Reverse Engineer. Blogger.
Activated by dragging, customizable keyboard shortcuts or via menu bar, Magnet declutters your screen by snapping windows into organized tiles.
Although macOS Sierra has a great split-screen option* that rival’s Windows 10 snap-to-side feature I’ve always wanted a bit more control. This utility is currently only a dollar and does a lot more.
/via Colin Walker.
* To activate split-screen view on macOS: make an app full screen, then drag the second app you’d like up into the menubar and place it on top of the other full screen app. Here is a video. It isn’t very intuitive but it is nice that it exists. I think Windows 10’s feature is a bit easier to discover by dragging to the edge of the screen.
With one massive update we’ve brought everyone’s favorite file-transferring truck into the future with more speed, more servers, more features, more fixes, a better UI, and even Panic Sync. Everything from the core file transfer engine to the “Get Info” experience was rethought, overhauled, and improved.
Hard to believe Transmit 4 is over 7 years old.
Using OSX can be more intuitive at times but it is visually inconsistent. It may have been through various aesthetic revisions but it can feel old. I think Microsoft has done a better job of enforcing a standard look for applications on the desktop and the Windows design language is now generally more modern.
In the early 2000s when I jumped from Windows to the Mac I felt this very same way … except I was describing the Mac as generally more modern and Windows as visually inconsistent. It is interesting to see a new Mac user’s perspective.
Even today, when I use a Windows 10 computer and click down a few screens I find it terribly inconsistent. I see stuff that looks like Windows 98 to my eyes sometimes. I don’t see that in macOS very often – if at all. But, I can see Walker’s perspective. macOS does feel a little long in the tooth to me too. Not compared to Windows 10 but just that the overall design language is stale. Perhaps High Sierra will spruce things up enough to keep it fresh.
I wanted to take a few moments to jot down a comparison between my wish list for this year’s WWDC and what was announced. Also, towards the end, some quick thoughts on the surprises that were announced.
Here are my wishes, in order from the previous post, and whether or not we got them.
My last minute wish that I threw in was for driving mode. And that is a huge yes!
If we’re keeping score that’s like 8 nopes, 1 kinda, and 4 yeses. Which doesn’t seem like a good score but somehow I was very impressed with WWDC overall. I think we’re in for a great year of software updates coming from Apple.
Now, onto some of the surprises.
There are of course many things I haven’t mentioned but ll-in-all a solid week of Apple updates.
One last thing; recently Tim Cook has been quoted as saying that Apple is focused on autonomous driving (which we knew) but that they are focused on it as a category rather than a feature. Apple finds autonomy as an interesting area moreso than simply self-driving. I’m very interested to see how this idea manifests itself in future products.
Each year WWDC week gives us new and updated Apple software that is easier to use and more tightly integrated. As a result, each year I find myself wishing that I used Apple software exclusively instead of using third-party applications.
Forgive me, but I’m about to quote an entire post that I wrote in June 2014 as to the pros and cons of using as much Apple software and services as possible. Stick around, though, because at the end I’ll fill you in on how I’m feeling today and what I’m doing to use more Apple software and services.
There are hundreds of thousands of third-party apps that you can use on your computer, phone, and tablet. Some of them are amazingly good and far better in a number of ways than what ships with these devices by default.
By using third-party apps, however, you sometimes give up a level of seamless integration between all of your apps in how they share data and function across multiple devices.
Using the default apps — whether they’re built by Microsoft, or Apple, or Google — you can end up losing some of the personality, the extra niche features, and the one-on-one support that you get from third-party app developers.
So, there are pros and cons to making the choice between using an app that was built by the makers of the device and or operating system or by choosing to buy a third-party alternative.
Over the last several years I’ve acquired a stockpile of third-party apps on all three of my devices. I’ve been using third-party apps for everything, even the most basic of tasks like email and calendaring and listening to music. While most of these apps are extremely good, and I had no trouble paying for them, I’ve been missing that seamless integration. I’d get into work and I couldn’t pick up where I’ve left off listening to music or a podcast episode in the car. My mail clients on Mac and iPhone don’t know how to work together (in my case, Airmail and Mailbox respectively). And so on.
So I’ve decided to double down on Apple apps and services. I want that seamless integration back. I want my mail box to look the same across all devices, I want to see my podcast subscriptions on my Mac be exactly the same as on my iPhone, and I want all of my photos in one spot, etc.
OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 seems like a huge step forward to making it even easier for third-party apps to work better together across both operating systems and all devices. So perhaps this issue will get easier and easier to manage in the future. But today, I’d like to manage and learn less apps and get more work done.
I started to make the transition back to Apple late last week and over the last few days I’ve been so pleasantly surprised at the progress Apple has made on their apps. It has been like an entirely new experience.
This week Apple announced macOS High Sierra and iOS 11. And, again, it is a big step forward. So I found myself preparing for these updates in the fall by moving away from third-party services and using more Apple products and services.
This week alone I’ve put more data on iCloud (so it was nice to see the storage bump), I’ve moved from Simplenote to Notes, moved back to Safari from Chrome, subscribed to Apple Music’s family plan and ditched Spotify.
When I made this adjustment in 2014 I didn’t do a good job of following up with how it all worked. So I’m making a mark in my calendar to do so two weeks after macOS and iOS ship this fall.
It has been an exciting year for developers so far. Facebook is making the camera a platform, Microsoft is making cloud computation happen with two clicks of a mouse, and Google is doing everything that everyone else is doing plus a billion more things.
WWDC is next week. So what are my wishes? Since I use Apple products far more than Facebook, Microsoft, or Google products, I tend to want more specific things from WWDC.
Here is my list, in no particular order:
I’ll stay away from any hardware wishes as I don’t have any needs currently. I’m all set on the hardware front. Our iPhones, iPads, MacBook Pro, and iMac are all just fine the way they currently are. And, I don’t need an Apple Home (if they release one) because I have enough terrible Siri devices laying around the house.
Ben Brooks likes the look of the new Surface Book Laptop. But he says this about Windows:
Still runs Windows though.
I don’t know if Ben has used the very latest Windows 10 builds but if he hasn’t he should give it a try. I’ve already said not to bet against Microsoft but I would also say, at this point, not to bet against Windows 10. It is so so so much better than it used to be. Comparable to macOS at every level.
It used to be no question that macOS was better than Windows 10. Less viruses, better file management, easier app installs and uninstalls, polish. Now I believe it simply a matter of preference.
John Gruber regarding Sal Soghoian being axed from Apple:
If they had simply fired him, that’d be one thing, but the fact that they’ve eliminated his position is another. This is shitty news. I find this to be a profoundly worrisome turn of events for the future of the Mac. I hope I’m wrong.
I noted this on Twitter without any comment. But I’m slowly seeing us pros being shown the door at Apple and Sal is just further evidence of this.
When Dan Kimbrough and I were at the Apple Store last week to look at the new MacBook Pro we were speaking to a retail store employee who, after hearing how we use computers said, “Oh, you are a ‘Pro User’“. He said it in such a way that made me think we weren’t welcome. Dan felt it too. He said so immediately as we were walking out the door.
My thinking is this; the consumer market is enormous compared to the pro market. Yes, there is a lot of money in Enterprise but Apple doesn’t consider themselves an Enterprise company. They slowly stopped chasing that dream long ago. Remember the X-Serve? Now, they are also slowly backing away from the pro market as well. Their entire business, for decades, was built on top of those that use Photoshop and Illustrator to do their work. Then, with their switch to a Unix-based OS, they picked up a ton of us that do programming for a living. But now they are removing ports and power in favor of small and thin. And they aren’t updating their beast of a computer either. And, to top of off, they eliminated a position at Apple that was arguably a very important part of why pro people could use macOS.
We keep asking Apple if they are going to leave the Mac behind. And they keep saying no. What we should be asking is if they are going to be leaving the professional users of the Mac behind.
This does not mean I think this is the wrong strategy for Apple. Apple is chasing revenue. They will sell more Macs to “normals” by making them as approachable, thin and light as possible. It just happens to not be the right strategy for me to continue using the Mac. So I’m making the jump to Windows 10. We’ll see if I’ve made the right decision in three years or so.
To me, an iPad in notebook mode — connected to a keyboard cover — is so much less nice than a real notebook. And the difference is more stark when compared to a great notebook, like these MacBook Pros. There are advantages to the tablet form factor, but no tablet will ever be as nice as a notebook as these MacBook Pros. I also prefer MacOS over iOS for, well, “doing work”. I think I’m more productive on a Mac than I am on an iPad. I can’t prove it, but even if I’m wrong, the fact that I feel like it’s true matters. I always feel slightly hamstrung working on an iPad. I never do on a Mac (at least once I’ve got it configured with all the apps and little shortcuts, scripts, and utilities I use).
I totally agree with John. An iPad does not feel as nice as a MacBook. I’ve owned both devices and used them both daily for years. And I, like him, feel much less productive on an iPad than on a notebook computer like the MacBook. I used my iPad for reading, watching videos, and doing light work-related tasks like note taking at a client meeting. But for real work I grabbed my MacBook and, preferably, connected it to a display.
But what if you could have both? What if you could have both a tablet and a notebook in one? And what if all of the work that you do on the notebook could be possible on the tablet? I’ll be writing much more about my experiences with the new Surface Book with Performance Base in the coming weeks (I have only had mine three days and I want to get a little more comfortable with it prior to a proper review) but I can say this – without hesitation – the Surface Book is the marriage of the iPad and the MacBook and I’m loving it.
I read John’s post with the Clipboard portion (read: the display) of the Surface Book and was compelled to write this post. So I docked the display on the keyboard and began typing. Not because I couldn’t have used the on-screen keyboard, but more because I’m much quicker with a full computer. I have all of my shortcuts and customizations. The small little things that make more far more productive.
And, let’s not forget the actual reason John gave for feeling “hamstrung” while using the iPad – it is the software. The operating system. With my new Surface Book I’m running Windows 10 in desktop mode when docked to the Performance Base and in tablet mode when detached from it. But, in both situations I have my data, my customization, my small tweaks, my multitasking capabilities, etc. It truly is the best of both worlds.
I’ve long written on this blog that I believe Microsoft’s vision of one operating system for both contexts is better than Apple’s two-OS approach. John disagrees with me on this. And I don’t know that there is a right or wrong answer but there certainly is a preference. My preference is to keep my “power user” stuff at my fingertips for when I need them but to hide them when I don’t. The Surface Book does this.
I’m truly enjoying this device and I’m very much looking forward to sharing more about my switch back from the Mac to Windows 10. But for now I’m going to detach my display and get back to watching YouTube videos on my couch.
We hit our stride in this bit. Danny and I have a Sunday-evening chat about how Apple could move away from the Mac and survive, RSS feed habits, shopping for clothes (naturally) and Stranger Things.
Site Danny references is Woodpile Report.
Since updating to macOS Sierra my Photos library will show some bad thumbnails that are either completely black or have black “bars” on them. Here is just one example that I managed to screenshot (see: top left photo).
If you come across this issue it is pretty easy to fix.
I don’t know what causes these bad thumbnails but at least it is relatively easy to fix them.
I’ve been tweeting, and created a Moment, regarding the fact that Photos on macOS Sierra has gotten rid of the “Faces” feature in favor of a new “People” feature. This wipes out all of your hard work tagging people in photos. Personally this means I’ve lost hundreds of hours.
But, you don’t have to. And it should be pretty simple to do.
Before you upgrade to macOS Sierra open Photos and “tag” all of your Faces with a keyword. This way, when you upgrade to Sierra, and prior to going through all the trouble of tagging People again, you can still find your loved ones in photos. This is how you do it, step-by-step:
So, for me since my name is “Colin Devroe” I’d create a “colindevroe” keyword. Then, when I was on Sierra or iOS (if you’re using iCloud Photo Library) I could simply type “colindevroe” into the search box and I’d still be able to find the thousands of photos I’m found in.
Later, after you’ve gone through Apple’s “People” creating workflow, you’ll be able to search for people’s names again and, optionally, remove those keywords you created.
I hope you’ve read this post before upgrading to Sierra.
Ten and a half years ago I was asked by Zach Hale to jot down my 10 favorite Mac apps and then ask a few others to do the same. Wow, ten and a half years ago. Pre iPhone.
Now, with the Mac seemingly a second-class citizen both in hardware upgrades and app popularity, now may be the perfect time to bring this post back to light and see what my favorite Mac apps are today.
In no particular order:
A few things I take away from this. First, is that none of the apps listed from 10 years ago are still my favorite apps. Though I do miss many of them and would happily still use them if they were still being maintained. Second, is that a few of Apple’s own apps have made their way onto my list that weren’t there before; Calendar and Reminders.
This means that less of the apps on the list are indie apps – or, apps made by independent developers. Rocket, Fluid, and Tweetbot are the only indie apps on my list. I wish there were a ton more. I miss the days of the majority of the software I was running being built by small teams or one person.
Some of the tasks that I used to do a decade ago I still do today just with different apps. As an example I still subscribe to a lot of blogs but I use Feedly instead of NetNewswire. I also listen to music but I use Spotify instead of iTunes. And I edit code in a text editor but I use Atom instead of Textmate.
While the apps have changed, and some are orders of magnitude better than the apps I used then, the tasks really haven’t. The reasons why and how I use a Mac today are exactly the same today as they were then.
I’m going to tag three people that would be totally awesome if they took the time to do this exercise as I’m sure it would help to shed light on a number of Mac apps; Jim Dalrymple, John Gruber and Brent Simmons.
I had bookmarked Rocket by Matthew Palmer almost two weeks ago and today I finally took the time to install it. Game changer on the Mac. Recommended. Also, give it an up-vote on Product Hunt if you like it.
Alternate title: My hopes are low for object detection in the new Photos but I still have hope
Reddit user vista980622 dig some digital sleuthing and may have come up with the list of over 4,000 objects, memories, and facial expressions that Photos for iOS and OS X will be able to mine all on its own with Apple’s Advanced Computer Vision technology announced at WWDC. The user then wrote this about the landmark detection on Ev’s blog:
Additionally, you can search for various landmarks. For example, Photos can respond for search query of “Maho” (beach in Saint Martin), despite Photos is not programmed or trained to understand specific landmarks. Behind the scenes, Photos app first generates a generic categorization for the scene, “beach”, then searches through a built-in dictionary for all landmarks that has the name “beach” in its definition.
This is smart approach.
It reminds me of something Craig Federighi (Hair Force One to me) mentioned during John Gruber’s live Talk Show event during WWDC. There are a lot of ways to teach Apple’s Advanced Computer Vision system that do not need to involve sending your photos to them. They know what a beach or mountain or forest looks like. They have access to the location of the photo. And they have access to the world’s knowledge via the web. Combining those things they can find a huge amount of information in your photos that can be used to discover them without ever needing to look at the photos themselves.
In my wish list for Photos for OS X, iOS, and iCloud Photo Library I mentioned that I wanted to be able to search for objects. I wrote:
Sort of related to the auto-generated albums above, I’d love to be able to search for “red” or “lake” or “tree” and get results. Google is killing Apple at this. And it just makes so much sense. The more the application does for you the less classification you have to do manually. I tag my photos with things like “cat” or “ants” or “beetle” or “snake” because I want to be able to search for these things later. And adding my own layer of taxonomy on top of my library should always be an option … but for objects that are easily identifiable these days (like lakes or cats) it just makes sense.
It appears I’ll be getting that. I noticed a lot of object and animal specific terms in the list that vista980622 shared. One stood out; “arachnid”. I hope, and am pretty sure I will be able to, still search by “spider” though it isn’t listed. Which brings us to the discoverability of these types of searches. I hope Apple doesn’t only provide a search box but that they also suggest searches or create pseudo-albums for you.
For example, Google Photos creates albums (sort of) by simply giving you a way to find those objects in your library without searching for them. They aren’t albums so much as links to search results that look like albums. I hope Apple builds in a discovery mechanism too. And it’d be great if it were based on what I took photos of the most.
Looking through my Library it’d be easy to see that I take a lot of photos of lakes and rivers (kayaking), bees, barns, and buildings. I also visit a lot of wineries and breweries. It’d be nice if Apple simply had “pseudo albums” or saved searches at the ready for me for all of these things. And then they could throw in a few for fun like cats, pink, beach, panoselfie.
One tidbit about the assumed facial expression detection in Photos… They seem to be using this to create memories. Who wants memories of a bunch of angry people? So I’m guessing that if they want to make a bunch of happy memories for people they needed to go beyond just detecting the people in the photos but also what mood they were in.
OK, one more tidbit about face detection. I’m skeptical that this will be any good. But I hope I’m wrong.
Currently there are two kinds of face detection. The first involves determining that there is a face in the photo. You’ll see iOS’s camera app doing this live while you’re shooting. A yellow box will surround people or objects in a photo to get a good focal length to make sure your subject(s) are in focus. That is face detection that simply says “we think this is a face”. Then there is face detection that involves determining the actual person in the photo. Photos for OS X has this currently… though it needs to be improved a lot. Like, a real lot. Check out this example from this weekend:
You can click the image to zoom in a bit.
On the left, my friend Matt (who has a face). On the right, a vending machine (which does not have a face).
Photos for OS X believes that the vending machine is a face. This is technology that Apple has been mucking around with for at least 8 years as it was debuted in iPhoto in 2009. It didn’t suggest any names for the face (it rarely does, which I’ve covered here), but it doesn’t even see Matt’s face.
I’m sure that Apple’s new Photos for iOS and OS X will be better than what we currently have but I’ll wait and see before I get excited. Because so far they’ve yet to be great at this and Google and Facebook kill them at it.
I’m anxious to play with iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. But not anxious enough to install the betas on my hardware. So I’ll be writing a lot more about this in the fall.
Jason Snell, after reviewing the beta of Photos for OS X, has figured out how Apple imports photos into the new Photos for OS X without taking up any additional space:
It creates hard links to the contents of your iPhoto library inside the Photos library. If you delete your iPhoto library, the files that were hard-linked from the Photos library still exist in the Photos library and aren’t deleted.
This is really great.