Gboard Now Supports Pinyin 9 Key
Great news, Gboard now supports Pinyin 9 key
∞ Apple Removes VPN Apps From China App Store
From ExpressVPN's blog:
We received notification from Apple today, July 29, 2017, at roughly 04:00 GMT, that the ExpressVPN iOS app was removed from the China App Store. Our preliminary research indicates that all major VPN apps for iOS have been removed.
We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date, and we are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts. ExpressVPN strongly condemns these measures, which threaten free speech and civil liberties.
∞ Stanford Researchers Find Intriguing Clues About Obesity by Counting Steps via Smartphones
From Stanford News by Tom Abate:
Stanford researchers using smartphones to track the activity levels of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe made an intriguing discovery: In countries with little obesity, people mostly walked a similar amount per day. But big gaps between people who walked a lot and those who walked very little coincided with much higher levels of obesity.
One interesting graph came out from the research, China is so blue:
Average daily steps by country. Credit: Tim Althoff.
Note the graph above is not the point of the paper, which says obesity can be predicted by activity inequality, not average. See their website for more information.
Scan Documents with iOS 11 Notes App
Scan Documents with iOS 11 Notes App
I have scanned 10+ documents with the iOS 11 Notes App (don't ask me why). Even though it feels really slow on my iPhone 6 Plus, it's still much faster than using my scanner. ARKit FTW!
∞ Stream Direct Fee Will Be $100
Since then, we've seen a bunch of great conversations discussing the various pros and cons of whether there should be an amount, what that amount should be, ways that recouping could work, which developers would be helped or hurt, predictions for how the store would be affected, and many other facets to the decision. There were rational & convincing arguments made for both ends of the $100-$5000 spectrum we mentioned. Our internal thinking beforehand had us hovering around the $500 mark, but the community conversation really challenged us to justify why the fee wasn't as low as possible, and to think about what we could do to make a low fee work.
So in the end, we've decided we're going to aim for the lowest barrier to developers as possible, with a $100 recoupable publishing fee per game, ...
I'm in favor of the lower end <3
∞ Gender Stereotypes About Intellectual Ability Emerge Early and Influence Children’s Interests
A report on Science by Lin Bian, Sarah-Jane Leslie, and Andrei Cimpian:
The distribution of women and men across academic disciplines seems to be affected by perceptions of intellectual brilliance. Bian et al. studied young children to assess when those differential perceptions emerge. At age 5, children seemed not to differentiate between boys and girls in expectations of “really, really smart”—childhood's version of adult brilliance. But by age 6, girls were prepared to lump more boys into the “really, really smart” category and to steer themselves away from games intended for the “really, really smart.”
Results of studies three and four.Boys’ (blue) and girls’ (red) interest (average of standardized responses to four questions) in novel games in study three (A) and study four (B). The main independent variable for each study (task in study three, age in study four) is shown in bold. Error bars represent ± 1 SE.
This is depressing to read.
∞ Arts of the New Moon
Google Arts & Culture celebrating Lunar New Year. Great project.
∞ Airbnb: Communicating Clarity and Charm
Google Design's article about Airbnb:
Airbnb replaced the left navigation bar on Android with the bottom navigation bar that now exists on both iOS and Android, to better unify the cross-platform experience.
I don't think unifying cross Android & iOS should be a goal. But replacing "hamburger menu + left navigation" with "bottom navigation bar" is definitely a win.
∞ WeChat's App Revolution
Adam Minter reporting on WeChat's "mini programs" for bloomberg:
Mini programs, by contrast, aren't found in an app store. Users get links to them from friends or groups in a chat, or by scanning a QR code in real life (at a restaurant, say).
"Mini programs" are best for ad-hoc, "offline" uses. For example, pay parking fees just by scanning the QR code of the meter. It sounds like Android's Instant Apps, but more light weight and works far better because of WeChat's ecosystem.
WeChat had already morphed beyond its roots as a chat service to become a one-stop app for everything, from banking to shopping to dating to dining.
That's very true. I'm constantly amazed by how much work it can be done inside WeChat without ever leaving the app.
In short, WeChat is starting to look quite a bit like a mobile operating system. As it becomes more powerful and self-contained, Chinese phone consumers will stop asking what phone and operating system they should buy, and start contemplating what phone best runs WeChat. That's a long-term threat to iOS and Android, as well as any company that makes phones to run them.
It's not a threat to iOS or Android though. They are at different levels. It only means that it stops mattering whether you choose iOS or Android. It removes the limitation of OS lock-in. It gives the freedom of choosing any phone.
For now, WeChat is changing smartphones in China. One day soon, its impact will be felt worldwide.
Certainly, WeChat has changed China. But I'm not sure about developed countries. They already have a developed system - apps. It's the same reason why it takes so long to advance US' payment system - credit cards.
Replacing My iPhone 6s for Free
My iPhone 6s has had the Unexpected Shutdown issue for a while. After months of procrastination, I finally went to the Apple Store this Saturday afternoon.
My appointment was at 16:50. The staff told me that it takes 3 hours to replace the battery, and the store closes at 19:00. So I have to leave the phone overnight and pick up the next day.
I said OK.
However, I remember last time Apple had this issue with iPhone 5, they would actually replace my old phone with a new one (or refurbished one?) immediately in the store. Oh yes, I am very lucky to be a victim twice.
I'm totally fine without a new phone this time.
Then the next day, a different person handled my case. They brought both my old and a new phone to me. Guess what? The new phone was for me. And I just need to reset my old phone for them.
They said one thing, but did another.
I'm very confused. The only reasonable explanation I could think is, they wanted to take a look at my old phone then decide what to do.
Maybe I should have a doubt about anything they say. After all, they have told me "not closing your apps will kill your iPhone”.