Linked List: July 23, 2021

Friday, 23 July 2021

Winners of the 2021 iPhone Photography Awards 

Inspiring work. Lot of winners using years-old iPhones, too.

Update 1 August 2021: Shawn King raises some good questions about this content.

Iconfactory’s A.F.C. Richmond Wallpapers Are Now Free 

Nice way to celebrate today’s debut of season 2.

Playdate Preview 

Sam Machkovech, writing for Ars Technica:

Sometimes, I want companies to lighten up and put the “fun” in “functionality.”

That bias contributes in some part to my interest in the Playdate, a $179 portable gaming system that errs on the side of childish, low-powered fun. I’ve spent three weeks testing the system’s “near-final” hardware ahead of preorders opening up on 1 pm ET on Thursday, July 29, and I can confirm that it’s indeed fun to look at. Luckily, it’s also fun, simple, and accessible to hold, play with, and share with every friend that I can.

Andrew Webster at The Verge got an early look too, and had a similar reaction. I can’t wait for it — Playdate looks like it’s going to be such fun.

Apple Will Continue Releasing Security Updates for iOS 14 After iOS 15 Ships This Fall 

From a good roundup of security updates announced at WWDC last month, by Carly Page for TechCrunch:

To ensure iPhone users who don’t want to upgrade to iOS 15 straight away are up to date with security updates, Apple is going to start decoupling patches from feature updates. When iOS 15 lands later this year, users will be given the option to update to the latest version of iOS or to stick with iOS 14 and simply install the latest security fixes.

“iOS now offers a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app,” Apple explains (via MacRumors). “You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates until you’re ready to upgrade to the next major version.”

I missed this news last month, and misspoke about it on the latest episode of my podcast, while talking about holding onto iOS 14 indefinitely if Apple doesn’t sufficiently improve the design for Safari in iOS 15.

Tom Hanks Introduces the Cleveland Indians’ New Team Name 

A+ choice of name. Feels right, looks right.

MacRumors: ‘Apple to Pull “iDOS 2” DOS Emulator From App Store’ 

Cited for violating rule 11.38, which prohibits excessive harmless nostalgic fun.