Perpetual Random Apple Rants Thread
- Thread starter gregatron5
- Start date
Well that would explain why I only need to do it once in a blue moon. I'm no longer on any social media (with the possible exception of reddit, and given recent events, even that feels like something I should quit) so I wouldn't know what the kids are doing on the FaceTokX these days. Screenshots! Who knew.
You're very right, and I'm not so obtuse I can't recognize that if you've got a screenshot, may as well make it easy to do something with it right away. I suppose if I can speak for ham bulu (and myself), I just wish it wasn't quite so easy to take one. Taking a screenshot is one of the selections you can assign to that clever double/triple back-tap command. That, I think, is a decent compromise for immediate accessibility for those who need it, but not quite as immediate as the infuriatingly easy to trigger Power + Volume Up combo.
Oh, also:
(quick-- without looking it up, what's the screenshot gesture on iPad? I promise there is one)
Ooh, ooh, I know this. It's... swipe from left corner, I think? Swipe from right is Quick Note, I know. I use that all the time. Pretty sure I remember an option somewhere to set swipe from left to screenshot, though.
This exactly. I took my time before ranting because I usually try to adapt when UI changes happen. But mapping opposing buttons, those you naturally hold when applying counter pressure, is such a bad choice I couldn‘t adjust my behaviour even after a year of trying.
The result is accidential screenshots when I try to adjust volume and accidental screen locks when I actually do take screenshots.
Find My is miraculous sometimes, but it has its limits.
I traveled home today by air from a faraway place. I had my beloved AirPods Pro 2 (the same ones that I got back after they were stolen in DFW airport, through a coincidence of Douglas Adams-level improbability) with me. I didn't take them out of the bag while in the airport at all, or so I thought. Then I got onto the plane, it took off, and I wanted to listen to music. I took the AirPods out and saw... no left bud. WTF?
Find My, using only the plane's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, thought the left AirPod was in the airport. I resigned myself to paying $89 for a replacement upon my return and having no music for the flight. Struggling to figure out what happened, I concluded that somehow the case had opened in my bag, the left AirPod had fallen out into the zipped pocket, I had unzipped that pocket during the security process, and the AirPod had fallen on the floor without me noticing. Seemed pretty improbable, but the AirPod wasn't there, and Find My thought it was in the airport, and continued to think that throughout the flight.
Then the plane landed, the pilot braked HARD (gotta make that high-speed exit), and the AirPod rolled out from under my seat.
Find My couldn't tell that the AirPod was less than three feet from the iPhone on which I was using Find My.
(Turned out that it had fallen out of the case without my noticing when I got the AirPods out; they had slipped out of my hand onto the floor.)
I traveled home today by air from a faraway place. I had my beloved AirPods Pro 2 (the same ones that I got back after they were stolen in DFW airport, through a coincidence of Douglas Adams-level improbability) with me. I didn't take them out of the bag while in the airport at all, or so I thought. Then I got onto the plane, it took off, and I wanted to listen to music. I took the AirPods out and saw... no left bud. WTF?
Find My, using only the plane's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, thought the left AirPod was in the airport. I resigned myself to paying $89 for a replacement upon my return and having no music for the flight. Struggling to figure out what happened, I concluded that somehow the case had opened in my bag, the left AirPod had fallen out into the zipped pocket, I had unzipped that pocket during the security process, and the AirPod had fallen on the floor without me noticing. Seemed pretty improbable, but the AirPod wasn't there, and Find My thought it was in the airport, and continued to think that throughout the flight.
Then the plane landed, the pilot braked HARD (gotta make that high-speed exit), and the AirPod rolled out from under my seat.
Find My couldn't tell that the AirPod was less than three feet from the iPhone on which I was using Find My.
(Turned out that it had fallen out of the case without my noticing when I got the AirPods out; they had slipped out of my hand onto the floor.)
I sometimes get notifications that I left my AirPods behind when they're sitting in their case in my pocket
Happens all the time to me, when I'm travelling. "Your AirPods were left behind…" Nope. In my pocket. "Your MacBook Pro was last seen…" Nope. In my bag. "Your iPad Pro…" Oh, for Christ's Sake, it's right here!
My favourite is “Your MacBook Pro was left behind…”
and I’m like “You’re technically correct. I have left it behind. It is in the boot of the car I’m driving, which is behind me.”
Yeah, I get that a lot, with AirTags as well.
I’d MUCH rather have those false, easily verifiable notices, than not be notified if I did leave something sitting on the curb.
I’d MUCH rather have those false, easily verifiable notices, than not be notified if I did leave something sitting on the curb.
Very true… if it's going to err one way or the other, this is definitely the side to err on!
Shortcuts
Every time I think I finally have a handle on Shortcuts’ bizarro scripting and even start verging on a bit of grudging respect, it does something entirely inscrutable that makes me hate it again.
I have a few Shortcuts that rely on txt files stored in iCloud>Shortcuts as global variable storage.
Recently, I was bored, so I decided to see about putting these into a csv instead. After about 20 steps (and more importantly, multiple multiple screens of oversized blocks), I go to save output as Test.csv. Result looks like a normal text file, open iCloud>Shortcuts, there’s Test.txt. Okay, run it again, same result. Delete Test.txt.
Okay, that’s just the extension, no big deal. New step: Rename “Saved File” as Test.csv. Result looks like a csv, yay. Open iCloud>Shortcuts, there’s Test.csv, yay again. Oh, there’s also Test.txt. That’s weird. Did I forget to delete the original failed test?
Delete both files, run Shortcut again, result looks good. Open iCloud>Shortcuts, Test.txt and Test.csv are both there.
Okay, fine. Shortcuts lives in bizarro world, so rename doesn’t behave like mv, it behaves like cp. I can just accept this. I’ll add a final step after rename to delete “Saved File.”
Run Shortcut. Huh, no result. That’s weird. Open iCloud>Shortcut. Oh, the contents of the entire directory have been deleted.
Every time I think I finally have a handle on Shortcuts’ bizarro scripting and even start verging on a bit of grudging respect, it does something entirely inscrutable that makes me hate it again.
I have a few Shortcuts that rely on txt files stored in iCloud>Shortcuts as global variable storage.
Recently, I was bored, so I decided to see about putting these into a csv instead. After about 20 steps (and more importantly, multiple multiple screens of oversized blocks), I go to save output as Test.csv. Result looks like a normal text file, open iCloud>Shortcuts, there’s Test.txt. Okay, run it again, same result. Delete Test.txt.
Okay, that’s just the extension, no big deal. New step: Rename “Saved File” as Test.csv. Result looks like a csv, yay. Open iCloud>Shortcuts, there’s Test.csv, yay again. Oh, there’s also Test.txt. That’s weird. Did I forget to delete the original failed test?
Delete both files, run Shortcut again, result looks good. Open iCloud>Shortcuts, Test.txt and Test.csv are both there.
Okay, fine. Shortcuts lives in bizarro world, so rename doesn’t behave like mv, it behaves like cp. I can just accept this. I’ll add a final step after rename to delete “Saved File.”
Run Shortcut. Huh, no result. That’s weird. Open iCloud>Shortcut. Oh, the contents of the entire directory have been deleted.
I have never been able to get iCloud sync working for Safari History for more than a few weeks at best. It has been broken in every single MacOS and iOS release since its introduction. Bookmarks and Reading list, no problem. History? Never more than a week before it breaks. Anyone else? It's not super critical or anything but it can be really annoying when I check something on my computer and then want to see it later during the day on mobile and not record exists.
Even now, cleared all history. Logged out of iCloud sync on iPhone and Mac. Logged back in. Reset devices. Browsed a few pages. All showed up. Five minutes later added a few more on the Mac. Nothing on the iPhone side. iCloud tabs, reading list, bookmarks all perfect. Really a head scratcher.
Even now, cleared all history. Logged out of iCloud sync on iPhone and Mac. Logged back in. Reset devices. Browsed a few pages. All showed up. Five minutes later added a few more on the Mac. Nothing on the iPhone side. iCloud tabs, reading list, bookmarks all perfect. Really a head scratcher.
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I don't have a pre-Ventura machine any more, but I'm pretty sure it was there up until the end of System Prefs.Egad! They actually DID (within categories)!
(Up until about 10.6 or so ? — certainly not in the Catalina/Monterey/etc releases)
Most decidedly not. In fact, I included a link for your convenience showing, among others, the (not alphabetically sorted) System Preferences from Catalina and El Capitan.
https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/System_Preferences
At some point, Universal Access got renamed "Accessibility", but its position did not shift, but none of the other categories followed alphabetical order at all by El Capitan.
EDIT: I did some sleuthing:
OS X 10.5 Leopard was the last system where the System Preferences were in fully alphabetical order:
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/mac-os-x/9780596529819/ch04.html
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard already had stuff non-alphabetically, fourteen years ago:
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/mac-os-x/9780321657879/ch23.html
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I get very strong AppleScript vibes from Shortcuts, personally. I'm not a professional developer but it's definitely a hobby and I've got a service at work that I develop and run on the side and maybe that throws me off, but I just never fully click with Shortcuts in the same way I never got a handle on AppleScript. It never works how I expect it should.
I never said it was sorted alphabetically by default. It was an option, and one that I was using right up until the end of System Preferences.
https://www.macworld.com/article/671142/how-to-use-system-preferences-settings-on-a-mac.htmlhttps://nektony.com/blog/system-preferences-on-machttps://hcsonline.com/images/PDFs/System_Preferences_Catalina.pdfhttps://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/get-to-know-your-macs-system-preferences/
EDIT: for shits and giggles I installed 12.6 Montery in a VM:
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I get these when I go for a run. They are in my fucking ears.
EDIT: It would be nice to be able to snooze these for a period of time. When I visit my in-laws, I don't need to know that my computer is still at their home when we go to the store. Or when I'm staying in a hotel. I would like the option to snooze these until the time I leave. Time to file feedback I guess.
Also, even in System Settings, you can go to the View menu to see all the settings panes listed alphabetically, and/or you can use the context menu on the dock icon. There’s just no longer an option to make the sort order alphabetical in the main Settings window.
I used System Preferences sorted alphabetically for years. The default categorizations never really resonated with me.
I misread you, but it got me looking down Memory Lane, so that was good.
This hateful, inexcusable app behaviour. It's even worse when you're using a Citrix VDI and something is pulling foreground attention because it wants something but that app won't reveal itself. Click back on to VDI session, type 3 characters and then mystery app or service decides to pull focus away from VDI but not reveal itself. It's maddening.
The pisspoor state of sharing from the Fitness app on iPhone.
I'd really like to export all my walking workouts, along with their map data, because reasons.
So I went into the summary, hit the Share icon, chose "save to files", chose my iCloud desktop, and got this:
and this:
What the literal fuck is the point of this, Tim Apple?
Edit: after far too long spent investigating how to solve this, I gave up and installed Strava, which promptly inhaled a month’s worth of activities and showed me them all on a heat map.
I'd really like to export all my walking workouts, along with their map data, because reasons.
So I went into the summary, hit the Share icon, chose "save to files", chose my iCloud desktop, and got this:
and this:
What the literal fuck is the point of this, Tim Apple?
Edit: after far too long spent investigating how to solve this, I gave up and installed Strava, which promptly inhaled a month’s worth of activities and showed me them all on a heat map.
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Why won't iOS allow me to swipe left (i.e. fully dismiss) a pop-up notification? Now I need to first swipe it up, pull down notification center, then swipe left to dismiss. Just bizarre that I can't do it right there when it pops up on the screen.
On Android you can do either.
On Android you can do either.
It's called privacy.
I both get what you want to do, but I also understand that level of sharing by default would be a significant violation of privacy for many people.
But then again, that's why they let you install other apps...
I don't follow.
Every single step of this chain involved a device (Watch, iPhone, MacBook Pro) or service (Health, Fitness, iCloud) secured by the same Apple ID.
Where would the violation of privacy be, here?
I had a long running python script that kept stalling out, and i couldn't figure out why, but turns out Apple quixotically has system sleep options in the Displays Advanced preferences
https://osxdaily.com/2023/01/02/how-prevent-mac-sleeping-when-display-is-off/
https://osxdaily.com/2023/01/02/how-prevent-mac-sleeping-when-display-is-off/
Before anyone says anything - first world problem - I know. Still annoying.
My normal monitor configuration is 2 x LG 4K (31") + 1080p touchscreen (13") and a 1080p AMOLED touchscreen (5.5"). There is another of the same model LG 4K display right beside the other two and it is hooked to an TV 4K through HDMI and an iPad Pro through TB3.
Occasionally I need the 3rd 4K monitor for a specific task I'm working on, it works absolutely flawlessly via AirPlay as a 3rd large monitor. Yesterday, while doing this I wanted to have a movie playing (the 5.5 AMOLED is perfect for this as the picture is great and it unobtrusive). As long as I'm AirPlay as an extended desktop - I cannot watch video on ANY monitor. The movie plays, it's just black screen. Disconnecting from the TV immediately brings back the video mid-play. This is Netflix, TV+, even Quicktime. All black screen. So I tried to play from the iPad (on the iPad screen) - it refused, it would only play on the LG 4K.
I had to disconnect the iPad to watch any video.
Before anyone asks, the 5.5 in 1080p display is for novelty factor, I have several unusually small/unusual form factor displays.
My normal monitor configuration is 2 x LG 4K (31") + 1080p touchscreen (13") and a 1080p AMOLED touchscreen (5.5"). There is another of the same model LG 4K display right beside the other two and it is hooked to an TV 4K through HDMI and an iPad Pro through TB3.
Occasionally I need the 3rd 4K monitor for a specific task I'm working on, it works absolutely flawlessly via AirPlay as a 3rd large monitor. Yesterday, while doing this I wanted to have a movie playing (the 5.5 AMOLED is perfect for this as the picture is great and it unobtrusive). As long as I'm AirPlay as an extended desktop - I cannot watch video on ANY monitor. The movie plays, it's just black screen. Disconnecting from the TV immediately brings back the video mid-play. This is Netflix, TV+, even Quicktime. All black screen. So I tried to play from the iPad (on the iPad screen) - it refused, it would only play on the LG 4K.
I had to disconnect the iPad to watch any video.
Before anyone asks, the 5.5 in 1080p display is for novelty factor, I have several unusually small/unusual form factor displays.
How is an TV an unsecured display?.
Also, Netflix doesn't popup the normal warning - it plays find, just blank video. On an unsecured display - it gives you a warning.
I understand that there are parts of the Apple Watch UI that display the time independently of the watch face, but I still don’t see why 24 hour time has to exist exclusively as a system-wide setting rather than as a watch face setting.
Because it’s a system localization option and not a watch face setting. It’s choosing how times and dates are formatted.
My Swiss Army watch from 1998 has a typical (12 hour) analog face with 13-23 in red as a subscript. That has everything to do with the watch face, and it's the one thing missing from the Utility watch face that I otherwise like a lot.
Right, but that’s my point. The system needs an overall setting, but there’s no reason that the system setting needs to dictate the time format for every watch face.
Yeah, it’s even more frustrating with the GMT watch face. That one is fully lifted from the Rolex GMT-Master/Explorer, but instead of putting 24-hour markings on the dial, they just put two sets of 12-hour markings.
Apple Music rant:
So, iOS 17.1 finally introduced “favoriting” songs, 8 years late, the only problem: it effectively duplicates the plus/add button from previous versions, which means anything you favorite gets saved to your library. Not saved to a favorites playlist, because that would make sense and be welcomed, but instead saved as a single track of an album to your library, meaning liking a single song means the artist and album clutter the the Artists and Albums sections of your library.
Is there not a single person involved with Apple Music who, you know, actually uses it to listen to music?
Edit: Actually, it’s even dumber: favoriting a song both favorites it and adds it to your library, so if you just want to like something, you have to then navigate to your library and delete it. Conversely, if you like something accidentally and unlike it, it still stays saved to your library.
So, iOS 17.1 finally introduced “favoriting” songs, 8 years late, the only problem: it effectively duplicates the plus/add button from previous versions, which means anything you favorite gets saved to your library. Not saved to a favorites playlist, because that would make sense and be welcomed, but instead saved as a single track of an album to your library, meaning liking a single song means the artist and album clutter the the Artists and Albums sections of your library.
Is there not a single person involved with Apple Music who, you know, actually uses it to listen to music?
Edit: Actually, it’s even dumber: favoriting a song both favorites it and adds it to your library, so if you just want to like something, you have to then navigate to your library and delete it. Conversely, if you like something accidentally and unlike it, it still stays saved to your library.
Finally got round to getting all my Apple devices on the most up-to-date OS at the same time. Net result…? Turns out Apple killed that nice animated wallpaper I had on my iPhone/iPad and now I get a lovely mid-grey instead. At the same time, my podcasts and audiobooks still don't synch between any of my devices.
Thanks a bunch, Tim Apple!
Thanks a bunch, Tim Apple!
It's actually not new. The "Love" button which has been there from Day 1 in Apple Music has been renamed to "Favorite" and expanded to include Artists, Albums, and Playlists.
This is sub-optimal for anyone who started out with iTunes and prefers to organize their music library by Artist and Album. Blame this new feature on all the Spotify converts that Apple is trying to appease because that's how it works in that app and such users have been complaining for years because Apple Music doesn't work that way.
watchOS and HomePod 17.1 as well as iOS 17.1 completely screwed up my setup of routing podcasts to my HomePod Mini via my Series 6 Watch.
AirPlay is broken on the Watch now, can't select output any more like I yesterday before these updates.
AirPlay is broken on the Watch now, can't select output any more like I yesterday before these updates.
Yeah, iTunes grew from a century-long culture of people cultivating their own music collection.
By far the most common consumption of music from that era was having the radio play it at you, though.
Spotify stems from that culture of having somebody else serve up music for you, and if you like something enough, you’ll acquire it for yourself.
Very different concepts, with different priorities, the combination of which is, to my mind, why the Music app has turned into such a weird mess.
In my household I have two iPhones, an iPad, and a HomePod. We had a party recently and the iDevices count tended to infinity. Who in their fucking goddamn mind thought restricting the verbal keyword to voice instructions to just “Siri” was a good idea?
It should have been “Hey y’all, just ask DJ if you want to play a song.” Instead we get “Haha, wouldn’t it be funny if a show used ‘hey siri’ to hack everyone’s Apple account?”
I wonder if “hey siri, replay the last pornhub video“ would work? Talk about a party conversation gambit…
It should have been “Hey y’all, just ask DJ if you want to play a song.” Instead we get “Haha, wouldn’t it be funny if a show used ‘hey siri’ to hack everyone’s Apple account?”
I wonder if “hey siri, replay the last pornhub video“ would work? Talk about a party conversation gambit…
Why is it only possible to set up an auto-reply in Mail by logging into your account via desktop into the web version of iCloud Mail…?