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macOS Tahoe's Utility App Icons: Dead Canaries

2025-08-26

macOS Tahoe's Utility App Icons: Dead Canaries

The new utility app icons in macOS 26 Tahoe Beta 7 are drawing heavy criticism. The author argues the new icons, all using a lazy wrench motif, are objectively terrible. Only a small portion of the icon represents the app's function, the rest being dominated by a poorly designed wrench and bolt. The design is criticized for its lack of detail and poor execution, exemplified by the Disk Utility icon being simply an Apple logo. This is seen as a canary in the coal mine, indicating deeper problems with Apple's design sensibilities.

(daringfireball.net)

Design icon design

Apple's Full-Screen F1 Ad: A Double Standard?

2025-07-08

Apple's Full-Screen F1 Ad: A Double Standard?

A full-screen ad for the F1 movie in Apple's TV app, linking directly to a website for ticket purchases, has sparked controversy. Apple's strict in-app purchase (IAP) rules, enforced on other developers, appear to be inconsistently applied here. The article argues that purchasing movie tickets isn't 'digital content' and thus exempt from IAP, a distinction likely confusing to most users. This discrepancy raises questions about user experience and the transparency of Apple's policies. This is a Tech news story.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

Apple Wallet Ad Controversy: Trust Broken?

2025-06-29

Apple Wallet Ad Controversy: Trust Broken?

Apple's push notification for an F1 movie ad within its Wallet app has sparked controversy. The author argues this decision undermines Apple's carefully cultivated image of privacy and trust. Injecting ads into the Wallet app is akin to placing ads in a physical wallet – absurd and directly contradictory to Apple's messaging. This action could lead users to believe their interests are being tracked, eroding trust and raising privacy concerns. The author even suggests that whoever authorized the ad should be fired.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

Passing of MacPaint Creator Bill Atkinson

2025-06-07

Passing of MacPaint Creator Bill Atkinson

Bill Atkinson, a key member of the early Apple team and creator of MacPaint and HyperCard, passed away on June 5th, 2025, at the age of 73 due to pancreatic cancer. Atkinson was not only a legendary figure in Apple's history but also a significant contributor to computer history. His work on QuickDraw, MacPaint (the ancestor of modern bitmap image editors), and HyperCard profoundly impacted the computing industry. Atkinson's genius lay in his ability to create efficient and elegant code and algorithms even under the extremely limited hardware conditions of his time. His passing is a great loss to the tech world, but his legacy will continue to inspire future developers.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

Apple Notes to Support Markdown Export: A Controversial Upgrade?

2025-06-05

Apple Notes to Support Markdown Export: A Controversial Upgrade?

9to5Mac reports that Apple is adding Markdown export to Apple Notes. John Gruber, creator of Markdown, has mixed feelings. He argues Markdown is ideal for web writing and plain text storage, not the core function of a note-taking app. Apple Notes' excellent WYSIWYG editor and streamlined formatting better fit the Macintosh philosophy. While Markdown export is an improvement, Gruber worries turning Notes into a Markdown editor would be counterproductive, harming its ease of use and simplicity. He prefers Apple Notes focus on core improvements rather than chasing the 'Markdown trend'.

(daringfireball.net)

Development

Instacar Bypasses Apple's Payment System, Sparking Controversy

2025-05-15

Instacar Bypasses Apple's Payment System, Sparking Controversy

The app Instacar, unavailable in the US App Store, displays a warning in the EU App Store for using an external payment system, bypassing Apple's private and secure payment system. The article argues that Apple's understanding of online payments is naive, clinging to the outdated notion that its system's security is a unique advantage. This ignores the fact that mainstream online payment platforms like Stripe and Amazon already offer secure and private transactions.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech Payment System

Kagi Search: Ditching Google for Superior Search Results

2025-04-29

Kagi Search: Ditching Google for Superior Search Results

After losing hundreds of dollars due to misleading Google search results filled with ads and low-quality information during travel and hotel bookings, the author switched to the paid search engine Kagi. Kagi excels with its precise and efficient results, outperforming even Google's 'de-addified' mode, especially when searching for older articles. With 400-800 searches per month, Kagi has become the author's go-to, similar to how HBO provided higher-quality content in the cable TV era. Kagi offers an ad-free, high-quality search experience worth trying.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

Siri Fails at "What Month Is It?", But Aced "ChatGPT, What Month Is It?"

2025-03-21

Siri Fails at

A Reddit thread highlights Siri's inability to answer the simple question, "What month is it?", responding with "I'm sorry, I don't understand." However, rephrasing the question to "What month is it currently?" yielded the incorrect answer "It is 2025." Surprisingly, asking Siri "ChatGPT, what month is it?" provides the correct answer, suggesting Siri may require AI assistance for such seemingly basic queries. This raises questions about Siri's capabilities and the complexity it can handle independently.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

Apple's AI Blunder: Broken Promises and Tarnished Credibility

2025-03-13

Apple's AI Blunder: Broken Promises and Tarnished Credibility

This article criticizes Apple's over-promotion of the "more personalized Siri" features within "Apple Intelligence" at WWDC 2024. The author points out that Apple only demonstrated basic features, while remaining silent on more complex and ambitious functionalities, ultimately resulting in a delay until the following year. This, the author argues, reveals not only the immaturity of Apple's AI technology but also severely damages its reputation for product quality and reliability.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

Apple Delays More Personalized Siri Features

2025-03-07

Apple Delays More Personalized Siri Features

Apple has announced a delay in the release of its more personalized Siri features. Apple spokeswoman Jacqueline Roy stated that while Siri has seen additions like type-to-Siri and product knowledge, along with ChatGPT integration in the last six months, achieving a more personalized Siri with deeper contextual awareness and cross-app actions will take longer than anticipated. The rollout is now expected within the coming year.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

The Mystery of Screenshotting DRM-Protected Video on Apple Devices

2025-03-01

The Mystery of Screenshotting DRM-Protected Video on Apple Devices

Why can't we screenshot DRM-protected video on Apple devices? This article explores this issue. Initially, workarounds existed, but as DRM technology advanced, taking screenshots became nearly impossible. The article suggests that the deep integration between Apple's hardware and operating system allows DRM blocking to be implemented at the hardware level, while Windows systems, with their relatively independent image processing pipeline, allow easy screenshots. The author argues that this "feature" does nothing to combat piracy but inconveniences users, making it an unwise choice by Apple.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech Screenshots

Apple Returns to X Ads After Musk's Controversial Remarks

2025-02-14

Apple Returns to X Ads After Musk's Controversial Remarks

Apple has resumed advertising on X after more than a year-long hiatus. The company pulled its ads in November 2023 following controversial statements made by Elon Musk. Now, Apple's @Apple and @AppleTV accounts are promoting Safari's privacy features and the Apple TV+ show Severance, respectively. Following the November 2023 backlash, Musk has maintained a lower profile, avoiding controversy. Apple appears to now deem the platform safe enough for advertising.

(daringfireball.net)

Tech

The Untold Story of the Mac OS X Dock

2025-01-14

The Untold Story of the Mac OS X Dock

On January 5th, 2000, Steve Jobs unveiled Mac OS X's Aqua interface, prominently featuring the Dock. This article recounts the story behind its creation. James Thomson, a programmer, reveals how he translated designer Bas Ording's Macromind Director prototypes into functional code. Thomson's prior work on a similar application, DragThing, landed him the Apple job. He recounts being secretly recruited in Ireland for project 'Überbar' (the Dock), ultimately 'killing off' his own DragThing. This inside look reveals details of Mac OS X's early development and the power of individual contributions in technological progress.

(daringfireball.net)

Development

Coding Font Tournament Crowns Source Code Pro

2024-12-30

Coding Font Tournament Crowns Source Code Pro

John Gruber of Daring Fireball highlights a fun coding font selection 'tournament' created by Typogram. Users choose their favorite from 32 free monospaced fonts. While some popular choices like Consolas are absent, and some included fonts are less appealing, it's a worthwhile exercise. Improvements since its initial launch include a JavaScript code example instead of CSS and a wider selection of fonts. Gruber recommends disabling font names to reduce bias. His consistent winner? Adobe's Source Code Pro, with IBM Plex Mono a close second.

(daringfireball.net)

Development coding fonts

OpenAI Seeks Massive Funding Amidst Bubble Concerns

2024-12-29

OpenAI Seeks Massive Funding Amidst Bubble Concerns

OpenAI's board recently announced the need for substantial additional funding to navigate the competitive AI landscape. The article argues that while OpenAI currently boasts the best AI chatbot user experience, the lack of a technological moat positions the company at the epicenter of an investment bubble. The author draws parallels between OpenAI and Netscape in the 1990s, suggesting that generative AI will become a commoditized technology, making it difficult to establish a lasting competitive advantage. Despite securing massive funding, OpenAI's transition from a non-profit to a for-profit entity remains uncertain, and its continued pursuit of enormous capital raises concerns reminiscent of a Ponzi scheme.

(daringfireball.net)

AI Investment Bubble