These Traces 110

Oct 3

This year's OS updates arrived, settled in, and quickly faded into the background. At least in my neck of the woods. There's just nothing to dramatically alter the way I interact with any of my devices. Apple Intelligence, despite the fanfare, still exists solely as a promise, with only a bare minimum feature set scheduled for an upcoming update. In recent years we've gotten used to the "coming later" label, but this takes the concept to new heights. That said, there are still tons of small QOL improvements on each of Apple's platforms, which is always nice, if not earth shattering.

One such feature that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere can be found in the Music app: the infamous Browse section is now more appropriately named New. But it isn't just cosmetic: the content of the section is much more personalized than before. I'm seeing artists and genres I actually listen to instead of a wall of Top 40 hits. I remain cautiously optimistic though: the Katy Perrys and Weeknds of the world now seem to be creeping in, laying claim to the real estate again. It's not as bad as it was before...but it also isn't as good as the first few days either. Fingers crossed the refresh isn't just a fluke.

The other tweak comes to an app that was only updated after the official updates: Apple Classical, the weird step-child/experiment of the family. This new version introduces Booklets: digital liner notes that are viewable without leaving the app. These are especially nice on iPadOS (1). Anyway, it's a good addition that rounds up the already extensive metadata offered in Classical.

Which I still believe should be part of the Music app... 🤷
On to the links.

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1: Do iTunes purchases still include PDF booklets?