Some developers are hesitant to work with Apple to integrate their apps into ‌Siri‌ because they are worried about providing new ways for Apple to collect commissions. Apple is telling some developers that it does not plan to charge commissions during the early stages of the partnership, but that fees are a possibility in the future. Apple has held talks with Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent about ‌Siri‌ integration in ‌iOS 27‌, but the companies do not want to end up paying fees to Apple.

In the early days of the App Store, every developer aspired to be part of it because it was the ultimate platform. Today, the difference is stark and disheartening. I hope some people at Apple recognize that something is amiss. Developer adoption of the Apple Vision Pro has been hesitant, mainly due to concerns about the market size. This is an area where Apple could improve by adopting new strategies. Fees and potential fees are major obstacles that Apple can easily control or eliminate, and doing so could significantly boost perceived value.

Zuckerberg also said that Meta AI’s incognito mode is the first major AI product where there is no log of conversations stored on servers. Zuckerberg likened the feature to end-to-end encryption, and said no one will be able to read the AI conversations, not even Meta or WhatsApp.

There is nothing incognito in Meta. I don’t believe him. Do you?

Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it’s fair to say that the move is not going down well with users.

Two things come to my mind about how Reddit was even possible in the early days: the open web and people. Now, Reddit put the first part of the equation in the trash. The second part might already be happening, thanks to AI.

Bauhaus Clock for iPhone and iPad is a design-first, utility-second sort of app. It’s simple, doing nothing more than tell the time in one or two locations. But how it tells the time — with its gasp-worthy combination of visual, haptics, and audio features — make it one of those delightful apps you’ll love to have on your device.

I wish Apple offered more stylish and easy-to-read watch faces for the Apple Watch. While the hardware has been lagging a bit, perhaps Apple could improve the watch experience through a better time-reading experience.

In recent days, I made a lot of tweaks and updated some details about me and my digital journey. It’s a bit overwhelming, but I guess it’s reflecting what I’m doing online! 😜

Sometimes I wonder if it is a good practice to put so many details about myself online. In the age of AI, I can imagine bad actors using AI and this website to build malicious impersonation tools.

The AirPods Pro will have built-in cameras that will feed visual information about the wearer’s surroundings to Siri. While there will be a longer stem for the camera in each AirPod, the device will otherwise look similar to the AirPods Pro 3.

I would take an AirPods upgrade over any pendant-like device for augmented reality with AI twists. I feel this is more socially acceptable than a pendant.

When I bulit the API for Inkwell, I decided to pattern it after Feedbin’s API instead of Google Reader. Just seemed right.

I’d like Inkwell to support Inoreader, too.

Apple has removed more desktop Macs from its online store as the global memory shortage continues. Mac mini models with 32GB and 64GB of RAM are no longer available for purchase, nor is the M3 Ultra Mac Studio with 256GB RAM.

While some RAM configurations were removed, I find it surprising that you still can configure your Mac with up to 16 TB of storage, another electronic component that is becoming scarce. Apple is, in fact, reducing CPU SKUs¹, but might also reduce storage options in the future.

One surprising aspect is that while there is an online documentation, it lacks depth. Specifically, it would be helpful to have a range of production setups, from simple to complex, along with descriptions for each configuration.

I plan to use the mixer with my Mac mini (for recording my screen), my iPhone (to record myself), an external Samsung T5 SSD (for ISO recording output), my Bose QuietComfort headphones, and my RODE WirelessME pic. I might add another video input, such as my Nikon Zf or my Logitech BRIO webcam, and use my iPad as an external display.

The state of the App Store is astonishing, in a bad way. I recently spent a few minutes browsing the Mac App Store to find an iPhone app and check its compatibility on a Mac. The number of poorly made apps is incredible. It appears Apple no longer recognizes when an app is genuinely well-designed and serves a real purpose.

I use the TestFlight version of Inkwell every day.

Here is the blog post on Bluesky.

Apple is testing multiple new faces for watchOS 27, code-named “Orchid,” with one being a “simplified take” on the Modular Ultra design.

When is Apple going to introduce a Watch Face Store? Will Apple ever do this? Beyond Apple Watch Apps, it seems Apple is missing an opportunity to make even more money, even if it is open to a select few Watch Face developers and designers…