On YouTube over the past month, FIFA have been sharing songs for each of the host cities for the 2026 World Cup.
Let's take a second to wonder exactly how well it's going to be given Trump's presidency. Canada and Mexico must be wondering how they're going to get through it and we'll all be wondering how smoothly it will be run. Given we've had the last two World Cups in Russia and Qatar, it's strange that this one might actually be the most politically sensitive one in recent times.
To be clear, Russia and Qatar should not have staged the World Cup and in truth, if FIFA was not a corrupt organisation, it would remove the US as a host.
But back to the music. Each of the 16 songs released, one for each host city, has been tailored by a producer. The brief was to take the official World Cup 26 theme and to remix it to pay homage to the city.
The standalone theme is fine but the Philadelphia remix by DJ Jazzy Jeff is my favourite of the bunch and each comes with it's own music video too. I'd embed it, but FIFA have disabled the ability to do so.
Read the post from week 388
WTF, France? From the economic bloc that lead to the creation of cookie banners, they are mad at Apple for showing a prompt that asks if the user would like to preserve their privacy or not?!
The investigation was launched in 2021 following a complaint lodged by a coalition of French advertising trade associations, including Alliance Digitale and the Internet Advertising Syndicate.
Has this coalition also lodge complaints with the plague of cookie banners we've been subjected to for years now? If not, why not?
They should really be looking at why this pop up is necessary, not why it might be frustrating.
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Everyone is, rightfully, raving about Adolescence. The fact each episode was filmed in one shot blew my mind.
Once you've watch it, come back for some insight from Stephen Graham and this behind the scenes from Netflix is great if you're interested in how they pulled it all of.
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After upgrading to a new MacBook Pro a few months ago, I have stuck to using just Safari as my web browser. It's been fine.
Developer tools are still not on par with Chromium browsers, but totally useable.
Tab Groups are good, I was already using them on my old MacBook, but I use them for specific scenarios and then they get forgotten.
I've adopted Compact tabs in Safari, which is fine, but the browser bar can become too small to be useful. Works great on a Mac and an iPad but its not for me on the iPhone.
I now use Extensions but sparingly. I am not deep into it an to be honest, I don't want to be.
The one browser exception
I only needed a separate browser once, and that was to test scroll driven animations which have actually just come to the Safari Technology Preview, but at the time I opted for Firefox. I knew if I downloaded Chrome I'd give in and make it my default, but my decision means Safari still comes first.
So on all my personal devices, I'm now using Safari and not hating it.
Read the post from week 387
Via Studio Notes.
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Selvedge denim remains my to choice for jeans, I wrote about them three years ago and to this day still rely on my Uniqlo denim for daily wear.
That post featured an article from Business Insider that explained why the denim can be so expensive and they recently put out a video on the 800-year-old process of indigo dying:
It's always interesting to see these ways of creating materials, products and components all by hand and in a way that could easily be lost if someone didn't see the value in preserving how it's donw.
All of their Still Standing videos offer a deep look into traditional and hand made processes that are at risk of being lost due to modernisation.
Read the post from week 386
If it's a Tesla, then yes. They took the decision to drop LiDAR around 4-years ago. Cameras, not matter how hi-definition, are never going to be enough.
However Tesla / Elon wish to spin it, cost cutting is probably at the route of it all. Full self driving is still a dream at this point and it will remain a dream until the right hardware is deployed to make it safe.
FSD in a Tesla is a lie.
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Stunning takedown by John Gruber of the state of Apple with regards to Apple Intelligence.
I'm not in the same racket as him, but a few weeks ago I did my own post to see if is Apple Intelligence any good? Of the fetaures available, out of 5 I looked at only 1 was any good to me. Safe to say Apple Intelligence is low in usefulness and completeness. I also gave Apple the benefit of not having yet released a more integrated Siri, but I am not privy to anything other than marketing and reviews so I could only go on what I knew.
I'm also not really in the AI space and pretty sceptical on it because of it seems pretty unethical in how it all these multi-billion dollar models get trained. If I was Tim Cook, I would have put the hardware first and positioned those platforms as the backbone of desktop AI. Dear developers, go build amazing AI tools on our hardware. Then as a native solution, pick a partner and integrate it. Leave it at that.
No one needs Image Playgrounds. ChatGPT now integrates with Xcode. Anything Apple Intelligence can do, another service could have filled that hole and Apple could have spent a lot more time on things that actually matter.
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App Clips have been a thing since 2020 and I've only ever seen one. It was a portfolio piece for someone that I've been thinking about since I saw it and this week I decided to create my own.
It was rejected, because the app it was associated with was too thin with a limited audience. The app clip and the app were the same thing in reality. There was no reason to download my app, when the App Clip did it all. So here are my thoughts on App Clips at the start of 2025.
Restaurants
Nearly every demo for App Clips involves some mention of ordering on the go. I'm not saying a restaurant shouldn't have an app, but an App Clip would make a great way to share menus and take orders, especially for infrequent visitors or for someone out of town.
Maybe there's even a way to track rewards, but I am pretty fed up of needing an app for nearly every restaurant in our city centre.
My wife and I took some time to swap Apple Wallet loyalty cards so we've got the same on both phones when we're at the checkout. Makes building rewards a lot easier.
Digital Business Cards
Whether we're talking businesses or individuals, they would make a fantastic virtual business card. This is what I tried to get into the App Store, but can't because that's all it was...
Stand Alone App Clips
It sucks you can separate them from apps, the feedback I got from App Store Review was to basically launch a website instead.
I have a website (multiple!) and want something in the App Store! I don't think my ask was unreasonable, but hiding my App Clip away inside an app seems silly to me and I would have thought that would lead to the rejection of an app as it would be unrelated to it's function.
Configuration Hell
Understand how it all fit together was probably tougher than it should have been with errors only visible after submission and once I'd got it all through, Apple's AASA file caching is pretty aggressive so you get shown errors in App Store Connect that you fix but you have no feedback until that cache has cleared.
Growing File Limits
Size limits continue to grow, my feeling is that it relates to a lack of adoption and trying to make it easier for existing apps to take advantage of, but I think they need to pause on that on focus on defining what an appropriate use for App Clips would be.
In Summary
App Clips have lots of things going for them but I am not seeing them in the wild. I am trying to introduce them in the next app I'll be building and it will be a requirement, rather than a nice-to-have, for anything else I build going forward.
Update
After posting this article, I experienced my first organic encounter with App Clips on the weekend. I was searching for a place to eat and tapped on an option in Apple Maps to view the menu and up popped an Uber Eats App clip.
A great experience considering the app has been offloaded as I've barely used it in the past year or more. Rather than re-downloading it, I got a near-instant look at what I wanted.
Read the post from week 385
I hadn't really thought to comment on Skype's retirement until I read this piece by John Gruber.
If I remember correctly, I used Skype at my first proper web development job back in 2006. Almost 20 years ago. I also used it for nearly all communication in my last role (2012-2020) as it rolled conversations and calling all into one.
We tried replacing the chat element with Slack in the mid-2010s but it didn't work when only our team used it in the organisation. We also had an internal chat tool, but Skype always won because of it's VOIP capability.
it never seemed Microsoft had any sort of plan for what to do with Skype
Gruber is totally right with this take, it's a shame because there was potential. Would it have been more prosperous without the acquisition? I doubt it, but there might have been a bit more strategy with regards to where it was headed.
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They nailed it. If you're not up to speed (and not already wondering where the fuck America is heading), then The Wall Street Journal have a primer on Trump and Zelenskyy's relationship.
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Way back at the tail-end of the first lockdown, I began a journey to create more art. I started with brush pens and have continued to dabble with them and other types of water colours since then.
I had forgotten it had started as a creative hobby during that period, but it was certainly a good thing to get into have endured a lot of time indoors, working away remotely.
Since then, I've purchased the odd bit of acrylic paint and have been sketching on and off.
My iPad mini and Apple Pencil gave me a never ending canvas with which to work. After an initial daily push I haven't kept up enough to really have fallen into a style but I drift in and out of Procreate often and it's probably the best sketch book or canvas that I've ever had.
At the end of 2024, I was gifted some linoleum pieces and tools with which to create prints. I've started a small lino project but I'm still figuring out how to apply the prints neatly.
So I think I've settled on paper + pencil as my most comfortable medium. I have largely given up on water colours (and painting in general) for now. Without training that is going to be tough to get to a stage where I'm really comfortable working with it and able to achieve the visions I have. Lino printing moves up to second on the list, I just need to figure out a good project to get started with.
Read the post from week 384
Came across this on Daring Fireball, what a great demo of an expressive robot. Seriously, go watch the video!
So much personality in each of the tasks it takes on.
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Anker always seemed to be the brand when it came to cables, chargers and power banks on Amazon. Their offerings extend to the Eufy brand and they have an enormous range but they just don't live up to their early promise as a brand.
A few times I've had to return stuff because it has't lived up to the promise or quality I have come to expect from them. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of Anker branded cables, chargers, plugs, headphones and dongles that all serve us well but only two stick out as premium products in their line up.
First is their USB car charger which is weighty, robust and just works. Second is the PowerWave 2-in-1 MagSafe charger. It's a great device but after 2 and a half years the adjustable mechanism isn't quite as stiff as it once was... I should probably see if I can fix that.
And so on to UGREEN who are now the brand I look for on Amazon when I need something that is low-case but high-quality. So much so that I've shared a couple of UGREEN things on Good Gear Club.
Above all, the Nexode 200W charger has simplified my desk charging setup so much more. It tucks in nicely under my Ikea desk and powers my work MacBook Pro and charges any combination of my iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and personal MacBook Pro at the same time without any fuss.
In my bedroom, the Nexode 65W charger is tiny and charges my Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad with a port to spare.
The design and build quality are excellent on both and the multiple cables I've bought are all braided which makes them more durable.
So this is me, just showing some love to a brand that is building well designed essentials for the modern world that don't break the bank.
Read the post from week 383
Nick Heer:
A law, please, with debilitating penalties for violations.
A thousand times this.
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Over the past few months, I've slowly made a more permanent move over to Bluesky from Twitter.
I really signalled intent with my daily photo dumps, but that's come to an end as I ran out of snaps to share.
I made a conscious effort to diversify my following on Bluesky and have a healthy mix of webdev, design, Swift, tech, news, art and Liverpool FC sprinkled through.
From the point of view of following matches, it's not there yet. I should probably look into some feeds to rectify that but at the same time I'm less focused on the online chatter and more interested in the actual game being played. I also haven't gone back to Twitter for the company. Maybe that's coincided with my son getting into it all a bit more and the fact I'll ride an exercise bike throughout the first half too, but a large part of it is the Nazification of Twitter.
So who would I like to shout at this time on Bluesky? I'll link to a few accounts I don't follow on other socials that I've discovered here.
- David Shields, UK stadium photographer
- Jessica Elena
, digital artist
- Dominique Ramsey, illustrator
- Joss Fong, video journalist for Howtown on YouTube
- Enid, iOS development teacher
Enid in particular has been a great follower with daily SwiftUI tips that have made my think a lot about how I approach interfaces and interactions in my apps.
So if you're looking for people to follow, there are 5 that are definitely worth a look.
Read the post from week 382
As I move onto the development of my second SwiftUI app, I find that prototyping layouts is a dream but battling against errors it can through when plugging in data sources has been a nightmare.
I'm at the point we're I've actually restarted development of my new app twice to take different approaches and now I am sitting on a more harmonious codebase so it was probably worth the effort. Create with Swift had a great article on designing for app states and just half an hour mapping the app on graph paper has given me a far more solid foundation so I highly recommend reading the article if only for the section on designing for different stats.
Maybe I just lack experience, but errors in SwiftUI are only useful half the time for me. It sometimes seems inconsistent too, but I'm getting there and battling through it. When Google's results haven't thrown up a definitive, or well explained, answer, ChatGPT has been a good companion but I am trying to reign in my trust and reliance on it.
Watch this space, I am hopefully not too far away from launching app number 2 the app store and then I'll be moving on to number 3!
Read the post from week 381
Go read the commentary, some kickers for what Meta's principles really are.
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I finally finished a third roll of film, taking my camera out into London to capture some fisheye photos from London Bridge. I wrote about shooting on film last year and this follow up comes of the back of getting those 3 rolls developed.
Turns out the age, or something, meant they were basically all blank. There were a handful that came through on each roll and even fewer worth sharing.
The ones worth uploading are over on Flickr in my Captured on Film album.
I think the way forward is to shoot a roll and get it developed fairly promptly. If that gets the same result then I'll stop but I will try with the Canon AE-1 again. I'm in London every now and then so getting a photo of buildings around London Bridge and the Thames will be an interesting adventure to go on.
Read the post from week 380
It’s one of the things that I really like about the Jawbone devices. Wear it and forget it, it was always measuring. It was no more advanced than motion but I could add a workout later, or log my sleep if I had forgotten to put it in sleep mode.
I get that the Apple Watch is chock full of sensors and they are used to capture more accurately depending on what you’re up to, but just let me make up for something I forgot to log!
Read the post from week 379
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