Links
I’ve Done a Full 180 on Hole-Punch Displays
Chance Miller: Leaked schematic image claims to show true size of iPhone 14 'notch + pill' cutout design
A newly leaked schematic posted to Weibo claims to offer a more precise look at this design change, showing the true size of that hole + pill design.
I can’t find the first time I said
Links
People Keep Asking for This, but That Doesn’t Mean we Should do It
Chance Miller: Instagram exec says there aren't enough iPad users to justify making a dedicated app
Mosseri’s answer pretty much contradicts itself. He tries to claim that there aren’t enough iPad users to warrant making a dedicated Instagram app, while simultaneously saying that Instagram gets this request a lot. Mosseri seemingly
Links
Smudging My XDR Display
Mark Gurman: Imagine a $199 iPhone
The company could go with a foldable 20-inch screen attached to a physical keyboard or just have one side of the display serving as a virtual keyboard. I’m told Apple has indeed been exploring a dual-screen, foldable MacBook/iPad hybrid that would take the second approach.
Politics
Good Lord
Davey Alba: ‘I’ll Stand on the Side of Russia’: Pro-Putin Sentiment Spreads Online
The online conversations reflect how pro-Russia sentiment has increasingly penetrated Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, right-wing podcasts, messaging apps like Telegram and some conservative media. As Russia attacked Ukraine this week, those views spread, infusing the online discourse over the
covid-19
The New Normal
New Harris polling shows some pretty striking numbers:
* 55% of Americans think it's time to start lifting indoor mask mandates
* 70% of Americans will continue to mask up if they think people around them are unvaccinated
* 71% of Americans think Covid-19 is a part of life now
Add to this some good
newsletter
🌈 F1 Rainbow Road is My Vibe Shift (Newsletter #104)
Happy Friday! I kinda feel like I need to take the month of March off or work because there are too many games coming out right now! Last week was Horizon: Forbidden West, today is Elden Ring, next week is Gran Turismo 7, and a few weeks after that is GhostWire: Tokyo. Just…what?! If
Links
Focus, but in Reverse
Rani Molla writing for Recode:
Even people who work on this sort of stuff for a living had trouble with Focus. Vanessa Bowen, a user experience designer who specializes in design systems, says she appreciates Apple’s minimal design but missed a psychiatric appointment when she turned on the personal version of Focus, which lets
Links
The Cringe
I touched on it yesterday, but Casey Newton wrote a lengthy piece, The hard truth about Truth Social, and I had too many highlights not to share.
What else is there to say about Truth Social? It’s based on technology from Mastodon, the open-source social network. Its parent company, Trump Technology & Media
Links
What Was Hard is Now Totally Simple
Julia Evans: Things that used to be hard and are now easy
I was talking to some friends the other day about the types of conference talks we enjoyed. One category we came up with was “you know this thing that used to be super hard? Turns out now it’s easy and anyone can
Links
This is the Truth
The Verge reporting on Trump's social network launching today:
As of this writing, Truth Social’s website is loading intermittently, but collecting names and email addresses for users who wish to sign up. Notably, the site is not secured through HTTPS, which means any information submitted will be visible to intermediaries on the
It’s an Art Form
Apple teamed up with Park Chan-wook (dir. Oldboy) to create a short film that's pretty good, you should watch it.
The film was of course shot entirely on the latest iPhones, and while most of it seems to be shot normally (and in Filmic Pro), it does make good use of Cinematic
Links
Come on, Kanye
Kanye West on Instagram:
Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube. Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own.
Links
Apple Could Make Podcasting Better for Everyone
John Gruber: Nilay Patel and Walt Mossberg on Spotify’s Ambitions to Dominate Podcasting
Apple’s not doing nothing in the podcast space, but it seems to me that their Apple Podcasters Program that launched last year hasn’t really had much of an uptake. I could be wrong about that. But even if Apple’
Links
What if Apple Ran Their Physical Stores Like their App Store?
Jason Snell: Apple's worst-case scenario might be the best thing for the iPhone
A no-longer-exclusive App Store might tighten its rules and become more opinionated. It might even be more willing to reject shady developers, blast scam apps, and decline certain types of apps altogether. Apple acts as if today’
newsletter
Gone Full Electric (Newsletter #103)
Happy Friday! Just a normal update today, although intrepid readers will notice the tweets aren't here. I'm taking a week off Twitter, so sadly one of the downsides is I don't have anything fun to share with you all but rest assured they'll be back in good
Apple
My 2021 Report Card for Apple
Jason Snell does his excellent Apple report card every year, and while I wasn’t invited (Jason, call me 😊), the report card has been rattling around in my head since it came out and I wanted to add my takes, so consider this a write-in ballot.
As a reminder to those unfamiliar, the report
iOS Should Support Variable Fonts
Getting custom fonts onto your iPhone and iPad is still super janky, and apps like iFont still have to use
