Archive for March 28, 2023

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Safari 16.4

WebKit:

This release is packed with 135 new web features and over 280 polish updates.

[…]

Deeply integrated with iOS and iPadOS, Web Push notifications from web apps work exactly like notifications from other apps.

[…]

WebKit on iOS and iPadOS 16.4 adds support for the Badging API. It allows web app developers to display an app badge count just like any other app on iOS or iPadOS.

[…]

Safari 16.4 adds support Declarative Shadow DOM, allowing developers to define shadow DOM without the use of JavaScript. And it adds support for ElementInternals, providing the basis for improved accessibility for web components, while enabling custom elements to participate in forms alongside built-in form elements.

[…]

Safari 16.4 adds support for quite a few new CSS properties, values, pseudo-classes and syntaxes.

[…]

Safari 16.4 now supports lazy loading iframes with loading="lazy".

Jen Simmons:

It’s hard to express just how massive a release Safari 16.4 is for web developers.

Last night, I was reading replies web developers posted on Twitter back in 2021, when I asked what developers need most from WebKit — and the vast majority of things you asked for have now shipped.

Now how about fixing the history and printing?

Federico Viticci (Mastodon):

I was able to test notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen using Alerty.dev, a web service I recently discovered whose sole purpose is to let users program their own notifications to deliver via an API to all their devices. Alerty is similar to Pushcut and Pushover, but instead of requiring a native app to be installed on the user’s device, it can just deliver real-time push notifications via a web browser (on desktop) or a web app on the Home Screen in iOS and iPadOS 16.4. This was a perfect opportunity to sign up for the service and try it out with some of my shortcuts.

Previously:

Update (2023-03-29): See also: Hacker News.

Matt Sephton:

Safari 16.4 has some breaking changes (fixes?) to CSS, which means the Polyglot Safari Extension by @uechz that I use every day no longer displays its popup.

But I created a quick-fix workaround with a User Stylesheets!

Update (2023-04-03): Ashley (via Hacker News):

Safari 16.4 rolled out last week, and for us it's been a nightmare. We make the browser-based game creation app Construct. Early versions of Safari 16.4 broke opening projects, previewing projects, and all existing content published with Construct, all in different ways. I wanted to share our experience so customers, developers, regulators, and Apple themselves can see what we go through with what is supposed to be a routine Safari release.

macguillicuddy:

We encountered a relatively major regression during the iOS 16.4 beta which unfortunately went live with the release version of 16.4. Requesting an ‘environment-facing’ camera using getUserMedia now provides the ultra-wide camera (rather than the usual standard angle lens).

Studio Display Firmware 16.4

Juli Clover (release notes):

According to Apple’s release notes, the Studio Display Firmware Update 16.4 adds support for in-field recalibration of the display using the Pro Display Calibrator. It allows for specific color workflows that may require custom calibration by an in-house spectroradiometer. The update also includes minor stability improvements.

With such a vague description after so many beta releases, I’m going to wait a while to update to make sure they got it right.

Previously:

Update (2023-03-28): Jonathan Wight:

This Apple Studio Display software update is pretty gnarly.

Lots of long black screens where you’re hoping it comes back to life…

Not the greatest of Apple hardware update experiences….

Update (2023-03-30): Howard Oakley:

If something goes wrong, all you can do is wait for another 15 minutes, with your Studio Display connected to your Mac, and your Mac connected to the internet. Whatever you do, don’t disconnect them, or restart your Mac.

There are two warning signs: a symbol showing a small padlock on a display icon, or the display showing black for over 15 minutes. Apple’s advice then is to unplug the Thunderbolt cable from the display and your Mac, then plug the cable back in again.

If that doesn’t enable the update to complete, the best way out is using a Mac with another display.

The RIAA v. Steve Jobs

Paul Kafasis (Hacker News):

Though the precedent of time shifting existed for television, space shifting was still an emerging idea. The acronym for the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, was something of a new four-letter word due to their hostility toward new ideas. […] This had an impact on our marketing for the first version of Audio Hijack. Rather than focusing on the app’s recording functionality, we highlighted use cases like adding an equalizer to movies. We knew recording was useful, but the app’s ability to apply audio effects anywhere on the Mac carried much less legal peril.

[…]

We never heard a word from the RIAA, nor their lawyers. As time passed without any trouble, we eventually came to assume that they recognized our tool’s many legitimate fair uses. We continued development of Audio Hijack, leaning in to its audio recording abilities. That focus led to it being a premier solution for podcasters, both then and now.

Earlier this month, however, we heard a chilling story. It comes from the Podfather himself, Adam Curry, who was instrumental in helping podcasts take off in the mid-2000s.

Adam Curry:

And in that very meeting, Steve asked: “How do you do your recording?”. We didn’t really have any tools to record, there was not much going on at the time. But the Mac had an application called Audio Hijack Pro, and it was great because we could create audio chains with compressors, and replicate a bit of studio work. Eddie Cue said: “The RIAA wants us to disable Audio Hijack Pro, because with it you could record any sound off of your Mac, any song, anything.” Steve then turned to me and said: “Do you need this to create these podcasts?”. I said: “Currently, yes!”. So Steve Jobs told them to get lost, and I thought: “Hey man, thanks, Steve’s on my side. That’s cool.”

Adam Curry:

His actual words were “fuck them”

I mean, this is great, but as Kafasis says it’s terrifying that it could have gone differently were it not for the whims of one man. And Jobs’ decision was pragmatic, not principled. Apple under his watch later developed the iPhone and the Mac App Store, neither of which allowed software like this. It then made such utilities much harder to install with the M1 Macs. We’re celebrating a small victory, but the larger story is one of a loss.

Previously:

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