Jeff Perry

After the announcement of new Widgets for iOS and the ability to have them anywhere on your home screen I immediately thought about the new possibilities for the iPad. I wanted to make the iPad home screen a mission control center of sorts. I could have a task manager widget, a Drafts widget, and others available right on the home screen for me to use when I want. Then I learned that widgets aren’t available to go everywhere on the iPad like it is on the iPhone.

I immediately thought that this was some kind of bug, surely Apple has this planned for the iPad as well right? Wrong. Craig Federighi explained on the podcast Waveform that widgets for the iPad will continue to be constrained.

Whether over time we want to let you push that further, letting you move widgets out of their designated spot beside the app icons or not, we’ll see. But we felt like we had a great balanced solution for this already.

To me, this seems like a cop-out for Apple. There are many reasons that the iPad should also have access to put widgets anywhere on the home screen.

The Current Solution isn’t Useful

If we look at the “great balanced solution” Apple has put in place for the iPad it is about as useful as having 4 Shortcuts on your home screen. In fact, I would argue that having 4 Shortcuts is actually more useful than the current widget system they have in place for the iPad.

If you look at the left side of the home screen for the iPad you will see that it is a column that goes from top to bottom entirely, but only shows the first half of the column by default. This means that if you want to see the other widgets outside of the newly created main widget area you have to scroll down the empty column to have them appear.

The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” comes to me when I look at this solution Apple has for the iPad. The 2–4 widgets you decide are worthy for the Home Screen section of you iPad are the only ones that you will always see. The rest are non-existent unless you remember they are there for you to use.

This solution also breeds an unnecessary war for the home screen where the user has to battle with the options they have only to have multiple casualties by the end of it. Can’t there be enough room for everyone on the home screen?

There is More Space on the iPads

Naturally, the iPad has more screen real estate than the iPhones do. Meaning that there is opportunity for more widgets to live on an iPad’s home screen. If the option were there for iPads to have widgets available on the entire screen it would allow for more great widgets to coexist. As I mentioned before, the current system creates a battle for the top, making widgets less intriguing for users. Why can’t us iPad users use the extra space for widgets?

The worst part about the current “solution” is that widgets can only exist on the first page of the home screen. It’s not like each page can have a couple widgets available, it is specifically only page one. With the iPhone you can have a widget on any page without any kind of restriction.

If Apple were to open this up for the whole screen instead of having 2–3 widgets you could have 5–7 per page. This would allow for new and innovative ways for people to use the apps they love with widgets that look fantastic. It’s a shame that the larger iPads have even more restrictions than the smaller iPhones have.

The Home Screen is Barren for Most

The iPad has gone through so many iterations with the Dock and home screen that for many the home screen is now just an empty wasteland. That or they keep the apps they need quick access to when they aren’t connected to a keyboard. I remember several instances where people were just having their entire App Library in a folder on their dock and using Spotlight to get to the apps they have in the folder. In fact, this is how I use my iPad most of the time. However, I don’t have a folder with all my apps in my dock. I just use Spotlight by default to open up apps.

Because the home screen is empty or unused for many, it is rife with opportunities to make that empty home screen something much more powerful and innovative.

Instead of having to open Drafts to start a new note I can simply go home and tap on the widget creating a new note. Instead of having to open up Reminders to add a new task I can just head home and use a widget to add a new task.

If Apple were to allow widgets to be available anywhere on the home screen the uniqueness and personability of a home screen would be endless.

Final Thoughts

Apple made the move to make iOS and iPad OS different, and they have; just not in the way I would have wanted. The iPhone is getting features that the iPad doesn’t, while the iPad is left out to dry.

This “solution” Apple currently has for the iPad has all of the restrictions with none of the upsides. I for one have filed my feedback on this decision and I hope that Apple decides to change their mind on this before iOS 15. That said, Apple holding this feature back until then would make sense for them to do as a quick win from the community next WWDC.

This was first posted on Tablet Habit, the quintessential iPad Newsletter. Sign up today.

This was originally posted for Tablet Habit, the quintessential iPad Newsletter. Subscribe today and save 40% off forever.

I recently sold my MacBook Pro and iPad 7 to buy the new 2020 11” iPad Pro. I also picked up the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. The reason for this was because I wanted to get the best iPad I could and make it my one and only computer.

To rewind a bit, I used to use a 16” MacBook Pro for both my marketing/videography job and for personal use when I could; but when I decided to leave that line of work the MacBook had to be returned to the company. Once that happened I found myself wanting to use my iPad 7 as my main device even though I had the 2017 MacBook Pro as well. Mind you, nothing was wrong with my MacBook Pro, I just felt that the iPad was more my flavor of computing.

Now that I am a month into using my 11” iPad Pro full time, I couldn’t be happier with my decision. When people ask me why I decided to move to the iPad over the Mac it comes down to two reasons: the operating system and what I think the future will be for the platform.

Why iPad OS over macOS

After watching the WWDC keynote this year I realized that while the lines between the Mac and iPad are beginning to blur with the announcement of Apple silicon, these devices are still vastly different from one another.

The biggest difference for me isn’t the apps or the way certain things interact on the screen, it is automation and making these computer do the things that you want them to. Enter Shortcuts, the app formerly known as Workflow that has since been acquired by Apple and added as a mainstay for the iPhone and iPad. Shortcuts is by far and away my favorite app of all time. The reason for this is because it’s allowed me, and others like me, to unlock the full potential of my iOS and iPad OS devices.

To me, that is the difference between a Mac and iPad in a nutshell. If you want to do something for automation on the Mac you can either try using an app like Keyboard Maestro or you will need to know how to code something yourself to make it happen. With Shortcuts you can create your own automation system in a matter of minutes using Lego-style blocks to build on one another. Shortcuts might seem like a rudimentary way to program for those that know how to code, but as someone that has tried learning to code over the years Shortcuts makes more sense to my brain than anything I could write myself.

In fact, it’s the first app I go to when I have an idea to automate or make something I do simpler. When I was using my Mac I felt as if that aspect of computing was unattainable for me. For example, I didn’t know how to write code to edit text the way that I wanted to, and as someone that works with text a lot it seemed inferior to my iPad for that reason. With an iPad I can use Shortcuts and make automated changes to the text in a matter of seconds.

I often would write things on my Mac and reach for my iPhone or iPad just so I can take the text that I spent so much time writing and run it through shortcuts for various things I wanted to do with it rather than fiddle with it on my Mac in hopes to find a solution.

This is not to say that Shortcuts is simple or completely understandable the first go around, but I have spent significantly less time learning Shortcuts than I have trying to learn JavaScript or Swift. It is safe to say that I absolutely have a better grasp on Shortcuts than I do any coding language.

Shortcuts allows the democratization of automation for people like me with no coding experience required. For that reason I chose the iPad over the Mac.

That being said, Shortcuts wasn’t the only reason I chose the iPad over a Mac. The other is where I see the iPad and Mac in the future.

iPad and Mac Futures

My other reason for going with the iPad is because after the announcement of Apple silicon my first thought was that the Mac is going to have a turbulent 2-4 years as they transition from Intel to ARM. I am confident the new ARM Macs will be better for the user in the long run, but as we are in a transition period for the Mac it seems to me that buying a new MacBook isn’t a great idea for the foreseeable future. Yes, Apple did say that they intend to release new Intel Macs before going entirely ARM, but the questions of “Should I buy a Mac right now?” and “What is the best Mac for me?” becomes muddied and difficult to answer for even the most knowledgeable.

On the other side of the coin, there is the iPad lineup–specifically the iPad Pro–that has recently had its 3rd iteration and the addition of one of the best keyboards on the market for any computer. To me, the Mac is on its way to being an amazing machine, but the iPad has already set its own foundation for a fruitful future. I firmly believe that this 2020 iPad can easily be my main computer for 2-4 years without issue, which is something I cannot say about the newest Intel Mac computers out today.

I don’t mean to rain on the Mac parade entirely. I am sure that the transition will be an overall smooth process. In fact it seems that Apple has really taken everything into consideration before officially announcing Apple silicon with Rosetta 2, emulation, and more. That being said, even if the new Macs are indeed amazing I personally will still prefer the iPad Pro over a MacBook Pro because the experience on the iPad is far superior than the Mac for me.

Final Thoughts

A much as this article was about the differences between the Mac and iPad, I don’t want this to be an additional piece of artillery in the war over whether or not the iPad is a worthy Mac alternative or not. To me it is, to others it isn’t; it’s that simple.

For me, I am beyond excited about the switch to the iPad and I absolutely adore my 11” iPad Pro. I can’t wait to push this machine to its limit over the next few years and share with you what I learn and create here on Tablet Habit.

I am beyond excited to announce the reincarnation of Tablet Habit, the All Things iPad Newsletter coming July 27th, 2020.

I recently sold my iPad 7 and MacBook Pro to buy the 2020 11” iPad Pro and make it my only computer. Since then, I have been thinking a lot about Tablet Habit and somehow making that era of my writing career resurge, and with this newsletter I can make that happen in ways I could only dream of before. Not only will it directly be sent to your email, but it offers so much more than what Tablet Habit offered back in the day.

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What is Tablet Habit?

Tablet Habit is a newsletter about all things iPad. From reviews of apps and products, interviews with other writers and developers, exclusive podcast episodes, news and opinion pieces, exclusive wallpapers, and more coming out 3-4 times a week it will be the one-stop-shop for all things iPad.

Tablet Habit is free to subscribe but you’ll only get one post a week. If you want to receive all 3-4 posts a week, the monthly wallpapers, and access to the podcast you will need to be a paid subscriber.

Right now I am offering a free 90 day trial as a way for me to prove to anyone reading this that my work will be worth your hard-earned money. Sign up for the paid subscription today, but know that you will not be charged until October 18th, 2020.

To sweeten the pot, I am offering a launch special where anyone that subscribes by August 10th can get it at a 40% discount for as long as you stay subscribed.

Subscribe today and get 40% off forever

You can learn more about Tablet Habit and what will be included with your subscription here.

The Future of this Blog

With Tablet Habit becoming my main place for writing about the iPad and other things, that means that I will be using my personal blog for more, well, personal things. I will still write posts on here about non-iPad related things, and I may even share posts from Tablet Habit here from time to time as well. That said, I think that this blog is going to be more more informal outlet for me going forward.

Seeing how this is still on micro.blog I see it only fitting to make jeffperry.blog my mainstay for micro posts I want to write and post online.

I am beyond excited about what the future holds for Tablet Habit and this blog, and I can’t wait to share with you everything I am working on. Until then, the first post of Tablet Habit comes out Monday, July 27th 2020.

After posting Tim Nahumck’s post yesterday I went back to relisten to probably the most frequent piece of long-form audio in my library: The 2009 SXSW talk by Merlin Mann and John Gruber.

I wrote about it after my first listen a while back, and I still feel a lot of the same feelings as I did then, but I wanted to share it again because one thing I didn’t focus on enough in my original post was the sentiment Tim mentioned yesterday:

I started thinking of the why for my writing. And really, it comes down to what it started to be: I write for me, and me alone. What I have learned over my time of writing is that people seem to enjoy what I write for myself.

Gruber and Merlin say similar things on their talk, but I either didn’t completely comprehend it at the time, or it is just something that is hitting me especially hard this most relisten.

In my original post about this piece of audio I said:

After this, they talk about how you can’t, and probably shouldn’t, make everyone happy. Merlin says it best when he explains how he admires John because John’s voice and passion outweighs any obligation to make people happy. He doesn’t go out of his way to upset anyone but he also is steadfast to continue the path he feels is right. This is something I think I lack, and that I should be more assertive at times.

I like to think that over the past 2 years I have gained more confidence in my writing ability and have the assertiveness to say what I want to say without worrying about what others might think, this blog if for me first and others second.

What I really wish is that there were more talks like this about writing online. Every time I listen to this I look for more talks like this but there are so many crappy podcasts about blogging it is hard to find the cream that rises to the top.

One podcast that does scratch this itch for me is Dialog. The podcast will change topics each season but the first season, now complete, focused on writing and spoke with many different kinds of authors and writers to talk about their history with writing, writing process, and more.

Aside from this podcast, I am not sure where I can find more meaningful conversations about writing and blogging online. So if you are reading and know of something let me know on Twitter.

Tim Nahumck:

My personal projects – my writing and my podcast – have been on hiatus for a while. I felt like my creative energy was zapped, that I didn’t have the desire to do these things anymore. I’m not sure if it was depression or a culmination of things, but I just didn’t feel creative anymore. I felt unmoored while trying to navigate my creative life. It’s in these times that I turn my focus to my journal, so I can start to figure out what it really is that’s driving me. Why am I writing? Why am I podcasting? Do people enjoy this? Does that matter? Who am I writing or speaking to when I share my thoughts? At the end of it all, I have to ask: What’s my why?

[…]

I started thinking of the why for my writing. And really, it comes down to what it started to be: I write for me, and me alone. What I have learned over my time of writing is that people seem to enjoy what I write for myself.

[…]

So, I’m going to be doing some things to return to form. I’m starting to write again, and it’s pouring out of me. I’m going back to the approach I took when I first started: write for myself, and then publish. Some of my stuff might be small, some of it larger. But it’s going to be on the subjects and topics that I want.

Tim manages to say things that have been on my mind for a long time better than I ever could. I have battled with myself for a long time about why I write, and I came to a similar conclusion as Tim. In fact, the main reason I moved my website from RocketPanda.com to JeffPerry.blog was because I wanted my website to reflect me not “some brand.” In hindsight, I could have written for myself without needing to change the domain (again), but the sentiment of changing domains definitely solidified my decision to stop trying to write for “my audience” and start writing for myself.

It was a pleasure to work with Tim on his new logo and header image. It is a logo I am very proud of, and seeing it live on his website make me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Adding custom class tags isn’t exactly a new revolution in web development, and I am sure many of those reading this have used them in the past, but as someone that just started using them I thought it would be fun to share with others just how much you can do with a custom tag if you know even a little bit of HTML and CSS.

As many know, I like to play around with my website and change things up with my theme(s). I primarily do this by selecting a base WordPress theme and editing that theme in the “Additional CSS” section when customizing my WordPress theme.

If you aren’t familiar with CSS, you can learn a lot fairly quickly when using the Developer Tools in Google Chrome. Once I started inspecting the websites I thought were beautifully designed and researching about the fundamentals of CSS I started to mess around with my own website. After some trial and error I managed to make changes to my website I never thought I could. Eventually, editing WordPress themes and making changes became a hobby/addiction for me.

What I have done recently is added class attributes to specific parts of my writing. For those of you that don’t know, if you were to write your posts in HTML you can add a class attribute to items and use them with custom CSS to change only items with that tag.

For example, if you wanted to have a class that makes your text larger, you can make a class tag called “big-text” which you can then edit what happens to the text.


This is normal text.

This is big text.


That code would look something like this after adding custom CSS to that attribute.

This is normal text.

This is big text.

To get these results, you need to add custom CSS to the newly created attribute. As the name suggest we want to make changes to the font-size of the text tagged with “big-text.”

So, let’s say we want to make the text 300% larger than normal when tagged with “big-text.”

Here’s what we could use for the CSS to make that happen:

.big-text {
font-size: 300%;
}


Once you add this to the CSS you will see all text that has that class tag will be 3 times larger than normal.

It would look something like this.

There are a lot of use cases you can make for using custom attributes, but for me I had one thing in particular I wanted to change.

What I use it for

I didn’t start using class tags for text size, instead I used it for when I make a Link Post and want to characterize the link to the original source. If you go to a recent link post of mine you will see where my source link at the top is different to other hyperlinks in the post. A great example is my recent post about Rosemary Orchard’s empty link Drafts Action.

As you can see, the section that I use at the top to link to Rose’s post is underlined while other links are not. I simply did this by using a custom class attribute in the post and added a “border-bottom” CSS attribute to that tag.

Here is what my post looked like with the custom HTML class:

<a class="link-source" href="https://rosemaryorchard.com/blog/drafts-action-fix-empty-markdown-links/">Rosemary Orchard</a>:


The CSS I use to make the text look the way it does is as follows:

.link-source {
border-bottom: 1px solid !important;
}


I don’t have a coding background, everything I use has been self-taught or explained to me from someone who knows more than I do about coding. I am sure someone reading this who is much more knowledgeable will tell me there is a more efficient way of making the same tweaks to my website. With that said, if the “more efficient” solution involves a lot more coding and knowledge beyond my limited scope of web development, I think I will stick with this solution for the foreseeable future.

Rosemary Orchard:

As is often the case, as I use Drafts I find things that I need to do and write a script to fix it for me! In this case, I have a habit of planning to add links later in my text, but find it a pain to go through the whole article to find them and the find function is too darn manual for me. There were already a few actions in the Actions Directory, but they didn’t quite work the way I wanted them to. If you haven’t guessed where this is going yet: I wrote my own!

As someone starting to use Drafts for all of my writing and blog posts, this drafts action is an absolute dream. When I am in “writing mode” the last thing I want to do is bounce from Drafts to find links on the web. Now, I can simply insert a blank link (thanks to this action that Tim Nahumck sent me a while back) and figure it out later once I have a final draft for my blog post.

Download it yourself on the Drafts Actions Directory today and go thank Rose for making your blogging experience 1000% better.

It’s Time to Get Back Into RSS | Daniel Miessler:

It’s unclear what exactly destroyed RSS, but Google closing Google Reader definitely didn’t help. Another factor was the rise of aggregation sites like Slashdot, Digg, and Reddit, which seductively took on the burden of surfacing the best content.

Matt Birchler writing for Birchtree:

One, arguments about the “death of RSS” often cite the sites in that quote as killing it, not to mention Twitter and Facebook. My question is “how big was RSS when Google killed Reader?” Was it as big as the audiences of reddit, Twitter, and Facebook combined? I would humbly guess…no, not even close.

[...]

And two, articles like this suggest that RSS has been dead and that it’s time for it to come back. Maybe I’m biased because I never left, but in the wake of Reader shutting down, a bunch of RSS syncing services have cropped up.

I have seen many different posts claiming RSS needs a resurgence. As someone that didn’t even start getting into RSS until after Google Reader was killed I personally don’t understand how people think RSS is dead or dying. Yes, it isn’t handled by the biggest tech company in the world. Personally, I think services like Feedly, Feedbin, Inoreader, and Feed Wrangler have been handling the market just fine after Google killed off its RSS service.

Jason Snell writing for Six Colors:

Last month I was sad to report that the new iPad Pro keyboard/trackpad combination from Brydge, the makers of my longstanding favorite iPad Pro keyboard, was just not good enough. The keyboard and price were both impressive, but the trackpad experience itself was poor compared to pretty much any other pointing device you can connect to an iPad. At the time, I expressed some hope that Brydge might be able to turn things around by updating the trackpad’s firmware. And that glimmer of hope got a little brighter last week with the release of a firmware update app that improves clicking and scrolling features. Unfortunately, the update that Brydge rolled out along with the app doesn’t really do anything to fix the fundamental failings of the Brydge trackpad experience. Cursor movement and two-finger scrolling is still jerky and unreliable in ways that other trackpads and mice aren’t.

It is a shame that the people who spent hundreds on their Brydge Keyboard are getting probably the worst trackpad keyboard they can for an iPad. I was thrilled with my Brydge 10.2 keyboard, but sadly Brydge seems to have shot themselves in the foot with this keyboard. They knew it was a risk to make a pseudo trackpad made to trick the accessibility trackpad support that showed up in early iPad OS 13. Now that iPad OS 13.4 has come out with full-fledged trackpad and mouse support this workaround Brydge has made is useless and inconvenient.

I hope that Brydge makes a turn for the better, but I am not holding my breath.

With the Magic Keyboard coming out for the 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros, many people–including myself–were left longing to have a better keyboard and trackpad option for their 2019 iPad 7. Thankfully, Logitech didn’t leave people like me out of their lineup, they instead created the Logitech Combo Touch. Does it have a futuristic floating option? No, but it does offer more than any other keyboard on the market for the 2019 iPad 7, iPad Air 3, or 10.5” iPad Pro.

Typing Experience

With 20 years under their belt, Logitech knows what it takes to make a worthwhile typing experience. That said, getting to the point where I could use all of the keys as intended took some time and a trip to the Logitech support website to get there.

Some Keys Weren’t Working

When I first set up this case I decided to test out the keys. After my first Brydge keyboard, I feel like I have to do it to ensure that nothing is dead on arrival. When testing it, I noticed that the apostrophe (‘) key and the backslash () key were not functioning. What was more interesting was that when I held down Shift and pressed the quotation mark (“) key, it accurately typed on the screen. 

I was perplexed at this; it was obvious the key wasn’t the problem. I did more digging and noticed that Logitech offers an app to update the firmware on this keyboard. Hoping that there was some kind of firmware update, I installed it on the app to see if Logitech came up with a fix. Sadly, there was nothing. 

At this point, I felt like the only way for me to get this issue fixed was to either wait for some kind of firmware update from Logitech, if there ever would be one, or contact Logitech in hopes they know a workaround on this. I spoke with Logitech Support about this issue and they had a quick fix for my issues.

According to Logitech, iOS 13.4 has an issue where the hardware keyboard settings don’t recognize all of the Combo Touch’s keys. The fix for this was to open up Settings and go to General>Keyboard>Hardware Keyboard and change the layout from Automatic to the US option. Once I did that, every key worked as expected. According to the Logitech Expert, I chatted with, this is an iOS/iPad OS bug. At first, I felt like this was a Logitech screw up, but after updating from 13.4 to a 13.5 public beta the issue resolved itself without issue. Hopefully whatever caused this issue is fixed with the upcoming iOS and iPad OS update, if not it would be a real pain for people to make this change manually.

Better in Every Way

Once I managed to get the issue with my keyboard fixed, I was finally able to try it out and see how it worked. Logitech has a track record for making keyboards with solid typing experiences, and this one is no exception. The key travel is much deeper than the Butterfly keys on the Smart Folio Keyboard and allows for a much more comfortable typing. The responsiveness to the keys is quick and precise, I never feel like a key isn’t recognized when I type on it. Finally, the size of this keyboard fits even my big hands. Coming from my MacBook Pro, It did take some time to get used to it after working on a full-sized keyboard. That said, I was able to make the switch in a matter of minutes. 

There is one thing that I wish Logitech, and really every keyboard manufacturer would change. The egregious arrow keys. 

Much like older MacBook Pros, the arrow keys have full-sized left and right arrow keys but have half-sized up and down arrow keys, making a three-key sandwich. As someone that never managed to get used to this kind of setup. I desperately want all four arrow keys to be uniformly half-size–which is also known as the inverted T setup. As someone that writes a lot on my iPad, seeing this bad sandwich-looking arrow keys setup makes me feel as if I am being punished for wanting to quickly move around my text with a keyboard rather than tapping on a screen or using the trackpad. If anyone has any ideas on how I can get used to these arrow keys I am all ears. For now, I will be looking down and placing my fingers on these atrocious arrow keys every time I need to use them.

Logitech Control App

One new thing that came with this keyboard was the Logitech Control app. Turns out, Logitech has listened to their users cry for more control over their keyboard. In the app, you can update the firmware of the keyboard, if they ever send one, as well as change settings to the physical keyboard. You can increase the backlit time on the keys from 10, to 30, or even 60 seconds. Furthermore, you can adjust the fade for the backlight keys making the time it takes to go from lit to unlit slower or faster. 

By default, both settings are at their lowest setting, but I personally don’t mind if the keyboard stays lit longer. I decided to make my keys stay lit for 30 seconds instead of the default 10 seconds. Given that this keyboard is powered by the Smart Connector, one can assume the longer you leave your keys backlit the faster your battery will drain. I don’t know by how much, but I suspect LED lights don’t take much power to stay illuminated, and I would rather grab for my charger a few minutes sooner if that means I can see the keys I am typing on in the dark. 

Case

The keyboard case is primarily covered in a fabric akin to nylon. It has a heather gray look to it, which makes for an elegant looking computer. My only concern, which is the same as the Smart Keyboard, is that over time your hands will make this clean fabric turn from a heather gray to a smeared brown. Even if I were to wash my hands every time I use it, I know that over time the oils and dirt my hands will dirty this fabric. That said, if Logitech were to use a plastic or metal alternative, I don’t think it would be as inviting and comfortable as the fabric lining they chose is. My hope is that this case won’t be ruined over time, but it is a risk I am willing to take.

One thing I may do in the future is to wipe down the keyboard with a microfiber cloth dampened with water. That is the most common way Apple has instructed people to clean their Smart Folio keyboard. Granted, the Smart Folio Keyboard doesn’t have exposed keys that are susceptible to water damage. If this keyboard does become grimy and dirty looking I will take my chances and try to clean it as best I can.

This keyboard case does allow for you to remove the keyboard itself and have it act simply as a tablet with a kickstand. The Surface-like design allows for the iPad to be angled for any viewing mode you want. You can go from watching a YouTube video to writing notes with your Apple Pencil in a matter of seconds by lowering the iPad and opening your handwriting app. I absolutely love that you can use your iPad in any way you want with this case attached. If we were to compare this to the Brydge keyboard, you would never have been able to use that keyboard case for drawing on your iPad, as it was strictly only for laptop-style work.

If you are hoping this case is slim and sleek, you’re going to be disappointed. This case is a beefy monstrosity. Once you put on the keyboard and the kickstand case on your petite iPad, it more than doubles in thickness. In fact, it is almost as thick as a 2010 MacBook Pro, you know, the one that had a disc drive still in it.

While considering buying this product, I looked at other reviews before making my decision and every single one of them spun this thick case as something about being ultra-protective of the iPad. Personally, I am not here to protect my iPad from a 30-foot fall with half-inch plastic encasing my iPad. That said, the thickness isn’t as blasphemous as it’s previous predecessors like the ironically-named Slim Combo. While I would like this case to be slimmer, I really am not sure where Logitech could slim anything down. The kickstand is a perfect thickness and allows the iPad to be in a wide range of angles without compromise, the plastic going around the iPad is on the thicker side but that will only make the edges thinner, and the keyboard needs to be as thick as t it is because key travel is important and Logitech knows that. 

I am not an engineer, nor do I play one on TV, but as I think more about this keyboard case the less I can find a simple way to make it any slimmer without compromise. So, if you want a keyboard with a great typing experience that is smart-connector compatible, you have to sacrifice a few millimeters and a few extra ounces to make that happen, or buy the Apple Smart Keyboard with the inferior, yet slimmer, Butterfly keys. 

At the end of the day the thickness doesn’t bother me enough to consider not using it, but if you decide to buy this keyboard know that it is a keyboard that has more to love than most iPad keyboards. Not to mention, it’s the best keyboard case that offers trackpad support for these iPad models. 

Trackpad

The most anticipated feature on this keyboard is the built-in trackpad, and it doesn’t disappoint. All of the gestures that Magic Keyboard uses are available for this keyboard, and they work flawlessly. 

The trackpad, compared to the Magic Keyboard, is a tad smaller measuring in at 3 ¾” wide by 2 1/8” long while the Magic keyboard trackpad for the 12.9” is 4” wide and 2 1/8” long. Both the Combo Touch and the Magic Keyboard pale in comparison to the 2017 13” MacBook Pro coming in at 5 5/16” wide and 3 5/16” long. While it may seem small compared to the MacBook Pro trackpad size, it isn’t a dealbreaker.

I haven’t seen the Magic Keyboard for the 12.9” in person, but from what I can tell the reason for the both the Magic Keyboard and Combo Touch being close in size is because the Combo Touch doesn’t need room for the keyboard to float atop the case like the Magic Keyboard does. In fact, the only thing keeping this keyboard from bumping right up to the iPad itself is a small section of the case used to keep the plastic keys from touching the glass screen. Logitech did a beautiful job in making every millimeter of this case count, and users like myself are grateful for that. 

There is one thing about this trackpad that is different from that of the Magic Keyboard, though. The trackpad for this case is a “diving board” style trackpad while the Magic Keyboard is one solid piece like that of the MacBook and MacBook Pros. To explain, you can click at the very top of a Magic Keyboard without issue, while with the Logitech Combo that top part is cannot be depressed for a click because it depends on that top part as a spring to allow the rest of the trackpad to be depressed. Thankfully, there is an easy fix for this. 

If you want to save yourself from worrying about whether you have your hand on the right part of the trackpad to click, just turn on “tap to click” and you can use this trackpad without any of the aforementioned issues. To do this, open the Settings app and go to General>Trackpad and turn on Tap to Click. Once that is enabled, you will no longer need to press down on the trackpad at all to click, you simply tap on the trackpad and all will be well. Once I turned this setting on. my issues with the trackpad were immediately resolved and I have been using it joyfully since then. 

Conclusion

If you have an iPad Air 3, 10.5” iPad Pro, or the 2019 iPad 7 and are looking for a keyboard, you should pick up this keyboard immediately. It’s bulky and not as slim-looking as the Apple Smart Keyboard, but it is a hell of a lot better to type on and offers trackpad support when seemingly no one else does. With the price-point less than the Smart Keyboard it is a no-brainer that this is the superior keyboard for anyone looking to use an iPad for their work. 

You can purchase this keyboard case for $149.99 on Apple’s website or from Logitech directly.

During this time of isolation a common thought that came to my mind is that I want to have a community of sorts, a place for me and others to go to talk about the things we like.

Whether that is Apple stuff, productivity tips, or even more fun things like gaming and Animal Crossing, I want to have a place for that to happen. So, I created the Internet Friends Chat.

This is a slack group anyone can join and be a part of. I have plans with this to be more than just another Slack group, but for now here’s what channels I have created.

• Animal Crossing - All things Animal Crossing
• Automation - Share your automation tips and tricks including Shortcuts, Drafts actions, and more
• Blogging - For all the other bloggers to share ideas, offer critiques, and more
• Gaming - For when you play games other than Animal Crossing (not sure why, but okay)
• General - Just a general chat about pretty much anything.

I plan to make more channels as the community grows, so if you want something added, let me know in the Slack.

So, let’s be internet friends, join my Slack at internetfriendschat.com

Next week, once the dust is settled after the announcement, I will share with you all here my plans for the chat in the future. If you can’t wait until then, I am sure I will spill the beans on the Slack.

If you have any issues or questions, feel free to get a hold of me on Twitter @iamJeffPerry.

Chris buys the new iPad, and other items. They both speak about managing their calendars, time tracking, and what they are watching while in quarantine.

YouTuber Tom Scott created a very inspiring video that hit me to my core.

He speaks about the early days of Web 2.0 and how APIs were open and free. He also goes on about how these once open and free to use APIs were subsequently limited or removed altogether.

This 10:38 minute video summed up my feelings about the internet, APIs, and how the web today is slowly losing its whimsey. I thought I was going to leave this video upset, angry, and in my natural state of defeatism. Thankfully, Tom didn’t stop with the downfall.

He left with hope, all because of what the backdrop of his video was: The White Cliffs of Dover.

And that’s why I chose to film this here. The White Cliffs of Dover are a symbol of Britain, they are this imposing barrier, but they’re just chalk. Time and tide will wash them away, a long time in the future. This, too, shall pass.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t build things anyway. Just because something is going to break in the end, doesn’t mean that it can’t have an effect that lasts into the future. Joy. Wonder. Laughter. Hope. The world can be better because of what you built in the past.

And while I do think that the long-term goal of humanity should be to find a way to defeat entropy, I’m pretty sure no-one knows where to start on that problem just yet.

So until then: try and make sure the things you’re working on push us in the right direction. They don’t have to be big projects, they might just have an audience of one. And even if they don’t last: try to make sure they leave something positive behind. And yes, at some point, the code that’s updating the title of this video will break. Maybe I’ll fix it. Maybe I won’t. But that code was never the important part.

Jason Burk:

I have moved my blog around to different platforms as much as anyone. I landed at blot sometime in 2018, and I am very happy with the platform as it fits my style perfectly. With all the moves and migrations, my collection of posts has been degraded in various ways. Broken links, missing images, formatting weirdness, etc.

[…]

This project was mostly a manual process, with some automation sprinkled in where possible with tools like TextSoap.

So, what did I do?
Here is a list of what I set out to accomplish

Another great read for anyone looking to move their blog. It should go without saying that it’s clearly a complicated process no one should take lightly. So enter at your own risk.

James Rogers writing for iPad Insight:

Contrary to what you might think after reading that headline, I am not a hater. Not at all. I have actually been a fan of John Gruber’s writing and podcasting for several years and I typically agree with his point of view regarding Apple and the tech world, in general. However, I can’t say that’s the case when it comes to the iPad.

It started with his rant about the state of the iPad when it turned 10, followed by his episode of The talk Show with Ben Thompson of Stratechery (who’s opinion on the iPad is even more out to lunch, in my opinion). The addition of multitasking to the iPad, or at least how it was added and how it works, has really gotten progressively under Gruber’s skin. If you listen to that episode he rants a lot more than in the article and Thompson gets all kinds of worked up about what a “tragedy” the iPad and iPadOS are. I finished that one just shaking my head.

I wrote about this article and podcast at the time because, as an iPad fan and power user, I am about as diametrically opposed to these opinions as you can get. While I understand the complaints over the complexity of multitasking in iPadOS as it stands today, I can’t get on board with throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Gruber makes it clear on several occasions that he thinks iPadOS is a dead-end mistake and that Apple has to roll it back completely to move forward. Here is one such quote from his 2019 Apple Grades. He gave the iPad a D, by the way.

[…]

I use my iPad Pro at work and I don’t need a glorified e-Reader with no multitasking there. I waited years for the device to grow into something that could produce content as well as it allowed you to consume it. I could see the potential as far back as the iPad 2, but it was slow going. I even left the iPad behind for a couple of years because it wasn’t moving fast enough in that direction. It was the iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil and the addition of real multitasking that brought me back.

Mr Gruber hasn’t stopped his complaining about the iPad and iPadOS with one article and a podcast episode. In his Polish Stink Eye podcast episode last week, he mentioned his distaste for iPadOS multitasking again when talking about the death of Apple legend Larry Tessler. Gruber also alluded to the fact that he’s been working on some longer pieces detailing his thoughts on the iPad. Oh boy. I can’t wait.

[…]

I am convinced that the belief that Apple should start over on a system that is obviously still evolving, or worse that Apple should just go back to the iPad’s original positioning as a third device, are on the fringe. I absolutely believe that most iPad users and fans want Apple to continue to improve and refine what they have in iPadOS and keep the power, rather than dial the platform back to make a small number Apple superfans happy.

That last part is why I am writing about John Gruber’s ongoing complaints about the iPad. While Apple tends to keep to itself, they do listen to some key influencers and John Gruber has been among them for years. Their words carry weight. You could tell that Apple took the tech press and Apple superfan criticism over the iPad’s lack of power features very seriously last year, as the feature rundown of the new iPadOS read like a wish list from the previous two years.

There are certain writers and podcasters, and if you are an Apple fan, you likely know who a few of them are, who can push an agenda and legitimately get Apple’s attention. A guy who can get Apple execs to come on his show obviously ranks very high on that list. However, in this case, I hope whoever is in ultimately in charge of the fate of the iPad and iPadOS development roadmap takes Gruber’s words on this topic and says thanks, but no thanks.

It’s one thing to offer constructive criticism. It’s quite another to advocate for Apple to tear down and fundamentally re-architect a platform that is still in the process of growing into a more powerful form, just because you don’t like where it is at the moment. As a fan of a more powerful iPad and iPadOS, I see John Gruber’s current mini-crusade against iPadOS as a problem. A threat, even. I can only hope it falls on deaf ears at Apple and they continue down the path they already have a solid start on.

[…]

(Note: After I finished writing, I saw that John Gruber’s guest on The Talk Show episode released today is Federico Viticci, who is a huge fan of the iPad and a well-known user and advocate for the platform. I won’t have time to listen tonight, but I am very interested to hear what he has to say about Gruber’s stance on iPad multitasking. Viticci comes off as a big fan of the feature in his own writing and podcasting, despite its complexity.)

Jason Burk:

It’s a rare time we live in where the number of individuals and small teams can have such a massive impact on the populous at large. The apps, systems, and tools that you build are touching lives more regularly that almost any other thing we interact with today as humans. These digital goods are so prevalent, yet hide in the shadows of microchips and circuit boards.

[…]

I can understand that this path you have chosen can feel thankless but please know that there are many of us out here that appreciate your hard work and dedication. Unfortunately, the perceived value of the work you are doing is being warped to an unsustainable level. Perhaps this is because of the faceless nature of your work, or the warped sense of values and entitlement in the world of technology.

[…]

People do not go to a farmer’s market and comment about how great the peaches look and then ask why they are not free. I get so upset when someone shows genuine interest in a great app I am using and their first question is “What is it called?” immediately followed by “is it free?”. No, it isn’t 🤬 free. This mindset has to change. I can only hope I am helping in any small way with my daily interactions with people reminding them that there are people behind these products.

I couldn’t have written a better thank you letter if I tried.

This article was first posted on The Clicked Newsletter. Please subscribe to get more stuff like this everyday Tuesday.

Field Notes’ longstanding tagline is “I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.” The line comes from co-founder Jim Coudal’s grandfather who was “an avid notetaker.”

I recently began thinking about my longstanding hobby of collecting and using Field Notes journals. I started using them back in college when I first learned about Field Notes’ other co-founder Aaron Draplin. I was obsessed with his work and loved his design portfolio. I never got into graphic design myself but I did learn a lot from Draplin through osmosis and watching his talks and tutorials over the years.

For whatever reason I decided to learn more about why Field Notes chose their tagline and I stumbled upon some really cool videos I wanted to share with you.

The first being from YouTube user Ekpap called “The Importance of Field Notes.” This was a video I thought surmised the essence of a Field Notes journal perfectly and what the tagline is all about. He then goes into generative note-taking and non-generative note-taking from a study from the University of California and University of Princeton called “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking.” If you want to read the paper itself you can do so here. They were also on NPR in 2016 explaining their paper as well.

I know this is a lot to throw at you but I promise that the video stands on its own two feet and is worth the 3 minutes to watch. That said, the paper itself is also fascinating to read.

www.youtube.com/watch

The second video I wanted to share is from Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels. He is a podcaster, YouTuber, and blogger and he explained in his own video why he still uses paper notebooks over a digital notes app. He also saves all of his notebooks both physically and digitally by scanning them into his computer for safekeeping. It is very delightful to learn about his reasonings to keep a notebook on hand and use day-to-day as a tech-nerd like myself.

www.youtube.com/watch

After watching both videos again I realized that the tagline is as close to perfect as you can get for them as a company. They aren’t making commemorative notebooks you need to be careful with, it is meant to be used every single day for every single thing that needs to be written down no matter what.

When I filled my first Field Notes journal I took out a brand new one of the same color and compared them side-by-side. The used one could barely stay closed because the papers had been manhandled so much that they would push on the covers. I also noticed that the old one was significantly dirtier. It was as if someone decided to throw a journal into a muddy puddle and then dried it with a hair-dryer. For some reason when I made these observations I made it my goal to make every notebook I finish look like a shell of its former self.

One big thing that I had trouble with when I used a medium-sized Moleskine journal for my note-taking was that I felt that I needed to have something witty or mind-blowing to say when I wrote in them. With my Field Notes I make the conscious choice that nothing is too important nor too insignificant to write down. I have things from ideas for my blog and podcasts in there as well as quick math problems I try and solve when working out my finances. Nothing about these notebooks are special and I fill every single page with something before I decide not to use it anymore.

In fact, I have given a number of my new Field Notes journals away to friends and colleagues and I always say to them my one rule: you fill them with your thoughts and ideas. It might be a little corny but I genuinely want them to use their new journal as much as possible. I want them to never have an idea that doesn’t get written down, even if it is a bad one.

So, if you haven’t already guessed, I want you to start thinking about getting yourself a pocket-sized journal to write down your thoughts and ideas because I think there is some real merit to the claims and discoveries mentioned in the articles and videos above. This isn’t sponsored by Field Notes in any way, nor would I allow this to be a crappy article saying to buy only Field Notes. I honestly don’t care if you buy Field Notes or a drug-store memo pad, I just want you to write things down, not to remember it later, but to remember it now.

This article was first posted on The Clicked Newsletter. Please subscribe to get more stuff like this everyday Tuesday.

From Input:

“I understand it’s easy to keep watching videos,” the smiley guy said. “And trust me, I’ve been there before. But those videos will still be there tomorrow. Go get some extra sleep, turn your phone off, do yourself that favor, and have a great night.”

The guy was TikToker Gabe Erwin, who has two million followers on the platform, but the video wasn’t posted from his personal account. It came from @TikTokTips, which is run by the company itself. Three other high-profile creators, Alan Chikin Chow (722,200 followers), James Henry (2.7 million followers), and Cosette Rinab (1.6 million followers) – have also made videos encouraging people to turn off the app. (“When’s the last time you’ve been outside?” asks Rinab.)

What a weird time to be alive.

After having the idea of making custom Siri Shortcut icons less than 24 hours ago I am very excited to share with you my Alphabet and Numbers Icon Pack.

What it is

This icon pack is exactly how it sounds, custom icons that go from A-Z and 0-9 in various colors with both white and black backgrounds. There are 10 color options for the white background and 10 color options for the black background. In total there are 720 icons to choose from.

This wasn’t exactly what I planned when I shared my idea on Twitter. Originally I wanted to make custom icons manually in a number of different fonts, but once Toolbox Pro showed me just how easy it is to make them in Shortcuts with the help of their app I decided to table my original idea and make these icons instead.

The Shortcut I used to create these icons was actually pretty interesting. I put in every letter and number in a text field, split that text by character, and on a repeat with each action I created icons with Toolbox Pro and chose what colors to use for both the background and the icon color.

All of these icons have circles but that isn’t the only shape it supports. If you want a rounded rectangle you can choose that in the advanced settings by changing “.circle.fill” to “.square.fill” in the Toolbox Pro action “Make Icon.”

I also used slightly different color variants for the white and black backgrounds to make them more complimentary, but the shortcut I used doesn’t just offer the colors I picked. There are over 160 built-in colors to choose from making it a total of over 25,000 unique color combinations! Toolbox Pro didn’t stop there though, you can even use your own hex code in the advanced settings of the Create Icon action.

How to use these icons

All you need to do is download this zip file to your device and save it where you want in the Files app, unzip it with iOS’ uncompress option, and select from file when adding a shortcut to the home screen.

What’s next?

I plan to make even more icons in the future, some being with Toolbox Pro and some being ones I make on my own, but for now I wanted to share what I have and how you can make your own with Toolbox Pro.

If you have any requests outside of Toolbox Pro drop me a line and let me know.

From an Email from Wunderlist:

Wunderlist goes away on May 6th, 2020

We have some important news for you. Wunderlist is shutting down on May 6th, 2020. We hope that our new app, Microsoft To Do, will become the new home for all your lists and tasks. It’s built by the Wunderlist team and available for free on Android , iOS , Windows , Mac and web.

We know it’s hard to pack up and move, but we want to let you know that we’ll be with you every step of the way.

Microsoft To Do makes you feel like home. We will be with you every step of the way.

You may have questions about why we’re doing this and what it means for you. After May 6th, your to-dos will no longer sync but you’ll still be able to import your lists, tasks and other content into To Do. We are no longer accepting new Wunderlist sign-ups. Take a look at our blog post for more answers to all your important questions.

From Wunderlist’s Blog:

We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure our new app, Microsoft To Do, feels like a new home for your lists. We want you to be able to start planning your day and checking off those to-dos as soon as you hit that import button. Your favorite features are all in To Do – features like list groups (folders), steps (subtasks), file attachments, and sharing and task assignments. We held ourselves to a high design standard on Wunderlist, and To Do is no different. In fact, we have even more background options in To Do, so now you can color code each list to keep work separate from home.

This brings us to our important news.

When we first announced Microsoft To Do, we also announced that Wunderlist would eventually retire. We planned this so we could concentrate on building a more integrated and secure app that helps you get stuff done in a smarter way.

It’s time to let you know that on May 6th, 2020, we plan to shut down Wunderlist.

Why are we doing this now? We’ve stopped releasing new features and big updates to Wunderlist, so as the app ages it’s become more difficult to maintain. As technology continues to advance, we can’t guarantee that Wunderlist will continue to work as it should, or as we’d like it to. With all our latest updates, we’re confident in To Do being the best alternative for Wunderlist now and so we believe it’s the right time to make the next move. Now, we want to dedicate all our time to growing that cross-suite experience that transforms how you achieve your goals and dreams.

…

After May 6th, your to-dos will no longer sync. For a period of time, you’ll still be able to import your lists into To Do. Starting today, we will no longer accept new Wunderlist sign-ups.

We know this is a lot to take in, so have a look at our FAQs for more answers to all your important questions.

Queue up the sad trumpet song as one of the best lightweight task managers bites the dust. I used Wunderlist years back and loved it, but as I got more and more into GTD I moved to more complex apps out there. Still, I was happy Wunderlist was an option for others and recommended it countless times to friends and families.

I have to say, the video they made about moving from Wunderlist to To Do seems like a fever dream from an abstract minimalist. It was honestly unsettling to watch, or even understand the point of it.

I have not used Microsoft’s To Do, so I can’t say if it is a 1:1 comparison to Wunderlist; even if it was though, I’m not about it being a Microsoft application, and I can only imagine the whimsey and fun that app had is either gone entirely or greatly diminished.

Chris and I were joined by the fantastic Matt Birchler to talk all about the iPad and our tips/tricks we’ve used over the years.

Listen to it below or find the show notes here.

Tyler Hicks writing for The Outline:

Scott, 30, and Moriah, 27, met on TikTok in 2018.

…

Moriah and Scott started talking via the comment section on Scott’s live streams. They bonded over their shared interests in comedy and acting, and started referring to one another as “my spirit animal.” Eventually, they shared phone numbers.

“Things got pretty serious pretty quickly,” Moriah told me. Scott’s plan was to buy an RV and traverse the country making TikTok videos, and Moriah wanted to join him. Despite her parents’ skepticism — to be clear, she was moving to Idaho to be with a dude she met on the internet and travel the country in an RV — Moriah packed a few belongings and moved to Boise. In their videos from the road, Moriah portrays a rational straight man and Scott plays her aloof, over-confident husband. Moriah’s parents remain skeptical, but the couple’s content has started to pay off.

…

Under their new handle, @scottoriah, the couple has chronicled their relationship through comedy sketches that the duo has dubbed “relationship comedies.” They now have more than a million followers, and make money through live streams and branded videos with companies like the stuffed animal creator Cutetitos. Moriah is currently expecting twins, and the couple wed in early 2020 (the ceremony was not recorded for TikTok). However, they have no plans to move out of the RV, or to change their prolific production of videos, which they post to TikTok an average of three to four times per day.

The TikTok algorithm favors frequent posters, so creators seeking virality often feel the pressure to produce content at all costs.

“Moriah was pretty sick during her first trimester, so we had to repost a bunch of old content every day,” Scott said. “It’s hard to make videos when you have to go to the hospital seven times in one month, but we didn’t want to get behind with the algorithm.”

Personally, I think a “social media influencer” is probably the grossest job you could have. That said, I find myself empathizing with these people fighting between making a living and living a normal life.

Jason Snell writing for Six Colors:

Since people are often curious about just how using the Apple Pencil to edit a podcast works, I thought I’d make a video to show you how I do it. (I had to suspend a camera above my desk to get some shots of what my hands are doing with the Apple Pencil.)

Along the way, I also mention a bunch of different Ferrite features and settings, and also discuss my general editing process (which is more or less the same, even if I’m using Logic Pro on a Mac).

If you’re a podcast editor, I hope this video gives you some ideas and inspiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=675gW3a0IAc

John Voorhees from MacStories:

What struck me most about Snell’s video is how natural direct manipulation of multiple audio tracks looks. I’ve always done all of my podcast editing on a Mac with Logic Pro X, but after watching Snell edit an episode with multiple guests, I look forward to trying this myself.

I’m a weird one when it comes to podcast editing because I use Hindenburg on my Mac. That said, I’ve edited the last few podcasts of A Slab of Glass with Ferrite on my 10.2” iPad and absolutely loved it.

Watching Snell do his magic makes me want to keep using Ferrite and make it my main podcast editing software for everything.

I’m going to dig deeper into the settings and see what other things I can change to improve my editing workflow.

8 days ago, I passed out at work.

I wanted to share the experience with you all as a way to be honest and open about my mental health, and to show that you are not alone.

It happened so suddenly that I had to ask someone who was there to walk me through what happened. It was like any other day for me, usual commute to work, standard breakfast, and regular work tasks to be done. My boss and I were going over some costs for some marketing materials we wanted for an event coming up. That was when my whole body began to tingle. It was like the feeling of when your foot falls asleep but all over my body. I still had a sense of touch, which meant I didn’t have paralysis or anything like that, just a tingling sensation all over.

Then the tunnel vision kicked in. Everything in my peripheral vision disappeared almost immediately. I began to have a claustrophobic feeling like my body was stuck inside a plastic bag, and I was struggling to find air.

In a panic, I slowly got up out of my chair to try and “walk it off.” Thinking all I needed was to get my blood flowing. Turns out, this made things much worse. My legs felt like jelly, and my thoughts were in slow motion. Eventually, I managed to say, “I don’t feel so good,” before tumbling right into my boss’ lap. Thankfully I didn’t hurt her or myself, but I lost consciousness nonetheless.

A few seconds later, I hear my coworker asking me questions.

Coworker: “Jeff? Jeff, are you okay? Jeff, are you diabetic?”

Me: “No”

C: “Can you call 911 Cheryl? Jeff, do you have any heart history?”

M: No

C: Does your family have any history with either?

M: No?

C: What year is it, Jeff?

M: 2020

C: Can you get in a chair?

M: I think so.

C: I was then helped off the ground and onto a chair. I was given some water, and I took a few sips.

“What happened,” I asked my coworker, who happened to be medically licensed and a volunteer firefighter.

“You went down, man,” he said, “out cold. I can’t find a pulse on you, and you’re white as snow.”

“I can’t afford an ambulance. Please don’t make me go in one.” This was my first thought after passing out for seemingly no reason. Not being able to pay for potentially life-saving healthcare.

The paramedics came, and they checked me out. My blood sugar was normal, my pulse eventually rose to normal levels, and my color came back as did my sense of surroundings. After being coerced to accept the help of the paramedics, I took a ride to the hospital. In the ambulance, they put me on an EKG, pulse monitor, and attempted to put an IV in me unsuccessfully.

Ten minutes later, I arrive at the hospital, where I am put into a room and wired back up to an EKG. I am alone and terrified, thankfully my wife answered her phone after I initially went down and had left work to come and see me. My guess was another 30 minutes until she would be there.

Before she arrived, they took my blood to run several lab tests to see what is happening. In the meantime, they gave me a TV remote with no batteries in it and told me to “try and relax” while they monitor me. After that, they left.

After closing my eyes and doing meditative breathing, my wife comes into the room. Once she is there, I do what I always do when I am in stressful or uncomfortable situations: make really inappropriate jokes. It is a defense mechanism that I’ve used since high school. Most of the time, it goes over well, but there have been times where I managed to make things worse with my jokes, thankfully, this isn’t one of them.

My tests come back normal across the board. No heart issue detected, and nothing in the blood work they ran came back with anything definitive as to what the hell happened to me.

They tell me it was something called vasovagal syncope. Basically, my heart rate slowed, and my blood vessels opened up too much, causing the blood flow to my brain to slow, which is what caused the tingling and tunnel vision. Turns out that when I got up to “walk it off” I accelerated this and released enough blood flow in my brain to cause my body to lose consciousness.

After some time with the doctor, he tells me that if I get these kinds of symptoms again to “go horizontal and breathe.” That’s it, that’s all I was prescribed: a simple breathing technique and allowing gravity to do the rest. I wanted to tell him I went horizontal after I lost consciousness, so I had that covered. I thought twice about that, though, one of the things I learned about comedy is to know your audience, and this audience wasn’t in the mood for laughing.

On the one hand, I am relieved my morbidly obese body didn’t have a heart attack or anything related to diabetes. On the other hand, I was hoping to get something more than a prescription to “go horizontal.”

After the doctor came, I was discharged shortly after that. A nurse gave me my papers and a handout on vasovagal syncope for me to read and look into. Turns out, it is actually quite prevalent, and it can be triggered by an onslaught of things. The one that caught my eye, though, was a stressful situation and/or anxiety.

The only other time I had similar symptoms (minus the losing consciousness part) was when I had a panic attack at my doctor’s office after throwing my back out. I went white, had severe tunnel vision, and had a tingling sensation across my whole body.

Eventually, I put two and two together and realized that this entire thing was because of my anxiety. The problem was I had nothing triggering the anxiety. I wasn’t under any stress at all. We weren’t going over anything that was above my knowledge or capabilities, it was just some numbers and costs.

So now I can apparently have an anxiety attack for no reason, which may or may not result in me having a vasovagal response making me lose consciousness.

I finally understood how people can “have anxiety about their anxiety.”

Anxiety was something I didn’t have before, at least it wasn’t such a presence as it is now in my life. Two years ago, I started to notice instances where I had an irrational fear that something terrible was going to happen to me, it felt like I was dying. This ongoing stressor that something is about to happen to me hung over me like an anvil. I learned later that this was anxiety, and have since taken measures to cope with my stress when it begins affecting my day-to-day life. For the past 2 years, I have been taking anti-anxiety medicine for it.

Some days are great, others I am on edge for no reason whatsoever.

So as I sat there wondering what the hell I can do to thwart this from happening again, I began talking to my friends about it. Thinking that panic attacks weren’t common, I felt like my recent encounter with them would be nothing they would understand. One by one, they all came to me to share times where they also had anxiety-related panic attacks. Some were caused directly by a stressful situation, others simply came out of the blue. The more I heard from the people I am lucky to have in my life explain their perspective, the more I realized that this is relatively common.

That is when I learned that panic attacks can happen without being triggered at times, and they can occur when you are perfectly relaxed in your home. For the past week, I have had more doctor’s appointments and encountered more medical staff than I’d like to see in a year. They all have told me the diagnosis I received at the hospital is correct.

Almost every single one of the people I spoke with about this had stories similar to mine where they had anxiety-related attacks, and they each offered me different things to try if/when I feel anxious again.

I am yet to try most of them, but I do intend to try them soon.

I write all of this not to ask for pity or sorrow, I write this because had I not had my own experience regarding anxiety I would have never had the veil lifted from my eyes. I would have never found out just how common anxiety is among Americans, and among my friends. I also would not have learned that you don’t need to be in a stressful situation to have anxiety.

I want to hear more stories and allow for others to connect in any way they want with others who also have had instances of anxiety. So please, share yours. You can mention me on social media I am @iamJeffPerry, DM me on Twitter (they are always turned on), or you can email me at me[at]jeffperry[dot]blog.

The more we confront this hidden beast lurking in the shadows, the less scary it becomes. So please, shine a light if you want.