Early morning drive through the nature with a steady drizzle around is always rejuvenating. Especially with the windows rolled down!

John Gruber wonders what’s holding Instagram back from launching a Instagram for iPad. Especially when they adjusted their app for Galaxy Fold.

Instagram is willing to update their Android app to adjust to the extraordinarily niche Galaxy Fold, but still hasn’t updated their iOS app to adjust to the extraordinarily popular and much-used iPad?

I feel there are a couple points here that might help understand this.

1. Instagram still believes it is a creative photo sharing application first. This is what the first line on their homepage reads - “a simple, fun & creative way to capture, edit & share photos, videos & messages”. They possibly want more creators on their platforms than passive consumers of the stream of photos. For them then, iPad is not a good device for taking pictures.
2. According to them, Galaxy Fold is still a smartphone first with a first rate camera system. So, it deserves providing the first rate experience of using Instagram.

Of course, how true this assumption is, is debatable.

Apparently, Google’s face unlock on Pixel 4 can allow access to a user even if he has his eyes closed. This comes around the same time when a critical bug was detected in the fingerprint unlock on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 devices.

Both the companies put out a completely tone-deaf first response. Samsung, naively, suggested using their “authorised” accessories. Google, on the other hand, reiterated that theirs is a “strong biometric” solution.

I am really surprised by this callous attitude towards the user’s security on the devices.

Google preferred to focus on the gimmicks in Project Soli rather than strengthening the face unlock first. They felt a need to differentiate their face unlock feature from iPhone’s. Samsung felt the need to go with a different mechanism of the ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader. All others use optical ones.

This need to differentiate for the sake of differentiation is laughable.

A tweet from Rene Ritchie sums it nicely.

If we’ve learned anything over the last couple of days it’s that good biometrics take a lot of consideration.

Smartphones have become critical for many in their day-to-day use-cases, from identity to banking. And the inbuilt biometric solutions are increasingly being depended on to validate that identity. So the OEMs can’t afford a misstep with these solutions.

I hope the smartphone makers realize they can’t deal indifferently with the security of the devices.

I did not watch the Google event yesterday. And almost everyone is saying the actual event was a bit messy, boring. I guess it was good that I did not spend 2 hours then. I think recent events from all the companies have received similar criticisms — must be a trend.

It was exactly a year ago that I had posted an update on my then-recently undertaken no-news experiment. It primarily involved -

• consuming news only through the morning newspaper
• no news related apps on my phone
• no notifications from social apps (including messages, WhatsApp)

I am pleasantly surprised that the things begun then have more or less stayed the same. I still consume my news primarily from the morning newspaper. I still avoid visiting the news website. I still have the notifications from social apps disabled. For that matter, I have become more aggressive in disabling notification access to any app.

The only deviation has been that I have installed a few news apps on my phone. I always had that urge to open some editorial on the browser when my mind was momentarily free. This minor change has quenched that.

Of course, I am still extremely picky about which apps get installed. I have installed only a couple of news curating apps (also known for doing their job well). And The New York Times app.

Digital Detox - No YouTube

I have also recently undertaken a digital detox experiment. I want to check which additional service I can get off my routine. It should be something that I carelessly spend a lot of time on.

I had recently been consuming a lot of stupid content on YouTube. I used to open the app every time I had some free time at hand. Or for that matter even when I was busy doing something else. It garnered a subconscious tap. Such absent-minded behaviour is never healthy.

So I have planned to be off YouTube for at least a month to reset the terms of my relationship with this service. It has been 15 days now and I already feel better. I no longer have that urge to tap into YouTube any more. I have observed am following my routine a lot better.

However, YouTube has become too important a destination for all kinds of videos. That includes videos relevant to my work too. So it is difficult to completely get rid of the access to the service.

Of course, then, I plan to allow access to the app in a controlled manner. This time, however, I will set the terms again consciously. I am also planning to clear the YouTube view history before I do that. I believe this will help me reset the recommendations. I am, however, yet to decide the exact terms under which the service will be allowed back.

During this month of digital detox, I also plan to indulge myself with some analogue activities that I had never done before. I have started doodling more. Sure, am not good at it. But I hit the web for inspiration and try to simply emulate.

I am also spending dedicated time with my daughter without any digital devices around. It can be as less as 15 minutes. Involving simple talks. Or some silly games. But it has to be focused time.

It is too early to see the effects of all this. One thing is for sure, though. I feel a tad less burdened on the inside.

No doubt, pixel 4 looks a lot better than their previous versions - especially from the back. That camera module, especially, is cleaner as compared to the hideous one on iPhone 11. On the front, that top bezel is too big - looks outdated for sure.

With any event from Apple or Google, I made a point to catch it live. Not much for this one, as almost everything - including the buds - was leaked. That’s why you control the leaks - they mar the interest. And with that your best chance to market to masses.

Facebook has launched the next version of the Portal and The Verge has the review. After more than 1700 word, they end with this - “it’s still a camera connected to Facebook inside your home”. I think that is all the review could have read.

Tik Tok is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on US social networks convincing US consumers, in particular kids, to download and use the app. This is fucking brilliant, by the way.

I have managed to stay away from this “social phenomenon” - but am always impressed with the creativity on display in the app. Everytime that happens, I cautiously move away - I do not want another mindless entertainment fighting for my attention.

And am not even thinking about the political backdrop and its effects - which this essay from John Battelle nicely summaries.

I recently had my wisdom teeth extracted. Boy oh boy, if I had known earlier that the road to the recovery from this procedure is not straight forward, I would have never undergone this without much thought.

There are so many precautions to be taken — from keeping the mount clean to monitoring what you eat. This is in addition to easing the swelling and the pain. I would have liked to time this better. With just a day to go to start going to the office again, it would be some difficult times ahead.

Sure, my dentist did explain all the intricacies involved before the procedure. He also mentioned what all I would have to be careful about. But it was only once the teeth were pulled and the gums stitched back that I became cognizant of the complications.

And all this for a set of teeth whose only purpose is to jam up the number 32. Sigh!