Well, I’m giving Safari Technology Preview release 126 a try while working on a post I’ll be putting out on Monday regarding the Windows 11 launch and how Microsoft’s vision compares to what Apple put out there on WWDC 2021 – let’s put this way, WWDC 21 was a let down when compared to the optimistic forward looking vision that Microsoft put there. I am a simple man and don’t expect much – if Apple came out and made Safari implemented Webextensions API fully so it is compatible with Firefox and implement HTML5 consistently with the rest of the features being under the hood changes and fixes then I’d still be a happy man but alas here we are.
With all that has happened I find it refreshing that Google is taking a step back when it comes to FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) where although ‘The Verge’ (link) claimed it was due to regulatory pressure, I think it had more to do with the backlash from third parties such as browser vendors and website developers along with consumer advocacy groups. At the end of the day for the industry to move off third parties it’ll require that all the big players are on the same page so I’m not surprised that they’ve pushed it back to 2022-2023. Firefox developers have been productive in terms of going beyond just “it’s a bad idea” and laid out some of the issues that exist with the idea (link) which gives the impression that if those short comings were addressed then there is potential for Firefox to also adopt it as well.
Chilling out at home on my day off updating my computers etc. and I notice that Ad Guard had released 1.9.19, I don’t know what they’ve done behind the scenes but the quality of the ad blocking has improved immensely. I’m looking forward to Safari 15 and improvements that are made not only in terms of performance, stability, security and optimisation but also compliance with open standards. At the moment the latest Safari Technology Preview is only available for macOS 12.0 which is currently in beta testing but from the screenshots I’ve seen, I’m happy with the changes. The UI changes with Safari 15 have been pretty controversial but this will be a situation of a lot of noise made by a small number of technology commentators on YouTube, Facebook/Instagram and Twitter when in reality most people will probably find that the improvement is well worth it particular with those who have small screen laptops where the efficient use of space will allow greater enjoyment of being able to view more of the content.
The big feature I am really excited about is the custom domain hosting for Cloud Plus (link):
Which is the feature that has been absent which keeps pulling me back to Google Workspace (and in turn dragging me back into the Android ecosystem due to Android providing the best possible experience due to its tight integration with Google services). The other benefit has been the “Improved Safari Web Extensions. Try out the support for declarativeNetRequest, which expanded to 150K content blocking rules and non-persistent background pages for improved performance.” which will help those who have extensions that haven’t adopted a separate extension for each filter category (like what Ad Guard has done to get around the 50K limit that existed back when Safari 9 was launched.
One thing to keep in mind that Apple does on occasion holding features back for their September iPhone launch which may double up as a Mac product launch as well, there is also a possibility that there are more details regarding the new iCloud features. The reason I say that is because the WWDC is primarily focused on developers so anything announced there is primarily going to be focused on features that will impact developers so it is possible that feature or features are held back given that they don’t pose an issue with developers in regards to compatibility or any other consideration.
Windows 11 autopsy is still continuing as various YouTube commentators are going it the once over and trying to be optimistic that maybe what they saw was an inside incomplete version or that Microsoft are going to show off a more bleeding edge built or maybe even talk about the fact that the focus of Windows 11 going forward will be to focus on delivering UI consistency which will not be delivered when Windows 11 but an on going focus that will extend beyond the launch of the stable version.
I want to be optimistic about Windows 11 because when Microsoft has its act together it provides competition to Apple to lift their game which in turn forces Microsoft to lift their own game but the question is whether Microsoft can see it through. I say that because Microsoft has proven, with their Surface and Xbox range, that when they are focused they can deliver great products but in the case of the PC world it is undermined by almost a ‘if it compiles ship it’ where little to no focus is on the fit and finish other than whether it is functional rather than whether the product is enjoyable to use and compels the customer to not only invest in the ecosystem but remain for the long term.
That being said, the future of many businesses is about the cloud – the platform is becoming less relevant when it comes to growth so even if Apple gains a sizeable chunk of the computer market, Microsoft is still very much the ‘top dog’ when it comes to productivity in government and enterprise organisations so for Microsoft – if you’re using their cloud services such as Office 365, Azure, their developer tools, languages etc. then they’re not too fussed whether you’re using Windows in the long run (IMHO Microsoft would be better off rebranding ChromeOS to EdgeOS in much the same way that Microsoft embraced Chromium so then they would have a platform that could compete head to head with Google – then build a Microsoft App Store that builds on their existing store then Microsoft would benefit from the mindshare without having to make a huge investment).
Not going back to work tomorrow – unfortunately I did the dumb thing of eating some corn chowder thinking it was ok but, um, how do I put it, I was hugging the porcelain throne later that night which was not enjoyable. In future, when it doubt chuck it out even if on the pack it says that it is well within the expiry date. I think in future I’m going to play it safe an stick to tomato and pumpkin soups – they’re a known quantity and I’ve never gotten sick from eating either of them.
Leaks of Windows 11 are making the round before the big announcement on 24 June (25 June NZ Time):
1) The Verge (link) 2) Windows Central (link) (link) 3) Arstechnica (link) 4) XDA Developers (link)
They’re some of the high profile sites that have been reporting on it. The one thing to keep in mind that this might possibly be an older build or a build where features have been disabled so it is important not to get too dead set on the idea that this is the final appear or get sucked into the nonsense that this is the final product. What I think is a pretty good indication that this is ‘work in progress’ has been the fact that users won’t be forced to upgrade to Windows 11 – Microsoft will continue to provide updates to Windows 10 and when people feel comfortable they can switch over.
The part that I think gets lost in the discussion is how Windows 11 fits in when one considers the Windows 10X cancellation and how the new UI appears to be the porting of Windows 10X UI changes over to Windows 11. For those wanting a background to Windows 10X – Windows 10X was designed to be a cut down legacy free version of Windows 10X for low cost devices and then Win32 support was to be added back (and expanded to more devices) in by using a transparent container/virtualisation technology which would keep win32 applications self contained and keep the operating system squeaky clean.
I can’t help but get a feeling that although Microsoft saisd they cancelled it, I thinkt he biggest factor was OEM feedback and given how some of them were stung in the past with Windows RT I think there wasn’t the appetite for dealing with all that is involved with providing support for a new operating system not to mention customers ringing up, after buying such a device, complaining that their win32 application isn’t working. For me, Windows 11 is an evolution of the Windows 10X project – the big question is whether they’re going to be doing something with win32 applications so that they’re segregated from the system, whether we’re going to see the UI developed further – keeping the underlying code that works but replacing UI components.
I am hoping that a lot of this changes will occur as we see Project Reunion make their way into Windows (along with all the frameworks that make up ‘Project Reunion’ (link)) with it forming the basis of Windows 11 going forward where parts are pulled out and replaced with parts based on ‘Project Reunion’ and ‘Project Reunion’ expanding gradually to include more frameworks so eventually there is something as comprehensive as win32 on offer along with the great work also being done on .NET with the word done on being able to use WinUI as well.
Although I sound a lot more excited about the Windows 11 news, it is primarily because Microsoft has so much more than needs to be done to their platform than in the case of Apple. For me, if Apple bought Safari up to the HTML5 compliance equal to that of Chrome, implemented the Webextensions api in Safari so that it was compatible with Firefox’s implementation along with custom domain hosting (which is being launched with iCloud Plus) then I would be a very happy lad. In the case of Windows 11 – it is a lot of catch up and although the progress is exciting lets also remember Microsoft’s propensity to lose interest in something then leave it in a half completed state (see prior version of Windows introducing a new UI design language but Microsoft spending zero effort to bring all the applications and operating systems they ship with Windows to bring it up to date to use the new design language).
Another great video by Rene Richie regarding the rage whining by techno elite reviewers on YouTube regarding the iPads 15.0 about how it isn’t making the iPad more like a ‘normal laptop’ with all the power and flexibility that macOS has.
The whole rage and whine parade from the techno elite is funny because for such self described technically inclined people they’re unable to grasp the basic concept of the audience the iPad is catering for, which is, those who want a device that is like an appliance – turn it on, watch some videos, surf the net, send a few emails and then turn it off. The self appointed techno elite on YouTube have convinced themselves that what the world needs is a laptop running macOS that has a touch screen – all the telemetry data from Microsoft shows that end users barely use their touch screen long term beyond the honeymoon phase of having a new device. Ever wonder why the big focus of touch screens by Microsoft is all about the use of the pen on the screen so that it is a giant tablet? because that is where the usefulness exists which could be done quite easily (if Apple wanted) by modifying the touch pad to be able to use an Apple Pencil on which would give users all the same benefits of a touch screen but without needing to butcher the whole operating system to make it compatible.
This is yet another example of techno elite on YouTube believing they speak for the average person in much the same way that they got all hyped up about excited about ‘small phones’ – always whining about how the phones these days are too big and there needs to be a smaller mini version. The net result? it was a total sales flop (link), ordinary people want screen sizes that doesn’t require that they squint really hard just to seen the finer details on a small screen. For many, their phone is their computer and no one in their right mind is going to spend hours squinting at a barely readable screen all for the sake of ‘oooh, it’s so small and cute’ which the techno elite seem to be enamoured with.
This is what happens when people confuse the reverberations off the wall as the voices of people also interested in said product when in reality it is just their own voice that they’re hearing as an echo. There are far too many echo chambers online that lack the self awareness to differentiate between what they want as a techno elite on YouTube vs. what the average person wants. There was the same issue with ‘Red Peak’ (flag design during the referendum on a new flag for New Zealand) and ‘TOP’ (The Opportunities Party – during the election back in 2017) where the self appointed techno elite on the New Zealand subreddit convinced themselves that ‘Red Peak’ was more popular that it really was and that because all their friends were supporting TOP it must mean that its of New Zealanders were supporting them as well (which they didn’t – 2.44% of the party vote). All they ended up doing is syphoning off votes from the Green Party resulting in Labour having to form a coalition government with NZ First where as had those votes gone to Greens it would have been a Labour-Greens government and a light rail to the airport but alas here we are 4 years later and still no light rail.
This is what happens when people believe that what happens on the internet reflects the real world. Anyone remember the election in 2020 in the United States and all the noise that KHIVE made on Twitter? funny how that never translated into the real world because noise on twitter doesn’t reflect the real world – in the real world people have lives to live, bills to pay, jobs to go to, kids to take care of, no one cares about online drama apart from a minority of a minority of a minority that confuse noise for crowd size.
Getting back to the original discussion, the benefit of Apple keeping the iPad the simple easy to use device is that it allows the Mac to shine – it doesn’t have to dumb things down, Apple can focus the Mac for the power users who want maximum flexibility and performance where as the iPad is for someone who wants a device that is like an appliance. By Apple not having to worry about trying to be everything to everyone they can gear the iPad for one section of the market and the Mac for a different section of the market thus not requiring the sort of compromise that Microsoft gets stuck in when trying to be everything to everyone but no one ends up being happy in the end.
Watching some of the session videos from Wednesday – Apple has added support for the declarativeNetRequest being called by Webextensions API which provides very rudimentary content blocking but I doubt it is sufficiently flexible enough to bring over the heavy hitters such as uBlock Origin (which has a sizeable following) – Google also seem to be hell bent on undermining its user base with the development of Manifest v3 resulting in a crippled web extensions development which will limit the ability for many extensions to work properly. But with that being said there are still good things making their way into Safari 15 (link) particularly when it comes to WebAssembly, WebM support for Opus (for some reason if you play back a video on tvOS via the YouTube app that the video is streaming in vp9 and opus but on my Mac it streams it in vp9 and m4a.
As for the release date, given that Apple has their annual iPhone refresh in around September the release date of iOS 15 will probably a week later (it’ll be GM before the event) but as for macOS 12, that depends on how the development cycle goes but based on past experiences it could be anywhere from September all the way through to November (Big Sur was released 12 November 2020). With that being said last year was COVID-19 year, it was the first time doing things remotely so the late delivery might have been a once off and given the fact that there aren’t huge user visible changes (this feels more like a Snow Leopard release of refining) it could be possible that we’ll see a September-October release but this is speculation based on past years – we’re still dealing with COVID-19 so anything is possible.
I think I’ve now sorted out the issue I had with the iCloud Mail (which funny enough wasn’t impacting my ability to send emails from my iPhone) – it appears that there is an issue with the keychain stored on my computer so what I did is I signed out of iCloud on both my iMac and MacBook Pro, deleted the local keychains (including invisible ones, rebooted into recovery and cleaned off all the temporary files and cache files etc. then rebooted back to the main desktop. It appears that everything is working for now and the old xtra.co.nz smtp settings are no longer saved in the cloud which is a big improvement.
I’ve emailed off to my local MP and the minister for transportation regarding the recent licence changes (well, they date back to the prior government) which will mean that if you have a learners or a restricted drivers or motorcycle licence then you’ll be required to advance to a full licence or the next level of the licence up from the one you’re on now. So rather than yelling into the wilderness I voiced my opinion – will it get heard? not too sure but I’ve got nothing to lose my making my opinion heard on the matter. What I suggested was the following:
If you are taking onboard suggestions then may I suggest that you introduce a new licence class – a moped licence which has a engine limit of 50cc and can be obtained by attending a weekend class of basic scooter handling. It would provide many people, who are only interested in a scooter, in having a licence that can be kept long term while ensuring that those who obtain it have the basic skills required to drive a scooter.
For me, I ride everywhere on my 50cc scooter and if I need to travel longer than say 100km then I’ll get a bus, train or a aeroplane. Governance and regulation isn’t just about ‘ruling’ but it is about balancing the carrot and stick approach – to provide people with avenues to be able to acquire the skills required to use private transportation while also ensuring that the balance between the transportation device vs. the amount of training require is balanced up. Hopefully it’ll be taken onboard but if it isn’t then at least I can say that I tried.
Anyway, for dinner I’m going to have some fish, wedges and a ginger beer – I ordered it on Delivery Easy since they do a pretty good job when treat local businesses well when compared to some of the big players out there.
Well, the first day of WWDC 2021 was interesting (in terms of the absence of major user visible features) – watching both the keynote and platform state of the union was a lot more subdued than when compared to last year but I think that has less to do with ‘we’re doing less with the platforms’ and more to do with much of what they’re working on aren’t exactly things that’ll get you show off on stage or get excited about (although I did love the Cloud+ Service which will offer customer domain support).
The best way to find out the under the hood changes is to check out the developer documentation and seeing the difference between Xcode 12.5 and Xcode 13.0 beta (link). There are a lot of ‘under the hood changes’ particularly in the area of frameworks to replace the kernel mode drivers, a big focus on concurrency because of large multi-core SoC’s becoming the norm not to mention the big push around Swift and SwiftUI. As I’ve speculated in the past, I can’t help but get the feeling that long term what Apple went to do is have SwiftUI as a replacement for AppKit, UIKit and Catalyst which probably explains why they put so much focus on it over the last few years (beyond just wanting to get developers interested in it).
For me the biggest thing that captured my attention was iCloud+, custom domain email addresses and iCloud private relay. It appears that Apple is finally making some big investments into their cloud service – moving it beyond just the basic of email, calendaring, notes etc. to also include services that average users and power users also want. For me the custom domain email will enable me to utilise the domain that I have but I’ve avoided using for custom email hosting due to the integration between the Apple ecosystem and the Google Workspace being pretty average.
Apple has released updates for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and tvOS – there are a tonne of security updates included with it particularly when it comes to the Webkit framework (link) as well as the firmware on my iMac and MacBook Pro both being updated to 429.100.7.0.0 – the firmware includes microcode updates for bugs found in the CPU and can be worked around via a microcode update (it gets loaded onto memory before the operating system starts). There are also a sizeable number of updates for drivers, kernel, imageIO and numerous other parts. Apple is already testing macOS 11.5 (along with iPadOS/iOS 15.7, watchOS 7.6, tvOS 15.7) – I just hope that by the time WWDC arrives that we’ll be seeing a renewed commitment to the Webextensions API by fully developing it beyond the bare essentials to at least make it compatible with Firefox – uBlock Origin coming back to Safari would be a godsend.
There are rumours that with WWDC this year Apple maybe launching a MacBook Pro refresh. When I heard the rumour I was sceptical since WWDC tends to be a software focused event with hardware being introduced as primarily focused on developers – the trash can Mac Pro was shown off as if to say, “yeah, we can innovate’ given there had been a 7 year gap since it was last updated. Another example would be the introduction of the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule to give an insight into the direction Apple is seeing the industry is heading in – giving a hint to developers ‘be prepared for a change in how users consume your products’. That being said, it could be possible for a MacBook Pro and Mac mini refresh as to launch a chip that supports ARMv9 and wanting to get developers ready to take advantage of SVE2 when it becomes widely available in the Apple Silicon SoC’s when they start shipping.
This week Microsoft is having their Build 2021 conference with many promises of improvements coming to Windows 10 but nothing has been shown off at the conference which leads me to wonder whether we’ll be seeing a conference towards the end of the year dedicated to the changes in store for Windows 10. For me, who has been let down all to often, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the exaggerated improvements being promised having heard promises in the past but never delivered. If Google has “products that they keep killing off” then I think Microsoft has their own shtick with amounts to “start a product then get bored half way through only to give up and move onto something else” – the most recent example of that was Windows 10X which has since been mothballed – any opportunity to give Windows a much needed spring clean is undermined by a lack of leadership with some testicular fortitude from within Microsoft.
ARM has announced its ARMv9 microarchitecture (link) which builds on the earlier release of their ARMv9 ISA (which is the part that Apple licences since Apple has their own in-house microarchitecture). The interesting part is how this all fits into next year’s Samsung product release which will use AMD GPU as part of the Exynos SoC which will also hopefully make use of the new ARMv9 microarchitecture – there are also rumours of Microsoft working with Samsung on affordable Exynos based laptops and other devices as well. I think long term both AMD and Intel are in for competition coming from unlikely sources particularly if the cloud based future puts the focus by consumers on energy efficiency with all day battery life at the front and centre of which device to buy vs. which laptop or desktop is the super duper fastest computer on the planet.
I’m looking forward to seeing the the ARMv9 based Apple M series emerge – that’ll be the time I’ll decide to upgrade my MacBook Pro and iMac – I’ll upgrade my wifi access point to Wifi 6 because by that time all the equipment in the house will be Wifi 6 compatible (upgrading before then doesn’t make much sense plus upgrading later means one gets to benefit from a more mature technology).
Google had their big I/O conference today (link) – a lot of the details have been getting leaked over the last few weeks but there wasn’t much announced but this may change once there is the Wear developer session is made available. The information that was announced was pretty much an acknowledgement that Samsung’s attempt to ‘go it alone’ has yielded next to no third party support (same can be said for Fitbit) so it makes sense that we’re seeing a merging of the best features so that rather than having three weak platforms trying to take on watchOS, there is one strong platform that does the job. From what I can ascertain from presentation is that Wear has been given an overhaul in terms of optimisation to work more efficiently work on low end SoCs, there will be features that Samsung has built on Tizen that’ll be adopted and I’d say that Fitbit will eventually become an app that runs on the phone alongside other apps – I wouldn’t be surprised if in the long term we end up seeing Wear being adopted by Fitbit (which was announced at the keynote) – there is the potential to offer paid for services for Fitbit customers.
When it comes to Android 12 – the new UI is very much inspired by the OneUI from Samsung, I think Google is quickly realising that they’ll never match the reach that Samsung has around the world so it is best that they work with the largest Android vendor – particularly when you look at the work being done with Wear. What I thought was rather interesting was the interview with the platform lead (in ‘The Verge’ video – first link in the first paragraph) was the question raised regarding privacy and whether Google would adopt what Apple has adopted in their own platform. The interviewee was tight lipped although he did cover the work being done on Chrome, FLoC along with technology but what was telling is there being a split between what the platform group would like to do (my impression is that they would like to adopt the stance Apple took) vs. the rest of the organisation whose business model is in part dependent upon ad revenue to pay for the services they deliver free. What will be interesting is seeing what happens when it comes to the proposed privacy laws (link) (link) which will ultimately force the hand of Google and others to change their business model.
For me, everything came unstuck the moment when people started demanding things for free or incredibly low cost without first asking ‘at what cost’. We have a decline of traditional print media and a reluctance for people willing to pay for content – just because it is on the internet and the product is virtual doesn’t magically make it free to deliver, there are real people working behind the scenes researching and working contacts to get information, and all of that costs money. Sure, YouTube provides a platform to provide commentary but that talking-head’s information has to be sourced from somewhere and more often than not it is sourced from traditional print media. So what happens? the quality of the media drops as clickbait heads get the eyes then the clicks to then fund the business and down the spiral it goes.
When it comes to the likes of social media, an over dependence on advertising results in the sort of out of control data mining – you get the data to create the profiles to then allow higher prices of advertising because you promise to deliver pin point accuracy of those interested in ones product. A social networking product that might have gotten away with zero ads and a privacy respecting policy if users were happy to pay US$12.99 per month insteads goes down alleyways that even their own employees have ethical questions about. Again, this is the high price of wanting something for free. Don’t get me wrong, it makes sense to maybe have a freemium version where you get a limited version with ad support but the focus should be always moving those users to full paying members rather than promising them more while trying to make out that it doesn’t come at a cost of their privacy or at the cost of social cohesion within countries that have been negatively. impacted by the impact of social media.
How does this relate to privacy? if the outrage expressed by some is genuine then there needs to be a willingness to start demanding ad free privacy respecting services and buy them combined with demanding strong privacy protection legislation – possibly creating regulatory compacts (such as what I suggested on my twitter feed a while ago) given that Facebook has ignored New Zealand’s privacy commission because there are no consequences given the lack of leverage New Zealand has over Facebook. One option is maybe proposing a compact with the European Union to piggy back on the existing GDPR laws (I’m sure other smaller countries would be happy to join up) which would strengthen the EU regulatory muscle because of the larger market it would regulate “so you’re going to pull out of a market this large with this many consumers?” is the question posed to such organisations – 9/10 they’ll suck it up, stay and follow the rules.
Such a change in thinking would also hopefully result in a revival of quality journalism – if you’re tired of clickbait headlines and opinion pieces swamping newspapers online then make it worth their while to produce quality journalism by supporting those that do – either through a subscription or support via Patreon. The move to advertisement supported content and services creates the very sort of unhealthy culture that not only results in data mining but it also encourages making people consume more and more through amplifying content that has a negative impact not only on the end user but wider society, creates a pipe line to more and more extreme content, along with manipulation through algorithms and use of reward/punishment that excite the brain to keep consuming more.
The question is whether the general public is willing to break that cycle. Social media isn’t bad as a concept, what is bad is how it is funded, how the business model is sustained which lends itself to amplifying the worst in human nature. These platforms are tools and they have to generate income to keep the lights on – let’s hope that like like the emergence of music subscriptions, movie subscriptions and software subscriptions (to name a few) that it is a matter of people getting used to it rather than a resistance to paying for things.
Apple has released the release candidate builds of the next updates to macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, homeOS and tvOS – it’ll be interesting to see what changes have been made beyond the publicly announced ones. The reason I say that is Apple tends to focus on the visible changes where as there are lots of changes under the hood that eventually make their way to the surface as people use it – Safari for example receives regular updates. The last update to macOS 11.3 included a fair number of updates to Safari which bumped the version number from 14.0.x to 14.1 (link).
Google I/O will be kicking off but the rumour mill is already at top speed with rumours of a new version fo Wear (formally known as Wear OS which was formally known as Android Wear), combine that with Samsung working with Google on Google Fuchsia and the rumour that Samsung will come back to the Wear platform with the next watch refresh – I’ll add to the speculation. My guess is that Google Fuchsia is going to be the eventual replacement for the current Linux core with the first device receiving it being wearOS which will use the Android framework sitting upon the Google Fuchsia core. Long term I think we’re going to see Google replace bionic (the code name for the libc that Google uses in Android) with the LLVM Libc that they’re working on (the LLVM libc++ is already used in Android). The benefit of having a microkernel is the ability to allow handset to rely on a stable set of interfaces meaning they can push out updates for Android faster and because the drivers sit in user space they can pushed out through the PlayStore in a piecemeal fashion rather than big updates once a month (which involve risk due to the nature of pushing out big updates all at once rather than a piece by piece approach).
When it comes to Android on the phone, the move away from the Linux kernel will take longer due to it’s wider deployment and greater diversity in SoCs (when compared to wearables which has a limited number of SoCs being used) so you’ll still see vendors shipping Android on the Linux kernel but my guess given how close Google and Samsung working I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing it ship on Pixel and Samsung phones first before anyone else (rumour has it that the Whitechapel SoC will appear in the next Pixel – Google have been working with Samsung on it). It’ll be interesting to see long term whether Samsung Pay has a future or whether we’ll eventually see Samsung Pay merge with Google Pay so it has the same depth and breadth of reach that Apple pay has.
Getting back to the Samsung watch adopting Google Wear, it appears that it’ll also include the adoption of the OneUI sitting on top (link) which makes me wonder whether we’ll eventually see the same when it comes to the built in OS for televisions, moving over to Android TV with a uniquely OneUI look and feel while giving Samsung customers access to a larger array of applications via the play store. I think Samsung is quickly realising the burden of trying to go your own way – nothing gained when it came to delivering a better experience for end users and very little gained when it comes to ‘being less dependent on Google’.
Damn it has been ages since I last updated my blog lol A dents amount of stuff has occurred since I last updated – Apple has released macOS 11.3.1, iOS 14.5.1 (plus others) to fix up a pretty serious security hole found in the webkit rendering engine. To be honest, I have a lot hate relationship with Webkit and although I praise its strengths I cannot help but get the feeling that apple is deliberately holding back development as to ensure that web based applications don’t become a viable threat to their App Store revenue model. I remember when the App Store was first launch, the idea of revenue sharing was to keep the lights on but it was never way to generate profits but it appears that the current Apple executive team, rather than seeing the App Store as a means to an end, are now viewing it as venue generating opportunity which is influencing the priorities when it comes to the allocation of resources to any given project.
I thought I was going crazy thinking this but it appears that zI am not alone (link) and many others in the discussion who are programmers for the iOS platform are also seeing the patter as well (link).As the article outlines, although improvement are coming (the update with macOS 11.3 made some big improvements – bringing Skype Web support) it still lags behind Chrome/Edge in some areas by months. I really do wish that Apple would go out and hire another 50 programmers to work on Webkit – to fully implement Webextensions API so that there is at least parity with Firefox so then popular extensions like uBlock Origin can be used. If Safari can get to parity in both implementation and correctness of the various open standards I would be a happy lad.
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