¶ 2020 Year in Review | New Tech

This past year has been…well, something else. While a global pandemic certainly threw a wrench in so many things for so many people, it really wasn’t the worst year for me, aside from the longest spring break my kid has ever had. In January, I started a new job at my old flame, 1Password. Being a fully remote job, my day-to-day work wasn’t significantly impacted.

One thing that did go by the wayside was writing here. I just couldn’t muster the wherewithal to write during all this, even though I certainly had plenty fo topics to write about. You see, 2020 ended up being the year I had opportunity to refresh a good deal of my tech. So, in lieu of individual reviews, I’m going to summarize my thoughts on pieces of new tech I added to my collection this year.

AirPods Pro

As a “yay, new job!” gift to myself, I bought a pair of AirPods Pro in January. The regular AirPods were already one of my favorite pieces of tech in years, and the Pro variant set the bar even higher. I absolutely love the noise cancellation, which worked well on the few flights I took before the pandemic lockdown began.

But it is the Transparency mode that is really fantastic. Being able to clearly hear both music or podcasts and my surroundings is game changing, particularly on a walk through the neighborhood.

And the AirPods Pro have continued to get better. iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur allow for seamless automatic transfer between devices, and it works really well. It’s not foolproof, but it is rare for me to experience a hiccup in the transfer. And the new support for spatial audio is astounding. I’ve been watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney+, which supports spatial audio, and it is such an exciting audio experience. I really couldn’t recommend AirPods Pro enough. They are simply fantastic and remain my favorite gadget.

The Early 2020 MacBook Air

I had been rocking a 2012 MacBook Air until April this year. I loved that MacBook Air, and it was darn near the perfect computer. But it was certainly long in the tooth. Apple refreshed the MacBook Air back in 2018, giving it a Retina display and USB-C ports, but I held off because of the wretched butterfly keyboard. I was determined that my trusty MacBook Air would outlive the much-maligned butterfly keyboard design. That wager happened this year with a refresh bringing scissor switch keys to the MacBook Air.

I literally insta-ordered.

Little did I know I was buying the last Intel MacBook Air, since Apple swapped the brains for their own chips last month. Still, I am comforted knowing I bought the best Intel MacBook Air Apple had ever made. I have no regrets.

It’s a solid Mac, and more than fits my needs. But maybe this time around I won’t wait 8 years to upgrade.

The 2020 iPad Pro 12.9-inch

When Apple announced the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro and did a slight refresh on the iPad Pro, I knew this was a system I wanted (note: not needed) to own. I know what you’re thinking: “Chris! What are you doing? You just bought a 13-inch MacBook Air, and now you’re buying basically a 13-inch iPad Pro with a case that makes it a laptop?!”

Yep.

Here’s the deal: I love my Mac, and it is the de facto workhorse. But I also have strong associations of Mac = Work. At the end of my workday, I just don’t really feel like being on a Mac anymore if I can help it.

And the iPad is an exciting computing platform. I love the modularity. It can be a touch-driven tablet, a laptop with a real keyboard and trackpad, of a notepad with the Apple Pencil. And it seamlessly switches between and even combines these contexts.

My Mac is the stable, trustworthy stalwart of computing. My iPad is my personal computer. Everything about it feels very personal and approachable. And this year I decided to go big or go home — quite literally! The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is big, yet balanced.

And like the AirPods Pro, it got even better this fall with iPadOS 14. I find myself using the new Scribble feature with the Apple Pencil all the time. The iPad is a jack of all trades, and I can do most anything I need to on it. In fact, there are things I can do better on my iPad than on my Mac thanks to the versatility of input methods.

Could I go all in on iPad? Yeah, I think I could. But I’m not ready to put the Mac out to pasture yet.

Apple Watch Series 6

In September, I picked up the Apple Watch Series 6. My Series 4 was fine, and not failing me in any way, but I’ve been on a traditional 2-year upgrade cycle with my Apple Watch, and decided to upgrade, gaining the benefits of the always-on display, and also the blood oxygen sensor for kicks.

That always-on display is really nice. I didn’t think it would be a huge deal to me since I had been accustomed to having to tilt my wrist up to activate the screen, but it is a noteworthy addition to the watch. I think most people rocking a Series 4 are fine to wait another year before considering an upgrade, but if you have a Series 3 or older, the Series 6 would be a huge quality of life improvement.

iPhone 12 Pro

Being on the Apple Upgrade Program has the benefit of getting a new phone if I want it. The new industrial design of the iPhone 12 Pro had me sold straight away. The iPhone 4 was my all-time favorite iPhone design (and still is), and the iPhone 12 Pro feels like the modern reinterpretation of that design. The flat sides won me over instantly.

This also marked the first time I did not get an iPhone that was either black or space gray. I decided to branch out and get the Pacific Blue model, and I do not regret that one bit. It is a delightfully gorgeous color. I’ve never been one to use cases, and this phone is no different. I love seeing that blue.

I was concerned that the increase in the screen size from 5.8-inches to 6.1-inches was going to be ungainly, but it’s been a non-issue. Apple made the overall body of the phone very comparable in size to the iPhone 11 Pro, and it really doesn’t feel any larger in the hand (or pocket).

HomePod mini (x2)

The final piece of tech I picked up from Apple this year was a pair of HomePod minis. One for the living room, one for the kitchen. They’ve been a very nice addition to the house that everyone in the family have enjoyed.

I’m not an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination, so it doesn’t take much to impress me when it comes to audio quality. Needless to say, I’m impressed. At about 70% volume, the living room is filled with nice sound. I can’t believe how much sound a device the size of a softball can put out. And while it’s easy to pick on Siri, more often than not Siri works very well on both of our HomePod minis. Siri distinguishes easily between me, my wife, and my son, and hasn’t once been confused by who is talking.

If you’re skeptical about the HomePod mini, don’t be. It’s a nice little device to have around the house.

The New Year and Beyond

Only Apple knows what lies ahead for the coming year in its product line. There are some easy guesses: more Apple Silicon-based Macs, probably a more remarkable revision to the iPad Pro, new iPhones and Apple Watches, etc. But I’m thinking 2021 will be a quieter year for tech purchases for me. I updated most of my arsenal this year because the stars aligned just so. I’m not chomping at the bit to replace anything anytime soon at this point. But I am excited to see what is in store, especially on the Mac side with this architecture change to Apple Silicon.

Have a happy new year.

¶ It’s Not a Computer, It’s the Future | The iPad at 10 Years

The morning of April 3, 2010 I was in Fargo, North Dakota to visit family for Easter with my wife and son. It was a Saturday morning, and I had been thinking about Apple’s newest device for a couple months. Around 10:00 in the morning I decided to take a little field trip over to the Best Buy. I figured there would be very little stock of this new device on day one, and that it would be sold out. That would remove any impulse temptation to purchase one, right? I just wanted to check out a display unit for a bit, just to say I used one.

I walked out of the store with $500 less than I walked in with.

I walked out with an iPad.

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“What does it do?” asked my sister-in-law.

Lots of things. It does a lot of what a computer does.

“So it’s a computer?”

Kind of. But not really. I think.

“It just looks like a big iPhone,” my other sister-in-law chimes in.

It is in some ways, but it’s different.

“So what is it?”

The future. It’s the future.

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I spent the rest of that Saturday delving into the fresh crop of apps for the iPad, getting to know the device. Trying to answer for myself the questions my family had been asking. What is this device?

I could only arrive at one answer over and over again. It’s the future.

Back in 2010 I envisioned that in 2026 my son would take something more like an iPad rather than a laptop with him to college. A slab of metal and glass that could be anything at any time. It could be (all of) his textbooks one moment and a notepad the next. A calendar and a communicator. A window into the world’s knowledge and an escape through entertainment.

Indeed, at a technological level, the iPad was and is a computer. And for much of the past decade, at a software level, it was a big iPhone. It’s both. And it’s neither.

But is it the future? Was I wrong?

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Now that we are closer to 2026 than we are 2010, it is clear to me my timeline back then was a bit off. In six years I fully expect my son will embark toward college with something that looks closer to a MacBook than that first iPad. A year ago I would have said it would definitely be a MacBook. But as of a couple weeks ago I would now say it is possible he will take an iPad that can look like a MacBook.

That first day with the iPad in 2010 I marveled at how the iPad really became whatever app you were using. The device was transformative. When reading a book, it was a book. When using the calendar, it was a calendar. And that largely stands true today.

Over the years the iPad's hardware has also become transformative. It started with being able to hold it in any orientation. It deftly adapts to fill the screen no matter how you hold it. A few years ago it gained a keyboard case that folds up to keep the iPad thin and light for carrying, and unfolds to prop up the device and allow us to type quickly and easily with familiar keys. With the Apple Pencil the iPad becomes an actual notepad or sketchbook. Now with trackpad support added in the last couple weeks, it can essentially become a laptop.

And if you take all the peripherals away, it returns to its original form. A transformable slate of glass, malleable to your needs through both hardware and software.

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Every day I use my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air in a harmonious dance of devices. My iPhone is primarily my camera and communicator. My MacBook is my workhorse, getting work done quickly with decades of familiarity. My iPad, however, is the device I enjoy the most.

The reason I enjoy my iPad the most is its versatility. The battery lasts forever. It is thin and light. When I want to use it, it is ready to go instantly. I can write, draw, cut together a podcast, browse the web, slice through my inbox like a champ, and when I want to kick back and read for a while I can strip off the keyboard and recline in a chair, holding the iPad like a magazine. Honestly, I can even do most of my job from it these days if I want to.

It’s the best of both worlds. Highly portable, highly efficient, and highly usable.

And it’s only getting better. Next month Apple is releasing a case that includes a trackpad. By adding a new accessory to the iPad, it can become a close approximation of a MacBook, and also nothing like it. I can only imagine what it will be capable of in 2026.

All a MacBook can be is a computer. The iPad can be the future.

The Surprise→

Apple launched its holiday ad today, titled The Surprise. It is extremely touching, and I got choked up while watching it. Yes, I get choked up pretty easily with good storytelling, which this ad does well.

The Surprise is very reminiscent of Apple’s 2013 holiday ad, Misunderstood, which won an Emmy. I’d be surprised if this year’s ad doesn’t receive consideration for the award.

How to Edit and Organize the Shortcuts in Your iPad Home Screen Widget→

The home screen widgets available on iPads running iPadOS 13 are very handy, and if you’ve delved into the Shortcuts app at all, having a selection of those within reach (ha ha) can be extremely helpful.

Shawn Blanc thinks so, too, yet has had the same problem as me with the Shortcuts widget.

Now, by default, the order of the shortcuts that appear on your Shortcuts Widget are the same as those in your primary Shortcuts Library within the Shortcuts app. Showing all the Shortcuts that you’ve ever created and which were toggled to “Show in the Widget”.

If you find that you have too many shortcuts in your Home Screen Widget, it can be a bit overwhelming. You may realize you don’t need all those shortcuts to be right there all the time.

This is something that has bugged me for quite a while, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I just discovered the solution to it yesterday.

It turns out there is a hidden-in-plain-sight way to organize the Shortcuts widget, but unless you’re a master at escape rooms, finding the clues to access the feature is not at all obvious.

To edit and organize your Shortcuts Widget:

1. Tap the top-right carrot arrow in the Shortcuts widget to expand it completely.
2. Then, at the bottom, you’ll see the option to “Customize in Shortcuts”.

Tap the “Customize in Shortcuts” button and you’ll be taken to the Shortcuts app with a special settings window that is specifically for the Shortcuts Widget.

From here you can now rearrange the order of the Shortcuts that are displayed in the Home Screen Widget and you can quickly select the check marks for which Shortcuts you do and do not want to show up in the widget.

This helped me prioritize which of my Shortcuts I want to be at the top of the list, without having to resort to a lot of frustrating rearranging via the main grid view in Shortcuts.

¶ Last Week’s iPhone and Watch Event

Apple held their annual iPhone — and now Apple Watch — event last week on September 10. This is easily Apple’s biggest event of the year where they roll out the latest and greatest iPhones and other hardware, just in time for people to begin thinking about the Christmas shopping season.

Apple has posted the full event on YouTube, along with a humorous 2 minute summary that is worth watching. I have some quick thoughts on everything that was announced, so let’s get started.

Apple Arcade

On September 19th Apple Arcade will ship within iOS 13. Apple has worked with a lot of game developers to launch 100+ new games exclusive to Apple platforms this fall. And these aren’t just for iPhones and iPads. They’ll be available on Mac and Apple TV, too. And this year’s new operating systems support pairing Playstation and Xbox One controllers, which is great news for gaming.

While gaming on iOS is popular, it’s rife with sleazy grifts of in-app purchases and sketchy ads that are probably harvesting all sorts of data. Apple Arcade solves this with high-quality games without ads or in-app purchases. And the price is extremely compelling: $4.99 per month, and it covers up to six people with Family Sharing.

I don’t play many games on iOS (even less on Apple TV and none on Mac). My son, however, loves gaming on his iPad mini. I’m often reluctant to install new games on his iPad because they are often, for lack of better words, crappy. While my family may not hop on Apple Arcade right away, I can see it being a peace of mind alternative to all these games with questionable motives.

Apple TV+

As if anyone needs yet another TV subscription, Apple is coming out with their own. The big difference between Apple TV+ and contenders like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ is Apple does not have a vast content back catalog to lean on. All they have is all-new original content. But that content looks good. And the price is pretty great, too. $4.99 per month for the whole family. And, starting now, if you buy an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac, a whole year of Apple TV+ is included. Boom.

iPad

The iPad lineup has settled into having something for everyone. The iPad as the entry level, the iPad mini for folks who like petite tablets, the iPad Air for people wanting a bit more productivity, and the iPad Pro for those looking to use an iPad as a laptop replacement.

One of the lines got a little more blurred with last week’s update to the entry-level iPad. Going from a 9.7-inch screen to a 10.2-inch screen and gaining a Smart Connector for use with the Smart Keyboard Cover makes the iPad a close contender with the 10.5-inch iPad Air. And the iPad maintained its $329 starting price. That’s pretty fantastic.

It’s definitely a no-brainer for someone’s first iPad.

Apple Watch Series 5

The Apple Watch remains one of my favorite devices. Like the rest of the internet, I was struggling to think of what exactly could be improved on from last year’s Series 4. I had settled on the idea of improved power management to enable sleep tracking. I wasn’t wrong on improved power management, but I was dead wrong on what it would be used for.

The Apple Watch Series 5 has an always-on display, which is a really nice touch. Anyone who has ever worn an Apple Watch knows that it needs a certain amount of tilt and motion to figure out you want to see the display and light it up. There’s no way to really sneak a casual peek at the time. Now that won’t be a problem.

Apple also added a built-in compass and the cellular communications work better in more places, but other than that there isn’t much new on the technology side.

On the materials side the lineup expands from aluminum and stainless steel to include titanium and the return of ceramic. Titanium and ceramic bear the Edition name, which translates to a giant sack of money for a watch. While I will never own an Edition model, I must admit I yearn for that white ceramic case. I’ll satiate that desire by trying one on at the Apple Store for a few moments.

I’ll be sticking with my Series 4. It does its job amazingly well and will be even better with watchOS 6. But if you have a Series 2 or older, definitely consider the Series 5. Apple is keeping the Series 3 around at $199, which I imagine made some Fitbit execs lose sleep.

iPhone 11

I love my iPhone XS and it was the right choice for me, but it certainly is not the right choice for most people. For the past year the iPhone for most people has been the iPhone XR, but Apple’s initial marketing seemed to position it as the lesser sibling of the XS. And that seemed to stick among people I know. They felt the iPhone XS was the good phone, and the XR was an also-ran, even though I greatly encouraged folks to check out the XR.

Apple’s marketing is on point this year with the iPhone 11, which is the spiritual successor to the iPhone XR, but positioned as the standard iPhone. Naming matters. And it’s truly a great phone with a great camera, a second ultra-wide camera, and a Night Mode that, combined, I think will be very popular. And it has an extra hour of battery life compared to the already impressive XR.

I’ve already heard from friends and family that they think it’s time for them to upgrade and they have their eyes on the colorful lineup of the iPhone 11. Especially since the price is $50 less than the iPhone XR’s previous price point.

iPhone 11 Pro

Whereas the iPhone 11 is a great phone and camera for everyone, naturally there are some people who want a little more. iPhone 11 Pro is for these people. The wide camera lens is joined by not only the new ultra-wide lens from the iPhone 11, but also a telephoto lens á la the iPhone XS. And like the iPhone XS it has an OLED display. It has better water resistance than the 11. For most other specs, though, it has the same guts as the iPhone 11.

It does not, however, have the rainbow of colors of its sibling. The iPhone 11 Pro sticks with the very “pro” colors of silver (white), space grey, and gold — along with a new midnight green. The best description of the new color I’ve seen comes from John Gruber: “Boba Fett-y”.

One spec that is remarkably impressive is battery life. The iPhone 11 Pro boasts 4 more hours than the iPhone XS, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max 5 more hours than the iPhone XS Max. That’s insane for a year-over-year jump.

Now, let’s talk about the naming here. iPhone 11 Pro is the perfect modifier for the luxury model of iPhone this year. The name positions itself as a step up from the iPhone for most everyone, rather than last year’s naming positioning the more affordable option as a step down. There’s a difference.

But iPhone 11 Pro Max? That’s a mouthful. I get that Apple wants to differentiate the smaller and larger screens of iPhone 11 Pro, but do they need to? I would have rather seen both be named simply iPhone 11 Pro, and then talk about the different screen sizes separately, as they do with iMacs, iPad Pros, and MacBook Pros.

The naming of the iPhone 11 Pro Max aside, I think the 2019 lineup of iPhones is stellar. I know a lot of iPhone 7 owners that have held on to them, skipping the iPhone 8/X, and XR/XS. Now in their third year of ownership, they are noticing the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, and considering upgrading.

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While I am keen toward the iPhone 11 Pro, I’ll be recommending the iPhone 11 to most people. It has an impressive feature set, a variety of colors, and a more affordable price that is in line with the iPhone 7 of a few years ago. iPhone 11 is the default iPhone, and it deserves to be.

¶ Ulysses 16 Brings a Second Helping of Editor Goodness

Back in March my favorite writing app, Ulysses, launched Split View editing on Mac. The idea is simple: Have the ability to open two texts, what Ulysses calls files, side-by-side within the same view. Of course, while the idea sounds simple, the execution was not, even on Mac. From the Ulysses 15 announcement:

See, split view editing sounds simple enough: Just split the editor in half and load a second sheet, right? Well… let’s be 100% us and ask questions first.

And from there they asked approximately eleventy billion questions about how to implement it. And it shows, because they really sweat the details on it and pulled it off smoothly.

It didn’t take me long to ask the Ulysses team how soon that could come to the iPad version.

A few weeks ago I received an invite to the Ulysses 16 beta to test Editor Split View on the iPad. And today the feature is available for everyone with Ulysses 16. Unsurprisingly, they put the same level of thought and detail into the iPad version of Split View Editing.

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced the option to show a second editor to our Mac app, and now we’re following suit on iPad. As a matter of fact, “Second Editor” is a bit of an understatement here, since we actually open a fully-fledged second instance of Ulysses. Yes, we show the whole app twice.

“Woah”, you say, “wait, what?”, and we feel you, but here’s what it does. Per default, the second editor will always open in editor mode, so you can use a second sheet as reference or actually edit two sheets side-by-side. Since both views are “the full app”, you can then navigate the second view to your heart’s content — even display the (live) export preview.

With iPad they went far beyond the Split View idea and duplicated the entire app into the split view instance. This makes the Second Editor navigable. You can use one text as reference while working on another, or even have the same text open, and put it into Export mode, and watch your preview update live as you work on the main text.

Split view of Ulysses 16 on iPad, with a live preview of the active text.

Insert some banana emojis here, because this is bananas: 🍌🍌🍌

There are four different ways to open the Second Editor, covered in the gallery below.

Drag a sheet from the sheet list to either edge of the screen — this will trigger a nice animation and then open the dragged sheet next to the current view.

Activate “Second Editor” from the editor settings. This will open the current sheet next to the current view.

Tap and hold the Export button in the editor. A menu will pop up and offer “Export in Second Editor”.

With an external keyboard attached, you can either hit command-option-3 (⌘⌥3) to open the current sheet in editor mode, or hit command-option-6 (⌘⌥6), to open the export preview of the current sheet.

And finally, the split view instance is adjustable. It defaults to a 50/50 split, but can be adjusted to a 70/30 split. You can tap and hold the drag handle to bring up more options, including a sneaky way to swap the views around or to dismiss one side. You can also dismiss a view by just dragging the drag handle to the edge.

Tapping and holding on the grab handle brings up some neat options, such as a way to swap the editors.

I hope what Ulysses has made possible with their take on in-app split view is a foreshadowing of what Apple may someday do to enhance Split View. Safari has been able to open an pseudo-instance in Split View for a while now, but it cannot be resized or swapped. Ulysses has created a better, more powerful Split View within an app than Apple has done with Safari, and it is now the gold standard to reach for.

Safari’s rudimentary in-app Split View.

If you write regularly for any reason, I highly recommend Ulysses. It is worth every penny of its subscription that enables the Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps. They even offer a discount to students. If anything, check out the 14-day free trial.

I am overjoyed to have this feature on iPad. Even though I love my Mac, my iPad is where my writing juices really flow.

How to quickly fix sideways video clips on iPhone or iPad→

Serenity Caldwell on iMore has a fantastic tip on how to rotate videos on an iOS device:

This one's easy to miss, but a must-have for filming fiends: iMovie for iOS is a free app for more complex video editing projects, but it also offers a quick-fix extenison in Photos for iOS. This extension lets you trim a clip, silence it, or add filters, text, or music — but it also lets you flip video with a gesture.

The rest of the article has a step-by-step guide worth checking out. This tip was news to me, but it’ll be invaluable for those times when my iPhone doesn’t orient itself before I hit record.

¶ iPad Second

In the early days of iOS app development, there was one screen size to worry about. A simple 3.5-inch screen at 320x240 pixels. The retina display in the iPhone 4 was the first added complexity to designing iOS apps, as the resolution doubled to 640x480 pixels, but stayed at that 3.5-inch screen.

The original iPad is what really shook things up. A much larger screen at 9.7-inches, and a different aspect ratio with 1024x768 pixels. While an existing iPhone app could be run on it, it wasn't pretty. Apple's solution was to have either apps that ran only on the iPad, or to have what they called universal apps, where the iPhone and iPad interfaces were bundled into a single app.

This was a great opportunity for app makers to reimagine their apps for a new class of device, however, those who wanted to be first to the iPad only had weeks to completely redesign their apps for a device they had not yet held.

Everything was experimental.

Naturally, this was a little risky for app makers. I recall many of my favorite apps coming to iPad as separate apps from their iPhone counterparts. It made sense, as no one knew whether the iPad would be a runaway success¹, or if would be derided as "just a giant iPhone."²

As time has gone on and the iPad has found its place in the world, many apps that had separate releases for iPhone and iPad released major updates as universal apps.

There were inevitably some apps which targeted the iPad first. There is even a site dedicated to celebrating apps that ship for iPad first, though it doesn't appear to have been updated recently. One app that comes to the forefront of my mind is iA Writer. The iPad app shipped first, and an iPhone interface was added later.

These days I can't say I see too many apps debuting as iPad first. Most are universal at launch, or start out on the iPhone first.

What is more interesting to me is not the initial launch, but rather the order in which features are added. For the rest of this article, I want to focus on universal apps.

I prefer universal apps. I switch between my iPhone and iPad constantly, however the mood or situation strikes me. One thing I enjoy is that when an app is universal, it is simply there for me no matter which of the two devices I pick up. This leaves me with a certain expectation that the feature set between the iPad version and iPhone version of a universal app should be pretty on par.

Unfortunately that rarely seems to be the case. Too often these days I see universal apps gain new features and designs and layouts on the iPhone first, and the iPad side of it just lags behind.

Let's call out some apps that do this. Twitter is one of the biggest offenders. They consistently roll out new features to the iPhone first, and maybe someday bring them to the iPad side. I've seen Twitter drastically overhaul the interface of the iPhone before, and leave the iPad interface to languish for months.

Facebook is another one. They usually roll out design and feature updates to iPhone first, and iPad sometime later.

Even some apps I love dearly do this. Day One, as much as it pains me to say, has done this. They will roll out a feature on iPhone, then bring it to iPad. Thankfully, they are usually quick to bring things back into feature parity, but sometimes I'd rather just wait a couple extra weeks for a truly complete update to a universal app, rather than a staggered rollout.

I don't think this practice would bother me so much if the app in question were not universal. To me, universal does not just convey that I pay once to install on both device types. It conveys that the two interfaces should be maintained in parity.

Apps that have done this right the past couple years have been Twitterrific, Paprika, Byword, 1Password ³, and others. These apps continually release feature parity as universal apps across the two interfaces, without feeling like the iPad version is "just a bigger version of the iPhone".

I am delighted that many smaller development companies sweat the details to make sure their universal apps always feel universal in every way. My fear, though, is that some of the bigger companies like Twitter and Facebook are setting a trend where the iPad is an afterthought for universal apps, and that the iPad will become a second class citizen in app development, instead of a joint-heir with the iPhone.

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1. Spoiler alert: It was. ↩

2. That happened, too. ↩

3. Disclosure: I work for AgileBits. ↩

Pencil→

When I was younger, it was very hard to pull me away from my colored pencil set and a good sketch pad. Then college came around and my time was consumed with writing papers all the time, and sketching fell a bit by the wayside.

Now, my five-year-old son loves to draw and sketch and I am reminded of my youth. While pencil and paper is still the best way to sketch, in my opinion, the day & age of being able to do so digitally on an iPad is also so much fun.

While I still do not sketch often (I can keep blaming time constraints, right?), I do enjoy seeing what is possible on my iPad. Naturally, I reach for Paper, by FiftyThree.

I also use a Cosmonaut stylus on occasion, and I love it, it does have some inflexibilities. I love the weight, the feel, and just generally how it handles. The tip is a bit broad, though.

Today, FiftyThree announced the Pencil, a perfect complement to Paper. It looks superb, and looks to be very versatil, as it has a bluetooth connection instead of being a passive hunk of rubber-coated aluminum. The only thing that is a bit of a downer for me is it looks like it only works great with Paper, and not other apps. I may be wrong there.

However, I adore their video to introduce it. Some friends of mine did not enjoy the motion in it, but I think it is a clever, fun, and delightful amount of whimsy.

The iPad Without Compromise→

Shawn Blanc on the iPad Air:

…I think the iPad Air is “finally” a full-sized iPad without compromises. It has a gorgeous display, excellent battery life, it’s powerful, and, of course, it’s very lightweight and easy to hold.

The iPad Air (and Retina iPad mini) mark the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next for the iPad line. And so, now that we’re here, where does the iPad lineup go next?

I think Shawn is dead on when he draws the comparison to the comprises the iPhone made until the iPhone 4. I remember the startling difference between my iPhone 3G and my iPhone 4. The 3G felt like it was chock full of tradeoffs. The 4 felt like a truly luxurious piece of art.

And the iPhone has continued to just get even better with fewer compromises. I kind of thought that the iPhone 5c would be similar to the iPhone 3G, compromising luxury for a plastic back. But when I held one at the Apple Store, it was clear to me the quality of the plastic didn't even make it feel plastic. It felt as rock solid as my iPhone 5.

So the question really is where the iPad goes next? My guess is that it is going to aggressively eat the lunch of traditional "truck" computers.