Weekender #117: WWDC Results

• Birb watch: a new baby mynah has finally appeared! After a few weeks of speculation, and hot on the heels of the other two baby mynahs, comes the latest baby! Handsome and Matey mynah have sure been busy this year. So far, it seems like there is just one baby that has come out of the nook in the neighbor’s roof. Baby is a great flyer, as far as I can tell. Let’s see how long it takes before Matey starts attempting to shoo the baby away.

My WWDC Predictions Score Card

• Hardware
  • Most of my predictions were incorrect, but I got the 15” MacBook Air and VR/AR headset.

• Software

  • macOS: At a glance, it looks like macOS Sonoma is an iterative release, and that, to me, is good news. There are improvements in many of the standard apps, but nothing huge. Other than that, none of my wishes came true.
  • iOS: I got my wish for interactive widgets but no separate password app.
  • iPadOS: I spent so many words criticizing iPadOS that I forgot to list my wishes. Looking at my notes, I wanted widgets, and iPadOS 17 got those. I also wanted a stand-alone password manager but didn’t get one. I did get my wish for Managed Apple ID users to finally have access to iCloud Keychain! Now students at my school can finally save their passwords without fear of losing them if their iPad needs to be replaced.
    • It also seems like I got my wish for Stage Manger improvements. MacStories reported after installing the iPadOS 17 beta that Stage Manger windows can finally be placed where you want them.

• I don’t have much to say about Apple’s Vision Pro. I do think it will be an interesting space to watch. I was excited to read John Gruber’s and Ben Thompson’s first impressions of the device since they actually got to try it.

This week’s Link List

Design

• A font to draw ASCII art? Yes, please! Jgs font - VTF is a font family made as a tribute to Joan G. Stark (a.k.a. jgs, Spunk), pioneer of ASCII art.

• One of the must-do things whenever I traveled to California was to visit the Apple Company Store in Cupertino. I’ve always loved the 1 Infinite Loop sign with the “1” in Chicago bitmapped font, and now you can 3D print a replica to put on your desk! There are also files to print the Apple 2 and Apple 3 signs. via Bas van der Ploeg

• Bartosz Ciechanowski’s archive of deep-dive topics has a really great page showing how GPS works.

Software and hardware

• Ricky Mondello shared links to documentation and an Apple Developer’s video for iOS 17, macOS Sonoma, and passkeys.
• Redact is a platform that says it will automatically delete old posts from services like Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, and 40+ others.
• I’ve always wondered if I could convert one of my midi controllers into a tool to use with Adobe Lightroom, kinda like what the Loupedeck is capable of doing. MIDI2LR is an app that translates MIDI commands into Lightroom actions that work with any MIDI controller! Using the app, I was able to easily program my Korg nanoKONTROL2to use with Lightroom. It makes tuning settings in Lightroom a lot easier.

Miscellaneous

• Variety reported this week that Miyazaki Hayao’s new movie “How Do You Live” is set to be released in theaters in Japan on July 14. During an interview with Studio Ghibli president and producer Suzuki Toshio, it was revealed that they won’t be doing any pre-release advertising or giving any advanced information about the film, meaning there will be no ads, trailers, or voice cast revelations. During the interview, Suzuki also revealed that the film isn’t based on the coming-of-age novel “How Do You Live” by Genzaburo Yoshino but merely borrowed the title. I’m really looking forward to this one, although I’ll be surprised if US residents get to see it in 2023. Apparently, GKids will distribute it in the U.S.

Media consumption

• I was really surprised to find the classic Bubblegum Crisis soundtrack was available for streaming on Apple Music. Not only that, but all seven soundtrack volumes were available, and all of them were remastered in 2022! It was a week of 80’s rock and Blade Runner / cyberpunk memories. Listen on Apple Music.