Patrick Rhone

Apple understands that [Apple Watch], by its very nature, will be more personal than the iPhone. It’s not just in your pocket, separated and tucked away when not in use. A wrist based device is on you and out there all the time for everyone to see. Not only that, but you are being asked to allow this device to know more about you than your doctor. To let it pay for things for you. To help you communicate with your friends and loved ones in potentially more meaningful ways. And, to interact with it potentially more than you currently do with your iPhone. Apple understands this will be the most personal computer you will own.

During XOXO, Daniel Agee took a bunch of portraits of fellow attendees and then asked us: “What is it you do or make only for yourself?”

My long-time podcasting pal, Ben Brooks, was kind enough to have me as a guest on his new TBR podcast. We talked about writing, juggling lots of spinning plates, work ethic, and (of course) iOS 8.

This week’s Sweet Setup interview is with Conor McClure:

My setup is one of the least sexy ones you’ll probably find on this site.

Reminds me of the self-proclaimed lame Mac setup of Sean Sperte from back in 2010. Except the truth is, the “un-sexy” setups are often the most interesting because they’re either filled with personality or the user has a pretty great workflow and knows how to get the most done out of their tools.

That’s roughly 38.5 iPhones every second. This is the biggest launch Apple has had to date — if anything, the bigger screens attracted more customers instead of detracting them. I’d love to know the breakdown between the 6 and the 6 Plus.

See also MacStories’ chart looking at past iPhone opening weekends. From the four times where Apple has let on what their initial 24-hour pre-order numbers were, it seems that opening weekend sales are roughly 1 part pre-orders from the first 24 hours of pre-orders being open, and 1.5 parts later pre-orders plus in-store shoppers.

Gabe Weatherhead:

The iPhone 6 Plus has grown on me over the weekend. Sure, it’s often unwieldy and uncomfortable. It’s also a great hand-held computer. I love reading and writing with it. Scanning the web and working in email is luxurious. After only three days, going back to my 5S for email feels cartoonish.

On this week’s episode of The Weekly Briefly, here are my initial thoughts on the iPhone 6’s new hardware and bigger screen, as well as iOS 8. In short, this is awesome.

Sponsored by:

• PDFPen Scan+: Scan & OCR with your iPhone or iPad Camera.

• The awesome members of shawnblanc.net: Their support makes the work I do a sustainable possibility.

Fantastic article by Federico Viticci:

Apple is reinventing iOS. The way apps communicate with each other and exchange functionality through extensions. How status awareness is being brought to iPhones, iPads, and Macs with Handoff and Continuity. Swift and TestFlight, giving developers new tools to build and test their apps. Custom keyboards and interactive notifications.

There are hundreds of new features in iOS 8 and the ecosystem surrounding it that signal a far-reaching reimagination of what iOS apps should be capable of, the extent of user customization on an iPhone and iPad, or the amount of usage data that app developers can collect to craft better software.

Seven years into iOS, a new beginning is afoot for Apple’s mobile OS, and, months from now, there will still be plenty to discuss. But, today, I want to elaborate on my experience with iOS 8 in a story that can be summed up with:

iOS 8 has completely changed how I work on my iPhone and iPad.

Over on The Sweet Setup, we’re compiling a running list with the most notable and exciting iOS 8 updates to many of the best apps. OmniFocus for iPhone is taking advantage of the Today view in Notification Center to show you your list of due tasks; 1Password is now a freemium app and has a slew of awesome upgrades; and more.

As I say in the article, it’s a “living” post, so check in to see what’s been added as new apps go live in the App Store. You can also follow @thesweetsetup on Twitter, as we’ll be tweeting updates.

Graham Spencer and the MacStories team:

Just like we have in the past few years, we like to find those little gems that come with every brand new version of iOS. So in this post, you’ll find dozens and dozens of tips, tricks, and details of iOS 8 that we’ve collected throughout the summer since the first beta release of iOS 8.

Tons of awesome little tricks, like how you can swipe to close Safari iCloud tabs on other devices. I’ve tried to do that a million times since iOS 7.

Stephen Hackett, writing on The Sweet Setup:

With iOS 8 — which is being released today — Apple has re-invented many things about the OS that powers the iPhone and iPad. Limitations which have long shaped the very nature of the OS and what apps can do have been lifted. Apps and their data are far more accessible while still staying just as secure. And though default apps for certain tasks still can’t be set, with iOS 8, using third-party apps is faster and easier than ever.

If you like great software, it’s an exciting day today. I’ll be doing most of my work over on The Sweet Setup where me and the crew will be highlighting today’s most noteworthy new apps and app updates.

This week’s setup interview is with Sruili Loewy, who sums up nicely why I prefer a laptop as my primary Mac:

I love the versatility of the MacBook Pro. I can take it with me wherever I need to go or dock it on my desk and still have the same amount of computing power.

That, and keeping two machines in sync is still a pain in the behind.

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My thanks to Smile for again sponsoring the RSS feed this week.