By Dan Moren

April 30, 2019 9:28 AM PT

The Back Page: Three wish list

We’re still about a month away from WWDC, but I know that the hardworking folks at Apple may need a little lead time when it comes to developing new ideas, and I want to be considerate about that.

Fact is, I’ve noticed a few shortcomings in my Apple devices over the last few years, and those gaps in functionality have gone spectacularly unaddressed in recent updates. So, it occurs to me, maybe the teams at Apple don’t realize just how annoying these problems are.

In that spirit, allow me to share with you (and with our good friends in Cupertino), my top three features still needed in Apple products, all of which I’m sure could be easily added to the upcoming versions of the company’s operating systems.

Spam Destroyer

The advent of modern spam filtering has helped weed out a lot of junk email, but it’s still a problem that we all have to deal with, day in and day out. Recent versions of the Mail app have added tools to help improve the process of getting off mailing lists, like a smart Unsubscribe button, but they simply don’t go far enough. No, what you want is a button that, when pressed, roots out evil at its very source, destroying its capability of ever sending email again. I’m talking frying their computers from stem to stern, from soup to nuts, from CPU to keyboard. Disproportionate, you might say, but is any price too high not to have to get campaign fundraising emails ever again?

Vacation Scheduler

Machine learning has gotten better and better at anticipating our actions, but we’ve yet to really give it the wheel. Sure, it makes suggestions about things we might want to do, but sometimes you just want the computer to go ahead and do them. Case in point, Apple’s Calendar app. Who really wants to keep track of their calendar when they have a computer that could just as easily do it for us? So here’s the Holy Grail: one-touch vacation scheduling. At the tap of a button, Calendar could go ahead and block out a week at the time of year when it knows you aren’t busy and don’t have any other commitments (rescheduling any pesky dentist appointments), and then use information gleaned from your emails, social media posts, and iMessages to reserve that treehouse Airbnb you sent your partner, book cheap and comfortable flights, and create an itinerary that lets you check items off that Bucket List you made in Reminders. All you have to do is approve it via Apple Pay. And, optionally, go.

Novel Writer

By this point, my Macs and iOS devices have lived through me writing at least half a dozen novels, some of which have even seen the light of day. You’d think with that much exposure that Pages could easily help me concoct the next book that I’m contracted to write on a timeframe that is just way too short. It’s the only reasonable explanation as to why publishers only give you nine months to write your next book when they know perfectly well it took years to finish the first one. Hey Siri, do you have a paper bag to breathe into?

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors, as well as an author, podcaster, and two-time Jeopardy! champion. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His next novel, the sci-fi adventure Eternity's Tomb, will be released in November 2026.]

By Dan Moren

April 30, 2019 9:27 AM PT

Applications Folder: SuperDuper!

Okay, chances are if you’ve been a Mac user for any length of time, you know about Shirt Pocket’s SuperDuper. And if you don’t, well, consider this a public service announcement: you need SuperDuper. You might think you don’t, but you do. Because, simply put, without a backup of your Mac, your data is all worthless. And trust me: having spent the last couple months bringing a Mac mini back from the dead, I know of what I speak.

Sure, Macs have come with Time Machine built in for many a year now, and that’s all well and good—it’s certainly better than nothing when it comes to backup. But Time Machine’s utility is limited, and there are cases where even it isn’t enough to get your data back. Plus, it has more than its fair share of unreliability, which is really the last thing you want in your backup software.

Whereas Time Machine operates on the level of files, tracking changes as you make them and updating the backup accordingly, SuperDuper is designed to clone your drive, bit-by-bit. That means that you end up with an exact copy which not only has all the same information but is also—and this is the clutch part—bootable on its own. Which means that when your computer goes down, as mine did a couple months back, all you have to do is restart from the clone to be back up and running and ready to start the restore process (which SuperDuper can also handle).

SuperDuper offers a variety of other features to improve your backup experience. Its Smart Update functionality speeds up backups, only copying files if they’ve changed. If you have somewhat more limited space on your backup drive, you can back up just your user files, rather than the whole Mac, or exclude certain files. You can back up to a disk image if you don’t have another disk handy. And, of course, you can schedule backups to happen at a certain time or only when you connect your backup disk.

SuperDuper was instrumental in getting my Mac mini back to life, as was its creator Dave Nanian. (Full disclosure: I’ve known Dave for a number of years, and consider him a good friend, but I used SuperDuper long before we’d ever met.) You can download SuperDuper for free and use it to backup your drives without restriction, but to unlock the more advanced features, it’ll cost you $27.95—a price well worth paying since all subsequent updates are free, and have been since before I bought the app back in 2006(!).

I’ve now got SuperDuper clones running for all three of the Macs in my household, which is in addition to Time Machine backups and Backblaze for offsite backups. In the era of cloud storage, it might seem like backup software is an added luxury, but frankly it’s protection and peace of mind that you can’t afford not to have.

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors, as well as an author, podcaster, and two-time Jeopardy! champion. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His next novel, the sci-fi adventure Eternity's Tomb, will be released in November 2026.]

By Jason Snell

April 30, 2019 9:26 AM PT

We Like: Keyboards

I write a lot on Six Colors about keyboards. On one level, this makes sense—I am a writer and my keyboard is the tool of my trade. My old pal Andy Ihnatko always referred to his keyboards (and laptops in general) as a rock star would refer to his guitars—they are his instruments.

For most people, though, the keyboard is just a functional object. As long as the keys are in more or less a familiar position, I think most people could care less about key travel or the shape of the arrow keys or the sound made by the keyswitches. And for much of my life, I was the same. I’d notice differences, sure, but I was happy to use whatever keyboard I ended up with. In general, I can type about the same speed on any regular-sized keyboard.

But you get older and you start to realize that while you can make do with just about anything, sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself to something a little nicer. That’s how I fell down the rabbit hole of the clicky keyboard, and began buying mechanical keyboards to use on my Mac. I joke about my obsession with keyboards, but I’ve only bought three or four of them, and one of those I sold back on eBay when I realized I preferred a different kind of keyswitch. (For the keyboard nerds out there, my first modern mechanical keyboard was a Cherry Blue, and I’ve decided I prefer Cherry Browns.)

My current iMac Pro keyboard is the Vortex Race 3, a “75 percent” keyboard that omits most keys beyond the standard alphanumerics, making it narrower than most keyboards and letting me slide my Magic Trackpad closer to my keyboard.

Yes, I enjoy mechanical keyboards like the ones on the first computers I used as a kid, with lots of travel (up and down movement) and big satisfying sounds for each letter you push down. But the most important thing about a keyboard is the context in which it sits. Apple’s Smart Keyboards are not especially amazing as keyboards (though they’re a wonder of engineering, since they’re made out of fabric and the keys stay up with fabric tension!), but because they’re so thin and foldable that you can carry it everywhere you take your iPad and have it ready at a moment’s notice.

Since the new iPad Pro came out, I’ve been using the Smart Keyboard Folio as my primary iPad keyboard, because it was the only one out there that was especially made to travel with the iPad Pro. In the last few weeks, though, I’ve been spending time with new iPad Pro keyboards from Brydge and Logitech and they’re both interesting in their own ways. They’re both far bulkier than the Smart Keyboard Folio, but they’re also more stable, with more traditional keys. Both keyboards essentially transform my iPad Pro into a laptop—which, when I’m writing an article on my iPad while sitting on a chair in my backyard as I am right now, is a pretty good shape for my writing tool of choice. The Smart Keyboard Folio isn’t bad on a lap, but it’s not as solid as either of these other cases. (Full reviews of the two keyboards are coming soon, but I’ve wanted to take my time using both models before writing about them.)

There’s another context I write in frequently, and that’s standing at the bar in my kitchen. I pop my iPad Pro into a stand that elevates it off the bar top, and attach a USB or Bluetooth keyboard. Lately I’ve been using my oldest mechanical keyboard, the Leopold FC660M on my iPad, attached directly via a USB cable. It’s nice to have the same keyboard feel at both my iMac and on the bar top, but I’m not entirely convinced I’ve found the right match. Sometimes I will type on a Matias Laptop Pro Bluetooth keyboard or a Tactile Pro. I will even occasionally pull out the keyboard Apple still ships with iMacs, the Magic Keyboard, and use it with my iPad and the Studio Neat Canopy stand.

Many keyboards, many contexts. Most people don’t need this many keyboards in this many different places, but like I said, sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself. Especially if the keyboard really is a tool of your trade.

By Stephen Hackett

April 30, 2019 9:25 AM PT

The Hackett File: Ikea: 1, Stephen: 0

In our house, I have several lamps plugged into outlets via iHome Smart Plugs, in order to control these otherwise dumb light fixtures with HomeKit.

Like many of these devices, an iOS application is required, and like many of these apps, the iHome Control app is not very good. Coupled with service outages on the iHome side of things that have left my plugs unresponsive for hours at a time, I have been looking for a new solution.

Then I saw that that IKEA had added HomeKit support to its Trådfri smart plugs, so I dropped by my local IKEA and picked one up, as well as the required $30 Trådfri Gateway hub.

As you would expect from IKEA, both devices are very clean and minimal looking:

After setting up the gateway on my network with the included power and ethernet cables, I downloaded the Trådfri iOS app on my iPhone. It had me scan the QR code on the back of the gateway, but then the app wanted to know if I was adding a dimmer switch, remote control, motion sensor, or wireless on/off switch.

I had none of these items, and as there was no way forward, I simply closed the app and opened Apple’s Home app, which wanted a HomeKit barcode or sticker to add the accessory to my network.

Which I didn’t have.

I’m a pretty smart guy, and I work with technology like this all day every day, but I was suddenly stumped as to how the IKEA system worked. Then I noticed the “Get help” button in the Trådfri iPhone app. I tapped it and read the following:

Select the input device you want to pair with your Trådfri Gateway. An input device is needed to connect your light bulbs with the Gateway and the app.

So, either the Ikea app doesn’t know about the smart plugs, or they require a third accessory to work. Say what you will about the junky iHome app, at least it was never this confusing.

I did a little more digging and found this on the IKEA site, on the page for the smart plug itself:

You need one of the steering devices in the Trådfri series (remote control, wireless dimmer or wireless motion sensor) in order to connect your control outlet with the gateway and the app.

I got in my truck to go pick up the $16 Trådfri remote control, too far into this column to bail out.

After picking up the Trådfri remote control (with another plug, because it’s all they had in stock), I drove home in nerd shame, avoiding my family as I snuck back into my studio to pair the remote control with the Gateway.

The remote paired easily with the Gateway with the in-app directions, but when it came to pairing the remote with the switch, things ground to a halt again until the app could update the firmware on everything.

While that was running, I went into the in-app settings and discovered the required HomeKit code. Not that it mattered, as Home.app sent me back to the Trådfri for “additional setup.”

I assume this was related to the firmware updates, but after waiting overnight and still seeing the “Update Pending” label next to my remote control, I gave up and filed this column.

I have no idea how well IKEA supports HomeKit. Past my initial purchasing mistake, the app was buggy and convoluted, and the need to pair every single piece of hardware simply failed for me.

In short, everything about this was a nightmare. I guess I should have seen this coming from this from the company that expects the average adult can assemble a bookcase with 731 parts.

[Stephen Hackett is the author of 512 Pixels and co-founder of Relay FM.]

By Jason Snell

April 30, 2019 9:24 AM PT

Apple TV minus?

We are in the midst of a fundamental transition of how people get their television. Linear broadcast and cable are increasingly irrelevant. The future of TV is streamed over the Internet to devices with screens large and small. Everyone knows it. Established players know it, and they’re trying hard to use their position to ensure they’re dominant in the new world, too. Other players see an opportunity to rush in and get a piece of the pie, something previously unimaginable if you didn’t want to buy a television network.

Which brings me to Apple.

I really don’t know what to think about Apple’s place in this transition. Netflix has invested billions of dollars in original content in order to build itself a large catalog and Amazon has been doing the same. Meanwhile, the big players are beginning to roll in, led by Disney’s recent announcement that it’s starting a streaming service featuring original Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar TV series along with its enormous back catalog of content. Warner Media and NBCUniversal will follow. These are enormous companies with massive catalogs of content and decades of history creating TV and movies for large audiences.

And they’re all going to want to compete with Netflix for a monthly slice out of your wallet.

And then there’s Apple… with no back catalog, a handful of new original shows, and a small collection of executives hired from places like Sony Entertainment and the BBC. Disney is providing Disney/Star Wars/Pixar/Marvel vault, plus new stuff, for $6.99/month this fall. How can Apple compete with that at any price?

It can’t, which leads me to believe that Apple is going to have to decide (if it hasn’t already) just how serious it is about being a player in the streaming entertainment world, or if it would rather just be a conduit.

Being a conduit would be the easiest thing, the most comfortable choice for Apple. It could spend money on a small, curated collection of exclusive TV series every year—still new ground for Apple, but the scope they’re currently working at—and combine that with the resale of other streaming services via their TV app. Apple would be, essentially, your cable company—bundling together a bunch of streaming services (but not Netflix or Amazon) into a single interface, with a few originals loaded on top.

But times of change are times of opportunity, and Apple is looking for areas of serious revenue growth. Its wallet is flush with cash. Its investment of a few billion dollars in programming is impressive, but it’s not much more than dipping a toe into the water. For Apple to really compete, it will need scale—and to get scale, it will need content, a lot more content than it can build by buying original shows. By the time it builds a catalog of a decent size, this race will be decided.

So that leaves us to Apple’s other, stranger path: Going all in on entertainment. I’m doubtful that the company will do this, but I think there’s a chance. Apple’s got the money to begin buying traditional entertainment companies and integrating them into its existing entertainment business. Sony Entertainment, Lionsgate, CBS, Viacom—there are still a handful of large entertainment companies out there that aren’t owned by Disney, Comcast, or AT&T. But there aren’t as many as there were a year ago.

It would require an enormous investment and further transform Apple from a tech company to something quite different. I’m not sure if it’s a bridge anyone at Apple would feel is worth crossing. And yet, without a big move like this, I wonder if Apple’s foray into television with Apple TV+ will ever amount to much more than a curiosity.

The table stakes in the streaming-media game are higher than ever, and enormous companies are playing to win. Sure, some niche streaming services will survive, catering to specific audiences, but the shows Apple has announced all seem fairly mainstream, intending to appeal to your average Netflix or HBO household. I don’t think that’s going to get it done, unless Apple is happy settling into a role as a middleman between some of the giant content providers and the audience. (And guess what—many of those giants will refuse to work with a middleman.)

So it comes down to this. That billion-plus investment in TV series is a sunk cost. Apple can shrug and move ahead with its toe-dipping strategy, or it can make some bold moves that come with a lot of upside but also risk transforming Apple’s core culture. Does Apple want to own a movie studio? Does Apple want to own CBS and Paramount and Comedy Central and Adult Swim and Starz? Maybe, maybe not, but if Apple TV+ is going to compete with Disney+ and the others—rather than hoping to find a tiny ecological niche in which to hide—it’s going to need to do more than it’s done so far.

Separately, I’m positive about the future of TV and the future of Apple. But together, I’m not at all sure.