Weeknote: 17 February 2024 – good and bad Apple(s)

Loads of Apple kit and some other single-use devices behind the iPhone

Published stuff

A slightly tongue-in-cheek column for Stuff this week: My phone does everything, which is why I want to resurrect my iPod. And I really wish I could find the comic strip I refer to in the intro. It’s been bugging me for years.

I also gave my best free iPhone apps list a bump by adding Arc Browser, which has a really interesting way of presenting search results.

Over at TapSmart, it was all about kit this week, with new iPad and Apple Watch buyer’s guides.

Other stuff

Some random thoughts rattling around my head this week, mostly about Apple.

First, HomeKit is dreadful. I didn’t realise quite how bad it would be and regret dumping our Alexa kit and moving over, despite this household mostly being based around Apple products.

Yet again, an iOS update nuked my set-up. I recovered it, although our Eve plugs decided to not come along for the ride and once again needed resetting. It took a couple of days to figure out how to get my wife (listed as an admin on the system) back into the shared home too. Apple prides itself on “it just works”. But HomeKit just doesn’t. Looking online, I found I’m far from alone in this.

The same goes for macOS sidebar peeking, which has suddenly gained traction online, primarily because people hate it. If you’ve not noticed this in Sonoma, hover the cursor over a closed sidebar (left window edge) and it opens very slightly to remind you of its existence. This in many cases shifts all of the content within the window, which makes it a quite dangerous vestibular trigger. 

I’ve written to Apple’s accessibility team to suggest the behaviour is disabled when Reduce Motion is on. But mostly it’s yet another example of how hidden UI elements are a bad thing. (Weirdly, most macOS apps I use that have sidebars include a sidebar button in the toolbar though. So I’m not sure what Apple’s playing at here.)

Also, while I’m on a GRRR @ APPLE roll, nuking PWAs in the EU is now official, as reported by The Register. So the original ‘sweet solution’ for third party iPhone apps is hobbled. Apple, natch, blames the EU. Developers blame Apple for not getting its shit together. And honestly, I’ve little sympathy for Apple, given that it yet again looks like a company eradicating solutions for anything that might (but often don’t) threaten the money it makes from the App Store.

Finally, I was chatting with folks online this week about imposter syndrome. It’s a curious thing, in that I’ve been a professional writer in some capacity for well over 20 years, and it’s been my primary source of income for well over 15. I’ve written for a wide range of publications, including The Guardian and Wired. My rational brain (and, frequently, my wife) notes that I must be doing somethingright to have done pretty well in this industry for so long. And yet I can never quite shake that feeling: what if I get found out?

In some ways, it’s good to have a regular internal check against complacency. I never feel entitled to do what I do, and strive to always give my best, whoever I’m writing for. By the same token, I wish my internal needler would give over sometimes. Two decades in should be enough proof in any profession that you’re qualified to be there.

February 17, 2024. Read more in: Apple, Weeknotes

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Weeknote: 10 February 2024 – lighten up

Super Mario Wonder download code and Solstice app icon

Published stuff

Living a fair way north, I experience great variance in daylight across the year. And that’s not ideal in winter, when the nights draw in and it’s also dark when I get up. Daylight trackers can help combat SAD symptoms during the early months of the year, by providing a reminder of how daylight is increasing. Solstice by Dan Eden is my favourite, in part because it can automatically turn offnotifications when the days start getting shorter again.

Solstice and several other daylight trackers – including ones that aid photographers and surveyors – are explored in my daylight trackers round-up for TapSmart. I also wrote an explainer on game streaming for iPhone.

Over at Stuff this week, my column is Nintendo Switch digital game prices are bananas – but beat Ubisoft’s dream future for console gaming. Even my nine-year-old has pointed out how ridiculous the pricing situation is, hence why we’re very much a household centred on physical carts – albeit one that’s aware this option might not be around for much longer.

Other stuff

I’m not sure what’s going on with Apple of late. I get that it’s historically acted with ferocity towards what it perceives as injustice towards the company. But its scrap with the EU is set to cause collateral damage, perhaps so the company can point to problems and say to other jurisdictions: “See‽ This is what happens when you force us to do things we said were bad!”

The latest ‘headdesk’ moment: Apple has reportedly killed PWAs in iOS 17.4 – if you’re in the EU. Users are now asked if the app should open a PWA in Safari or cancel. 

Web apps were Apple’s original ‘sweet solution’ for expanding on base iPhone installs before the arrival of the App Store. And although good examples are rare, there have been cases where PWAs have provided functionality effectively banned by Apple from the App Store, such as retro game emulation and cloud gaming. Now, these experiences will be made worse, by virtue of loading within the browser rather than a more app-like full-screen view.

Defenders of Apple (who too often align with being anti-EU and rabidly pro-anything-American) argue this is a case of ‘careful what you wish for’. Apple, they say, has no choice but to nerf PWA functionality, because a PWA is technically a browser and doesn’t let people switch browser engines – or that only Safari having this functionality would be unacceptable regarding level playing field rules. Naturally, there are counterpoint arguments, claiming PWA functionality doesn’t clash with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. (Also, if you take ‘level playing field’ to its extreme, you may as well argue Safari cannot implement any features at all that a competitor doesn’t have.) If you fancy balance, web expert Bruce Lawson offers a reasoned, thoughtful take.

With Apple remaining tight-lipped, it’s impossible to know whether this change was inevitable or temporary while the company explores how to enable all browsers to create PWAs. The problem is that it’s just not a good look. Even if this isn’t malicious compliance, it sure feels like it. It feels petty. And that doesn’t come so much from the EU’s demands as Apple’s responses to them.

February 10, 2024. Read more in: Apple, Weeknotes

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My first Mac experiences

Mac

A Mac Plus, much like the one I first used at school. (Image: MARC912374)


As the Mac hits 40, I’ve been remembering my key ‘firsts’ with the platform.

At school, in around 1989 or 1990, I was plonked in front of a Mac Plus stashed in a cupboard. My English teacher reasoned “You know about computers” and I was tasked, with a few friends, with putting together the first edition of the school magazine. It’s to the credit of Apple and Aldus that the Mac and PageMaker together were usable enough that we managed this with no instructions. Although the teacher was perhaps overly optimistic about how long it would take, since she started getting annoyed after a few hours of us working on it instead of going to class. Even my most hardcore editors would admit putting together a magazine from scratch with dozens of pages takes a bit longer than a single session of double-English.

In 1996, while studying at Cardiff Art School, I was fortunate enough to win the Helen Gregory Memorial Scholarship. I shall remain forever grateful to the Gregory family, whose generosity allowed me to purchase my first Mac. It was a mighty beast – a PowerMac 8600/250AV, optimistically purchased during a period where people wondered whether Apple would wink out of existence entirely. I used this Mac to fashion some pioneering multimedia artwork, even if its dodgy internal HDD and the integrated Jaz drive tried their best to scupper my chances of retaining data for the entire length of my course.

By the time my uni course was done, Steve Jobs was back at Apple, and it looked like the company had turned the corner. The iMac had arrived. Until then, my parents had been fighting with a terrible PC, sold to them by some local cowboy to help run their business. I suggested the Mac. My folks were reluctant, but bought the Bondi Blue – and never looked back. That was my first experience of a ‘modern’ Mac as well.

Clearly, it had an impact, because I’m still writing about Macs regularly over a quarter of a century later!

January 24, 2024. Read more in: Apple

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Maccy Birthday – Apple’s revolutionary computer hits 40

Mac display

The Mac was announced 40 years ago. Over at Stuff today, I’ll be writing about this milestone. First up is The Apple Mac at 40 – and 6 of the best desktop Macs. Later on, there will be articles about great modern apps – and much-loved classics that made the Mac. I hope you enjoy reading them.

January 24, 2024. Read more in: Apple

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Apple’s 2023 in review

Over at Stuff, my traditional Apple end-of-year review has been published: Apple’s 2023 in review: the good, the bad and the bubbly. From the highs of the iPhone Pro’s greatness… to the lows of the same iPhone Pro overheating!

See you on the other side.

December 31, 2023. Read more in: Apple

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