After touching on the subject in last weeks newsletter, I am inspired by Matt Birchler (once again) to push into finding free apps to replace subscriptions. His new productivity goals have this pegged as number one and I think it’s really important to think about doing the same.
Monthly or yearly subscriptions are great, they support development of apps a services and make sure they receive the money that they deserve.
I’ve been delving into origin stories of some of my sons favourite superhero’s and it got me thinking about mine. You might think I have been around here for ages. Bleating on about Apple news like some kind of village idiot and generally writing things no one reads. However, my Apple usage has been a relatively short one, and started at random points during the last 10 years.
iPhone
I came to the iPhone really early in its life but was gone quickly.
Yeah, I’m that guy this year. I couldn’t decide which iPhone size I wanted, so I got them all. It’s a weird position to be in but also provides me with some deeper insights into the real differences. I am not talking about specs and all those kinds of figures that people get too caught up in, the real things that make a difference to actually using the device. One of the strangest ones I have had to think about this year is the MagSafe wallet — so here is how it fits with each size iPhone.
Three years ago I was dismissive of the zoom lens that featured on the bigger versions of the iPhone. In part because I didn’t want a bigger phone, in part because the lens didn’t offer me much at that time, and there maybe me talking myself out of spending more money in there too.
Whilst many others, and Apple, have never been dismissive of the ability to get that little closer to your subject, they haven’t given it the attention it really needs.
I am currently trying, and failing quite a lot, to write my iPhone 12 review. Not because it isn’t an excellent phone, but it’s hard to review something that is basically the same as the old one. Cramming in 5g and changing the design to flat sides (why?) aside there is not a lot fundamentally changed. However, this has me thinking about a wider question of separating the iPhone from the iPhone Pro.
[youtu.be/G-M13O-ur…](https://youtu.be/G-M13O-urnA)
Despite ordering weeks ago, out of the blue my MagSafe Wallet turned up yesterday. I happily posted a picture on Twitter and all of a sudden quite a few people wanted to ask questions about it. So, I thought I might as well answer them all at once.
How Many Cards Can You Fit In It? There is space for three cards to fit, that’s it. No more. However, the case is quite a snag fit so you won’t have any issues using one or to cards in there without them falling out.
As soon as Apple showed off the iPhone 12 new design I was already dubious about how it would feel in the hand. Flat edges are great to look at, but there is a reason that no one uses them for modern smartphones. Put simply your hands are curved.
Sure the design of the iPhone 4/5 is lauded above all others, and the flat sides are part of that excellent design package, but this was at a time when screens and screen-time counts were much smaller.
A few times a year these kinds of posts start to appear. Around the time of installing new iOS updates, or getting a new phone, users start to think about what’s on their phone, and new people start to look for apps to use. Here are some of my favourite apps that are my first installs on any new phone.
Pocketcasts I go backwards and forwards on podcast apps, but one that remains my favourite is Pocketcasts.
Every iPhone release time everyone starts focusing on the cameras in them. Loads of people go for photo walks and get great shots “with just a smartphone” and even more people start to question the role of a dedicated camera.
That’s because for more than 10 years the smartphone has cannibalised the point and shoot camera market. The reason Apple worked so hard on the original iPhone was because they knew people didn’t want to carry around a phone, iPod and camera, and even perhaps a PDA — and that is still true today.