Trademarking Micro.blog, how to appeal trademark rejections, and whether to get a lawyer. Manton and Daniel talk about whether it’s important to invest in protecting your trademark from the get-go. They discuss Automattic’s control of the .blog domain, whether it poses a risk to Manton, and Manton considering rebranding to de-emphasize the “micro” aspect of his platform. Plus a quick mention of Automattic and WP Engine, which also revolves around trademarks.

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Daniel and Manton talk about the community drama and impending fiasco of WordPress and Matt Mullenweg vs. WP Engine. They weigh the arguments of either side. Then they consider the larger issue of dependencies we have on the platforms we develop for, and how we strive for independence from platforms that can make or break our business.

Download Audio (MP3, 39 minutes)

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

• RevenueCat: In-app subscriptions made easy. Also check out the Sub Club Podcast!

Links:

• WordCamp US Portland — Latest yearly conference for the WordPress community.
• WP Engine — WordPress hosting company at the heart of the controversy.
• WordCamp and Ecosystem Thinking — Matt Mullenweg post that started calling out WP Engine.
• Five for the Future — WordPress community effort to give back 5% to open source.
• Cease and desist from WPEngine — Accusing Matt of making threats to WP Engine if not paid.
• Cease and desist from Automattic — Accusing WP Engine of trademark violations.
• WPE & Trademarks — Another blog post from Matt about trademarks.
• Twitter / X space — Matt answers questions from the community.

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Daniel and Manton talk about the latest releases of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, and the confusion of macOS versioning with the switch from 10.15 to 11. They explore new iOS features like home screen customization. Then Daniel describes the change in macOS Sequoia to limit keyboard shortcuts that use only the option key.

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Links:

• Invisible home screen icons — David Smith’s template for adding blank space.
• RCS on iOS 18 — The Verge overview of new messaging for iOS to Android.
• The iPhones 16 on Daring Fireball — John Gruber’s review of Camera Control and the new phones.
• An Intentional Change — Apple Developer Forums response to questions about keyboard shortcuts on Sequoia.

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Daniel and Manton talk about the Overcast redesign and customers getting upset about changes to workflows they are used to. Manton gives an update on his new text editor and early bugs. And finally, the current state of SwiftUI and how to decide when to start from scratch with a new framework.

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Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

• RevenueCat: In-app subscriptions made easy. Also check out the Sub Club Podcast!

Links:

• Overcast rewrite announcement — Marco’s blog post on the 10-year anniversary of the app.
• ATP 602 — Latest episode with update on Overcast changes.
• Help Scout — Customer support email software that Daniel and Manton both use.

Manton and Daniel discuss closed platforms vs. more open platforms, Apple’s new EU rules around linking for external purchases, and Patreon’s option to pass Apple’s fee on to creators or patrons. Then, a coding update on Manton’s work on a new text editor for Micro.blog, comparing and contrasting with MarsEdit’s text editor.

Download Audio (MP3, 46 minutes)

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

• RevenueCat: In-app subscriptions made easy. Also check out the Sub Club Podcast!

Links:

• App Store link rule change — Developer post from Apple about the new linking entitlement rules.
• Patreon App Store announcement — Blog post from Patreon on adjusting to account for Apple’s 30%.
• Apple and free apps — Manton’s blog post from 2011.
• TreeSitter — Library that MarsEdit uses for Markdown parsing.

Daniel and Manton check in about the Apple Vision Pro. Is it on the precipice of failure? Is there a killer app for it? How would the Apple Vision Pro have done if a smaller company came out with it? They talk about playing the long game vs. the short game, and how much harder it is to play the long game as a struggling indie. Focusing on finessing little things in a product or adding new features, and working on the features of an app or service that a customer expects the app or service to do.

Download Audio (MP3, 42 minutes)

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

• RevenueCat: In-app subscriptions made easy. Also check out the Sub Club Podcast!

Links:

• Cheaper Vision headset rumors — Apple prioritizing a lower-cost Vision instead of a new Vision Pro.
• Apple Vision Pro sales — Cutting expectations for 2024 and 2025.
• Remembering the Apple Newton — Ars Technica on the Newton, 30 years later.

Daniel and Manton discuss the latest news with Apple and the European Union, including that Apple is withholding features such as Apple Intelligence. Will they go so far as to stop selling iPhones in the EU rather than face a large fine? Apple has become accustomed to their power in the mobile market, but have they met their match with the EU? Then, Meta’s Threads API and the difficulty of getting an app approved for Micro.blog.

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It’s time for WWDC! Manton’s on the road as a heat wave hits the southwest and California. Will Apple’s AI announcements meet expectations? Will we finally get code completion? What other novel uses of AI could Apple surprise us with? Daniel and Manton talk all about WWDC, AI, the OpenAI partnership, and even what might happen with visionOS.

Download Audio (MP3, 43 minutes)

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

• RevenueCat: In-app subscriptions made easy. Also check out the Sub Club Podcast!

Links:

• Apple closes deal with OpenAI — The Information on Apple deal and Sam Altman.
• Microsoft Recall — The Verge on Microsoft’s AI-powered screenshot rewind.
• The Talk Show 401 — John Gruber and special guest Craig Hockenberry.
• How to rethink Siri — Manton’s blog post about improving Siri.
• Mapping LLMs — Anthropic’s blog post researching how generative AI works.

Daniel and Manton talk about Micro.blog’s audio features and the uniqueness of “audio narration” for blog posts. They discuss the value of human narration as a counterforce to AI, and how we can use overt feature differences to attract attention. Then, Daniel shares what’s new in the MarsEdit 5.2 update. Daniel describes his workflow for informing customers about updates they requested, a way to make both them and yourself feel good. Finally, Manton is about to start a road trip to WWDC, and they speculate about whether Apple will add a live component to WWDC when Apple’s competitors now have a live audience again — the competitive advantage of being human in a robotic era.

Download Audio (MP3, 32 minutes)

Links:

• Audio narration in Micro.blog — Announcing the new Micro.blog feature.
• A little more about adding audio — Manton’s post explaining the technical details.
• Jump Start Your Business Brain — Book Daniel recommends.
• MarsEdit 5.2 — Daniel’s blog post about the new features.
• Miraz Jordan on 5.2 update — Blog post about using duplicates.
• Accidental Tech Podcast 588 — Podcast episode covering Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs and Recall feature.

Micro Camp 2024 is today! Daniel and Manton talk about Micro.blog’s online event, Jean MacDonald leaving the company, and expensive top-level domain names. Then they review the announcements this week from OpenAI and Google, and what all the AI news may mean for Apple, Siri, and WWDC 2024.

Download Audio (MP3, 39 minutes)

Links:

• Micro Camp — Micro.blog’s online community event.
• Christina Warren — Special guest for Micro Camp 2024.
• Jean’s departure post — Why she’s leaving Micro.blog and what’s next.
• Kimberly Hirsh — Micro.blog member now joining Micro.blog to help with community and curation.
• Google I/O — Google’s developer conference.
• OpenAI announcements — Update from OpenAI with demos of GPT-4o.
• Llama — Meta’s open-source AI model.
• Hallucinations — Manton’s blog post responding to an article on The Verge.