Crashing Clockwise #572: ‘Fight, Fight, Fight!’
My barging in (and not so subtle attempt to someday be a guest) on “the tech podcast with no plans to add a new button.”
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Mikah Sargent: Are the new Instagram teen accounts a step in the right direction, or will it not have an effect at all?
Speaking as someone who doesn’t have kids (and doesn’t plan to either), I’m still glad that Instagram has implemented these new changes. With a grain of salt, though. Having teen accounts be private by default seems like a no-brainer. Giving parents more access to their kids’ accounts could be good, but it also seems like a bit of an invasion of privacy. There are plenty of kids who don’t have good relationships with their parents and I worry a bit about what their activity there could inadvertently reveal.
That said, I’m glad parents don’t have unfettered access to their kids’ messaging, and it sounds like Instagram struck a good enough balance for now. And if teens don’t like the changes, they’ll move onto the next app that isn’t as restrictive. So it goes.
(Oh, and I hadn’t even considered how divorced or otherwise split parents will affect who and how they can manage their kid’s account. That’s gotta be messy.)
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Stephen Robles: Do you care at all about how fast your phone charges, and what do you use on your nightstand as a charger?
I’ve been over worrying about charging speeds for several years now. Really since MagSafe came out, which eliminated my worry about my phone not being positioned correctly to get a good charge overnight. If I need to charge quickly, I’ll plug in with a cable, but most of the time my phone gets enough charge via MagSafe overnight, or for the 20 or so minutes of my commute where I’ll usually (but not always) plug it in. I let the software manage charging speeds and whatnot (like only charging to 80% until just before my usual wake-up time), and I just don’t worry. I’ve got a MagSafe Battery Pack in my backpack just in case, but it’s pretty rare for me to need it, unless I’m on a long hike.
As for my bedside charging setup, I’m quite happy with what I’ve got going on here. It’s a two-parter. First, Apple’s MagSafe Duo provides wireless charging pads for my Apple Watch and AirPods. But it’s too lightweight and floppy to be good for the phone — it would lift off the nightstand when I tried to pick up my phone. So, second, for the phone, I’ve got a Studio Neat Material Dock Solo — a walnut charging pad into which a (sold separately) MagSafe puck is seated. The whole dock thing is microsuctioned to the nightstand, so it doesn’t budge at all. I can blindly grab and place
my phone onto the dock and feel that it’s secured to the magnets. It’s great! (And I suppose I could just swap in the faster MagSafe puck, if I cared to.)
I used to pack up the MagSafe Duo for trips, but now I’ve got a Twelve South Butterfly dock, which is my travel setup. Watch and phone get charged with the Butterfly and AirPods can usually last fine without a nightly top-off.
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Dan Moren: What is your favorite iOS 18 feature among the myriad of improvements?
Hard to say for sure because I haven’t tried everything yet, but two that immediately come to mind are the refreshed Control Center and Send Later for Messages.
I love that there are so many more things that I can put into Control Center for quick actions. I’ve already put into some actions from Simple Scan to quickly scan things to particular destinations, and I’m going to be loading up on shortcuts, I’m sure. Free-form arrangement is nice, too.
Sometimes the thing you want to say would be better said later. Being able to choose a delivery time is clutch. I’ve got to do some testing to see what happens when you schedule a message for a time when you’re out of connection range or if your phone is off, but it’s been working great so far.
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Joe Rosensteel: What’s your least favorite Apple software update?
By far, the even more naggy permission prompts on macOS. Apple, you gotta give us actual control over our own computers to eliminate those prompts.
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Bonus Topic: Who was your favorite teacher?
I had a lot of good ones, but the teacher who sticks out above the rest was Mr. Beyer. He was my high school band director for all four years of concert/marching/symphony/jazz band. He, more than anyone else, taught me that people will rise to the expectations you place upon them. Expect greatness, and people will rise to the challenge. Expect mediocrity, and that’s what you’ll get.
He brought such passion (and, yes, a temper) to his teaching and conducting. And we sure did punch above our weight class with his high expectations.
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Overtime Topic: What stock app on iPhone would you like to see get a major redesign, and what would you like to see changed?
I’d go with the Music app. It hasn’t seen a major upgrade in years, and I find it pretty clunky to navigate through. In fact, I’ve been using Marvis Pro for quite a while because I appreciate its quick interface and finely-tunable customization options. But, not being a first-party app with direct access to all things Apple Music, it doesn’t always work quite right. So I’d like to see more customization, personalization, and speed brought to the stock Music app.
And, for the love of god, add better annual Replay/Wrapped features into the app instead of exclusively on a website.
Until next time, watch what you say, and keep watching the clock. Bye everybody!