I see what you did there, Apple.

The HomeView needs an iPhone for it to work with Siri AI because your phone and all its apps are where it gets all its context. With a multi-user device, it makes sense: how are you going to manage private data of each user on the same device while guaranteeing the data is up-to-date/synced all the time? Requiring the iPhone makes sense. To every app developing an iOS app: it’s time to build out those App Intents.

Ready Time has run on iPad for a while, but it was really just a stretched out version of the iPhone app, which was kind of lame. It really didn’t take advantage of the large display on the iPad, and you had to navigate around the app as if you had limited screen space. With iPhone Duo coming out, we wanted to make better use of the bigger screen. Now on iPhone Duo and iPad, your Plans stay in a list on the left while you can see a selected Plan on the right.

Editing on the bigger screen

Editing has also been updated to better suit the larger screen. On the iPhone, editing a Step’s duration, time lock, and travel options made sense where the keyboard is displayed. But with the larger screen, we have much more width on the screen to be able to show you these options on the side of the Plan Editor.

Closing iPhone Duo

If you close iPhone Duo, the Plan you had open stays running on the outer display. You can pack the night before with it open, close it on your way out the door, and your notifications and Live Activity keep going.

Spotlight and Shortcuts

3.10 was also recently released, and with it came support for Spotlight search, and the Shortcuts app has an Open Plan action. You can now search for your Plans in Spotlight so you can quickly get to them without needing to search for the app.

Picking a duration

The duration picker for Steps finally got a face lift. We’d been using the standard iOS spinner wheels for selecting durations, but oftentimes, you want to set something preset like 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. Now, you can select one of the common durations right in the picker. This should speed you up when setting up your Plans.

We also made it quicker to start a new Plan from one of the built-in routines, tapping a Live Activity now takes you straight to that Plan, long Step titles wrap onto more lines, and we cleaned up the colors in every theme so Step times are easier to read.

Onward

You can download Ready Time on the App Store.

If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Drop me a note.

He just smiled and handed me the origami crane (via):

Ten years later, as a high school student, Matsuda found herself thinking about that moment again. […]

“I started to think deeply about that time and tried to remember the details,” she said. “And I thought that maybe while I was on the phone with my grandfather, possibly [the man] wrote something on the paper.”

She hurried home from school and unfolded the crane to check. He had. Inside was a well-known Japanese expression about how every encounter is precious.

Roughly, it means “We should treasure each time we cross paths with someone because it might never happen again.” Or, more simply, “cherish the moment.”

Little Memory 2.1 is out. Most of the updates for it came from feedback on 2.0:

• Fixed the iOS 27 bug I mentioned a few days ago, where the paging dots under the diary didn’t match the top toolbar
• The import screen is clearer about the two toggles that need to be turned on to continue
• Opening a day in a large diary is faster
• When installing on a 2nd device, the app now knows you have memories in iCloud and welcomes you back; the old wording was confusing

Thanks to everyone who sent in bug reports and feedback.

We already knew ChatGPT was a huge snitch, so it’s not a surprise that Claude is a tattletale too:

According to the arrest report, Carli Michelle Heller, of Bonita Springs, Florida, wrote on September 26 that she would attack the Sheriff’s office. She later said that she uses Anthropic’s chatbot like a “diary.”

Claude’s safety systems flagged the entry and it was escalated to a human reviewer. After deciding it was a credible threat, the reviewer reported it to law enforcement.

We don’t know the full context of what she was writing, and she may have been totally serious or she may have been just venting. But having folks writing into Claude like it’s a diary does not sound like a good idea. People think they’re writing in a private space when chatting with AI, but they’re actually dumping their data into the AI provider’s databases.

Things like moving Little Memory’s data out of the cloud and into your own sovereignty is, in my opinion, the way to go. Keep this important private data… private.

Ready Time has always had push notifications when it’s time to start each Step. But in between each Step, you had to unlock your iPhone and open the app to see the status of your Plan. Now a running Plan stays on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island with Live Activities.

The whole idea of the app has always been to help you stay on time and to know what to do next, but keeping the Ready Time app open constantly doesn’t always make sense. You may be driving on your way to a meeting. You might be dealing with a screaming toddler during your morning routine, trying to juggle texting your babysitter or partner at the same time.

Being able to set your phone down and quickly glance on your Lock Screen to see the status of your Plan helps you make sure you’re on track to get to your meeting, your appointment, and any deadline you’ve set on time. It even shows up on your Apple Watch.

Turning it on

Live Activities are part of Premium. With Premium, every Plan shows up on its own when it starts. If there’s a Plan you’d rather keep off your Lock Screen, tap the Live Activity button on the Plan. And if you don’t want them at all, you can disable Live Activities in Settings.

Onward

You can download Ready Time on the App Store.

If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Drop me a note.

We’ve had daily and weekly repeating Plans for Ready Time, but some things we only do on weekdays. Welp, now we’ve got Weekday repeating Plans (Plans that repeat only Monday through Friday). This is perfect for school drop-off, the commute, the walk to the bus.

Repeat is easier to find

Repeat used to live in the menu in the Plan Editor, and it was a bit hidden. It now sits at the top of the deadline section in the Plan Editor, next to the time it applies to. The time row also tells you which days it covers, like “Mon-Fri at 8:15 AM”.

While we were there, we made Buffer a bit easier to find too, so it’s right on the top toolbar.

Two new themes

• Kyoto. Sakura, wisteria and pale silk. It’s the softest theme in the app. Inspired by our recent travels to Japan.
• COOLMOVES. Synthwave purple with teal Steps. So 80’s. What, you don’t know COOLMOVES?

Both are now in Premium.

We also cleaned up some of the existing themes where the contrast would sometimes make it hard to read items in your Plans. Sedona and Countdown Classic should now read better in Dark Mode.

Onward

You can download Ready Time on the App Store.

If you have feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Drop me a note.

I saw this at Anime Expo in 2001 at the Anime Music Video Awards. It was in the Drama Category, but it was, for me, a bit of comedy as well. So epic.

Offer elders to sit away from the aisle and closer to the wall. Maybe this is a subtle tactic to steer them away from being able to pay (see below).

Do not use your own chopsticks to grab things from communal dishes. Instead, use the communal chopsticks.

If you must use your own chopsticks to grab something from a communal plate for some reason (maybe there are no communal chopsticks or they haven’t come to the table yet), you can use the back side of your chopsticks since that side has not been in your filthy mouth yet.

If your teapot runs out of tea, you can take the lid and place it off to the side of the pot to signal to staff that you need a refill. If it’s a metal teapot, just keep the lid open.

If you’re at a place where they have staff pushing carts around, the cart person can be aggressive in getting you to accept something from their cart. If you’re unsure, they may say something like “It’s really good, you should try it!” Just a polite “no thank you” and/or a shake of the head is a good response.

Dim sum is not an all-you-can-eat buffet.

If you see others at the table, especially elders, who have empty tea cups, get the teapot and pour tea in their cup; and then, always lastly pour for yourself.

When someone pours tea for you, tap your index finger near your teacup to give thanks.

Eat the chicken feet.

If something’s too hard to grab with your chopsticks (it’s slippery or irregular shaped), sometimes it’s just easier to stab things with your chopsticks instead.

If there’s a lazy susan, don’t turn it if someone else is already turning it.

Fight to pay the check. Lose. Be upset that you lost.

The pro move is: going to the bathroom, paying the check on the way back, and making others upset that you paid without them knowing.

Take all the leftovers home: there’s no shame in it, and they make great leftovers. Wetter foods (like chicken feet, you got those, right?) should be in separate containers from dry foods (like buns).

“If you have any dignity, apologize to the rice right now!”

Here are the names of colors in Cantonese.