Kind of sherlocked

January 21, 2016
by Riccardo Mori
Software

First, a refresher on what f.lux is:

To quote its developers, f.lux is an application that “makes the colour of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day. f.lux makes your computer screen look like the room you’re in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again.” 

The effect is beneficial to one’s eyes at night: the warmer colour temperature of the screen reduces eye strain and helps to sleep better. (There’s research behind this.)

f.lux is available for Mac, Windows and Linux, and it’s been around for a few years now. It’s free to use and the developers accept donations. 

f.lux has never been officially available for iOS, because it doesn’t use documented APIs. Since 2011, you can install it on jailbroken iOS devices via Cydia. On 12 November 2015, f.lux’s developers offered a way to install it on non-jailbroken devices through a clever trick — by sideloading it using Xcode, but Apple quickly intervened, asking the developers to remove this method because it violated the Xcode guidelines.

Back in November, in the conclusion of my article f.lux must be allowed on iOS, I wrote:

Well, I urge Apple to reconsider and look the other way, or to work with f.lux’s developers to find a way to allow them to ship a regular iOS app. It saddens me that something this useful is not allowed on the App Store, while a generous quantity of utter, useless crap is. If you read a lot on your iOS devices in the evening and at night, f.lux has a really beneficial impact on your health: it leads to much less eye strain and a better sleep. It deserves a place on iOS.

Apple’s move? Adding a feature to the upcoming iOS 9.3 update that works essentially the same as f.lux, called Night Shift. Apple is not new at this kind of behaviour, even an informal term has been coined to describe it, but what really rubbed me up the wrong way this time is the marketing language used to introduce Night Shift…

#alttext#

…together with that This latest iOS release adds numerous innovations to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system in the introduction at the top of the page. Look, I know, this is subjective, and I’m venting here, but the feeling I got after reading about Night Shift is that many people who don’t know better may think that Apple has been spending quite some time researching and developing this innovative, never-before-seen feature. 

Perhaps this is just the idealist in me speaking but Apple could have involved f.lux’s developers to work on this feature, both for iOS and Mac OS X, instead of reacting with another example of Not Invented Here syndrome and adding a sprinkle of fanfare in its announcement.

f.lux’s developers have reacted in the most elegant and gracious way possible:

Apple’s involvement in fixing this problem is a big commitment and an important first step.

We’re proud that we are the original innovators and leaders in this area. In our continued work over the last seven years, we have learned how complicated people actually are. The next phase of f.lux is something we cannot wait to ship to the world. […]

Today we call on Apple to allow us to release f.lux on iOS, to open up access to the features announced this week, and to support our goal of furthering research in sleep and chronobiology.

I hope to be wrong on this, but my first reaction is Good luck with that. If before the excuse for not allowing f.lux on iOS was that it used private APIs, the excuse after iOS 9.3 and Night Shift will be that it duplicates a built-in feature. 

And I bet it won’t be long before we see a Night Shift equivalent on Mac OS X.

By the way, I’ve heard through the Twittervine that Night Shift will only be available to iOS devices with 64-bit architecture (therefore minimum requirements will be iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini 2, and iPod touch 6th generation), which is another artificial limitation, since my iPhone 5 handles f.lux pretty well. This kind of useful feature should be made available to the widest possible range of devices — at least all those that support iOS 9. Good thing I acted quickly and managed to sideload f.lux in the brief window of availability back in November.

People and resources added to my reading list in 2015

January 13, 2016
by Riccardo Mori
Tech Life

When it comes to the list of resources I check on a daily basis, in 2015 there have been more subtractions than additions. Nothing in particular triggered this clean-up and reorganisation of my RSS feeds, but in retrospect I can say that it was a consequence of different factors, including:

  • The need to read more physical books and ‘offline stuff’;
  • A perceived decrease in quality of a few resources I used to follow;
  • More time devoted to my writing and the production of original content (fiction and non-fiction), leaving less time to keep up with the once-manageable reading list.

I also noticed an increase in what I call ‘random reading’ — meaning long-form articles and contributions either recommended by people I follow on Twitter and App.net, or found by chance or in connection to something else I was reading. I use the term ‘random’ because in most cases I simply read the piece and moved on: the author hadn’t written anything else worth considering, or hadn’t been updating his or her personal blog in ages, etc.

Tech blogging and podcasts

I have to generalise here, which means that there are exceptions, but overall 2015 felt a bit disappointing with regard to the quality of the tech-oriented blogs I follow. A marked decrease in consistency and quality seems to come from those authors who monetise their site through advertising and sponsors, and/or are engaged in podcast productions (as hosts or frequent guests). While it’s true that I have a certain aversion to podcasts, one cannot deny that if you invest a lot of time and energies doing podcasts, it’s only natural that your site and your writing will feel somewhat neglected.

There are also tech writers who have embraced podcasting as a new means for expressing their thoughts, and it appears that this has been a big trend in 2015, with new podcasts popping up at an alarming frequency. Everyone’s free to express themselves in the ways and via the media they see fit, of course, but as a reader and listener I’d like to point out that burying your opinions in a podcast episode that last 1–2 hours, instead of writing them down in a 500-word article, is a lazy and extremely selfish choice. As far as direct feedback goes, the debate remains confined inside circles and cliques. Bringing the discussion back to the written word means hunting quotable parts in long, sometimes meandering conversations, and then transcribing the bits you want to respond to. And this when you know where to look and are not put off by terse podcast episode summaries or silly titles.

Podcasts demand a level of attention and commitment on the part of the audience that’s simply too much for me; the offer is absolutely overwhelming; the average episode duration is still excessive. As a result, in 2015 I haven’t subscribed to any new podcast except Covered (see below), though I have listened to two or three episodes of other podcasts in an effort to expand my horizons, or because I acted on a specific recommendation, or because there was a specific subject being discussed and I was looking for different takes on it.

I’m still subscribed to

although I’ve skipped a few episodes every now and then. While the other two podcasts I follow without missing an episode are:

  • Release Notes, with Joe Cieplinski and Charles Perry, a weekly podcast about the business of Mac and iOS indie software development. “We discuss inspiration, design, trends, and tools — everything but the code.”
  • Covered, with Harry C. Marks. From the description: “Covered is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Harry Marks about writers and their books. Whether it’s fiction or non, short stories or long, sweeping epics, Harry digs down in each episode to learn the stories behind the stories, the whys and hows of their creation, and what readers and aspiring authors can learn from the process.”

Why? Because Release Notes is brief, focussed, and Joe and Charles are knowledgeable, excellent interlocutors. Covered, too, is focussed, plus very interesting and inspiring. Harry is a great host and interviewer, and thanks to his podcast I have discovered new authors and works. These two podcasts are fun to follow and they never feel overwhelming.

My third-party iOS podcast app of choice is Pocket Casts.

 

As for new blogs/websites, here’s the short list of new entries in my RSS feeds. All these resources are worth reading, and all fall under the category of ‘slow feeds’, meaning they’re not updated at a breakneck pace, and their authors only write when they have something to say. A very commendable practice nowadays.

  • No Octothorpe, by G. Keenan Schneider. I like his direct, no-nonsense style, though it was a very creative post that made me decide to finally add his site to my reading list.
  • Barely Legally, by Dominic Mauro. Added instantly after reading Probably Predatory, I decided to keep it in my feeds because I like Dominic’s writing, and since he’s a lawyer, it’s refreshing to read about topics that may be outside my comfort zone, so to speak.
  • Building Twenty, by Michael Anderson. One of those tech blogs I wish were updated more frequently. Apart from tech-oriented contributions, Michael also posts great articles with recommended readings such as this one — don’t miss those.
  • Dot Info, by Joe Caiati. Another nice find in the tech sphere. I’ve also listened to a couple of episodes of Diagnostic & Usage, the podcast Joe hosts with Cody Coats, and it’s worth checking out as well. (I’d subscribe if I had more time for podcasts.)
  • M B S‑P-B, by Mike Bates. I really enjoy reading Mike’s contributions, and his regular ‘A‑Players’ series of posts with a brief list of recommended pieces is always a nice surprise. Some great photos in his VSCO Grid, too. He exudes a kind of minimalism that feels genuine and not affected.
  • Unauthoritative Pronouncements, by Joe Rosensteel. Again, I started following Joe’s website because I appreciate his writing and criticism. His recent (at the time of writing) series of articles about the new Apple TV is well worth your attention.

A couple of ‘special mentions’:

  1. I discovered the majority of the aforementioned resources, directly or indirectly, via the infamous Samantha Bielefeld. If you don’t know who this person is, perhaps the most informative and less biased reference are two articles published by New York Magazine: Is This Popular Female Tech Blogger a Man in Disguise? and Tech Blogger Accused of Faking Her Identity Finally Speaks. While I obviously don’t condone certain behaviour and the questionable choices SB made during her/his brief period of Internet fame, I still think SB had interesting opinions to offer to the tech debate. A debate that is still in need of more voices capable of going against the current if necessary and change the largely complacent status quo.
  2. The Brooks Review, by Ben Brooks. I actually discovered Ben a few years ago, but I specifically mention him in this article because, overall, his website and writing have improved over the past year, and I’ve got back to reading him on a regular basis. Both his style and attitude may be rough and direct sometimes, but his honesty is truly refreshing. Well worth keeping in your RSS feeds. And while you’re at it, if you prefer reading more photography-oriented subjects, check out Erin Brooks’ website. It was another very nice discovery for me.

Other resources:

  • I’ve recently added two sites which I’d like to recommend if you love mechanical keyboards: KeyChatter (for news, reviews and more), and Mechanical Keyboards Inc. — The Ultimate Mechanical Keyboard catalog, which is an awesome resource for learning more about the technology in this type of keyboards, and for purchasing mechanical keyboards as well.
  • pivotCE — webOS news, tips and tricks — I still own a Palm Pre 2 and I’ve been a fan of webOS since the start. I’m glad I’ve found this site: if you still have and love webOS devices, pivotCE can offer tips and resources that will help you maintain your aging webOS smartphone or tablet.

Photography

2015 was a great year for me with regard to photography, and film photography in particular. I acquired a few more vintage cameras — which, like vintage Macs, I like to put to good use — and went out shooting a bit more. As I was researching information and looking for inspiration online, I stumbled on a lot of interesting resources and photographers.

The place I kept returning to has been Japan Camera Hunter, Bellamy Hunt’s website. The best thing to do to have an idea of what Bellamy’s place is all about is to just visit the site and dive in, but the About page might be a good starting point. Japan is, understandably, a fantastic place to look for film and film cameras, and if you’re looking for certain cameras that are difficult to find in good condition in the used market, Bellamy can be of assistance in sourcing it for you. His services may not be cheap, but that’s the price you pay for quality.

For me, Japan Camera Hunter has been a great source of inspiration mainly thanks to the recurring series of In your bag posts, where people send Bellamy photos of their camera bag and gear, talk about how they got into photography or how they (re)discovered film photography, and post links to their sites and work. I’ve discovered many talented photographers and enthusiasts this way.

But another cool feature of the site are the photography-related essays written by Bellamy and a few regular guest writers — the most interesting being Dan K (here’s a link to the articles he has published there.)

My RSS management

It’s basically the same as last year. On my main Mac I still use and love Reeder, while I keep older versions of NetNewsWire on my PowerPC Macs (version 3.2.15 under Mac OS X Leopard, and 3.1.7 under Mac OS X Tiger). On iOS, my love for Unread remains unchanged. Unread is also my absolute favourite iOS app with regard to gesture-based navigation. It’s really good and well-designed.

My ‘Read Later’ solutions haven’t changed, either. To the short list I wrote last year, I’ll just add a new tool I’ve been using to quickly share a link between a vintage Mac and my more modern iOS devices or my main Intel Mac, and vice versa: Firefox Sync.

As I wrote on System Folder, I only recently had the proverbial ‘eureka moment’, when I realised that by creating a Firefox account, not only could I keep browser tabs, bookmarks, passwords, history, add-ons and preferences synchronised between my MacBook Pro and my iOS devices, but I could also include my PowerPC Macs because TenFourFox supports Firefox Sync — at least for now. It basically works like the iCloud Tabs feature in Safari, but unlike iCloud Tabs it also includes my older PowerPC Macs in the mix. It’s great and very handy. With the Sharing sheet on iOS, I can send a tab from Firefox on my iPad to TenFourFox on my Titanium PowerBook G4 running Mac OS X Tiger. This newfound backward compatibility is exhilarating.

And that’s it for 2015, I guess.

Past articles

On Apple purportedly dropping the 3.5mm audio jack

January 9, 2016
by Riccardo Mori
Tech Life

Bye headphone jack?

So, rumour has it that with the next-generation iPhone — or rather, starting with the next-generation iPhone to then include future iPads and Macs — Apple will remove the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and use the Lightning connector for audio input/output.

I dislike discussing rumours, but the debate has quickly reached stupid proportions (stupid being the operative word) that it has become difficult to ignore. Of all the articles and contributions I’ve read so far, this one by Peter Kirn at CDM is one of the most balanced and the one I agree with most.

Personally, I don’t have strong feelings about this change (if or when it’ll take place); my first reaction has been one of quiet resignation — I’m the kind of user who will get an adapter and keep using the earphones and headphones I’ve spent so much time on finding, and that’s it, crisis averted.

I don’t intend to spend one Euro in a new pair of Lightning or Bluetooth earphones/headphones. I’ve always had a bit of trouble in finding comfortable solutions for my ears, and I’m happy with what I have, from a pair of heavy but beautiful 1980s Technics headphones (for when I’m in ‘audiophile’ mode), to a lighter foldable pair of JVC over-ear headphones for everyday use at my desk, to cheaper earphones for when I’m out and about. Earphones have been the most annoying to find, because my ears have a different fit: I can’t wear Apple EarPods in particular because the right bud keeps falling off, while the left one fits fine. Conversely, while a lot of people complained about the previous Apple earphones, they were a better fit for both my ears. 

So, if Apple includes a new pair of Lightning EarPods with the iPhone 7, and if their shape stays the same as it is now, I’ll probably sell them and buy an audio adapter.

Where this purported change gets irritating for me is that it’s completely unnecessary, it introduces a proprietary solution, and it’s a pseudo-innovation that only furthers Apple’s agenda. I smile when some people bring up the iMac’s introduction and compare this purported change to that time when Apple dropped the floppy drive and ADB and SCSI connectors in favour of optical drives, USB and FireWire ports. Not only were all those standard formats, they also were undoubtedly an improvement over the formats and connections they replaced. 

This change, from 3.5mm standard jack to proprietary Lightning connector, is Apple removing an obstacle that’s hampering their design process/progress towards absolute thinness; and Apple introducing a solution that, as Kirn notes in his article, gives them more control [1] and the opportunity of selling more products, since now Apple is in the headphone business as well. Users are the last to benefit from this change: except for those who are perfectly fine using Apple EarPods, this change will mean spending additional money for at least one decent adapter — maybe two if you want to leave one attached to your car stereo system.

Don’t tell me this could be a welcome change because it’ll bring thinner iPhones. That the current iPhones 6 and 6s are already uncomfortably thin is confirmed by the amount of people using them with a case. A new iPhone as thin as the latest iPod touch may be cool on paper, but definitely slipping from your hands (by the way, the iPod touch is so thin and yet it has a standard 3.5mm jack, how about that).

I also don’t believe that removing the standard audio jack leads to better waterproofing. Sony and Samsung, in particular, have produced lots of smartphone models that are waterproof or water resistant, and still have the standard 3.5mm jack.

Finally, there is no increase in audio quality either. As Kirn writes, What happens here is that the digital-to-analog circuitry moves from the phone to the headphones. That could potentially have some sort of benefit as far as electrical interference, but beyond that, there’s no reason to believe it will make any difference at all – and mainly might become a reason for headphone makers to charge more.

 

  • 1. Kirn: “Accessories with Lightning jacks can be forced into the Made for iPod certification program (MFI), which since the days of the iPod has allowed Apple to have say over who is certified as an accessory and how those devices are designed.” ↩︎

 

More on iOS 9 and older devices

January 7, 2016
by Riccardo Mori
Handpicked

Chris Carson at Low End Mac writes:

Yesterday, a gentleman by the name of Chaim Lerman filed a Class Action Lawsuit seeking US$5 Million in damages for “deceptive trade practices and false advertising”. Plaintiff Chaim claims that he and other iPhone 4S owners became unable to use their devices because the iOS 9 update slowed down their devices. […]

The problem of “forced obsolescence” is as old as the tech industry itself. Everybody reading this article has felt the sting of buying something new only to have it replaced months, weeks, or even days later. While your new device may not be rendered useless as soon as the next one comes out, it is inevitable that it will eventually become “obsolete”. […]

Listen, folks, you have to come to terms with the fact that older devices simply won’t run the latest and greatest as well as newer devices will.

Apple has gone out on a limb by supporting the iPhone 4S as long as it has, and I personally applaud them for keeping it up to date. But there are those out there who have unrealistic expectations about how well their older devices should perform with the ever increasing demands of modern software.

I understand Carson’s point, but as I wrote in my previous post, I think that Apple shouldn’t have allowed iOS 9 on devices with an A5 processor and 512 MB of RAM, stopping iOS updates at version 8.4.1 for these devices. (The third-generation iPad, despite having similar specs, handles iOS 9 much better — apparently, having 1 GB of RAM is enough to make a noticeable difference). 

Since publishing my previous post, I’ve heard from people who have installed iOS 9 on their older devices — iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad mini — which share the same specs and memory, and some of these people told me that iOS 9 runs well enough on them; others confirmed the overall disappointing user experience. This class of devices is exactly on the dividing line between a good and a bad user experience under iOS 9. Apple favoured support and compatibility over user experience, and decided to extend the life of the iPhone 4S and similar devices, probably thinking that it was doing their owners a favour. 

The real favour in this case would have been to drop iOS 9 support for iOS devices with an A5 CPU and 512 MB of RAM — iOS 8.4 was running just fine and there are still a lot of current apps on the App Store supporting iOS 8. An iPhone 4S or iPad 2 with iOS 8 would still prove to be quite useful today, and pleasant to use. Even my humble iPhone 4, stopped at iOS 7.1.2, is still a decent (secondary) device. 

The kind of ‘forced obsolescence’ that’s truly irritating is when we have technically capable hardware that is denied to run the latest software largely for marketing-related reasons. In this case, exactly for the reason Carson mentions (“older devices simply won’t run the latest and greatest as well as newer devices will”), leaving the iPhone 4S and similarly older devices behind wouldn’t have been forced obsolescence, but a honest realisation of their technical limitations. And a more dignified semi-retirement.

Apple should really offer the possibility to download older iOS ‘combo updates’ via iTunes to allow for a system downgrade with a simple restore & reinstall. Before the process begins, users should be warned about the security implications and informed that such downgrades are unsupported, etc. It’s exactly in cases like this that user experience should be favoured. Take the choice Apple made to not offer Web content blockers on iOS devices with a 32-bit architecture. Although technically possible, the reason given was that user experience would be negatively impacted. Yet making the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 struggle under iOS 9 is considered fine, apparently.

iOS, especially when it comes to older devices, should benefit from a more Mac OS-like approach. There are a lot of vintage Macs that can technically support certain versions of Mac OS and Mac OS X, but that are way more responsive and usable if kept on a slightly earlier version.

iOS 9 on the iPad 2

January 4, 2016
by Riccardo Mori
Software

In short — it’s bad.

In iOS 9 on the iPhone 5 and the iPad 3, I wrote:

The range of devices supported by iOS 9 is surprisingly ample, the principle being that if a device was able to run iOS 8, then it’ll run iOS 9. Performance-wise, according to what I’ve been reading on the Web so far, the consensus seems to be: If you were satisfied by iOS 8’s performance on your (older) device, then iOS 9 won’t disappoint. I agree with this assessment, and I’ll go as far as saying that iOS 9 feels even smoother and more stable in places where iOS 8 stuttered every now and then. I noticed this on the iPhone 5 especially.

That, sadly, isn’t true for the iPad 2.

At the time, I left the iPad 2 out of my initial impressions because I didn’t want to be too precipitous in my assessment. I don’t use an iPad 2 on a daily basis — my wife does, so I just told her: “Let me know if you encounter any issue with iOS 9, and how the overall performance is.”

Time passed and I didn’t hear many complaints from her, so I assumed things were generally fine. However, it appears that every iOS 9 minor update released after version 9.0 has negatively impacted performance and usability on the iPad 2. I took advantage of the Christmas holidays to take a closer look, spending more time with her iPad 2. Now I can definitely say that allowing the iPad 2 (and by extension the iPhone 4S) to run iOS 9 was a grave mistake on Apple’s part. 

  • Animations and transitions are a sad spectacle to behold: stuttering, sometimes even stopping midway for a couple of seconds; it really looks like the device is struggling to complete them. Every now and then, the lock screen is unrensponsive, meaning that you can slide to unlock all you want, nothing happens. Invoking Control Centre and Notification Centre can be a hit-or-miss affair. On a bad day, even swiping from one app screen to another is comically slow. The fluidity of the multitasking interface is barely acceptable.
  • Keyboard input is frequently lagging. You type in a search field, or in Safari’s address field, or you just want to type a quick note: you start tapping the keys, nothing seems to happen, then most of the text you’ve entered is finally rolling down all at once, machine-gun style.
  • 512 MB of RAM are simply not enough to handle iOS 9. This is noticeable everywhere: Safari tabs constantly reloading; applications losing their state after you quit them and reopen them after a short while; and finally, I know the practice of entering the multitasking interface and force-quitting apps is frowned upon, but on the iPad 2 it really looks like it helps give the device a bit of breathing room to operate. Maybe it’s just a subjective impression, so take it with a grain of salt.
  • I’ve noticed that apps have taken to unexpectedly quit with an alarming frequency. Even apps that shouldn’t have any compatibility issues with iOS 9, either because they’re first-party apps, or because they’re freshly-updated apps. I’ve also noticed that in a couple of occasions the iPad 2 self-rebooted out of the blue. I haven’t been able to reproduce the issue. It all just seems so random.

It’s really a pity that Apple makes it hard to downgrade to a previous version of iOS. I know, security reasons and all that, but downgrading to iOS 8 would really help regain some fluidity and overall performance on the iPad 2 (and the iPhone 4S, I guess.)

Speaking of iPhone 4S, Rich Edmonds at iMore reports that Apple faces lawsuit over how iOS 9 negatively impacts iPhone 4s performance:

More than 100 iPhone 4s owners have asserted that the update has led to a negative experience on their smartphone to the point where it’s simply unusable for daily use. Delayed launch times for apps, slower response on the touchscreen, as well as sluggish performance overall plague said owners. Then you have the reported freezing and crashes. Not fun times for anyone.

From my recent direct experience with my wife’s device, I’d say this is also exactly true for the iPad 2.