Why Is Swift’s String API So Hard?
Mike Ash: Incidentally, I think that representing all these different concepts as a single string type is a mistake. Human-readable text, file paths, SQL statements, and others are all conceptually...
View ArticleFlickr for iOS 9
Flickr: On the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, we’ve added 3D Touch support, enabling you to preview photos, people, notifications and more with a light press of your screen. […] New in iOS 9, 3D Touch...
View ArticleThe Java Deserialization Bug and NSSecureCoding
Charles Miller: The problem, described in the talk the exploit was first raised in — Marshalling Pickles — is that arbitrary object deserialization (or marshalling, or un-pickling, whatever your...
View ArticleThe New Favicon
Craig Hockenberry: The href points to an SVG file and the color is used to draw the vector shape contained in the file (the background color for the tab changes depending on whether the browser window...
View ArticleThe Mac App Store: With Convenience Comes Compromise
Rob Griffiths: A user may not know what sandboxing is, but they may wonder why a developer “chose” to put up an annoying “please grant permission” dialog box when they try to do something. […] This may...
View ArticleLong-Term Exposure to Flat Design
Kate Meyer: Clickable UI elements with absent or weak visual signifiers condition users over time to click and hover uncertainly across pages—reducing efficiency and increasing reliance on contextual...
View ArticleGeorge Boole: a 200-Year View
Stephen Wolfram: Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Boole. In our modern digital world, we’re always hearing about “Boolean variables”—1 or 0, true or false. And one might think,...
View ArticleApple’s Beautiful Construction Barriers
Dave Caolo: When I saw these photos of the forthcoming Apple Store in Amsterdam, I noticed how great the construction barriers look. Typically barriers like this are erected simply to discourage prying...
View ArticleApple on Hamburger Menus
Manbolo quoting Apple’s Mike Stern (via Samuel Goodwin): I’m not going to say that there’s no place for these controls categorically. I think there are some apps that could maybe use one. But I will...
View ArticleMicrosoft Band 2
David Pogue: For decades, Microsoft was considered a company distinguished by copycatting and mediocrity. But today, the company is leading, not following. The latest products, like the Surface Pro 4,...
View ArticleOn Keyboards and Thinness
Riccardo Mori: The other day, my friend Alex Roddie pointed me to this article on MacRumors: Apple Patents Switch-Less Force Touch Keyboard, Could Lead to Thinner Macs. Alex’s further comments were: I...
View ArticleHow Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
Don Norman and Bruce Tognazzini (via Don Norman, comments): The products, especially those built on iOS, Apple’s operating system for mobile devices, no longer follow the well-known, well-established...
View ArticleSideloading f.lux on iOS
f.lux, the excellent Mac display color adjuster, has not been available for iOS except via jailbreaking. Now, however, there is a way to sideload it (comments): In Xcode 7, you can install apps...
View ArticleNo One Minding the Store
I woke up to an inbox full of e-mails from customers reporting that my apps wouldn’t launch. This included new customers who had just purchased from the Mac App Store as well as people who had...
View ArticleDecoding Old Nibs: a Sad Tale of Vendor Lock-in and Abandonment
Nat!: I have over 200 NIBs of which most of them have EOInterface objects in them. The problem is, that they don’t open in the newer Interface Builders anymore. […] If I redo 200 NIBs manually, I am...
View ArticleiPad Pro Reviews
Tim Cook: Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people. They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones....
View ArticleCastro 1.5
Supertop: Castro is now a free app. Every feature is available without charge. If you like Castro, please consider becoming a patron by contributing $1/month. You will support the work of a small indie...
View ArticleApple Forbids Sideloading f.lux
f.lux (comments): Apple has contacted us to say that the f.lux for iOS download (previously available on this page) is in violation of the Developer Program Agreement, so this method of install is no...
View ArticleGene Amdahl, RIP
Katie Hafnernov (via Slashdot, comments): Dr. Amdahl rose from South Dakota farm country, where he attended a one-room school without electricity, to become the epitome of a generation of computer...
View ArticleThe Depressing Effect of Bug Bounties
Jacob Torrey (via Gwynne Raskind): By artificially deflating the cost of finding and fixing bugs in operation/shipped product through monopolistic means, bug bounties remove the economic incentive to...
View Article
