Study: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps. vs. Waze →

Artur and his wife spent most of 2017 testing the top three navigation apps to answer three questions:

Which navigation app estimates the shortest travel time?
How does each app over/underestimate travel times?
Which navigation app actually gets you to your destination most quickly?

After 120 trips that required the two leaving the same origin to get to the same destination, his numbers came to the final conclusion:

If you want to get to your destination most quickly, use Google Maps.

If you want an accurate prediction from your navigation app to help you arrive at your destination on time, use Apple Maps.

If thinking you’ll get to your destination quickly helps to ease your commuter anxiety, use Waze.

Tech Strategy

What is the Future of Mac Apps? →

The rumor of Apple converging iOS and macOS is starting to make a whole lot of sense.

Whopper Neutrality →

A simple yet brilliant way of explaining Net Neutrality

Industry Trends Tech Ideas

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but so far this is the best explainer video I've seen.

Smartphones

Apple Slowing Down Old iPhones →

Brian X. Chen of NYT:

What Apple is acknowledging is a power management technique in which the iPhone scales back processing power to keep the device running for longer when its battery health is low. Lithium ion batteries have a limited number of charge “cycles” before they can no longer be recharged properly. Apple’s website says the battery loses about 20 percent of its original capacity after 500 charge cycles.

In other words, if your iPhone is beginning to run out of battery capacity, these slowdowns might kick in to keep it running for longer or prevent it from shutting down unexpectedly.

This isn't a ploy to get old iPhone customers to upgrade. On the contrary, this is an engineering decision made to keep your old iPhones running longer.

Engineering-wise, I think Apple made the right decision. But user experience-wise, I definitely think Apple needs to better communicate these limitations of lithium ion technology, especially when an iPhone customer's battery has degraded past a certain threshold.

Every iPhone customer should know the cheapest solution is to replace the battery through Apple for $79.

Industry Trends Tech Strategy

Rumor: Apple to Converge iOS, macOS Apps →

Rene Ritchie:

For Microsoft, shifting to universal apps was a way to shed legacy baggage and encourage support for post-PC devices. For Google, bringing Android apps to Chrome let them tap into native functionality and performance.

For Apple, it lets the massive iOS platform help pull the Mac platform forward.

If true, this would be another classic case of Apple copying an idea where that others have failed to execute.

It's a brilliant idea but the success or failure of this type of move would come down to the nitty gritty details that will affect iOS/macOS developers.

Industry Trends

Net Neutrality, Explained by John Oliver →

Brilliant video. By far the best way to explain Net Neutrality to real people.

Product Design

Windows 10's Big Productivity Feature: Sets

Mac OSX's Mission Control (formerly Expose and Spaces) was — and still is — the killer feature that convinced me to give up my 10 years of loyalty to Windows.

As a web developer who constantly has to juggle multiple windows and apps to complete one task, this is compelling.

Smartphones Reviews

Two Weeks with iPhone X

Whenever a new technology or big redesign comes along, reactions tend to split between two types of people:

Those who like things just the way they are.
Those who embrace change.

Those in the first group, Apple introduced the iPhone 8. It's for those who like the familiarity and comfort of the same hardware design since 2014. It's for those who want the same iPhone, but better.

The iPhone X is for iPhone customers in the second group. Those who are happy in the Apple ecosystem but are eager for something new.

After using the iPhone X for two weeks, I'd like to share some of my experiences for those who are considering it and highlight some details you probably missed.