Published stuff

Two new articles this week. For Stuff, I wrote Remixing old games is the perfect way to play NES and arcade classics. Purists might scream in horror at this take, but I like the notion of trying to freshen up old games by framing them in different ways. And then over at TapSmart, there’s my stargazing toolkit for iPhone.

Upcoming stuff

So many new operating systems! I’ll be writing up my usual tips on iPhone, iPad and Mac this autumn. But I’m also interested to see how all this stuff goes, given Apple’s initial steps into AI (with seemingly much reticence) and ongoing major issues with developers.

I also have a few really cracking classic app pieces in the pipe, which I really hope happen. And I’m looking at getting back into more app writing in general.

Other stuff

I’m far from the first to write about this, but tinyPod turns an old Apple Watch into a tiny iPod. Sort of. I really like the idea and absolutely want to buy one, but imagine it will sit in the same “at some point, meaning probably never” space as Playdate. (I love the idea of that console too. But I lack time for those I already own, and Playdate is a bit spendy.)

I re-read Scarlet Traces, by way of its Hachette partworks incarnation. I’ve always loved War of the Worlds, in all its versions, and so Ian Edginton and D’Israeli adaptation clicked on its release way back in the 2000s. I didn’t remember much about the follow-up series that ran in 2000 AD, and so was surprised by how much I enjoyed the second volume. It’s a properly cracking read – highly recommended.

And speaking of comics, Peter Hogan (co-creator of the superb Resident Alien) is running a Kiskstarter that should, frankly, have more than 245 backers. So if you’re into comics, you know what to do.

Published stuff

For TapSmart, I explore the best video camera apps, which AirPods to buy, and classic iPhone game Orbital.

My Stuff column this week is: Why I think auto-translate earbuds might be a bad thing. In short, people think they’re a Babel Fish. They are not a Babel Fish. 

I also wrote about the best emulators for iPhones and Android devices, which sparked a standalone piece for this blog: Apple vs emulation – three months of incoherence and idiocy.

As a fan of emulation and safeguarding gaming’s history, I find myself increasingly frustrated with Apple in this space. It has – either by intent or incompetence – created the circumstances in which iOS has a confused, messy, inconsistent emulator ecosystem.

There are some stars, such as Delta and PPSSPP. We have a cut-down RetroArch, because the creator is walking on eggshells. There’s the odd really interesting curio, like ZX81, but an awful lot of churn junk, such as terrible NES and C64 emulators.

The last of those things is in part down to Apple not providing clear direction and constantly changing the rules. It would be simple to clarify what’s allowed, but Apple never wanted emulators on the store in the first place, and only appeared to approve any to blunt AltStore’s chances and perhaps to avoid getting walloped by the EU.

App Store review is inconsistent at the best of times, but the situation with emulation is now beyond absurd. The MAME4iOS dev says their app has been rejected multiple times for ‘spam’. Apple might point to the iDOS rejection (‘iDOS is not a retro game console’) and argue MAME does not make the cut for the same reason. Yet there is a (fairly awful) Final Burn Neo arcade emulator available to download. Another error? Who knows? Either way, this doesn’t say good things about app review.

As for iDOS, that situation is now… fluid, given that Apple has approved PC emulator UTM SE. But who’s to say Apple won’t change its mind next week, depending on what it thinks it can get away with? And I do wonder what will happen if someone dares to submit an Apple II or Mac emulator for review. Perhaps they should submit it to AltStore first – that at least appears to make Apple rethink.

So three months in and, as predicted by me and others, emulation on iOS is an incoherent mess. Which probably suits Apple but further dents the platform’s credibility with a noisy contingent of gamers and makes it look inferior to Android. And Apple’s ridiculous review stance means great devs won’t bother making emulators for iPhone and iPad. Why would they? Why spend months polishing an emulator only for Apple to arbitrarily decide to reject it? (And, yes, this is the wider App Store in microcosm. Creators of other apps and games increasingly feel the same way.)

Published stuff

My deep dive series at TapSmart continued with how to get started with Procreate. I also explored what I want to see from the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. 

Over at Stuff, my daughter’s infatuation with Gold by Spandau Ballet inspired my column, Streaming opened up music’s past like never before – but will artists of the future be able to survive? I also (dun dun) took a look at (dun dun) the new Lego Jaws set (dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun).

Other stuff

The election sucked all of the oxygen out of the room in the UK last week. Astonishingly, I now have a Liberal Democrat MP. I never thought I’d see the day. It was a very weird night.

However, while I was happy to see the Tories get a kicking, I’m not thrilled at how unrepresentative the Commons is. I’ve written about the unrepresentative UKsystem before, but this week’s election takes the biscuit.

A narrative rattling around is that the Lib Dems ‘gamed’ the system in their favour. Yet what really happened is that, for the first time, the party almost got a representative seat share (11% from 12% of the vote). The Greens and Reform weren’t so fortunate. Entertainingly – given that they wrote a love letter to FPTP in their manifesto – the Tories fell short too, winning 18.6% of the seats from 23.7% of the vote.

Labour? 63.4% of the seats, from just 33.7% of the vote. So the party is over-represented almost to the point it has twice as many MPs as it should have. Naturally, some people are OK with this and argue it’s the price we pay to keep out the hard right. But it has historically kept out progressives (the Greens should have about 40 MPs today), and also resulted in fewer progressive governments in the UK, the nadir perhaps being in 1983. Then, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives won 61% of the seats on 42% of the vote. Labour got 32% of the seats on 27.6% of the vote. And the Alliance (which later morphed into the Lib Dems)? 3.5% of the seats on 25.4% of the vote. You do the maths. And watch your brain dribble out of your ears.

The Electoral Reform Society explores what this week’s election might have looked like had we had a form of PR. This piece uses AMS as an example. In the UK, STV is a more likely system, which would drop the numbers for smaller parties somewhat. Regardless, FPTP should be consigned to the past. But I doubt it will ever be, when the Conservatives and Labour both know it’s the only viable route to absolute power (with rare exceptions). And Labour’s leaders are happier winning 100% of the power occasionally rather than leading a coalition more often than not.

Still, perhaps Starmer’s lot will surprise me on this. And given the fragility of his electoral coalition, he probably should. Otherwise in 2019, we could be starting down the barrel of a Tory or even Reform majority, elected on 35% of the vote, while Labour and Libs combined have a share over 50, and Labour blames Lib and Green voters for not backing Labour, despite PR being an option all along.

Published stuff

Over at Stuff this week, I plead with tech companies to stop adding obnoxious eye-searing lights to gadgets. And I totally forgot to include fans, mostly because ours have folded paper taped around them, blocking their own stupid eye-searing bright blue beams, which are the opposite of what you’d want in a bedroom. Or, indeed, any room.

Over at TapSmart, I explore apps that can give you iOS 18 features today – and take things much further than Apple. And I dig into iPhone mirroring – which I reckon looks equal parts fantastic, frustrating and distracting.

Other stuff

I turned on my RGB30 for the first time in a few weeks. It was fine. Clearly, ArkOS FTW, even though the UI is terrible compared to Rocknix. Bah.

I messed around with Beeper for a feature. It simultaneously made me want a unified social inbox all the more – and realise Beeper isn’t it. It’s OK, but too much spam leaks through. I’m hoping Project Tapestry scratches this itch. If not, it’ll be time to add a bunch more Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon and YouTube feeds to NetNewsWire – and more newsletters.

This Thursday there’s a general election in the UK. Amusingly, it’s on 4 July, which means Brits have something to celebrate on that day, for once. Although how happy I am on Friday will depend on how much of a kicking the Tories get and whether a small miracle happens where I live, turfing out a terrible Tory MP for a much better alternative. Fingers crossed…