Yesterday, I mentioned I could probably replace TextExpander with the built-in Mac and iOS text replacements, given that I generally don’t use the more advanced features of TextExpander, anyway. So this morning, I fired up my MacBook, opened System Preferences and TextExpander side by side, and created shortcuts for my most-commonly used TextExpander snippets in the built-in system. There were a few shortcuts I had created that could fill in forms, or put the cursor in the middle of the text replacement (two features that the built-in replacements can’…

I’ve been complaining since the introduction of the iPhone 6 that I am no fan of the larger iPhone trend. I truly disliked my 6 when I owned one, and I wasn’t shy about saying it. I dislike my 6s Plus considerably less (if you’re going to go big, just go big), but I’d still much rather go back to a 4-inch screen. I’ve been so vocal about my disdain for the current crop of flagship iPhones, in fact, that pretty much every one of…

Bringing Fin to the big screen was easier than I thought it would be. Certainly easier than developing for Mac, and probably even easier than Apple Watch in many ways. I still think the Apple TV app market is going to be a tough place to make a whole lot of money short term, but I do find myself thinking quite a bit about the long term potential of this new platform. In any case, I figured it was worth the effort just to wrap my head around a new…

Twitter is a horrible place to try and have a spirited debate. I read this article by Craig Mod yesterday, arguing that faster Touch ID had actually annoyed him more than it helped. And I largely agreed that there was a big problem with the lock screen situation, though I didn’t think his proposed solutions were ideal. Then I read Dr. Drang’s reasonable, well constructed rebuttal. (Note to tech nerds: Acknowledging that the other person has a point and showing some empathy is helpful if you want to…

While everyone else in the community is still losing its mind over the battery bump, I thought I’d offer a change of pace and criticize something a little more concerning about Apple’s recent endeavors. It didn’t take much effort to find something less controversial, at least. Let’s take, for instance, the experience of watching iTunes Extras material on an iPad. iTunes Extras are like DVD bonus features for the movies you buy on iTunes. Some movies only offer an alternate commentary track. Others get quite elaborate,…