Core Intuition

Daniel and Manton react to a 9to5 article detailing purported changes coming in iOS 13. They weigh the significance of multi-window support on the iPad, and what it means for Marzipan and the future of the Mac. Daniel anticipates using his unopened Amazon Echo, getting the two off on a discussion about Siri's continuing shortcomings, and whether WWDC will bring any major new updates to the technology.

Manton and Daniel catch up after Manton's road trip to the Peers Conference in New Orleans, and his simultaneous launch of a major new video upload and hosting service for Micro.blog. Daniel talks about his efforts so far to balance the time demands of his indie software development with his new full-ish time job. The two motivate each other, and everybody listening to blog more, and finally they talk about the rumors of iTunes being broken up, and apparent impact Marzipan will have on Apple and 3rd party developers.

Daniel and Manton talk about Apple's cancellation of AirPower as a rare example of Apple failing to deliver on a high profile product. They compare with more fraudulent examples of vaporware such as the medical products promised by Theranos. Manton hints at a new feature coming to Micro.blog that will require simultaneous updates to all his apps at once.

Manton and Daniel react to Apple’s March Special Event. They question the merit of Apple Card with it’s higher-than-expected interest rates. They weigh the benefits of a closed system like Apple News versus the completely free web. They talk about Apple Arcade, how it will impact existing game developers, and whether it will take precedence over the current Games category. Finally, they wonder whether Apple’s wide range of subscription offerings will finally push the company to offer something like “Amazon Prime” to unify everything.

Daniel talks to Manton about shipping a substantial MarsEdit update in the wake of being busy at his new job. They talk a little bit about one of the Micro.blog features MarsEdit now supports, and how MarsEdit still needs to support a jumble of loosely related blogging APIs. Manton talks about shipping Sunlit 2.4 with a redesigned posting interface. They reacted to Apple's "week of product announcements", and talk about the merit of remaining frugal even when you suddenly have some money coming in.

Manton catches up on Daniel's impressions after working the first few days at his new job, which is a “perfect fit” in many ways. They react to Spotify's "Time to Play Fair" public challenge to Apple, and question how Apple might react to it. They touch on other public trends against Big Tech, including Elizabeth Warren's suggestion that Apple and other companies should be broken up.

Daniel reveals to Manton that he's (on the verge of) taking a part-time job. They assess the likely impacton Red Sweater, and how it might affect Daniel's self image as an "independent developer." Manton talks about updates he's making to Micro.blog's billing infrastructure, and how small improvements can lead to recurring increases in revenues. Finally, Daniel reviews his plans for the upcoming 4.3 release, and questions whether having less time to work on Red Sweater might make the time he does spend on it more productive.

Manton and Daniel talk about how Austin IndieWebCamp went, and reflect on the virtues of the diverse "open web" community. They react to a debate between Jeff Atwood & David Heinemeier Hansson about their purportedly different approaches to business. Finally, they talk about Daniel's increasingly glum feelings about his business, Daniel makes some self-assessment of shortcomings, and the two of them talk about making small, productive tweaks to increase revenues.

Daniel and Manton talk about this weekend's Austin IndieWebCamp, and new rumors about Apple’s plans to support a single binary format for apps to run on Mac, iPad, and iOS. rumors, WWDC speculation. The explore the possible impact such plans would have on Micro.blog for Mac, and on Daniel's iOS aspirations. Meanwhile, Daniel bemoans the ongoing challenge of figuring out what to focus on when nobody's forcing him to focus on one thing.

Manton and Daniel react to MacRumors's discovery that WWDC will likely be held on June 3. They talk about the increasing price of hotels in San Jose, some options for more affordable accommodations. and the impact of high cost on the diversity of attendance. Manton prepares for IndieWebCamp Austin, while Daniel comes to term with the possibility of dropping support for Blogger, and thinking about ways to expand the appeal of MarsEdit.

Daniel returns from Paris and Manton shares his plans for WWDC 2019 accommodations. They talk about Spotify's acquisition of Gimlet and Anchor, and the possible implications for the diversity of podcasting ecosystem. Finally, they react to Angela Ahrendt's departure from Apple, and what it means for the future of Apple Stores.

Manton finishes Dark Mode support for the Mac Micro.blog app. He and Daniel discuss the merits of supporting bleeding edge features, and the difficulty in gauging demand for features that people want but are not complaining about. They speculate about when Dark Mode will come to iOS, talk about the Release Notes conference coming to Mexico, and Daniel's last-minute preparation for dotSwift in Paris.

Manton's premature release of Micro.blog for Mac with Dark Mode enabled release spurs him to work on an official update that supports it. Duck Duck Go announces they are now using MapKit JS for their maps, reminding us that Apple offers a web-based mapping service. Finally, Daniel and Manton start to look forward to WWDC 2019 and the greatness that may await.

Manton and Daniel talk briefly about Apple's revenue shortfall, and then more extensively about Apple's announced deals with Samsung and other television makers to bundle iTunes and AirPlay 2 functionality. They talk about the company's shift towards being a media conglomerate and how their so-called core values will be reflected in that area. Finally, Daniel catches Manton up with his progress on the iOS version of Black Ink, and reacts to a listener tweet criticizing his allegedly misplaced confidence.

Daniel and Manton greet the New Year with a vague sense of optimism, as Daniel moves closer to serious iOS development, and Manton remains confident and focused on Micro.blog. They talk about finding a balance between optimistic enthusiasm and realism about chance of failure. Finally, Daniel talks about his shifting plans for Black Ink 2 and the possibility of co-launching it with an iOS version.