What’s New

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been settling into my new job, which does, unfortunately, prevent me from commenting as freely about the world of tech as I usually would. It’s a good job, though, and I’ve been enjoying it, so it’s worth it. I’m also excited to stretch my comfort zone to write more about my other interests here on this blog. So more of that is in the pipeline!

I made another trip back home to Michigan to celebrate my grandmother’s 85th(!) birthday. It was a whirlwind weekend, but it was so good to celebrate with family I haven’t seen in over a year. The timing worked in our favor too. A few weeks later, places are shelling back up against the COVID delta variant, and it may not be as safe for us to be all together.

Last month, I wrote about the massive spike in readers due to links from MacSparky, Matthew Cassinelli, and iPhoneBlog.de. Little did I know that a new piece was about to blow that traffic out of the water. I use the Drafts app daily and wrote about how it helps me to keep track of things. That setup post was shared by Drafts developer Greg Pierce and quickly made its internet rounds the next few days. I was blown away by the response and enjoyed interacting with a few readers who enjoyed the story.

Speaking of Drafts, I’ve also had a bunch of fun writing, sharing, and iterating on a Drafts action that helps you to insert the current date into a draft in a variety of formats. It was my first attempt at writing something in JavaScript. I got some helpful suggestions from knowledgeable folks in the community and am very happy with how the action turned out. Here’s a bit from a post I made about it to the Draft forum:

I created my first scripting action today! It was also the first time I’ve ever tried to learn/use javascript, and I’m far more proud of it than is warranted.

My goal was to create a prompt that would allow me to choose from several formats to insert the current date into my current draft. I started with the Prompt action but couldn’t understand how to take the output of the prompt and change it into anything useful. All I could get out of the prompt was the text that made up the button I pressed.

So…I went down the (admittedly) much harder route and tried to figure out how to use a script to display a prompt and do what I wanted. It took a while, and with much referencing the example actions in the Directory, the Draft Script Reference, and this very forum.

Here’s the result: Insert Date (Prompt). And here’s a screencast of it working using a keyboard command.

I was delighted to be awarded ‘New User of the Month’ in the forum. It inspired me to keep sharing what I create with the community there.

Apps I’m Trying

Just today, I’ve converted my phone, watch, and iPads over to the iOS and iPadOS 15 betas. I resisted putting my daily drivers on the beta thus far, but the software seems stable, and I like to keep my things in sync.

It’s been a quiet month for new apps, probably since most developers are busy getting their software ready for the big OS releases this fall. However, I am forcibly trying the HBO Max app since they recently ended the HBO Apple TV Channel. I was a proponent for the channel, which incorporated all of HBO’s content into the Apple TV app, with perks like using the standard video player and downloading video in one place for offline viewing. So now I’m back to a separate app for every service. Luckily I can still use the Apple TV app for finding content, even if it boots me out to the HBO Max for actually watching it.

Stuff I’m Reading

After the backlog of articles I had saved last month, I’m happy to report that I’m back down to under 40 things saved for later. I plan to clear the rest out over the next day and get back to a more diverse and regular reading schedule.

I do want to call attention to the Switch to iPad newsletter that I discovered via 512 Pixels this month. Author Thord Hendengren has been chronicling using the iPad as his primary computing device over the past year, and I’ve been getting a lot of value out of his stories. By using the 512 Pixels link, you can get a couple of weeks of free access to all the paid articles before committing to either the paid or free feed.

On Heavy Rotation

Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night by Bleachers — I’ve shared about Bleachers before. Frontman Jack Antonoff has connections to both Fun. and Taylor Swift, but Bleachers is all his own. Their latest album is tons of fun.

Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish — Like the rest of the world, I hurried to listen to Billie Eilish’s latest. But this album, more so than any of her others, benefits from a slow, careful listen. Billie (and Finneas, of course) have produced something mature beyond their years.

Happy For You (Acoustic) - Single by Lukas Graham — This song isn’t entirely new, but the Acoustic version is. I’m actually a huge fan of all the many different versions of this song, which doesn’t always happen. I eagerly await the next Lucas Graham song.

Things I’m Watching

My wife and I are still trucking through Modern Family with just about one season left to go in the series. We’re also still loving Central Park, and are planning a rewatch after the second season finishes up. I finally finished the first season of Veep and started the second. I like the show, but I need to be in the right mood for its humor.

Physical — I mentioned this show last month but didn’t pick it back up until recently. Goodness, Rose Byrne is incredible in it. I ended up binging the rest of the season in just a few days and am glad it recently got renewed for a second season. The characters, particularly Shelia, Bunny, and Tyler, are surprisingly lovable.

Ted Lasso — Possibly my most anticipated second season ever. The first two episodes left my wife and me feeling a little uncomfortable since it felt like somewhat of a departure from the consistently great episodes of season one. But a tweet from Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard) calmed some fears when he revealed that they wrote the first three episodes anticipating that viewers would be able to watch all three back-to-back, as they could when season one dropped. I can confirm that episode three sets the show back on course.

Schmigadoon! — This dramedy/musical combo took me by surprise. Both in how funny and entertaining it was and how quickly it’s going to be over. Just six episodes to the season mean the finale comes out this Friday, and they have a lot of loose ends to tie up. It’s a fun watch, though!

Hobbies I’m Hobbying

Starting a new job has taken up a lot of my time and mental energy. So besides getting back into a consistent weekly running schedule, I haven’t been hobbying much this month. Well, I guess I’ve also been making some wallpapers and shirts and taking Phin to the local dog park. Once I’m out of training and my hours at work settle out, I’m looking forward to building trips to the rock gym into my week, too.

Written from Brunswick, OH 🗺
On a 2020 11-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard ⌨️
While enjoying a Gin and Coke 🥃

Now Journal

From the very first episode, Ted Lasso has included a nod toward Twitter. At the time, Ted professed to not being on Twitter, but his stance against social media has taken a 180-degree turn since the show sprung into the mainstream. A new reference to Twitter was made in season two when Ted advised Sam not to believe everything he reads on the internet, citing the existence of a Twitter account for his own mustache as proof that it can be a bananas place.

If you use Twitter and have any sort of interest in Ted Lasso, you may have seen that the show’s characters are breaking free from the confines of streaming television to make a debut on the social network. It started with tweets from an official (and verified) account for Ted’s persona. It’s a delight. Ted tweets with his lovable voice, commenting on football news and making references toward things happening in the show. I particularly enjoyed a recent prank tweet from the account, which coincided with a “Led Tasso” takeover of the account for the day:

Ted Lasso:

I love tea.

But Ted isn’t the only character with a persona that has extended from the TV show into “real” internet-verse. Two other main characters have accounts started, as well as another dedicated to the fictional football team itself. Here’s a list of all the official Ted Lasso Twitter accounts that I was able to find:

• AFC Richmond (@AFCRichmond)
• Ted Lasso (@TedLasso)
• Coach Beard (@TheCoachBeard)
• Keeley Jones (@TheKeeleyJones)

Coach Beard plays off Ted as well online as he does in the show. As the marketing guru for AFC Richmond, as well as an in-show influencer, it makes sense that Keeley has also bridged the gap to real-world Twitter.

Coach Beard:

I am in the market for a new chess partner. My former partner is…no longer available. So, if you live in the Richmond area and have a Class A chess rating or higher, give me a shout.

Keeley Jones:

new season, new job, new twitter account for urs truly. cant have my bum all over my professional account n e more!! 😜 follow for branding tips and fit footballers xxx

What I’ve found most interesting about these Twitter accounts is that they post not only about content from the show but also about related things happening in real life. Notably, when Lionel Messi left the Barcelona team earlier this week, the Ted account played off the many suggestions that he was headed to play for AFC Richmond as a third ace. (The tweet has since been deleted, unfortunately.)

There are plenty of unofficial accounts dedicated to the show’s characters, but I’ll draw your attention to one that I’ve found fun to follow. AFC Richmond News (@afcrichmondnews) provides commentary on what’s happening with the team, in and out of their games, as if from a news outlet within the world of Ted Lasso.

AFC Richmond News:

UNBELIEVABLE PHOTO of “Lust Conquers All” star Jamie Tartt and former coach @TedLasso reunited. pic.twitter.com/KRtqumJuHx

The Ted Lasso characters are lovable agents for good, and it’s wonderful to “interact” with them outside of watching each week’s new episode. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other characters appear on Twitter as season two progresses and grows in popularity. I’d love to see Sam advocating for corporate policy change, Roy gruffly remarking on football games, and Rebecca and Flo “Sassy” Collins bantering back and forth. I say keep the Ted Lasso universe expanding!

In the meantime, I recommend giving those existing accounts a follow. And because I couldn’t help myself, I’m happy to introduce a new shirt in my Ted Lasso collection. This one, AFC Richmond Squad, is available on Cotton Bureau and lets you show off your love for your favorite characters from the show. It was inspired by the shirt that Jason Sudeikis wore in support of British football players who were recently grossly harassed online.

Written from Brunswick, OH 🗺
On a 2020 11-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard ⌨️
While enjoying a Southern Comfort and Coke 🥃

Merch TV Shows

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

1. In Memoriam: Canon PIXMA MP610 — Alan Ralph

I can’t even remember when I originally bought you, definitely late 2000s. Your print head had trouble with ink in your later years, much as my own head lacks for hair, but you struggled on regardless. You finally keeled over while I was fetching some more plain paper… but did you have to do that right after I’d changed the black ink cartridge???

I, too, had to replace a beloved printer earlier this year. It lasted me close to a decade, and through many road trips and abuse in summer camp offices. But printer must get some sort of sick pleasure at dying right after you purchase more ink because that’s exactly what mine did, too.

2. Bugs can be quite cute when viewed super close-up.

3. Bugs Bunny Explains How LeBron Helped Him Get Sober For Role In ‘Space Jam’ Sequel — The Onion

“No one else wanted to stand up to me because I was a big celebrity,” the Looney Tunes star added. “But LeBron looked me right in the eyes and asked, ‘What’s up, doc?’—and I could tell he meant it.”

The Onion with another winner. It kind of disturbed me as a child, but I feel like I need to check out Space Jam again.

4. Variety on Twitter with Hannah and Juno of Ted Lasso

Go behind the scenes of Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple’s Variety cover shoot as they dish on their #TedLasso castmates and put their knowledge of each other to the test. https://t.co/KIsEeeVrPj pic.twitter.com/WWRJ1zlkru

This video is such a delight. I love seeing actors who are as good of friends off screen as they are on screen.

5. Concept: Rethinking Safari in iOS 15 with the same core design principles and goals — 9to5Mac

Countless folks, including myself, have tried to come up with ways to “fix” the new design and make it more familiar and comfortable to use. This is my latest try. What I wanted to do was to follow the same principles and aim for the same goal. A mobile browser that’s easy to use in one hand and one that makes switching between sites on the fly a breeze.

This is another concept that builds on the Maps app UI. I like the creativity and think it’s heading in the right direction.

6. Forget RCS: Here’s Apple can make iMessage better for iPhone users now — Macworld

Just this past week, I was in a lengthy family message thread, populated mostly with Apple device users, but with a few Android owners in the mix. And there I encountered the problem that has annoyed every iMessage user at some point: you respond to a message with a tapback (those handy thumbs up/thumbs down/heart/etc) and the message thread spits out “Dan liked” followed by the entire text of the original message.

My mom has become prolific at using Tapbacks. I really like them, but they do kind of get in the way in message threads with non-iMessage users. And emoji tapbacks would be awesome!

7. Running the Isle - Patagonia

Even so, it’s also said to be the most revisited. Isle Royale “certainly gets a hold on people,” one park service employee told me. After years of wondering about the Isle, I finally went this May. But planning a running trip was full of uncertainties. Few runners visit on any given year, making reliable information scarce.

[…]

Once I set foot on the island, everything that felt uncertain shifted to possibility. The unknown became promising. I was happy to be alone, to have time in the wilderness to myself, to just be. I had changed my route three times, but after arriving the only plan was to not get injured or lost. I was on island time, and there wasn’t a mosquito in sight. Instead of a through-route, I opted for a series of base camps and long loop runs.

My first real backpacking venture was on Isle Royale with my sister. It was a high school graduation gift from her, and ended up being a transformative experience in my life. The peace and challenge I found in the backcountry there is something I long for on a daily basis. I’d love to get back to Isle Royale sometime, and doing some extended runs there sounds like a unique adventure that really appeals to me.

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. Fjorden: Faster camera controls, now on your iPhone — Kickstarter

Never miss the perfect shot again with Fjorden, the world’s first pocketable, professional iPhone camera grip. Whether you’re shooting street, portrait, or travel: Fjorden lets you achieve your creative vision.

It’s not for me, but the Fjorden, an accessory that gives your iPhone DSLR-like controls, looks pretty neat. It’d be even cooler if it just attached with MagSafe, rather than a specific phone case. The Kickstarter has 12 days left if you’re interested.

2. A Sick Ride in 1871 [via Marina Amaral on Twitter]:

In 1871, a woman from Quebec hired a hearse with the sole intention of riding around town smoking in the coffin-bed while enjoying the view. pic.twitter.com/HBp9E9kqQF

Very chill. Very cool.

3. Shot on iPhone | Film Techniques: Behind the Scenes | Apple - YouTube

Learn a few simple iPhone filmmaking techniques to turn your movies into The Movies.

Lesson 01, Fun with the Ultra Wide Camera: A simple perspective trick can make a monster movie.

Lesson 02, DIY Crane Shot: All you need to replicate this big budget camera shot is an iPhone, a soft surface, a dark space, and some glitter.

Lesson 03, Lighting Effects: Only a camera as small and light as the iPhone can be mounted onto a bike wheel to capture this exact technique.

This is super fun! I want to try out some of these techniques.

4. 7777 Days, Noah Kalina - Instagram

In a second step, once the faces were upscaled and aligned, Michael looped through all of the images and averaged them with a sliding window approach: Each frame in the video shows the average face of the last 60 faces. Or in other words, each frame shows the ‘average Noah’ over the last 2 months. With a video frame rate at 60Hz, this means Noah ages in this video 2 month every second, or 10 years every minute.

If you remember, Noah Kalina (whom I’ve linked to a few different times) did a project taking a picture of his face everyday for over 20 years. This is a new composite of those photos and it’s mesmerizing.

5. Pricing Experiments You Might Not Know, But Can Learn From - CXL

People are weird and irrational, and there’s much we don’t understand. For example, why do shoppers moving in a counterclockwise direction spend on average $2.00 more at the supermarket?

Why does removing dollar signs from prices (24 instead of $24) increase sales?

What will work for you depends on your industry, product, and customer. When you try to replicate what Valve did to increase their revenue 40x, it might not work for you, but then again, why not give it a try?

Here’s a list of pricing experiments and studies you can get ideas from and test on your own business.

Pricing strategies and human behavioral economics are fascinating subjects. This article breaks down different strategies to explain how and why they work. I’m keeping this bookmarked for the next time I price a product.

6. How a Dead Girl in Paris Ended Up With The Most-Kissed Lips in History — Science Alert

For a toymaker accustomed to manufacturing miniature cars and play-dolls, it was a challenge to make a realistic, functional mannequin; one that could reliably demonstrate the physical complexities of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Aside from the technical issues, what kind of face would he give to this giant doll?

That’s when Laerdal recalled a strange, enigmatic half-smile. A serene mask he’d seen hanging on the wall at his in-laws’ house.

An unidentified drowning victim, a model mask, a life-saving training doll. I’d never have guessed at the strange and mysterious origins of the CPR Annie doll that I’ve used countless times in first-aid trainings.

7. Mad Men. Furious Women. — Musings Of A Wandering Mind

The numbers we’re used to examining, such as the number of women in agency leadership, the number of female creative directors, the number of female graduates entering the workforce - are all great when it comes to monitoring representation, which is critical, but they do not and cannot track the abuse which takes place behind the scenes.

Why? Because no one asks and no one tells.

Not a fun read by Zoe Scaman, but an important one. You and I each have a responsibility to keep our eyes open for misogyny, to shut it down, and to support those who experience it.

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

It seems to me that when it comes to Apple’s Memoji, you fall into one of two camps: you either love them, or you hate them.

As someone who falls squarely into the first camp — I’ve grown very fond of my Memoji and can’t wait for new clothing styles to be released this fall — I’d love for it to be easier to use my Memoji in more places. For me, once I’ve found an avatar image that I’m happy with, I want to use it everywhere. Anytime I need to make a new account somewhere on the internet, plop, in goes my Memoji. That’s why services like Gravatar remain popular to this day!

The good news is that with macOS 12 Monterey, we will indeed be able to use our Memoji in a new place: the login screen, and with a twist! Not only will your Memoji be able to be set as your account picture, but it will also be animated as well.

But I think they should be even more available. As it stands today, the process of saving a Memoji for use on the internet goes something like this:

1. Create and customize a Memoji to your preference in the Messages app.
2. Go into recording mode as if you were going to send an animated Memoji message to someone.
3. Make the pose that you want to capture, and take a screenshot.
4. In the Photos app, crop the screenshot to remove the superfluous UI. You’re left with your Memoji on a white background.
5. Repeat with different Memoji styles and poses if you’d like some options.
6. Pro-tip: Share all the Memoji screenshots to an “Avatars” Shared Album. You don’t need to share it with anyone else, but that album will be available across all your devices signed into iCloud. Then you can delete the originals from your main photo library if you don’t want them mixed in with your actual photos.

What I’d prefer, however, is the ability to capture a unique Memoji pose, or choose from some presets, any time that I need to upload an avatar picture. I’d like to see Apple add a Memoji option to the file upload context menu. Not everyone uses or likes Memoji, so maybe that option only appears once you’ve configured a Memoji, or users could be allowed to turn it off in Settings.

Apple has clearly gone all-in on Memoji, as showcased by the last two WWDCs and yearly improvements in iOS and iPadOS. Making them easier to use in more places would help Memoji to become even more ubiquitous — good for Apple — and give users more ways to connect with their digital likeness, which they may have spent a lot of time customizing to get just right. A win-win.

Written from Brunswick, OH 🗺
On an M1 Mac mini ⌨️
While enjoying a Black Cherry Hard Seltzer 🍺

I’ve got to get something off my chest. It’s an inconsequential annoyance, but it bothers me nonetheless.

Why do so many apps show an age in the App Store that is far beyond their version history?

While not a given, I often use an app’s age in my purchasing decision tree to determine if I think the app will be (1) kept usable and up-to-date for the long term and (2) if the developer has some experience to back up their app. So if I see an app that is 10 years old, I have different expectations than if it’s less than a year old.

Lately, however, when I double-check by looking at the version history, the two don’t line up. It’s particularly noticeable when I read about a new app’s debut, only to notice an unexpected age on its page in the App Store.

Take Breathable, for example. By all accounts, it’s a stupendous app for providing high-quality widgets that display your local air quality index. I read about its introduction on Daring Fireball. Low and behold, it’s listed as 4+ years old on its App Store page:

But wait, wasn’t it just introduced as a 1.0? Maybe it had a really long “beta” period with some 0.x releases. Let’s check the version history:

Nope. Just a couple weeks old. The only explanations that I can guess at is either the Xcode project is just that old and that’s where the metadata is sourced from, or the app’s developer account age somehow plays into the calculation. But I couldn’t tell you, and that bothers me.

If I can’t use the app age metadata to accurately judge an app’s longevity, why does it deserve such prominent placement?

---

UPDATE: Turns out, the answer is simple, and I’ve been too obtuse to notice. Joe McLaughlin schooled me on Twitter:

Isn’t that the Age Rating for that app?

Yup. It totally is the age rating. A tap on the label (which I swear I’ve tried before) brings you down to more information which even includes a helpful “Learn More” link to read about the age rating groups. Mystery solved.

I’ll say this upfront: I’m not a photographer by nature. Sure, I use my iPhone’s camera almost every day and love many of the shots that come off it. But honest-to-goodness, compose-the-shot, consider-the-lighting, sweat-the-perspective — you know, real photography — isn’t a hobby that I’ve explored. Not for lack of interest, mind you, because I’m astounded and inspired at some of the shots that I see everyday hobbyists producing. No, I think my avoidance is for two primary reasons:

1. The times that I want great photos are when I least want to be taken out of the moment to capture them.
2. The complexity of camera settings. Learning about ISO, f-stop, RAW, and other photography jargon feels like a huge barrier.

I should also mention that I recently sold our hand-me-down Canon DSLR after not touching it for years. So why am I now dreaming of a standalone (and likely exorbitantly expensive) Apple-designed camera? Let’s dig in.

Staying in the Moment

On trips into the backcountry, while enjoying a dinner date with my wife, and during social events with friends are the times I’m most interested in capturing terrific photos. But those moments are also when I’m most self-conscious about whipping out my phone to snap a pic. Even though the iPhone has long produced fantastic photos despite its constraints as a pocketable device with minuscule lenses, I’m loathed to get sucked into my phone/widescreen iPod/internet communicator. Although being glued to our devices is both commonplace and accepted, I don’t feel great about getting my phone out in those situations. My college friends and I used to have dinners with our phones stacked in the center of the table so that we’d stay focused on each other. If you reached for it before the end of the meal, you paid the tab.

Instead, what I’d prefer for those occasions when I know I’d like to take stellar photos but not risk getting distracted (or be perceived as distracted) is to use something akin to a Kindle. The Kindle is excellent for reading because it does one thing, and one thing only, really well: let you read books. I want that, but for taking pictures. I envision a device that includes all the photo smarts Apple has built into iPhones, like Smart HDR 3, Night Mode, panoramas, slow-mo, and time-lapse, but without the infinity pools of web browsing and the App Store.

It’s the pinnacle of first-world problems to long for a second device to save us from the issues that the first device created, I know. But the same reason I prefer to run with only an Apple Watch or read books on a Kindle applies here. I don’t want to be yanked out of the moment by an ill-timed notification or my inability to ignore emails. In an always-connected world, it’s the disconnected bits that center us and remind us of our roots.

Leveraging Apple’s Strengths

Okay, so a dedicated, prosumer camera. That order shouldn’t be too hard to fill, right? Sony and Canon have incredible handheld cameras these days. So why not just use one of them? In short, because of the ecosystem.

Software

While I’ve thought that Apple should introduce a DSLR-type camera for a while, it was a recent ATP episode that rekindled my curiosity about what this piece of hardware could be. Marco, too, advocated for a camera that married Apple’s software stack to hardware that would provide the best image data for that pipeline to process from the start.

Marco voiced what I felt was critical to the whole reason for taking high-quality photos: we want to do something with them. We want to revisit and reflect on them years later. We want to post them on social media to show off the beautiful bits of our lives. We want to share them with the people who were part of the moment. And we don’t want to have to muddy up the way we already know how to do those things. So pictures taken with this Apple Camera should just show up in the place we already go for all our photos, which is our iCloud Photo Library in the Photos app.

I said that I don’t want to be able to check my Instagram feed on this camera. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to have to ability to seamlessly post the photos to Instagram when the time is right. However, hooking the camera up to an iPhone or Mac, or, hell, even moving pictures with an SD card, already feels antiquated in our increasingly wireless world. Instead, I think this camera should be internet-connected insofar that it could upload things directly to your iCloud Photo Library over a cellular connection. Both for safekeeping and ease of sharing, I think a dedicated hotline to iCloud is essential for this device. I envision snapping a picture with the camera and, only seconds later, pulling it up on my iPhone to send in Messages or post online.

Hardware

As discussed by the boys on ATP, Apple could be considered the biggest camera company in the world. The entire time that Apple has been advancing in the world of photography, however, they’ve made cameras in an “oxygen-scarce” environment. So far, primary goals for their cameras have been to fit within bare millimeters and have the least impact on battery life. I don’t see everyday users clamoring for an iPhone with inches worth of lens poking out from the back. And yet, Apple has been able to produce cameras that can take genuinely incredible photos. Just scroll through #ShotOniPhone for examples of what can be done despite minuscule glass and image sensors. Can you even imagine what would be possible with large traditional lenses and a full-sized image sensor, combined with Apple’s processing stack?

Of course, an Apple-designed camera would feel great in hand and cater to the less technical among us. I’m not looking for the camera with the most buttons and dials. I’m seeking one that helps me to take tack-sharp photos, with natural bokeh, without a ton of fiddling. Advanced controls could be present but perhaps accessible within the software interface. It would have a flip-around screen for taking selfies. It would have point-and-shoot capability with instant auto-focus. It would be made of high-quality materials shaped into a timeless design. I have immense faith in Apple’s design team here.

An area where I’d like to see some Apple innovation is with zoom lenses. Besides being an accessory category that I’m sure Apple would love to enter, I could see them improving how lenses attach to the camera. Perhaps the camera body would be compact enough to slip into a pocket or purse and function without an extra lens attached. Then you’d put an interchangeable lens over the standard one. I don’t know if that’s possible, but perhaps Apple can do something special like they did with Apple Watch band connections.

The point of this device is to take great photos, to do it quickly and without distraction, and to look good while doing it.

A Dream That Could Become Reality?

Will this product ever exist? Of course, I have no idea. Apple famously enters only product categories that it believes it can significantly impact and that will sell well. But there are enough photography nerds at Apple, including Apple Fellow Phil Schiller, that I’d be surprised if a prototype didn’t already exist somewhere within Apple Park.

As a reference point, check out the Leica camera designed by Jony Ive, Apple’s previous Chief Design Officer, back in 2013.

To sum up this long, meandering wish-cast, these are the fundamental elements I propose for an Apple Camera:

• Dedicated device with traditional, disconnected camera sensibilities
• Deep integration with Apple’s ecosystem (i.e., the iCloud Photo Library)
• Apple silicon for image signal processing
• Iconic Apple industrial design

I would be very interested in such a device. I see myself slipping it into my bag or slinging it over my shoulder on outings. I could leave my phone behind and still capture, without breaking, the moment.

Written from Brunswick, OH 🗺
On a 2020 11-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard ⌨️
While enjoying a Gin & Coke 🥃 by a campfire 🔥

Here’s another instance of Spotify building something I’ve longed for in Apple Music:

Easily access your What’s New feed by clicking the new bell icon (🔔), located at the top of the Home tab on your phone. A blue dot indicator on the bell icon will let you know at a glance if new songs or episodes have been released since your last visit.

As it is, I rely on separate apps for tracking releases from artists in my library. But it would be so much better if they copied this straightforward thing and gave us a running list of all the releases. As it is, Apple Music’s notifications for new albums appear with no rhyme or reason that I can discern, and you can’t return to one after tapping on it.

I’m also a fan of the concept of “following” an artist:

Looking to add more content to your What’s New feed? Simply head over to your favorite artist and show pages and tap “Follow” in order to have their new releases appear in your What’s New feed over time.

Artists of music in your library would automatically be followed (though you should be able to unfollow specific ones at your discretion), and you should be able to follow artists whose music you haven’t saved, too.

Go to the linked site →

Linked Music

I’m the kind of person who likes to tinker, to fiddle, to update, to improve. So I was thrilled to find RoutineHub, which is a straightforward place for sharing shortcuts and, critically, keeping them updated over time.

It’s not overtly obvious, but an iCloud link created by Shortcuts is like a snapshot. It captures the shortcut only at the moment that it’s shared, so any changes made in the future are not reflected in that link. If you wanted to share a newer version, a new iCloud link must be generated. So while old links, like those I put in blog posts, still work just fine, they don’t point to the newer, better version when I make a change.

That’s where RoutineHub comes in. My plan going forward is to make sure each post gets two links when I write about shortcuts I’ve created:

1. The original iCloud link. Since most of my blog posts about shortcuts contain screenshots, I want to make sure the original version can be referenced if a reader is following along.
2. The RoutineHub link. This lets readers get the latest version of the shortcut, and see a change-log of updates over time.

As an example, I’ve updated my post about the Stand Goal Cheater shortcut with a RoutineHub link. My hope is that this also provides a guard against link rot in case Apple or RoutineHub change their URLs in the future.

In a nice touch, RoutineHub makes it quick and painless to update shortcuts right from the Shortcuts app itself using RoutinePub. This shortcut allows you to send your latest shortcut link, a version number, and an update note to the correct entry on your profile — all from the Share Sheet using an API. Because of course they do.

My profile on RoutineHub is pretty bare-bones right now, but I’ll be filling it out with things I want to share in due course.

Shortcuts Blogging

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

---

I’m trying a slightly different format this week, trying to give more context around the links I’m sharing. Let me know what you think!

---

1. Steve Jobs in Kyoto — NHK WORLD - JAPAN

“On our first visit, I told him about the temple’s unique visual trick,” says Oshima. “The garden has fifteen stones but you cannot see all of them at once from a single vantage point.”

Oshima says Jobs immediately checked to see if this was true. He paced around, looking for the perfect spot to view the garden, but couldn’t find it.

“Then I explained the significance of the number: 15 means completion. In the past, men were recognized to have reached adulthood at the age of 15. A night with a full moon is called ‘Jyugoya’, or 15th night. The reason we can’t find all 15 rocks is that we’re still in a work in process.”

Captivating. There’s so much to see in the world. And apparently so much good sushi to eat!

2. Apple TV Foundation Adaption Commissioned After One-Sentence Pitch — 9to5Mac

When Apple asked me if I could pitch it in one sentence — they sort of asked it laughingly — I said: “It’s a 1,000-year chess game between Hari Seldon and the Empire, and all the characters in between are the pawns, but some of the pawns over the course of this saga end up becoming kings and queens.”

A one-sentence pitch. That’s hard to do. I couldn’t even do it to describe this link.

3. Tesla’s Self Driving Subscription — MacSparky

I thought about buying another car but instead decided to try an experiment where I’d just use my E-Bike to get around town and use a Lyft anytime I needed to go to a meeting. After doing that for about a year, my monthly Lyft budget was right around $199. So I guess you could say I’ve already paid the $199 per month self-driving subscription.

Another option worth considering, especially if you already have one vehicle at home and rarely commute to work.

4. DuckDuckGo Launches New Email Protection Service to Remove Trackers - The Verge

The Email Protection feature also integrates with the DuckDuckGo mobile browser and desktop browser extension, giving people the option to fill in their “@duck.com” address or generate a disposable address that forwards email to their inbox. The mobile and desktop browser extensions are linked by opening a link on the Email Protection welcome email in your desktop browser.

From then on, when email is received, scanned, cleaned of trackers, and forwarded to your email, DuckDuckGo inserts a small bar at the top of the email notifying of any trackers removed. Clicking on that bar allows a user to get more information on the trackers blocked or deactivate a disposable address that has been compromised.

I’ve not gotten into the fake email game for newsletters, free trials, etc. It always seemed too much hassle to be worth it, especially if I end up enjoying the service and need to log in later. I might give Hide My Email a try this fall with iOS 15, but I’ll admit that I prefer DuckDuckGo’s method of striping out the offending trackers.

5. A Close Look at the miniLED Backlighting in the 12.9-Inch M1-Powered iPad Pro — 9to5Mac

One of the headline features of this year’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro was the miniLED backlighting — or what Apple calls the Liquid Retina HDR display. A pair of new photos posted on Weibo provides a very close look at this tech.

You’ve got to check out the close-up photo in this article. I’ll never get over how the insides of Apple’s devices look so good, even though you’d never know.

6. The Handshake of Generations — Kottke

This video got me thinking. 262 years’ worth of impact is a lot of responsibility, and so much opportunity to do good for others.

7. Square Banking

For small businesses, Square has become a compelling one-stop shop. With their new banking service, you get access to sales faster, and can set up neat automations like saving a percentage of each sale toward a savings goal. That’s exactly how savings work in my mind. If I were to start a small business, I’d look first at Square.

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