Recent Articles

Brian Stucki proves that text replacement syncing on iOS is fundamentally a pile of shit (my words), but its made even more odd because:

From my own experience, syncing of all other data via iCloud has really improved. Notes, Calendar, address book, reminders, photos, etc all sync almost instantly across all devices.

I can echo this. iCloud is flawless everywhere except text replacement syncing. My work email shortcut is three @ signs. When I left my old company in 2014 and came to my new one, I swapped out the replacement there. I have to delete the old email every other week, it just keeps showing back up. For no reason.

Good review on the Urban Assault (I reviewed it here). One thing which cracked me up is his score, I’ll not comment on the craziness of his scoring system overall, but this bit is amazing:

The score is a bit deceptive.  This is a pack that I would easily count as one of the best on the market.  I loved this pack.  But its flaws were flaws that I simply couldn’t NOT deduct a point for and so the score is what it is.  But don’t take that as an 18.  Think of it as an 18!  The 3-Zip is simply and without question, the best pack zipper system ever devised. 

That’s why scoring anything with hard numbers is deceptive and should be avoided at all costs.

This is a really good question from Om Malik

If that’s how good the iPhone 8 Plus camera is, then with the iPhone X… Well does anyone want an X100T?

Good review. I suspect the iPhone 8 will be, in many ways, a better upgrade for most than the iPhone X.

I miss this app so much (because I don’t use a Mac any more). And I’m so happy to see it still being updated with amazing new features.

Title says it all. So next time you think about when/if Twitter will act on all the user complaints about stuff, well remember the above.

Marty Swant reporting on advertising groups being super sad about coming privacy standards in Safari:

In an open letter expected to be published this afternoon, the groups describe the new standards as “opaque and arbitrary,” warning that the changes could affect the “infrastructure of the modern internet,” which largely relies on consistent standards across websites. The groups say the feature also hurts user experience by making advertising more “generic and less timely and useful.”

This would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

Update: Nah, it’s funny.

This is an awesome update, and I love the new styling. I forgive them for using Medium.

Jacqui Cheng:

What differentiates Wirecutter from other review sites is the rigor of our review process, the transparency we provide to our readers about that process, and our reader-centric, useful approach to recommendations. The most important thing to us is not to only practice those values when it comes to home and tech, but to hit those values consistently no matter what topic our crack team of researchers, testers, reporters, and just plain curious staffers put their minds to.

It’s more than that though. They really care about every topic they work on. They want feedback from the groups in that area. If/When I criticize a pick, they explain it and remind me: this isn’t the same as what you pick, because it’s the pick “for most people”. I see the Wirecutter as a truly vital resource.

Om Malik:

Every single event leaves me more in awe of Apple’s semiconductor group – and what they seem to achieve with each passing year.

He makes a good case (which I agree with) that Apple’s core strength right now is the silicon which powers iOS. I mean the iPhones are now as “fast” as a MacBook Pro. That’s insane. And nobody is near it, read his entire post.

Napier Lopez:

So yeah, Apple’s apparently built a smartphone that’s faster than a 2017 laptop, at least by GeekBench’s metrics.

Not just a laptop, a MacBook Pro.

Craig Mod, on Twitter:

(the thing that will push professionals to iPad is that it will be the fastest machine available)

Keep in mind, the iPad Pro typically will get a faster version of the iPhone chip. Staggering. I can’t wait.

A really great video round up on knife edge retention between steels. Really like the insight in this video.