By Jason Snell

April 28, 2016 10:23 AM PT

MyScript Stylus: Handwriting on iPad, with a catch

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

I’ve never liked writing things by hand. My handwriting has always been terrible,and the moment I could switch from writing to typing for school assignments, I did.

But if the joy of putting pen to paper never left you, and you dislike having to type all your thoughts on an iPad software keyboard, you might want to check out the free MyScript Stylus “keyboard” extension for iOS. It replaces the keyboard area with a blank writing area, ready to be used by your finger or a stylus or, better yet, an Apple Pencil.

When you pause in writing (most likely because you’ve reached the end of the line), Stylus slides your writing over to the left, allowing you to continue as if you were dropping down a line on a piece of paper. Eventually your digital ink is transformed into text, but it’s still editable—you can swipe backward with two fingers to see previous words you’ve written and edit or correct them with gestures.

Software keyboards are hardly a panacea. Some people use them effectively, others begrudgingly. It would seem that writing in longhand on an iPad would be a bad productivity move, but for some people it might actually be a more comfortable experience. And I really do believe that writing style can change dramatically when you take it slow.

With all that said, I don’t think I can recommend MyScript Stylus today. That’s mostly because some of its shortcut buttons—including the delete key—are located at the very bottom of the screen, and are too easily triggered by a stray touch of your palm when you’re writing. I started writing this article on my iPad Pro using an Apple Pencil—the things I do for you people!—and twice I lost whole paragraphs when the keyboard seemingly interpreted some stray touch of my hand as a signal to press the delete key hundreds of times. I watched as whole paragraphs, painstakingly handcrafted, vanished from view.

If MyScript can figure out a way to move that stuff out of the way, though, I think this keyboard extension will have some serious appeal for the Apple Pencil crowd.

By Dan Moren

April 27, 2016 6:47 AM PT

Apple’s “first” subscription service paves the way for more

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

As I was typing up the many statements of Tim Cook during yesterday’s quarterly financial call, one in particular–about Apple Music–caught my attention:

Tim: Feel good about success of Apple’s *first* subscription service. (emphasis added)

— Six Colors liveblog (@sixcolorsevent) April 26, 2016

Even at the time it stood out to me–hence the added emphasis. It seemed like an odd thing for the usually cautious Cook to say.

Who’s on first?

Many people responded to say that clearly Apple Music wasn’t the company’s first subscription service. What about iCloud? iTunes Match? Mobile Me? Dot Mac?

True enough, those are all subscription services–but they aren’t really what Cook was talking about. None of those were marquee services designed to be products in and of themselves. Rather they were ancillaries for those who had already bought into the Apple ecosystem. People don’t buy an iPhone or Mac because of iCloud, but if Apple and Cook have their way, people will buy into the ecosystem to get Apple Music.¹

That’s not to say that Apple Music isn’t still about selling some devices, but there’s a reason that one of the major thrusts of this quarter’s call was about services. Apple’s realized that it can’t purely depend on growth in device sales: sometimes device sales weaken; staggering growth doesn’t last forever. Building up a robust services platform keeps recurring revenue coming in even when sales dip.

What’s on second?

But, of course, what I was really focusing on in the quote above is first. First subscription service. Because, to my mind, why say “first” if you don’t have a “second” and a “third” coming down the pipe? (And if you’re going to claim that this was a slip of the tongue, well, I suppose that’s possible, but not very likely given the careful choreography that Cook and Maestri usually practice.)

Rumors have, of course, long suggested that Apple will get into the subscription TV (and possibly movie) business, especially as everybody and their dog has entered the market.[^dogcast] Apple hasn’t quite gotten this locked down yet: negotiations with the major content providers have stalled repeatedly, though all involved seem to believe that an Apple service is inevitable; it just remains to be seen what such a service looks like. Meanwhile, rumors also say that Apple is going to produce its own video content as well, putting it up with the likes of Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix.

I’m pretty confident that an Apple subscription TV service will materialize–and I’m on the record as enthusiastic about the idea if Apple can bring some of its trademark elegance and design to the arena. Though from what we’ve seen of Apple Music, that’s hardly a a foregone conclusion. Or, as our friend and colleague Joe Rosensteel put it:

I don’t want to harsh anyone’s mellow about Cook’s “1st subscription service” remark but if the 2nd is “TV & Movies” they better step it up…

— Joe Rosensteel (@joesteel) April 26, 2016

So can Apple learn from its travails with Apple Music and deliver a quality TV and movie subscription service? Honestly, I don’t know.²

[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 26, 2016 7:18 PM PT

Picking apart Apple’s Q2 2016 numbers

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

So that’s what a bad quarterly result looks like for Apple.

Here are a few ways in which it was not bad:

• It was a bad quarter in which Apple made $10.5 billion in profit. That makes it Apple’s 10th most profitable quarter of all time—it’s just that Apple’s five previous financial quarters were all better. If you ignored Apple’s staggering calendar-year 2015, in which it made $54 billion in profit, it was actually pretty great. The last time Apple made less money in a quarter was only a year and a half ago. Seasonally speaking, it’s Apple’s third most profitable second quarter of all time. Unfortunately, 2015 was more profitable, as was 2012.

• It was a bad quarter in which Apple generated $50.6 billion in revenue, a number that’s been eclipsed in the second quarter only once before… again, last year.

• Apple sold 51.2 million iPhones, a number that would have been record setting as recently as early last year. It’s the most iPhones Apple has ever sold in a quarter—other than three of the previous five quarters.

• Apple’s Services revenue line increased 20 percent over the year-ago quarter, showing the power of Apple’s installed base of a billion devices to generate money for the company outside of hardware sales.

• Bolstered by Apple Music, Apple’s music business reached “an inflection point” after several quarters of shrinking, and the company suggested that they expect music revenue to resume growth in forthcoming quarters.

• Apple Watch sales “met expectations,” Cook said, while scrupulously avoiding any actual sales figures. He did suggest, however, that Apple believes the Apple Watch will be a seasonal product in the vein of the iPod, with a lot of holiday sales.

• Revenue in Japan was up 18 percent versus the year-ago quarter!

• Apple entered the quarter with $233 billion in cash and only $72 billion in long-term debt.

Okay, so there’s the silver lining. Now let’s look at the dark cloud:

• Growth is the most important metric to Wall Street, and Apple didn’t grow this quarter. Revenue was down $7.5 billion versus the year-ago quarter. It’s the first time Apple has gone down in revenue versus a year-ago quarter since… well, my spreadsheet only goes back to 2006. I’m going to guess it was roughly around the time the iPod came out. A long time.

• All of Apple’s product lines shrunk year-over-year. The iPad’s been down in the dumps for a while now, but Mac sales have been down for two consecutive quarters, this quarter by nearly 12 percent. And the iPhone’s growth, which stalled last quarter, went into reverse for the first time ever, with sales down 16 percent over last year’s second quarter.

• I almost put this under “not bad,” but I can’t bring myself to do it. iPad sales only fell 19 percent over the year-ago quarter, perhaps giving some sign that while it hasn’t necessarily reached rock bottom, it perhaps can see the bottom from where it is now. During his phone call with analysts Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested that “in the June quarter we expect to see our best iPad revenue compare in over two years,” which is worth analyzing despite the horrifying use of compare as a noun. (Is “comparison” too highfalutin?) Cook also said, “We expect seasonal sequential declines in… iPad sales.” Hmm. In the third quarter of 2014, iPad revenue only declined 8 percent, the best it’s done in ages. So I suspect Cook is really saying that iPad revenue will be down by single digits for the first time in two years. That’s still not quite hitting bottom, but it beats the yawning abyss.

• Next quarter’s not going to be better. Apple is predicting revenue between $41 billion and $43 billion, which will be another decrease from the $50 billion in sales during the third fiscal quarter of 2015. That’s not surprising given the fact that the third quarter has been 17 percent smaller than the second quarter, on average, over the past three years.

• Citing the current economic environment, Apple’s reducing inventory—iPhones in particular—worth about $2 billion. I assume this will mean making fewer high-end iPhones and possibly doing more promotional pricing in order to sell what they’ve got. As a result, Apple suggests that the average selling price of the iPhone will drop next quarter, thanks to the inventory reduction and the introduction of the iPhone SE, which is the cheapest iPhone on the market.

So in other words, if you like profits and strong sales, Apple has that. They’re not what they were last year—and that’s not a great sign for Wall Street. But don’t let someone tell you that Apple’s in trouble, or that it lost money, or that iPhone sales are cratering, because none of that is true. What is true is that after many years of growth, some of it staggeringly inflationary growth, Apple didn’t grow this quarter. If you’re an investor, that may be quite painful. If you’re a user of Apple’s products, it probably won’t affect you much at all.

One final little silver lining: If you pretend 2015 didn’t happen at all, this quarterly result looks entirely boring. During the call with analysts, Apple executives pointed out that the iPhone 6S upgrade cycle is actually a little bit better than the one for the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 6, however, was a spectacularly huge upgrade cycle. Perhaps Apple finally embracing a larger phone drove a massive amount of sales all at once? Regardless, if I delete 2015 from my spreadsheets and look at the numbers, nothing crashes to earth—it just shows the continued cooling off of the iPhone’s previously rapid growth.

Which is not to excuse this quarter—2015 happened, the iPhone 6 happened—but to recall that it’s going to be very difficult, all year, for Apple to compare its 2016 business to 2015. The silver lining is that, come 2017, Apple won’t be comparing its business to 2015—but to this year. And at that point, 2015 may be seen more as a remarkable aberration than a portent of future explosive growth to come.

By Jason Snell

April 26, 2016 1:50 PM PT

Last updated August 16, 2023

Apple Q2 2016 results: Going down!

Note: This story has not been updated since 2023.

It was a tough quarter for Apple, at least as tough as a quarter can be for a company that made $10.5 billion in profit on $50.6 billion in revenue.

Sales were down year-over-year across product categories and in many regions, including the previously high-growth region of Greater China. iPhone sales sagged year-over-year for the first time. Three months ago, Apple warned that it was going to be a tough quarter, and they weren’t kidding.

We’ll have more, and coverage of the conference call with analysts, in a while. Meanwhile, have some charts!

Continue reading “Apple Q2 2016 results: Going down!”…

By Jason Snell

April 26, 2016 12:37 PM PT

Dropbox solves the Terabyte Conundrum with Project Infinite

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Back in 2014, I wrote about the strange fact that my Dropbox storage allocation is bigger than my hard drive, making it impossible for me to sync the entire contents of my Dropbox with my computer¹.

On Tuesday at an event in London, Dropbox previewed a new feature it calls Project Infinite, which aims to solve a familiar problem:

The amount of information being created and shared has exploded, but most people still work on devices with limited storage capacity. While teams can store terabyte upon terabyte in the cloud, most individuals’ laptops can only store a small fraction of that. Getting secure access to all the team’s data usually means jumping over to a web browser, a clunky user experience at best.

Yep.

With this new feature, Dropbox users on Mac or Windows will be able to double-click on a file that’s not stored locally, and it will be downloaded and opened in place. You’ll be able to browse an entire Dropbox storage area without having it all stored locally, right in the Finder, and even control-click on files and folders to force them to be stored locally for offline access. Files that are stored locally have a green checkbox badge, while files that are in the cloud have a little cloud badge.

This is good. I want this feature.

It’s unclear about who will get this feature, and when—it’s “already deployed with a select number of sponsor customers,” whatever that means. Its introduction at a Dropbox Business conference and in the Dropbox Business blog makes you wonder if this is even intended as a feature for non-Enterprise Dropbox users. But it seems far too useful to be limited to just the biggest-ticket Dropbox customers—it’s a feature that improves Dropbox’s core product. It needs to be everywhere.

For more, check out Dropbox’s video on the subject, which features a funny throwback to old-school attitudes about the Mac: “Ah, but graphic design. They’re still on—they always use OS X. It works on OS X, too.” Now that’s a narrator who is committed to the old narrative that it’s just designers who are “still on” the Mac and haven’t yet seen the light and converted to Windows… Sigh.

By Jason Snell

April 26, 2016 10:04 AM PT

It’s Apple Earnings day!

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Apple will announce its corporate earnings for the most recent fiscal quarter at about 1:30 Pacific today, followed by a conference call with analysts at 2 p.m.

We’ll be generating charts, covering the call, and providing instant analysis. Follow @sixcolorsevent on Twitter for a blow-by-blow.

By Jason Snell

April 26, 2016 9:24 AM PT

Low-cost USB audio interfaces review

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

If you’re podcasting or recording voiceovers for video, you need a good microphone. Fortunately, there are good options to be found even if you’re on a tight budget. Unfortunately, there are so many options that it can be dizzying. I reviewed five low-cost USB audio interfaces in a search to find the best of the many options.

The USB/XLR choice

For most podcasters on a budget, the right microphone is almost certainly a USB microphone. They’re easy to use and convenient—just plug it in to your computer and start recording.

I’ve recommended the Blue Microphones Yeti for years after using one myself for several years, and it’s still a great balance of quality and price.

But as Marco Arment points out in his microphone mega-review, there are a lot of other good options. Right now the Audio-Technica ATR-2100-USB (sold in Europe as the Samson Q2U) seems to be the best buy; for a lot less money than the Yeti, you can get a USB microphone that doubles as an XLR microphone for more complex set-ups, with a built-in headphone jack. If you’re usually recording in an echoey room, this noise-killing dynamic microphone is a great choice.

However, there are reasons to choose XLR microphones over USB models. XLR microphones, differentiated by the large three-pinned XLR connector that’s been in use for ages and has plugged into many an analog sound board, come in many shapes and sizes, including some remarkably good-sounding microphones that are available for astonishingly low prices.

Unfortunately, XLR microphones won’t work with a computer or other audio recorder unless you can connect them to an interface that, in turn, connects to your computer via USB. If you’re planning on recording more than one microphone at a time, XLR interfaces are also handy, because you can connect many microphones to an interface box and then record it all on your computer.

They’re also flexible; I can connect my XLR microphones to anyone’s interface box or mixer, and on more than one occasion I’ve been a microphone short and been able to borrow one from a friend. I also own a Zoom H6 recorder
that allows me to connect up to six microphones via XLR cables in a portable setting.

There are a lot of uses, but also a lot of parts—but if you take the XLR plunge, you’ll need not only the microphone, but the interface and (of course) XLR cables to connect them all.

Continue reading “Low-cost USB audio interfaces review”…

By Dan Moren

April 25, 2016 8:50 AM PT

New watch apps must be native as of June 1

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Speaking of the Apple Watch as it enters its second year, a developer note from Apple posted on Friday says that all new watchOS apps must be native, as of June 1. That means no more apps that essentially run on the iPhone while displaying on the Watch. In theory, that should mean faster apps, though even native apps aren’t particularly fast on the Apple Watch.

Native apps were introduced in watchOS 2—prior to that, all third-party apps used the iPhone to the heavy lifting. This certainly lends credence to the theory that the Apple Watch is slated to get more independence from the iPhone, especially with the change coming less than two weeks before this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

But it’s going to take more than a shift to native apps to make the Apple Watch more compelling as a platform for apps; personally, I can count the number of programs I use regularly on my Watch on probably one or two fingers. Until Watch apps are faster than pulling out my iPhone and getting the same information there, they’re mostly a non-starter; but perhaps if rumors of cellular networking are true, Apple is banking on people leaving the house with just their Watch. Of course, then you run into questions of speed and battery life. In short: there are a lot of problems Apple needs to solve for the Watch going into its second year, and requiring native apps are just the tip of the iceberg.

[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 25, 2016 8:43 AM PT

Microsoft’s Word Flow keyboard arrives on iPhone

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

I have not had a lot of luck with third-party iOS keyboards. But I’m intrigued by the new Microsoft Garage release Word Flow, a third-party keyboard with smart predictions and some cute personalization features.

I’m particularly intrigued by Arc, a one-handed typing feature that brings all the keys within thumb’s reach when you’re only able to type with one hand while holding your iPhone. This might especially be a nice feature for Plus users.

The app is free to try, and if you’re looking for an improved typing experience, it seems like it’s worth it. Unfortunately, all third-party keyboards are somewhat hobbled on iOS because some features—like access to system shortcuts, dictation, and 3D Touch cursor movement—are limited to Apple’s default keyboard.

By Dan Moren

April 22, 2016 8:12 AM PT

Siri tells you all about Liam

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Apple’s virtual assistant, meet Apple’s iPhone-deconstructing robot. At last month’s press event, Apple showed us video of Liam, the robot specifically designed to strip down old iPhones and render them into their component parts, all to make it easier to recycle them.

Want to know a little bit more about Liam? Good news: as with its inside knowledge about the upcoming dates of WWDC, Apple’s virtual assistant Siri seems to have some…opinions about Liam and its mission in life. Stephen Hackett tipped me off to this, and sent me a screenshot of Siri’s response (left), though I got a different one when I asked (right). Both link to Apple’s recycling page for more information.

My biggest worry, personally, is that Siri and Liam will decide to team up and won’t stick to just deconstructing iPhones. Remember, folks: it ain’t safe unless it’s Three Laws Safe.

[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.]