2023.03.16.

Of course, we need to merge the Mac and the iPad…

We’re entering the spring, and the Mac and iPad Pro are on a collision course.

How about, no?

Because Federico doesn’t like Stage Manager and iPadOS doesn’t have multi-channel audio capabilities currently, I don’t want my iPad to become a Mac, and I don’t want my Mac to have a touchscreen (and become an iPad). And I especially don’t want them to be merged into one device (buy a Surface Pro if you want to have everything in one device, that will surely be fun).

I fear that I’m going to have to wait a couple of years for the Apple computer I want to exist, and I’m not sure anymore that iPadOS can evolve in meaningful ways in the meantime.

And I fear we will end up with an OS that is just copying macOS because we must repeat the same “Apple can’t evolve iPadOS” narrative on MacStories every two years.

While discussing iPadOS, I’m also tired of hearing about the “there are no pro apps for the iPad” argument. Let me tell you something: there are many pro apps available for the iPad, only they feel different since the device these apps are running on is very different.

Where are the pro app reviews of Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher, or DaVinci Resolve on MacStories?

And what about Ulysses, Craft, Things, MindNode, Pixelmator Photo, or Keynote, which are fantastic on the iPad? Are those pro apps enough? I use these apps every day for “serious work” on the iPad, but I also have other pro apps on my Mac for development because it is just better for that task.

Or should we have Final Cut Pro and Xcode for the iPad? That’s what Apple pundits mean? Are you seriously expecting Apple will port FCP with all its features available in the 1.0 release, and it will be usable on an 11-inch iPad Pro?

I’m sure Apple will release more of their pro apps for iPadOS down the road, but don’t expect it will work like the desktop version. Apple pundits, of course, will complain about it not being like the desktop version, like they do with Photoshop being simpler on the iPad.

Let me remind you that Photoshop and Final Cut Pro (or Logic Pro, for that matter) are apps with decades of development history. Nobody will bring the same level of functionality to the iPad on day one. If you want to use the desktop version of Final Cut Pro, then use the damn desktop version of Final Cut Pro.

Let’s not forget that iPad Pros, which are at the top of the food chain for iPadOS, have the same CPUs as Macs at the bottom of the food chain. If we consider a MacBook Air mainly made for everyday tasks (maybe with a bit of “pro-work” here and there), what performance are you expecting from an iPad Pro with the same CPU?

There are many low-hanging fruits to be fixed on iPadOS, but let the damn thing shine on its own. If Apple merges these two platforms, like how pundits want them to, we will end up with a freak-show.

2023.02.08.

2023.01.25.

2022.09.03.

2022.06.14.

2020.05.07.

Steve Jobs fotói a macOS-ben

Eddig nem tudtam, hogy Steve Jobs fényképei voltak ezek a macOS hátterek:

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Steve Jobs liked to take pictures. He was even taking a picture the last time I saw him. However, many people might not know that some of his photos shipped as Desktop Pictures in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

A Grass Blades hátteret én is használtam sokáig. Ez volt az a vizes, Vista-szerű, füves kép, amivel bemutatták a Leopardot a 2007-es WWDC-n. Kár, hogy nincs már belőle nagyobb felbontású verzió.

2020.02.26.

Disable ringtones for call notifications on Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch

I was browsing Twitter yesterday and run into a group of people who disabled call receiving on their Mac because of macOS makes your Mac ring like any other mobile device by default. This can be great if your phone is in another room, but if you like me, your devices are nearby most of the time, so it’s really annoying when all of them are starting to ring at once when I receive a call.

Luckily there is a way to mute ringtones but keep the call notification around. This means your iPhone will ring, but other devices will stay silent and just show you the incoming call, giving you an option to answer them or hang up right there.

For some reason FaceTime notification settings are also controlling the appearance of phone calls on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, so you have to customize that.

macOS

Go to System Preferences/Notifications, find FaceTime in the list and turn off "Play sound for notifications". This way macOS will show all incoming FaceTime, FaceTime Audio, and regular phone calls in the top right, but your Mac gonna stay silent.

Screen Shot 2020 02 26 at 11 40 40

iOS/iPadOS

For some reason, there is no way to disable sound for call notifications on iOS and iPadOS, although there is a workaround: you can create a silent ringtone using GarageBand or you can buy one from the iTunes Store (buying will also make it available for your other iOS devices).

After acquiring the ringtone, go to Settings/Notifications, select FaceTime and set your new silent ringtone under Sounds.

IMG 0010

watchOS

Open the Watch app on your phone, scroll down, select Phone and turn off Sound.

I like to keep Haptic turned on because sometimes I’m away from my iPhone but I still want to "feel" incoming calls on my wrist.

PNG image

Setting up your devices this way gives you the best of both worlds: your devices – other than your iPhone – will stay silent when you receive an incoming phone or FaceTime call, but you’ll see the caller ID on the device you’re using. Also it will give you the option to answer the call without picking up your iPhone.

2020.02.20.

Since nobody mentioned yet that the 10.15.4 beta 2 contains a new lyrics view in Music, I’m going to mention that the 10.15.4 beta 2 contains a new lyrics view in Music.

Screen Shot 2020 02 20 at 0 19 09

Screen Shot 2020 02 20 at 0 19 18

2020.02.10.

A conspiracy theory about butterfly keyboards

Movie Director Taika Waititi Tells Apple to ‘Fix Those Keyboards’ at Oscars:

“Apple needs to fix those keyboards,” he said. “They are impossible to write on — they’ve gotten worse. It makes me want to go back to PCs. Because PC keyboards, the bounce-back for your fingers is way better. Hands up who still uses a PC? You know what I’m talking about. It’s a way better keyboard. Those Apple keyboards are horrendous.”

My MacBook Air’s keyboard works fine. Also my wife’s 12-inch MacBook’s keyboard – which is the first generation of butterfly keyboards – is fine too. The secret is to clean these keyboards every other week with compressed air and don’t eat near the notebook (which is a wise decision in general). The typing experience is another question…

Just a quick conspiracy theory for fun: what if Jony Ive was kicked out of Apple because the butterfly keyboard was left unfixed for years and damaged Apple’s reputation? It’s weird that Apple switched the keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro around the same time as Jony left Apple. Maybe they don’t want to admit this, because of the otherwise great work Jony did for Apple over the years.

2020.02.07.

2020.01.15.

The Apple Archive:

The (Unofficial) Apple Archive Dedicated to the unsung studio designers, copywriters, producers, ADs, CDs, and everyone else who creates wonderful things.

Well, I’m gonna spend a couple of hours here.

2020.01.02.

Replying to: MuellerSimhofer:

As user I’ve seen Spotlight implementations for document based apps (usually just using NSUserActivity), but the problem is that they usually duplicate results. You get one result from Files and then another one from the app’s index.

Also keeping the index up-to-date seems hard, since I can delete files outside the app, but the app’s index still contains it: I have to start the app, to get the index updated. I’m curious how you guys can solve this for MindNode.