Home Screens: John Siracusa

This week’s home screen post features John Siracusa. (Podcast)(Website)(Twitter) John, who writes those amazing OS X reviews for Ars Technica, famously stuck with his flip phone until a few months ago when he got a shiny new iPhone 6. (John is also our workflow guest on the Mac Power Users episode dropping this weekend.) So John, show us your home screen.

Q: What are some of your favorite apps?

The apps I use most are my favorites: Twitterrific, Overcast, and Instapaper. Those three cover most of my iPhone usage. I listen to podcasts while commuting (using my car’s Bluetooth iPhone integration). I read Twitter when I have a spare moment. While reading Twitter, I file interesting links away in Instapaper and read them when I have a longer stretch of free time.

Q: Which app is your guilty pleasure?

I feel the most guilty when I’m sinking time into Desert Golfing. It’s just one hole after another, with very little reward for making progress. It’s the aloof cat of iOS gaming.

Q: How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

Maybe ten times per day on weekdays, more on weekends.

Q: What Today View widgets are you using and why?

I never look at the Today View. I’m not sure why, but it’s never found a place in my iPhone or iPad usage.

Q: If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

I’d get serious about network services, applying all the same philosophies Apple already applies to its other products. Apple should own and control the primary technologies that make its network services possible. Look at how much Google and Amazon have invested in creating their own server-side infrastructure over the years: MapReduce, BigTable, Spanner, S3, EC2, DynamoDB, and so much more, and that’s even before considering the (more secretive) data center management and server hardware. Apple is behind here, and it shows in the performance and reliability of its network services—and in Apple’s ability to create new network services.

What’s your wallpaper and why?

My wallpaper is black because I don’t want anything to distract from the app icons. (I also have the parallax animation disabled for the same reason.)

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’m not happy with my home screen as shown in this screenshot. The iPhone 6’s larger screen has made the icons at the top a lot harder to reach, and this has forced me to reevaluate the layout I’ve had since the 5th generation iPod touch was released in 2012. Also, I’d really like it if Instagram would change its icon to fit in better with the others on my home screen.

Thanks John.

Audio Hijack 3? Yes Please.

I just bought my license for the new Audio Hijack 3 from Rogue Amoeba. Wow.

Audio Hijack has always been a stellar app. (For lesser needs, I also really like Rogue Amoeba’s Piezo.) What is really impressive about this version is the way they had the guts to scrap the old, perfectly functional user interface and build an entirely new one. What is even more impressive is that the new user interface is so much better than the old. So often, drastic user interface changes result in something clever but unusable. That’s not the case here.

Audio Hijack lets you manipulate audio on your Mac with the same aplomb a magician can pull a pigeon out of his pants. Would you like to combine your microphone with an iTunes track into 16-bit AIFF with an onscreen equalizer and a VU meter? No problem. This app isn’t for everyone but if you’ve ever wanted to really work/record/manipulate audio on your Mac, look no further.

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First Apple Watch Game

I remember in the months leading up to the debut of the iOS App Store where every app in development would merit its own news story. Looks like those days are back, for a little while at least.

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The Cantina Band and John Williams

So this week a person that lives in my home wrote an extensive blog post about the history of the Star Wars Cantina Band and included a link to John Williams’ jazz album. That wouldn’t be shocking except for the fact the post was not written by me. Imagine my surprise reading about these things from my wife. I must be doing something right.

Who Makes a Password in “123456” in 2015?

Apparently, a lot of people do. Nutty.

Overcast

When Marco Arment first released the Overcast podcast client, I bought it based on my experience with Marco’s prior project, Instapaper. I like how Marco sweats the small stuff and I wanted to see what he’d do with a podcast client. However, I was not as immediately taken with Overcast as was most of the rest of the Internet. Also, at the time I was giving Apple’s own Podcasts app a serious attempt. While the Podcasts app isn’t going to knock your socks off, it does have Siri integration. I can be driving down the street and push the button for Siri and say, “Play Podcast Mac Power Users” and the app opens, and the correct podcast fires up. At the time I viewed that as the killer feature to let me listen to multiple podcasts while driving down the road. Also, Overcast didn’t support the iPad or the Mac and I listen to podcasts on those devices as well.

After using the Podcast app for a month, I found that I’d only used the Siri integration a few times. Normally when I drive, I’m only good for listening to one podcast anyway. Also, in that interim period I discovered Overcast’s ability to play podcasts on my Mac via the browser and the app also got iPad support.

All of this brought me back into Overcast and now I’ve been using a few months as my full time podcast player. I don’t see myself leaving Overcast anytime soon. One of Overcast’s banner features, Smart Speed, removes gaps and performs other tricks on an audio file so it plays faster without making the it sound too artificial or the hosts sound like they’ve been sucking helium. I’m finding myself using Smart Speed increasingly and now I’m not sure I’d want to do without it. Moreover, the user interface is just better than the other podcatchers I’ve used. The buttons are big enough to easily tap but not ugly or intrusive. I like the Orange color. The way it displays a live waveform is functional and kind of fun. In hindsight, most of the geeks figured it out before I did but I got there eventually and Overcast is now staying on my home screen.

Elegant Discipline & Rainstorms

I’ve made mention on the Mac Power Users that I have an on-again off-again relationship with a personal journal. I explained that I write it only for myself and really have no intention of ever sharing it with anyone. That comment resulted in several emails to me asking why on earth I’d spend my time writing things that nobody else will read.

In the future I will answer such email with a link to this post from Ernie Svenson

“There is an elegant discipline involved in capturing your daily perspectives on life.

When you write your thoughts every day you’ll begin to see new things.”

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MPU 236: Managing Digital Finances

After several years of threatening to do so, Katie and I released a MPU episode on digital finance. I don’t think either of us have all the solutions here but at least this episode puts the best contenders on the table.

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Home Screens: J. Walter Hawkes

One of the best parts about running MacSparky.com is its eclectic group of listeners. I recently heard from J. Walter Hawkes, a professional musician (Website)(Blog)(Twitter). Walter is a composer. He does lots of children’s television, like Blue’s Clues, Wonder Pets, Third and Bird, and he is the current music director for Peg + Cat on PBS. To this day, I still catch myself singing some of the Blues Clues songs. (Team Steve!) Walter also plays a mad trombone solo. Don’t believe me? Listen to him back up Norah Jones on Sinkin Soon. Enough gushing. Walter, show us your home screen.

What are some of favorite apps?

iPhone: Getting around NYC can be…interesting. I like KickMap (for quick looks at the map and train line status) and HopStop (transit directions) to help me get around the city. I have a love/hate relationship with OmniFocus. I love how the app has helped me keep my act together. I hate being told what to do.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

I have a few: Firstly, Instagram and Facebook for purely voyeuristic reasons. When I want something mindless when I’m on the subway, I play 8bit Ninja….SpellTower if I only have one hand. Though it’s not an app… Hue Lights. I have a few Hue bulbs in my studio. They’re kinda new… so I’m still experimenting with apps. Now I’m using the official Hue app and OnSwitch. I’m not so sure about the apps, but I love the lights!

What is the app you are still missing?

At the moment, I’m satisfied on my iOS devices… we’ll see how long that lasts. I’m waiting for those killer HomeKit and Health apps. (Me too. -D)

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

All the time. Too much, probably. I use my iPad very heavily at work and play, too.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

I have a new iPad Air that has TouchID. That’s a real winner for me. I’m tempted to upgrade my iPhone 5 just for it… that’s crazy talk though!

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

iTunes. Oy.

What’s your wallpaper and why?

I have a random space shot I just picked off the internets. I was embarrassed that I still had the stock wallpaper on my phone. Ha!

Anything else you’d like to share?

I use my iPad a LOT. On the iPad, when dealing with musical scores or reading instrumental parts for the cartoons, I use FourScore. I use the bluetooth pedals for turning pages when I have a trombone or a ukulele in my hands. I use Noteability for scribbling notes on pdf scripts in meetings. I use GoodReader for my pdfs, which I have a LOT of. I dabble in electronics and I keep data sheets and schematics… I’ve digitized most my old computer programming paperbacks going back to 1992 or so… I’ll be totally freakin’ SET when I get that great idea for an application using VRML! (Check, please!)

Thanks Walter.