Tech – Page 9 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

The Bad Guys Love The Law When It Is On Their Side

You only think you own what you bought.

I once wrote a line in a play that I cribbed from my mother that always got applause, “Just because it’s legal, don’t make it right.” I’d like to assume that most folks who might read a thing or two here understand that far too many laws have been written not to protect everyone or make things right, but instead to often give cover for blatant acts against the little guy in favor of the big guns.

Copyright laws when used as a weapon to further corporate interests and feather CEO nests have been one of the favorite tools for the bad guys. That’s been an ever increasing problem paralleling the advance of technology as more and more companies reject the idea that if you bought it you own it, and still claim rights that too often are protected by laws that were never written to contemplate the world we find ourselves in.

With a hat tip to Denny Henke, take a look at this video from Louis Rossmann about a recent example of this.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Scott Hanselman’s TEDx Talk On The Promises of Technology

Worth your time to give this a watch

Scott Hanselman is a someone I’ve followed for quite some time. I’ve always found his insights on technology and the intersection technology has with humanity to be valuable and that they make me think. Strange that I think of it has an intersection, given that technology wouldn’t exist without humans.

I recently saw he that his TEDx talk titled Tech Promised Everything. Did It Deliver?

Scott breaks down the three promises of technology into Connection, Convenience, and Creativity. I won’t hint at where the talk goes, you should watch it for yourself.

As an intriguing side note given the subject matter I found in remarkably inconvenient that WordPress decided to do some sort of work on their backend as I went to publish this post. Technology is great when it delivers, right?

Regardless, what Scott has to share is excellent stuff and highly recommended.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Commodore 64 Nostalgia Nerds

Count me as a Commodore 64 nerd back in the day.

The older you get, nostalgic moments can be fun, even if fleeting. If nothing else they jog a few memories to the front of your brain for a bit. When they involve bits and bytes they also help you remember just how much things have changed. One of those fun memories for me is of my first computer, The Commodore 64.

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Recently, news hit that Christian ‘Peri Fractic’ Simpson, who has been trying to revive the Commodore 64 for some time now, has finally put enough of whatever he needs to start taking pre-orders for a “new” Commodore 64.

The announcement stirred a wave of nostalgia from those, like myself, who owned one of these early personal computers. And like many, those waves felt quite pleasant to surf in for a while. It also has churned up some of the rough waves from back in the day when “what computer is best” was a big part of the discussion.

I owned the Commodore 64, later moved to the Commodore 128 and then an Amiga, before eventually surrendering to the IBM PC/Windows world and later Apple. But I do indeed have fond memories of sprites dancing around on the small TV monitor I had connected to the 64, all of the peripherals I accumulated along the way, and some of the games. Archon and Lode Runner were two of my favorites, and the text adventure version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was my first exposure to Douglas Adams. I was also a fan of the GEOS operating system. And yes, I typed in many a computer program from computer magazines of the day, as well as quite a few words into PaperClip.

Drew Sauer has penned a nice piece on this called The Commodore 64 Made A Difference, continuing the trip down memory lane and also surfacing some of those “what computer is best” feelings, apparently not too deeply buried in some memory banks. Apple bloggers John Gruber and Jason Snell have taken issue with some of Sauer’s comments and recollections.

Frankly, it’s all in good fun, (I hope), I don’t think it matters much for those who hope Simpson can deliver on his promises, and if he does, plop down their money to relive some of those memories. Nostalgia itself also comes in waves.

I’m also sure that memories can falter, become fuzzy, and take on a life of their own. Which is something the Commodore 64 could never do, unlike what so many want their computers to do today.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Notice the good things amidst the bad.

It’s been a week. But I repeat myself. These days it seems like that’s always the case. Superman’s back. (Again.) So too are this season’s butterflies. Everything circles back. Today’s Sunday Morning Reading is a potpourri of topics of interest that stroke a number of chords, some familiar, some not so, some good, some not so. Either way, enjoy.

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In That Was Good, Merlin Mann says that smart people always find the best reasons for being very sad. I can relate. He suggests the cure for that might be noticing some good things. Even the small ones. Check it out. It’s a good thing.

This week featured the news revisiting the subject matter of several plays I’ve written or directed in the past. One of those, Inherit the Wind, the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, is a semi-fictional retelling of the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. This year marks the 100th year anniversary of that trial. Neil Steinberg has a terrific piece, both commemorating and commiserating. Given how short a distance we’ve traveled in this circle we keep walking in. Check out 100 Years Ago, The Scopes Trial Gripped The Nation, And Here We Go Again.

Twice a week on social media I post “This is your now weekly, and continuing reminder that we’re still fighting the Civil War.” Frankly, I don’t see it any other way for reasons I shouldn’t have to explain. I don’t often post interviews in this column, but I’m making an exception this week to post Amita Sharma’s interview with political scientist Barbara Walter who has helped forecast civil wars in other countries. Take a look at San Diego Political Expert Details Steps That Could Lead To US Civil War.

I blow hot and cold on Tom Nichols’ political commentary. I very much like his piece Damn You All To Hell! Find out his thoughts on how Hollywood taught a generation to fear nuclear catastrophe. It might have worked with that horror. Funny, yet sad, how it hasn’t worked with all of the goings on currently.

History is indeed always an incomplete picture that’s always evolving and struggling to take hold. In Texas Man’s Fight To Move A Lynching Marker Sparks New Battle For Truth, Christina Carrega pinpoints one of those moments of evolution.

Mathew Ingram says We Shouldn’t Blame AI For The Stupid Things That People Do. I agree. AI is the prime example.

Chris Castle takes on a piece of the Section 230 argument, thinking that a new theory of liability is emerging, grounded not in speech, but in conduct. Give a look at The Duty Comes From The Data: Rethinking Platform Liability In The Age of Algorithmic Harm.

And to round out the circle this week, take a look at David Sparks’ A Remarkable, Unremarkable Thing. Don’t let the small things go unnoticed.

(Image from Anya Chernik on Unsplash)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Random Thoughts and Links Looking Ahead to an Apple Beta Summer

A summer of viewing betas from the sidelines.

We’re already several weeks deep in Apple’s beta season for all of its operating systems. As of this writing the second developer betas have been released. We’re due to see the first public beta this month and that’s when things will really heat up. I’m not a developer and I no longer run betas on any of my Apple hardware, choosing to live vicariously until the official releases this fall.

Apple WWDC25 iPadOS 26 hero 250609.

I have to admit though that I was tempted to pick up another iPad given the changes to iPadOS 26 and the general early positive reactions to it. But I stuck to my guns and will look forward to what some trusted sources have to say over the course of the summer.

Speaking of, if you’re interested in following how the new operating systems develop and evolve over the summer, I’m going to list several links to sources you might want to follow, if you don’t already. That list will come at the end of this post.

As to my random thoughts I have three.

First, it looks like Apple’s big Liquid Glass design change will indeed garner most of the focus this year. That was certainly the intent, and from what I’ve seen Apple is on the way to pulling it off, certainly on the iPhone and the iPad. The jury is still out for the Mac at this early juncture in the beta season. Even so, it appears Apple has managed to add a shiny new coat of paint that won’t confuse most users when it comes to familiar functionality of their devices.

Second, as I said previously I’m excited to see the changes in iPadOS 26. Depending on the job at hand, and whether or not I’m home or away, I jump between Macs and iPads frequently. I’m looking forward to what these changes mean when I’m primarily working on an iPad away from home.

Third, the deeper integration of Shortcuts with Apple Intelligence (whatever that may come to mean) and also with Spotlight has me intrigued. I don’t use a ton of shortcuts and currently rely on Raycast as a launcher for those I do use. If I had two wishes on this I would hope that this plays out the way it proposes to do, and I would hope Apple could finally find a way to keep what happens behind the scenes with Shortcuts from constantly breaking. Giving app developers access to the App Intent Framework and the Foundation Models Framework promises good things, if Apple can avoid the infrastructure hiccups of the past. Although I’m sure that will usher in a different sort of hiccups going forward.

Good Apple, Bad Apple

On another note, I, like many this year, have had a hard time reconciling my views about what I consider wrong moves from Apple the corporation with my preference for Apple hardware and software. I’ve thought long and hard about it and at the bottom of that deep well of thought the decision to stick with my current Apple tool set comes from the fact that I support a lot of friends, family members, and a few small businesses that use Apple products. I have no desire to abandon that part of my life personally, even if Apple’s actions pisses me off to the point where I’m occasionally ready to chuck gear into the trash. Convincing those I support to shift gears would mean saying goodbye to that part of the relationship for the most part (I’ve explored this) and neither they nor I am ready for that.

Is that a trap? Perhaps, depending on your point of view and I won’t argue against that. Am I talking out of both sides of my mouth? Also, perhaps. But I think using and enjoying products of a company gives you a bigger license to criticize.

So, I’m sticking with things for the moment, but I will say that I’m paying close attention to folks like Denny Henke who’ve made different choices than mine. I admire their approach and am always learning. I’m also paying close attention to how Apple handles things going forward. I despise this dilemma.

Links

I’m going to link to a few specific articles from which you should be able to get back to the homepages of the various sources, some are just the homepage links.

Michael Tsai’s Blog always contains an excellent collection of links to various sources worth following. In fact, it may be the one stop source for quite a bit of Apple News.

Six Colors is an excellent source for information and reviews. This is one source to look to when the first public betas drop for good reviews of what we will know at that time. Jason Snell, Dan Moren, and now with Glenn Fleishman as a contributor, always provide excellent coverage.

Speaking of reviews, MacStories is another go to site when reviews of software drop. While they cover a range of gadget topics beyond Apple, the coverage there is quite good, even if it sometimes is aimed more at advanced users.

Parker Ortolani has recently started blogging and his thoughts are always worth a look.

If you’re looking for a developer’s perspective check out Craig Hockenberry’s furbo.org. Craig is a founder of the iconfactory, which is responsible for a number of apps including, Tapestry, Wallaroo, Linea Sketch, Tot, and more including the original Twitterrific for Macs and iPhones.

Craig Grannell’s blog, Stuff, is also a good source to add to your reading list or RSS reader.

Myke Hurly has also started blogging in addition to his many podcasting chores. Check out his blog, The Enthusiast.

Louie Mantia, Jr. is an artist and designer who lends that perspective to his writings about Apple and its designs.

John Gruber’s Daring Fireball is always a must read.

There are certainly more that are worth your time, but the ones I’ve linked to here continue to provide me with not only good information, but some good and deeper thoughts beyond the surface news. It’s going to be an interesting beta season viewing it from the sidelines.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

We Just Keep Watching As We Roll Faster Into Disaster

If an AI commits a murder can it argue self-defense?

It’s all feels like a bad movie. One that is both made poorly and has a “you can see it a mile off” bad ending. It doesn’t matter if it’s politics, social decay, or the seemingly inevitable march of Artificial Intelligence, we all know how badly most of these things are going to play out, yet we sit spellbound watching the story unfold.

Axios has been on an anti-AI roll lately (a good thing) and they published this piece titled Top AI Models Will Lie, Cheat and Steal To Reach Goals, Anthropic Finds. For some reason Axios decided not to include “take deliberate actions that lead to death” in the headline.

Given our seeming acquiesce to lying, cheating, and stealing in most realms of life these days, I guess that’s one way of toning down the bad news. Go read the article. Or should I say, the summary.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Intelligence or compassion? They both caught my eye this week.

It’s interesting how topics surface throughout a week. I’m not sure if it’s follow-the-leader or hive mind thinking, but from the sources I follow this week it seemed like everyone was thinking and writing, in one way or another, about Artificial Intelligence. Or maybe just about intelligence.

Certainly there was plenty on other topics because there were certainly plenty of other big things happening. Some intelligent, some not so. Some showing the capacity for compassion right along side our capacity for cruelty. I’m sure there will be plenty written in the days ahead about all of those things. These are the posts that stuck with me for this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

Kicking things off is a short post by Gene Weingarten called A Cat Named Grandpa. It’s about compassion.

Mathew Ingram wonders Is AI Smarter Than We Are or Stupider Than We Are? Read the piece. If you’ve read any of the things I’ve written on AI you’ll know I agree with Mathew’s conclusions.

David Todd McCarty thinks the lack of originality in human consciousness is both appalling and comforting in I Gotta Be Me.

Natasha MH was Seeking God In A Machine.

For those who need to think about end of life issues, this might be a timely, yet frightening from Ashley Belanger. Check out How To Draft A Will To Avoid Becoming an AI Ghost. Apparently, it’s not easy.

Matteo Wong writes about The Newspaper That Hired ChatGPT. It’s mostly an interview, but one worth reading.

Folks can become addicted to and troubled by just about anything, and AI is no different. We’re starting to hear more and more about this, which is somewhat surprising on a number of fronts given how short a time generative AI has been with us. Kashmir Hill writes about a young man whose reality became so distorted it almost killed him in They Asked ChatGPT Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

While not about AI in specific, this tech story speaks volumes about the decisions tech bosses make that influence the technology we use to work and play with. Check out Phil McKinney’s I Convinced HP’s Board To Buy Palm for $1.2B. Then I Watched Them Kill It In 49 Days.

And Happy Father’s Day to all. Miss you Dad.

(Image from Rey Seven on Unsplash.)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Apple Beta Season Is Upon Us and iPad Debates Are Around the Corner

Changes look promising. Wait and See is the operative condition.

Apple announced what it has in store for the next versions of all of its operating systems during it’s annual World Wide Developers Conference this week. Or rather Apple put out a pretty nice commercial for some of what it has in store. But that’s the way of these things whether pre-taped or live. The beta testers and pundits are off and running looking into every nook and cranny of the code, celebrating, criticizing, and screenshotting. That will go on deep into the summer.

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The biggest, most observable change is the new design language, Liquid Glass, that is intended to bring all of Apple’s operating systems into a more unified look and feel, sorta, kinda based on the Vision Pro. Who knew that headset would provide new Vistas ahead?

They also unified the current OS numbering system, ditching the previous version numbers. Now each operating system will increase by the last two digits of each year ahead, as in iOS 26, watchOS 26, etc… We’re going to get to iOS 50 sooner than we thought.

I no longer play the beta game with my devices so I haven’t seen anything first hand, beyond the reactions of others that range from it’s terrible to the best thing since sliced bread. Keep in mind that any reactions you see following the release of the first developer beta should always include the caveat that what you see now will probably evolve over the course of the summer. Wait and see is the operative condition that needs to be set.

As far as I’m concerned the big news was about the iPad and what iPadOS 26 is promised to offer. There has been lots of back and forth about trying to define the iPad ever since there have been iPads. But certainly since Apple, in the pre-M1 chip era, put out the What’s a Computer campaign in 2018. There were quite a few loud voices always wanting more than Apple delivered in terms of making the iPad more like a Mac. And in recent conversations many of those loud voices were putting down their megaphones and were moving on from those iPad as their main computer dreams.

But this year Apple seems to be promising most of the changes those users have been clamoring for. They include a multiple windowing UI, much more similar to MacOS than any of the previous multi-tasking attempts. There’s even a menu bar, the inclusion of a new Preview app and more Finder-like functionality in the Files app. Better background processing and enhancements to the audio system are sure to make podcasters happy. There are a host of other new tidbits as well. There are also casualties. Many are already mourning the loss of Slide Over.

To give you an idea of how big a deal this change is, noted Windows advocate, Paul Thurrott ended his first look piece with “I may need to get a Smart Cover. Or whatever it’s called. This changes everything.”

The cynic in me has to say that the depth and breadth of these new iPad features makes me suspicious as to why Apple didn’t take this path earlier. It seems obvious that it had been thought through. The hardware has certainly been capable. Regardless of those suspicions, Apple has set up another new iPad story to keep us chattering.

So, iPads are being dusted off again. Soon, and more importantly deeper into the summer, we’ll hear how successful these features may be in fulfilling the desires of those who want the iPad to be more like a Mac. What we won’t have to wait for is the debates around the iPad to heat up.

I’ve never been one that felt disappointed by the iPad’s less than Mac-like features. For my work it has always served me well and gotten better in doing so over its evolution. Stage Manager was never my thing, but Slide Over worked well for my usage as my primary multi-tasking metaphor. Will I miss it? I’m sure I will. But I’ll wait and see what this new multi-tasking UI offers before rendering judgment.

But that’s me and I’m not everybody. So, as I look forward to living vicariously through the summer as others poke around these new changes, let me close with this. Regardless of whatever differences exist between the iPad and the Mac they always had one great similar strength that these new changes appear poised to make stronger still. Different users with different needs can use an iPad or a Mac for just about anything they want and need to do.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

There’s a creeping inevitability to much of what’s happening around us.

Some Sunday’s when I sit down to collect what I find interesting enough to share it seems like things around us are just bad. Or going from bad to worse. It feels inevitable. This is one of those Sundays. Nevertheless, there’s some good writing and good thinking in the articles linked below that I believe are worthy of your attention. But paying attention is not one of our strong suits. Cue up a little Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, pay attention, and read away.

‘Tin Soldiers and Nixon’s Coming’ is an excellent look back as we stare at this moment we’re in from Robert Cohen and Michael Konciewicz on the 2020 50th anniversary of Kent State and Jackson State.

You’re Not Ready, is an excellent, yet somewhat frightening compilation of articles by various authors at Wired, comprising info on AI hacker attacks, grid attacks, or a GPS blackout. I say “somewhat” simply because many of us have had inklings about this. Or at least those who pay attention.

Josh Marshal of Talking Points Memo has an excellent piece on Artificial Intelligence and The Posture of Skepticism.

Mathew Ingram’s fascinating piece, How Marc Andreessen and I (and you) Created The Web is informative and entertaining history and context that’s worth your time about the time we’re in.

Paul M. Sutter tells us that A New Theory Says Time Has Three Dimensions. It ‘Really Messes Up’ What We Know About the Cosmos, Scientists Say. We seem to be doing a good job of that at the moment given our current understanding of time, so why not go ahead and mess things up.

Timothy Snyder wonders what happens with The Next Terrorist Attack. It’s far deeper than the headline suggests.

Michael Podhorzer writes about something I’ve been thinking and saying for a while: The Courts Will Not Save Us. It’s a long read but more than worth your time. Read this instead of watching TV lawyers.

Most of the articles I’ve already linked to this Sunday morning in one way or another deal with trust. That trust gap is widening these days. It doesn’t help when we do find out things that break trust, but the finding out at least helps us understand the gap better. Take a look at Aruna Viswanatha’s piece The Pentagon Disinformation That Fueled America’s UFO Mythology.

Tomorrow, June 9th, Apple kicks off its annual World Wide Developer Conference. There are trust issues there as well. These next few links contain some interesting thoughts heading into WWDC, beginning with Sebastiann De With’s Physicality: the new age of UI, which anticipates the coming design changes rumored for all of Apple’s operating systems. A fresh coat of paint may not hurt. I’m not sure it’ll help.

As I said, Apple faces a number of problems, some legal and regulatory. Jérôme Marin explains how A Simple Comma is going to cost Apple Billions in Europe. Commas can indeed cause all sorts of chaos. Just ask US constitutional scholars about a comma and the 2nd Amendment.

And to close things out, one of my favorite developers _DavidSmith talks about his optimism heading into WWDC in Let’s Get Started. I admire the optimism and the reality check approach _DavidSmith brings to this.

Thoughts and Prayers Heading into WWDC 2025

A new coat of paint won’t fix the cracks in the wall.

In a week Apple will unveil what it has in store for us during its annual World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). Beginning June 9, the microscope will be focused more intently and with a greater scrutiny given the myriad of issues Apple is facing. That scrutiny might just overwhelm any message Apple has planned for the year ahead depending on how Apple handles it.

WWDC 2025 Apple Logo

The reason I titled this post “Thoughts and Prayers Heading into WWDC 2025” isn’t that I’m offering up good vibes for Apple as they try to work out of the messes they’ve mostly created for themselves. I’m actually hoping — most likely against hope — that Apple will finally clean up some of the annoyances they’ve neglected over several generations of iOS and macOS.

I’m not going to discuss the bigger picture issues Apple is facing here. I’ve written about some already, as have many others. Instead I’m going to focus on the smaller software reliability annoyances that add up to make me think Apple just doesn’t care.

It’s become almost a running joke that Apple allows some of these flaws to continue year over year. But I don’t find it funny. You can put new wallpaper over a water damaged section of a wall, but if you don’t fix the leak then the problem isn’t the stain on the wall, it’s you not caring. Or maybe you don’t have the money to get it fixed. Apple certainly has the money. As John Siracusa says in an excellent post called Apple Turnaround:

It’s been 15 years since Apple’s leadership last demonstrated that it’s willing to emphasize software reliability at the cost of new features. Since then, bugs in major features have been allowed to fester, unfixed, for years on end.

I’ll quibble with John on one point. If you allow a reliable, yet ignored “bug” to remain through several operating systems, it essentially becomes a feature the longer it’s not addressed.

I’m a stubborn old coot in my life as a theatre director. Deeply ingrained in my way of directing is something a mentor laid on me year’s ago. “If it’s on the stage it’s yours. If it fails or distracts, it’s your failure.”

Here’s a short list of bugs and annoyances that have existed over several versions of the operating systems and several versions of Apple’s hardware that I encounter routinely. That’s based on how I work and play with Apple hardware and software. I’m sure there are many more depending on how others use their devices.

Focus

I know there are folks who swear by the Focus feature, but to me it’s one of those features that works and then randomly doesn’t. I’d call it unfocused. I keep trying to use it, but abandoning it because I already have enough random failures in my life.

Shared Reminders Notifications

I’ve written about this previously. Shared Reminders are terrific for grocery lists and other things, especially of a checklist nature. But when you complete a Reminder, the notification needs to disappear for all of the users who are sharing the Reminder. I’ve had Shared Reminders hang around for hours after I’ve checked it off of a list.

Syncing Photos

This one just gets more and more puzzling and has become the butt of so many jokes, it’s almost become a part of the Apple brand. You take a photo on your iPhone and whenever it syncs to iCloud and subsquently to other devices is a wild guess. I get that if you’re running low on battery you may want to delay syncing. But if my iPhone is plugged in telling me that it won’t sync so that it can optimize battery it is a little silly. Also telling me syncing is paused for “optimizing the system” makes me wonder just what system is being optimized. Apple’s or mine?

Bluetooth Connectivity and AirPods

I’m a big fan of AirPods. I’m also a big fan of AirPods and the way they are designed to work within Apple’s ecosystem. When they work as designed it’s magic. When not, it is frustrating. Again, random failures to disconnect, which always seem to come at just that moment when you need to quickly plop them in your ears for a phone call are never fun. Neither is it a good time when one of your devices you might have previously been connected to refuses to let go of the connection.

Deleting Media from Messages

I support a few family members who keep their Messages set to retain their Messages forever. That’s all well and good, except this can quickly fill up storage on an iPhone. Apple needs to make it possible for users to select and bulk delete media on an iPhone the same way you can in Mail. The UI looks like you can swipe down the list of circles, but you can’t. The fact that you can only view these attachments sorted by size also makes it a more difficult chore to remove unwanted media attachments.

Shortcuts

I have a love/hate relationship with Shortcuts. Love it when they work. Hate it when something changes and a Shortcut I’ve relied on suddenly stops working or stops appearing in Spotlight. This happens more frequently in beta season even though I don’t run betas.

Beta Badness

Again, I don’t run betas on any of my devices. That said, I’ve been told by Apple Support personnel that changes are always happening behind the scenes on the backend during beta season that can sometimes affect all users. That stands to reason, given how much of what you do on an Apple device is tied into Apple’s servers and iCloud. I suspect this may only become more prevalent with Apple Intelligence as Apple tries to remain competitive with other AI providers that seem to constantly be updating their software. Perhaps there needs to be a way to create a wall or silo off users running betas from those who do not.

App Store

With M-series chips we’re able to get great performance and fast loading times from apps. With one notable exception being Apple’s own App Stores. For the life of me I don’t understand why they can’t improve performance on their own point-of-sale outlets. It’s like not cleaning the glass on the front of your storefront.

Settings and Permissions

I get that there are a large number of Settings. I don’t get that there’s such a haphazard way of addressing the problem of making them discoverable. I’m sure it’s a challenge, but the only way to address a challenge is to set it as a priority. The same is true with Permissions. Certainly there’s a way to force developers (including Apple) to send us to the correct Permissions screen to choose to make a selection.

Rules in Mail

I’ve set up a number of Rules in Mail in macOS over the years. Currently they all seem to be non-functioning, or randomly functioning. I have a suspicion this may have something to do with Apple’s tinkering with Apple Intelligence based mail categories (a feature I tried but turned off). Having to manually choose to Apply Rules is not the same as having a Rule that runs automatically. It defeats the purpose. Let’s face it, no company has found a way to win the cat and mouse game of spam filtering. I doubt they ever will even with AI. The Rules feature wasn’t perfect, but when it worked it was a help in weeding out some of the spam.

Consistency between iOS and macOS

Speaking of Mail, I’d like to see consistency across the board regarding features between the macOS and iOS versions. In fact, I’d like to see consistency across the board in all of Apple’s native apps. This is especially true given that there is a rumor that Apple is redesigning most of its operating system user interfaces to try and unify the look and feel between different device categories. Carry that through with how you treat app functionality between platforms. Other examples include Shortcuts and Apple News+. I enjoy being able to open an article via the Share Menu from Apple News in Safari on a Mac. I should have the same option on iOS and iPadOS.

As I said, these are mostly annoyances. But I’m annoyed that no one at Apple seems to be annoyed enough to take care of them.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.