Twas the night before USB-C 

September 11, 2023
Tomorrow, Apple is set to introduce its latest iPhones and all the rumours are pointing towards USB-C as replacement of the Lightning port.  The last time Apple switched the port from the 30-pin connector to the Lightning port was in 2012 with the iPhone 5; and a of people did not like the switch because 1. People don’t like change and 2. What was to happen to all the accessories that they brought prior to the change? they are not going to work with the new phone (unless they use an adapter). We are in a similar yet different situation…

NFS Unbound & EA Play – Not a good match!

September 10, 2023
I wanted to play Need For Speed Unbound as soon as it released last year but the reviews were not really favourable. So I thought i’ll hold on and get the game when it is on sale. Last month, in the UK, EA Play had a deal going where you can access the service for just £0.79 a month and Unbound was one of the games in the playlist. So I signed up for a month of EA Play and installed Unbound straight away. I really liked the first few hours of the game and the game was tough even…

9 years since the Apple Watch announcement

September 9, 2023
Today, the 9th of September marks the 9th anniversary of Apple introducing the Apple Watch. I remember being really excited about this event and the rumours didn't help as I knew to what to look for, and yet was amazed when I first saw it. Tim Cook and Apple using Steve Jobs' famous "One more thing" liner to introduce the Apple Watch was a great touch, it was the first time since Jobs' death those words were uttered on stage. I have embedded the video of the introduction below, I know what I am watching tonight! https://youtu.be/bdyVH5LqneU?si=4WWi0LDvNufb3eMG

iPhone 14 Pro Max – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

September 9, 2023
Three more sleeps and we will know what the new iPhones look like. Well, we know what the rumours are but everything we know and do not know of will be official.  I have had the iPhone 14 Pro Max since day one and below is what I like and dislike about my phone: The Good:  - Dynamic Island I still don’t think the potential of the Dynamic Island is fully realised yet, and is disappointing because we now know what is coming in iOS 17, but I am hoping there is some Dynamic-Island-related surprise in the final build of…

Apollo

August 7, 2023
Muscle memory is a funny thing. Something you only notice when it doesn’t work - you start connecting the dots backwards, figure out something’s not right, then realise it’s been muscle memory all along and you’ve been doing it impulsively. I have been a Reddit user for a real long time and when Apollo launched in one iPhone I got it on day one and was the only way I would use Reddit. I’d be on my MacBook and if I’d had to use Reddit I’ll grab my phone or iPad as that was the fastest and preferred way of…

Dear Spotify, don’t do this.

August 4, 2023
I have been on a premium trial of Spotify for 3 months now and today my tiral expires.  Yesterday I used Spotify like every other day, but it wasn’t like every other day because I saw the below screen every time I would switch to the Spotify app. I had no intention of paying for Spotify but behaviour like this would have lead me away, it's distasteful. I have used trials of Apple Music in the past and there is no way Apple Music was this intrusive trying to keep me in. Seeing this a few times, or on a…

Battery Health on iPhones

August 3, 2023
In another months time Apple will hold the keynote for the next generation iPhones. The new iPhone is now the old iPhone and there is a lot of conversation on Twitter about iPhones and battery health. I saw a screenshot of an iPhone 14 Pro that had 90% of battery health. 10% of drop in less than a year is concerning and you would not expect to happen on a phone that costs a grand.  I looked at my 14 Pro Max and it stands on 96% which is not that bad. I recall when I sold my 13 Pro…

Spectre

July 19, 2023
This post is about my favourite iPhone camera app, not about the 2015 Bond film with one of the greatest tracking shot in cinema. Spectre, by Lux, is from the same bunch of people who make the highly regarded iPhone camera app - Halide. Halide has always got a lot of love from the developers whereas Spectre was the one that was often forgotten. I used Halide a lot back in the day when it was easily the best way to capture raw images on an iPhone. But lately the native iPhone camera app has inbuilt Raw abilities, yes, Halide…

Instagram and live activities

July 15, 2023
It seems like Instagram is rolling out Live Activities support on iOS. I haven’t seen this being reported by any Apple-tech blogs I follow so I am guessing this is a slow rollout. Or maybe it’s just being tested on a selected few accounts. Yesterday I was uploading a story to my Instagram and it showed me this on my lock-screen: Live Activity tiles from Instagram. It, without any surprise, also subsequently appeared on the Dynamic Island when I unlocked my phone. I later was uploading a reel and saw it too. It’s always good to see established apps like…

Few Thoughts on the iPadOS 17 Public Beta

July 12, 2023
Apple today released public beta's for all of the new operating systems coming later this year. I didn't want to update my iPhone nor my MacBook to the latest betas because I'd like to think I have a bit of sanity by not installing beta software on my most important computers I use everyday. But with a passion for tech and all things Apple I did want to get on the new stuff and this is where my 2018 iPad stands in my life. If things go wrong it won't be the end of the world as I can live…