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The Reality-is-Screens Edition Friday, July 4, 2025

Bristol Dad's App Makes Children 'Hero' Of Their Own Story, by Alexandra Bassingham, BBC

A father who said he wanted to find a more positive way of getting his son interested in technology and reading has developed a free personalised story app.

[...]

Jason said that although he loves reading a "good old-fashioned book", the reality is screens are here and part of society's future.

"That's why hopefully this resonates with other parents and educators to see how we align ourselves with it [technology] and use it for good," he added.

iOS 26’s Messages App Has A Solution Coming For Unwanted Texts, by Ryan Christoffel, 9to5Mac

As part of Apple’s broader initiative to combat spam outreach, iOS 26 provides the option of silencing texts from unknown numbers and hiding them inside a separate area inside Messages.

Stuff

Apple Releases New Wallpaper For iPhone, iPad, And Mac As Store Debuts, by Ryan Christoffel, 9to5Mac

A new Apple Store is opening later this month in Japan, and alongside the first details, the company has released beautiful new wallpapers for iPhone, iPad, and Mac featuring custom artwork.

Angry Birds Bounce And Three More Games Drop On Apple Arcade, by Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac

Angry Birds Bounce is the star of this month’s drop, adding a twist to its iconic slingshot gameplay: rather than simply flinging birds at towers, there’s now an arcade-style brick-breaker mechanic for a faster-paced, combo-heavy experience.

Rakuten Kobo Redesigns Its App For The iPhone, by Michael Kozlowski, Good e-Reader

They have a new guest mode system, which allows you to browse and discover new authors, download samples without having to login to your Kobo account. Bookmarks, highlights, notes sync across all Kobo apps and devices. When reading e-books there is a new vertical scroll system, which acts as an infinite scroll.

Notes

I’ve Got Better Things To Do Than This, And Yet, by Louie Mantia

And that’s it. That’s the issue I’m seeing. I’m seeing repeated instances of exactly this problem. Overthinking it. Pretending this solves problems rather than creates them. Creating a narrative that supports the direction and presenting it in an overly pretentious way.

At the point when you have to blur the content area to make the UI stand out from it, how can you possibly argue that it gets out of the way? It makes no sense.

Bottom of the Page

Sometimes, I have nothing to say. No words. Just sighs.

~

Thanks for reading.