Matthew Lang

The Last of Us Part II is delayed again. I’ve waited for this long, I can wait a few months more.

It was announced yesterday that Apple has acquired the weather app Dark Sky. As part of the acquisition, the iOS app will continue to function as it is. In contrast, the Android app will no longer be available for download. Like many others, I use the Dark Sky app daily. The API service that provides forecast and historical data for other apps and services will continue to function until the end of 2021.

Like so many other people, Dark Sky was one of those apps that have been on my phone for years. In my opinion, there was no contender. Now though, it looks like we’ll hopefully get a revamped iOS weather app with many of the features of Dark Sky in it. I hope. This is still the early days of the acquisition. Like so many software takeovers in the past, I’m sceptical of what lies ahead for both parties.

The bad news.

It’s another excellent service swallowed up by big tech. The Dark Sky team finished their update on this by saying they are looking forward to building great products. When a smaller independent company gets bought over by big tech though, there’s usually no light at the end of the tunnel.

With no app available for download, Android users not only need to find an alternative to Dark Sky, but also a weather app that doesn’t use the Dark Sky API. The Dark Sky API has been seen for a long time as the best and most accessible API for weather information. With the API closing down, developers will need to find an alternative.

I’ve been using the Dark Sky API for a product of my own. I’ll now need to spend some time finding an alternative to the Dark Sky API and make the necessary changes for my product. I have the time to do this, but it’s time that I would have earmarked for other prioritised work. I’ll need to re-jig things in the meantime.

The good news.

There is good news about this. Apple will finally get a better weather app. I’ve not been a fan of the weather app for a few years, and when Apple allowed their core apps to be deleted, it was one of the first ones to go from my home screens.

With Dark Sky closing their doors, there is space in the market now for an alternative to Dark Sky. A developer-friendly forecasting API that also provides alerts for changing weather conditions. I’m not saying that it will be easy to do, but there will be many app developers looking for such an alternative. It could be an opportunity.

Is Apple going to do the same for weather data as they did for maps? Apple’s MapKit JS service is a good alternative to Google’s own map service. It would be nice to see a WeatherKit service for both native and web applications. Like maps, weather information can be included in all manner of apps. Having a reliable source of weather information would likely attract more developers to building apps for the iOS platform.

It’s always good to have an alternative

At the end of the day, Apple’s acquisition of Dark Sky should be a cautious reminder. No matter how excellent the service is, there’s always a chance that it can be pulled. The best way to plan for such disruptions is to have at least one other alternative in place.

With another service already earmarked, you can make the switch from one service to the other easily. This doesn’t just go for the apps you use, it goes for your personal data as well. It’s also should be considered if a service is fundamental to your business.

I have to say, Ethan’s first batch of oatmeal and raisin cookies are pretty spot on. I wonder if I can get him to cook dinner as well? 🤔

I’ve been really enjoying using Tailwind CSS over the last few days. I’m finally getting my head around it. The thing about it I like the most though is the ability to go from basic HTML to styled components in a relative short period of time.

Rules for living.

All of these should be within easy reach for everyone given the circumstances.

I was skeptical of the value of the $299 price tag on the new Magic Keyboard but reading more about its features then it’s close to being justified for me.

Fast Company asks what would happen if the world reacted to climate change like it’s reacting to the coronavirus?

Pleasantly surprised.

That’s exactly how I would sum up my own personal review of the Apple Watch. I’ve been on the fence for a long time regarding the Apple Watch. Last weekend though, I bought a series 5 and I have been pleasantly surprised by the device and what it can do. According the Cult of Mac, I’m not the only one.

I often listen to podcasts when I’m cooking, cleaning, etc. Being able to skip forward in a show, or pause it, from my Apple Watch without having to stop what I’m doing and walk over to my phone is very convenient.

— I thought Apple Watch was pointless but now I love it

The fitness tracking is by far the best aspect of it for me though. Getting in enough exercise and movement through the day is important, which I why I’m already won over by the three rings feature of the Activity app.

Productivity reminder from Nicholas Bate. The list is your assistant.

I like the idea behind the Iconfactory’s Tot app. Just a limited number of spaces that you can write in and using Markdown too.

I’ve been trying to find a way to reboot my writing habit for a couple of years now. The trouble is, most things I have written are on too wide a range of topics. When you’re covering a wide range of topics, it feels like you’re jumping from one subject to the next. I need to narrow these topics down.

Paul Graham’s latest essay on how to write usefully got me thinking about this again.

If you narrow the topic sufficiently, you can probably find something you’re an expert on. Write about that to start with. If you only have ten readers who care, that’s fine. You’re helping them, and you’re writing. Later you can expand the breadth of topics you write about.

— How to Write Usefully

I need to focus on one or two topics and start from there.

Despite the many things that Visual Studio can do, I find it very uncomfortable to use when writing code. My preferred coding font just doesn’t render as nicely as it does in Microsoft’s open source text editor, Visual Studio Code.

I wonder if there will come a time when Microsoft recommend their open source text editor over their proprietary IDE?

You know you’re a golfer when you start to despise the snow.

It’s not all bad, though. I’ve booked the boys and me into the indoor studio for 90 minutes, followed by lunch.

A very dark and broody sky for the snow moon.

There hasn’t been much that has dazzled me since recently picking up C#. I must admit though, I do like using C#’s query expressions. Pretty powerful stuff when used with classes.

I often wondered what kind of impact web page bloat has on CO2 emissions. Now I know.

It’s great to see Feedbin have added an automatic option that will automatically switch between light and dark. What is really great though, is the per device settings. Finally I can use different settings on my iPhone that won’t change the settings on the desktop.

In the search for a viable alternative to Fantastical, I’ve found that Calendar 366 has a pretty good like for like match to Fantastical’s features and without the subscription. I think this will serve as a good replacement in the short term.

There was much debate this week about Fantastical’s move to a subscription app and subscriptions in general. Now, I’m not against developer’s adding subscriptions to their apps, they have to make a living somehow from the software that they produce.

My concern with Fantastical is the price. I find the subscription price quite high in terms of how much I use the app and what Fantastical are offering in their premium subscription.

Is Fantastical worth it?

Just as a comparison, I decided to look at the apps on my home screen and their subscription amounts. In total, I have 12 apps on my first home screen. Given these are the apps that I use daily, then it’s apparent that I do place a lot of value on these I have subscriptions for apps on other screens, but these are used less regularly.

Here are the apps that I pay an annual subscription for that are on this first home screen:

• Micro.blog ($50)
• 1Password (~$60)
• Todoist ($35.99)
• Bear ($14.99)
• Day One ($31.99)
• Feedbin ($24.99)
• Instapaper ($29.99)

Now taking these annual subscriptions into account, there is one that I can’t do without and that’s 1Password. Being able to save my logins securely and across multiple devices is such a time-saver. I’m not saying that price isn’t an issue on this one, but this app is essential.

The rest of the apps that I pay annual subscriptions for aren’t essential, but I do use them daily and usually on multiple devices. There, I do find them valuable. At the top end of the scale in terms of price are Micro.blog, Todoist, Day One, Instapaper and Feedbin. At the bottom end of the scale is Bear.

If I were to pay for Fantastical’s pricing, it would put it at the top end of the subscriptions that I have. It’s not going to break the bank, but I do find it a bit steep. And that’s why I’m not 100% convinced that Fantastical’s new subscription app is for me. Despite using Fantastical most days to manage my schedule, I would not consider it to be worth its subscription price.

It isn’t straightforward to compare apps and their usefulness as there are used differently by everyone. For example, I use Bear and Feedbin daily, and I find them both very useful, but over the year the price difference in the annual subscription is $10. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you consider that you might have other app subscriptions, they can quickly rack up. So while I accept that it’s hard to compare apps and their subscriptions, I still think that the price for the Fantastical subscription is quite high.

The Fantastical alternatives

Right, so we’ve established that I find the Fantastical price a bit high, so what are the alternatives?

As for alternatives, I tried Apple’s own Calendar app this week and found it sadly lacking in features. I didn’t expect a whole lot from the app as I know it’s free, but it doesn’t appear to have been updated very often.

There are other calendar apps on the App Store, but some that I have seen are free and have ads in them. You then have to pay to remove the ads. This style of pricing isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a calendar app or any app for that matter, but I’m personally not a fan of this style of pricing. I would instead prefer developers to charge a price for their apps or be free with an option to unlock features with a reasonably-priced subscription. For me, ads have no places in apps, so anything that has ads is out.

I also gave Calendars 5 a try from the app store. Sticking to the pricing argument I made earlier, I bought the app for full-price, which is $6.99. It does everything that a calendar app should do. Natural language input, different views and light and dark themes are all there. You can sync your iCloud calendars across multiple devices, and there’s an iPad version of the app too. I didn’t install this though, as I find that having a calendar app on my phone and my desktop is enough for me.

I’m also giving Timepage a run again, but the lack of calendar views does limit it a bit, and there is no equivalent app for macOS. There are however a number of things going for it that I do like. It includes weather forecasts for events, travel times and a daily briefing notification to see what’s coming up for the day. It’s also very customisable and includes several options to adjust the app including themes, font size calendar and timeline. It’s also significantly cheaper than Fantastical at just $11.99.

Making a decision

Having tried these apps out this week, I’m going to ditch Calendars 5. It’s okay as a scheduling app. However, I do like the extra effort that has gone into the user interfaces of both Fantastical and Timepage.

I’m still torn between Timepage and Fantastical though. Fantastical’s calendar group syncing is a feature I would like to have, but it’s not essential. To be able to have calendar groups sync between phones would be great, but it’s not a deal-breaker and certainly not worth the price of the app subscription as it stands at the moment. It’s more of a nice to have.

I haven’t deleted Fantastical from my phone yet. I can still use it without the annual subscription, but I know I’m going to get frustrated with the number of features that are locked out. It’s at this point where I will either cave and go for the subscription or I will delete the app. Fantastical hasn’t been too aggressive in reminding me to upgrade. Still, it feels like over time I might be nagged into upgrading.

There’s also the question of changing my subscription. If I take the Timepage subscription now, I could still change my mind and then use Fantastical. However, it will always feel like I wasted some money on a subscription that I’m not going to use. Sure, I bought the Calendars 5 app, I’m prepared to do that to find the right app to use. What I don’t want to do though is take a subscription for an app that I won’t fully use.

I can see me sticking with Fantastical in the short term. It will be interesting to see if Flexibits make any changes in the short-term based on user feedback of the jump from 2.0 to 3.0. Still, I suspect that they will leave the app subscription price as is. Most users will come round to paying the subscription. For me, though, it’s still too high a price to pay at the moment.

A simple upgrade has turned into a multi-app deep dig of calendar apps over the last few days as I tinker with Fantastical 3.0, Timepage and Calendars 5. I think I might rule out Calendars 5. It doesn’t offer the same benefits that Timepage has. Which just leaves me two apps now.

I’ve been putting off starting what I know will be a long-running item of work. I’m putting it off because I haven’t taken that first step. And that first step is essential. Not the most critical step mind you, but necessary all the same. That first step could the first of hundreds, maybe thousands. Whatever it is, it’s that first step.

The first step doesn’t need to be a grand gesture, either. It doesn’t mean planning the next hundred things you need to do. It means just writing down what you need to do next and then maybe follow it up with the following two after that. Once those steps are complete, move onto the next few.

Whatever it is you want to do, take that first important step and see where it takes you. I’ve lost count of the number of things I haven’t done because I didn’t take that first step.

Following on my Fantastical 3 post, I’m considering moving to Calendar for iOS as it’s free and does the job. You might also want to consider Timepage, the calendar app by Moleskine. Like Fantastical 3, it’s a subscription app, but it’s much cheaper than Fantastical. I haven’t done a like for like comparison yet, but I do remember it also includes weather and travel times.

I’m wondering why I’m gravitating away from one genre of books to another?

I haven’t enjoyed a fantasy book for a while, but I am enjoying science fiction more now than I have in the past. 📚

Over at Beautiful News, 30 countries could be 100% geothermal powered.

I was looking at the DuckDuckGo traffic for the last few years. The stats are pretty impressive. A seven-fold increase in queries over the previous five years and this month’s number of queries is already more than last January. It looks like it’s going to be another year on year increase for queries.

It’s got me wondering about my usage of DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo has been my search engine of choice for many years now, and as a result, I’m pretty familiar with a number of the bang methods that are available to help with your searches.

Now, I know DuckDuckGo is a privacy-first search engine. It’s why I use it in the first place. Saying that I’d still be interested to know how many searches I do over the year and how often I use the different bang methods. I don’t want the actual search terms tracked, just the number of times I search and how often I use each of the bang methods.

If DuckDuckGo did this, it would raise a few concerns about where they are going with tracking. This functionality might be best done in a browser extension so that it’s purely an opt-in feature.

Not everyone will agree with me about tracking your search usage, but I still think it would be quite interesting nonetheless.