In recent weeknotes, I’d mentioned taking a break. That’s because our family for the first time in three years had a proper holiday. It was quite surreal actually leaving the UK once again.

But it was also sobering. This is the first time since Brexit I’d experienced a split queue at passport control. My wife and daughter, both with EEA passports, zoomed through the fast lane, while I waited in the queue specifically labelled for Brits, in a tiny airport. (I’m aware that in some cases, passport control allows families to go through together, but that seems pretty random. I erred on the side of caution.)

To the credit of the Spanish passport officers, they got the Brits through at speed. They were terrifyingly efficient. Even so, there was grumbling in the queue. “Why are we made to queue up?” moaned one person. Another offered: “Brexit. We’re not allowed through the fast queue now.” Rumbles of discontent followed, before one person piped up with: “I think it’s good. At least I get a stamp in my passport now”. Staggeringly, he wasn’t joking. He was proud. Fortunately, he appeared to be in a minority.

I reached the front, felt glum as my passport was stamped, said “gracias” and went to rejoin my family. In the grand scheme of things, this wasn’t important – spending an extra 15 minutes in a queue. Brexit has caused far worse problems. The world has far greater issues. But it was nonetheless a stark reminder of how the most stupid decision a country could possibly collectively make has ramifications that are both big and small.

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…

It’s fair to say this blog isn’t getting the love it once did, and so I’m ripping off Ian Betteridge and writing a weeknote, to get me back into the habit of sharing what I’ve been up to and some hopefully interesting reads.

Assuming anyone’s still reading, of course. (Hello, if so!)

Published stuff

Last weekend on Stuff’s website, I celebrated the iMac’s 25th by remembering when rivals glued bits of transparent plastic on to beige PCs and wondered why Apple’s success didn’t rub off. I said I wanted Apple Arcade to include classic arcade games (and noted why it will never happen). I scared wallets worldwide by updating my guide to upcoming Lego sets. And I today added: Find My iPhone! Google Find My Device! Why not Find My Everything? (Spoiler: because ecosystems.)

And in Stuff’s June 2023 print edition, I round-up six free (including from ads/IAP) mobile games, dig into image editing on phones, and lob a load of snark at the App Store as it approaches its 15th anniversary.

I’m also still plugging away for tiny indie iPhone mag Swipe. Every fortnight, we release a new issue. The latest, #275, has my round-up on photo filter apps, a toolkit for parents wanting to make devices work for kids, and a piece on how AR could change the future of museums.

Online this week, TapSmart reprinted my tutorials on customising Carrot Weather and improving reading habits with Alfread.

In-progress stuff

Among other things, I’m currently buried in weather apps for an upcoming mag round-up, and discovered with a little shock just how inaccurate most of them are locally. For where I live, if I want to know what the weather will do more than a day out, forget it. And even within the next 24 hours can be spotty.

I’m also exploring yet another retro handheld. This time, it’s the Retroid Pocket Flip. I liked the Pocket 3+ a lot, and this one’s more or less the same guts, but in a clamshell that evokes the GPD XD (or, to some degree, the Nintendo DS).

As someone who is VERY OLD, and has taken to writing up a daily retro game over on Mastodon, it’s quite something to see how even very affordable modern tech lets you cart around a huge chunk of gaming history in your pocket. Alas, as I wrote for Stuff a while back, when a lot of modern games are retro, we might not be able to revisit them so easily. (See also: Game history needs to be preserved and made accessible to all, over at the rebooted Wireframe.)

Personal stuff

This has been quite a difficult and tiring week. Not much spare time. Too much work. Lots of juggling. (Well, not actual juggling. That’d be more fun.)

I’ve started Duolingo, primarily for a feature, and partly because my 8-year-old now has a 400+ day streak. I barely managed four. Tsk. I’ve also not been keeping up with my Yousician. (I’ve written music since my teens, and yet can I play instruments properly? Apparently not.)

But the main life thing this week was going to the local hospital about a foot problem and being told I have “possibly reversible” arthritis in my big toes. And then being told about another condition I didn’t know I even had (to do with a weak tendon). This… all gets better once you hit 50, right?