June 7, 2018
Written by Dave Mark
Jason Snell, Macworld:
Start by considering exactly what Federighi said on stage at WWDC: “We love the Mac, and we love macOS because it’s explicitly created to the unique ergonomics of Mac hardware, like the ergonomics of the keyboard and trackpad, the flexibility in displays and storage, and because of the power it exposes, it makes the Mac able to accomplish almost anything.”
And:
I’m not sure I can entirely conceive of iOS never having a tool like the Terminal—if only because it feels inevitable that app development will one day be possible on iOS—but I can accept that the wild-west feel of macOS, where you can arbitrarily install, compile, and write software, is unlikely to ever be reflected on iOS.
And:
Apple itself sells a keyboard for the iPad Pro, and even allows users to move their fingers like they’re using a trackpad when editing text. The iPhone and iMac Pro are about as far as two devices can get from one another, but the MacBook and the iPad Pro are not.
To me, there’s still a huge chasm between any Mac and any iOS device. The Mac was built to serve a cursor, a specific location on the screen that has a focus. There are windows that you can drag around, a file system designed for rapid file/folder moves and copies, searches and sorts.
On the flip side, iOS devices are built for the dynamic nature of touch. All areas of the screen are equal citizens when it comes to touch. There’s no nudging things to the side without specifically reaching for them. No arrow keys to move a text cursor back and forth, or move an object from side to side.
Though I do see Jason’s point, the differences between a MacBook and a keyboard enabled iPad Pro are less than that of the iPhone and iMac Pro, to me they are still worlds apart.
All that said, Jason’t article is a terrific read, worth your time, thoughtful as always. I look forward to next year’s WWDC when we see a truly informed Marzipan, when Apple delivers a framework specifically designed to bridge the macOS iOS chasm.
Written by Dave Mark
First things first, note the image at the top of the article, captioned “A phone-absorbed attendee at WWDC”. Hey, that poster-child for phone-absorption looks familiar.
But I digress.
Wired:
Apple—like much of Silicon Valley—wants to cure the disease it’s caused. The next version of iOS will be armed with a “comprehensive set of built-in features” to limit distractions and recalibrate priorities on the iPhone.
And:
There’s also a dashboard for usage insights, called Screen Time, which sends a weekly breakdown of how you spend your time on the iPhone. A built-in App Timer can set limits on certain apps, reminding you to move on after 30 minutes or an hour.
So far, so good. But:
Moments later, Apple executives demonstrated Memoji, a new personalized emoji feature that involves staring at the screen and animating a digital character with your facial features. Another demo featured Julz Arney, who works on Apple’s fitness technologies, biking while breathlessly scrolling through productivity apps on her Apple Watch, changing dinner reservations, texting friends, browsing the web, checking notifications about her infant baby, and struggling to close the fitness rings on the watch’s face.
The cognitive dissonance was striking. Apple says it wants you to have a healthier relationship with your phone, and it’ll even give you the tools to do it. But for every feature it showed to wrangle notifications or curb app use, it added more to keep you staring at your screen.
I’m wrestling with this one. I do see the point, that Apple is filling the bucket while emptying it, giving us more things to distract us while giving us tools to manage those distractions. Ultimately, I appreciate both things. I appreciate the tools to set limits, like better Do Not Disturb and Screen Time.
But I also appreciate the new distractions, the ARKit games, the face tracking Memoji, all of it. I see these distractions as part of the fabric of life, the texture that helps keep things interesting. But there are also elements that keep me from doing things that matter to me, that tug the strings of anxiety, seed misunderstanding.
I do think there is an addictive element to tech and social media, and tools like Screen Time and and improved Do Not Disturb are a step in the right direction.
June 5, 2018
I wanted to take a day to mull over everything that happened at Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote before making any comments on the event. I think this was a tough keynote for Apple, but not for the reasons you might expect.
Apple was in a no-win situation as company executives took the stage to introduce the new products. If they add new hardware or a slew of new whiz-bang software features, the press will crucify them for not paying attention to the complaints of bugs from users. However, if they don’t introduce anything new, the media would say the company has lost its innovative edge.
No matter what they did, it would be wrong.
One important thing to remember is that WWDC is about developers first. Apple is there to give developers the tools they need to make apps for users—that is the main priority.
With the introduction of the new iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, Apple also has to make sure that the operating systems are safe, secure and working correctly for all of its users. Sometimes this means taking a step back from the rapid pace of feature releases and focusing on things like performance—all of the under-the-hood voodoo that users never see but experience every day.
I think Apple gave us a good balance of features that we will use and a commitment to improving the overall state of the operating systems.
There are a few things that stood out to me during the keynote that I would like to point out.
iOS 12
The focus for iOS in the keynote was performance—that is perfect. Even Apple’s iOS 12 Web page leads with performance:
iOS 12 is designed to make your iPhone and iPad experience even faster, more responsive, and more delightful.
Apple needed to address the overall performance of the OS and make those everyday tasks we do even faster than they were before. According to the company’s data, swiping to open the camera is now 70% faster; the keyboard comes up 50% faster; apps launch 2x quicker under heavy workload.
Those are everyday things that we do that will be noticeably faster.
Group FaceTime is going to be incredible for a lot of users. I had a chance to play around with the new feature, and it worked incredibly well. As you saw in the demo during the keynote, FaceTime will automatically make the person speaking a bit bigger on the screen so that you can focus on them. I wondered what would happen when a couple of people were trying to talk at the same time, but Apple said the system would handle that too, by bringing both of them forward on the screen a little bit.
Screen Time is going to be a shocking feature for many people. It will give you a report showing how much time you spend in particular apps. It also allows parents to get a report on their kids so they can see how they are using their devices.
Parents can then set limits on what their kids can do on the devices. If they are concerned about the amount of time the kids are playing games, they can limit that type of activity.
The genius of Screen Time is that it is informational. It gives you a complete rundown of what you are doing on your devices and gives you the ability to take action to curb the behavior.
I smiled when Apple showed the new Share Back feature in Photos. Photos will now suggest sharing pictures with the people in them. When you do, iOS 12 will prompt them to share images from that event with you, giving both people a full catalog of photos. That’s very cool.
Privacy and security are always significant for Apple. Yesterday they shared this:
Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right, which is why iOS has always been designed with built-in encryption, on-device intelligence, and other tools that let you share what you want on your terms. And with iOS 12, we’re taking privacy even further. Safari now prevents Share buttons and comment widgets on web pages from tracking you without your permission. Safari also prevents advertisers from collecting your device’s unique characteristics, so they can’t identify your device or retarget ads to you across the web.
Thank you, Apple.
macOS
What impressed me most about macOS Mojave is a feature that wasn’t talked about enough, at least for me. Apple framed this as bringing four new apps from iOS to macOS: News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos.
That’s great, but the more significant news here is that Apple is giving developers a way to bring their iOS apps to the Mac with minimal code changes. In fact, if you look under the hood of these new Mac apps, you will see some very familiar iOS code.
Apple is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, making it possible for these apps to be on the Mac platform. I think we can all agree that the Mac won’t work for all types of iOS apps, but there are a lot of apps that will fit.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what types of apps make a move to the Mac in 2019.
I liked Dark Mode more in person than what I thought I would. Everything kind of pops in Dark Mode—even small things like your calendars. Of course, pros will use this mode a lot, but I think it will quickly become popular with other users too.
My desktop is an absolute disaster and always has been. I am going to love using Stacks just as a simple, automated way to group my files.
I love that Apple is paying some attention to the Mac App Store. After completing its redesign of the iOS App Store last year, Apple will give users a similar feel for the Mac, incorporating editorial content, videos and collections to help you find the perfect app.
tvOS
I love my Apple TV, I really do, but Apple seems to be at the mercy of some cable companies to make all of its promised features work. The company announced single sign-on over a year ago, but it still doesn’t work with Comcast Xfinity. I realize this isn’t Apple’s fault, but it’s still annoying for the user.
So when Apple announced “zero sign-on” in tvOS, I don’t pay much attention. It’s a nice theory, but unless they can implement it to the masses, it doesn’t matter.
On a brighter note, Dolby Atmos is coming to Apple TV.
Combine Apple TV 4K with a Dolby Atmos–compatible sound system and you’re fully immersed in three-dimensional audio that sends sound around and above you with pinpoint precision. Whether a jet zooms overhead or a torrential downpour erupts, the true-to-life sound puts you inside the action.
I love Dolby Atmos, so I’m looking forward to this feature and compatible content to go with it.
watchOS 5
My favorite new feature for watchOS 5 is automatic workout detection. I often forget to start or stop a workout, so having the watch intelligently prompt me will save me a lot of heartaches. The most significant part is that the app will give you credit for the exercise you’ve already done so that you won’t miss out on anything.
Apple also added Yoga and Hiking to the workout app, further expanding the types of workouts it tracks. While I don’t do either of those, the more types of exercises Apple Watch can track, the better it is for the platform.
I’m not sure how I feel about Walkie-Talkie yet. It sounds cool, and I’m sure there are uses for it, but I’m just not sure how I would use it. I’ll spend some time with it before commenting further.
Bottom line
Apple gave us everything we needed from a WWDC keynote: Tools and new software for developers to make the next generation apps, a commitment to its users to release faster and more secure software for the users, and a look ahead at ways it’s making development of apps easier—namely, bringing iOS apps to the Mac.
It’s a good day to be an Apple user.
Written by Dave Mark
Apple announced lots of exciting new features for the coming watchOS 5 (available this Fall).
I have to say, I was delighted by Walkie Talkie, the watch to watch communication mechanism. It appeals to the kid in me. Brought back memories of camping out and late night whispered walkie-talkie conversations, as well as road trips where we used walkie-talkies to communicate between cars. If you’ve never experienced walkie-talkies, this is not the same as making a phone call. It’s more instantaneous and, to me, more fun.
I also love the progress Apple made on the Siri watch face:
Using machine learning, the updated Siri watch face on Apple Watch is an even better personal assistant. It now offers more predictive and proactive shortcuts throughout the day based on routines, locations and information such as heart rate after a workout, commute time with Maps at the appropriate time of day or sports scores for a favorite team. The Siri watch face will also show actionable content from favorite third-party apps such as Nike+ Run Club, Glow Baby and Mobike.
The ability to create your own Siri Shortcuts and tie them to a complication on your Apple Watch is no small thing. Not exactly sure how Automator, and then Workflow, fits in to Shortcuts, but I’m guessing this is a rebranding and that Shortcuts is the new name for all of this automation. Please ping me if you know the backstory/details.
As to the Apple Watch Pride band, check out the video embedded in this tweet (tap the tweet to see it):
So much richness in this keynote.
Written by Dave Mark
Apple:
> Today Apple delivered a Health Records API for developers and researchers to create an ecosystem of apps that use health record data to better manage medications, nutrition plans, diagnosed diseases and more. The Health Records feature allows patients of more than 500 hospitals and clinics to access medical information from various institutions organized into one view on their iPhone. For the first time, consumers will be able to share medical records from multiple hospitals with their favorite trusted apps, helping them improve their overall health.
As health technology continues to advance, integrating artificial intelligence into health assessments offers promising enhancements to personalized care. AI-driven tools can analyze vast amounts of health data to provide more accurate and individualized recommendations. These technologies can help users understand their health metrics better, identify potential issues earlier, and tailor wellness strategies to their specific needs.
Buoy Health exemplifies how AI can revolutionize self-assessment by combining data from multiple sources to deliver a holistic view of one’s health. This integration of AI with health records enables users to track their health trends over time, receive tailored recommendations, and make informed decisions about their wellness. By leveraging data from the Health Records API, AI can offer insights that are not only comprehensive but also actionable, ensuring that users receive guidance that is both relevant and timely.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Title II, “requires the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers”. The goal is to make it easy for you to access all your health care records, for you to be in control. As is, it doesn’t feel that way to me. I couldn’t tell you how to access my health care records without contacting my doctor. Meanwhile, patients with questions about health insurance can find answers on websites like https://boomerbenefits.com/faq/what-to-expect-from-your-welcome-to-medicare-visit/.
To me, this API is an incredibly important step towards that goal. Imagine having your records in your control, always accessible, sharable with any doctor you visit. Then, also have a look at luxury hospital beds for a comfortable recovery journey at home.
Add to that the emergence of new healthcare websites like eumeds.com that help you manage your health care, and help minimize the chance of mistakes with your meds.
