We live in a world of endless entertainment. As Bo Burnham puts it, the internet has “anything and everything, all of the time.” And while that unlimited access is a modern miracle for which I am grateful, I also find myself paralyzed by choice.

There are so many great things to enjoy that even if I limit myself to recommendations from other people (rather than endlessly scrolling in search of content), my list still grows faster than I can work it down. And it does feel like work, sometimes, to read through my “read later” list, to check off that next episode or season of TV, to try out that next video game, to watch that saved YouTube video or developer session.

And that’s to say nothing of what I want to create. Should I tackle that next coding lesson? Or perhaps I should get to the blog post I’ve meant to write. Could I make a cool wallpaper? Maybe I’ll take a walk to clear my head. But actually, a walk is a prime opportunity to listen to one of the podcasts in my queue.

The problem, of course, isn’t that there are too many things to do and enjoy—the problem is that there isn’t enough time. Perhaps if I didn’t need to sleep, but no, I’m trying to catch up on that, too.

And to what end? To reduce the things I had set aside to enjoy to a simple checkmark? No, I take pleasure in the books and articles, the games, the podcasts, the movies—all of it. But with so much to get to, it’s not uncommon that I spend more time contemplating what to do than doing it.

The answers are simple. Cut down on the noise so that the signal can be heard. Create more, and consume less. Spend more time in silence. Throw out and start over.

The answers are simple but not easy.

Parker Ortolani, writing at 9to5Mac, imagined an Apple-designed smart display:

When a smart display isn’t in use, it should show a beautiful clock and/or pertinent information of your choosing. Apple already knows how to make beautiful clocks. They could extend the same watch faces that make Apple Watch such a beautiful timepiece to a larger display. Some of the complications could make the jump too, like Fitness rings.

There’s a lot to like about Parker’s concept. He’s right that all the pieces already exist within Apple’s ecosystem between aerial screensavers from tvOS, watch faces from watchOS, apps from iPadOS, and compelling hardware of course. One thing that I would add to the concept is widget support, which would be perfect for more dynamic, glanceable content.

Personally, I’ve had my eye on a Google Nest Hub as a kitchen device since the right solution from Apple doesn’t exist. While sticking an iPad in the kitchen is close, what it’s missing is a hands-free mode (Siri doesn’t cut it), and an ambient mode. For an ambient mode, I’m thinking of how the Nest Hub displays photos or a home status dashboard when not in use. A digital photo frame that ties into iCloud Photo Library would help my wife and I to more frequently enjoy all the memories we’ve captured over the years.

For FaceTime calls in a kitchen environment where people are rarely stationary, Center Stage would probably do the trick. But additional flexibility from a physically moving stand, like the Echo Show, would be welcome, too.

If such a device was introduced by Apple (running homeOS?), I’d be sorely tempted. Check out Parker’s piece for more on how Apple could pull together technologies from their various product lines and services, plus concept images.

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Linked

Oliver Haslam, writing at iMore:

As we found out yesterday, not all macOS Monterey features will not be available to those on Intel Macs. Portrait Mode in FaceTime, some Maps features, and on-device dictation are all out and that’s just the start. The missing features can be blamed on Intel chips and their lack of a Neural Engine in some cases. In others, it’s just a case of good old-fashioned performance — Apple is only confident that its M1 Macs can handle features like the high resolution, detailed all-new city maps experience it showed off on Monday.

The reasons for the features going walkabout on Intel Macs isn’t really important here. It’s the messaging. Or lack of it.

We all found out that Intel Macs were getting left behind two days after macOS Monterey was announced. Why? Because it was hidden at the bottom of the update’s preview page on apple.com.

I actually think this was a calculated decision. Apple is rumored to still have more Intel Macs to introduce. Understandably, they wouldn’t want to draw additional attention to OS features that those brand-new Macs won’t be able to use.

I’m sure when the whole lineup is powered by Apple silicon, Apple’s marketing team won’t pull any punches when compared to the competition.

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Linked

1. I discovered this post from Arun Venkatsen about Apple’s 1987 Identity Guidelines. Arun has a beautiful blog where he often discusses beautiful designs. I love to see the thought and attention to detail that companies put into their brands, and Apple—as you might expect—had a lot to say about its identity even as three-year-old company.
2. Doom now runs on an Ikea smart light bulb. Yep, you read that right.
3. In a totally unexpected move, Apple will soon allow custom domains with their iCloud+ service. If you use iCloud for your email (and pay at least $1 per month for extra storage), you’ll soon have the option to use something other than the @icloud.com domain in your email address. Perhaps an @heydingus.net address is in my future.
4. Some really powerful accessibility controls are coming to Apple products later this year. Giving users the ability to operate a device using only basic sounds and mouth noises in case they are non-verbal is so thoughtful.
5. Incredible attention to detail on this project where Armin, an Apple fan, meticulously recreated Apple I manuals by hand. He took scans and overlaid the correct typefaces on top, moving each letter individually to match the original typewriter positioning. He’s done the work and saved a bit of history. [Via 9to5Mac]
6. We got a first look at The Shrink Next Door, a dark comedy starring Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell, and Kathryn Hahn. With that lineup, I have no doubt it will be excellent. The show comes to Apple TV+ in November.
7. A couple great Twitter follows are That Gay Guy Candle Co. and One Fresh Pillow. I don’t have either of their products, but they both put out excellent tweets and play off each other all the time. It’s a riot.

7 Things

Dan Moren, writing at Six Colors:

iCloud Private Relay helps combat both of these loopholes through the use of a dual-hop architecture. Essentially, any traffic from Safari on an Apple device, as well as DNS queries, and a subset of app traffic (specifically insecure web traffic), will be routed through two separate servers: an ingress proxy managed by Apple that hides your IP address (by essentially slapping its own IP address on the request), and an egress proxy, run by “a content provider,” which only sees the server you’re trying to access.

I typically use a VPN when I’m at an airport or on other public networks and otherwise rely on cellular service. But it’s hit or miss that I remember to turn it on at all. A built-in solution that requires no configuration or user input will be a welcome addition.

It’s good to see that Apple has thought through the implications of iCloud Private Relay, including a solution for schools and other managed networks to disable it. But, users will also be notified and given the option not to use that network.

I am looking forward to turning this on, leaving it on, and removing my existing VPN.

Go to the linked site →

Linked WWDC

Igor Bonifacic at Engadget:

When you sit down to watch a movie or TV show, the included head tracking feature will lock in after it detects you’ve been looking in the same direction for a while. Once you get up to walk around, it will reactivate.

It turns out there was no hardware limitation after all. Apple just hadn’t gotten around to implementing it on tvOS yet. I can’t wait to give it a try this fall!

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Linked

I can’t stop thinking about how Apple has further democratized app development with their introductions at WWDC this year. Here’s Dan Moren at Six Colors on how Xcode Cloud means Mac developers can do more with less:

Obviously, moving parts of this process to a cloud-based system can bring significant advantages. For one thing, you’re not strictly limited by the hardware on which you’re writing your code. While developers often favor getting the most powerful system to help build their apps faster, letting users take advantage of the cloud opens the door for those who may not be able to afford high-end systems.

Speaking of opening the door, another (potentially more significant) new avenue for creating apps is with Swift Playgrounds on iPad. You’ve always needed a Mac to publish an app to the App Store, but that’s no longer the case. This, I think, will be a big deal.

For one, the entry price for a development machine just dropped significantly. The least expensive Mac starts at $699. The iPad starts at $329! So droves of people will soon be able to write and publish apps for the world’s most lucrative platform on a device that costs less than half the price of a Mac mini.

Second, think of all the people who use the iPad as their primary computer and can now become developers on their preferred platform. Three groups immediately come to mind:

• Children who grew up with iPads and can fly around iPadOS.
• Older folks who are drawn to the simplicity of the iPad and might be intimidated to learn to navigate the Mac.
• Students learning to code in Swift Playgrounds who can continue their education by building a complete app right there.
• People who prefer the direct manipulation and focus brought by iPadOS.

Many people used to think the iPad was suitable only for content consumption, not creation. While there are sure to be many caveats and asterisks about publishing an app from Swift Playgrounds, I think we’re at the precipice of a new generation of creative app development from people who have just had their world expanded.

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Though they didn’t get much time at last week’s keynote, Xcode Cloud and app development in Swift Playgrounds promise to bring more power to more people who create the digital tools we all use daily.

WWDC

Om Malik somehow captures my inner musing in his blog post. He successfully articulates why I started my own blog, and how I try to think of it in relation to social media:

In other words, one is a performance for an audience, while the other is highly personal, though others may end up finding it interesting.

But the meat of his piece is about how future media and news consumption will continue to look more like YouTube and TikTok than anything else, which in turn have their roots in blogging:

For the future of media — including blogging — look to YouTube, Snap, TikTok, and Instagram. By the way, the content on these platforms is often created and engaged with in a spirit much more analogous to that of traditional blogs than anything you’re likely to see on Twitter.

Om’s full post is worth the read.

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Linked Blogging

Jason Snell, writing at Six Colors:

Then there’s the Globe key. Hold it down in any app in iPadOS 15, and you’ll see a different set of commands, all of which can be applied globally. (Get it?) These menus are full of shortcuts to switch to the home screen (Globe-H), open a Quick Note (Globe-Q), activate Control Center (Globe-C), and pretty much any other system-level area.

and

On the Mac, systemwide shortcuts and individual app shortcuts can collide and interact in strange ways. It’s kind of a mess. On the iPad, Apple seems to be saying that global shortcuts use the Globe, and apps use the other modifiers. That makes… a lot of sense.

I think Jason is onto something here. Upon learning that Globe-Q was for Quick Note rather than Quit, like on the Mac (they did duplicate Command-H as Globe-H to go Home after all), I wondered how it would play out as a new modifier. I’d be interested to know if apps are prevented from using Globe key — that’d be another sure sign.

One other thing to note is that Apple’s new Macs and standalone keyboards come with the Globe key. I’d be surprised if these global commands didn’t also come to macOS in due time.

Oh, and I’ll +1 on global Shortcuts commands and media controls for the iPad, please.

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Linked

Hey, would you look at that — I designed a shirt! A shirt that you can actually buy and wear. It’s available on-demand at Cotton Bureau.

The HeyDingus Shirt is adorned with the blog’s new colorful logo, and available (at the time of posting) in a variety of colors as a t-shirt, sweatshirt, tank top, and even a onesie. The standard tee goes for $29, a small portion of which would come back to me in support of this site.

I’ve been a big fan of Cotton Bureau’s products for quite a while. Many of my favorite podcasters and bloggers have made apparel for their fans to purchase, and they’re both high-quality and super comfortable. I don’t presume this blog has fans yet, but it is still incredibly exciting to put a physical product out into the world — even if I’m the only one to buy one.

But, I certainly don’t want to be the only one, so if you like the design I’d sure appreciate if you’d share with your friends. They don’t have to know about HeyDingus, or even what a blog is to enjoy a colorful logo shirt. You can tell them it represents calm waves if you like.

If you do end up purchasing one, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to post a picture of you wearing it and tag @HeyDingusNet on Twitter.

Merch