Marco Arment:
While most of the press demands new hardware categories, I’d be perfectly happy if Apple never made a TV or a watch or a unicorn, and instead devoted the next five years to polishing the software and services for their existing product lines.
Agreed.
2013 was a big year for me and my family. The first part of the year was busy at work with the release of 1Password 4 for iOS.
I was ordained as a deacon at my church in February.
Then my wife and I were able to go out of country on a trip to the Dominican Republic for a week in March, which happened to be a work retreat, where I met everyone I work with for the first time.
Then the biggest event of our marriage since the birth of our son happened: we bought a house. It really is the perfect house for us as it has vintage 1940’s charm and all the modern amenities. Being a bit of a movie fanatic, my favorite part is that it has a 12-seat movie theater in the basement with vintage reclining theater seats and a concessions stand.
Promptly following that was our 6th anniversary and our son’s 5th birthday. He started Kindergarten, and we released 1Password 4 for Mac at work. Busy fall.
The year wrapped up with us hosting Christmas in our house for both my folks and my wife’s folks. And then a new addition was added to the family a couple days ago, a new niece for us to spoil.
My biggest regret with 2013 is that amongst the busyness I neglected this site too much. I haven't written nearly what I wanted to this past year. My goal for 2014 is to carve out more time to bring words here, as I do truly love it.
2013 was indeed a very big year. I can’t wait to see what is next.
Be well, dear readers. Happy New Year.
I saw this TEDx video a couple months ago, and thought it was a nifty experiment to try out. It took a good two weeks to not have to force myself to remember to tie my shoes the new way, and now it is habit. The result: my laces lay nicer and rarely come untied.
Who knew we all learn to tie our laces the wrong way?
Another year is coming to a close and a new beginning for all of us is on the horizon. 2013 was a big year for me with helping launch 1Password 4 for iOS and 1Password 4 for Mac, taking my first trip out of the country, buying a house, and watching my son start Kindergarten.
I can't wait to see what all 2014 has in store. Happy Christmas, friends.
Lately I have had conversations with a couple friends after I expressed rage frustration at how quickly my Apple Wireless Keyboard chews through a pair of Eneloop AA's1. Naturally, once I began to resent one thing, I began to notice the rest of its flaws compared to the modern state of other Bluetooth keyboards. What follows are my gripes with the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and how they should be fixed.
Tim Cook, if you're reading, I would give my kingdom for this keyboard.
AA's, while fairly universal, are ridiculous in this day & age of Apple devices. The iPad and the MacBook Air get amazing battery life. I'd like to see Apple bring their expertise in battery tech to their peripherals. Ditch the tube shape on the back that holds batteries, and go to a MacBook Air-like wedge shape with a good sized internal battery. Recharge it via a Lightning cable when needed, and have it still usable while plugged into your Mac.
Also, I imagine moving to Bluetooth 4 would help with energy usage, and every new Apple device in the past couple years has come equipped with that.
If you've been paying attention to any of Apple's portable Macs in the last few years, you'd know that the white keys of the Apple Wireless Keyboard look like a turd compared to the elegant black keys of portable Macs. Can you imagine how mismatched this keyboard looks next to the new Mac Pro?
Another thing Apple could borrow from the MacBook line is backlit keys. My proposed wedge shape, which could accommodate a nicely sized rechargeable battery, with a more energy efficient Bluetooth 4, could hopefully handle powering backlit keys. It's darn near 2014, it is time to have black, backlit keys on a wireless keyboard.
The Logitech K811 keyboard is almost the keyboard of my dreams, except it is a little on the ugly side with that black stripe across the top. It has black, backlit keys, an internal rechargeable battery (but over the sucky micro-USB), and this amazing ability to switch between a Mac, iPhone, & iPad with the press of a button. They call it EasySwitch for a reason.
When one of Apple's main goals is to get you to own a Mac, iPhone, & iPad, they should be selling a keyboard that gives extremely low friction in using it with all three devices.
There are some really great keyboards out there that are close to my dream keyboard, the aforelinked Logitech K811 being the closest, save for being a bit on the ugly side. I want Apple to step into this decade of technology with their keyboard, and utilize many of the technologies they've been pushing forward.
So let's recap what the next Apple Keyboard should be like.
And hey, while we're at it, let's update the Magic Trackpad with the wedge shape, internal battery, Lightning port, and Bluetooth 4.
Again, I'd give my kingdom for peripherals like this.
It is widely believed Apple uses relabeled Eneloops for their rechargeable battery kit. ↩
A good handful of great iOS apps have banded together for a one week sale over Christmas. Some of my favorites that I use a whole heck of a lot are 1Password (naturally), Delivery Status, Day One, and Clear+.
Definitely check it out and support some independent developers this week.
It's been quite a couple days for me and my team at the old day job. Yesterday, 1Password 4 for both iOS & Mac were honored with the prestigious Eddy Award (note: there's an autoplaying video at the top of the page). And today, we were honored by Apple to stand with many other amazing apps as one of the Mac App Store's Best Apps of 2013.
I can't express how happy I am to be a part of what 1Password has become, and of the fantastic folks I work with. It's been a great year, and I cannot wait for the coming one.
We've all been there. The awkward teenager who wants to be left alone at family events. Head buried in whatever our passion is. Family thinks — may even say — "I wish they would just interact with the rest of us."
I've been there. I'm pretty certain you were, too. What we both may have missed out on is secretly doing something amazing in our solitude for the good of others.
It's an ad, but its the best kind of ad. It tells a story that warms your heart and wets your eyes. Time and again Apple seems to be able to use their technology to touch our lives, and truly give us delight.
Studio Neat has unveiled a new Glif. The Glif is a fantastic little tripod mount, originally for the iPhone 4/4S, and it has a second generation for the 5/5S. The former Glifs had a couple drawbacks: you needed a new one whenever Apple changed the iPhone design, and you needed to remove your case if you had one.
The new Glif is adjustable. It can accomodate not just an iPhone in a case now, but any phone within a reasonable size limit. Better yet, it looks a lot more secure than the previous Glif design. I loved my Glif for the iPhone 4, but never got around to buying one for my iPhone 5. Seeing as how this should be future-proofed for a good long while, it was an insta-order. Apologies to relatives who already find me hard to shop for.
Once it arrives, I'll see about posting a review of how well it works.
My favorite recipe app for the iPhone and iPad, Paprika, got a huge update the other day, bringing an iOS 7 design, autocomplete for when you are adding recipes, AirDrop support, and much more.
Best thing is Paprika is on sale for the rest of November. I have it for iPhone, iPad, & Mac, and their custom sync engine is top notch. If you have any interest in having a digital recipe box, Paprika is hands-down the app to get.
