Steve Troughton-Smith

I build games, make apps, and hack things. Husband. 🏳️‍🌈 He/him. I make @broadcastsapp, @pastelapp, @graceapp, and more.

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npub16fpqvcfhjde9mrj8g4tp6pa9dnltnkl9xn7ydc9fktg4nv9untgqlucq7q

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdyssxvymexuja3er524saq7jkel4em0jnflzxuz5m952ekz7f45qpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43q3ty603

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

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npub16fpqvcfhjde9mrj8g4tp6pa9dnltnkl9xn7ydc9fktg4nv9untgqlucq7q

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Last Notes

2024-06-18 16:05:26

Journalists are massively misunderstanding what the 'Threads API' actually is.
It's not for third-party clients, it's for automation & marketing. You can’t access a timeline via the API, or do search, or anything like that. It's for posting, reading replies, and replying to replies of a post. Bots and CRMs
"You may use the Threads API to enable people to create and publish content on a person’s behalf on Threads, and to display those posts within your app solely to the person who created it.”

2024-06-13 23:04:53

I never expected to see a Chess update in macOS in 2024, but here we are!
It is the first time the renderer has been updated since I believe Mac OS X v10.3, twenty-one years ago (!)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/611/340/464/440/527/original/78efafd46129b51f.png

2024-06-13 21:10:00

UIKit has like 2 new APIs this WWDC 😅 Same for AppKit. There's just nothing to add to the conversation this year, and that includes for Catalyst. It powers all the new features in Messages and Maps on the Sequoia preview page (…plus the Developer app everybody is watching the sessions in — you've been using Catalyst all week)
https://mastodon.social/@mjtsai/112610807593658770

2024-06-11 19:10:10

iOS 18 has all the kind of beta 1 bugs you’d prefer to avoid, like AirPods controls not working, or the lock screen camera UI crashing or not saving videos. Only run it if you like to live dangerously

2024-06-11 04:34:20

Apple's Neural Engine evidently doesn't count for a whole lot if even basic on-device LLM text generation only works on an iPhone 15 Pro or M-series iPad? We're still in a situation where any developer who wants to actually make use of AI in their apps is going to need to integrate OpenAI's web API anyway, sending all your requests to the cloud, so all of Apple's privacy talk means nothing 🫠 Why even launch like this? I am baffled by the WWDC announcements

2024-06-07 23:05:58

If that LEGO Thunderjaw doesn't become an actual set I will riot
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/577/386/922/479/734/original/38cf4eddd7dd7591.jpeg

2024-06-06 20:32:15

I’ve been using the Magic Keyboard with my iPad for four years now, and I only just found out there’s a keyboard brightness slider buried deep in the hardware keyboard settings in Settings 😐
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/571/104/101/035/893/original/7d59a61b3dbf2e59.jpeg

2024-05-13 20:01:02

A $3,000 Mac has the ability to run iPad apps. It shouldn’t be controversial to suggest that a $3,000 iPad should have the ability to run Mac apps

2024-05-09 01:13:38

That's a new one! Never seen an Xcode upload get corrupted along the way before
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/408/003/266/297/589/original/104b4ce9a808de64.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/408/003/539/496/941/original/f16b921cd5482a7f.png

2024-05-09 00:18:28

Early iPad Pro Geekbench results (if true) make it out to be basically double the performance of my M1 Mac mini. Double the single core score, double the multicore score, and double the graphics score 👀 It's only been three years!
CPU: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6013825
GPU: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/compute/2154401
📈

2024-05-07 13:59:09

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@npub1jv5…e22d you have such beautiful UIs, shame to not lead with them

2024-05-05 00:22:21

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@npub1sy6…5dxr my stats say I can probably drop iOS 15 now and only affect 50 people, but iOS 16 is still like half of my active users

2024-04-29 15:47:04

Why any manufacturer would cede their entire UI to a ‘partner’ like Apple baffles me 😅
'Next-generation CarPlay’ just hands the [car]keys to your kingdom to a mob boss
https://mastodon.online/@9to5Mac/112354762255985450

2024-04-23 17:53:46

We're 5 years in now and even the most talented and experienced SwiftUI devs aren't building apps that are better than what you could build before, nor does it seem like there are kinds of apps that weren't possible before.
And still, a large chunk of dev energy is spent just trying to make it ‘as good as' before, too. Churn for the sake of churn. Some big apps have fancy new UIs with terrible layout performance, completely squandering the long-held lead Apple's chip teams bought the platform

2024-04-22 18:16:17

With moves like this, maybe it's not a given that Google’s Android will be the primary competitor to Apple's platforms in every new post-PC market?
Maybe in AR/VR, Google just has little to no say in the conversation, and Meta is dominant for the next 15 years?
Is Google about to enter the 2010s-Microsoft phase of its relevance? 👀
https://www.threads.net/@zuck/post/C6EbeLPxovW

2024-04-18 18:25:54

Four years old today! 🐶
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/293/153/960/630/209/original/8c0bbc7e8cb4824d.jpeg

2024-04-18 06:05:52

Here’s your AI astonishment/nightmare fuel for today:
"TL;DR: single portrait photo + speech audio = hyper-realistic talking face video with precise lip-audio sync, lifelike facial behavior, and naturalistic head movements, generated in real time.”
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/vasa-1/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/290/244/118/322/877/original/07e5c5cb354f2fef.mp4

2024-04-16 01:19:49

@npub1src…fms4 just investigating SwiftGodot; this can be used to build Windows and Android binaries? Does the Swift code compile to an intermediary format? I have a whole pile of Unity game code that I'd love to port to something I can use from Xcode and build for other platforms

2024-04-15 16:54:40

Came across a neat-looking indie gamedev tool that I wanted to check out, but they dropped Mac support when Apple killed 32-bit apps 🤷‍♂️
The bridges Apple burned with indie game devs with the 32-bit cutoff and notarization still have repercussions today, and will far into the future
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/275/808/014/247/425/original/0836b3b8f10bb7a0.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/275/808/350/288/814/original/51e18fcbfbc93420.png

2024-04-11 18:15:27

Hate to break it to you: your App Store Connect sales numbers and revenue earnings have no dev-auditable, verifiable paper trail. You're entirely relying on your trust of Apple that they're reporting the correct numbers, and paying you the correct money. You would never truly know whether Apple, today or in the future, is juicing the numbers or depressing them to skim off the top. They control the marketing, the product placement, everything 🙃
That is the walled garden.
https://mastodon.social/@appleinsider/112253447580574226

2024-04-10 16:09:30

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@npub1u3f…nne2 it's almost like the API should do that automatically, by default 👀

2024-04-10 03:51:02

All the better to run all those ARM-based Windows ap…
…those Windows Phone ap…
…those Windows Subsystem for Android ap…
…I guess I see why they're excited about emulation performance
https://mastodon.social/@daringfireball/112244317345277965

2024-04-09 23:00:57

Log in with your LEGO account and Support this to give it a chance to become a real set 👀
https://bitbang.social/@hypertalking/112243233586546635

2024-04-09 19:33:51

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@npub1sy6…5dxr Siri can't even do a binary lightswitch properly 100% of the time, and that's a fundamental part of computing

2024-04-09 18:25:55

People are getting way too excited about Apple's AI papers — getting any one of them to work well enough to ship is one thing, getting something to combine all of them in a useful way is very wishful thinking. If you're lucky, you'll see a subset of the best/most-fit-for-purpose one show in some way in iOS 18.

2024-04-01 22:09:11

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@npub15l7…aang I feel attacked.
*sits up*

2024-03-28 19:39:42

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@npub1xzm…eykm that's not what's happening here — this is showing for every post for people who don’t do it intentionally

2024-03-26 18:57:17

https://developer.apple.com/wwdc24/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/163/280/232/177/136/original/72013323c707b1a6.jpeg

2024-03-21 17:24:07

It was really naïve to think Epic ‘lost’ its fight against Apple. Everything Epic fought for is going to come to pass, and Apple has trashed its reputation in the process while daring regulators the world over to start peeling the layers of its business apart with a crowbar.
This could all have been avoided; it's entirely Apple's fault, and they deserve what they get

2024-03-18 20:26:22

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@npub1xzm…eykm *strongly* disagree with that last one, when full disclosure is provided. Cuts off all kinds of interesting use cases and bots (like automated support for apps), and means if you do talk about generative art you can’t post it to a secondary profile to spare your main feed followers. Like it or not, mastodon.social *is* Mastodon to an awful lot of people, and this effectively becomes a blanket ban. I certainly wouldn't be posting here if I had to be on another instance

2024-03-15 21:40:45

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@npub1src…fms4 you could do that for the Import File top-level option, but you could always also add a context menu item for individual groups/folders that shortcuts the second step?

2024-03-06 18:44:03

"Apple shared the following statement with MacRumors:
Epic's egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate "any or all of Epic Games' wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games' control at any time and at Apple's sole discretion." In light of Epic's past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise that right.”
https://mastodon.social/@macrumors/112049972630142902

2024-03-06 18:29:39

Putting Phil Schiller in charge of the App Store is going to be a hundred billion dollar mistake that all-told leaves Apple with a pile of legal, perhaps criminal, liability and a raft of draconian regulations around the world that massively compromise the iOS experience. This was clear years ago; it is *unimaginable* that he’s still calling the shots

2024-03-05 19:33:13

Windows Subsystem for Android was Microsoft's knee-jerk reaction to iOS apps coming to Apple Silicon Macs. Turns out, nobody really cares about either. But unlike Apple's effort, which also enables Mac Catalyst and half the native system apps on macOS, Microsoft's was a bolt-on alien experience, with afterthought apps from an afterthought app store. Not quite the embrace, extend, extinguish you hoped for. Nobody will miss it

2024-03-05 18:49:07

"Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). As a result, the Amazon Appstore on Windows and all applications and games dependent on WSA will no longer be supported beginning March 5, 2025. “
Never depend on Microsoft for anything
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/
/via @npub1z64…sxul

2024-03-04 18:24:49

"Today, developers compete on a level playing field on the App Store”
"It takes continuous effort and a lot of investment for Apple to make the tools, the technology, and the marketplace that Spotify uses every day. We’ve even flown our engineers to Stockholm to help Spotify’s teams in person."
…is that service part of my TSI, or…?

2024-02-27 23:31:40

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@npub1src…fms4 oh so just the iPad app then; I didn't realize because of the window size. Not Catalyst at all

2024-02-26 16:24:19

"One studio boss told us that after months of glowing feedback on one particular game, the Arcade team suddenly withdrew its interest in the title, citing a change in strategy. When the developer asked for feedback and offered to reduce the budget and re-tool the game to better fit Apple’s needs, the Arcade team simply stopped responding to their emails.”
https://mastodon.online/@9to5Mac/111998422054380557

2024-02-21 15:59:17

Apple's encryption may be quantum-computer-proof, but it’s not lawmaker-proof. And that's a weak link that absolutely will be exploited, someday. E2EE is a luxury that can be snatched away in an instant, a false sense of security in an increasingly dangerous world

2024-02-19 17:50:34

The whole DMA situation should have been Apple's cue to take stock of the App Store and how it has failed iPad & Mac. That a tablet or desktop should have the same rules and restrictions as a *phone* is bonkers. There’s a reason why most of the Mac apps you care about aren't on the App Store, and why Apple still offers a bunch of temporary entitlement exemptions a decade later — the App Store cannot support the richness of a platform like the Mac. Vision is destined to the same fate as iPad

2024-02-19 17:18:04

Pundit opinion of iPad is in a nosedive, in a year where even ports of Final Cut and Logic couldn’t save it.
iPad is scoring lower than the Mac did in 2016 with the butterfly keyboard debacle, and iPad doesn't even have a debacle to blame.
It's gonna take a lot more than an OLED screen and a spec bump to make me feel about iPad like I used to; I have no clue where iPad is going anymore, and neither has Apple.
https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/02/apple-in-2023-the-six-colors-report-card/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/959/046/946/263/864/original/6429de53475a2b13.jpeg

2024-02-16 00:27:42

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@npub1src…fms4 @npub1xkd…v8gn we used to make custom web app clips in iPhoneOS 1.0 😛 There's a huge API/SPI surface that has been available to jailbreak apps for 17 years. Putting an icon on a homescreen and making it launch a custom sandboxed app instance is the kind of thing that can be done by a bored 14 year old in a day's work — like most of the jailbreak community developments. And they're not being threatened for 10% of their global revenue in fines

2024-02-15 22:31:43

🚨 With Apple telegraphing a big LLM-based AI push for this year's iOS release, and the rumors to back that up, if you haven't already started planning where and how to integrate this into your apps, now might be the time!
Where could you make use of summarization, deep content analysis, universal translator features, recommendation engines, text and code generation, or hardware-accelerated fuzzy logic, in your apps?

2024-02-15 20:35:12

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@npub1xzm…eykm if you want to base them, this vid from GW designer & ex-Eavy Metal painter is my favorite tutorial and the way I do all mine these days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXmvQS50Z8w

2024-02-15 20:18:08

It's a complete coincidence that iOS killing PWAs in Europe means that PWA developers should move to the App Store if they want to be on the platform.
Complete coincidence.

2024-02-15 19:13:50

Apple thought its bullshit Core Technology Fee was worth investing effort in, but not homescreen web apps 😛
“If Apple ever asked its engineers to make iOS worse in favor of making the company money, they would quit”
Turns out that was a lie. Who knew

2024-02-15 16:43:06

Anybody got TikTok installed on visionOS? It looks like they reimplemented the Messages-style dual pane layout, and I was curious if it animates nicely like the one I built (https://mastodon.social/@stroughtonsmith/111831387885318229)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/936/259/821/237/461/original/04646c8bb6c1b0ed.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/936/260/194/116/252/original/3d551129e3807aa7.jpeg

2024-02-14 18:58:22

There seems to be a lot of Vision Pro owners who don't realize you can access the home screen from Control Center 🤔
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/931/129/759/861/474/original/d88755f39a3c4f25.jpeg

2024-02-14 01:07:43

Try as I might, I can only find 994 apps on visionOS, but I'm sure I must be missing a few (or there could be a bunch of enterprise apps not listed on the App Store publicly).
I don't have a good way of sharing any of this, but in case you have tools that could make use of it, here's the list of Adam IDs: https://gist.github.com/steventroughtonsmith/240656bd164d14c5334ed3627665dbb1
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/926/919/784/278/652/original/254526e9aaa28e5c.jpeg

2024-02-12 21:34:36

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@npub1p9k…865w just to be aware, if you roll your own volume slider you don't get system volume control or digital crown support, which is how the volume slider in e.g. Music works. It's why I'm stuck with crappy MPVolumeView

2024-02-10 18:07:54

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@npub15kq…qfy2 @npub1p9k…865w there was a really good WWDC talk a couple years ago, this might be it but I'm not sure: https://developer.apple.com/wwdc21/10022

2024-02-10 17:43:59

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@npub1p9k…865w I would suspect that your selection state being tied to the view model directly is why it gets rebuilt every time the view model changes?

2024-02-09 00:41:52

The iTunes Store on macOS is in disrepair 😂 What is this font!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/898/506/616/361/625/original/a218be32dc8e2e0b.png

2024-02-08 22:01:51

Uhh why is the Pastel icon on the App Store on visionOS gray? wtf?
I saw this in App Store Connect but assumed it's gotta be a bug. The icon appears in Xcode and on-device properly, it's just like the Back layer has been color-shifted.
Is this an App Store issue or an Xcode issue?
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/897/877/413/943/593/original/9f6ba1aace650f86.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/897/877/440/088/107/original/bb52df4361d84d58.png

2024-02-06 20:46:25

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@npub1tuz…y7d3 there’s no way to ifdef out parts that shouldn't run on macOS in an iOS app, because it's a compile time thing — it would remove them from the iOS app too. Has to be a runtime check if you're checking the compatibility box. If you compile specifically for Mac Catalyst, then your ifdefs will work

2024-02-06 20:42:18

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@npub1tuz…y7d3 check for ProcessInfo.processInfo.isiOSAppOnMac perhaps? CanImport may succeed because a lot of those frameworks are there for binary compatibility, stubbed

2024-02-06 20:36:28

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@npub1tuz…y7d3 the people at Apple who want to make SwiftUI happen on the Mac also do not want to make Catalyst happen, so you're on the bad path trying to mix both

2024-02-05 14:25:34

There's a convergence point for AR and AI: glasses. That's why I think AI devices intended to replace your phone are a dead end; Apple, and its peers, may not get there first, but they will get there with their entire ecosystems in tow. Glasses make the most sense of all the form factors because they're socially acceptable, see what you see, and you don't have to give up another device to slot them into your life. Whether you think AVP is dumb or not, it is a very clear preview of the final form
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/879/096/310/997/870/original/f29f36d7a1b58ea3.jpeg

2024-02-02 22:35:44

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@npub1sy6…5dxr being a Canadian finally comes back to bite you

2024-02-02 22:28:37

You can now order the Apple Vision Pro Developer Strap for $299, if you're in the US. It provides a direct USB-C connection and does support USB Host (so should work with Ethernet devices, potentially HID devices and more): https://developer.apple.com/visionos/resources/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/864/008/790/612/802/original/87f767f6226ca43d.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/864/008/787/112/376/original/42a4409d8f8b460a.png

2024-01-31 17:40:03

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@npub1p9k…865w still means a third party solution could 2x or 3x it!

2024-01-31 16:41:15

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@npub1src…fms4 it's easy to assume things are design choices from the outside, when it's really Game of Thrones on the inside 😂

2024-01-31 16:05:53

“Why didn't they use Memoji instead of Persona?”
Reading between the lines, I think there's quite a bit of NIH going on.
Memoji is built around SceneKit. SceneKit is incompatible with RealityKit (which is meant to be a substitute, but falls far short), and RealityKit's security model, and thus can't be used for 3D content in visionOS.
Apple would have to rewrite Memori/Animoji in some form of RealityKit, and visionOS’ RealityKit is not [today] compatible with iOS/macOS. Lots of wasted effort
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/851/179/227/243/749/original/c3adbf64ef390c26.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/851/179/226/811/571/original/3e86f9c764b5867e.jpeg

2024-01-31 14:06:08

Wait, the Vision Pro battery pack is *3166 mAh*?
Why doesn't it come with a 20,000mAh pack and get 12 hours out of the box? Why is the battery pack made out of metal 😵‍💫

2024-01-21 04:15:56

macOS.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/791/764/498/754/759/original/53b03aa017847f24.png

2024-01-12 15:52:40

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@npub1jv5…e22d https://mastodon.social/@stroughtonsmith/111720915242365366

2024-01-10 17:23:34

I missed this when it popped up, but to use Unity to build for visionOS you need at least a Pro license, which costs "€1,877
/yr per seat”
So yeah, good luck with that
/via https://www.reddit.com/r/visionosdev/comments/18xzodd/fyi_unitys_vision_os_and_polyspatial_packages_are/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/732/576/140/420/469/original/46c05e0f50d338ca.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/732/576/161/385/461/original/cf77af7ff735f319.png

2024-01-08 17:14:14

🎙️ Been working on an awesome visionOS app that you'd love to show off now that device preorders are only a week away?
Drop it in the replies here; if you'd like to be boosted, include:
1️⃣ a screenshot or video
2️⃣ a link-out to your site or App Store page
3️⃣ use the hashtag #showcase
Assume the reader knows nothing about you or your projects: what is your app, what does it do?
Remember you can edit posts if you forget something, and mute the hashtag for a period if you don't want to participate

2023-12-31 20:06:06

I do wish polls on Mastodon could run for 7 days — 24 hours is way too short for the kind of polls I like to run (@npub1xzm…eykm) — but it looks pretty much like a 50/50 split as to whether developers here are going to offer their iOS apps on visionOS through compatibility mode. It sounds like it's going to be much closer to iOS-on-Mac app availability than iPhone-on-iPad, at the very least
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/676/592/142/750/058/original/29c88eff7c701120.png

2023-12-20 21:56:18

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@npub1sy6…5dxr what devkits? There were never any devkits 😜

2023-10-17 15:34:00

This new lower-cost Apple Pencil is very much aimed at students and schools, not artists. Though I don't envy any teacher who has to recharge 30 styluses via USB-C every week

2023-10-16 04:46:14

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@npub1sy6…5dxr does it have a background color / opacity > 0.05?

2023-10-03 19:15:14

visionOS beta 4, finally!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/172/210/449/464/600/original/0afeff70fb1fbec8.png

2023-10-02 06:22:58

I saw one outlet say Apple’s Vision Pro ‘has a gaming focus’.
visionOS ‘has a gaming focus’ in the same way the Siri Remote ‘has a gaming focus’

2023-09-29 18:33:07

Shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9XoUUYeZD8
Chaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYymRU-bfpQ
I heard it was bad, but wow what a car crash of a CEO interview; gives off real 'hostage' vibes

2023-09-26 02:01:28

visionOS is an industrial-scale nerd snipe

2023-09-07 23:47:04

I don't get to celebrate milestones on the App Store all that often, but this is a nice round number for a tiny developer like me with some very niche apps 😄
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/026/059/410/205/981/original/0635e87cbfdde201.png

2023-08-29 14:54:30

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@npub1c2x…w0nm …well yes, of course it’s my opinion? My opinion as a longtime user, developer, designer across many operating systems

2023-08-29 02:58:20

I'm not planning on writing this up, but I have gone through iPadOS 17, and all my old posts about iPadOS 16, and collated a list of many of the things Stage Manager still gets wrong 👀 There's definitely more to add, but this is why the two tiny changes to Stage Manager this year (tiling, and shift-clicking) don't impress me.
The major change between Stage Manager now and this time last year is just how buggy and broken it was then. So much time was spent fixing its performance, but not design
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/970/188/368/172/504/original/9e3160b1f8629e81.png

2023-08-25 23:14:43

iPad’s been stuck in a rut for a decade. We're still having the same conversations about it and what it can/can't do, who it's good for. Either it suffered from a tremendous lack of vision, or it was intentionally hobbled so as not to tread on Mac's toes. I fear we're about to go through the same cycle on visionOS. Can it replace the desktop in ten years? Is it the kind of project that will survive Apple’s next CEO transition?
@npub1eee…e209
2023: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2023/08/25/ipad-only-travel-dream
2013: https://daringfireball.net/2013/10/the_ipad_air
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/952/322/135/282/887/original/3eb824907c97edb9.png