A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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One of my favorite things about using a Mac is the wide variety of applications that can be run — including menu bar apps. These applications sit as small icons at the top of every screen performing small tasks with the click of a button, a keyboard command, or without any interaction at all! Here are some of my most used ones.

1️⃣ One Switch (Direct) (Setapp)

I think of One Switch as an extended version of Control Center (which debuted in macOS last year in Big Sur). This app provides a list of useful functions that can be enabled or disabled with just a click, such as Keep Awake, Hide Desktop Items, Dark Mode, and Empty Trash, among others.

2️⃣ ToothFairy (Direct) (Mac App Store) (Setapp)

I have several ways to quickly connect to headphones (One Switch, AirBuddy, Ears) but ToothFairy is my favorite. It lets you put an icon for any Bluetooth headphones in the menu bar and then connect/disconnect them with a single click. I find it way easier than waiting for the built-in macOS pop-ups.

3️⃣ Cardhop (Direct) (Mac App Store)

While I’m not typically in and out of my contacts app every day, I appreciate the natural language support you get with Cardhop. Made by the awesome folks at Flexibits (the makers of Fantasical), Cardhop works by typing (or pasting) a bunch of information for a contact into the text field and letting it parse it all out correctly. If you already have a contact under an inputted name, it’ll update it. Otherwise, a new contact card is made with all the fields filled out correctly. It’s like magic! (Oh, and there’s an excellent iOS/iPadOS version as well.

4️⃣ Tot (Direct) (Mac App Store)

When you’ve got Drafts, who needs another lightweight place for text? Well, I do. While Drafts collects 99% of the text I need to work with on my devices, I like to have Tot around as well for a short-term landing zone for text. Tot is ingenious in its constraints. There are only seven buckets for text, and it uses plain text or basic rich text exclusively. So if I just need to copy something, make a quick edit, and then cut and paste it somewhere else quickly, since it can be called with a quick keyboard shortcut, Tot is the fastest solution.

5️⃣ Dropzone (Direct) (Mac App Store) (Setapp)

As the newest addition to my menu bar, I have the least experience with Dropzone. In a way, it copies the convenience of another of my favorite Mac apps, Yoink, in that it is a place to drag files temporarily. But the beauty in Dropzone is that you can configure actions to happen when you drop something in a specific location within the drag area. So I’ve got zones to put files into particular folders, optimize images, install or uninstall applications, email or AirDrop files, shorten URLs, download YouTube videos, search for similar images, and more!

6️⃣ Dropshare (Direct) (Mac App Store) (Setapp)

I’ve used several “drop file here to create a link to it” sorts of apps, but Dropshare has been my favorite by far. It gets the basics right (quick uploads, process indicator) with some extra niceties (pleasant landing page, support for various cloud services, unobnoxious short URLs, and built-in screen capture and annotation features). With a Setapp subscription, the premium features in the iOS app are also unlocked, which is a nice bonus. I’ve saved myself a ton of time not writing out complex instructions and instead just dropping a link to a screenshot, screencast, or specific file into a text chat or email to help someone out.

7️⃣ Screen Capture Apps

…which leads me to my screen capturing apps themselves. While macOS has good screenshot and screen recording features built-in, these apps take it to the next level. It’s worth noting that I almost always call these from keyboard commands, which I have remapped around the default Command-Shift-4 shortcut.

• TextSniper: Using the standard crosshairs, select an area of text on-screen and have it captured as plain text to the clipboard, ready for pasting elsewhere. Perfect for long strings of text that would be hard to remember or read in images. (Direct) (Mac App Store) (Setapp)
• Tapes: With a keyboard command or click, it starts a screen recording (of the whole screen or a selected area). When you stop the recording, it automatically uploads to their cloud service and puts the link on your clipboard for pasting. It’s the fastest way to make a simple screencast to demonstrate something on-screen (and without an ongoing subscription). (Direct) (Mac App Store)
• CleanShot X: Up your screenshot game with a host of features that you’ll wonder how you got along without them. Better annotations, persistent floating thumbnails, and the ability to hide messy desktop items are no-brainers. But the ability to customizable borders around capture areas to include bits of your desktop photo makes screenshots look more natural. And enhanced screen recording lets you add pop-ups for keystrokes, highlights mouse movement, and allows you to add a small HUD from your webcam for an easy personal touch during screencast tutorials. You need this app. (Direct) (Setapp)

Honorable Mention: Bartender (Direct) (Setapp)

These are but a few of the apps I have living in my menu bar. But you wouldn’t know because I have the rest managed and hidden with Bartender. This app allows you to hide extra menu bar icons behind a mouse-over or click on the ellipses icon (far left of my menu bar) and keep even the most persistent apps hidden. There are a few, like Time Machine, that I have configured only to appear if there’s ongoing activity happening in the app. That way, I know when things are happening on my Mac without having my menu bar overcrowded by apps.

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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed these links, or have something else exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!

7 Things Apps Favorites

What’s New?

This past month I’ve been throwing myself into my new job, trying to soak in as much as possible. I’ve been enjoying it immensely, both the work itself and the people I get to work alongside. I help people every day and do my best to turn what is often a stressful and disheartening experience into a more positive one. Of course, starting something new has always taken my full attention, which means writing has taken a backseat as I try to find a new balance between work and play, but I think I’m getting there.

Fun excursions were also moved to the back burner a bit, but my wife and I did find some time to try a local Thai restaurant for date night (delicious, by the way!), and I met up with some friends for a game night. I’m looking forward to more get-togethers as the end-of-year holidays approach.

Speaking of things that I’m looking forward to, my wife and I will celebrate our third wedding anniversary at the end of the month, and we’ve both taken time off to go on an adventure together. This time we’re heading east into New York to explore the Adirondacks, which should be a great time. I’m excited to unplug and just enjoy her company.

Apps I’m Trying

Cibo — Recently featured in the Club MacStories newsletter, Cibo is an app that uses the text recognition feature baked into iOS to identify menu items in the camera’s viewfinder. Why is this helpful? Because it automatically pulls up pictures of that type of food. I just downloaded it yesterday and haven’t had an opportunity to try it yet. Still, it would have been beneficial at that Thai restaurant since I’m unfamiliar with traditional Thai dishes.

Mactracker — In my job, it’s helpful to know the latest operating system that a particular device can handle. Mactracker is the quickest way I’ve found to get that information, along with all kinds of other metadata for Apple products.

Mela — I’m in a real pickle with this recipe app. On the one hand, it’s by far the most visually appealing recipe tracker and cooking assistant app that I’ve ever tried. Plus, it has some fantastic features for automatically importing new recipes from food websites that speak to its developer’s prowess with RSS (it comes from the maker of Reeder, my RSS/read-it-later app). And, it was able to import my recipes from Paprika, the long-standing best-in-class app for this category. The only things that are keeping me from switching over to Mela full-time are (1) that because it relies on iCloud for sync, I’m not sure how to share the same recipe database between my wife’s and my devices, and (2) it didn’t important the pictures of physical recipe cards (of which we have many from family recipes) in a helpful way. Still, I highly recommend you check out the app and the MacStories review of it.

Bandbreite — Another find from the Club MacStories newsletter, Bandbreite is a must-have for anyone who has (or wants) a collection of Apple Watch bands. It’s got a complete database of every band ever produced by Apple and helps you to catalog the ones you own or want to purchase. Besides being helpful, it’s also a nice trip down memory lane and a testament to the boatload of bands that Apple has made over the years, including all the limited edition ones.

MakePass — I’ve used MakePass in the past, but it’s gotten some valuable updates over the year that’s gotten me to take a second look. MakePass lets you create arbitrary passes to save to your Apple Wallet. I’ve used it to make grocery store and climbing gym membership cards for places that don’t offer a native Wallet pass. I was also able to make one that presents a picture of my COVID vaccination card so that I have quick access anytime I need it. The recent enhancements of recognizing bar codes from images or files greatly expanded MakePass’s capability.

RelayforStJude — This app is provided only as a TestFlight beta but lets you add a widget to your Home screen to keep tabs on the progress of the Relay FM fundraiser for the live-saving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It’s incredible to see the Apple community get behind this fundraiser in a big way. If you have even a dollar to spare during the fall hardware season, I encourage you to donate. I will be.

Stuff I’m Reading

With great effort and much time, I’m finally caught up on my read-it-later queue — just in time for the fall hardware season. 😝 But that means I’ve been able to put some evening reading time toward my first actual book in months. Along with other members of the Club MacStories Discord AV Club, I am reading Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far, so good! Also, the idea that one should only eat until they’re 80% full, which is a central part of that culture, speaks to me as I work toward a healthier lifestyle.

On Heavy Rotation

You Signed Up For This by Maisie Peters — Regular readers of HeyDingus will not be surprised to know that I’ve had Maisie Peters on heavy rotation this past month. I love her work and can also recommend her Instagram. She’s started up the concert season and has been posting pictures and videos of her tour.

Screen Violence by CHVRCHES — Great as always, CHVRCHES seems to have solidified into a grungy alternative band based on their latest album. I love the moodiness that brings me back to some My Chemical Romance roots, but that doesn’t lack maturity.

Particles by A Great Big World — Heartfelt yet airy, A Great Big World does it again with their latest album. I’ve always held A Great Big World in the same class of music as Owl City. I’m sure you recognize some of their music, even if you don’t know them by name. So give their latest a listen — it tackles some heavy topics with grace.

Only Honest On The Weekend by Becky Hill — I’d never heard of Becky Hill until her song “Remember” showed up in my “Friends Mix” playlist. It’s a banger and led me to check out the rest of her debut album. The whole thing is an exhilarating pop/dance ride. Some of my other favorites are “My Heart Goes (La Di Da)”, “Business”, and “Perfect People”. I think Becky Hill is going to be another to keep an eye on.

Things I’m Watching

Ted Lasso — Season 2 tells a very different story from season 1. But I still love the characters and applaud the writers for taking them through real-life journeys. I feel that once the entire season is out and can be binged, the storylines will feel more cohesive. But I still highly recommend the show.

Modern Family — Down to just a couple of episodes left. At 11 seasons, this may be the longest-running show that I’ve ever watched. Very binge-able.

Mr. Corman — This newest show from Joseph Gordon-Levitt (or is it Jordan Goseph-Levitt? — I always say it wrong) is super weird but has drawn me in. The titular character, Mr. Corman, is a schoolteacher dealing with acute mental instability. Between Ted Lasso and Mr. Corman, I’ve noticed that TV is doing an outstanding job depicting anxiety without punching down. I’m interested to see how this story resolves.

Truth Be Told — I wasn’t sure if I’d watch season 2 of this show after season 1 didn’t sit that well with me. But I think I’ll give it another try after a compelling first episode. It’s an intensely dramatic show about a true-crime podcaster.

Marvel Cinematic Universe — I’ve finally finished my sojourn back through the MCU, culminating in Infinity War and Endgame. If I had to choose my favorite of the whole series, it would still be Thor: Ragnarok. Going back through the entire timeline, I’m even more excited to watch Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and (particularly) Spider-Man: No Way Home.

CODA — This award-winning and record-setting movie is about a young girl who is the only hearing person in her small family. This, understandably, puts a lot of responsibility on her shoulders to help her family navigate life while also pursuing her passion for singing. I don’t want to spoil any more, but you should watch it on Apple TV+.

Hamilton — The music and movie of Hamilton have become a sort of comfort media for me. I know the songs inside and out, but I still am amazed by the broadway performance and choreography.

Hobbies I’m Hobbying

As I mentioned above, my free time has been somewhat limited this past month. But I’m still hitting the pavement a few times a week, and I work toward running a half-marathon by the end of the year. So the cooling weather is quite welcome in that regard.

My goal for the next few months is to carve out some time to get back into the climbing gym a couple of times a week. I miss the community, the physical exertion, and the problem-solving that’s all wrapped up in rock climbing.

Now Journal

A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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1️⃣ The Next Chapter of Readwise: Our Own Reading App — Readwise Blog

One framework we’ve found especially helpful to structure such product discussions is to separate reading into three components: before, during, and after you read.

If we can build software that helps you be twice as effective in each of these stages — choose twice as efficiently before you read, comprehend twice as deeply while you read, and retain twice as much after you read — the compounded effect will be the Thielian 10x improvement we’re shooting for.

Very excited for this! While I’m super happy with Reeder for my RSS and Read-It-Later needs, I do wish that I could highlight bits more natively and be able to return to them. I gave Readwise a try a while back and enjoyed the way it resurfaced highlights from Kindle books, but ultimately didn’t find that to be enough to justify an ongoing monthly subscription. If they can make a high-quality app that integrates RSS, read-it-later, and highlight retention, I’ll be all-in.

And, as a side note, I really appreciated how well-written this blog post was. It’s long, but cohesive and lays out their vision of success in a very readable way.

2️⃣ Apple hypes next week’s iPhone 13 event with AR portal experience — 9to5Mac

Now Apple has included another fun Easter egg for the “California streaming” event. If you head to Apple’s Events page on your iPhone or iPad, tap on the event logo/Apple logo at the top to launch the AR experience.

Speaking of things that I’m excited for, Apple’s next event is coming up rapidly on Tuesday. If the rumors are to be believed, it could be a costly fall: new iPhone (🤞 for a good Mini that could last a few years), new Watch (loving the rumored design, and hopefully improved battery life), and AirPods (two years seems to be about the limit for the batteries, but I’m also optimistic about their rumored redesign and stem-based controls). The AR easter egg on Apple’s site is undoubtably their best yet!

3️⃣ Impossible Type — Fleta Selmani | Bēhance:

I’m a sucker for both impossible structures and creative typography. So this typeface concept was right up my alley.

4️⃣ What Does It All Mean?: A Look at Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ Decision in the Epic Versus Apple Trial — MacStories

Still, on balance, I’m pleased with the Court’s decision. You can argue about whether Judge Gonzalez Rogers overstepped the bounds of her authority by imposing a nationwide injunction based on state law. That’s the sort of remedy that I think is more appropriately the purview of federal legislators. However, I’m also glad to see additional pressure brought to bear that I hope will result in meaningful changes to the App Store for all developers, and that doesn’t reward Epic’s questionable legal tactics.

The big news out of this week was about the Epic vs. Apple ruling by Judge Gonzalez Rogers. John Voorhees, who used to work as a lawyer, had an excellent overview of what the 185(!) page legal document means for both companies. It’s got plenty of pull quotes but John writes so anyone can understand what’s going on. I tend to agree with John’s levelheaded assessment here.

5️⃣ Addressing 4 Misconceptions About Payments I Typically Hear from Apple Enthusiasts — Birchtree

The important thing to know here is that when you use an Apple Pay button on the web, you’re saving time and reducing the odds of a typo in your payment details, but the transaction flow is basically the same for the merchant. And like I mentioned in the first misconception, the odds are that all ways a merchant takes your card data on their site involve the card number being hidden from them.

Matt Birchler, who works in the payments industry, sheds some light on how Apple Pay works for merchants. I thought I had a pretty clear understanding of the benefits, features, and flow for Apple Pay, but even I learned a bit from Matt. Good, succinct read.

6️⃣ Some simple advice for Apple and app developers: It’s not about you — Macworld

Too often, when a company stumbles, it’s not because it made a fundamentally bad decision. It’s because it made a decision that benefited itself rather than its customers and lacked the perspective to understand that customers don’t applaud when you lower your costs or the quality of your product.

I’ve made this very mistake in past lives. Feeling clever about solving an internal problem but misjudging how external parties would feel about it leads down a thorny path.

7️⃣ The Affinity Photo People’s Choice Award — Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

Funny animal photos are my jam, and are some truly great gems in this people’s choice collection. It was so hard to vote. I’m going to have to go searching for a Twitter or Instagram account for more hilarious photos of animals like these.

[via Matt Birchler]

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Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!

7 Things

A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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1️⃣ Taking My Friend On Her FIRST BACKPACKING TRIP! | Miranda in the Wild

I took my friend on her first backpacking trip! My college roommate and best friend, Pam, recently decided to try backpacking for the first time! I took her to REI to get fitted for a pack, and then we hiked the 9-mile Wallace Lake Loop Trail here in Washington State. Watch the video to see how Pam did on her first backpacking trip!

I’ve only just discovered Miranda’s series on the REI channel, and I am HOOKED! She’s goofy, empathetic, and knowledgeable — right up my alley. It was a joy to see Miranda share and encourage her friend on a brand-new experience for her. This video has also reawakened my itch to dig out my backpacking gear…

2️⃣ Explained: Cricket | Netflix - Vox

In partnership with Vox Media Studios and Vox, this enlightening explainer series will take viewers deep inside a wide range of culturally relevant topics, questions, and ideas. Each episode will explore current events and social trends pulled from the zeitgeist, touching topics across politics, science, history and pop culture — featuring interviews with some of the most authoritative experts in their respective fields.

In this episode: Cricket experts look at how the confusing sport became so popular and discuss its evolution in becoming more accessible, entertaining and profitable.

Ever wondered what in the world the sport of cricket is? Me too! This video does an excellent job explaining the rules, the history, and the evolution (I’ve never known a sport to undergo such radical changes — perhaps besides rock climbing — and still come out on top). It actually looks quite fun, and I’d love to give cricket a try!

3️⃣ Alicia Keys | NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

On a brisk February morning, Alicia Keys, full of effervescence, entered NPR through the loading dock wearing a canary yellow faux fur coat. During our ride to the fourth floor, she joked about how she hadn’t been invited to play at the Tiny Desk. That, of course, wasn’t exactly true. We worked on and off for years to make this moment happen, and I can say wholeheartedly that it was worth the wait.

Alicia Keys has an aura that you can sense the second she enters a room, or in my case, an elevator. She radiates compassion and kindness. This spirit is the key to Keys’s songwriting, which is rooted in introspection and mindfulness.

[…]

Musical Video Link Part 1/3: I’ve never been an Alicia Keys stan, but I do keep coming back to this video. The love and connection between the band members are palpable, let alone their talent. You can tell that Alicia adores singing for an audience.

4️⃣ The Avett Brothers | NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

With all due respect to its terrific albums and kinetic, frenetic live shows, if The Avett Brothers could put on a three-song acoustic concert at every workplace in America, the band would be a world-beating colossus. For proof, listen to this performance in the NPR Music offices.

Musical Video Link Part 2/3: And then there’s this video of the Avett Brothers (for whom I am definitely a stan) from back in 2009! I didn’t know they were doing Tiny Desk Concerts back then. The band absolutely kills it, and it was super fun to revisit some of their older songs, from back when they weren’t that old.

5️⃣ Sweet Child O’ Mine on Violin / Fiddle | Adam DeGraff

Musical Video Link Part 3/3: Simply incredibly talented. And with a performer’s body language chops to keep me entertained through a 5+ minute song. He looks real tired by the end.

6️⃣ Do I Want Kids? | Glad You Asked - Vox

Glad You Asked host Cleo Abram is pretty sure she wants kids, but doesn’t feel like she has enough information to truly understand the impact of that decision. She’s not alone - even though the majority of American women do decide to have children, the number of births in the United States has been creeping downward, and women are having kids later and later in life. But while no one but you can answer if you want to have kids, join Cleo as she gathers more data and perspective on what it means to be a parent.

This hard-hitting video explores the tough choices that people, but women, in particular, face when deciding whether or not to have kids. It’s a question that my wife and I continue to consider. I appreciated the creative and practical visuals used to show shocking statistics about happiness levels for parents and non-parents, the pay gap between men and women when they have kids, and how much of one’s income goes toward childcare. It’s somewhat sobering but doesn’t discount the fulfillment parents feel by raising their children.

7️⃣ World Record Domino Robot (100k dominoes in 24hrs) | Mark Rober

Happy to finally release this one after 5 years of development :)

And just for fun, here’s Mark Rober with yet another wacky engineering project that leads to yet another world record. Mark’s a fun host in addition to being wicked smart.

If you enjoyed these, you’re welcome to check out more of my favorite videos on YouTube. The playlist is updated regularly as I find new great videos.

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Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!

7 Things

A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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(1) Yours truly on turning off head tracking for audio sources — Twitter

Seems like this toggle should exist within the normal AirPods or Music settings, but I’m glad it exists nonetheless!

(2) Apple Makes Season One of TV+ Mystery Drama ‘Home Before Dark’ Free to Watch — MacRumors

“Home Before Dark” is a drama series about Hilde Lysiak, a child journalist who published a newspaper called the Orange Street News in her hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

The series follows the young girl as she moves from Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father is from, where she unearths a cold case that everyone else in the town had attempted to bury.

I really enjoyed both seasons of this show. Though it would appear to be a kids show, it punches way above it’s weight class. It’s good TV. Full stop.

(3) MKBHD Studio Tour — YouTube

Welcome to the studio channel!

The MKBHD YouTube Channel moved into their new studio last year, and by watching their videos you could get a sense for the huge upgrade in space that it was. But this tour revealed just how massive the studio is. Tons of room to expand for years to come, from what I can see. And plenty of computing horsepower to go around with nearly everyone rocking a Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR. You love to see it.

(4) Jacob Collier & Tori Kelly - Running Outta Love (For The Late Show With Stephen Colbert) — YouTube

Back in 2020, Tori Kelly and I performed our song ‘Running Outta Love’, from Djesse Vol. 3, for Stephen Colbert’s show!

Video Directed and Edited by Jacob Collier.

Two of my favorite artists come together or a kick-ass song and video. Tori Kelly’s voice is exquisite, and Jacob Collier’s music and video styles are unlike anyone else’s.

(5) You Signed Up For This — Maisie Peters

“I’m my own album’s biggest fan, and I have been for ages,” Maisie Peters tells Apple Music of her debut You Signed Up for This. “I’ve been writing music for a while now, and there are so many different avenues I could have gone down and so many different albums I could have made. I feel so surely that this is the right one.” Peters doesn’t exactly need to be her record’s main cheerleader. Those already in her corner include Taylor Swift—whose influence shines across all of Peters’ output—and Ed Sheeran, who signed the Brighton-born singer-songwriter to his Gingerbread Man record company in 2021 and who joined her in writing three of the songs here. “We just worked really well together,” says Peters. “This can feel like a very lonely [job], so it’s great having a teammate and having someone rooting for you.”

I’ve raved about her for months, and I’m thrilled for Maisie Peters’ debut album to be out. Although their music is quite different, I got some real Taylor Swift folklore and evermore vibes from the songwriting. It’s hard to pick a favorite this early, but if I had to, I’d go for “I’m Trying (Not Friends)”. I’d keep an eye on Maisie Peters if I were you.

(6) Kuo: iPhone 13 to support LEO satellite communication, allowing users to make phone calls and send texts without cell signal — 9to5Mac

Ming-Chi Kuo today released an intriguing note for Apple investors, indicating that he expects the upcoming iPhone 13 will support low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite communication features. This would allow an iPhone 13 user to send messages and make phone calls, even when they are not within standard 45/5G cell tower coverage.

This rumor came way out of left field. But it would be pretty awesome to worry less about cell coverage for basic calls and texts in more (and more remote) places.

(7) Newsletters; or, an enormous rant about writing on the web that doesn’t really go anywhere and that’s okay with me — Robin Rendle

But if websites are so great then why did everyone (including me) move to newsletters? Why did blogs die off? Well, there are ten million answers to those questions, but only three I want to focus on.

An engaging, insightful, and creative post by Robin Rendle about how and why newsletters have exploded around the web. Spoilers: Predictably, it comes down to simplicity and getting paid. Newsletters and web blogs are pretty interchangeable for me, but that’s because I’ve found ways to funnels all of them into my RSS reader. I’d always prefer for content to live out on the open web rather than locked behind a emailed newsletter. That’s one reason I’m so thrilled for the MacStories team who built their own custom tool so that they could deliver their weekly newsletter in a way that’s more true to open web standards (among a plethora of additional amazing features) for Club MacStories members.

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Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!

7 Things

A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

1. Two perspectives on the designer who Steve Jobs could not hire — Arun.is

Beyond the products, Dieter and Richard interfaced with the world quite differently. Dieter was a celebrity at the height of his career, serving as a spokesman for Braun. Apple took this idea further by letting Jony Ive tell the stories about its products. Jony’s voice has reached so far that clips of him pronouncing the word “aluminium” have become memes online.

Richard, on the other hand, was “a firm believer that products speak for themselves.” He never crafted ten principles for good design like Dieter. He rarely made public appearances beyond the teaching he did.

Fortunately for us, there is a small set of books and videos that help us see who Richard Sapper was.

One is a documentary created at the height of his career in the 80s. The other is a book, a sort of retrospective created in the last years of his life. By listening to Richard Sapper in these two moments in time, we can see both his unwavering principles and his evolving perspective.

Arun astounds again with another well-researched and in-depth blog post with exquisite design examples. He’s quite right, I’ve never heard of Richard Sapper. But I appreciate the honesty in his designs — an honesty that celebrates mechanics and function.

2. Two Videos on YouTube (Yes, I know this is cheating, but I really liked both of these.)

Octopuses: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Web Exclusive) — YouTube

John Oliver explains why octopuses are cool, great, and yes, called “octopuses”.

Fascinating insights on amazing creatures, well-delivered.

and Matches (2021.01.24-2021.08.09) — YouTube

Study & Stop motion by Tomohiro Okazaki (designer)

The creative minds behind the concepts alone in this video are unfathomable to me. Let alone the sheer talent and persistence to put it all together. Incredible stuff here.

3. ‘McClockface’ app offers the best clock widgets for your iPhone and iPad — 9to5Mac

Created by indie developer David Steppenbeck, this app was created with iOS 14 in mind focusing on widgets. It displays the date, time, and other chronographic info at a glance with options to customize colors and time zones widget-by-widget.

I love supporting fun projects like this. At $2, it’s an easy impulse buy even if it doesn’t end up sticking as a permanent Home Screen feature. It brings me delight, and I hope the developer makes bank off it.

4. Desktop Apps Ain’t What They Used to Be — Birchtree

One thing that comes up a lot when people complain about Electron apps is that they don’t use standard system controls, which causes confusion. While I do sympathize with this, and the native controls are indeed easy to understand, I think we deify them a bit much and overestimate how many of our favorite Mac apps use them. […] All of those are great native Mac apps, but they’re using custom UI elements all over the place. Things has custom everything, Reeder has an iPad-style interface, Craft’s preferences window does not follow macOS conventions, and iStat Menus has some native-ish things with plenty of custom stuff too.

Matt Bircher makes some great points here about how some of the most highly-regarded native Mac apps are themselves not following the native Mac conventions held so dear in recent conversations about native vs. Electron apps. In the end, it all depends on the end product. Does it work well? Is it efficient on the system? Do customers enjoy using it? Does it play well within the operating system? If those questions are answered yes, then I think the tools used to build it matter a lot less.

5. Hundreds of Ways to Get S#!+ Done—and We Still Don’t — Wired

It wasn’t long before the two founders noticed something odd in the (anonymized) data they had on their users: People were lousy at finishing their to-dos. Chen and Guzman could see an accumulation of sprawling, ambitious lists of tasks that users utterly failed to accomplish. In 2014, fully 41 percent of to-do items on IDoneThis were never … done.

Sound familiar? The tasks you so diligently enter into your fancy app or productivity method linger for days or weeks or months (or even longer—one colleague recently told me his to-do app has undone tasks from 2019). They stare back, unchecked, with baleful expressions, disappointed at how very un-crossed-off they are.

The challenge of creating a to-do app that works for those most people. The psychology behind making lists of tasks. Why do so many of us pile more than is reasonable upon the plates of our future selves? How time-blocking fits into all of it. This article has it all; it’s an excellent read. [Via Venki Rajah]

6. The best emails from the Apple vs. Epic trial — The Verge

In May, the world watched as Epic Games dragged Apple to court, challenging the most profitable company in the world in the name of app fairness (and securing more Fortnite profits for itself). We’re still waiting for a verdict in Epic v. Apple, but we haven’t just been sitting around. We’ve also been digging through these companies’ dirty laundry, reading scores of internal emails and confidential presentations unearthed during the legal discovery process. It’s fascinating stuff.

There is a lot to unpack in this one. Buckle in, it’s a long and wild ride.

7. Don’t Be a Schmuck. Put on a Mask. — The Atlantic

I am not an academic, but I can tell you that selfishness and dereliction of duty did not make this country great. The Constitution aimed to “promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” It’s right there in our founding document. We need to think beyond our selfish interests.

Well said, Arnold. Though I’d make one small edit and adjust the title to “Don’t be a Schmuck. Get the Vaccine.”

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Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!

7 Things

Rachel Anderson, writing on their blog Sanspoint:

As 2019 continued, I wound up splitting myself in two—the feminine, true-to-myself version of me that I put into the world on nights and weekends, and the somewhat effeminate, but still masculine self I presented to the world during the work week. It became a relief to come home, strip off the more traditionally masculine clothing of the work day, switch to leggings and a t-shirt dress, and be a form of myself that felt more comfortable.

As 2019 progressed, so did my exploration. Living in New York City, I was lucky enough to have access to spaces where it was safe to explore my presentation, my identity, my gender, and I used those spaces to their full potential. The moment where it sunk in about what was missing and where I needed to go, came a few days before Halloween. I was going out to a dance party, and had decided to go out in “costume” as a stereotypical goth girl in a Wednesday Addams dress. In preparation, I bought a black wig, and shaved off my close-cropped beard. When I looked at myself in the mirror, clean-shaven, with the black wig, makeup, dress, and a padded bra, I could only say one word: “Fuck.”

As I looked in the mirror, the ramifications were clear to me, though I was hesitant to follow through. The person in the mirror was who I was supposed to be. The path was clear, but I knew I couldn’t yet walk it. There was fear, there was trepidation, and I needed to address those before I could even consider taking another step down that path. Despite those fear, I consider that night out to be the first time I went out into the world as myself.

This description of body dysmorphia hit me right in the feels. I’ve never felt this way about the appearance I present to the world, but I can imagine that needing to always pretend to be someone you’re not would wreak havoc on your mental wellness.

Happily, though, this story ended with a successful transition, and with support and acceptance from her family and communities.

Go to the linked site →

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A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

(1) Brief Reviews Of (Nearly) Every Mac Keyboard | D. Griffin Jones

Intel Magic Keyboard - On their way out the door of the Intel era, Apple has successfully made an unremarkable keyboard.
I rate it 4⁄5 stars.

Fun read. I’ve used maybe four of the keyboards on this list.

(2) Apple and Olivia Rodrigo encourage iPad creativity on TikTok - 9to5Mac

The TikTok campaign features the FacePaint feature in Procreate, which allows you to create and record illustrations that appear on your face in real time. Procreate is also highlighting the #MadeOniPad campaign on its Instagram page.

Holy smokes! I would have thought that this kind of animation would take days and be complicated to learn. Procreate continues to amaze with the power and capability built into such an approachable and affordable app.

(3) Just for fun: What if Apple had made Mac OS-based smartphones, tablets, and watches in the ’90s? - 9to5Mac

Mac OS To-Go also includes “legendary Apple ease-of-use,” so unlocking the device is as simple as pressing the Apple logo button below the display. And if you’ve used a Mac, you’ll know exactly how to use Newton Phone.

I love alternate timeline concepts like this. 9to5Mac’s Parker Ortolani went the whole nine yards and imagined a phone, watch, and tablet based on Mac OS 9 and the Newton. I got real Loki TVA retro device vibes from this, and particularly enjoyed the beige (lol), silver, and black color options.

(4) Alfred 4.5 Released: Universal Actions, a Whole New Way to Use Alfred - Alfred Blog — Alfred Blog

With the new Universal Actions feature, you can select text in your browser, a URL in an email or a file on your Desktop and pop up Alfred’s Actions panel to choose what to do with your content. Start anywhere and jump into action.

This sounds an awful lot like Shortcuts actions. It’ll be interesting to dig into what Aflred’s Universal Actions can do. And more interesting to see if/how they work alongside Shortcuts in macOS Monterey this fall.

(5) Nothing is the most hyped tech company in years. Can its £99 Ear 1 buds deliver? — GQ

Could the next big thing in tech actually stick around for the long run? “A rational person looking in from the outside would say the chances of success are quite low,” says Wood. “But Carl has a deep experience of making products, getting his hands dirty and making decisions that are sometimes ruthless. I think they can be more like a Sonos than a Samsung.”

I was pretty skeptical of Nothing in the months leading up to the Ear 1 launch. But it sounds like Carl Pei has managed to pull off something special at an incredible price point. Creating two notable tech companies by age 31(!) is nothing (heh) to sneeze at. I’ll be following what comes next!

(6) How to write a good blog post - On my Om

A good blog post starts with a clever lead, or an anecdote, and in very short space, makes a case for what you are trying to say.

Om writes an engaging blog that is varied in its scope, so I was intrigued to see this post pop up in his RSS feed. After decades of writing professionally and personally, he has a lot of poignant advice to share. I’m keen to put them into practice.

(7) Linky App - Pragmatic Code

Yours truly, on Twitter:

I may be a recent convert, but I’m convinced that if you’re not using Linky by @pragmaticcode on iOS to share things to Twitter, you’re doing it wrong. This app is so good!

If you don’t use Twitter, I recommend giving it a try. For me, at least, it’s a happier place than Facebook. And if you use Twitter and iOS, do yourself a favor and download Linky. It makes posting photos and links so much better with the ability to quote (with highlightable text images), pull images from websites to attach the tweet, and automatically include the site’s page title. If you like to share lots of links, as I do, Linky will up your game.

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Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please let me know on Twitter!

7 Things

I’ve been listening to Maisie Peters for a while now, and I wholeheartedly agree with Apple Music’s choice for her as their Up Next artist. There’s a video out for her Up Next debut, which is a fun watch. Of note, Maisie has partnered with Ed Sheeran for some songwriting and mentorship. I can’t wait to hear more of her creations!

Maisie entered my listening sphere last year with her single, “Favourite Ex”, which appeared in an episode of season one of Trying. I guess the show’s producers loved it too because she was asked to write the soundtrack for the entire second season. I don’t often save TV soundtracks, but Maisie recorded such heartfelt and poignant songs for the show, and I can’t get enough of it.

You might recall that Billie Eilish was an early Up Next artist, and we’ve all witnessed how she has rocketed into the stratosphere of popularity and accolade. Maisie and Billie’s music are worlds different, but both have that special something that captures attention and emotion.

Maisie’s debut album, You Signed Up For This, drops later this month. A few songs are already available for listening, and they’re excellent.

Music

Andrea Hsu, writing at NPR:

Now, research out of Iceland has found that working fewer hours for the same pay led to improved well-being among workers, with no loss in productivity. In fact, in some places, workers were more productive after cutting back their hours.

Work fills the time that you allot to it. It’s as true in theory as it is in practice. I’m always up for people rethinking how “work” should happen. The pandemic has given us all a lot to reconsider, and the how our workplace and schedules are just the tip of the iceberg.

We’ve all collectively made up the Monday to Friday, 9-to-5 jobs, and we can remake that schedule anytime we choose. It’s just that getting everyone in a large country to agree on anything is borderline impossible.

The full article on NPR is worth your time.

Go to the linked site →

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