The Future of Widgets (Part II)

Stylized Widgets IconEver see the Jetsons? George made sprockets. His competitor made cogs. Me, I make widgets. Fantasy has become reality, as my job is futuristic — but what is the future of the Widgets app? With the release of macOS 11… whew …it’s going to take a lot of work to figure that out. After playing with Apple’s WidgetKit and the default widgets, there are significant challenges to overcome.

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The Future of Widgets

Apple Widgets IconWell, that was Awkward. I sat down to watch the WWDC 2020 and I was quite surprised to see widgets take the lead. Improvements to Apple’s native widgets are heading to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Am I in competition with Apple? After watching the event to end, I don’t think so. Instead, I think this creates opportunity for Photics apps. Ultimately, Apple showed renewed interest for widgets and this could increase the demand for such technology.

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LIFTOFF — A Book About Hype Is Now Available

Lulu.com "Liftoff" IllustrationFirst, congratulations to SpaceX on their successful Falcon-9 “Demo-2” launch. Human Spaceflight returns to America. Not since 2011 has this occurred. It’s been a similar length of time since a physical book has been available from Photics. Now that changes. A Book About Hype is available at Lulu.com. It’s almost as if they knew of this moment in time. Sporting a new design, their website has recently been upgraded. The book launching illustration on their homepage is fantastic.

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Widgets — Reverse Engineering WordNet

Hype Book vs DictionaryWith the proof copy of A Book About Hype in production, there’s not much to do but wait. There’s a significant delay. In frustration, I seriously considered printing the books myself. While it certainly can be done, that’s not what Photics is about. Patience is needed during the pandemic. Lulu has delivered quality in the past. I’m optimistic that they can do it again. Instead, I should focus my efforts on Widgets. I too need to deliver quality — a dictionary / thesaurus widget. Many people are waiting.

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Apparatuses Launches on New Year’s Day 2020

Apparatuses ThumbnailHAPPY NEW YEAR! 🥳
While there is some debate as to the official start of the decade, here at Photics.com the event is celebrated today. If for no other reason, now there’s a normal nickname for the decade — the 20s or the 2020s. Woo hoo! In looking for a significant way to celebrate, a new app was launched — Apparatuses. This is the iOS counterpart of the macOS App Widgets. The plan is to work on these apps for many years to come. Officially launching Apparatuses, at the start of a new decade, is a nice way to commemorate the occasion.

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