They write about technology & culture and make apps at Lickability.
This week I was excited to appear as a guest on the Everyday Robots podcast, hosted by Jonathan Ruiz. We discussed my career as an iOS developer, the making of Buildwatch, and the latest Apple event. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.
We launched a new app yesterday at Lickability. Buildwatch is a brand new Mac menu bar app for iOS developers that lets you track, graph, and analyze your Xcode compile times. I’ve wished this app existed for a long time, and now it does. 📊
The latest episode of 99% Invisible details the history of and hopeful future for bathroom design. With a focus on the needs of trans and nonbinary people, Susan Stryker and the other members of a project called Stalled! have recently won a major victory in the International Building Code that will allow for better bathrooms for everyone. In her words:
What I feel is so elegant about the Stalled! public toilet project is that at some level… it doesn’t matter what most people think about trans people. It doesn’t matter if you feel like you should accommodate people with disabilities… The design of the space just solves the problem.
If you’re a parent or thinking of becoming one, read this essay about my friend Sarah (they/them) and how their mom, who’s an anthropologist, responded when they came out to her as agender. I was already crying five sentences into this piece, but the conclusion is what really got me.
I am thankful for their permission to tell a part of their story here. As I think how best to end this essay, I am filled with one upwelling sensation. I am proud to be the mom of a wonderful person—one who works tirelessly for social justice, and who lives as neither a woman nor a man. To love them as they are is a gift of my life.
Apple’s first online-only Worldwide Developers Conference is just a couple days away, and I’m excited to watch as many sessions as I can and chat with new and old friends in the Apple developer community. We’re even opening up the Lickability Discord server so we have a place to meetup and watch talks together. Come join us!
This week, Apple is also under pressure from the developers of Hey and the community at large to change App Store policies on in-app purchase, but I’m not holding my breath on that.
Here’s what’s on my personal WWDC wishlist this year:
✍️ Documentation for all public API
⚙️ Setting default apps
📱Redesigned SpringBoard
🔨 Buddybuild relaunch
🐦 SwiftUI usable in production
📧 Snooze + send later in Mail
💎 Cataylst improvements
💬 Mentions in Messages
🔖 Pronoun sharing in iMessage/Contacts
🖥 Shortcuts on Mac
🔗 Universal Link Settings
🔒 iCloud Keychain Import/Export
🗓 Calendar Redesign
⌚️ Apple Watch Sleep Tracking
🧠 Smart Playlists & Albums on iOS
🧭 iOS Safari Tab Redesign
📲 Customizable Lock Screen Actions
🎛 Control Center Extensions