The UK’s still an oven. But I’ve heroically managed to avoid melting and managed to smash words into shape over the past seven days…

Published stuff

Apple Vision Pro has unsurprisingly impacted on my work. Not in the sense of first-hand experience (I wasn’t one of the lucky few whisked out to WWDC), but in terms of the device’s wider impact. For TapSmart, I outline ways in which lessons drawn from the Vision Pro interface could make iPhone and iPad feel alive again. And over at Stuff, I head ten years into the future, with ‘How Apple’s Apple Vision vision came to pass after WWDC33’.

For TapSmart, I also explored whether you should install Apple’s 2023 betas and wrote up my pick of the best music players for iPhone. (If you’d like to support our work there, please consider subscribing to our iPhone indie mag, Swipe.) And for Stuff, I celebrated the 45th anniversary of Space Invaders with a touch of snark and a look back at some of the best sequels.

If you like that piece, also check out my article on the upcoming Space Invaders Quarter Arcades (Stuff) and my interview with the game’s creator, Tomohiro Nishikado (Wired).

Upcoming stuff

I currently exist in a world of boxes as I work on pieces for Stuff. Very early next week, my Mac Studio review should go live. The Studio a lovely desktop unit, which 99% of people absolutely don’t need. For the 1%, however, it’s compelling – and my review unit was noticeably quieter than last year’s M1 Max model. That said, it’s odd to me these days when a Mac isn’t silent when idling.

I’m also about to delve into pieces on kit for creativity, specifically illustration/design and music-making. Given that these pieces demanding new (well, newish) hardware, this one’s been challenging. Release schedules for graphics tablets and MIDI keyboards are hardly hectic. And in the music realm, it’s strange how certain companies make it almost impossible to get in touch with them. (Hey, Akai! If you’re reading this, please email me…)

Other stuff

Having been mostly WFH for over 20 years, I place a lot of value in online communities. They can keep you sane when you’re otherwise working alone. But lately, it really does feel like the heart is being torn out of such places by rich white men with the temperament of spoiled toddlers.

Twitter was the first to go, with Musk making good on his promise to relegate to ‘spam’ any input from those who wouldn’t pay. My ‘For You’ feed is now at least 50% AI grifters and Tory MPs. And the number of posts from people I enjoyed hearing from has dropped precipitously. Mastodon, alas, has not filled the void, since only a smallish fraction of folks I know made the jump – but it (for me, at least) has been a largely pleasant experience. I am on BlueSky also, but have no idea what to do with that.

Reddit’s rapid implosion, though, has hit me hard. I ended up spending more time there after Twitter went splat, and crafted a great feed of uplifting and fun content. So of course a rich idiot CEO decided to set fire to everything. A long-time friend and colleague suggested with Twitter I’m finally at the acceptance stage – and I think that’s true. With Reddit, I suspect I’m pinging back and forth between anger and bargaining. Here’s hoping whatever comes next will be decentralised to the degree that one rich white guy can’t bring it all tumbling down on a whim.

Having nearly melted yesterday, I am now hiding from the sun and typing these words.

Published stuff

Over at Stuff, I wrote Dashboard is reborn in macOS Sonoma. Apple: bring back these lost Mac features too. It’s a listicle, but a… not entirely conventional one, as you might expect from me.

TapSmart reprinted my round-up of best calculator apps for iPhone and iPad, along with a piece exploring why sideloading was not announced at WWDC23.

For my blog, I also published a short piece on passport control and the folly of Brexit.

Other stuff

As per the blog post above, I recently spent a week or so in Spain. We were in the south east, which was mostly sunny, fairly warm, and suffering from a plague of what appeared to be a fusion of mosquitos and terrifying flying demons from a B-list horror movie. Still: a nice trip, bar the bites.

Back in the UK, after the relentlessly grey year so far, I wasn’t sure what to expect. So an actual summer came as a surprise, not least when it almost hit 30 degrees yesterday (86°F if there are any Americans reading). At which point we quickly found how ineffective “leaving a window open” is. Oh well. I imagine it’ll be chilly and rainy again soon enough (it’s already very grey today), and so we should enjoy the heat while it’s here.

I’m also mulling over tech, mostly for the child. She turns 9 soon and so we’re thinking of finally getting a Switch. But she’s also a voracious reader and so on holiday ran out of books in about eleven seconds. So we may well soon grab a Kindle for the first time in years. Pretty soon, this entire house will be mostly comprised of mobile rectangular screens…

Having been staring out of the window at some clouds, one floated by that looked just like a weeknote. Or something. So I will now write this week’s…

Published stuff

My Stuff column this week is Air today, obsolete tomorrow? But my ancient iPad still has value. This looks at Apple adding the first iPad Air to its list of obsolete devices, and how vital I still find mine as a gateway to the early days of App Store games.

Speaking of, the superb Space Invaders Infinity Gene is the latest addition to my classic apps series over at TapSmart/Swipe, for which I’ve also written a toolkit feature on how to navigate the world.

Upcoming stuff

I’ve been getting back into Duolingo, for an article that will explore 30 days with the product, much like the one I wrote about Yousician.

So far, I’ve been enjoying the experience, despite Duolingo’s somewhat user-hostile free tier. But I do fear I’m one of those people who can read and translate well, but who then finds languages vanish without a trace the second recall is needed.

Beyond that, I’ll soon be digging into music and digital creativity pieces for Stuff. Proper home turf, there, and I remain constantly amazed by how much you can do these days with even modest hardware.

Other stuff

During my week off, I think I learned how to relax again. In part, that was down to not having to even think about work at all, rather than doing that typical thing of doing a ‘bit’ of work now and again, and thereby keeping the work and stress brain active. Another lesson for the future.

Third time lucky? OK, I’ll stop marking the number of weeknotes now. I think this is a routine by this point.

Published stuff

A busy week over at Stuff. I wrote about how it’s time iPhone and iPad were useful when they’re doing nothing. This digs into the iPhone Lock Screen revamp rumour. But mostly, I’m pining for Panic’s Status Board.

My Retroid Pocket Flip review finally went live. I really like this device. And as someone who remembers even the original Atari 2600, from the first time round, it blows my mind that you can now carry around 30-odd years of games in your pocket, on a device that costs $160.

I also wrote a quick update to my best iPhone/iPad apps round-up (buy Soulver!), lusted after Lego’s new Pac-Man arcade set. and suggested everyone drop everything and download Logic Pro for iPad.

Over at Swipe, I mulled over Apple, Siri and AI, with Apple having had such a lead that long ago eroded. And the latest entry in my classic iPhone apps series is Things. I’ve really loved writing these, getting the stories behind some of my favourite apps.

Elsewhere, I made my debut for iMore, with a piece about getting classic Mac games running on a Silicon Mac. For which I reasoned you need: an internet connection; copies of games you want to play; Sheepshaver or Mini vMac; a mouse; and an inordinate amount of patience.

I also somehow last week missed by debut for Wireframe v2. The print mag’s sadly gone, but the publication has a second wind as part of whynow. I got to explore why the new Super Cat Tales game is a community driven indie.

In-progress stuff and other stuff

These are combined this week, because, well, I don’t have much on. I spent the past few weeks in a mad flurry of activity, trying to front-load a ton of articles so that I could chill with my wife and the nipper, and do some family things over half term.

This means I’ve spent chunks of today just doing… nothing. And it’s a little worrying how alien this feeling is to me right now. Too often in recent months, I’ve used even the time booting an iPad to squeeze in some other micro task. It’s mentally exhausting to live like that and extremely unhealthy.

So before I wrote this, I was staring out of the window. That… felt good. I need to remember this when I return to normality. Or, more accurately, I need to shift the nature of my normality in terms of work so that it is a little more normal.

A blog post for a second week in a row? This could become a habit.

Published stuff

My column on Stuff this week is about Telly giving away 500,000 TVs – and selling your privacy. The company’s marketing appears to be aiming for fluffy, but instead keeps hurling darts into ‘terrifying dystopia’. The CEO in an interview saying “we know who you are, we know where you live” is a red flag you can see from space, although you might argue that at least he’s being up-front about the horror.

Elsewhere, I brought my upcoming iPads piece up to date and wrote about Lego’s baffling Bat-box set.

Meanwhile, over on TapSmart – sister publication to our wee indie iPhone mag, Swipe – I outlined what I’d like to see at WWDC23 and explored interior design apps that’ll make me guilty about having done nothing with my home office for years.

In-progress stuff

I filed a piece on noise apps for Stuff, which will feature in an upcoming issue. I hadn’t dipped into these for a while, and was surprised how many quality apps were around. Endel has some really great stuff inside it, even if you only stick with the free version.

Beyond that, I’m still trying to figure out how much I like the Retroid Pocket Flip. (Never let it be said my reviews aren’t thorough!) The fan inside it is a total waste of time – it’s noisy and doesn’t impact on performance. Fortunately, it can be turned off. And the sliders are a bit weird. But… it’s a really nice thing.

Russ over at Retro Game Corps – a YouTube channel I highly recommend if you like retrogaming hardware – suggested is was down to its form factor making it feel like a console rather than an Android phone with controls bolted on. There’s definitely something in that.

Other stuff

Having been getting guilt-trip messages from Yousician, I headed back this week, and improved my score on a couple of vocal tracks.

I’m not a good singer, which isn’t ideal when it comes to getting vocals down for my songs. I adore Yousician’s view that lets you track your pitch, live, against a piano roll and dearly wish Logic had something similar, to help me improve what I input rather than fiddling about with it afterwards.

Still, if I can get my vocals somewhat into shape, this year might be the one where I – finally – release a new album. The first since 2012. Hopefully it’ll be worth the wait…