Jason Snell, writing for Macworld:
The App Store era must end and the solution is already here.
It’s long past time for Apple to have open up iOS to applications from outside of the App Store. And now we have plenty of evidence to show that everything will be just fine if they do.
➝ Source: macworld.com
Jason Snell, writing on Six Colors:
What’s really causing all this consternation, I think, isn’t 1Password moving to Electron. Electron is a bit of a bogeyman. The root problem is this: 1Password, originally a Mac-forward software developer, has simply decided that the Mac isn’t important enough.
I know that those are harsh words, and that the people at AgileBits would argue with them. But in a blog post by Michael Fey, AgileBits’s VP of Engineering for Client Apps, the company laid out its entire development strategy. It’s a post meant to explain what the company is up to and tamp down a lot of angry hot takes (and probably should’ve been posted the moment it announced the Mac beta).
Fey’s post clearly spells out AgileBits’s priorities. Android and iOS apps are built with native platform frameworks in order to create the best app experience possible on mobile. For iOS, AgileBits decided to use Apple’s new SwiftUI framework rather than the venerable UIKit, in order to skate “to where the puck was going.” Their plan was to use SwiftUI on the Mac, too. In doing so, AgileBits was buying into the vision Apple has for SwiftUI as a tool to build interfaces across all of Apple’s platforms. Unfortunately, it seems that SwiftUI didn’t measure up on the Mac
It’s a shame that AgileBits is no longer going to be developing a native 1Password app for Mac. But given the state Apple’s relationship with developers and the rise of Electron usage, it sort of feels like moving to electron actually is “skating to where to puck is going”.
➝ Source: sixcolors.com
Jason Snell:
It’s clear to me now: Apple needs to make Shortcuts available everywhere. It’s the logical successor to Automator, and already does more than Automator—and better, too. Apple should hide Automator away somewhere for a while for compatibility reasons, but otherwise embrace Shortcuts on the Mac.
Seriously. Shortcuts is the only automation tool that really clicked for me. I use Automator and Alfred on the Mac, but mostly with automations that someone else built. And the ones I have built are pretty basic.
➝ Source: sixcolors.com
First, a bit of an excursion regarding the Apple TV’s remote — Jason Snell:
Look, I know the Apple TV Remote doesn’t have a lot going for it. It’s impossible to orient properly by touch, and a stray finger swipe can end up losing your place in whatever movie or TV show you’re watching. There are so many reasons to dislike it. And yet… I also kind of like the Apple TV Remote, if only because it enables rapid scrubbing through content (click the touchpad, then swipe left or right to move the cursor) in an efficient way that I haven’t seen from any other remote I’ve used. I like it. It’s not enough to make me recommend an Apple TV to anyone, but it’s enough for me to keep using my existing Apple TV and keep using the Apple TV remote rather than just switching full-time to my Logitech Harmony universal remote. And while I don’t really use Siri on Apple TV, I have friends who swear by it, especially its clever feature to jump back in time and turn on captioning to clarify a line of dialogue.
The remote deserves some criticism, but it receives far more than it should. Every TV and set-top-box remote is basically garbage and it seems like everyone forgets that when discussing the Apple TV remote.
I’ve been a fan of the Siri Remote since day one. The ability to control HomeKit devices with my voice, being able to quickly swipe through lists, and essentially acting as a universal remote is just so nice. We don’t use any other remotes in our house. The Apple TV remote turns our TV on and off, controls the volume of our receiver, and interacts with the only non-game console connected to our television.
I would argue that it’s actually the best TV remote I’ve ever used.
But back to Snell:
Which brings us back to the original question: Why does this product still exist, and is there anywhere for it to go next? Gruber and Thompson suggest that perhaps the way forward is to lean into an identity as a low-end gaming console. Maybe amp up the processor power, bundle a controller, and try to use Apple Arcade to emphasize that this is a box that is for more than watching video.
Apple should, absolutely, continue building the Apple TV. Because people who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.
Apple can’t control what other set-top-box and TV manufacturers do. If they were to develop a new video codec, a new technology for streaming video that requires a dedicated hardware chip, the ability to hand-off video from iPhones like you can with audio to a HomePod — what are the chances that these other companies would support it? How long would they support it for? What if their implementation didn’t work well?
If Apple wants to be in the living room, they need to make their own box to ensure a rock solid, predictable experience. I’m actually surprised that companies like Netflix and Hulu aren’t building their own boxes too.
➝ Source: sixcolors.com
Jason Snell:
The way MacBook batteries charge is about to change. Apple has released a new developer preview of macOS Catalina 10.15.5, and as these releases often do, it contains a new feature: Battery Health Management.
The new feature, which will only be available on Mac notebooks with Thunderbolt 3 ports, enables a new default approach to charging and discharging MacBook batteries. According to Apple, the feature is meant to reduce the rate of chemical aging of the MacBook’s battery, thereby extending its long-term lifespan—but without compromising on day-to-day battery life.
This is the type of feature that I love seeing from Apple — something that seems infinitely obvious, but only after you’ve heard about it.
➝ Source: sixcolors.com
Jason Snell:
Apple didn’t just copy Mac cursor support and paste it into iPadOS with version 13.4. This is a careful, considered set of additions that rethink what a cursor should look like. And apparently it should look like an adorable round sticky color-changing blob.
The cursor in iPadOS 13.4 is very thoughtfully designed. It’s downright delightful to use. But beyond that, I have two distinct impressions of this feature:
These opinions could change over time, especially if I purchase the Magic Keyboard with the built-in trackpad. But I’m so happy that this feature exists. If only because it seems to be encouraging less enthusiastic iPad owners to reconsider the platform.
➝ Source: sixcolors.com
An excellent media player that can playback just about any file format you throw at it. I first heard about it in Jason Snell’s updated piece on ripping DVDs and Blu-rays. I’ve been trying it out for the past day and it’s very impressive. The design is better than any competing app and it has support for picture-in-picture, the Touch Bar, and dark mode.
IINA has practically replaced VLC for me, with the only exception being that it isn’t capable of easily switching between titles when I point it at the folder of a ripped Blu-ray disc.
➝ Source: iina.io
Jason Snell, writing on Six Colors:
The severe restrictions of the Mac App Store’s security policies were one of the reasons most frequently cited by developers who decided to bail out on the store and just go back to selling apps directly. It’s no coincidence that two notable developers who abandoned the Mac App Store, Bare Bones and Panic, were highlighted in a slide at the WWDC Keynote: That’s Apple sending a message to developers that the Mac App Store is changing and that they might want to give it a second look. I’d expect Apple to continue in this direction with the Mac App Store in the future.
The Mac App Store is a great opportunity for Apple to provide a safe storefront for customers and a means of discovery for the best Mac apps. But Apple must create an environment where developers can build apps that have the features that their customers want. Up until now, Apple wasn’t doing a good enough job in that respect. But I’m glad that they made the necessary changes to get the likes of Panic and Bare Bones Software back on board.
