I just had an idea for a neat thing Apple could do.

Y’know the little tabs that pop up when you select text in iOS?

It’d be cool if the device learned which actions you tend to choose in a given situation.

So, if you choose “Translate” more often than, say, “Format,” they could make that a little easier for you.

This is an idea that I just had.

(Also: they could completely rethink that whole model because it’s hardly changed since 2009 and it’s very difficult to use and I have so many things I’d like to do with text but if I can’t successfully hit the little arrow that lets you see more options, I feel ashamed and want to turn off the phone.)

#WWDC
#computers

Unrelatedly related:

1. Apple News+ is a cynical lobster trap that only exists to push shitty run-of-network ads for plantar fasciitis insoles and free money for seniors;

2. The whole reason this occurred to me is I really wanted to show Madeline an article with an amazing photo.

You see? Women really CAN have it all.

But sometimes that means having some paint tubes on the floor your baby can play with with once they’re done being briefly intrigued by your right foot.

#DoingBetterTogether

@hotdogsladies when I opened that up full screen your battery indicator nearly gave me a heart attack. “but I was just at 98% two seconds ago!”
@hotdogsladies I was just reading about Clearview AI. Combining that with data brokers, I wonder how many years it’s going to be until garbage ads will have my own face on them

@tomfinnigan

The tech is moving fast, Tom.

The more I look at it, the funnier this photo gets.

Just to say, this is not what our own house looked when we had a toddler.

15 years on, and it's still hanging over my desk.

Obviously.

Of course, all of my children are very special to me.
Moving WWDC out of San Francisco was a mistake, and everybody knows it.
Lotta raw sexual energy.

If anyone ever runs into Jeff Permenter, please ask him how his estranged brother, Jason, is doing.

(this joke will be funny to as many as six people)

@hotdogsladies They grow up so fast. I remember when he was just barely driving his first Tesla.

@keenan

I still remember when he first learned PHP.

They're so cute at that age.

@hotdogsladies Also documenting how strong the sticker game always has been in the Mann family.
@hotdogsladies We've got one a lot like that as well. Our son (Billy!) called it “Mr. Greedy’s automobile" because it was predominantly blue.
@hotdogsladies It honestly borders on DALL-Eism.
@hotdogsladies Nice that those toxic acrylic paints are right there in grabbing distance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium_pigments
Cadmium pigments - Wikipedia

@hotdogsladies That kid is totally going to knock over the vase on the left off the pedestal.
@hotdogsladies Oil based paints are non-toxic right? Gotta get some more fat into those kids too amirite?
@hotdogsladies I don’t know if this was a trend already when you had a toddler, but these days expensive baby clothes are all beige. The beiger your baby, the wealthier you appear. Judging by the beigeness of this baby, they are very fancy people.
@hotdogsladies Having it all is easier when you are "granddaughter of the legendary late Cayetana, Duchess of Alba."

@hotdogsladies what the actual wow

1. Spot on

@hotdogsladies I hate that Apple News not only ignores my feedback, but seems to consider 👎as positive engagement.
@hotdogsladies Babies love cadmium!

@siracusa

“Baby Merlin seems especially drawn to my heavier metals.”

@hotdogsladies lead based paints taste the sweetest
@hotdogsladies @siracusa Oh, that’s Liquitex acrylics. Follow her every advice.

@hotdogsladies Hm. I’ve also suddenly started seeing a bunch of plantar fasciitis ads, but on YouTube.

Is this the start of a takeover attempt by Big Plantar Fasciitis?

@hotdogsladies Swiping the popup horizontally is much easier than hitting the arrow.

But also yes.

@BenRiceM

😳

¡Muchas gracias, mi amigo!

@BenRiceM @hotdogsladies Is there a German word for the feeling that hidden gestures in iOS give you because you had no idea they existed and feel dumb after you hear about them the first time?
@BenRiceM @hotdogsladies extra infuriating is that on iPadOS, if you two-finger click with a pointer device, it exposes a more traditionally laid-out vertical context menu with exactly the same items all on one screen. why that isn’t everywhere is beyond me
@BenRiceM @hotdogsladies I don't know how I found out a long time ago that it swipes, but yea, I never hit the arrow.
I think they need the arrow to be replaced with a different look that more clearly indicates that there's more. You could even not change the functionality *at all*

@BenRiceM @hotdogsladies TIL you can swipe the popup horizontally. 🤯

There is so much delightful and useful stuff like this hidden throughout Apple's OS's, but it's always so damned undiscoverable.

@BenRiceM @hotdogsladies I’m amazed at the number of people not knowing that this exists!
@hotdogsladies maybe, just maybe we’ll see next week, but…

@hotdogsladies iOS tip: You can slide/swipe the text action pop-up left or right instead of tapping the very tiny arrows.

This doesn’t solve the issue you highlighted (it absolutely needs a rethink) but it does alleviate one of the problems.

Edit: @BenRiceM beat me to it, and more succinctly :)

@hotdogsladies

I actually see that dialog (with different choices!) most often when I have no text selected at all, when dropping an image into an email.

@agiletortoise @hotdogsladies A proper pop up menu instead of the horizontal widget is one of my most desired system-wide changes.

Not that I expect it to happen.

@hotdogsladies I’m still irrationally pleased that I invented that edit menu for one of my apps before Apple used it (ie before iOS had copy and paste).
@hotdogsladies There is no reason those arrows, found here and throughout the system, have to be so tiny. They're fine as mouse click targets, but not tap targets.
@hotdogsladies I recently discovered you can scroll horizontally with swiping. 🤯

@hotdogsladies If they did this, it would be on-device and, annoyingly reset after each upgrade... is my prediction.

But it's a great idea.

One of the features that burns me is when I'm in Editorial, because it was built with a different framework, it asks you if you trust it to access the clipboard before you can paste. I wish there was a way to permanently allow-list some apps.