her reading recommendations, alongside prose fiction, non-fiction, magazines and poetry. 

The second – arguably bigger – concern is we have an entire generation of parents who themselves never got into the comics habit in the UK, because the market was largely destroyed during the 1990s. I’m an old fart compared to many parents in my kid’s year. I also love comics. So mini-G has subs to three of them. As far as I’m aware, no-one else in her class is subscribed to any comics at all. One boy had (but no longer has) a Beano subscription. These kids are only ten years old. At that age, I had loads of the things.

Finally, there is the issue of accessibility. Comics used to be a working class thing and priced accordingly, but the market shifted. Magazines and comics are no longer impulse purchases like they once were, but things you consider. That in itself adds a barrier. Doubly so when you look at the rapid reduction in outlets as supermarkets pare back magazine sales and branches of WHSmith decide they want to focus on stationery and cards.

Fortunately, the market has responded. Bookstores sell chunky paperback comics and manga. Jamie Smart has sold over a million copies of Bunny vs Monkey. As a fan of that strip, I’m thrilled for Jamie Smart. But I can’t help but feel wistful for a time that gave kids more choice with cheap weeklies, which because of their sheer number gave many more cartoonists opportunities than comparatively risky books ever will.

If you’re in the UK, have a youngling and like the idea of comics, I strongly recommend the six issues for £1 offer from The Phoenix. The Beano and Monster Fun also have great offers for new subscribers as well.

Published stuff

Nintendo has made an alarm clock. Which – if you’re old enough – shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, Game & Watch units were also clocks. But I figured this was a good excuse over at Stuff to say: Forget Alarmo and Super Mario Clock – here are the 5 video game clocks the world really needs. This… may not be my most sensible column of the year. Fun to write though!

Also for Stuff, I reviewed the new iPhone Pro Max. Unsurprisingly, it’s a very good phone. But in a quietly impressive way. I don’t think there are going to be people throwing parties in the street over the new features. Speaking of which, over at TapSmart I got down my thoughts regarding two weeks with Camera Control. I mostly like it, but I’m not convinced, of all things, that the button is in the right place. 

And finally, I wrote up a guide on how to get started with Things.

Upcoming stuff

I filed a piece on iPhone gaming. This was a properly deep dive, involving some frankly absurd attempts to turn an iPhone into a Switch. I’m not sure when it’ll be published, but I’m looking forward to seeing that in the wild.

Elsewhere, I’m working on another of my classic apps pieces, about a long-time favourite – and an app that’s relevant to the new iPhones, let’s say.

Other stuff

I’m dreadful at bouncing between systems for organising my day. And the way things are for me of late (lots to do; time poor), I need to be better organised.

I used to add meetings in Calendar for approximate times articles would take to write. But as I moved into more corporate work and my schedule became rigid, that no longer worked. So I took to adding all-day events in Calendar for tasks, and used Widget Wizard to put the agenda on my Home Screens. This was twinned with a table in Notes that gave me an at-a-glance view of upcoming projects.

None of this was particularly flexible, and although I have dabbled with a range of GTD apps, I never settled on one. But inspired by Joan Westenberg’s piece on Apple stock apps, I took another look at Reminders. With its column view, you get something that’s like a basic kanban setup. I’ve got one board for freelance and another for a corporate client. Tags and deadlines give me alternate views across publications and times. The Today view tells me what I need to sort urgently.

The Apple solution is imperfect. Most notably, I’d love to have a ‘this week’ view, telling me what I need to sort before the weekend. I’ve faked that to some degree with a ‘next four days’ view, which somewhat works with my schedule. Still, it’s been interesting to use Reminders in this manner – and it really is helping.

Next up: sorting out Notes with something based on Forever * Notes.

Published stuff

My column this week is Nintendo Switch Sports makes me want to ditch the gamepad – and hope the Switch 2 doesn’t ditch innovation. Basically, I’m bored of gamepads. Which isn’t the first time. So I’m also hoping that whatever Nintendo does next isn’t what many people are clamouring for: more Switch 1.1 than Switch 2, with little ‘innovation’ beyond more raw power and a better display.

Also for Stuff, I wrote up a bunch of watchOS tips and updated a feature on mini retro game consoles. And over at TapSmart, I wrote about launcher apps for iPhone and the new AirPods range.

Upcoming stuff

I’m currently immersed in all things iPhone 16, for a bunch of things related to hardware and gaming. More on those as they rock up.

I’m also hoping to dig into some new retro consoles later in the year. Because it turns out, you can never have enough retro consoles. (Note: you probably can, if my very full office is anything to go by.)

Other stuff

I live near a lake that also happens to be a SSSI. It’s good for waterfowl, and also bats. I’d not gone bat spotting in a while, and feared few would be around, given the collapse in UK insect life, which has been noticeable locally. But last night, the family went on a bat walk, and saw a bunch of them flitting around, occasionally divebombing the group of us that had gathered.

The evening also scratched a tech itch I never knew I had. Each family was given a bat detector. And it turns out, you can buy one online. So that might result in one more piece of tech entering the home.

Published stuff

My Stuff column this week is: Not everything needs AI – least of all your Instagram and Facebook feeds. This looks at Meta AI clogging your feed with AI slop and killing any notion Meta social networks are about authenticity. But it also talks about a good AI use case – from HP, of all companies. 

Over at TapSmart, I write about 18 great apps for customising Lock Screen controls, mastering Control Centre, and which Apple Watch to buy. 

Other stuff

In the Verge, Mark Zuckerberg argues “individual creators or publishers tend to overestimate the value of their specific content”. Then dismisses them pulling content from AIs by saying “it’s not like that’s going to change the outcome of this stuff that much”. And also infers if you put something into the wild, it’s fair use.

It’s all bullshit. Creators are merely suggesting their work is worth more than nothing. Zuckerberg disagrees – unless an org his tech is ripping off has enough legal clout to cause Meta a problem in the courts.

More broadly on AI, I worry people are being trained to expect the output is always good. Often, it isn’t. LLMs can save time by providing ideas, iterating copy, or doing basic research. But you need people at either end who know their stuff. Instead, AI companies hype that you no longer need expertise. Anyone can now be a writer, an artist or a musician! Just use GenAI! But don’t look closely at the written facts, the broken anatomy in figures, the rampant plagiarism, or the cost and resource issues. 

Over at Bluesky, ChinnyVision half joked about how his newish MacBook has worn keys but his 38-year-old Amstrad CPC doesn’t. Modern Apple keycaps are dreadful. As I noted, their lack of durability never ceases to amaze me. And if you’ve an iMac that isn’t silver, you can’t even buy a matching replacement on the Apple Store. Some of the keys on my iMac’s keyboard look like they’ve been gouged. Many remain pristine. I’ve no idea why. Maybe I have latent superpowers that could with some work have me fire acid from my fingertips.

Finally, Mark Gurman said on Threads the current version of Apple will never move away from pre-recorded events. Federico Viticci responded by saying live events are more fun. For me, it’s more than that. They are more human. Apple has lost much of that. 

Its events are slick, but beyond the odd fun moment (most of which come from Craig Federighi), they feel robotic. It’s like everyone studied hard in ‘Present Like Jobs 101’ but didn’t go beyond the surface. So we get Jobs cosplay squeezed to within a whisker of its life by the video edit. And it’s not like this is just Apple – every company now follows the same playbook, even when there’s a live component.