Author Archives → David Sparks

Liquid Glass in Beta 3

This week we got the third iOS 26 beta, and, unsurprisingly, Apple continues to tamp down a bit on Liquid Glass. In the below image, from Zac Hall at 9to5 Mac, you can see the clear trend toward legibility.

This comes as a surprise to nobody that pays attention to Apple Beta cycles. They always start at an extreme with beta 1 and slowly dial it back not just in the beta process but also over the process of years with new software iterations.

I continue to generally enjoy Liquid Glass on my beta devices. My favorite part of this years visual overhaul: whimsy.

Jam Pack Nostalgia

Stephen Hackett recently wrote a delightful article on Apple Jam Packs that made me smile. If you were using Apple gear during a certain decade, saving up for and buying Apple Jam Packs was one of the delights of the platform.

I remember slowly adding to my collection over a few years and the thrill of exploring all the loops, rhythms, and instruments with each new purchase. Folks that were there may disagree as to what the best Jam Pack was, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, so long as they acknowledge that, without a doubt, the World Music Jam Pack was the clear winner.

If you have the original first edition OmniFocus Field Guide, first, bless you, and, second, all the transition music in it was World Music Jam Pack loops.

The Omni Road Map

Speaking of Ken Case, the Omni Group recently posted its post-WWDC roadmap. There are some nice new features heading to OmniFocus, including mutually exclusive tags (for things like priority and Kanban status), better repeat, and a new, third date field for “planned” dates. It all sounds pretty useful.

Mac Power Users 804: From NeXT to Liquid Glass, with Ken Case

Ken Case is the CEO at the Omni Group and has been developing for Apple platforms for decades. On this episode of Mac Power Users, he shares how he got his start in technology, what Apple gear he uses, his approach to customer communication, and his thoughts on WWDC.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Never forget a password again.
  • Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code MPU.

The Lab Report for July 4, 2025

In this week’s episode of The Lab Report: Pixelmator Pro is adding AI features, why an Apple Ring is a good idea, and [two of my favorite musical artists get together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjM6Jbd__Qc&list=RDPjM6Jbd__Qc&start_radio=1) and awake my soul.
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Grammarly’s Superhuman Acquisition

As a Superhuman user, my first reaction to this news was, “uh oh”.

What makes Superhuman so valuable to me as a user is the company’s obsession with email optimization. If they just become another cog in the wheel of Grammarly, I’m not sure they’ll keep that up.

However, since then, I’ve been reading the press release and even the email from Superhuman’s founder, Rahul Vohra. It appears that this acquisition was made to accelerate Superhuman’s feature list, rather than impede it. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this turns out to be a good thing for users.