Yep, I’m launching an app later this week to coincide with the release of iOS 9. Development started many weeks ago and was initially a hobby project, but I turned it into a fully-fledged app ready for release.
Introducing Freedom - an iOS 9 content blocker that blocks most ads and tracking scripts, resulting in a cleaner, faster, smoother and less data-heavy web browsing experience.
Beta tester feedback has been fantastic so far, and I’m super excited about this launch. Can’t wait to get Freedom into the hands of users.
Having just picked up Apple’s latest iPod touch (6th gen.) earlier today, I decided to run a few benchmarks to compare it to my iPhone 6. I’m aware its A8 chip is slightly under clocked when compared to the iPhone 6, but I’m still hugely impressed by the results.
Worth noting, both devices were running the public release build of iOS 8.4 during the benchmark tests, so it’s a more-than-fair comparison. :)
I’ve only owned it for a few hours, but I’m impressed with the iPod touch. It’s no secret I’ve loved the iPod touch ever since the second generation model was my first iOS device, and I continue to find ample use for it in my life - which more than justifies the $349AU (32GB model) price tag.
Found this neat little advertisement for my app, Daily Steps. It was quite a while ago when I made it. I still love it today. It’s simple, yet effective…
Today I tried on an Apple Watch Edition. The 42mm Yellow Gold model, to be precise, with a black sport band.
Briefly, I wish to discuss the try-on experience…
I was greeted warmly by the Apple Store employee who would go on to be my Apple Watch expert. He lead me upstairs (middle level of a 3 level store), and not to some secret room as some other people have experienced. He took me casually to a table in the middle of the store, a part of the store where many customers pass through on their way to the Genius Bar or to One-to-One sessions. After filling out some details on his iPod touch communication tool, the employee spoke into his two-way radio and I heard him call for the model of watch I wanted to try on. About ten minutes passed in between this and the watch arriving, during which we made small talk about the Apple Watch, whereby he told me what he liked about his, explained just how much interest there really has been in the Edition model and finally his thoughts and opinions on Apple Music. Which, for the record, were as textbook as you’d expect from any Apple employee. It was apparent to me that he’d been well briefed on the features of Apple Music to point out to customers as he guided me through a discussion about the perks of Beats 1 and the usefulness of the Connect feature in Apple Music.
From a door which I presumes leads to the back of the store emerged another Apple staff member, carrying a small blue box - not unlike a fancy jewellery box. She headed towards the table where the employee and I were standing, and she was accompanied by a security guard. She gave the box to the employee I was with and walked off, while the security guard took his place about 5 meters behind me. Subtle and not hugely intimating, but his presence was still known to me.
The lid comes off the box, with the employee explaining to me how it doubles as a charging case. By this point I just wanted to try on the watch – come on, I’ve read enough about this thing to know you can also plug a lightning port into the back of it. And there it is, the seventeen thousand dollar Yellow Gold Apple Watch, in all of its glory…
So I tried it on and yada yada, it’s nice. Its beautiful. It makes me wish I had a spare $17,000, yet even then I don’t think I’d be crazy enough to spend it on a watch…
First impressions:
- Oh my, the gold
- Looks great
- IT’S GOLD
- Sport band is an appropriate fit… not too flashy, and very comfortable
- IT’S STILL GOLD!
- Noticeably heavier than the Sport and Steel models. In a nice way, it felt like a very premium watch.
After a few minutes with the watch on, it had run through the demo loop a few times, I felt the haptic feedback and heard a “ding” from a few demo notifications and I decided I was done with the try on. I’d seen everything I needed to.
I took the watch off, thanked the employee, and went on about my day. Overall, it was a pleasant experience, and one which was a lot more casual and laid back than I’d expected. There was no secret room guarded by 10 pin codes and 3 security guards. Just myself and an Apple employee at a table in the middle of a busy Apple Store, with the distant presence of a security guard.
I’ve seen, held and worn a $17,000 Apple Watch Edition. Is my life complete yet? Certainly not, but I suppose I’m one step closer to being able to say it is…
I finally got around to looking at The New MacBook in store today, and I must say it’s rather impressive. Nothing really took me by surprise, although I was pleasantly surprised to find I like the new keyboard.
I typed extensively on it, and there were a few typos here and there that I wouldn’t usually make, but after a while I got into a pleasant rhythm. I feel as though with a bit more time, I’d be significantly faster and more accurate typing on this thing that on the keyboard of my current MacBook Pro.
It’s still a “no buy” for me at the moment, for two primary reasons: - A 12″ screen is just too small. There’s no two ways about it. Using a scaled resolution doesn’t help much either – it’s just too small. I’d be a lot more serious about a similar MacBook with a 13 or 14″ screen. But as it is, the 13″ screen on my current MacBook Pro does the job, albeit a little on the small side, and I certainly couldn’t move to anything smaller. - It was noticeably slower than my current MacBook Pro. Not in a bad way and certainly not in a way that would be perceived as slow for most users, but coming from a computer with a powerful i7 processor, a 1.1GHz Core M chip just doesn’t cut it. Even adding an extra second or two onto the opening of most applications on the computer is enough of a performance loss for me not to be interested. And I didn’t even begin to compile code on it…
This is not to say the MacBook isn’t a good machine, because it is. It’s also not to say it won’t get better in future models over time, but at this point I don’t think the hits in screen real estate and performance are worth the benefit of a stunningly thin and light design. There’s certainly a lot of potential for the MacBook – a computer that’s right for 80% of people, 80% of the time.
But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.
Taylor is a big deal for Apple and for the music industry. This letter is also a big deal. But will it be enough to force action? I’d say not. Only time will tell…
I’m all for supporting artists, and Taylor’s letter has hit the nail right on the head. Best of luck to content creators in their push for greater royalties on their work. I’m behind them one hundred percent.
So… about two hours ago my Pebble Time arrived! It’s an early-bird Kickstarter model, and I’m thrilled.
I hope to write up a full blog post / review of it in the coming weeks once I’ve spent more time with it, but here are my first impressions:
- Noticeably smaller than the original Pebble
- It feels heavier (it might not be, maybe it’s just more dense)
- It looks nice. Yes, you can argue that the original Pebble looked awkwardly large and clunky, but this is certainly not the case with Pebble Time. It’s slimmer, with a curved ergonomic design which makes it not only look nice but feel comfortable on the wrist.
- The watch strap/band is amazing. Seriously. It’s night and day between the original Pebble band and this… it’s super soft and smooth. It rivals the Apple Watch Sport band for comfort.
- Finally, the colour screen is nice. It does look a bit washed out when the backlight is on and you’re viewing it indoors but for what it is (a colour, e-paper display) it exceeds my expectations. Not to mention that even though the screen is technically the same DPI, it looks a lot sharper due to the colour. I didn’t expect this, so it was a nice surprise.
A three month gap between ordering it and it arriving seems awfully lengthy, but I won’t go on about that now. I’m happy with it so far- it looks and feels good. I will write further with thoughts on the new hardware, software and features, as well as everything else Pebble Time has to offer.
Caught up in the noise of WWDC week, I think this initiative from Apple is one which has flown under the radar. I see it as a move of huge significance, and as the beginning of a renewed focus toward the Mac App Store. There have been complaints recently about the profitability and sustainability of developing for the Mac, so the incentive to sign up for a $99 developer licence to write apps for a mediocre store just isn’t there. But by now making it free to millions of existing iOS developers, we could see a surge and push towards more Mac “companion” or even standalone apps from these developers, which would be a huge boost for both the store and platform.
I know for myself it has got me thinking about experimenting with a Mac app – something which I would never have done a week ago.
This is really neat. Would never have considered Mac development prior to today- now I seriously am! #WWDC15pic.twitter.com/74sXMLqTt0
You read that right. No, I don’t mean iPhone 6 Plus. Yep, iPhone 6 is too big.
It’s now been over 8 months since a brand new and shiny iPhone 6 arrived at my doorstep, and ever since then I’ve battled with the question “Is this thing too big?” Last week, I decided the answer to that question is unequivocally yes.
Note: Your milage may vary, I’m not saying it’s too big for everyone. It’s just too big for me and I’ll explain why over the course of this post.
It doesn’t fit in pockets, it can’t be carried as easily, it’s more difficult to balance when holding it with only one hand… the list goes on. For me, my phone is meant to be a portable computer. Emphasis on portable. Something I can slide in and out of a pocket, something I can hold and use discretely. I lost both of those characteristics when upgrading to the iPhone 6. I use my phone primarily for messaging, browsing Twitter, quickly looking up info on the web, for music and of course for listening to a tonne of podcasts. None of those things benefit from me having a physically larger phone. For any serious web browsing or computing, I have a MacBook Pro which does the job perfectly.
There’s no doubt that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the two best and most advanced smart phones ever released by Apple. From their camera, to Touch ID, to the processing power, even to the physical design and shape of the phones, they beat out every previous generation hands down. But iPhone 6 is just too big. For me.
My decision was confirmed the other day when I put my iPhone 6 in an armband to go running with. The result? A phone thicker than my arm. I don’t want my phone to be this large. This is when I realised it’s gone beyond the point of portability – it’s a liability to carry.
The design is amazing, it feels so nice and soft in the hand, yet iPhone 6 is still too big. Unnecessarily so. The ONLY benefit of having a larger phone is that typically larger phone’s have bigger batteries and hence get better battery life. iPhone 6 wins out by a considerable margin over my old iPhone 5s when it comes to battery, there’s no question there. But is the tradeoff worth it? I’ve decided it isn’t.
So, my next phone? I won’t be buying another iPhone with a 4.7″ screen. Hopefully a 4″ (iPhone 5 & 5s sized) iPhone. That’s if Apple ever go back to that sized flagship again. In an ideal world they’ll have a 4″ flagship phone variant which sits alongside its 4.7″ & 5.5″ offerings, but I can only hope…
