Pascal Laliberté

@pascallaliberte@ruby.social
187 Followers
186 Following
731 Posts

Building:
📖 https://readwith.club (Read together)

Weekly article:
âœđŸŒ https://everyonewantsprogress.com (soft skills for software creatives)

On a mission to rescue products:
âœđŸŒ https://sharpen.page/ten (Buyer Psychology)

Websitehttps://pascallaliberte.me
GitHubhttps://github.com/pascallaliberte
Pascal Laliberté21h ago

Oho!
New Season of Somebody Feed Phil just dropped on Netflix.

A friend of mine can’t stand Phil Rosenthal ("too obnoxious"), but I really like him.

That friend also can’t stand Weird Al.

But he’s still my friend, weirdly.

Pascal Laliberté23h ago

Friends:

Happy to Report that I've met my two goals:
- Updated the public site of ReadWith
- Advanced in UI tweaks

Here's video #3 with two more goals.

Please join me with your own "Happy to Report". It'll be fun.
#happytoreport
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po3beIfvfVE

Happy to Report, June 19, 2025

YouTube
Pascal Laliberté1d ago
Kevin McDonald2d ago

Long before the internet, some phone networks were hackable by playing a single tone at 2600Hz.

Whistled into a phone, it could grant you unrestricted access. Do you have the vocal chops to be an old-school phone phreak?

I built a web app to test your ability to produce the legendary frequency. You won't get free long distance calls but you will get some honor in the knowledge that you could have been a cool hacker. 😎

I am sad to say that I can only whistle up to 1100Hz... But my wife (a long time woodwind player) is able to consistently get it.

Give it a try: https://phreak.kmcd.dev/

#phreaking #2600Hz #bluebox #RetroComputing #hacker #infosec #Tech

Phone Phreak Emulator

Test your phreaking skills by hacking this phone line.

Pascal Laliberté2d ago

Can you guys help me out?

If you go to https://readwith.club,
...and you scan the page very quickly
...up until the point where you feel getting losing interest, like 30 seconds or less,
...and then you stop and come back here.

How would you summarize what you just saw?

ReadWith

Sell your reading notes. Read a book with someone else.

ReadWith
Pascal Laliberté2d ago

Being able to describe your dream customer.
Nice.

Being able to describe your customer's dream.
Nicer.

Pascal Laliberté2d ago

"A novel way"
"No spoilers"
"Turn the page"
"Keep reading"

Love when the words match up like that, between the domain (of reading) and the user's JTBD.

New page coming tomorrow probably.

Pascal Laliberté2d ago
They say an image is worth a thousand words.
But landing pages with short bits of text feel off.
They're off because it's a style.
An overused style.
That says,
a lot.
Pascal Laliberté3d ago
counternotions3d ago
So liquid you can almost lick it!
↓
Pascal Laliberté3d ago

A marketing approach that's quick, inexpensive, and right for your offering. That's the goal.

It doesn't have to be all-out.

So here are a few questions to get to that minimal marketing.
https://everyonewantsprogress.com/0070-minimal-marketing/

Minimal Marketing

Every marketing tactic is not built the same.There are marketing approaches which will take up a lot of your time for little impact. Others will take up a lot of your money to be in front of just the right people. And other approaches are just not going to be something you’re comfortable pulling off.

Pascal Laliberté4d ago

Happy Father’s Day my pals.

You guys are important.
Rooting for you all.

×
Marco ArmentJun 11

A hallmark of iOS 26 design seems to be the consolidation of what was previously multiple toolbar buttons into a "
" button that shows a menu.

Which looks fine, I guess, but some VERY common actions are now an additional tap away!

Safari is the worst offender. Want to switch tabs or close the current tab? The all-tabs view, previously the two-squares toolbar icon, is now buried in a menu, adding an extra tap and significant finger movement to possibly the most common action in Safari:

Show threadMarco ArmentJun 11

Another example is in Mail, where I'll often train my email provider's spam filter by moving spam into the Junk folder from the Inbox screen.

Before, it was Select, tap message, Move. Three taps.

Now it's four: "
" menu, THEN move finger down to Select, tap message, tap (now-unlabeled) Move icon at the bottom.

Why? What are we using all of that navigation-bar space for?

My "content”?

Show threadMarco ArmentJun 11

Comparing iOS 18's Mail to iOS 26's design, what did we gain for our "content” by burying more of its functionality behind a menu?

Almost one line of blurred text.

Show threadJosh BiggsJun 11
@marcoarment their own developer videos talk about not putting un-related actions in the same menus. Select does not belong there.
Show threadJosh BiggsJun 11
@marcoarment I filled a request to swap the Calendar picker / invite inbox buttons with the search and new event buttons. I can’t understand why buttons you only occasionally interact with are placed so prominently while more useful buttons are at the top of the screen.
Show threadamonduinJun 11

@marcoarment Most of that extra line of visibility is just because the filter buttons are smaller...
Otherwise the new UI takes up the same or more space as the old one.

The whole floating control concept is so bad, it just adds visual noise and clutter without actually giving you more usable space. If content is under the 'toolbar area' it has to blur anyway because otherwise it interferes with the buttons.

Show threadAwaxJun 11
@marcoarment white content?
Show threadErik PeacorJun 11
@marcoarment now you can see the entirety of when the email arrived/was sent 🙃
Show threadCraig GrannellJun 11
@marcoarment We gain: REALLY BIG DROP SHADOWS. Because nothing says focus and content-first like buttons with REALLY BIG DROP SHADOWS.
Show threadChancerubbageJun 11

@marcoarment what if ‘updated just now’ was the more salient info.

I’m in a horrible bandwidth footprint most of the time- I need to know if a mail fetch has occurred, or has failed.

A seemingly long term blind spot for Apples in house dogfooding is that they NEVER see how their apps work outside of an extremely robust signal.

Show threadScott Murray Jun 11
@Chancerubbage @marcoarment Yes! 💯 Have you ever tried using Apple Music while, say, I don’t know, on a road trip? Possibly the best use case for access to an essentially unlimited music library and yet with spotty connectivity the app
 behaves quite badly.)
Show threadChancerubbageJun 11

@scott @marcoarment

The interstate has more robust cell signal than what I have a home, and I am seeing fewer dead spots in the boonies. More dead spots inside a structure.

Show threadRobert KoonsJun 11
@marcoarment as a small phone stan, I’ll take compact mode over having those actions always exposed
Show threadClark GriswoldJun 11
@marcoarment so much wasted space at the top. 1/4 of the page is just white space and big font for Inbox.
Show threadKRSXJun 11
@marcoarment “content first” always rubbed me the wrong way because it shifts computing devices towards pure consumption devices. On the other hand, UI elements that surface useful features empower me. While there’s a balance to be found, discoverability should never suffer.
Show threadAstriusJun 11
@marcoarment this is a beta, so things are subject to change.
Show threadRobin MonksJun 11
@marcoarment Honestly it feels like learning the worst lessons from Material
Show threadDane DeasyJun 12
@marcoarment I think I hate content now. I want tools.
Show threadGriffin HayterJun 12
@danedeasy @marcoarment I think I’m ready to go back to square corners.
Show threadJonathan DechkoJun 12

@danedeasy @marcoarment WWDC 2035

Apple: “We’ve made our toolbars edge-to-edge. Your content seamlessly disappears into the background, allowing for unprecedented productivity.”

Show threadJosh StevensonJun 13
@danedeasy you hit the nail on the head.
Show threadStephen HackettJun 11
@marcoarment better get on that new lead man
Show threadSteve MarshallJun 11
@marcoarment A side note, but I think you use Fastmail? Moving things to junk doesn’t actually flag them as junk in Fastmail; they recommend using another folder if not using their client: https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/articles/1500000278142-Improving-spam-protection#spamfolders
Improving spam protection

Fastmail offers many tools to catch and stop as much spam as possible. On this page, we'll go over some steps you can take to improve your spam protection even further.  You can edit your spam prot...

Fastmail
Show threadMark NakibJun 11

@marcoarment you can drag with two fingers down the list to select multiple items quickly. You don’t have to go into the menu and press Select at all.

This works in most Apple apps with a multi-Select mode

Show threadMark NakibJun 11
@marcoarment or if you’re just moving one
 long press? Why do you need to get into “Select” mode at all?
Show threadgokJun 11
@marcoarment fyi you can bind the swipe left or swipe right to move
Show threadKonrad KoƂakowskiJun 11

@marcoarment I noticed that navigation „bar" (is it even a bar anymore?) items are now MUCH larger - in my own app, my title doesn't even fit anymore with all the glass, while it was comfortable before.

I think we have a space for 2, max 3 buttons on iPhone nav bars now, so it has to be moved to more „general" menus :/

Show threadNitJun 11

@marcoarment hope these many niggles get fixed.

Personally a big fan of the 2 finger tap to select.

2 finger tap. Move. Two taps.

Show threadspinningarrowJun 11
@marcoarment why not do the swipey swipe? Long swipe from the right trashes a mail immediately on mine (I think the actions are somewhat configurable)
Show threadD. Griffin JonesJun 11
@marcoarment You can swipe left on a message and tap Move, or you can tap-and-hold on a message and tap Move Message from the pop-up menu.
Show threadRenJun 11
@marcoarment Alternatively, just as in the previous version, swipe the message to the side and click Move. Or, for multiple, use two finger drag to select messages saving at least a click.
Show threadNilsJun 11
@marcoarment doesn’t fix that issue but might be a workaround for the moment: using two fingers to swipe on an entry or multiple selects them
Show threadLeonJun 11
@marcoarment border radii my man, circles are the least efficient shape there is. this creates visual luxury. at the expense of experiential poverty. I think it’s clear this first round of ui has not had enough people using it vs staring at it
Show threadtambourinemanJun 12
@marcoarment amateur time. I wonder if Alan Dye ever heard of Fitts's law. So sad that my long time favorite platforms are at the mercy of empowered rookies.
Show threadChrisJun 12
@marcoarment Every time I see a "modern" UI design I hear Motorhead playing Ace of Spades, but Lemmy is singing "a waste of space, a waste of space!"
Show threadpotato.zipJun 12
@marcoarment Not sure if you knew this already, but in many (all?) native, selectable lists, you can use two fingers to drag and select items. This also lets you select just one by dragging to select multiple and dragging back to just select the first one you touched.
Show threadGKJun 11
@marcoarment nowdays everything goes under the 
 menus. Slowly apps will ship with only a big 
 button, which lets you type in the name of the command you want to execute. Oh wait
Show threadSam BurkhardJun 11
@marcoarment you can still do the gestures on the toolbar at the bottom, but it's not exactly discoverable. It's now extra steps for me to share or I have to reach to the top of the screen to make a new tab
Show threadEhlerJun 11
@samburkhard @marcoarment For as many Apple blogs as I read and podcasts as I listen to this is the first time I’ve heard of this gesture.
Show threadSam BurkhardJun 11
@ehler I probably accidentally triggered it once and just started using it all the time
Show threadJack HallJun 11

@samburkhard @marcoarment I hate when apps make hard to discover gestures the default for core functionality. Until I read your post I had no idea swiping up on the toolbar in Safari took me to the All Tabs screen. I knew about swiping left and right to switch tabs but hadn’t discovered up.

I’m not sure that the VisionOS gesture patterns make as much sense when not using a headset

Show threadJimmyJun 12
@halldjack @samburkhard @marcoarment They are hard to discover. The fact that people think swiping up from the tab bar to open the tab switcher is “new” despite being around since (I think
) 2021 is proof of that.
Show threadJack HallJun 12

@jimmylittle @samburkhard @marcoarment Strava requires you to shake your phone if you want to give kudos (basically a “like”) in bulk to everyone who took part in an activity.

That one feels like it was intentionally hidden.

Show threadJimmyJun 13

@halldjack @samburkhard @marcoarment I don’t think hidden gestures are inherently bad. It’s not “discoverability” that’s bad, but the sheer number of things users have to learn every year.

⌘-V is not discoverable in the least, but we all learned it 30 years ago so we think it’s obvious.

Some people just get cranky about learning new things, and blame it on “discoverability”.

Show threadMatt BonneyJun 11
@marcoarment Annoying, yes, however, Safari has supported a swipe up on the tab bar to see all tabs since the bottom-oriented redesign.
Show threadMatt BonneyJun 11
@marcoarment Overall though I agree, it's bad. Just like the first time they attempted to minimize Safari
Show threadJan Kalk Jun 11
@bonney @marcoarment I always swipe up, left and right on the address box which I think works very well. But the discoverability is not great I guess.
Show threadWill GoringJun 11
@bonney oh my god. I had no idea! This is such a useful feature. Seriously; thank you for sharing.
Show threadMatt 😎Jun 11
@bonney @marcoarment
Show threadVeedemsJun 11
@bonney @marcoarment omg I never knew this. You hero
Show threadAndrew OrtweinJun 11
@bonney @marcoarment I had no idea about this but am happy to learn it now. Thanks!
Show threadFelix DeitersJun 11

@bonney @marcoarment

Also horizontal swipes to switch between tabs.

Show threadMatthew FlintJun 11
@bonney @marcoarment
You can also use the pinch gesture on a webpage to show all tabs.
Show threadJosh Jun 11
@bonney @marcoarment you can also long-press on the address bar to get a menu with an option to ‘close this tab’ or ‘close othe tabs’. I haven’t yet found an easy ‘close all tabs’ option, though. Which I am used to using frequently.
Show threadJosh Jun 11
@bonney @marcoarment found it! When you get to the view of all tabs, if you long-press on the blue check mark in the top right, there it is!
Show threadCeolafJun 12
@bonney @marcoarment holy shit! I didn’t know about this!
Show threadThomas JamesJun 11
@marcoarment the all tabs button gets out of the way so you can enjoy being fully immersed in all of your CONTENT
Show threadbapt Jun 11
@marcoarment This release feels like a tribute to Jony Ive in too many ways
Show threadfreediverxJun 11
@outadoc @marcoarment
I think Alan Dye is worse than Jony Yve. Feels like a copy of a copy of a copy where the original’s dubious ideology is now both corrupted and exaggerated.
Show threadDavid CohenJun 11

@marcoarment It’s not long before Alan Dye hides all of the controls for one device on a different device. Want to see other Safari windows on your iPad? Just pick up your iPhone and access the control there.

Why? To move the controls out of the way and emphasise your content.

Show threadLukas PetrJun 11
@marcoarment this is so bad. I just don't understand WHY do they have to do this. Why is it visuals over function? Why is there seemingly no oversight on what the design team decides to do?