Slade Watkins

  • MKBHD Responds to “Panels” App Criticism

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    Figured I’d link this: Marques Brownlee has responded to the criticism of his brand new app, Panels, in a brand new video. He summarized the updates made in a Tweet as well (also quoted below):

    – Ad free explore page
    – HD singles free w/ no ads
    – Full res/8K singles free
    – Additional AI enhanced labels
    – Various bug fixes
    – New app icons and other bonuses
    – New art drop too!

    My take is that he is absolutely listening and that both him and the team he has brought on are proud of the work they’ve done on this (admittedly niche) app. Kudos to them!

  • So, Maybe You Shouldn’t Use Windows 11 (24H2)

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    This just in: Microsoft may not have been telling the whole truth when they said Recall would only be coming to “Copilot+” PCs. Fellow creator Chris Titus has shared his findings that not only is that not the case, but that it is allegedly a mandatory dependency for the Windows (File) Explorer.

    Recall itself also appears to be a mandatory feature: the company’s own Brandon LeBlanc (Sr. Product Manager of Windows, Microsoft) confirmed that the uninstall option that appeared in the Insider previews is a bug.

    With many issues yet to be properly addressed, Microsoft’s Recall feature appears to remain unpopular among cybersecurity experts and the Windows user base.

  • My Tumblr Post on Matt Mullenweg and the WordPress “Drama”

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    A couple days ago, I made a Tumblr post about Matt Mullenweg and the WordPress “Drama” that’s going on. It’s a fact-based deep dive without very many opinions. A lot has happened since I made the post, but I figured I’d add it to the blog-stream here before we moved forward!

  • Android Authority: Google Messages may update MMS chats to RCS

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    From Android Authority:

    In the latest beta, we found references to upgrading old chats. There are two flags needed to enable the feature:

    • bugle.enable_mms_group_upgrade_ui_home_screen
    • bugle.enable_mms_group_upgrade_ui_conversation_screen

    According to the code, the user would be informed with a popup that “You’ve got upgraded chats” if a conversation was upgraded. They would also be told that they can “Send sharper photos and videos with reactions.”

    I think this is a good move, especially with RCS support coming in iOS 18 this fall. As I’ve talked about before on my blog, I believe RCS is the future, and I’m happy to see Google leading the pack and now Apple finally getting with the times, too. Check out the full article on Android Authority at the link above!

  • Nintendo Releases ‘Bad Words List’ Update for Switch v18.1.0

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    It’s a rebootless update, of course, and it includes a block for a “censor-evading way to write ‘sixty-nine’” in Japanese. So—you can’t do that anymore!

  • RCS is Finally Rolling Out to iOS 18 Beta Testers in the United States

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    Snazzy Labs has RCS working on his iPhone running Developer Beta 2. See my comments in the Quote Tweet above!

    It’s important to note that this feature is only working in the US on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile right now. All three carriers use Google Jibe to facilitate this new communication method, similar to Google Messages. However, because Apple Messages uses the Universal Profile, RCS on iOS does not support end-to-end encryption.

  • The Pixel/Google One VPN is making some things unusable

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    From 9to5Google:

    Over the past day, some users could not get certain big websites to load when VPN by Google (on the Pixel 7-8a) or the soon-to-be-deprecated VPN by Google One was enabled. In the latter case, the issue applied to all form factors (Android, iOS, Mac, and PC). 

    Apparently, disabling the VPN fixes the issue. I wasn’t able to replicate this issue on the Google One VPN, nor the Pixel VPN as my Pixel 6 does not support the new “app” for some probably stupid reason.

  • The WWDC 2024 Keynote is today!

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    I’m incredibly excited! I’ll be watching with one of my best friends, Adam, later. Really interested in how Apple approachs this new AI world we’re living in…

    If you’re curious about what I’m hoping for, or want to see all of my WWDC24 coverage, here are links:

  • I Love My New Window Manager on My Mac

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    The other day, I was pointed towards Loop, a fantastic open-source window manager for macOS. And oh my God, y’all, it’s amazing. If you have a Mac, you’ve got to try this. It has entirely replaced Tiles for me.

    It’s so much faster, and it has an incredibly beautiful design. Check it out! (Not sponsored or anything, genuinely love it!)

  • Google to Begin Phasing in Unpopular Manifest v3 Standard Next Week

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    Google has announced that Manifest v2 will be phased out, and Manifest v3 will be phased in, beginning 3rd June (next week). The company notes in their blog post what will happen for those still running v2 extensions:

    Starting on June 3 on the Chrome Beta, Dev and Canary channels, if users still have Manifest V2 extensions installed, some will start to see a warning banner when visiting their extension management page – chrome://extensions – informing them that some (Manifest V2) extensions they have installed will soon no longer be supported. At the same time, extensions with the Featured badge that are still using Manifest V2 will lose their badge.

    This will be followed gradually in the coming months by the disabling of those extensions. Users will be directed to the Chrome Web Store, where they will be recommended Manifest V3 alternatives for their disabled extension. For a short time after the extensions are disabled, users will still be able to turn their Manifest V2 extensions back on, but over time, this toggle will go away as well.

    As The Verge noted in a previous article, this move has been deeply unpopular due to its hits to privacy. Additionally, Mozilla Firefox will be adopting most of the Manifest v3 spec, but will still support the features that v3 removes.

    My suggestion is to just switch to Firefox or WebKit-based browser like GNOME Web, and stop using Chromium based browsers, honestly. Google makes dumb decisions with their browser engine.