podcast
Podcast #93: Castro 3 Review
Castro 3 came out on Monday of this week and it's a very opinionated podcast player. Listen in to hear why I think this app works so well for me, even if it's not an app for everybody.
Get Castro 3 on the App Store.
Subscribe to The BirchTree Podcast here.
podcast
Podcast #92: Why I've Already Switched Back to the iPhone
Castro 3, Spark 2, OmniFocus 3, Apollo, and Pocket-Run Pool all came out for iOS since I switched to Android 16 days ago. In that same time there have been zero updates or new apps for Android that have me really exacted.
* Castro 3
* Spark 2
* OmniFocus
* Apollo
* Pocket-Run Pool
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watch
A Major Apple Watch Market
Mike Murphy writing for Quartz:
You might’ve noticed that the person who took your order at the bar, brought you the shoes you wanted to try on, or perhaps even patted you down at the airport security line, is sporting an Apple Watch, which starts at $329 for the newest Series 3 watch. And
podcast
Podcast #91: Dumb to Clever to Smart, My History with Watches
I have been wearing watches for my whole life. Long before the Apple Watch became my obsession, I lived for having the time on my wrist.
This episode takes you through my history of being a kid with a cheap Timex, to the wonder introduced by the Pebble, all the way to the wonderful Apple
ios
Notifications in iOS 12: A Dream
I talked a lot about notifications on Twitter today and I figured it was high time I make a mock up for what I was hoping for in iOS 12. Pardon the hasty design, I did this in less than an hour, but this is a direction I’d be very happy for Apple to
Links
We're All Just Making Content for Google
How did Google get so big?—60 Minutes - CBS News
Jeremy Stoppelman: If I were starting out today, I would have no shot of building Yelp. That opportunity has been closed off by Google and their approach.
Steve Kroft: In what way?
Jeremy Stoppelman: Because if you provide great content in one of these categories
Links
Chapters and the Beautiful Modularity of Podcasts
Ben Brooks had some choice words for chapters in podcasts in his post today about Castro 3.0.
Listeners (and this was literally news to me today) also use chapters to jump about in the podcasts to skip over the boring bits.
Isn’t the entire point of a podcast that the entire podcast is
podcast
Podcast #90: Android P Isn't That Miserable After All
I've been using Android P for 2 weeks and it might just be the least painful time with Android I've ever had. I'm not switching any time soon, but if I were an Android fan I think I'd be happy with this update.
Also, it was basically
homepod
My HomePod Mini Proposal (redux)
Almost exactly 6 months ago, a full 3 months before HomePod shipped, I wrote this piece about what HomePod model I was hoping Apple would make for the 2018 holiday season. Since then we have seen not one, not two, but three separate rumors indicating that Apple is working on a cheaper HomePod for release
iphone
The Future of Multi-Camera Smartphones
In 2018 you have many options when it comes to smartphone cameras. Since the iPhone 7 Plus in late 2016, there has been a trend towards dual-camera setups1. Basically any phone that’s serious about cameras has 2 lenses on it nowadays. That is, with the exception of the Huawei P20 (3 lenses) and
podcast
Podcast #89: Google Pixel Buds Update
The Google Pixel Buds got a few new gestures for controls this week and it got me thinking again about how these stack up to AirPods, their clear competitor.
Subscribe to The BirchTree Podcast here.
Flagship Killers Now Cost as Much as the Flagships They Tried to Slay
In 2010 Google released the Nexus One, a phone that started a line of budget priced phones from the company that became more and more positioned as “affordable” options compared to the flagships out there. In 2014 a new startup called OnePlus launched the One phone that was supposed to be a “flagship killer.” In
Pixel Buds, AirPods, and Power Management
Google is rolling out support for a new feature, turning Pixel Buds off. With a triple tap of the right earbud, you can toggle the earbuds on and off. Pretty simple right? Unfortunately, this also exemplifies one of the reasons I find Pixel Buds to be a less elegant headphone solution than AirPods.
People have
podcast
Podcast #88: Google News First Impressions
Google News is now available for iOS and Android (if you know where to look) and I have been spending some serious time with the app. Here are my first impressions.
Android APK: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-news/google-news-5-0-0-release/google-news-5-0-0-android-apk-
The New Math Around Cloud Storage Options
Google announced some changes to their Drive storage options today, and that changes the math around how the major cloud storage providers stack up. The last time there was something to talk about here, one year ago, Apple basically crushed the competition at every price point (minus the free tier). With Google’s new pricing,
podcast
Podcast #87: Wear OS is Treading Water
Google only showed off Wear OS at one developer session this year, which was realtively disappointing from a smart watch fan’s perspective. They didn’t show off anything that got me jealous of their wearable platform, and that was a huge disappointment for me.
* Wear OS at I/O
* My watchOS 5 proposal
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Links
I Have One of Those Floaty APKs: My Return to the BYOD Podcast
I love talking to Greg and Nathan on the BYOD Podcast and they were gracious enough to ask me to come on this week to talk about what else: Android.
Matt Birchler joins us to talk about "Micro Podcasts", and dive into Google I/O talking about: How good has Google Assistant became,