Episode Summary
Executive Summary: The episode pivots from a comic drone mishap to deep discussion of Apple UI changes, Photos alternatives, MagSafe accessories, and the misery of Apple Watch development. The hosts debate Safari’s redesign, celebrate restored proxy icons, evaluate third-party photo editors, and conclude with a candid, practical rant about how difficult watch app, complication, and HealthKit/WatchConnectivity development is—suggesting simpler app scope may be the only sane path.
Main Topics: Drone crash and improvised retrieval: A casual drone inspection for neighbors’ attic critter issues turns into an accidental crash, a roof crawl in hot July weather, rope-lasso retrieval attempts, and relief that the drone survived. Safari UI redesign and Apple’s design philosophy: The hosts analyze Safari’s controversial UI changes, arguing that Apple should prioritize usability over fashion or speculative AR consistency, and that the current design changes harm everyday tasks. Photos alternatives: Darkroom and Raw Power: Listeners suggest third-party apps that work with the Apple Photos library. The hosts discuss editing extensions, raw-photo workflows, library integration, and the pros/cons of non-destructive edits outside Apple Photos. Restoring proxy icons in macOS Monterey: A major accessibility-based toggle restores window title icons/proxy icons, reversing a design regression and improving discoverability and practical workflows like dragging file paths into Terminal. MagSafe battery pack and the state of MagSafe: The hosts review Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack, compare it to third-party alternatives, discuss charging speeds, capacity, design tradeoffs, and whether MagSafe is becoming a useful charging standard. iOS/watchOS beta status and iPhone focus features: They assess beta stability across devices, noting the iPhone beta is relatively solid, the watch beta is risky, and new Focus/notification features add friction while remaining broadly functional. Watch app development pain and goaltender project frustration: The conversation culminates in a detailed, candid breakdown of Apple Watch development being slow, unreliable, and punishing—especially when tied to HealthKit limits, WatchConnectivity, complications, and debugging.
Key Arguments: Apple’s Safari redesign should be judged by usability on the current device, not by speculative future AR aesthetics or fashion trends. Hiding useful UI elements like proxy icons to reduce visual clutter harms discoverability and everyday power-user workflows. Third-party apps like Darkroom and Raw Power can provide more powerful photo workflows while still leveraging the Apple Photos library. Photos editing extensions and standalone apps offer flexibility, but they also introduce tradeoffs around edit persistence if an extension is removed. MagSafe is convenient and promising, but charging speed, alignment, and ecosystem fragmentation still limit it. The MagSafe Battery Pack is more sensible than older battery cases because it is modular and can be used both as a charger and portable battery. Apple Watch development is disproportionately hard because debugging is unreliable, data access is limited, and Apple’s own dogfooding appears disconnected from real developer workflows. For small apps, the most practical solution may be to cut scope—ship iOS-only first, then add watch features only if the foundation is stable.
Data Points: Drone crash count: first crash ever - The drone had not been used in about a year and this was the first crash the speaker had ever had. Roof height: two-story roof - The drone landed on a sloped two-story roof and later fell from a second-story gutter. Proximity sensor radius: 4 to 8 feet - The drone’s sensors beeped when flying close to roof surfaces and plants. Roofing conditions: July / very hot - The speaker crawled over a hot roof wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. Photo library size: 73,609 photos - One speaker reported the size of their library in Apple Photos. Video count: 4,899 videos - Same library report from Apple Photos. Remaining upload count: 20,000 left to upload - A status update on iCloud Photos syncing progress. Raw Power price: about $40-$50 one-time - The app was described as around $40 in the chat and around $50 by the speaker, with a one-time purchase model. Darkroom pricing: about $25/year or $50 lifetime - The app’s pricing was described in the discussion of photo workflow alternatives. MagSafe Battery Pack output: 15W when plugged in; 5W when free-floating - Charging speed depends on whether the battery pack itself is connected to power. iPhone compatibility: all four iPhone 12 models - The MagSafe Battery Pack was shown as compatible with the 12 mini through 12 Pro Max. Estimated charging outcomes: 91% / 72% / 55% - Quinn Nelson’s estimates for charging a 12 mini, 12/12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max respectively. HealthKit on watch: 10 days of data - The watch app only had access to 10 days of Health data, creating a hard limit for the app’s logic. Development time: month 8 - The goaltender app had been in progress for roughly eight months. Watch data transfer methods: 3 modes - WatchConnectivity message types were discussed: immediate messages, user info updates, and application context.
Pivotal Quotes: "“aiming at an icon shouldn't destroy the object it represents.”" — Guy English: Used to criticize Safari’s tab-close behavior when the favicon turns into the close button on hover. "“The watch beta seems to be unreliable at updating the sleep screen.”" — Speaker discussing beta status: A warning that the watchOS beta has serious reliability issues, including displaying the wrong time. "“It is literally at its core two Swift UI views.”" — Speaker discussing Goaltender: Expresses frustration that a seemingly simple app has become a months-long ordeal because of watch and data integration problems.
Implications: Apple’s UI and watch-platform choices still create real friction for both users and developers. Simpler, more conservative interfaces and less brittle developer tooling could dramatically improve trust, productivity, and app quality.