Apple
Gemini, Siri, and Default Assistants on iOS
I do not want to harp on the Siri situation, but I do have one suggestion that I think Apple should listen to. Because I suspect it is going to take quite some time for the company to get the new Siri out the door properly, they should do what was previously unthinkable. That is, open up iOS to third-party assistants. I do not say this lightly. I am one of those folks who does not want iOS to be torn open like Android, but I am willing to sign on when it makes good common sense. Right now it does.
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Perplexity, and Grok are all incredibly popular on iOS. They are in use by millions and millions of people. But some of them are not as powerful on iOS as they are on Android. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity can all be used as the default personal assistant on Android devices. If you do not like the one that came on your device, you can replace it. Apple has been adding more default app choices on iOS as of late and now is the time to add another one. Gemini in particular has become increasingly powerful due to its deep integration with Google apps. If you use them, you can get way more out of Gemini than the alternatives. I desperately want to use Gemini as my default personal assistant on my iPhone, so much so that I have the voice mode assigned to my action button. Because of Gemini’s integration with Google Keep, Google Tasks, and Google Calendar I can use the Gemini assistant to create reminders, generate lists, take notes, and create and manange events. Even better than that, Gemini can dive into my inbox and find things for me better than any standard search tool. Those are all productivity features, but Gemini also has deep entertainment functionality thanks to YouTube. If you want to find a specific video, Gemini can get the job done. You can even use it with Google Maps. The app is simply a fantastic assistant that is able to replace many of the things I already do with Siri, while also being an LLM-powered ultra smart knowledge engine.
I have not even mentioned the amazing Gemini Live yet, despite not integrating with your Google apps yet, it does let you have fluid conversations about world knowledge and things happening on the web. The app is dead simple, yet more powerful than Siri in almost every metric. While it currently cannot do some things like set a timer, it can do far more important things Siri can only dream of being capable of. If you use Google apps, I highly recommend assigning Gemini to your action button or to the back tap gesture on your iPhone. You will be blown away by how much more powerful it is once you begin taking advantage of the app integrations. Heck, if you use Google Home devices it even controls those as well.
I do not use Gemini as my primary LLM generally, I prefer to use ChatGPT and Claude most of the time for research, coding, and writing. But Gemini has proved to be the best assistant out of them all. So while we wait for Siri to get good, give us the ability to use custom assistants at the system level. It does not have to be available to everyone, heck create a special intent that Google and these companies need to apply for if you want. Have requirements for privacy and design too if need be. But these apps with proper system level overlays would be a massive improvement over the existing version of Siri. I do not want to have to launch the app every single time and the basic ChatGPT integration in Siri is far from the best solution.
Google clearly knows that they have a massive with Gemini right now and you can look no further than their decision to heavily advertise on Apple-centric podcasts. In recent weeks they’ve sponsored The Talk Show, Upgrade, Connected, and ATP. One of the best ways to go after Siri is to capture Apple fans and observers.
I know Apple would be averse to this, namely because of the potential for losing a massive amount of Siri users in the meantime while they get their act together. But it would do two things: it would mitigate some of the damage with customer relations while they wait for the new Siri and it sets a new bar for the Siri team to have to exceed. There would not be any room for failure and they need to be under that kind of pressure.
Very Good News: Mike Rockwell, No Fan of Siri, is Here to Save It
Mark Gurman has just reported that Apple is reshuffling the Siri team’s leadership in light of the recent Apple Intelligence controversy. They are putting Mike Rockwell, the man behind Vision Pro, in charge of the effort and taking AI chief John Gianndrea off the project.
While you can lament the well-documented array of Vision Pro shortcomings, the software: visionOS is an impeccable achievement. It was one of the most polished 1.0s the company has ever shipped despite missing some features. It has a gorgeous design and is chock full of functionality, plus it was largely stable out of the gate. Putting the guy who led the development of the most advanced piece of technology Apple has ever made in charge of Siri is the right move. I trust that he will productize whatever technology comes from the LLM group really well and ensure that they do not get over their skis again. Maybe he will even scrap what they have and fast track an entirely new solution. Ultimately, this is good news and it means a fresh perspective. More on why I am excited about the much-needed course correction below.
This news immediately brought to mind a report from early 2023 via The Information that detailed how the Vision Pro team wanted to develop its own voice control software, instead of using the existing version of Siri. 9to5Mac highlighted a particularly important and now very relevant series of lines from the story:
Inside Apple, Siri remains widely derided for its lack of functionality and improvements since Giannandrea took over, say multiple former Siri employees. For example, the team building Apple’s mixed-reality headset, including its leader Mike Rockwell, has expressed disappointment in the demonstrations the Siri team created to showcase how the voice assistant could control the headset, according to two people familiar with the matter. At one point, Rockwell’s team considered building alternative methods for controlling the device using voice commands, the people said (the headset team ultimately ditched that idea).
The frustration with Siri has finally boiled over and I am extremely optimistic now. If anyone at Apple can turn around Siri, it is someone who recognized the problem long ago but was not given the opportunity to fix it. Until now.
It's Time for WWDC 2025 to Return to Traditions Broken by COVID
This is a weird time. Everybody knows it, even if they do not want to acknowledge it. Apple’s trust with its customers is on the line and today’s news from Mark Gurman about internal conversations proves that they know they are in a complicated position. The company is staying quiet outside of the statement that it gave to folks like John Gruber and the next major Apple event is a little over two months away. They have cleared the deck of early 2025 hardware releases and I imagine we will not hear much from them for a bit outside of, you guessed it, a WWDC announcement.
As usually is the case, I imagine that we will start to get details in about two weeks or so. Every single WWDC keynote since 2020 has been prerecorded and the company has since dropped its weeklong in-person conference, opting for an entirely online approach with a select few welcomed to view the keynote video on the first day. I have been a proponent of Apple returning to its iconic live keynotes for a long time, but fuel has just been added to that fire. Tim, Craig, and Joz need to talk to us like people right there with them, not in some sort of extended ad. They cannot show us another concept video, because if they do unveil something that looks too good to be true (even if it is real) there will be immediate skepticism. We need live demos and we need Craig to be doing them to show the company has confidence in the offerings.
Ryan Christoffel at 9to5Mac laid out a comprehensive argument for it with both the pros and cons. But I firmly believe the pros far outweigh any sort of value the company has gotten the past few years from transitioning to the current format. They need to look human, which means dropping the high production value and returning to form. It also could not hurt for them to spend more time in-person with more developers. They used to invite far more people and in-person sessions were tremendously valuable to developers. Plus, if all of the software platforms truly are getting redesigned from the ground up, this is the year to capture the same kind of live reaction like iOS 7 garnered back in 2013.
If they want other events to remain prerecorded, that is fine. But this WWDC is just too important. The stakes for the next few are likely only going to continue to get higher.
Sky Blue Really is Blue
The new sky blue MacBook Air really is blue. I know that there has been much debate about just how blue it really is. But now that I own one and have seen it in quite a few different lighting conditions, I can say for certain that this is more blue than silver to my eyes. I fully understand that there are some moments when it may look silver, but in most conditions I am looking at a delightfully light blue keyboard deck. Admiring it from afar while it is closed on my desk, it is clearly blue. I think folks are trying to grapple with the fact that we have all wanted more saturated colors by complaining about the new shade. Despite what you might have heard, it is distinctly new and fresh. At this point, I will take what Apple gives me especially when it isn’t silver or space gray. After all, it has been 24 years since a Mac notebook was available in blue.
Hands-On With the Vision Pro Metallica Experience at SXSW
This past weekend, I spent some time in Austin with some very cool Apple folks and a Vision Pro. The company invited me to come and watch the latest immersive video experience at SXSW, and my word is it quite something. I loved Submerged and Parkour, but neither compares to the newest entrant: an extraordinary spatial Metallica concert experience.
When you first try Vision Pro, you inevitably feel shock and awe. Like with any new technology, over time, you tend to forget about that feeling. But it comes flooding right back within seconds of the Metallica experience starting. They really outdid themselves with this one. Not only is it incredibly fun and engaging, it might have finally nailed one of the main issues with immersive video creation. It has been argued at length how filmmakers should cut and stitch their spatial movie experiences together. Earlier immersive videos were not quite perfect, which is of course expected given how early it is in the life of Vision Pro. But the Metallica concert is edited together beautifully. Between black-and-white shots, vibrant colorful ones, up-close clips, and zoomed-out ones; they may have finally figured it out. It was not jarring at all when it would quickly cut from an up-close view of one of the Metallica band members to an overhead pan of the crowd. Maybe that is just the nature of a Metallica concert, so many things are happening all at once. It is pure sensory overload, so you can argue that this form of editing is ideal specifically for a video about this particular subject. But I can easily see the format translating to something narrative. There were particularly special moments, like when following directly behind band members as they walked to the stage through crowds. As someone who loves shows like The West Wing which are well-known for their walk-and-talks, I want this applied to comedies, dramas, shows, and movies of all kinds. It felt like I was right there with the band. I am not a Metallica fan per se, but this was a blast. So do not be intimidated by the heavy metal of it all.
I fully expect nearly everyone who has a Vision Pro to be impressed by this experience. It is very different from previous immersive videos, which is arguably a good thing. It sets a new bar, a higher one. It is a perfect length at around 20 minutes long. This helps particularly if you have difficulty with the weight or any sort of eye strain. Anyone who follows me is probably already aware of my complicated relationship with the hardware. But you do not have to be in Vision Pro for too long to experience the magic. Getting right in the faces of band members and absolutely wild fans in the audience will stick in my head for a while and not in a bad way. I crave even more of this type of content. Believe me when I say, I reminded them over and over that we need more immersive Vision Pro content. This new video proves just how amazing the format can continue to get. I think they are still just scratching the surface.
When Apple invited me, I did not know what the video would be about, and boy am I glad that there was no sort of hint. The surprise of it all made it that much more fun.
The Metallica immersive experience for Vision Pro premieres tomorrow, Friday, March 14th in the TV app. If you do not have a Vision Pro of your own, I highly recommend booking a demo at your closest Apple Store to check it out.
Side note: There is a moment in the video where they stitched together a bunch of still spatial photos. I found this to be one of my favorite parts. I think you might find that to be the case too. I want to see more of that.
‘The Studio’ is Probably Apple TV+’s Next Big Hit
Apple TV+ has had quite the ride since it launched in 2019. It took a few months to really begin to hit its stride with the first season of Ted Lasso, which helped keep us all feeling just a little sane during COVID. More recently, Severance has been a huge hit. It is one of the best shows I have ever seen and virtually everyone I know is as captivated by it as I am. These two shows served as tentpoles for the service, keeping existing subscribers engaged and helping grow the base with new ones. Last night I saw the first two episodes of The Studio here at SXSW and let me tell you, this is Apple’s third major show.
I do not want to undervalue shows like Slow Horses or Shrinking, but they have not had the impact those other two I mentioned before have. The entire audience was howling all throughout the first two episodes of The Studio, people were absolutely glued to the screen. It feels so real, like you are actually watching the day to day of a movie studio team running a business and messing things up. The first two episodes were hilarious, but they were also beautifully shot and the cast is absolutely stacked. I cannot wait until I can stream more of the show and I cannot wait to get all my friends and family members to watch it. I suspect they are going to love it.
The Studio premieres on TV+ March 26th.
Can Apple Even Pull This Off?
I guess I should not be surprised, but I am still furious. Apple shared with John Gruber earlier today that they are delaying the launch of the flagship new personalized Siri features for Apple Intelligence that were unveiled last summer at WWDC. We have been waiting what already feels like forever for these new features and it sounds like we are in for an even longer wait. Who knows if we will see these features in iOS 19.0 or if we will have to wait until early 2026 for a point release, but regardless this is a huge blow to the company’s efforts and reputation in the space. Their rollout of Apple Intelligence has already been haphazard. From marketing it in Apple Stores and in ads before it was ready to ship to dropping features in small separate releases over the past few months to a mostly “meh” reaction.
This feels like a gut punch, namely because we were already not confident that these delayed features could actually rival other AI tools. Apple’s Siri execution is not something that fills anyone with confidence. If these features arrive as they were announced months and months from now, ChatGPT, Gemini, Alexa+, etc. could already have made even further leaps ahead. I cannot help but think that this is sort of a combination of AirPower and MobileMe. It felt almost vaporware-like when revealed at WWDC and it certainly seems like they are having a great deal of difficulty making it a reality. Sounds a lot like AirPower, right? If it does not arrive fully fleshed out and reliable, then they will have to start over like they did with MobileMe and iCloud. In fact, they might have to start over anyway before they even ship anything.
I firmly believe they need to shake things up internally and consider a major acquisition in this new friendlier corporate environment. Get rid of Siri entirely and create a whole new brand built on a new foundation. Who they should buy (or partner with) is an entirely different issue.
There Was Something in the Air After All
For the first time in 24 years, since the introduction of the first white iBook, Apple has a blue laptop again. While the new MacBook Airs are most certainly a “spec bump,” they make for a pretty good one. The new Air features the M4 (as expected), but also gets a massively upgraded FaceTime camera and a $100 price drop. I’m glad my diatribe about the boring iPad announcements leading to more boring updates was wrong. $999 for this new machine is a steal.
These Might Just be the Prettiest Clock Widgets
Just a few days ago, a new iPhone app was released by designer Rasmus Nielsen. The app, while simple, is one of my favorites in a long time. It is called Tinker and it features some of the most beautiful clock widgets I have ever seen. Tinker is a super cool concept. You can build your own clock widgets quickly and easily. Other apps have tried to let you build your own widgets, but they tend to be unnecessarily complex and are often ugly. This app comes preloaded with a variety of gorgeous components that you can stitch together to build a gorgeous clock. The best part is that you can import your own assets though and build your own clock faces from scratch. But because of how well-designed the app is, all you have to do is import a background, an hour hand, a minute hand, and a center piece. It is easy as can be. Tinker is really just flat-out great. The button designs in the app, the animations, and especially the Home Screen icon all stand out in the best ways. You can build two clocks for free or unlock unlimited clocks for $4.99. I highly recommend you check it out. Even if you think clock widgets are superfluous like I used to, this one might just change your mind.
There's Nothing in the Air
Apple device spec bumps are nothing new. Steve’s Apple did them all the time. He just didn’t tease them with iconic taglines that carry historical weight. Yesterday Tim Cook tweeted a teaser that said “there’s something in the Air” hearkening back to the 2008 unveiling of the original MacBook Air. We all sort of knew that what would be announced would be minor. New iPad Air and MacBook Air models have been rumored for awhile now. I tweeted how it irked me that the company would use such a sacred tagline for something as uninteresting as a spec bump to a processor we already have in several devices. While we did not get a new MacBook Air, today we did get a new iPad Air and a new base model iPad. The iPad Air is almost entirely unchanged, except for the M3 chip. We’ve had M3 devices now since fall 2023. The base model iPad is also almost entirely unchanged, except for the A16 chip. They’re not even bringing Apple Intelligence to it. The first time we saw the A16 chip was in 2022. Both devices come in the exact same colors. Apple did not even bother to make new hero marketing images for these products. I find that extraordinarily depressing as someone who loves to dissect every inch of apple.com after a refresh. These are parts bin products through and through. I should be surprised that they used a historically powerful teaser for a historically boring refresh. But frankly, I am not. The past few years have been awfully weird for Apple. I know many of us are feeling it.
My favorite product spec bump to compare any current and future Apple spec bump to is the February 2008 MacBook refresh. So many people forget that it happened because of the MacBook Air unveiling a few weeks earlier at MacWorld. The company brought the latest, most powerful Intel chips to the non-unibody MacBook Pro and the white MacBook. That alone isn’t particularly interesting, but they also introduced the multi-touch trackpad to the MacBook Pro for the first time and gave all models the illuminated keyboard. I sort of see this as the historical baseline for what a spec bump should be. They made the product more powerful, extended an existing quality of life feature to all customers, and brought a quietly huge new hardware feature to a product without completely re-engineering it. They did a similar thing in 2015 when they introduced the 12-inch MacBook, bringing the new Force Touch trackpad to the Retina MacBook Pro as well as faster chips, longer battery life, faster flash storage, among other things. Apple’s spec bumps have historically been more interesting than a single generation CPU swap. There are odd outliers here and there, but the reality is that today’s updates were tremendously disappointing. And apologists, before you cry “oh well they redid the Magic Keyboard” remember that it is largely the same except for a handful of small features they are oh so graciously bringing from the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard to the cheaper one. It doesn’t do anything a Magic Keyboard for iPad couldn’t do yesterday.
So yes, I am annoyed. I want to see them take bigger swings more often. Maybe I am just too nostalgic, but the difference these days is unmistakable in my view. Hopefully the MacBook Air that we get tomorrow is a bit more interesting, but my expectations are that it will be identical to the one I am typing this on with a slightly faster chip.
First Impressions of the Insanely Beautiful but Baffling iPhone 16e
I’ve only had the iPhone 16e for a few hours, but I figured it was worth writing something out. Particularly because I am surprised by the device now that I have seen it in-person. It is no secret that I have been awfully skeptical of the value proposition and frankly I still am. But this hardware is spectacular. I could make the argument that this new iPhone is the most beautiful one in several years. When I picked it up in the Apple Store I was excited by a few things.
The first was that it was much lighter than my iPhone 16 Pro and the soft aluminum coupled with the textured back glass felt really nice in the hand. I had forgotten over the past few months that the iPhone 16 Pro is actually slightly bigger than previous models. To my surprise, I can tell that the iPhone 16e is smaller and even though it is not by much it does make a difference. I will also add that despite having wanted Apple to curve the edges of the iPhone a few years ago I actually kind of miss the totally flat sharper edges of the iPhone 12/13/14 design. It feels far more industrial in the hand.
The second was that the single camera design, coupled with the white and black finishes look quite sophisticated. This certainly does not look like a cheap device. The two models look clean, they look high-end, and they look really reminiscent of the silver and slate iPhone 5 models from back in the day. Both colors look fantastic. You cannot go wrong with either. I ended up favoring the white model after hemming and hawing, but that is largely because I am a sucker for that classic silver aluminum Apple look.
The third thing was that I found myself completely unbothered by the lack of several features, namely ProMotion. I do not know why, but I am increasingly less sensitive to display refresh rates. The iPhone 16e feels smooth and speedy, just like the regular iPhone 16. I could use this as my daily driver no problem. I was also unbothered by the notch and lack of the Dynamic Island. Unfortunately, Apple has not done much with the Dynamic Island recently so not having it does not feel like that big of a deal. It sort of reminds me of buying a MacBook Air with Touch ID in 2018 instead of buying a MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. I am just not sure how committed they really are at the end of the day. Camera control is new enough that not having it does not even feel like much of an omission and I imagine that is why they did not feel any sort of hesitation to call this an iPhone “16” despite it being the line’s flagship hardware upgrade. Missing MagSafe however is not great. Apple clearly knows it given the weird displays that they have set up for the phones. They do charge on MagSafe stands like the other iPhones, but they sit in a little base and lean against them.
Ultimately I am impressed so far. I always knew that it would be a nice phone, but I am surprised by how much I like it. The question of whether or not the device is worth it to you at $599 though, is up to you. It is a really nice phone that happens to be missing some niceties. If you don’t care about those things and can get yourself a good deal, then this is a nice device. It is also now the cheapest iPhone to have Apple Intelligence support bolstering its value.
Couple of small things:
Apple finally made a white silicone case again. They haven’t made one for flagship devices since the iPhone 12 and it was always my favorite. Hopefully this means they will make one for the other iPhone 16 models soon or will at least make one for the iPhone 17 models this fall.
The default wallpaper on the iPhone 16e is sort of weird. I do think it looks sharp, but it strangely only has one theme. Other default iPhone wallpapers have variations for each device color. This one does not.
The missing always-on display is an omission that slightly bothered me until I remembered that the iPhone 16e has the best battery life of any standard sized iPhone model. The trade off is well worth it. I did not mention this above since it is far less important than those other missing features and arguably, not having it is a benefit.
The new Siri animation looks kind of funny in screenshots and screen recordings from the iPhone 16e. Instead of being a wireframe that wraps around the notch, it is a solid shape beneath it.
I was hoping that my plethora of old iPhone 14 Pro cases would fit the iPhone 16e and interestingly enough, they do. Except the side button has ever so slightly been repositioned that the cases hold it down. Unfortunately that renders all those old cases unusable. I imagine there may be a similar situation with standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 cases as well.
It is not much to go by, but I saw other folks buying the iPhone 16e in my Apple Store and asked how things were going. I was told they had sold a bunch of them today.
Yes, I bought an iPhone 16e. But in my defense, this is the first time that I have a good excuse to own a secondary iPhone. I am working on my first-ever iOS app and need a testing device.
On Recent Apple Commercials and Billboards
Apple’s advertising has been hit or miss in recent years. They have run the gamut from controversies like the hydraulic press crushing beloved artistic tools to misses like the early Apple Intelligence ads to delightful surprises like recent heartwarming holiday ones. There has been a lot of discussion about Apple’s newest billboards highlighting Genmoji all over social media lately. It’s generally understandable, to any longtime Apple enthusiast they do at first glance appear to be sort of lazy and uninspiring. That is until you remember that they are not for us, they are for average users who absolutely love emoji and are likely using much older iPhones that don’t support Apple Intelligence. Some of these ads are also contextual, I personally like the pizza rat Genmoji billboards here in New York. If it were a generic Genmoji, I would be less than impressed. So I do think they deserve some credit here. Whether you like them or not, these ads get their point across. They’re lackluster overall, but I am almost certain that they are effective.
I wanted to write a whole piece about the Genmoji ads, but then Apple decided to publish a whole slate of new iPhone 16e commercials that I think are way more interesting to talk about. The first ad really perplexed me, but I understand what they were going for now. It features a car dealership inflatable character flopping all around a white room holding an iPhone 16e. It is a weird one, especially for Apple. But when connected to the tagline “a price you can’t ignore” it actually makes for a fun commercial that I imagine will get peoples' attention. That being said, I do disagree with the statement. As I have said before this isn’t a cheap iPhone by any means. Maybe if prices continue to go up generally though, people will come to see it that way. At the end of the day, this is a very unique Apple commercial and probably one of the better ones that they’ve done recently. I suppose that is really as long as you understand it.
So we have talked about the Genmoji billboards and the flagship iPhone 16e commercial. But what really got me excited was the series of shorts that Apple published this afternoon. They are absolutely delightful and hearken back to old-school Apple in the best ways. You might notice that they are awfully similar to the first few iPhone 5 ads and even some earlier ones. I got a tiny bit emotional at first because of the deeply rooted nostalgia. I am not sure if it was intentional, but it is undeniably there. The photos clean up short is particularly good. I highly recommend checking them all out: camera, battery life, longevity, Genmoji, and durability.
A Pretty Siri Can't Hide the Ugly Truth
We’ve been waiting for Siri to get good for quite a long time. Before the emergence of ChatGPT, Siri sort of languished. Outside of the addition of Shortcuts in 2018, it has generally remained at the same level of intelligence since 2015 when they added proactive functionality. Last summer, Apple showed off an all-new Siri that is supposed to understand far more context, be able to access content from your apps, and actually take action for you. We are still waiting for that Siri unfortunately and it is unclear when we are going to get it. At the moment, Siri may have a pretty new animation but it is largely the same as it was before iOS 18 with ChatGPT tacked on as a fallback.
We know that Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have taken things to the next level over the past few years while others have fallen behind. Note that I said “others,” because it hadn’t just been Apple. Much like Siri, Amazon’s Alexa hadn’t really advanced in a while. It was still useful for simple tasks, but it was not a proper AI assistant in the modern sense. Today, they caught up. Alexa+ is the next generation of the assistant and it looks fantastic. It’s powered by a variety of LLMs, runs on existing hardware, integrates with tons and tons of services, and is free for Prime subscribers. That is a potentially devastating combination for Alexa’s competitors. Assuming it works as well as it looks like it does, and I have no reason to doubt the poetic waxing of Panos Panay, it is going to be a formidable opponent to ChatGPT, Gemini, and others. So many people already pay for Prime and with this being included, it is going to be tough to swallow a separate AI purchase. In case you missed it, Alexa+ is not just for Echo devices, it will be an app on phones and a website on computers. It is going to be everywhere. Alexa+ also has an unusually beautiful design for an Amazon product, I imagine we have Panos to thank for that.
So here we are. Everyone is caught up, except for Apple. Siri may have a pretty glowing animation but it is not even remotely the same kind of personal assistant that these others are. Even the version of Siri shown at WWDC last year doesn’t appear to be quite as powerful as Alexa+. Who knows how good the app intents powered Siri will even be at the end of the day when it ships, after all according to reports it has been pushed back and looks like an increasingly difficult endeavor. I obviously want Siri to be great. It desperately needs improvement, not just to compete but to make using an iPhone an even better experience. Other Apple Intelligence features like Genmoji and summarized notifications can be nice, but they’re small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. It is no secret that Apple is not the best at services and their historical ethos makes developing these new kinds of products increasingly difficult. This entirely new landscape presents challenges that are almost certainly already forcing Apple to reconsider the way that they do things. I hope to see the first glimpse of the truly new Siri in iOS 18.4 beta by April, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. For now, the real takeaway here is this: Amazon seems to have fixed Alexa before Apple could fix Siri.
Gemini Integration Could be a Huge Upgrade Over ChatGPT in Siri
A few weeks ago Federico Viticci wrote a great piece on MacStories about how one of Gemini’s greatest strengths in the LLM competition is that it’s the only one with Google app extensions. On Friday, Apple released the first beta of iOS 18.4 and while many of the AI updates that we were expecting weren’t there, references to one new feature we weren’t quite anticipating yet surfaced in a review of the update’s code. As spotted by Aaron from MacRumors, Apple is actively working on bringing Gemini to iOS alongside the current ChatGPT integration. This is super interesting, not because there will be another frontier model available to use with Siri for world knowledge but because if this version of Gemini includes extensions it will be leaps and bounds more useful than the existing ChatGPT integration.
As Federico points out in his story, Gemini 2.0 combined with Google Maps, Search, Workspace and YouTube is a formidable offering. The current ChatGPT integration in iOS allows you to sign in with your personal account to get even more out of Siri. While it doesn’t allow you to use custom GPTs or change the OpenAI model, it does save your conversations, lets you generate images with DALL-E and gives you extended usage limits if you have a paid subscription. With that all being the case with ChatGPT, one would have to imagine that Gemini in iOS would have some sort of additional integrations with Google services. I hope that it’s the extensions that communicate with Maps, Search, Workspace and YouTube.
I think it’s safe to say that Gemini in Siri will almost certainly be able to talk to Search and YouTube since neither of those require any sort of personal data. The question that I have is whether or not being signed in with your Google account will give Siri with Gemini the ability to access your Gmail, Calendar, and Drive? Given that you can already connect your Google account to iOS for mail, contacts, calendars, and notes I can’t see why they wouldn’t be able to integrate the other services as well. I’m not sure if Apple would prefer Google not offer this and instead allow their future Siri upgrade to directly surface information from your account once signed in rather than needing to pass off requests to Gemini. But like I said, I think it’s safe to imagine that Google Search and YouTube should at least be accessible through Gemini in Siri. Maps is the outlier here, particularly given the touchy history between the two companies. You could argue the same with YouTube, but I think that’s too fundamental to Search and Apple doesn’t have a competitor. While I want to lean towards Google Maps not being integrated, the data it offers is crucial to so many potential requests. Maybe Apple just defaults to standard Siri mapping results unless you specifically ask Gemini. We’ll have to wait and see.
At the end of the day, this is good news whether or not all of the extensions are fully available through Siri. Another model to choose from is already a big step for Apple to take and Gemini is getting better and better. It will give ChatGPT a real run for its money when users decide which service to use. That is of course, unless Apple allows Siri to work with both models at any time rather than forcing you to pick one in Settings. In which case, things get even more interesting. There are so many possibilities for how this could go down.
Apple News+ Food and Designing Concepts While Trying to Think Like Apple
Apparently, I’m on a roll with predicting new Apple services. Last year, when Apple introduced the Sports app I was tremendously excited. Two years earlier I had nailed the logo, the name, the color scheme, and the overall concept. While my imagined Apple Sports app was much more ambitious, we still got the bones of it. It always feels good when an idea of mine ends up coming to fruition, particularly when it comes to an Apple concept. It’s happened a few times, both in more obvious cases and in some edge ones. Obviously, I can’t take any credit for them making these products. After all it’s possible they had already begun working on things like Sports well before I posted my concept. That being said, it looks like I nailed another Apple service.
Yesterday the company unveiled Apple News+ Food. It’s a new section inside of the News app that lets you read food publications, get nutrition stories, find new recipes, and organize those recipes into your own little collection. Four years ago, I created a concept for 9to5Mac imagining “Apple Kitchen.” Apple Kitchen was envisioned as a new app that would be built-in to your iPhone that surfaced recipes from popular providers, allowed you to organize recipes, provided an optional paid service for videos from professional chefs, and helped you keep a grocery list. It felt like a natural extension of the company’s health initiatives. Now despite Apple News+ Food being a new section of an existing app and not a dedicated one, it is very much what I imagined they would create sans the instructional videos. Apple News+ Food features a dedicated new UI for getting new recipes from providers like Bon Appetite, Good Housekeeping, and Southern Living. There’s a beautifully designed catalogue system and a way to create your own library of the recipes you find. It even provides you with detailed ingredients lists. And of course, it’s a new premium service rather than a free one. Another feather in my cap.
As you might imagine, I was pretty excited to see this surprise announcement yesterday. When creating concepts, my goal has always been to be as realistic and pragmatic as possible. In other words, to think like Apple would. Too many concept designers often go far out of the realm of possibility. But I’ve always tried to stay true to what I think Apple would actually do. I guess I have been on the right track.
Side note: Apple News+ Food is almost certainly a service intended for Apple’s upcoming smart display. The new user interface for actually walking through a recipe feels like the clearest hint.
The Most Exciting Year for iPhone Upgrades in Ages Kicks Off Next Week
This year’s iPhone lineup sounds like it is going to be the best one yet. It starts with the iPhone SE or what is now largely expect to be called the iPhone 16E. Apple announced that a new member of the family will be joining the fray next Wednesday and it is almost certainly the new ‘budget’ iPhone. I personally imagine that it will be quite a popular device. With upgrades having stalled, a more affordable device with Apple Intelligence, a modern design, a better display, and newer features like the action button and USB-C it’s likely to be a hit for folks still using models like the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, 2020 iPhone SE, and iPhone 12. It’ll be a less expensive way to bring your phone entirely up to date. What we’re expecting is essentially the core of the iPhone 16 for almost half the price. How can that not be a smash?
Once the iPhone 16E is out, that clears the deck for iPhone hardware announcements until the annual refresh in the fall. Three distinct models have been long rumored: iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17, and iPhone 17 Pro (also available in a Pro Max size). The iPhone 17 Air is perhaps the most interesting of all of this year’s new models. It’s expected to be incredibly light and thin, less than 6mm in fact. It’s going to be essentially the 12-inch MacBook of iPhones. While it will still have the latest chip, a great ProMotion OLED display, and other key iPhone features–it will likely have fewer cameras, fewer speakers, and potentially some other compromises. It will be entirely focused on making a statement, something Apple hasn’t done with the iPhone’s design in a while. The Air will likely drive more conversation than usual and it will almost certainly be easily identifiable out and about in the world. It’s the iPhone that I am planning to buy this year.
Next up is what has traditionally been the most boring member of the iPhone family, the standard iPhone 17. Like the iPhone 17 Air, it is expected to get a new design with a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of the Nexus 6P from many years ago. I say this device is boring because it’s probably going to be a run of the mill upgrade with better cameras, a better display, and some new colors. Sound familiar? That’s because they’ve essentially made the same sort of upgrades to the standard model every year since the iPhone 11. The one silver lining with the iPhone 17 is that it may have a ProMotion display.
Lastly, there’s the iPhone 17 Pro. As far as the rumors go, it’ll likely be a much more powerful, more premium, and more expensive version of the standard iPhone 17. Similar to the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air, it will likely adopt the new camera design–though the actual layout is still being debated. Aside from being the objectively best model in the lineup, it will be the only way to get the largest form factor. Since there is no “Plus” model this time around, all of those folks who like a giant phone are going to have to pay not just a pretty penny but the prettiest penny.
Ultimately, this year’s lineup is clearly focused on looking different. Each one will be almost overwhelmingly identifiable as a brand new iPhone in the wild, more so than any other model in recent memory. Looking new is always a key driver of upgrades and the iPhone has looked largely the same to normal users since the iPhone 12 adopted the flat edges almost 5 years ago. Combined with more Apple Intelligence features likely to come this summer at WWDC, these are going to be very exciting iPhones and it all seemingly starts as early as next week.
What Remains of the Clients We Loved
I’ve downloaded thousands of apps as an iOS aficionado since day one. But none have typically inspired me as much as the third-party social media clients that helped build the industry as we know it today. I’m talking about Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Echofon, Twittelator, Tweetie, Alien Blue, Apollo, Narwhal, Comet, among many others. These apps all found ways to offer unique experiences to users that improved upon the original product. In some of these cases, apps were acquired by the platform and twisted and reshaped into first-party clients like Tweetie and Alien Blue which became the X and Reddit apps we have today. Now they are largely unrecognizable as their original third-party predecessors. That’s unfortunate. It’s even more unfortunate that X and Reddit have changed the way they offer their APIs leading to no clients in the case of X and substantially fewer ones in the case of Reddit.
Thankfully, there’s Mastodon and Bluesky and a handful of Reddit developers willing to put up with the current API situation. I find myself frequently reminiscing about the clients of old and am always on the hunt for the best iOS apps so I wanted to talk about what remains of these iconic products.
Ivory is the spiritual successor to what’s largely considered the best Twitter client of all-time, Tweetbot. Outside of the actual content of the timeline, the app largely feels much like Tweetbot did with a handful of tweaks. It’s the most well-designed, thoughtful, and reliable social media client there is today. Much like Tweetbot was. As I’ve said before, I’m holding out hope that the Tapbots team eventually develops a counterpart for Bluesky. We’ll see what happens there, the developers have actually joined the platform in recent weeks leading a few to speculate that it’s in the cards now.
Twitterrific was another incredible Twitter client, in fact you could argue it was the first. While The Iconfactory doesn’t offer a Mastodon or Bluesky client, they do make Tapestry. Tapestry takes a different approach to social media by letting you build custom feeds with Mastodon, Bluesky, Reddit, RSS, YouTube, and others. Though the app only allows you to consume content, there’s no posting available at the moment. Tapestry feels like it has a lot of Twitterrific dna inside it, whether it’s the interesting font choices, the color scheme, the minimalistic timeline design, and even the shape of images and icons.
While we all miss Apollo deeply, it didn’t technically need to die. Though I understand why Christian Selig decided not to move forward with it after his contentious back and forth with Reddit. Despite Apollo’s demise, Narwhal was in fact redesigned and adopted a subscription model to accommodate the changes to API costs. I’ve been using Narwhal 2, the latest version, a lot lately and find it to be cleaner, more customizable, and in some cases more reliable than the first-party Reddit app. Reddit’s official app that’s built on the back of Alien Blue has a lot going on. It’s not bad, but it’s not the best experience. I’d argue Narwhal might just have it beat.
There are other clients for Bluesky, Mastodon, and Reddit. But none of them are as nice or reliable as the three apps mentioned above. They’re the real successors to the iconic clients we all miss dearly. So if you’re feeling nostalgic for Tweetbot, try Ivory. If you’re feeling nostalgic for Twitterrific, try Tapestry. And if you’re feeling nostalgic for Apollo, try Narwhal 2.
Hopefully Pixelmator Follows in the Steps of Workflow Rather Than Dark Sky
It happened folks, Pixelmator is officially part of Apple. Pixelmator’s apps have been essential to me for more than a decade. I was both excited and mildly terrified by the announcement a few months ago that they were joining the fruit company. When Apple acquires beloved products, sometimes they make them even better and sometimes they don’t. They’ve generally been doing a great job though and I hope that Pixelmator and Photomator stick around as standalone products or are at least used as the foundations for even better new ones. I certainly don’t want to see them just disappear into the Photos app, relegated to a set of features. Fingers crossed that they follow in the steps of Workflow, Shazam, and Texture and just become better versions of themselves rather than get enveloped into Apple apps like Dark Sky and Beats Music did. Man I miss those two.
Apple Invites Screams That an iOS UI Overhaul is Coming
The rumored Apple Invites app has arrived. While I obviously haven’t had much time to play with it, I have quickly browsed through the UI and wanted to share some observations. The last new Apple app, Apple Sports, already felt out of place in iOS 18. It has a more visionOS or watchOS-like design language utilizing colorful backgrounds, glassy floating UI elements, expanding buttons, and lots of layered shapes. Apple Invites takes it all even further. It’s got big beautiful cards, translucent cells, big bold buttons, and an emphasis on content. It feels so clearly like a hint of what is to come in a future iOS update. It’s almost screaming it in our faces. It seems awfully suspect that Apple’s two latest apps have a whole new design language that does not mesh with the rest of the OS. Presumably, other first-party apps are on track to get overhauls to match. Maybe in iOS 19? There have been rumors of such a redesign. I’ll also note that the icon for the app is quite fun and super colorful. It is hopefully another hint towards refreshed Apple icons that take better advantage of the full rounded rec shape compared to many of the iOS 7-style ones we still have today.