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The Down-Playing Edition Sunday, June 22, 2025

Apple Sued By Shareholders For Allegedly Overstating AI Progress, by Jonathan Stempel, Reuters

Apple was sued on Friday by shareholders in a proposed securities fraud class action that accused it of downplaying how long it needed to integrate advanced artificial intelligence into its Siri voice assistant, hurting iPhone sales and its stock price.

Stuff

4 MacOS Email Clients That Make For Great Alternatives To Apple Mail (And How They're Better), by Jack Wallen, ZDNet

Although Apple Mail is a good solution, there's often something better, and I've been hunting for an option for some time. These four email apps might well fulfill your email needs in ways that Apple Mail cannot.

'ClosetLog' Helps You Manage Your Wardrobe In A Smarter Way - 9to5Mac, by Michael Burkhardt, 9to5Mac

ClosetLog is built with the intention of providing all of the data you need to be more mindful of what you wear. It tells you what you are (and aren’t) wearing regularly, informs you of the weather to help you pick outfits, and even provides you data on how much value per dollar you’re getting out of certain items of clothing. It’s meant to make you more aware and minimal.

These 5 Free Apps Instantly Improved My Nature Photography, by Aarthi Arunkumar, MakeUseOf

It's not the camera that will make you a better nature photographer and set your photos apart. Neither is it the lens, nor even Photoshop. It is knowledge that makes the difference, and these nature apps will give you a huge step up in that area.

Develop

iOS 26 To Enable iPhone 16's Audio Mix Feature Beyond The Photos App, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

Starting with iOS 26, Apple is allowing third-party apps to offer the same Audio Mix controls as the Photos app does on the iPhone 16 and newer.

iOS 26 Allows Cinematic Mode Video Recording In Third-Party Apps, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

In a WWDC 2025 session earlier this month, Apple introduced a new API that allows developers of third-party camera apps like Kino and Filmic Pro to offer Cinematic mode video recording capabilities in their apps, if they choose to implement it.

Notes

Apple Executives Held Internal Talks About Buying Perplexity, Bloomberg News Reports, by Niket Nishant and Harshita Mary Varghese, Reuters

The discussions are at an early stage and may not lead to an offer, the report said, adding that the tech behemoth's executives have not discussed a bid with Perplexity's management. [...] "We have no knowledge of any current or future M&A discussions involving Perplexity," Perplexity said in response to a Reuters' request for comment.

Bottom of the Page

I am still a slow reader: both as audiobook reader, and e-book reader. (I still listen to everything at 1x speed, and I still read everything at 1x speed, whatever that means.)

I know I will not be able to read all the books I want to read in this world. (Who knows what happens in the next world. But I am not betting my life on being able to read anything then.)

The following are some of my favorites that I've read so far in 2025.

On the Calculation of Volume, by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland, is my favorite. I've read the first two books, and the third in the series is coming later this year. No, I don't think I can learn Danish in time to read all five (so far; two more are coming, I hear) books in their original language, before I have no more days. You can think of this as Groundhog-day-like, but it is so much more about living your days.

Apple In China, by Patrick McGee, connects all the dots and bring us a fuller picture about our favorite fruit company in foreign lands.

Enlightenment, by Sarah Perry, is definitely a book you don't want to speed read through. A book about love, friends, and the mystery of the universe, written in beautiful language.

I See You've Called in Dead, by John Kenney, started with a bit of a red tape (you can't fire someone when that someone is already dead, according to the HR records) that everyone enjoys, and bring us ideas about life, death, and friendship.

The Husbands, by Holly Gramazio, starts with a wonderful concept that leads me to a logical and yet unexpected conclusion. I definitely enjoyed the ride.

The Wedding People, by Alison Espach, is a dark, funny, and sad story that breezes along.

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In fact, this is probably my lucky year, so far. None of the books that I've read are not good or not my-cup-of-tea. I hope this streak continues.

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Thanks for reading.