MyAppleMenu

The Tips-and-Ideas Edition Saturday, April 18, 2020

New Today At Apple At Home Videos Will Arrive Weekly; GarageBand Session Added, by Michael Steeber, 9to5Mac

Creative Pros from Apple Stores across the world are gathering their best tips and ideas to design inspiring projects you can try at home with just an iPhone or iPad. Today at Apple at Home is a digital extension of Apple’s in-store creative sessions, and a new session has launched just in time to explore over the weekend. Apple is now promising that new videos will be posted weekly.

Why Apple Has Stopped Making Small Phones—and Why It Should Start Again, by Samuel Axon, Ars Technica

Consumers who were hoping for the return of the 4-inch display, or maybe even a slightly larger display but in the same grip size as the original SE, were likely disappointed by this week's announcement. Apple is not alone in skipping smaller handset offerings; there aren't many small Android phones left, either.

There are reasons for this trend that make sense both for the tech company and the consumer, but there are also reasons Apple shouldn't turn its back on a minority of consumers who still want—or even need—smaller phones.

Stuff

New iPhone SE Ad Shows Oddly Satisfying Task Of Peeling Off The Protective Film, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

Peeling the protective film off a new iPhone has always been an oddly satisfying part of the unboxing process, to the point that it has become somewhat of a meme, and now Apple is getting in on the amusement.

Farrago Audio Soundboard App For Mac Gets App-wide Volume Ducking, New MIDI Controls, List Mode, Much More, by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac

Rogue Amoeba is out with a big update to its popular Farrago audio app for Mac. The “rapid-fire soundboard” software now features a brand new list mode, app-wide volume ducking, per-tile output controls, new MIDI controls, and much more.

Develop

I Tried To Write An Essay About Productivity In Quarantine. It Took Me A Month To Do It., by Constance Grady, Vox

Perhaps this is also the time to make our off hours very productive, because you never know when you’ll need a new hobby you can turn into a side hustle in times like these. At the very least, staying busy and using your time meaningfully will be the virtuous thing to do, and it will keep your mind off everything else that is happening ... right?

Unless that line of thought is yet another sign of capitalism getting into our heads, and we really need to process and mourn and deal with the overwhelming and exhausting anxiety of living through a once-a-century pandemic. Maybe?

In the end, it all boils down to one question: Under these very peculiar circumstances, should we be trying to be productive?

Notes

An Apple Veteran Will Take Over The Beats Headphones Business, by David Carnoy, CNET

Longtime president Luke Wood is exiting and veteran Apple exec Oliver Schusser, who heads up Apple Music and International Content, is taking over at the end of this month.

Apple hasn't publicly announced the leadership change, but Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, told Apple employees about the transition via email in recent weeks. A Beats spokesperson confirmed to CNET that Schusser will lead Beats after Wood's departure on April 30. Schusser will also continue to run Apple Music and International Content, reporting to Cue. The consolidation is a homecoming of sorts for Apple Music, which was built on the backbone of the earlier Beats Music streaming service.

Bottom of the Page

I have no desire to get a small phone. But I would very much like a light (as in weight) phone.

Of course, I also want long battery life. Which probably mean the phone will not be light.

~

Thanks for reading.