• A nice design refresh for iOS/iPadOS 18 — bring it more in line with the rest of the OS family! Both have felt more or less the same, or similar, since iOS 7. Shake it up!
• macOS Big Sur and later icons on iOS, PLEASE. iOS needs to feel less bland and flat.
• macOS 15 should be improvements focused, don’t cram too much new stuff in. Make battery and other performance improvements. Double down and do some summer cleaning!
• watchOS 11 could do with some improvements too. Battery improvements on older models, especially…

If there’s anything else, I’ll update this… but I don’t really care about the other platforms so much. So this what I really, really want! I’m watching the events with a friend on event day, and I couldn’t be more excited! Love WWDC, favourite time of the year!

The post My WWDC24 Wishlist appeared first on Slade Watkins.

At the end, he makes the case that each new generation of computing devices has an open alternative and a closed one from Apple. (It’s interesting to think that these rivalries might be best thought of not as closed-vs.-open, but as Apple-vs.-the-rest-of-the-industry.) I’m not quite sure where he’s going with that, though, because I don’t really see how my Quest 3 is any more “open” than my Vision Pro. Are they going to license the OS to other headset makers?

The Quest system software is Android at its core, with Meta’s software running on top. Quest lets you connect to a PC and use it as a VR headset for it, install whatever app you want, whereas Apple locks it down tightly to their ecosystem. Their app marketplace, their rules. I think that’s more so what Zuck was getting at there: Meta simply isn’t keeping things as tight with their platform like Apple is. There are rules and restrictions, of course, even Android itself has them–but they’re not aggressive about it.

As for your question itself, Meta could probably license the OS to other headset makers within the scope of Android’s open-source license, but I doubt they will. There are a lot of potential issues with that and Meta has a lot of proprietary stuff running on top of what is, again, essentially Android.

I think what we’re likely going to see is the walls coming down even further than they already are on Meta’s side. They already have the price advantage with their own product line, so I don’t really see why they wouldn’t want to open things up even further.

The post My Response to John Gruber’s Quest 3 “Open” Question appeared first on Slade Watkins.

Joz from Apple said on Twitter tonight that “apps designed specifically for Vision Pro” have surpassed 1,000. The company previously said just a couple weeks ago that there were 600 when the product initially launched at the beginning of this month. [h/t to MacRumors]

The post Vision Pro Apps Surpass 1,000, says Greg “Joz” Joswiak appeared first on Slade Watkins.

I mean, it’s eerily similar, for sure. But like the many other “predictions” the show has made, including the Trump presidency, I am about 99.9% certain that this is just a coincidence. The other .1%, though…well, I’m not so sure. Perhaps Matt Groening and company are time travelers. We’ll never know.

The post Everyone’s Convinced ‘The Simpsons’ “Predicted” Apple Vision Pro A Few Years Ago appeared first on Slade Watkins.

A few years ago, I discovered a weather app so sassy that I just had to have it. That app was CARROT. I got my friends on it and everything. We have a Discord channel dedicated to just sharing some of the unhinged crap the sentient app bot spits out at us. It has even spawned some absolutely hilarious inside jokes for my friends and I, too! We love it!

Well, the developer behind it has brought it to Apple Vision Pro, and it’s really nicely designed. It is worth checking out, even if you don’t have an Apple Vision Pro! It’s just that pretty!

Also, download CARROT. You won’t regret it. Such a good weather app!

The post My Favorite Weather App, CARROT, is Available on Apple Vision Pro Now appeared first on Slade Watkins.

“The Apple Vision Pro headset is made of heavy materials like aluminum and glass…so how does this affect bumps and drops while wearing the device? Here’s an in-depth durability and drop test to see how it holds up!”

It did quite well, all things considered! I’m very impressed that, despite being a first-gen with some obvious inherent quirks that come with that, it’s still fully functional after getting absolutely hulk smashed by Sam. Do be careful with your $3,500 USD purchase, though. As the almighty JerryRigEverything says, “Glass is glass and glass breaks.”

The post Apple Vision Pro Durability Test – It Survives! appeared first on Slade Watkins.

It’s true, Google wouldn’t do it, so Christian Selig (of Pixel Pals, and if you’re old enough to remember — Apollo — fame) did. He made a new YouTube app called Juno for the Apple Vision Pro.

It’s native and beautiful, too. Available now for $4.99 USD on the App Store.

Not an ad, just thrilled that my favorite developer is building more stuff. I’ve missed him!

The post $5 Gets You A Beautiful YouTube App that Google Wouldn’t Make for Vision Pro appeared first on Slade Watkins.

Apple writes (emphasis mine):

“More than 600 apps and games designed to take advantage of the unique and powerful capabilities of Apple Vision Pro will be available this Friday, February 2. Vision Pro has an infinite canvas where apps can scale beyond the boundaries of a traditional display, and introduces an intuitive and powerful three-dimensional user interface that users navigate with their eyes, hands, and voice. Spatial experiences on Vision Pro can transform any room into a personal theater for sports, TV shows, and films; unlock new ways to collaborate, create, and view digital content; and transport users to stunning gameplay environments and exciting new places.”

That may not sound like much, but for a brand-new, first-gen device and platform, it’s quite impressive. Spotify, YouTube, and Netflix are among the apps not available, though, so that’s unfortunate — but Disney+ is built right in, and if you have a cable subscription, you can tap into that with the (also built-in) TV app.

Interested to see what apps are launching. I know most of the ones I’d personally be interested are in compatibility mode on the headset, not native, so I can’t imagine many will adapt unless there’s a benefit to that. We’ll see!

The post Apple Says “More Than 600 Apps” Prepped Ahead of Vision Pro Launch Tomorrow appeared first on Slade Watkins.

As discovered by Ray Wong on Twitter, there’s an interesting connector that the Vision Pro’s battery uses. It’s not USB-C (which the EU will mandate on certain types of devices starting this year), and while it looks like Lightning, it’s most certainly not. There are two many pins on the end! This is a proprietary if I’ve ever seen one.

I don’t know what it does, I don’t have access to Vision Pro at all. But one thing’s for sure: it’s a weird connector that feels oddly familiar to Lightning that I had to share with you.

Should we call it “Lightning XL”?

The post Removing The Vision Pro Battery’s Cable Reveals An Interesting, Yet Oddly Not Quite Familiar Connector appeared first on Slade Watkins.

Just a heads up… Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that “the first wave of non-curated” reviews for Apple Vision Pro will release tomorrow, since the headset launches on the 2nd of February (Friday). I’m excited for the concept and how it potentially pushes the industry forward–though not the headset itself because of that price tag. That’ll get better as it ages, though!

I’m more curious how they’re going to show things from the headset–is there a way to screen record within visionOS? There’s a lot of questions I have as well about visionOS that I hope get answered in some of these reviews.

The post Reminder: Gurman Says Embargo for “Non-Curated Reviews” of Apple Vision Pro Lifts Tomorrow appeared first on Slade Watkins.