Links
My favorite tech buys from 2017
I haven’t done something like this in a long time, but I thought it would be fin to look back on some of my favorite tech purchases from 2017. Not that it matters, but I loosely sorted these by joy they’ve brought me this year.
AirPods
My review.
These have been totally worth
Links
What do we expect from a fast Android phone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJOWBUsEFfk
I generally find the above channel to be quite obnoxious1, but this speed comparison between the iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was fascinating. This is your classic phone speed test where they run through app launch speed, startup times, ram management, and benchmarks, and as
goodie
September 12 Apple Event Wallpapers
Apple sent out invitations today to what we can only assume is this year's iPhone event, which will be taking place on September 12 this year. And as is my new tradition, I have made a small set of iPhone wallpapers to get your current iPhone ready.
You know the drill at this
Links
Learn Ulysses is a great way to get up to speed with the best writing app out there
Shawn Blanc’s The Sweet Setup has long held a soft spot in my heart, and I think the provide a great service in helping people find the best software for just about anything they’re trying to do on their iOS and macOS devices. That’s why I was excited to see they were
podcast
The BirchTree Podcast #29: Crappy privacy policy? Get out of there!
AccuWeather and Sarahah have both been hit with news stories in the past week about how they are sharing your personal data for shady purposes.Today I walk through why stories like this get under my skin and why all of us (including me) need to take a closer look at what data we are
ios
Visualizing how far ahead in AR tech Apple is to Google
Google’s AR project, Project Tango, finally has a second phone on the market 🎉. According to the reviews I’ve seen, it’s been noted in all cases that this phone is mercifully more compact than the previous Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. Now the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro not only has a stupid, stupid name,
podcast
The BirchTree Podcast #28: Embarrassing code that works
I'm getting close to being done with my new weather app for iOS, and I took a few minutes this morning to reflect on the process of going from web to iOS development. It's messy, it's challenging, and I'd be ashamed to show a professional developer my
podcast
BirchTree Podcast #27: Figuring out your competitive advantage
This week we're thinking about your personal advantages and how to leverage them. It's hard to always know what you're advantages are over everyone else in the room, so hopefully this episode will get you thinking about that a little more this week.
goodie
Dallol Volcano Wallapapers
I had never heard of Dallol before this week, and that’s a shame because it is one of the most interesting, beautiful places I’ve ever seen! If you are also not familiar, I highly suggest you do a quick search for the Ethiopian volcano and marvel at it for a few minutes this
Would rather buy a new iPhone than keep using WhatsApp
About a month ago my wife and her sisters ditched SMS and started using WhatsApp for all of their messaging. See 2 of them use iPhones and the other uses an Android phone. They had been using SMS for years to have a group chat, but there have been tons of issues with that. SMS
The amazing Ulysses has gone subscription only
The team over at Soulmen made an announcement today that I expect they were more than a little hesitant to make:
Today, we are switching Ulysses to a subscription model. The short story is this (tl;dr): Our users expect a continuously evolving high quality product — and subscription is the only way we can truly
podcast
BirchTree Podcast bonus! Being aware of your own narratives
A quick bonus episode on a trapball of us fall into all day, every day. We all have pre-conceived notions for how the world works, and that carries over to tech.
This impromptu episode had no prep and was recorded and posted in 15 minutes!
watch
The case for cellular in the Apple Watch
All indications point to the new Apple Watch including LTE in at least one model. This is great news, and is absolutely on the short list of low hanging fruit the Apple Watch needs to advance the platform (I’d also put an always-on display up at the top of the list too), so
podcast
The BirchTree Podcast #25: The Nintendo Switch 3 months later
I've owned a Nintendo Switch for about 3 months. Today we're taking a look at how my initial impressions have panned out over time.
My initial impressions of the Switch.
iOS makes travel so much nicer
Back just a few years ago I would take my laptop with me whenever I was away from home for an overnight trip. It didn’t matter if we were going somewhere in the evening and coming back the next afternoon; if I was sleeping somewhere else, I needed my laptop.
I’m currently in