Interesting article from Chris Hannah on how he manages notifications on iOS. It can be hard to decide which notifications should be enabled and which should be disabled on your phone. I have a lot of apps, most of which produce notifications on a daily basis. I spend far too much time checking my phone. To help combat this, I always leave my phone in Do Not Disturb mode while at work, which ensures that my phone won’t wake each time I get a notification. This is a help, but doesn’t solve the problem.

In general, this is how I prioritise notifications:

• Important: Calls, SMS/iMessage, Whatsapp
• Not Important: All social media, games, RSS, personal Email

Based on the above, I have adjusted how I get notifications on my phone. Anything in the important category gets pushed to my phone immediately, and anything in the not important must be looked up manually which prevents my phone from lighting up throughout the day. This is a small change but it’s definitely noticeable. It’s not going to cure my smartphone addiction, but it can surely help me get back some of those wasted minutes.

Pokémon Go is going to be massive.

Actually..it already is.

Jason Snell:

macOS sierra is coming Thursday. Here’s where you should install it:

• Nowhere, if you aren’t willing to constantly back up all your data and take the risks of having an unstable Mac in your life for a few months
• Nowhere, if you aren’t willing to use the Feedback Assistant app to report to Apple about the bugs you’re finding

[…]

iOS 10 beta is also due today. Here’s where you should install it:

• Not on your main iPhone
• Not on your main iPad
• On an iOS device that you don’t rely on

I made the mistake of trying out the public betas in the past and each time I regretted it. It’s not worth getting an early look at what’s new when you sacrifice performance and battery life. At the very least I would wait until the second public beta is released for both.

I had been looking for some way of tracking activity on this site for a while, and not for the first time Google have answered the call. Google Analytics provides insights on just about everything - from what device the user is viewing your site on to how long they spend on each page and even their screen resolution. It’s also free, and ridiculously easy to set up. Check it out.

Sometimes I love the internet..

Today, almost everyone I know carries a smartphone. We walk around with pocket computers hooked up to the entirety of the Internet. They can shoot amazing photos and take 4K video. I can video chat with my kids and play games on the same device.

It’s only been nine years, but I can’t imagine going back.

“Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream..”

Better late than never, here are some things I hope Apple announce later today:

• Universal dark mode on iOS and OS X
• Enhanced iPad multitasking with a better app picker
• Siri API
• Siri for Mac
• Customizable Control Center
• Xcode for iPad ¹

Here are some others: 512 Pixels, Six Colors, 9to5mac

It has to be seriously frustrating for YouTubers like Jon Paula, who make their living on the site, to see their revenue and view count slip year on year despite the the fact that their video production is improving. The changes that Google made to the site in 2013 actually made the site worse in my opinion. Channels all look the same, some comments are weirdly linked to Google+, thumbs up/down on comments basically don’t work, subscription feeds are constantly changing, the list goes on. I didn’t realise that these changes had such a negative effect on creators too.

I watched the new Top Gear a few days ago. I thought it was decent. It was never going to be as good as what we are used to, but it’s still early days. Chris Evans came across as trying a bit too hard too hard and seemed over excited about everything but to be fair, there was a lot of pressure on him. Matt LeBlanc is well suited to this kind of role - particularly driving segments where his acting skills help. I think he is a great addition, especially to add the Europe vs USA element.

I was surprised that Sabine Schmitz had such a small role in this episode. I’m thinking that Evans and LeBlanc are the hosts, while the others will chip in every now and then with a segment. Probably not a bad idea.

I was never a huge fan of the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car part of the show, and adding off-road sections to the test track has done little to change that. Still, it’s a minor improvement.

There seems to be a trend online to criticize the new series. It seems like it was doomed to bad reviews before it even aired, which I don’t think it deserves. Clarkson and co took a while to get into their stride when they began on Top Gear, so I expect the same here. And anyway if all else fails there is still a little show coming soon to Amazon Prime..