Core Intuition

Manton and Daniel react to news that Automattic is acquiring Tumblr. They talk about the potential pros and cons for Tumblr and Automattic, as well as for Micro.blog and MarsEdit. They talk about Matt Mullenweg's optimism about the future of the open web, and the turning tide back towards blogging. Finally, they wonder whether Tumblr will have as much of an impact on Automattic as Automattic has on it.

Daniel catches Manton up on his ongoing VoiceOver challenges with Black Ink 2. Manton encourages him to balance perfectionism with the virtue of getting the update out and “showing his work.” They respond to more follow-up about Manton’s changes to Micro.blog's onboarding process, and Manton reports on the impact of the chagnes on his business. Finally, they look forward to growing their businesses enough to meet financial goals, and perhaps more importantly, earning their ability to comfortably stop working on weekends.

Manton and Daniel react to listener feedback about Manton's new emphasis on asking for credit card information. They assess the challenge of pursuing philosophical ambitions such ass supporting the open web, while also ensuring that sufficient profits are made to sustain those efforts. Daniel recounts his appearance on John Gruber's "The Talk Show", and the two talk more about the implications of Apple's new notarization requirements.

Daniel and Manton review Manton's decision to rename his cross-posting Twitter account in order to emphasize its purpose of promoting his blog. They talk about Manton's decision to be more proactive in asking for the customer's credit card at sign-up, Daniel reflects on his time as a telephone customer service rep, and shares his impressions of the Micro.blog onboarding experience.

Manton follows up on his efforts to establish regular email newsletters with his customer base, sparking a discussion about finding other ways to reach customers aside from social media. Daniel tries to convince Manton to revive his original Twitter account, Manton leans more toward cutting ties completely, and finally settles on a compromise.

Daniel and Manton react to Jony Ive's departure from Apple. They remember his achievements, and wonder where it leaves Apple moving forward. Daniel talks about making his Mac crossword app accessible via VoiceOver, and Manton marks the occasion of officially shutting down Tweet Marker.

Manton and Daniel talk about Apple releasing the Catalina public beta, and the relatively high risk/reward ratio to beta testers. They consider the $100/year developer fee required by Apple to ship App Store or Developer ID releases, and whether that imposes an undue burden on amateur developers. Daniel talks about staging a multi-update release day for several apps in order to be give Catalina beta-testers early compatible versions.

Daniel and Manton talk a bit more about WWDC announcements, and about having the discipline to put off playing with shiny new technologies while focusing on making progress with current projects. They talk about the practicality of adopting Catalyst in the short term, while SwiftUI may still be best to put off. They react to the Mac Pro and debate the merit of Apple selling to such a high end segment of the market. Finally, Manton admits that he's trying again to embrace direct email marketing to his customers, and Daniel agrees it's time he finally got on board as well.

Manton and Daniel catch up after WWDC. Daniel's talks about coming to terms with Apple’s size and power, after visiting Apple Park. They revisit their opinions about San Jose as a city for conferences, and agree the electric scooters are a nice touch. Finally, they get into reactions keynote announcements, mostly focusing on SwiftUI and Catalyst.

Daniel and Manton celebrate 11 years of publishing Core Intuition. They recall the earliest years, and answer listener questions pertaining to the anniversary. The discussion includes wondering how they've lasted this long, examining the ways they've influenced each other over the years, and what it would take for them to abandon Apple's platforms. Finally, they look forward to traveling to San Jose next week for WWDC!

Manton talks with Daniel about Micro.blog's mention in The New Yorker, which leads into a discussion about being on the lookout for PR opportunities, and "answering every call" even if you don't particularly feel like talking to the press. Daniel reviews his experiences with Setapp, one week into listing MarsEdit on the subscription service, and the two reflect on the virtue of investing in multiple sales channels as a way of diversifying the opportunity for lucky breaks.

Daniel talks to Manton about his experience adding MarsEdit to the Setapp subscription software service, and connects it to a general thrust of trying new things to expand his indie business revenues. They talk through a number of issues relating to Setapp, and delve again into questions about balancing efforts invested into development vs. other activities such as marketing.

Manton checks in with Daniel's impression of his Amazon Echo after finally cracking it open. They compare and contrast with the HomePod/Siri experience. In response to a listener question, they talk about the tradeoffs of being publicly accessible to users, and the impact that has on free time for "real work." Finally, they talk a little bit about "bad customer behavior” when it comes to support inquiries.

Daniel and Manton continue looking forward to expected WWDC announcements, while also keeping their hopes and dreams in check. They discuss Steve Troughton-Smith's adaptation of several 3rd-party iOS apps to Marzipan. They explore the changes Apple might make to iOS APIs to allow for more automated compliance with Mac UI standards. Finally, Daniel still hasn’t opened his Amazon Echo, and Manton wishes he had an in-car Alexa device.

Manton and Daniel talk about keeping in the indie software release habit even while much of your time is taking up by a "day job." They discuss the merit of optimizing release workflows to remove friction from shipping. Manton talks about Micro.blog's great new window resizing ability, and Daniel gives him an inordinately hard time about this one little limitation.